T4W2 Reflections

It was satisfying when ...

I finished my African masks (Josh)
Jada-Lee included me in the game (Niamh M)
I painted my mask because I liked it (Luca)
I helped with the Butterfly Garden (Swastik)
I watched the cricket and reminding other people they needed to watch and not play tag (Fynn)
We got a new car (Olivia)
We won the relay (Jamie)

Week 1 Assembly

On Friday we hosted the Year 3 Assembly. We did some great singing and certificates were awarded to;

Heart of Achievement: Marina
Achievement: Josh
Values: Libby

Congratulations!

Athletics Day

What a great day! It was wonderful to see everyone participating in all the events throughout the day.
A highlight for Room 19 was the Year 3 Relay events because Room 19 won the boys AND the girls Year 3 relay races.

Congratulations! We are all very proud of you.

Here are some photos from the Sprints Event. If you have other photos, we would love to include them on the blog.

Money questions

We have been looking at money from other countries. Niamh B brought in some coins from Ireland. They had some interesting engravings on them.

Fynn brought in some coins from Australia.

We noticed that the 50 cent coin from Australia had 12 straight sides. We know that a shape with 5 sides is a pentagon, and a shape with 8 sides is an octagon - but what is a 2D shape with 12 equal, straight sides called??? Lachie and Luca earned a Money Jar Guess by finding out last night.


Click on the link below and see if you can figure it out too. There is also a quiz at the end for you to try.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/shape.html

We found out that the Austraian 50 cent coin is the third largest in the world being used. Check out this site if you want to find out some more about this coin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_fifty-cent_coin

I wonder what other shapes coins come in? Niamh M is wondering what is the biggest and what is the smallest coin? Time for some more research.

How much is in the jar?

Check out Mrs D's coin jar? How much do you think is in there? Earn a guess - but make sure you write it correctly!

Money Money Money

Our topic in math this week is money.

First of all we brainstormed what we already knew;

• different countries have different money (currencies)
• we have dollars and cents
• you can earn money
• you can buy things with money
• you can sell things to get money
• you give it away (donate)
• coins have heads and tails
• some people have lots of money (rich)
• some people don't have much at all (poor)
• some times people steal money
• money can be transferred around the world
• you can save money
• you can put money in the bank
• some money isn't real (counterfeit)
• money doesn't grow on trees

Then we looked at some real money. We noticed that;

• there are notes and coins
• the notes look like they are made from paper - but it feels funny
• the coins are made from metal
• when you hold a note up to the light you can see the Queen
• the coins have carvings (engraving) on them
• the notes don't rip like paper

We had some questions that we want to answer.

• What kind of paper are the notes made of?
• Why are the notes and coins all different sizes?
• Why do they have different pictures on them?
• Who are the people on the notes?
• How do they decide what people/animals to put on the money?
• Why is the Queen's face hidden in the paper?
• What is the wee window on the notes?

We will be investigating the answers to these questions. Some websites that might be useful for our research are;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_dollar

http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/currency/money/3258122.html

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/technology/money.html

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0769539.html

http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/moneyville/pop5.htm

T4W1 Newsletter

Welcome to Term 4. 

The holidays have just whizzed passed and I can't believe it is Term 4 already. 

We have lots of events this term starting with Athletics Day in Week 2, the Monster Fair at the end of Week 4, Beach Ed in Week 8 and a Duathlon in Week 9. We will be looking for parent helpers who are prepared to get wet for the Beach Ed day to help keep everybody safe. Dig out those wet suits! 

Inquiry this term is based on fundraising, both within our school community and for communities overseas. In math our focus for the first couple of weeks will be on money, then we will be moving onto statistics and probability. Our literacy focus will be on explanations and how posters are used for advertising products and events. Mrs Brown has some great art with an African theme planned too.

Term 4 is also sun hat time! Make sure you have your hat with you EVERYDAY, and please, please PUT YOUR NAME IN IT! Group points will be awarded.

Just as well we have some long weekends to rest up! 

Welcome to Term 4!

I hope you all enjoyed the holidays - they seemed to go much too fast. I have spent a lot of time in my garden pulling out weeds and also sitting under my favourite tree reading books. I have found a great novel to share with you in class called "A crack in the sky". It is written by Kyle Mewburn who also wrote the "Do Not Push" novel we enjoyed at the beginning of the year. Check out his website at the link below and see how many other books you recognise from our shared reading sessions in class.

http://www.kylemewburn.com/index.html

See you on Monday.