Henry's South Island Trip

Henry and his family made a trip down to the South Island.  Here is what he said about his trip:

"We went to our friend's house.  He has a big farm.  We drove to our uncle's and we found stones on the driveway.  We went to the greenstone shop and there was a big greenstone on display.  Shantytown is an olden day town where they used to do gold mining.  I found some little bits of gold in my pan.  There were some big mines but most of them are blocked up now.  Then we went to Chinatown and there were lots of little beds stacked upwards.  Lots of Chinese people came to do gold mining from China.  When we were coming back home we saw lots of snow on the mountains.  The temperature on the car thermometer was 0 degrees!

This is me in Shantytown.
I am shaking the bowl to get the gold to sink to the bottom so I can get the gold at the end.

Annabelle and I taking a funny photo.

This is the headlock where you got head locked in the olden days  if you  were naughty.

StarLab

It was an amazing experience inside the StarLab planetarium today.  We knew a lot about different constellations and made the connection that the stars on the New Zealand flag represent the Southern Cross which can only be seen in the Southern Hemisphere.

Inside the planetarium it was very dark.  On the dome of we saw all the constellations in our night sky - there were lots of stars!

Here are some useful links to look at:

Astronomy in Your Hands

Sky Maps

Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand

Learning about the Southern Cross and Orion

A few questions...

Into the planetarium we go...

Disco Fever!

Tokomaru School students turned out in a most 'famous' way on Friday night - check out the stars that were at our disco!

 

Tokomaru School at Rangimarie Marae in Rangiotu

For some of us this was the first time on a marae and for others it was revisiting a familiar place. Take a look at the photos from our day at the marae:

Seven Stars of Matariki

We listened to the story 'Seven Stars of Matariki' as part of our 'Is There Anyone Out There' unit. It was interesting to learn that there are so many different stories about Matariki.

What is Matariki? 

Why is Matariki celebrated?

How to be an Explorer of the World...

Every second week we search through our 'How to be an Explorer of the World' book, searching for a new idea to explore the world around us. Our exploration last week was all about water. We had to explore different shapes that water makes, take a photo of one that we found the most interesting, then share with a buddy. 

Check out the photos of the shapes water makes:

 

Tokomaru Ferns - ANZ Courtside Grant Scheme

Vote for the Tokomaru Ferns Netball team through the ANZ Courtside Grant Scheme and be in to win!

The Tokomaru Ferns are wanting to purchase new gear so they can keep up their winning streak!  You can vote daily so please check back each day.

The Tokomaru Ferns in action!

Cluster Cross Country

And they're off!  Check out Daniel in the red and black shirt to the left - he ended up coming 1st out of all these boys!

Our Cluster Cross Country squad participated in the Cluster event yesterday.  The effort and enthusiasm was great to see and there were some very good results for our school:

Year 1 Girls: 1st - Vala

Year 1 Boys: 3rd - Zion

Year 2 Boys: 1st - Daniel, 7th - Pete

Year 3 Girls: 2nd - Shampagne, 6th - O'Meara-Jean

Year 3 Boys: 1st - Henry, 6th - Eli, 7th - Josh W

Year 4 Boys: 8th - Cody

Year 5 Girls: 4th - Teigan

Year 6 Girls: 1st - Angel

Year 6 Boys: 3rd - Kyle

Year 7 Girls: 3rd - Jess

Year 7 Boys: 4th - Ruairi

Year 8 Girls: 4th - Lauren

Year 8 Boys: 2nd - Stewart

Congratulations to all the students who participated in this tough race!

What values do you need to demonstrate to take part in the cross country?

What did you do to train for the cross country?

Tokomaru School Cross Country 2013

Cross Country Day

I’m all pumped up! Ready here right now! Now it’s the time, the moment.  I spring off. Wow! I’m doing it. I started to concentrate on my feet. What? Wow, I’m starting to lose my balance.  Oh man! I have gone back a bit. The people in the front went ahead of me.  I should catch up. But of course I did catch up but I’m still behind a little bit. I kept up my pace around the corner as people were cheering for me, Henry and Josh. I got a little bit further and further ahead then I slowed down. “I better catch up so this can be over and done with”.  So we headed over to the Stevensons farm, down the rail way track. “Zoom, zoom, get out of my way, let’s go, go, go” I yelled to myself.  Speeding past people round the corner. Whoa, what’s wrong with my legs?  They’re starting to wobble but somehow they get me up the slope. Look it’s the finish line! It’s like its destiny; it’s like I can almost leap over the line!  Everyone says well done.  I’m lying down, puffing with exhaustion.  I am so proud of myself for finishing the race.

Tyler S

Swimming at the Lido

To follow up our swimming lessons last term, we went to the Lido for some more instruction.  Some students from Room 1 discussed what they had learned today:

Josh: "I learned that fast kicking is a good thing to know because that might make you better at freestyle"

Teigan: "I got better at backstroke today because I don't usually like backstroke, but I worked on it today"

O'Meara-Jean: "I got better at breathing today because I was trying really hard"

Cody: "I worked on freestyle.  I learned not to put my hands at the top at the board, I am supposed to put them at the bottom"

Natalia: "We had to hold onto the bottom of the flutterboard and not let go so we could get better at freestyle"

Henry: "I learned to spin my arms better by touching my thigh when my arm comes around.  This will make me better at freestyle"

What did you learn at swimming today?

How will this make you a better swimmer?

Tokomaru Tip Top Behaviour Awards

Make sure that you get 'caught' displaying the Tokomaru School values and you will receive a Tip Top Award.  Collect a minimum of 10 by the end of the term and you will receive a special reward.

Tokomaru School Values

iMove Term 2

iMove is an initiative promoted by Sport Manawatu to encourage children, whanau, and workplaces to ditch the car and walk or bike to school or work. 

At Tokomaru School, iMove starts on Monday 20th May.  We are running iMove every day for 4 weeks.  Walk, bike, scooter, skateboard: try them all!

How to iMove: Get to school using your own energy, collect a stamp, and be in to win heaps of awesome prizes!

Spelling Bee 2013

We have got our spelling lists and sponsorship forms: we are ready for the Spelling Bee 2013! 

We have to make sure that we test ourselves each night - both aloud and on paper - and collect as many sponsors as we can.

Check out some of the Spelling links on our blog to help you too!

Good luck everyone!

What is your best strategy for learning spelling words?

 

Important dates:

Spelling Bee sponsorship forms go home: 13.5.13

Spelling Bee sponsorship forms come back to school: 27.5.13 

Spelling Bee Testing Day: 4.6.13 (results go home on this day)

Sponsorship money back to school by 17.6.13

Scarecrows from Space

Henry and Philip Jack read the non-fiction article 'Scarecrows from Space'.  After reading they decided they would make some scarecrows too.  Check out their scary scarecrows:

Henry's Scarecrow - "It was exciting and fun to make it.  He looks angry because he is scaring aliens away"

Philip Jack's Scarecrow - "It was very fun making scarecrows.  You have to have hay to stuff the scarecrow with and you need rope so the pants stay up!"

Mellow Yellow, Henry, Philip Jack, and Alien Boxer keep the aliens away from Tokomaru School!

The Solar System

A song about the solar system: