Room 13 Nelson Central School

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ALL IN ROOM 13!

2008-12-18T15:18:00.004+13:00

Helen and everybody in Room 13 would like to wish all of our friends and family a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Have a safe and relaxing holiday and we look forward to catching up in 2009.

Ka kite ano.

END OF YEAR CELEBRATION

2008-12-12T08:32:00.007+13:00

Kahikatea Syndicate had a Chinese New Year festival for our end of year celebrations. For our Inquiry learning this term we have been looking at different cultural celebrations and how they have changed. We chose to have a Chinese dragon parade and shared traditional food to communicate our learning with family and friends.
We had a fantastic evening with lots of yummy food, a wonderful parade and some VERY loud fireworks.
A big thank you to everyone involved - it was a great celebration!

SHAPE POEMS

2008-12-01T15:13:00.006+13:00

Room 13 are studying Poetry this term.

Here are some examples of our Concrete (Shape) Poems using ALLITERATION and SIMILES.

Beautiful butterfly
Flying as fast as a plane in a bright blue sky.
She bobs in the breeze like a beautiful blossom
Then floats onto a flower in my backyard.
By Baimon

Glides in the pale moonlight,
Flies in the air high as the stars.
Glittering wings waving in the cool wind
As beautiful as a rainbow.
Dances in the pale white snow.
By Emily

Penguins are as cold as an icy ice block.
Cool and icy.
Cosy like icy wool.
Comfortable as a cosy chimpanzee.
Cold and soft like my cat.
By Paige

Diving deep into the sea,
Dancing in the darkness.
Flipping like a dolphin and bending like a snake.
Attacking whales one by one.
By Max

You can read more by clicking on the link to Room 13's writing 2008 OR you come into Room 13 and read them here - they look much better when you read them with the artwork!

LUCKY ROOM 13!

2008-11-24T13:24:00.001+13:00

ADDING TO THE SOCIAL SKILLS T-CHART
DEMONSTRATING TESSELLATIONS IN MATHS

Room 13 are very lucky to have a new learning tool in our classroom. We have just had an interactive whiteboard installed and we are having LOTS of fun with our learning! We are looking forward to discovering more ways of using this every day.

SUTER ART GALLERY: Full Spectrum

2008-11-24T07:52:00.005+13:00

Max guesses the colour
Using 'cool' and 'warm' colours

Discussing the colour wheel

Room 13 have been on our last visit to the Suter Art Gallery for 2008. We went to see "Full Spectrum". We learnt about the colour wheel, warm and cool colours and emotions of colours. It was another fantastic exhibition.

We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Esther for all of the wonderful work she has done with us this year!

Dear Esther,

Thank you for inviting us to the Suter Art Gallery. My favourite exhibition was the Full Spectrum (colour wheel). I like the colour wheel because we could colour in lots and lots of pictures of art. My mum made one too.

I also liked the Arum display with memory flowers because we could make our own colourful memory flower with plastic bags. I hope we can come again next year.

From Emily

Dear Esther,

Thank you so much for teaching us about art and stuff at the Suter Art Gallery. My favourite exhibition was Arum. It was a very pretty visit. Making the memory flowers was lots of fun.

I also liked Toss Woollaston because I liked the blind sketching. Mine came out really scribbly but it was lots of fun. I also liked sketching the people. I hope I can come again next year and see the next best exhibition.

From Josephine

FIREWORKS!

2008-11-21T07:51:00.002+13:00

Fireworks look like snakes falling from the sky.
Fireworks sound like screaming on Halloween.
Fireworks taste like extra hot chilli powder.
Fireworks smell like rotten gunpowder.

Frankie

FIREWORKS
Look like big sprinkles going everywhere.
Sound like a volcano about to erupt.
Taste like smoked salmon.
Smell like smoke going everywhere.

Mia

I think fireworks should be banned. I think this because the noise hurts dogs’ ears and animals get scared. Some people do silly things like put fireworks in ducks mouths. Fireworks can cause fires if they are let off near dry grass. In public some people let off fireworks and don’t pick up the rubbish. That is bad because it makes a mess. That is why I think fireworks should be banned.

