Fun Run Training

We are training for the Fun Run. We ran around an obstacle course- jumping over and crawling or rolling under obstacles. We all showed a lot of determination to keep going when we were feeling tired. We are learning to pace ourselves and not run too fast at the beginning.

Fun Run Training from tracey hill on Vimeo.

Superhero Learning

The Superheroes of Room 1617 have worked so hard all term being wonderful managing self learners. Mrs Ramsay and Mrs H are so so proud of all you have achieved throughout the term. We celebrated our learning with ice cream spiders. YUM YUM!

Celebrating Our Learning on PhotoPeach

Have the most amazing holiday filled with happiness, fun and exciting memories. We look forward to next term and all the learning adventures we will have.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE

Thank you to Georgina for being the wonderful photographer.

Recycling

We have been learning about how important it is to reduce, reuse and recycle.

 Did you know that not all plastics are the same? 

We looked at some different plastics items and grouped them according to the numbers found on the plastic. The recycling number for plastic is found inside a triangle. It was easy to spot on some things but we had to look carefully to find it on other things. Some plastic items did not have a recycling symbol or number and this means it can not be recycled. 

Katie and Damarco looking carefully for the recycling number

All of these items have a number 1 on them

Ruben found a recycling number on this big bucket
then everyone began looking at all the plastic items around the classroom
to find out they can be recycled

James hunting for a recycling number but he couldn't find one

Even though these milk bottles look different they are both a number 2 plastic

Mac checking the lid and bottle have the same recycling number

Number 5 was found on all these items

Some lids and bottles had different recycling numbers.
We thought this was strange.

Blake found out that plastic shopping bags do not have a recycling number but
the small plastic bags have a recycling number of 4.

This is from the Hastings District Council website and shows what you can recycle and where it can be recycled. 

Overarm Throw

We have been learning to throw overarm.

We learnt a saying to help us remember how to throw overarm.

Side and point, smiley face, step, turn and throw. 
When we do this we stand side on. Our throwing arm is nearly straight behind our body. Our foot steps forward- the opposite one to our throwing arm. Our body turns to face the front. Our arm follows through. 

Overarm throw real from tracey hill on Vimeo.

Paper Making

We are learning how we can

An idea the Superheroes of Room 1617 had was to make sure we only put paper and cardboard into our paper bin at school. We noticed how much paper we used in our classroom and are putting in our recycling bin each day. 

After talking about paper being made from trees and the importance of trees the children of Room 1617 came up with an idea. 

THE IDEA

To make our own paper from the paper in our recycling bin. 

We ripped up paper from our recycling bin into small pieces.

 We added warm water to the paper and stirred it until all the paper was wet and covered in water.

We left the paper over night. Some little elves came and stirred the paper every few hours for us. 

We squished the wet paper up with our hands to make pulp and added a little corn flour. Gross!  

 We made our own strainers by poking holes in tin foil with our pencils.

We each got a scoop of pulp and placed our strainer over it to soak out most of the water. We tried to soak out as much water as we could.

We used a roller to flatten the pulp. I wonder if our pulp will turn into recycled paper? 

We will have to wait and see! 

Trench Writing

We have been learning to add detail to our writing to paint a picture in the readers' head. We have read, watched and learnt a lot about life during the war. We wrote letters home to the people we love to tell them about our life in the trenches. 

We had to imagine we were in the trenches and write like it was us in the trenches.

29 April 1915

Dear Mum
Life in the trenches is muddy and soggy. There are billions of rats that are the size of cats! At night rats come and try to creep in the trench to take our food. I feel homesick most of the time. I really want to go home. I hear loud artillery booming at night and my comrades weeping and begging for help. In the middle of no mans land there is a barb wire fence that the postmans horse jumps over. What is it like on the other side of the world? As I sleep I struggle because there are people squishing between me like an animal. I have to sleep standing up. Smoke is one of the things I always smell. Sometimes I only get a biscuit to nibble on for the whole week. I feel awful. Mud fills up my boots as I walk along the fawn brown mud. If you wanted to live in a trench I am telling you its dangerous. I really hope i don't get trench foot. If I get trench foot they will cut it off. When it is bed time I feel lonely because I want to be with my family. I miss you Mum. I really hope I see you soon.
Love Christina

Christina's goal is to begin her sentences in different ways.How well do you think she achieved her goal?

