Annie, sharing about China

We were very lucky to have Annie Richardson come in and talk to us all about China.  Annie was fantastic. She shared with us about her culture and the celebrations that are important in her. We learnt  how to do calligraphy, we played a fun game involving chopsticks and we listened to some music using different types of Chinese instruments. Thank you Annie, we learnt so much.

Making Dragons with Miss McClintock

We have been very lucky to have Miss McClintock come and teach us in Room 9 for 3 weeks.  Miss McClintock is a 2nd year student teacher from the University of Otago.

We learnt all about dragons and how they are important in the Chinese culture. We wrote imaginative stories and created our very own dragons in small groups.

We had to work together to design what our dragon faces would look like.  Using a range of cardboard boxes and newspaper and LOTS of masking tape we were then ready to paint.  In teams, we decided on our colours and made our dragons come to life!

Here are some photos of the process:

 
 

  

 

 

   
 
 
 
 
 

House Awakes Poetry

 PERSONIFICATION

Personification is when you make a thing, idea, or an animal do something that only humans can do.

For example:  ‘Wind yells while blowing’ or ‘a tree waves its arms’

Have a read and see if you can spot the personification in some of our poems about

‘A House Awakes’

Toothbrush wiggles inside my mouth

The garage opened its mouth

The shower swallows water

The fire coughs smoke.

By Kiijahna

My alarm clock sings

Suddenly taps dribble

Straight after...pipes gurgle

Mum's i-phone blinks

The coffee machine spits

The table groans

The shower cries

The roof creaks

The wind talks and...

Walls chatter.

By Thomas

The tap vomits hot and cold water

Toaster coughs out toast

Shower sneezes out hot water

Toothbrush sings

Knives fight for freedom

The floorboards groan.

By Jacob Cushen

The old lazy fire stretches 

Kitchen draws have a conversation

The roof talks to the birds

Doors fighting

The TV flickers and the radio sings

Luke still snoring his head off.

By Billy Bezett

As the curtains are pulled back

Windows open their eyes

The photos blink and stare at me

The tap spits out freezing cold water

Cupboard opening arms reach out at me

As the garage opens it starts to yawn.

By Ella

I-pad blinks open its eyes

Washing machine gargles

Garage door yawns

Hose gives the house a shower

Table eats pancakes

My house is going to work.

By Elsie

Haiku Poetry

Today the children have been learning about Haiku Poetry.  
This is a Japanese style of poetry that follows a strict structure where it has only three lines and follow a pattern of;
 5 syllables, 
7 syllables,  
5 syllables.  
It is often used to describe nature.

Children worked together in small groups to try and create a haiku poem about 'Wind'. This is what they came up with...

Wind

Wind blows in my face

It whistles along the green leaves,

It twirls around me.

Qwenton, Caleb, Hwi Seong

Wind

The soft wind whispers

Moving branches on the trees

Birds fly away home.

Dylan, Kiijahna, Jacob C

Wind

Dancing in the sky

Twirling, whirling in my face

Blows me off my feet.

Amelíe, Briana

Wind

Wind dancing gently

Roughly whooshing through the air

Air gentle but cool.

Nicholas, Thomas & Julia

Wind

Twirling, swirling wind,

The rough wind blows violently,

The calm wind blows slow.

Marek, Billy, Alexia

Wind

Dancing whistling wind

Wind blowing in our faces

Twirling, whirling wind.

Chloe, Hannah, Hazel

The Wind

Whistling gentle wind

Silently but violently

Powerful and rough.

Ella, Amanda, Harriet

The Wind

Violently gusting

Swishing, twirling wind dances

Blows away cobwebs.

Harry, Will, Jacob Mc

International Day

We have had a great first week back for term 4 and to finish the week we have enjoyed celebrating our cultures within our classroom with International Day.  From singing songs, writing our name in korean, sharing stories and sharing some tasty dishes from around the world it is fair to say we have thoroughly enjoyed our day.  Here are some photos of our day.