Christmas Concert and Prizegiving

Our Christmas Concert and Prizegiving was a huge hit with our families and community and we appreciate all the support.

Congratulations to Tara for winning our class award.  You worked very hard this year and have shown that you are always striving for excellence in all that you do!
If you and your family have photos of the concert to share, please email them to the office email so that we can load them on here for everyone.

Go Active Kids TRYathlon

Next year on the 27th of February, take part and have some fun by participating in the Go Active Kids TRYathlon. There will be spot prizes and lots of fun on the day. Every child who enters will receive a FREE goody bag!

Get into training over the holidays and be ready to get ACTIVE!

A visitor from Australia

This morning we were lucky to have Chris from Australia visit our class.  Chris lives in Alice Springs in Australia which she says is reasonably close to Uluru/Ayers Rock. 

We took a tour of the famous rock on Google Earth.  Some of us thought it was amazing that it was surrounded by such a flat area. 

Check out a tour of Ayers Rock from Google Earth here:

What were some of things that Chris told us about Australia?  Leave your answers in the comments section...

A big thank you to Annabelle's family for helping us learn more about Australia.

Water Safety - Corey the Penguin visits Tokomaru School!

On Friday we were visited by a water safety expert - Corey the Penguin!  Corey and his friend told us some water safety rules that we need to remember. 

What were some of the things they told us?  Leave your answers in the comments section...

Corey shows us how to use a hula hoop in the water.

We all gave Corey a 'high five' to say thanks for sharing his knowledge with us.

Matilda comes swimming with us!

We went for a swim at Linton Army Camp Pool.  Matilda got her tail wet but we think she enjoyed herself:

Cluster Athletics Day

Some photos from a great day of Athletics events:

It was great to compete against students from our cluster: Aokautere, Tiritea, Opiki, Linton Camp, and Linton Country Schools.

Congratulations to all those who placed in an event, and to those that participated.  We hope you all enjoyed the day!

Our Questions for our Travel Buddies: 2E

Here are some questions for 2E:

Mikah:
How many people are at your school?
What school is closest to yours?
Do you have a big playground at your school?
Do you have native bushes, trees, and flowers around your school?
Shayde:
What does your flag look like?Archie:
Do you have cities?
Have you got a lot of trees?
Do you celebrate Christmas?
Tyrone:
Do you do Spelling?
Do you go on computers lots?
Cameron:
Have any of you been to New Zealand?
Aymee:
What type of cars do you have in Australia?
Are you having fun with being our travel buddies?
Gianlucca:
Do you have pets?
Do you have people from different countries in your class or school?
Do you have many computers in your classroom?
Jordan:
What games do you play at lunch?
What do you do for Maths and Reading?
Do you have phones?
Meghana:
What type of animals are your favourite in Australia?
Do you like Halloween?  If you do, do you go trick-or-treating?
Have you ever seen a real kangaroo like Matilda?
Do you have a climbing wall in your playground?
How wide is your school?  How long is school?
Do you have any forests, and what are the names of some?
Charlotte:
Do you have homework?
Are you having fun with Taratara?
Do you have sunhats?
Domonic:
Do you have special hats you have to wear at school?
Do you have a sandpit at your school?
Tyler K:
Do you have friends from other countries?
Corey:
Do you have school uniforms?
Do you have other Skype/travel buddies?
Ryan:
Have you seen a snake before?
Lukaz:
Have you got any windmills in Australia?

