Butterfly Creek

Last week the Tiritiri team went to Butterfly Creek as part of our topic on Dinosaurs.

Our first activity was to listen to a man talk about fossils and how people know about Dinosaurs even though they are no longer alive. We showed that we already knew a lot, like what a carnivores and  herbivores are.

We also got to explore the aquarium. Koji found a fish like Dory from Finding Nemo. 

The Butterfly house was really warm. We saw butterflies eating fruit and many of us had some land on us. 

We saw the Salt water Crocodile sleeping in the sun. 

And the American Alligators. We were surprised how little they were.

We got to ride the train and spot dinosaurs hiding in the bushes. 

We explored Dinosaur World. The dinosaurs moved and roared. Look how many of us can fit inside this dinosaur egg!

Finally we went to the Crocodile Show. This is Goldie, the salt water crocodile. The keepers help him do this he would normally do in the wild to get his food. He was massive! He jumped really high and even did some tail walking for us.

As we went to collect our bags and head to the bus, we looked again at the dinosaurs. We look so small next to the Diplodocus!

We had a wonderful time at Butterfly Creek. Thank you to the parents who were able to help us. 

Year 1 Rotation

The Year 1 classes have been running a rotation this term made of up developmental learning, fine motor development, letter knowledge and PMP. 

We wanted to share some of our activities. 

Developmental Learning

With Mrs MacBeth

We are developing hand-eye co-ordination by throwing and catching balloons. 

We are 

We are building finger muscle control by decorating play dough. 

We are exploring imaginative play making dinosaur stories in the tent. 

We are exploring our senses with different textures. 

Fine Motor Development

With Mrs Buchanan, room 10

We are building upper body strength by doing wheel barrow exercises. 

We are learning correct pencil grip and letter formation. 

Phonics: Letters and Sounds

With Mrs Williams, room 11.

We are learning about letter sounds for reading and spelling. 

We are learning to use our knowledge of letters and sounds for writing and reading. 

We love our rotation mornings!

Anzac Day

This week we have been learning about Anzac Day. 

"I have learnt that we wear poppies. "Says Nathan. "We remember the soldiers what died," said Deon. 

There was a whole field, where soldiers had died. The field grew full of red poppies. It was called Flanders Field. We made some poppies using rolled tissue paper and paint. We shared something we had learnt about Anzac Day.

We also learnt about what ANZAC means. We talked about New Zealand and Australian and how they fought together. We also looked at the flags. They look nearly the same.

We also made ANZAC Biscuits with our Buddy Class, Room 21. Here we are measuring and pouring ingredients.

We melted and stirred too.

Then we put everything together and mixed. The mixture was too dry and we had to add more golden syrup. 

Then we rolled the mixture into little balls and put the on the tray. We got messy and sticky.

They went into the oven to cook. We shared them the next day with our buddy class. They were yummy. We each have a the recipe in our Topic books. 

We have also had to practise 2 minutes silence for our special assembly. We stay silent to show respect to the soldiers who died and those who fought. 
We had a lovely poem this week that help us to remember why ANZAC day is important.

Swimming

Room 9 has been swimming on Mondays and Tuesdays during term 1. We learnt about the school pool rules. 

• We use our walking feet (no running)
• We take care of our belongings by putting all our gear in our swim bag when we get changed.
• When we hear the whistle, we stop, look and listen.

We have learnt how to get into the pool safely. "We get up to the top forwards, and then turn around." Said Brodie. Here are Rosalie and Brodie showing how to enter the pool safely.

We have been learning to try new things in the pool. 

Andrew is happy in the pool, even if it is chilly. 

We have been learning to blow bubbles in the water. We can put our mouth in the water to blow bubbles, and some of us can go under the water and blow bubbles. 

This is Brodie, Koji and Georgia showing their bubbles.

We have been learning to float like a starfish, all by our self. We are trying to do it on our front and back. 

Here is Deon showing his back starfish.

We have been learning to kick our legs. We try to keep our legs straight. 
Here is Megan and Cameron kicking their legs on a chilly afternoon.

We have also been learning to glide across the pool. This is pretty tricky.
Here is Jacob trying a front glide.

Nick has been learning to get his hair wet. He had great fun with Mrs. Buchanan and a bucket.

Room 9 loves swimming, even if it is cold some days. We would like to thank the parents who helped us. These sessions are so much better with your support.

Todd liked going under the water. 

"Mrs Alty sprinkled water on our heads.It was cold, but funny." Said Holly.

MATHS: Patterns

In maths, (Algebra) we are learning to identify a pattern and continue it. We are also learning to create a pattern.

Holly says, "We had to make a pattern and then the other person will do the rest." 

"The other person will copy it." Said Deon.

"We used short blocks, little blocks, teddies, and the beads." Said Koji.

Here is Nick and Holly. Holly made a pattern. Nick had to continue the pattern. "The pattern I made was red, red, yellow." Said Holly.

Kohl used the square blocks. "I made green, white purple," Said Kohl.

Owen used the teddy bears. "The pattern I made was yellow, blue, green. And Todd made yellow, green, blue." Says Owen.

We made a pattern with beads and coloured it on the sheet. Here is Megan with a pattern she made up.

We gave our bead pattern to a buddy and they had to continue it. Here is Nathan with the finished pattern.

MATHS: Statistics

We have been learning to sort and display data in room 9. We drew pictures about our favourite things. We sorted them by deciding whether they were the same or different from the other pictures. Then we arranged them to go on display. We have been learning to say something about what we can see.

A good pictograph needs to have;

• the pictures on it
• they need to be in a line 
• they need to start at the bottom 
• it needs a name (title)

Here is what we did today.

"We had to colour in the fish or frogs." Said Holly.

"We sorted them out. " Said Rosalie.

How did we sort them? 

"If there was big or small or the same pattern," Said Loren " 

"We put them in a line with the ones that were the same." Said Kimiora. 

"We started at the bottom and went to the top." Said Cameron.

"We glued them on." Said Andrew

Here are our pictographs. 

Fish Shapes. Be Todd and Deon.

Fish Size. By Brodie, Nick and Nathan.

Patterned Frogs. By Kimiora-Dior, Loren and Koji

Fish Size, By Andrew, Kohl and Jacob

The Way Frogs are Looking. By Rosalie, Cameron and Owen

Patterned Frogs. By Holly, Jayden and Megan.