Week 8

Wow would you believe we actually have a full week of school this week! It's been such a mucky term, that it will be a novelty to have a uninterrupted week of learning!

Last week during math we began a unit on Averages - mean, mode and median. This week I will introduce 'range' as the last of the 4 types of averages. Students will be demonstrating their learning by completing a short presentation and sharing it on their blogs.

Last week we also finally finished our Waitangi presentations. These will be uploaded to blogs this week as well. The presentations weren't as high a quality as I would have liked but the learning the children gained about the Treaty and Waitangi is evident, so that is the main thing.

I was really proud of all the Year 7 and 8 students on Friday during our school triathlon. They all completed their own triathlon and then went and helped the Year 1 and 2 students to complete theirs. They were true Toko Learning Stars with their participation, their attitudes and their willingness to help.  So well done to everyone!

    

This week we get further into our poetry unit and start putting those figurative language features that we learned about last week, into practice. We finish off averages in math and start working through what our class will present on the Jubilee open evening in our class.

Have a great week.

Week 7 Update

Hopefully everyone had a nice long weekend and enjoyed Taranaki Anniversary. This week is of course another short week - seems to be the theme this term!

In math we will be learning about averages - mean, median and mode. We will be doing this through our chickens. We will be weighing them and then using the weights to work out the different types of averages. A way to help at home would be to ask your child to explain the three types of averages, that will help check their understanding and make it clearer in their minds. There is a video that has been shared to all the students that explains averages. 

In writing we are beginning a figurative language unit based around the poetry of Iain Sharp. We will be unpacking and learning about the different types of figurative language and then writing poems about ourselves based on them. 

Both the figurative poems and an explanation of averages should be up on student blogs by the end of the week, or early next week. 

Reminders

* Turnbull Cup - Wednesday night for those involved 

*  Run, Jump, Throw - Wednesday 

*  Basketball Trials - lunchtime Wednesday and Thursday 

* Triathlon - Friday 16th 

* Union Meeting for teachers is on Wednesday afternoon - parents are asked to pick up children at 1.30pm. If you are not able to pick up your child earlier there will be some staff here to look after them. 

Week 6 Update

It's a short week in the class this week, with Swimming Sports on Monday and Teacher Only Day on Friday.  But during the 3 middle days we will be investigating how our Maths Hub works in greater detail and learning more about how our learning game - Prodigy - works. In reading we continue to get deeper into our class book, Refugee, and in writing we begin a short study on one of the three dictators that impact on the story. We are also still reading a chapter a day of Make Your Bed, which we continue to link to our Learning Stars and our class treaty.
Our Waitangi drama's are coming along and should be shared next week. The prop making was taking over from the script writing, so we have put prop making on the back burner until groups actually have characters and a script!
Our chickens continue to be popular, in fact the class think we should have several 'snuggle time' sessions timetabled into the day. We are still waiting for our leg bands to arrive so the real learning can begin.

Reminders 

Swimming sports is on Monday for all Year 4-8 students. Toko tops, black shorts need to be worn and  togs, towels, water and food need to be packed.
Town pool boat safety on Wednesday again. We are back at school by 1pm, so students that want hot lunch can still have one.
Friday is Teacher Only Day and the following Monday is Taranaki Anniversary.

Chickens and Learning

A box of 30 (one for each student) fluffy one-day-old chicks arrived today at school. I thought the kids might have been too old for fluffy chicks but they certainly weren't!
The arrival of these chickens has made for some great maths learning. Yesterday the problem below was posed on the board:

Question:

Pippa, Libby and Gus rang the Lepperton Hatchery on Friday. They will have one day old chickens for us sometime this week, hopefully.

The chickens cost $3.50 each, plus GST and we have asked for 30 chickens.

How much will it cost us in total to buy the chickens?

This prompted some fabulous learning about GST and percentages. Thank you to everyone who discussed GST and percentages at home with their children. Students first had to learn what GST is and why we have it, and how it impacts on our lives. Then they had to work out that GST is 15% which of course lead into percentages - what they are and how to work them out. This will be the basis of our learning for the next few days.

Another problem came to light today when our 30 babies arrived all looking exactly the same! We decided to buy some stretchy rubber leg bands to go on the chickens so we could identify them however the leg bands only come in 6 different colours. The challenge was put to the students to find a way to use the bands and colours in the most effective cost efficient way. To add to the challenge - the bands come in packs of ten.

 

Lots of great ideas and patterns were created. We shared our ideas and looked at the positives and negatives in each idea. In the end we decided to go with one of each colour on the left leg, one of each colour on the right leg, one of each colour on both legs, two of each colour on the left leg and two of each colour on the right leg.  Once the bands have been ordered and arrive, we will be able to identify each chicken and name them!

Week 5 Update

Well last week was a very unsettled week with ex-Cyclone Gita impacting on all of us in some way or other. Hopefully everyone has power and water back now and life is getting back to normal.

Even though we missed a couple of days of school we managed to complete our self portraits - which are hanging on the wall looking very striking! Students began planning their Waitangi dramas which will presented in assembly and will be recorded and posted on individual blogs when they are complete.