Tyler S:
How big is your school? (land size)

Questions from our Travel Buddies: 2E

We got asked some questions about our school and our country by our travel buddies in Australia.  Check out the questions and our answers below:
Drew – Do you have cars in New Zealand? 
Tyler S:
Yes we do.  We have all sorts of cars like SUV’s. Landrovers, and trucks.
Clodagh – Are you having fun with Matilda?
Cameron:
Yes, we like Matilda.  She is cool.  We love her.  Thank you for Matilda.
Rhys – Where do you eat your lunch at school?
Tyler:
In Summer and Spring  we eat lunch in our shade area under the giant shade sail.  In Winter and Autumn we eat lunch inside on the lino.
Andrew – Do you have clocks in New Zealand?
Aymee:
Yes, we do have clocks in New Zealand.  We like to know what time it is.  If we don’t have a watch, we say it is ten past the freckle.
Jackson – Do you have a lot of land around your school?
Corey:
Yes we do.  We have dairy and sheep farms, and my Dad owns a sheep farm.  We have a whole lot of ranges around our school, and we can see windmills.  They are for power.
Zali - Why don’t you wear shoes and uniforms to school?
Meghana:
Room 1 sometimes don’t wear their shoes and sometimes we take our shoes off before we come into class.  We normally wear shoes, like when we have Athletics or PE.  We only wear uniforms for trips and school events.  We are wearing our school uniforms today, because we are going swimming to the pool at the army camp up the road.  I wear shoes to school sometimes too.
Cassidy – How old are you when you start school?
Domonic
When we are five.
Logan – Do you have PS2 and Wii games in New Zealand?
Lukaz:
Yes, we have PS2 and Wii games in NZ, and some of us have PS3 and X-Box.  Our favourite games are FX MX, Dirt Bike, Crash of the Titans, Real Mario, Summer Sports, Crash Bandicoot, and Burning Rubber 2.
Cory – Do you have an electronic whiteboard or a blackboard in your classroom?
Charlotte:
No, we have a projector, and a whiteboard. 
Baxter – Did you know your flag looks a bit like ours?
Jordan
Yes we do almost have the same flag because we’ve got four stars and a Union Jack and you have got six stars and a Union Jack.
Chelsea – Do you celebrate Easter in New Zealand?
Ryan
Yes we do celebrate Easter. 
Taylor – Do you have homework?
Meghana:
We normally have homework like Reading, Spelling, and Basic Facts.  It can be things we do on the weekend too, like a sport.
Abby – How do you get to school?
Mikah:

The ways we get to school in Room 1
Car	Bike	Bus	Walk
Meghana	Tyrone	Corey	Jordan
Tara	Gianlucca	Shayde	Aymee
Bailie	Lukaz	Archie	Charlotte
Mrs Bismark	Mikah	Tyler S	Domonic
		Annabelle	Tyler
		Cameron
		Ryan

Maddison – What are your native animals?
Tyrone:
We have quite a lot.  A good webiste to visit is http://www.doc.govt.nz/conservation/native-animals/Alyssa – Do you have cities in New Zealand?
Archie:
We do have cities in New Zealand, like Auckland and Wellington.  We live by Palmerston North.
Olivia – Do you have your own desk at school, or do you have to share?
Shayde:
We do have desks.  Everyone has their own desk in Room 1.  We have drawers where we put our stuff.
Riley – Are there mammals and insects in New Zealand?
Ryan:
Yes.  I like centipedes, lizards, funnel web spiders, penguins, tuis, and that's about it.  
Thomas – Do you have computers in your classroom?
Jordan:
Yes we do have computers.  We have 5 in our classroom, and 5 in the library that we use lots because our class is right next to the library.
Georgia – Do you have dogs and cats in New Zealand?
Corey:
Yes we do have cats and dogs in New Zealand.  In our class about half of us have cats, and half of us have dogs.
Connor – Do you have to wear hats at school?
Domonic:
Yes we do wear hats.  We wear red hats with Tokomaru School on them.
Stuart – Do you ever wear shoes to school? See Meghana's answers above.
Sterling – Do you have a laptop in your classroom?
Charlotte:
We do.  We have one that Mrs Bismark uses for her work and we sometimes use it.
Kelsie – What kind of food do you eat in New Zealand?
Mikah:
Fruit: kiwifruit, tomato, strawberries, apples, pears, and bananas.
Meat: Lamb, pork, and beef.
Protein: Eggs, milk, cheese, and butter.
Vegetables: broccoli, carrots, potatoes, and kumara.

