Caterpillars on Tuesday

Our runt close up!

The 2 bigger ones.

Our caterpillars have grown so big and Mrs Ryan thinks one of them will change soon . Our little runt is growing so fast too. We are amazed how much he eats !

More Visitors

Today Georgia's mice Pip and Brownie came to visit Room 8. They were active and inquisitive mice. Georgia told us that their favourite food was rice bubbles. They were too excited exploring and running around to eat today. We loved having them in class.

Our Caterpillars!

The biggest one.

The little runt caterpillar.

Already our little caterpillars have grown so much. They are eating the leaves quite quickly.This is what the looked like on Friday. Our little runt caterpillar looked like it had doubled in size over night. We were worried that he might be too weak. He looks happy now !

Meeting our Little Buddies

On Friday we met our little buddy class for the first time. The big buddies helped the Room 1 little buddies to make a caterpillar/butterfly flip changer on a pencil.
Everyone will be matched up and have a buddy for the year. It looks like everyone had fun when they met each other.

Meet Nate from Room 8

Nate our very own sock dude came to school to hang out with us on Monday. He is pretty cool and will look for people doing the right things and fantastic work in Room 8. He is loving learning about life cycles and butterflies. So welcome Nate. Enjoy our class.

Seeing a Miracle .

Mrs Ryan bought all the classes in Year 3 and 4 a swan plant and we planted it. We were lucky enough to see a movie clip made by Mr Dobson of one of the caterpillars on Mrs Ryan's plant change into a pupa. It was very exciting . And then the bell rang and it was back to class.....
We hope to get eggs and caterpillars on our plant and see them hatch into monarch butterflies. Our butterfly friendly garden is starting to happen.

And What Else?

We also learned to say hello in Russian. Miss Tuohy asked Ilya how to say it and googled how to spell it. We have been calling the roll in Russian. Ilya comes from Russia and has only been in New Zealand since Term 3 last year.

A Busy Week

We have had a busy week this week with testing and swimming instruction.
We did however have a visit from Tilly's mother guinea pig and her babies. They were so sweet and everyone got a little cuddle. Everyone was so happy playing with the babies.

Football Thursdays

What a busy day we had today with swimming and soccer. We are having soccer skills every Thursday for 8 weeks and some of us are pretty good already! How good will we get?

What is a Great Classroom?

Students brainstormed and shared their ideas about what kind of a classroom they would like to have in 2012. They shared and recorded their ideas on a Y chart with a group and then shared with the class.
The questions they were discussing were

• What would our class look like?
• What would it feel like to be in?
• What would it sound like?

The next step is to put these ideas into statements that form our class treaty and we will all work towards meeting them this year.

Week One

We have been working really hard this week. Students are working on their All About Me posters, our Charlotte's Web study and on Friday we designed and printed our portfolio title pages.
So far Room 8 love fitness, swimming and art.

How to make a Tornado in a Bottle.

We have lots of tornadoes in our class and lots of requests of how to make them. Here is a good link. Be careful you don't let them out and remember to ask your parents first.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Tornado-in-a-Bottle

Noah's Guppies

Noah's pet guppy had her babies yesterday and his dad was able to film it. Take a look.
What is special about this is that fish usually lay eggs. Guppies give birth to live fish. Amazing!

Welcome back to Term 1 2012

Welcome to our new school year.
After a lovely long holiday it is time to start a new learning journey in Room 8 in 2012.
Look at all the wonderful students we have in Room 8 this year.
Come back and see us often. We love messages. So please leave us a message.

Make it Happen.

Watch the clip below to see how things can happen if there is a will to do so. Our overall school theme is Make it Happen.

At 16 years old, Babar Ali must be the youngest headmaster in the world. He's a teenager who is in charge of teaching hundreds of students in his family's backyard, where he runs classes for poor children from his village.

The story of this young man from Murshidabad in West Bengal is a remarkable tale of the desire to learn amid the worst poverty.