WEEK 8'S TOP TEN

HOT TOPIC AT SCHOOL TODAY - THE EARTHQUAKE

Dear Parents and Caregivers

After last night's big shake the children came to school telling stories about the earthquake.  We decided it was an opportune moment to remind the children about what to do in an earthquake.  

We started the session giving the children a few minutes to talk to their friends about last night and then we went over the  earthquake procedure.  

The procedure is, that if the children are in class they are to DROP, COVER, HOLD. They can go under a table or a bench if it is nearby, otherwise they need to curl up like a turtle.  We have told the children that they need to turn their backs to the glass windows so that any broken glass does not damage their beautiful faces 😉

The children went to pretend to work in our classroom and we pretended there was an earthquake.  I said "Earthquake" and the children all assumed the DROP, COVER, HOLD position.  I spoke to them during our fake earthquake, explaining that in a real earthquake it might be a bit noisy and things might be wobbling about, but the teachers will talk calmly to them the whole time to reassure them that everything will be OK.

After the earthquake, if necessary, Mrs Peck will ring the Evacuation Bell and we will assembly outside.

Next we sang our TurtleSafe Song...

We talked about what happens if you are outside when an earthquake happens.  We told the children that they are to check they are away from anything that could fall on them and then DROP, COVER, HOLD.

The children decided that they would like to write about the earthquake so they were allowed to work alone, or in small groups to write a story today.  

The children were all very calm today.  They seemed confident that they would know what to do in an earthquake and most importantly, they know we will look after them.

I am posting this tonight so that you are aware of the discussion at school as you may like to reinforce this at home.  

Below is a link with a few tips Nigel Latta has on how to help children deal with stress of these types of events.

http://www.goldfishwisdom.org/parents/coping-with-disasters

Thanks for your support and keep safe...

Jo xxx

WEEK 5 TOP TEN

PLACE VALUE CARD CHALLENGE!

We had loads of fun at Maths today.  We are learning all about place value.  Today Mrs Lunn made us a game to practise our place value knowledge.  

First we picked three cards (no picture cards of 10s)

Next we wrote our cards down.

Then we had to figure out what the smallest number we could make from the three cards and then the biggest number.

For example:  If our cards were 435  the smallest number would be 345 and the biggest number would be 543.

We were pretty good at this!

We can try this at home.  Start with two or three cards and work our way up to four or maybe five cards!  Now that's tricky!!!

Good luck

WEEK FOUR'S TOP TEN!

WEEK THREE'S TOP TEN

WEEK TWOS TOP TEN - ENJOY!

GREATER THAN AND LESS THAN!

Today we learnt about Greater Than and Less Than.  We sang this catchy song to help us learn which way the sign goes.

You can help us at home by writing down two numbers and we have to put the correct maths symbol in.

LAST WEEK'S TOP TEN

PATTERN AND ALGEBRA

For the next two weeks we will be learning all about Pattern and Algebra.  Here is a song we LOVE to sing.

You can help us at home by getting us to make or draw patterns.

PUNCTUATION PRACTICE

For the second half of this term, we have been learning about using punctuation in our writing.  Here is a link to a great game that we can play at home...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/using_punctuation/play/

GEOMETRY

For the last two weeks of the term we will be learning all about GEOMETRY.  Here's a couple of catchy songs to get us in the mood for learning...

You can help us at home by getting us to recognise shapes around the house.  We could every practise drawing shapes too.  

WEEK SEVEN'S TOP TEN - HOW MANY CAN YOU GET RIGHT?

LAST WEEK'S TOP TEN

S;

OUR FIRST TOP TEN

MATHS TOP TEN

Mrs Lunn has introduced a new activity as part of our Maths Knowledge session.  When we first come into Wonderland, we have to quickly get ready for Top Ten.  This is where we are asked 10 quick maths questions based on the different areas of Mathematical knowledge we should have acquired over the year so far.  Mrs Lunn asked us if we would like her to put the past week's Top Ten on the blog so we could practice at home.  We said yes!  So each week Mrs Lunn will put the Top Ten up on the blog for us.

Reading practice

WOW! We are so impressed with your children's reading development! There are so many children who have now moved from 'learning to read' to 'Reading to learn'.

This is just a reminder that it is just as important for your child to be read to and with, to ensure their continued reading development and in particular how good readers read. Now that the children are reading independently sometimes we will not have reading on an individual basis everyday for instructional reading as these other important reading behaviours are being reinforced and consolidated through buddy reading, reading instructions in authentic situations. Therefore, your child may not have a new reading book from school each and every day.
We completely agree that the children need to read in some shape or form every day, and so encourage you to read a chapter or picture book from home together. Maybe you could go to the library and read together, or read a chapter book to them. This helps with reading stamina and memory (which I know lots of you do already).

A suggestion would be to read the school newsletter together and discuss the goings on at school every other Thursday or read the blog. You could even practise writing by commenting on blog posts too.  There are Literacy links and songs on the blog too.  A lot of valuable reading learning that is real life and authentic can come from this.

Mostly though, enjoy your relaxed reading time with each other.
This is a link I found that could be interesting for you to read.
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/documents/about/research/readtoyoungchild.pdf
Reading needs to be enjoyable and not a chore!

READ RAPUNZEL

Check out the following link for the traditional fairy tale of Rapunzel...

http://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/rapunzle/story.htm

Or watch it online ...

MONEY MONEY MONEY

For the next two weeks we are going to be learning all about Money.  Today we had a close look at the different notes and coins that we have in New Zealand.  Then we had a go at practising adding our coins together.

You can help us at home by supporting us to count our pocket money, discussing how much things cost and by looking at prices in brochures.

MONEY MONEY MONEY - HERE'S WHAT WE ARE UP TO IN MATHS!