Isobel

I think fireworks should not be banned. I think this because if people used the fireworks properly people would not get hurt. The people who like fireworks to celebrate special occasions should be able to go somewhere to let them off. Fireworks are used to celebrate Chinese New Year. In China many years ago there was a monster called Nian so they let fireworks off to scare away Nian. This is special. That is why fireworks should be allowed.

Mia

CELEBRATION HATS

2008-11-11T14:46:00.004+13:00

Kahikatea Syndicate's Inquiry topic this term is 'Let's Celebrate!' To Set the Scene for our Inquiry learning we had this task:

Design and create a hat to wear at a celebration. You will need to explain where and when you would wear your hat.

We had a lot of fun planning, creating and decorating our hats. Then we showed them to the other classes in Kahikatea Syndicate.

BODY IN ACTION: NELSON MUSEUM

2008-11-06T15:32:00.001+13:00

Te Huringa: Turning Points

2008-11-06T15:22:00.003+13:00

Room 13 have been on another fabulous trip to the Suter Art Gallery to see the ‘Te Huringa: Turning Points’ exhibition. We made a shield that shows the people, places and things that are important in our lives.

Mana-a-iwi: Mana of the people
Mana whenua: Mana of the land
Taonga: Treasures – all that is valued.

Thanks Esther and all of our wonderful parents!

DIANA NOONAN VISITS NELSON CENTRAL

2008-10-21T12:58:00.003+13:00

Today Diana Noonan came to Nelson Central School to read us lots of stories. She read us:
The Dazzling Miss Dynamo
Trees are for Everyone
Fat Cat Tompkin
Porridge
Giant Stew
Soda bread

Diana Noonan writes about her life and her home. She gave us some tips like:
* Write everyday to become ‘writer fit’
* If something happens you should write it down.

Emily, Paige and Carleigh

Diana Noonan came to talk to our school. First she showed us her teddy then she showed us lots of books of ‘The Best Loved Bear’. After that she read us some stories. Two of the stories were ‘Trees Belong to Everyone’ and ‘Fat Cat Tompkin’. Next she answered some questions.

Josephine, Baimon, Mia

Today I met Diana Noonan and I found out that she writes books that are published in lots of different languages like ‘The Best loved Bear’ and ‘The Best Dressed Bear’. We found out she is a vegetarian. She read us ‘Fat Cat Tompkin’ ,‘Trees belong to Everyone’ and ‘Giant Stew’.

Jonti, Callum, Daniel

TEAPOT VALLEY CAMP

2008-10-17T15:25:00.007+13:00

Room 13 had a wonderful time at camp - a fantastic start to Term 4. A huge thank you to all of the parents that made this camp possible. Please take the time to look at some of the photos of our adventures! Thanks to Isobel and Aimee for making a great slideshow.

Dear Paul,
Thank you for taking us to camp and thank you for staying at camp too. My favourite activity was the mini jeep because it goes really fast. My other favourite activity was the trampoline because it is so powerful and I jumped so high. The very hard thing about camp was the confidence course but everything else was fun.
From Daniel

Dear Dad,
Thank you for taking me to camp at Teapot Valley. It was really fun. I hope you had a great time at camp. One of my favourite activities was the mini jeep, I was really good at it. When I jumped into the pool it was freezing so I got out and had a warm shower. After dinner we had the camp concert and I liked it. I can't wait until next year.
From Louie

SEE OUR WRITING BLOG FOR MORE LETTERS!

SPRING IS HERE!

2008-09-25T07:37:00.007+12:00

Signs of Spring are everywhere at Nelson Central School. Here are some things we have seen recently:

A Monarch butterfly

Cute ducklings

Isobel's gorgeous lamb 'PIP' came for a visit. As part of our Inquiry topic this term we have been investigating Imports and Exports, looking closely at New Zealand wool. Pip gave us all a chance to experience some wool up close!