Ag Day

Our annual Ag Day is on this Saturday 13th November.  We will be showing our animals as well as having a sausage sizzle, cakes, bottle tombola, photo competition, and gumboot throwing.  As you will already know, we made Christmas decorations that will be for sale on the day.  There will also be fudge and Christmas cards for sale.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Taratara has arrived in Australia

Our travel buddy Taratara has arrived at Yugumbir State School. He has spent some time getting used to his new surroundings, and we all hope he has an enjoyable time with Room 2E.

Along with Taratara, we sent a calendar. We included photos of us all taken around the school and put them into a special calendar. We are really pleased that 2E likes it.

In the sandpit - a great place to have fun!

On the rock wall - one of our favourite places to play!

If you want to keep up with Taratara's adventures, go to 2E's blog and check out what he is up to!

Salt Dough Christmas Decorations

Today we made salt dough Christmas decorations as part of a financial literacy activity. Tomorrow we are going to paint and decorate them. We are going to sell them at Agricultural Day on Saturday 13th November to raise money for our end of year trip.

Tyrone, Ryan, and Corey measure out the flour

Charlotte and Jordan took the baking tray to the kitchen

If you would like to try making your own salt dough, follow the recipe below:

Salt Dough Christmas Decorations

Ingredients
• 4 cups of flour
• 2 cups of salt
• 4 teaspoons cooking oil
• 2 cups of water

Equipment
• Mixing Bowl
• Board
• Cutter shapes
• Rolling Pin
• Ribbon
• Paint
• Kebab Skewer (to make hole for ribbon)

Method
1. Mix together the flour, salt and cooking oil in a bowl using your fingers
2. Knead the dough until it is smooth
3. Roll dough out and shape it into shape required
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 120 degrees for about 3 hours until firm

Matilda arrived in our class!

Our travel buddy Matilda arrived in our class the day before yesterday. She is a gorgeous brown kangaroo with a joey.

Thank you to Room 2E at Yugumbir State School for Matilda, and for the special slideshow CD. It was interesting to see what your school looks like, and we really liked the idea of The Hive. We are looking forward to getting to know you, and learn more about your school and country.

Does anyone know the name of the special hat Matilda is wearing? What is it for? Leave a comment to share your thoughts...

Hungry Caterpillars - Reading Activities

The colours look amazing! The Hungry Caterpillars reading group read a story called 'Chow Chicken'. One of their activities was to do an experiment with milk. They put milk into an ice cream container. Into each corner of the container they put some food colouring (one colour in each corner - blue, red, yellow, and green). A cotton bud soaked into washing up liquid was dipped into the milk. We watched as the colours did some amazing things!
Annabelle brought in her pet chicken Ana because she related to what was was happening in the story:
Annabelle also brought in some milk from one of her cows. The class had a sample and enjoyed the creamy taste!
Thank you to Annabelle and her family for helping us learn new things.

Athletics Day

Gianlucca practising for High Jump.

Tomorrow is our school Athletics Day. All parents and supporters welcome to cheer on the athletes! Events start at 1.30pm.

We are also taking part in raising money for the Arohanui Hospice again this year, so come to school dressed in something green and bring along a gold coin donation. Please ensure that whatever you wear is appropriate for taking part in the Athletics events...

Indian Recipes

The following are the recipes that we made for our Writing activity. We hope you enjoy making them as much as we did!

Kheema Kebabs
Ingredients
250g Mince (lamb/chicken)
½ teaspoon Cumin Powder
½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
½ teaspoon Garam Masala
½ teaspoon Chilli Powder
1 teaspoon Ginger
2 Tablespoons Oil

Equipment
Bowl
Wooden Spoon
Kebab Skewers
Frying pan
Fish Slice

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients into a bowl until well combined.
2. Roll them into balls and place 2-3 on a skewer
3. Add oil to the frying pan and place kebabs into frying pan
4. Fry them 2-3 minutes on each side until they turn golden brown.


