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...