Dearest Mum
Its rotten in the trenches and the rats are as big as cats. How would you like to be in the trench? Yes or no? It is so sad because my friend is getting her foot cut off. Ouch to get their foot cut off it hurts badly. I don't want to be killed. People are shooting guns at us all the time. You can hear the guns shoot loud as. The people are dying every day and night too. I eat bicuits as hard as rock. I feel dead inside. I miss you.
Love from Katie

Katie's goal is to join 2 sentences together in different ways. How well do you think she achieved her goal? 

Dear Mum
I am tired of my friends getting killed or injured.  There are body lice that bite me all the time. I try not to scratch them. Artillery makes the land deadly, rats gobble up food of mine and my mates. It's tough fighting because artillery is surrounding us. Dead bodies start to stink. It's a pain climbing out of the trench to the Western Front the Turks are my great enemies. I really want to go home but know I can not I have to stay in the war to attack for New Zealand. I have earned my sixth badge. To me war feel like a new life of terror and survival plus so much sadness. What is it like back home happy, sad or sort of? Boom! Boom! Bombs have started exploding. Torty (the tortoise) is still in shape. I see people from the army with wounds, cuts and scars. I feel so sad the people have been getting shot like the old postman. And please tell Sergeant Rames family that I am sorry but he has been amputated above a blood knee. It was a fun time travelling to Europe but now it is tough. At night I just think about eating my Mums toasted sandwich. I once bit a soldier when I was  asleep and thought I was eating my Mums toasted sandwich. I wished none of this happened but it has. Some really really poor men have gotten their whole body in scars and blood. Each day passses with dead lying, some sob because of their wounds. My friend that I met when I was six years old Richy has lost his first eye please tell is mother and father thank you. I have only got one little scar on my arm. Men have been amputated. Richy's friend Stand has been. I've made new friends in my trench. A sand bag from the trench has already squished a soldier. It's really sad. I'd not want to go to another war for revenge I hope I don't have to. I am tired of fighting. Greg is still alive, is Rory alive?
Kind regards
Not forgotten
Angus

Angus M's goal is to begin his sentences in different ways. How well did he achieve his goal? 

Dearest Mum and Dad
Trench life is sooo...evil that I have ever ever ever seen in my life. No mans land is the most deadly place I have ever seen. Body lice, ticks and fleas drink our sick brown blood. 50,000 flies are buzzing around us. Kapow! Kapow! cannons and guns are blasting so when I try to sleep cannons are roaring so I can't sleep. Jet fighters are throwing artillery on our trench. We have to use out home made bombs and we heave it into the trench the enemies trench. You think its fine but it's not. We have to eat evil food. I am so sad there is muddy water to drink! My friend has sliced his whole arm. I ffel like my heart is breaking.
From Ashwin xxx
ps. I miss you very much. I'll save India

Ashwin's goal is using quality vocabulary. How well do you think he did with his writing?

29 April 1915

Dear Mum
Life in the trenches is awful! Stinky dead bodies lay in the narrow trenches. The stretcher beareres marched to scoop up the dead bodies with the long beds. Boom! went the sounds of the strong gun as they filled the pitch black night sky. Red, orange and yellow sparks flew across no mans land back and forward. Every day we have to eat a little bit of food. I wish I could come home to you. Two of my fellow comrades still live, Gemma and Freeda a dog. When I think of home it makes me feel homesick.
Hope to see you soon
Love Charlotte

Charlotte's goal is to begin her sentences in different ways. How did she go with her goal? 