Lentil Patties
Ingredients
4-5 spring onions
Fresh coriander
2 tins of lentils (drained)
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons turmeric
½ cup of plain flour
2 tablespoons oil

Equipment
Knife
Chopping board
Frying pan
Food Processor
Fish slice ( to turn the patties)

Method
1. Put chopped spring onions and coriander into blender
2. Pour lentils into the blender
3. Add cumin, turmeric and flour to the blender
4. Mix everything together well
5. Divide the lentil mixture into even sizes
6. Rub a bit of oil into your hands so that mixture doesn’t stick, then form each piece into a ball.
7. Squash each ball to flatten it into a patty
8. Heat the rest of the oil in the frying pan over a medium heat
9. Carefully put the lentil patties into the pan
10. Cook the patties on one side for 10 minutes, then turn them over using a fish slice and cook them on the other side for 10 minutes.

Mango Lassi
Lassi is a traditional Indian drink. Lassi comes in both savoury and sweet versions. The sweet version is called ‘Lassi Meethi’
Ingredients
1 Tray of ice cubes
2 Mangos or canned Mangos
2 cups of Natural Yoghurt
2 cups of milk
½ cup of sugar

Equipment
Measuring cups
Can opener
Blender
Glasses or cups
Straws

Method
1. Put the mango pieces, yoghurt, milk and sugar into the blender
2. Blend everything together on highest setting
3. Pour the lassi into the glasses

Taratara is off to Australia!

After a class vote, the name Taratara - this means 'Spike' in Maori - was decided upon. Taratara will hopefully arrive at Yugumbir State School in about a week.

We have also included a surprise for our buddy class - we will share that with everyone when we know that Room 2E has got our parcel.

Indian Food

Just a few photos to give you all an idea of what we did today. We will post more soon...

Annabelle, Tara, Gianlucca, and Mikah shaped the patties before they were put in the frying pan.

Lukaz had some help from his friends to combine the kebab ingredients.
Cameron stirred the sago until it went clear.

Tara watches on as Charlotte does a great job pouring the mangos in.
Corey wanted to drink all the Mango Lassi!

Today as part of a writing lesson, we prepared and cooked different types of traditional Indian food. Mango Lassi, Kheema Kebabs, Sago, and Lentil Patties with a Raiti dip were all on the menu. It was so much fun, and we all enjoyed tasting the different flavours in the food after smelling all the spices yesterday.

We would all like to thank the parents who helped with the preparation and cooking of our food today - much appreciated.

Commonwealth Games - Indian recipes

In Room 1 we have been doing some activities about the Commonwealth Games that were held in India. As part of this, we will be making some traditional Indian recipes on Wednesday. All students will take part in preparing the recipes, and we will be writing about what we did afterwards.

We will post some photos of our preparation and final products...

Athletics

Some photos of us in action!

Our Physical Education focus for the first few weeks of this term is Athletics. So far we have been working on our running, throwing, and jumping skills.

Tuatara needs a name!

We are sending a tuatara to Room 2E at Yugumbir State School in Australia. Their school is just outside Brisbane. They got in touch with us via our blog, and we are looking forward to exchanging messages and photos with them.

We had a class vote on what we thought would best represent New Zealand to another country, and the tuatara was voted for by nearly the whole class (the kiwi was second). Now we just need a name, so leave a comment with your name choice, and then we will have another class vote. I look forward to your ideas!

Welcome Back to School - Term 4!

It was great to have everyone back for our last term of the year and hear about what everyone got up to over the break.

We would like to welcome a new Year 3 student - Mikah - to our class and school. We would also like to welcome some Year 1 students to our class for Literacy and Maths periods.

Meghana, Mikah, and Annabelle.

Welcome to Tokomaru School and Room 1, Mikah!

Just a reminder about homework for our class. Students should bring home a reading book each night (this may be a book they have read during guided reading, or a book from their browsing box). We also encourage students to take library books home. Spelling should come home every night (except Fridays), and the students can say the words out loud or write them down for practice. Maths homework could be practicing basic facts with your child, or getting them to help with baking to practice measurements.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at school and we can arrange a time to chat.