This week we begin CSI Reading which is a programme that will help identify strategies for reading and will encourage students to be active participants in reading. These things will help us when reading any text and is necessary at this level as nearly every subject involves reading in some way.

Students will begin investigating percentages this week and should come home asking questions about how GST impacts on your family. It would be very helpful if you could point out percentages in newspapers, shops, etc, so that students can see understanding percentages is a really useful skill.

We continue reading Refugee and it continues to capture the children's imaginations. Last week we began completing a venn diagram that showed similarities and differences between Germany 1939, Cube 1994 and Syria 2015.  The students have been quite surprised that the things we are reading about actually happened and are in fact still happening in some countries.

Reminders 
We are going to the Stratford Pool this Wednesday and next Wednesday for water and boat safety lessons with instructors from the pool. We will be leaving after morning tea and returning at lunch time. Students will need togs and towels. Those that want to have a hot lunch can have it when we return at 1pm. While we are there we will be completing time trials for those that wish to trial for the Turnball Cup relay team.


Students have been shared the House Leader criteria and those that wish to put themselves forward for this leadership opportunity will need to have a handed in a short piece of writing explaining why they would be good for the job by Tuesday.

Week Four Update

Thank you to everyone for attending the initial parent interviews last week. It was fabulous to catch up with everyone and learn more about your children and how I can help them this year. I found these very useful and informative and will use the information provided to make stronger connections with your children.
This week our self portraits based on Modigliani will be posted to individual blogs along with some facts about the artist himself - look out for these. 
Students have also been working on creating performances that explain and show their understanding of our recent Waitangi unit. I hope to share these in our assembly in a couple of weeks.
I have begun individual maths conferences with all the students. We work through the recent maths test together, look at the questions that were incorrectly answered and work out why they got it wrong. From there we plan what areas of maths they need to work on.
This week we will also be looking closely at the science curriculum to see what we need to do, then we will make a plan that fits the curriculum needs and what the students want. Science will hopefully form a big part of our writing programme this term as well.
REMINDERS 
We are going to the Stratford Pool this Wednesday and next Wednesday for water and boat safety lessons with instructors from the pool. We will be leaving after morning tea and returning at lunch time. Students will need togs and towels. Those that want to have a hot lunch can have it when we return at 1pm. While we are there we will be completing time trials for those that wish to trial for the Turnball Cup relay team.
Students have been shared the House Leader criteria and those that wish to put themselves forward for this leadership opportunity will need to have a handed in a short piece of writing explaining why they would be good for the job by Wednesday.

Have a great week.

Week Three Update

After two short weeks we are into our first full week of school. Last week we started learning about the Treaty of Waitangi and how it came about. We will continue to develop our knowledge in this area this week as well.
Our class book - Refugee - has really caught the imagination of the students and they are already learning how lucky we are to live in New Zealand! We have put maps of the three countries into our books and are starting character studies about the three main characters. We have had some great discussions around what a concentration camp is as well as how some people can.. become leaders when they obviously aren't very nice people.  Some of the students are really showing their thoughtfulness and caring as they wonder how we could help the Syrian people.

Our class motto this year is - CHOOSE KIND. It's part of the full saying "If you have a choice between being right and being kind, choose kind". We will be working hard throughout the year to live up to this motto and ensure we are kind to everyone, not just our friends.

Towards the end of the week, look out for some great self portraits on the students individual blogs. These portraits take the pressure away from drawing an accurate picture of themselves as they are based on Modigilani and his style of portraits.

Looking forward to seeing you all at interviews this week and learning more about each of the students in my class.

Week 2 Update

We had a great first week back at school. Everyone settled in quickly and this new group of Year 7/8 students already has a great feeling.
We spent a bit of time creating a class treaty. We decided that we already knew the rules and behaviour expectations for Toko School, so we didn't need to dwell on that. Instead our treaty is about learning and being the best that we can be - as that is why we come to school.
After a lot of discussion and brainstorming we decided that the things listed below were the most important for us.

• Have a positive 'I can' attitude
• Remember the power of 'YET'
• Celebrate mistakes and successes
• Challenge ourselves by taking the path that pushes us
• Judge people by the size of their heart
• Make wise choices with our learning  
• Live to our Learning Star values
• Respect other's right to learn
• Use Plan B-Z if plan A doesn't work

We will be displaying our treaty on the wall and will be checking in that we are following our agreed learning behaviours.

Last week we also spent some time looking at our learning stars and linking them to the book Make Your Bed. Each of the chapters in the book link to our learning stars as well as containing a great life message.

This week, as well as continuing with last week's learning, we will begin a unit on the Treaty of Waitangi. We will work through a unit that starts from when New Zealand was uninhabited by humans, then the arrival of the first Maori around 800 years ago and on to the settling of New Zealand by the British. Gaining an understanding of how the Settlers changed the lives of the Maori is vital in order to understand how the Treaty came about. At the end of the unit students will work in small groups to create a performance that shows their learning in this area.