Dear Mum
The trenches are rotten. In the trenches it is muddy and rats are everywhere and when you sleep you have sore feet. When it is wet I scratch heaps because of flies and other stinky old bugs. In the night it is cold when me and the soldiers sleep. In the night when I hear artillery everywhere kaboom, bang, boom and I only get a half sleep and I want to come home. I can't stand it anymore. I am sick of people dying and my mates dying and I am sick of guns shooting too. I really want to come home but I can't I have to save New Zealand to keep New Zealand a safe place to be. I wish I was back home in my comfy PJs and in my bed. In the field of no mans land is a new bomb that is poisonous gas.
Love from Zeph

Zephaniah's goal is to join 2 sentences together with different joining words. How do you think he achieved his goal? 

Dear Mum

In the trench it is very muddy and dirty! The trench is narrow. My job in the war was to fight and hand dig a trench! When I went to war it was really dangerous. I had to eat meat in a can and dry biscuits. When it was Christmas all I got was an orange. When I went to fight I saw stinky dead bodies lying on the ground. I was smart and made some bombs out of my cans. In the trench I had to eat, sleep and fight! The ground in the trench was slimy and damp and hot because I’ve been wearing these clothes for a long time now. Life in the trench is awful! I hate wars! Everyday all that I can hear is tank engines rolling up and killing lots of my friends. All I can see is guns shooting and dead people suffering on the ground from the bullets. I feel scared and I’m shivering from the loud noises and to make it worse they’re even louder at night time! At night cat sized rats were eating everyone’s food and they make really loud noises that wake my friends and me up. When the fighting around us was finished all I could see in No Man’s Land was dead people, bullets and fire. All the bullets were covered in blood. Today, I hope I’m going to come home. I’ve caught a very bad chill from night time and I’m scared because I don’t want to get trench foot! Lots of people have been dying in wars and especially in this one! The brick red blood oozes out of dead people. The bronze ground turns into scarlet ground. I really want to come home today! Love Louisa.

Louisa’s goal is to begin her sentences in different ways. How well has she achieved her goal?

29 April 1915

Dear Dad,

Life in the trenches is stinky. Lots of people died because they got shot from the artillery on No Man’s Land. All the time I hear guns going bang. It was hard to go to sleep in the soggy watery dirt. All of the time I am hungry because I only get a biscuit and a little bit of cornbeef because it has to last just about all week. It is so hard to not eat the food because I am tired of looking at it. I can smell smoke from the canons and from the dead bodies of friends. Some have been wounded from the Turkish fellas. Lots of them were shot from the New Zealanders. I hope to see you again in a while. Love from Jack.

Jack W’s goal is to use capital letters and full stops. He is also working on using vocabulary to create a picture for the reader. What words helped you get a vivid picture of life in the trenches?

Dearest family,

Trench life is very horrible! There are rats the size of cats and it is muddy. It is never ever a cool and fun place to live! It is a dangerous place with the Turks shooting at us! There are flies, ticks and body lice. Our food is dry and sometimes it’s hot, sometimes it’s cold.  We have to stay here for two or three years. Rats are eating our food. The soldiers are moaning and I hear guns firing and canons shooting us! I am scared of going out of the trench. Soldiers are dying and turning rotten. My biscuits are hard and dry. It is a deadly place to live. I want to go home but I can’t! It is the rules – if you do you get shot and I must serve my country. We have to fight, eat and sleep in the trenches. Our food is gross. Homemade bombs keep going. The Turks are our great enemy to defeat. I must win the fighting! I love you so much. xox Love Jordan.

PS. Be safe. I will save New Zealand.

Jordan’s goal is to use vocabulary (the best word) to create a vivid image for the reader? What words helped you get a picture in your head of life in the trenches?

