Welcome to our class blog. We are the year 1 students at Russell Street School in Palmerston North. We encourage you to follow our learning and please leave your comments too.

Our blog helps us to continue our learning anywhere, anytime. It links us to our favourite learning sites and allows us to share our learning with the whole wide world.

Tuesday 19 May 2015

CROSS COUNTRY

Some photos from last weeks cross country.  The puddles made it all that more exciting.  Were you dreading the cross country, or were you eager to participate?  Recounts to come!

Did you lead all the way Harry?



Oliver - always smiling. 



That's the way boys!



Splish Splash I was taking a bath ...






Who can I overtake now?


Very close at the finish line between these two!


The look of determination!








Friday 15 May 2015

WILLARD HOME

Last Thursday Fiona took us to Willard Rest home and we showed the residents our amazing maths skills.  







RUGBY

This week we had the official opening for our new rugby goal posts.  Thanks Jett!

Here is Reagan kicking for goal with the Turbos.  



INSECTS

Another interesting day for our scientists today!

We were discussing the differences between spiders and insects.  








This is a very big spider ...


We put him on our big screen ...


This is a cockroach!


and this is the very big spider!



We compared them!



And then we drew diagrams of them.











We sure like being scientists!

Wednesday 13 May 2015

THAMES REUNITED WITH CONSTABLE MIKE WAKEFIELD

In room 2 ...

This week we are going to write for the newspaper.  Who wants to be a newspaper reporter?



Toilet rolls and a mini water bottle.  



Did you hear about the police dog Thames who was lost last week?




Thames is a police dog and he is four years old.  Can you describe Thames?  

He was on a search and rescue exercise with his handler, Mike Wakefield, last week when he went missing.  He was missing for 7 days!  

What do you know about search and rescue?  

They were in the Tararua Ranges ...







The Tararua Ranges is known for its rugged terrain.  It is uneven, jagged, rocky and steep and the weather up there is harsh and unpredictable.  

How do you think Constable Mike was feeling?  What about Thames?  Thames was not just a police dog, he was the family's pet (think about how you would feel if your pet was missing, how would your pet be feeling if he was lost for a week and couldn't find his way home)  

Someone said that they were giving up hope.  What does that mean? 

But Constable Mike was determined and he never gave up hope.  

Thames was found and Constable Mike hopes that he has learned his lesson.  What does he mean by that?



The first video in this article shows  Constable Mike talking about how he was travelling along High Ridge when he found some sign that Thames could be near by.  A big boofy foot print was the clue and they tracked the prints until suddenly Thames appeared!  At first he ran off, but then Wakefield got out some food ... salami which is a treat for Thames.  He came back and gave his handler a big bear hug, face licks and smooches.

The second video shows Thames trotting out with his eyes shining, as if nothing had happened!

What do you think Thames survived on for 7 days?  What did he eat to keep himself alive?  

The moral of this story is never give up hope!  

How do you think they are all feeling now?








Now for writing your report ...

What happened in the beginning?

Dog handler Constable Mike was out on a search and rescue training session with his beloved dog Thames when things turned terribly wrong.  

Brain storm juicy words and seeing words.  

Sunday 10 May 2015

TERM 1

A short video about learning in room 2.  

Tuesday 5 May 2015

SCIENCE

We put on our scientist coats again today and it became very exciting. 


We know that insects are plentiful on sea coasts, forests and mountain tops.  In New Zealand many are hidden underground, in rotten logs, or in places where you have to search for them.  New Zealand's insects tend to be small and dull coloured.  

Armed with our petre dishes we went insect hunting, being very careful to not destroy habitats or creepy crawly critters.





















Here is our collection:



On our return to the classroom we put our critters under the visualiser and what did we see ...



A wriggly, squiggly, squimy worm. 


An eight legged spider.  Is this an insect?


Slater bugs, lots of slater bugs!


A giant ant - well it looks like a giant on our TV!


Some kind of winged insect that was not a praying mantis, grass hopper or dragon fly!  It had very long legs!


Another spider with stripy legs, but not a white tail!


Creepy Crawlies!


Shall we do that again tomorrow?