We will also begin to brighten up the room through a unit of work looking at the artist Modigliani. Students will investigate Modigliani and will produce a self portrait in his style of art.

Team Building activities also continue. Last week students completed an activity where they were either giving instructions or listening to instructions. Some good lessons were learned around giving precise instructions and making sure help or further explanations were given if you didn't understand an instruction. This week students will complete a maths task in small groups that actually can't be solved unless they work as a team with another team. Teamwork is important in all areas of life as we nearly always have to work with others and consider their point of view.

Also this week we begin reading our class book - Refugee. This is a powerful book that follows the lives of 3 children as they escape their countries of birth with their families. The following is a review that Common Sense Media have written for parents:

Parents need to know that Refugee by Alan Gratz is a historical novel that braids the stories of three young refugees in three different time periods and settings: 1938 Berlin, 1994 Cuba, and 2015 Syria. The circumstances of all the kids and families are dire, and their journeys are fraught with imminent danger. The publisher recommends this book for kids starting at age 9, but due to the level of violence and peril, we recommend it for 10 and up. Though all three protagonists survive for the length of the story, all lose family members. Josef the Berlin Jewish boy gets beat up, as does Cuban Isabel's father. Syrian Mahmoud's home is destroyed by a missile, and he sees a dead man floating in the sea, as well as a soldier with a bullet in his head. Some in the book almost drown. But the book isn't gratuitously violent. It paints a vivid picture of the plight of refugees, and the kids and families seem both real and relatable, making this a good book for sparking family discussion. 

Thank you to those of you that have already signed up to this blog. It really is the best and easiest way to keep up with the learning your child is involved in.

Have a great week and enjoy Waitangi Day.

Welcome Back

         
Welcome to Room 6 and 2018.  This year there are 30 students as well as myself and Treena working in Room 6, so we're a big crew but we've got the big room so we'll have plenty of space.

Our first few days at school will be focused on learning to work together as a group - these Year 7 and 8 students have not worked together previously - and learning the routines and expectations associated with our class.

We will be watching a short video called 'Make Your Bed' and working our way through a book of the same name. The video is very inspiring and links nicely to the Toko School Learning Stars.

        


We will also be completing a range of activities to enhance our co-operation, problem solving and thinking skills.  These activities will be based around maths, reading and writing but the true focus will be on the skills listed above.

Next week we will begin learning about Waitangi Day and what it means. We will also begin reading a book called Refugee. This book is very powerful and has many messages that will hopefully ignite some great conversation. I will post more information about the book next week so that you are able to have meaningful discussions at home with your children.

We will be swimming daily so please remind your children to bring their togs and towel everyday. Also a drink bottle is a necessity in this weather. Please ensure your child brings a bottle that they can have in the classroom.

Books will be handed out on Thursday and can be taken home for covering on Friday. Those that have the ezy style covers can simply bring the covers to school rather than lugging the books home.

If your child has a BYOD device it is important that they bring it to school everyday. We do have some devices in the class but not enough for everyone, so it makes much more sense for children who have their own device to bring it to school.

If you would like to contact me, I am more than happy to be emailed at sasha.hancock@toko.school.nz. I will reply to emails as soon as soon as I am able. Otherwise pop into school and see me before 9am or after 3pm.

Cheers
Sasha 😊

What's Up Week 6

Welcome to Week 6.  Only a few more weeks left until the school year is finished. The big focus for us this week is of course camp. I'm in the process of crossing t's and dotting i's and making sure everything is ready to go. I'm putting a copy of the gear list on here, as many students seem to have misplaced theirs. If you still have raffle tickets at home, please get them back to school by Thursday as I have to draw it on Friday afternoon.  Remember that students need to be at school by 8am on Monday. 

In class we are busy with Jubilee writing and art as requested by the Jubilee Committee. Students have to hand write a piece of writing all about themselves and draw a picture of themselves doing something they enjoy.

We are also finishing term reflections, which are then being shared with parents at interviews.

Year 8's will be shared a template for their end of year speeches this week, so they can start thinking about these. After camp we will put more focus on this. Parents need to have let the school know by Friday if they are attending the Year 8 leavers dinner.

Rotorua 2017 Gear List

PLEASE DO NOT BRING MOBILE PHONES OR LOLLIES

Day bag (such as their school bag)

Swimming togs

Towel x2 (swimming and showering)

Raincoat

Warm sweatshirts

Covered shoes for camp activities (such as sneakers - may like to bring a spare pair as well)

Underwear and socks for 5 days

Shorts and t-shirts

Long pants (make sure some warm clothes are packed even though it is summer)

PJ's

Sun hat

Warm hat

Pillow

Sleeping bag

Fitted single sheet for over the mattress (optional)

Toiletries (soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush, insect repellant, sunscreen, etc)

Waterbottle

Lunch box

Food

Packed lunch and morning tea for bus on Monday

Room 3 - home baking

Room 4 - fruit ( bag of apples or bunch or bananas etc)

Optional extra food - muesli bars, snack packs (no lollies or chocolate, etc)

Optional

Camera

Books

Spending money up to $20

Sunglasses

Torch