Last Assembly for Term 3

We are holding our last assembly for Term 3 tomorrow afternoon. We look forward to seeing our parents, families, and community there.

Weekly Wrap!

Reporters: Annabelle and Tyler
Photographer: Gianlucca

Report from Annabelle and Tyler to be posted very shortly...

Annabelle shares her knowledge about piglets with some students from Room 2.

Pigs in Our Classroom?! Piggity Wiggity Jiggity!

Bailie put the piglet over her shoulder for the camera. (Photographer: Gianlucca)

Tyrone is ready to pass the piglet! (Photographer: Gianlucca)

Gianlucca takes a break from behind the camera to hold one of the wriggling piglets!

We had a surprise visit from Annabelle's piglets today! There were 3 of them and they were all super cute! Mindy is their mother, and there are 8 other piglets (brothers and sisters of the 3 that visited today). That is 11 piglets in total!

Can you think of some famous pigs or piglets from books you have read or movies you have seen? Leave a comment to share what you know...

Conservation Week - Blogging with the Bugman!

Below are the questions we asked the Ruud 'Bugman' Klienpaste today. We hope to get some answers soon. Updated to add the answers we received from the Bugman. We did ask some more questions that you can check out on the blog.

Gianlucca and Ryan
How did you become the Bugman?
What is the funniest bug you have seen in your life?
How much honey do bees collect in a day?
What do grasshoppers eat?
What do slaters eat?
Where do you find lizards and skinks?

Lukaz and Caroline
What kind of bugs pollinate?
Are buttercups poisonous?

Answers from the Bugman:
Hi you two!
There are lots of bugs that carry out the noble art of pollination: flies, bees, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies, but also birds and lizards etc etc.
I am not sure if buttercups are poisonous to us, humans. How would you find that out, Caroline and Lukaz?

Domonic and Tyrone
What do birds eat?
What do bats eat?
How can the bees take the pollen from the flowers?
What do Bees and baby bees eat?

Answers from the Bugman:
big questions, Tyrone and Domonic!
there are many different bird species and they all have their preferred diet: some eat fish, others squid, some eat buds and seeds, others eat insects… but a few special species eat nectar and honeydew.
Bats eat insects and nectar or plant materials; it depends on what species you are talking about.
Bees take pollen from the ends of the male flower parts (called stamen) and put them in their “pollen basket to fly home with them.
Baby bees eat a mixture of pollen and nectar
cheerio!

Tara and Tyler
Have you known anyone that has been bitten by a Tarantula?
Do you like Scorpions and Mosquitoes?
What is the most dangerous bug in the world?
What bug do you like the most?

Answers from the Bugman:
I have been bitten by tarantulas a few times – it hurts too!
I love scorpions; they are cool predators of the deserts. Don’t like mosquitoes very much at all, although I must say they are very clever at finding people, asleep in bed at night!
How – do you think they do that, Tara and Tyler?
The bug I like the most is the New Zealand weta: it is the coolest critter on the planet!

Meghana and Annabelle
1.What would happen if there were no bugs in the world?(Meghana)
2.Where are there beehives in New Zealand?(Annabelle)
3.How long can grass grow?(Meghana)
4.How many bugs have you seen before?(Annabelle)
5.Are there any more pollinators in the world than Geckos,Bugs,birds,bees,bats,beetles,tuis,housflies and the wind?(Meghana)
6.Where do grasshoppers live?(Annabelle)
7.How long do flowers take to grow back after they have been picked?(Meghana)
8.Are there any plants that eat things?(Annabelle)

Answers from the Bugman:
1)No bugs in the world? we would simply die within 6 months – end of story! (not end of planet, mind you – it will find other ways to live…
2) Beehives are everywhere in NZ; go online and find out who looks after bees.
3) Grass can grow as long as it wants. Some grasses grow to one meter high (tussocks) others no more than 3 centimeters tall
4) I have seen heas of bugs; thousands!
5) There are many more pollinators in the world: think of mice, rats, lizards, thrips, mites… etc etc
6) Usually in grass fields or patches of undergrowth… but they really don’t like much shade from trees
7) that depends on what tyoe of plant they are from
Oh Yes! how about pitcher plants and sundews; they are carnivorous plants that eat bugs; some of the bigger ones even eat rodents!