Dearest Dad
Trench life is miserable. I am eating hard dry biscuits and it is deadly! Cat sized rats are eating the war scraps. I think will I live or not? I am in a terrible condition in a tight squeezy place. Tank tracks are roaring over head. My enemy are deadly because of how many tanks they have. I can see my mates sobbing because of their injuries. The tanks are my deadly enemy. Their jam tins are home made bombs. I don't want to have trench foot. My mates have trench foot. Even when we scratch it still itches. The trench is pitch black. 
Love from James
Ps. I wish I could come home bit I can't. Ticks are shocking to me causing nerve ending itches. My mates are dying from these terrible conditions. 

James' goal it to use vocabulary (the best word) to create a vivid picture for the reader. How well did James achieve his goal?

Fraction Fitness

We have been learning to find a fraction of a group or set. We had to work out what 1/4 and 1/2 of a set was eg. 1/4 of 12=3

Untitled from tracey hill on Vimeo.
It was so wonderful to hear the children debating and discussing fractions and justifying their decisions and strategies used with each other. 

Adding detail

We are learning to add detail to our writing. This helps the reader make a picture in their head and feel like they are part of the story. Authors are always thinking about adding quality detail. 

Read some of the amazing pieces of writing the authors of Room 1617 have written.

Down at the sandy beach there's a special sandcastle. You know it is a special sandcastle because it is the only one that is red on the beach and if you touch the special paua shell you will teleport to a dark creepy forest and if you walk three steps east you will see a camouflage  button that you can only see with special goggles. When you push it you will teleport to the tree house. The tree is as big as a giant. It has giant swirly leaves too. All of the tree is dark brown and the leaves are a yellowish greenish colour. The canopy of the leaves covers the secret tree house. A zigzag staircase takes you up to the attic. In my tree house I play on my PS Vista and sometimes my friends come over and we play Monopoly, snakes and ladders and eat sausages and ice cream. Sometime the birds fly down and pick me up off my balcony and lift me up to the top of the trees to see the sunset. Do you wish you knew where my special sandcastle is? 

Author Zack

You will have to go through a freaky cave all the way to my tree house. you have to go across a river and you have to go through a forest and you have to go across another river and that is how you get to my tree house. My tree house is up on a big oak tree with twisty branches. My tree house is old and rusty. My tree house has spiders on it. It has old leaves and old wood and it looks like a monster tree house. It looks spooky inside and outside. I like to relax and listen to my music. I dance to the cool music because nobody can see me dance. My tree house is big no body can hear my music. No one knows I there.

Author Zephaniah

Deep in a creepy forest is an old tree that is really tall. Around a tall tree on the ground is soft silky grass that bunnies like to hop on. There is a magic staircase that comes down when you knock on the tree. I have a bird bowl at the side of my tree house. If you creep in my secret tree house without me knowing the tree will lift you up and toss you in a cage of lions and tigers. Only if the tree does not know you. I have a bucket in front of my tree house that holds my seashells from a nearby beach. My favourite thing to do in my tree house is read books because in real life I have read 52 chapter books and my favourite books are Flat Stanley books. Every afternoon I hurry to my tree house to watch the bunnies magically disappear into the bushes to have tea then I climb my staircase to have tea too. What would you do if you had a tree house as magical as mine? 

Author Christina

North four kilometers is my tree house, Over a big creaky wonky bridge and over a swervy creak is where you will find my tree house. The tree looks very bulgy and is covered with lots of leaves on its humongous  smooth old branches and the leaves glitter in the sun. It takes 14 people to hold hands to go around the tree! My tree house is almost 12km off the stony ground. My tree house has a garden, a resting area, a swing, and my tree house looks like a big tepee. My tree house is made from long sticks and big branches. You get in by a creaky ladder that sways in the wind. I have a code lock and my password is 156987. Sometimes I hear a mobile jingling or the roof making chattering sounds. I also have a bell if my code lock breaks. Sometimes I can sit on my leaves and water my garden! What I do in my tree house is feed all my pets. From the outside my tree house looks small but when you step inside it's way bigger than you think it is. In my tree house it is like a zoo because I have lots of animals! Only animals and me are allowed to go inot my tree house. Only day I would like to swing on the vines in the top of the tree. Would you like to swing on the vines with me? 