SPRING POEMS: COUPLETS

Have you ever seen a new leaf?

Pale green, cool coloured, brand new.

Wicked!

By Lochie

Have you ever seen a lamb?

Bleating baby, soft sheep, sweet white.

Wonderful.

By Isobel

Have you ever seen a foal?

Beautiful creature, trotting madly, spectacular baby.

Outstanding.

By Frankie

ULURU AND FRIENDS

2008-08-21T11:44:00.003+12:00

Room 13 have been reading some lovely letters from Miss S's class in Australia. They are looking after our friend Kiki Kiwi and seem to be having some great adventures. We have written some stories and letters about Uluru for our Australian friends to read.

You can read these by clicking on the link to 'Room 13's writing 2008' .

We hope to hear back from Miss S's class soon!

OLYMPIC CHAMPION VISITS

2008-08-15T15:35:00.005+12:00

Lynley shows us her Bronze medal

Lochie tries the medal on

Emily and Uluru

Rooms 13, 1 and 3 were very lucky to have a visit from Lynley Coventry (nee Hannen). Lynley won a Bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics Games in Seoul, Korea. Lynley and Nikki Payne won the medal for rowing in the Coxless pair 2000m race. We were all allowed to hold the medal - it was quite big and VERY heavy.

Lynley told us all about how she got to be an Olympic champion and reminded us that:
WE CAN ALL ACHIEVE IF WE AIM HIGH!

Ki runga rawa tamariki.

SUTER ART GALLERY: ARUM

2008-08-13T07:52:00.003+12:00

Even Uluru had a go at making a flower!
Aiden made a flower for his Uncle

Room 13 have been on another fantastic visit to the Suter Art Gallery. We went to see Anne Rush's exhibition called 'ARUM'. It is an amazing sight! The space is all white, including the floor, walls, furniture and Takaka stones on the floor. There are lots of white Arum lilies that Anne Rush has made form paper mache. The exhibition is about MEMORIES and we all thought about somebody or something that we missed in our lives. We made a memory flower of our own and placed it on the wall outside the Suter Art Gallery.

Thanks again to Esther and all of the wonderful parents that make these trips happen.

THE WILD STORM

2008-08-05T12:01:00.003+12:00

The storm looked like trees swaying in the wind, toppling over on the ground.
The storm sounded like wind rattling on my windows.
The storm made me feel like monsters were attacking.
By Callum

The storm sounded like somebody drumming on
the roof with a hammer.
The storm looked like fat trees cracking when they rip.
The storm felt like raindrops blowing away in
the far distance.

By Emily

The storm looked like the wind blowing trees,
swaying trees and rivers flooding.
The storm sounded like rattling windows and rain in the trees.
The storm felt like leaves hitting me.

By Omar

The storm looked like twisting raindrops falling from the sky out of nowhere.
The storm felt like very strong raindrops dripping on my head.
The storm sounded like raindrops crashing on the roof and the fire making a rattling noise.

By Max

MURPHY AND STELLA COME TO VISIT

2008-07-03T16:09:00.005+12:00

Stella and her new Room 13 friends

Quade holds Murphy while Jonti introduces Uluru.

Murphy won't move!

Helen has a new little puppy called Murphy. Room 13 were very lucky to have Murphy and his friend Stella come to visit us. Our class is writing a picture book called 'The Adventures of Murphy'. Click on the link to ROOM 13 WRITING 2008 to read more of our great stories. Come and read the whole picture book in Room 13.

One day Murphy couldn’t find his bone. He looked everywhere. Murphy sneaked into the garden and he dug 40 holes trying to find his bone. He couldn’t find it! Poor Murphy tripped and fell into the biggest hole. He was stuck. Murphy barked and howled, calling to Stella. Stella heard Murphy and came running. She pulled and pulled. When Stella got Murphy out of the hole he felt dirty and exhausted. Murphy and Stella tried to get to sleep. They slept all day and when they woke up they felt fine!
By Baz

The adventures of Murphy
One sunny morning Helen took Murphy and Stella to the beach. When they got there Helen threw a stick to Stella, while Murphy was rolling in the golden sand. Helen threw the stick so far it went into the sea. Stella ran into the sea. While Stella was swimming a crab bit Stella on the nose. Murphy saw Stella was in trouble so he ran out to sea. Murphy threw the crab off Stella’s nose. When they got to shore they shook off the water and went home. After that Stella and Murphy had a playfight. Soon the sun went down and Stella and Murphy went to sleep.
By Mia

CREATIVE WRITING: One evening last summer Jim and Debbie took a drive..