Maori Language and Culture

We are learning to ask and answer the question “Where are you from?” in Maori and learn why one asks it.

No hea koe, (person's name)?
Where are you from, (person's name)?

We discovered that you ask where people are from for many different reasons in Maori culture:

- To find out if you are related;
- To find out about their canoe, river, and mountain;
- To make a link with the other person
- To make a link with their family;
- To establish a good relationship with that person;
- To find out where they grew up.

Voicethread: Conservation Week

Add your comments to our Conservation Week Voicethread using a webcam, your keyboard, images, or a microphone.

Conservation Week

Show New Zealand how much you love it! We will be integrating Maori, Social Sciences, and Science as we do an inquiry into Bees, Bugs, Birds, and Breakfast!

We are looking forward to blogging with Ruud(the Bugman)Kleinpaste and/or his colleagues on Wednesday. We have already started forming some questions that we will be asking him.

Check out the website link above for more information about Conservation Week this year. Below is a video we watched of Ruud Kleinpaste talking about pollination:



Bailie emailed us from home to share what Conservation Week means to her:
CONSERVATION WEEK IS A SPECIAL WEEK BECAUSE IT IS ALL ABOUT SAVING THE WORLD AND COMMUNITY. SO ROOM 1 WHICH IS MY CLASS, ARE GOING TO BE ASKING THE BUG MAN SOME QUESTIONS LIKE:
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THE BUG MAN?
THAT IS ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I AM GOING TO BE ASKING THE BUG MAN.

FROM BAILIE

Weekly Wrap!

Reporters: Cheymani and Tara
Photographer: Domonic

Weekly jokes:

Cheymani: Why don't you like playing cards in the jungle?
Because there are too many cheetahs!

Tara: What did the spider do inside the computer?
It made a web page!

Annabelle with her Spring story and picture

Christchurch Quake Map

Christchurch Quake Map
I was watching Campbell Live last night and there was a report about a man who has set up a Christchurch quake map website so we can see the most recent earthquakes in Christchurch. Just click on the link above.

Giraffes Can't Dance Performance at the Regent Theatre

Last night we presented our production of 'Giraffes Can't Dance'. Check out the amazing photographs below.

I am so proud of our whole school - you all put a lot of effort and work into the performance - well done! And a huge thanks goes to all of the parents and helpers who helped out with taking students to and from rehearsals, costumes and make-up - it is hugely appreciated.

Gerald was a tall giraffe whose neck was long and slim, but his knees were awfully bandy and his legs were rather thin. He was good at munching shoots of tree, but when he tried to run around he buckled at the knees.
The animals came together to do a Jungle Dance! Gerald felt sad because when it came to dancing he was really very bad.
The warthogs started waltzing!
The rhinos rock 'n' rolled!
The baboons swung together for a splendid Scottish Reel!
The chimps all did a Cha Cha with a very Latin feel!
And the lions did a Tango that was elegant and bold!
The cricket helped Gerald get his groove by finding the right music for him - 'Play that Funky Music!'
All the animals came together - they were so amazed with Gerald's new dance steps! "It's a miracle! We must be in a dream. Gerald's the best dancer that we've ever seen!".

Skype with B4 at Reefton Area School

At 9am we had a Skype chat with B4 at Reefton Area School. Their school is on the West Coast of the South Island. Check out the Google map below to see where their school is in comparison to our school.


View Larger Map

We got to ask them questions about what they are learning about, what they want to be when they grow up, their favourite books, and how big their school is.
From this experience we learnt things that we can use in future conversations with them and other classes:
- Asking questions
- Answering questions
- Communicating with others
- Gathering information
- Listening skills

We are looking forward to Skyping with B4 again soon.