Author Louisa

North from my house in a deep dark forest is a tree that is so tall that it is touching the clouds. You can see it because it is so tall and the giant roots are digging deep down into the ground. There is a ladder to get in the tree house because it is in the tippy top of the tree. My tree house has a giant tyre swing under it. It is made out of branches and bamboo. My password is OPEN SEASAME or ZACK. The door is invisible. When you say the password it looks like it is going to fall on you. Suddenly my tree house teleported me to Frogland. I saw thousands of tadpoles and frogs swimming and hopping around. I caught tadpoles and frogs and took them back to my tree house. Have you ever got teleported anywhere? 

Author Dominic

My tree house is at the park in a tall tree. It has long branches. Kids always play on the tree but do not look up because the tree house is camouflaged. My tree house is called science tree house. It has pipe cameras looking at the forest. You can make potions inside and I did. I made a potion called shrinking potion. The potion can make everything smaller and bigger. My tree house is magical.

Author Gemma

You will have to go through a dark spooky cave and then you see a special tree with a special pond. I went knock knock and something secret will happen to me. My tree looks like a monster with sticking out branches for arms. The leaves look like monster fingers at the top of the tree there is a little tree house. I like to scoff some lollies in my mouth. The tree house has a secret room no one knows about it except me and I sleep on a lolly bed "Yum yum" I said to myself. Now I can eat all the lollies. "Aha" I said. At night I look out the windows to see the rabbits in the glowing sky running around playing games.

Author Jack W

In a dark spooky forest I spotted a tree with huge branches and a humongous trunk. You can find this forest only if you go to my Grandpa's house. You need to turn left then you need to go ... straight ahead until you get to a rusty gate that has a sign that says there is a magical tree house. There is tree house high in the air so I started to climb the tree then finally I got to the top. There is a magic password no one knows except me. The windows are all clean so I can have a sneaky peak out the window to make sure no one is going up the wobbly ladder. Girls are only allowed in the tree house no boys at all. You need to watch out because there are security cameras and if you get spotted from the security camera yuck and slimy snails will tip on you but not me because it is my tree house. It has love heart windows. My tree house is really colourful on the top. There are flowers but what kind of flowers? I know there are daisies and two toned coloured flowers that are pink, blue and orange. On the outside of the tree house is some security windows, Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I spotted animals dancing in my tree house. There was a lion a monkey and a slithery snake. I went to the give the monkey a banana. One day I might want to have a zoo  tree house with all the animals in the whole wide world but no cats or dogs but definitely dolphins. I will be surrounded by animals in my tree house. Would you like to come and visit me? 

Author Pinenga

Reading

We have a wonderful new learning space. Thank you Mr Gifkins we love to learn in our new space. 

Reading lots and lots is very enjoyable and one way we get better at our reading. Reading with a buddy means someone gets to listen to our fluent reading, can support us when we need it and we can enjoy a book with someone else.  

Room 1617 are great reading buddies.

Jessica and Ashley enjoying their book together

Joseph and Zepahniah reading together

Katie practising reading fluently

Zack and Whetu giggling about their book

Caitlin listening to Janice reading her book

During reading time we have been working on making connections to a text. Making connections help us comprehend texts at a deeper level. We can make a connection to an experience we have had (text to self) or a connection we have from another text (text to text connection). 

You may see your child put their hands on their shoulders- this means they have a connection.

Together we read a poem about hedgehogs called Midnight Snack. 

We created Pic Collages about the connections we made when reading the poem. Look on the children's individual blogs to see more connections.  

Add caption