Daffodil Day mufti- don't they look great!

Today was special for another reason too- the first day in about 2 months that we had EVERYONE in Room 18 at school! Fantastic to have everybody well again- let's hope that's the last of the winter illness- roll on Spring :-)  :-)  :-)

Daffodil Day Tomorrow!

Don't forget to try to wear some yellow, green or orange and to bring a gold coin tomorrow for Daffodil Day.

Tennis Taster

2 coaches from the tennis club visited us today to give us a taster of tennis, to see if the children would be interested in playing for a Witherlea team on Saturday mornings in Term 4 and Term 1 of next year.

Speech Competition

In Week 8 Witherlea School will be holding its biennial Speech Contest for the whole school! The children in Kowhai are writing a persausive speech about something they are interested in or feel strongly about.

The speech has to be about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes and should have at least 5 paragraphs.

The first paragraph should have a "hook"- something that gets people interested. It should also state what the person is going to be arguing for or against.

Here is Ayla's first paragraph:

Do your parents yell at you for watching too much TV? Well I think that people should stop staring at TV screen and get outside and do some exercise.

The second, third and fourth paragraphs should give three different reasons WHY they think this, and include lots of detail, facts and information.

Here is Izzy's second paragraph about why she thinks we should have a new flag:

My first reason is that the New Zealand flag should change because it doesn't have anything to do with New Zealand. Like if we had a kiwi  or a silver fern on the flag we could say that it represents New Zealand. .Now we have a union jack on our flag which is the flag for UK and we don't want another flag to be like ours.

Here is Sylvie's third paragraph about why she believes that children should have less sugary foods in their lunchboxes:

My next reason is that if children have healthier lunches it would be better for the environment. Mostly all the things that come in packets are unhealthy. All the packets are sent to the dump or become litter. Some fruit does come in plastic bags but most of it doesn't. It takes 450 years or over for most plastic to break down! It would be much better if people had healthier things in reuseable containers/bags.

The last paragraph should sum up all the arguments in a final statement. No one has got this far yet! We are working very hard on this but it is proving quite a challenge! The children are very welcome to continue work at home if they want to.

Sketching

Room 18 continue to impress me with their sketching skills- they are getting better and better!

Kowhai Mural

Today we held a special ceremony to celebrate the Kowhai mural.

Don't forget your money tomorrow...

Kahurangi Performance

This morning we were visited by the Kahurangi performers. They shared some amazing dancing and singing with us. Here are some of our reflections:

Sylvie: I think it would have taken a lot of practise and it was amazing.

Grace: I think the best dance was the Matariki Dance.

Teri: The dancing was amazing

Hayden: I wonder how long it took them to practise.

Baylee: I loved the Maori legend of Matariki.

Ayla: I liked learning all the Maori words.

Meila: I liked the Maori legend of Matariki and the dancing we all did with them!

Keeton: I liked the dance with the fish.

Izzy: I liked when the girls did the Poi and I also liked it when the boys did the Haka.

Harrison: I liked when they were singing and playing the guitar- it was cool!

Bede: I liked it when they did the Haka for the war.

Sensational Scootering!

Don't forget you scooter and helmet tomorrow!

Omaka Recounts

Omaka

By Ayla

Last friday we went to Omaka. We were going because we are learning about the history of flight. We all went in different cars.

First we went outside to look at some World War 2 airplanes. Mr Orchard told us one of the planes could fit two cars inside. Then he told us about planes with one layer of wings (monoplane) two layers of wings (biplane) and three layers of wings(triplanes). He told us that they were building a World War two exhibit at the back.

Next we went inside. At the first exhibit he told us that  Peter Jackson bought most of the planes. Then he told us that one of the exhibits weighed the exact same as a courier bus.Then we went to the next part of the room. He told us that the germans had a machine called an interrupter. That meant that they could have a machine gun on the front and it wouldn't hit the propeller. So when they shoot it would not hit the propeller.

The next room we went in was the Red Baron. Mr Orchard told us that he shot down 80 planes. Then we walked over to a glass case and saw lots of cups. Mr Orchard told us that when the Red Baron shot a plane he bought a cup and that Peter Jackson had bought 4 of them. Peter Jackson also bought the real cross on the Red Baron's plane and he also bought the Red Baron's hankie!

I thought omaka was an amazing learning experience. If you want more info then go see for yourself!   

Omaka Airfield

By Sylvie.    

Last Friday Room 18 went to Omaka Airfield. We went because we are studying flight this term.

When we arrived Mr Orchard talked to us about the planes outside the museum. There were biplanes (Two sets of wings) and mono planes (one set of wings) . We saw fighter planes, cargo planes and flying bombs. The cargo planes could fit two or three cars in them! I thought the flying bombs were amazing. They didn't have a pilot and when they landed they exploded!

A short while later we went inside to the museum and Mr Orchard talked to us about the different exhibits. Some of the planes had flown before and they still had oil dripping from the tank! The germans had invented a very clever contraption called an interrupter so when they shot, a signal went to the propeller and it moved out of the way before the bullet fired.  

Next we saw an exhibit about the Red Baron. The Red Baron shot down 80 planes and was a fighter ace. He was shot down by a group of soldiers on the ground. When the plane had been shot the group of soldiers took parts of the plane as souvenirs for after the war. Peter Jackson had given the museum a few of the red baron’s trophies and his handkerchief. The Red Baron’s real name was Manfred Von Richthofen.

I thought Omaka airfield was an awesome museum and it was an amazing trip.

More O Wings....

Today the children had the chance to design their own O Wings and then test fly them outside. We ended up with some very interesting designs! Keeton's seemed to be the most successful- flying the furthest on nearly every race.