2008-07-03T16:07:00.001+12:00

One evening last summer Jim and Debbie took a drive. It was dark as they drove down the street. “Turn the headlights on” said Jim. Their headlights shone down the road. Suddenly Debbie began to shout “Look! Help! This is the end of me!” “What is the matter with you?” said Jim. Debbie pointed to something. An alien spaceship! They jumped out of the car and ran to hide in the bushes but it was too late. WHIRRRR came the noise from the spaceship, louder and louder!
Suddenly a little cute alien came up and said “Hello. Greetings. Come to Timtomtwo in space.” The other one stared angrily at Debbie. “That’s Grumpy,” said the alien. “My name’s Happy.” “But we don’t want to come to Timtomtwo!” groaned Jim. Grumpy had got them up and took them onto the alien spaceship. Inside there were 100 controls all over the roof, the floor and the walls. “Oh,” said Happy, “Come in. Come here”. They walked over to where Happy was standing and stepped onto a piece of empty floor. Suddenly it began to move and stopped at the door. Grumpy pushed them through the door and it shut behind them. “Oh Sugar!” said Jim. There were no controls anywhere so the little room was empty – no nothing! One hour later they began to get hungry and suddenly Happy opened the door and smiled, “Good morning!” “Breakfast…” said Debbie weakly. “Yes, come into Timtomtwo”.
Debbie and Jim looked surprised but followed, amazed. When they were outside a rollercoaster zoomed past and bumper cars bumped around. It was noisy and a lot of shops sat on the side and funny creatures slithered around.
Jim saw the spaceship begin to lift off the ground. “Ha ha,” he said. “We’re not staying here forever!” They began to run over to the spaceship and jumped in the spaceship. They flew off to New Zealand and landed right in front of the car. They jumped in and drove home as fast as they could. When they got inside they stared at each other. “Phew. What a close save!”
By Josephine

CLICK ON THE LINK 'Room 13's writing 2008' to read more of our stories.

LOCAL, GLOBAL AND CONNECTED

2008-06-30T08:11:00.003+12:00

KIKI KIWI READY TO GO TO AUSTRALIA
ROOM 13 MEET ULURU

As part of our Inquiry topic for Term 2, Room 13 have made a connection with a year 1 / 2 class from Coromandel Valley Primary School in Australia. We have sent them our friend Kiki Kiwi and are going to follow his Australian adventures through Miss S’s class blog. They have sent us their friend called Uluru and we will take him on some adventures with us. Miss S’s class can look at our blog to see what we are up to. We can leave each other comments. We are pleased we have made this connection and look forward to seeing what Kiki Kiwi is up to!

THE SURVIVORS!

2008-06-13T15:10:00.002+12:00

ROOM 13 CHILDREN ON FRIDAY

What a week it has been in Room 13! We have had between 14 - 17 people away every day this week. We are sending a big HELLO to all of our Room 13 friends who are at home in bed. We hope you feel better soon.

MATARIKI

2008-06-12T15:56:00.005+12:00

We are very lucky at Nelson Central School to be involved on so many wonderful opportunities. On June 5 we celebrated Matariki. The Kahikatea syndicate and Room 15 got together to have shared kai at lunchtime. It was great to spend time together.

Rooms 15 and 16 also invited our classes in to share some cultural experiences with us. They taught us about string games, harakeke, poi and rakau. Thanks guys - YOU ROCK!

NGA IWI MUSEUM VISIT

2008-06-11T15:51:00.000+12:00

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY

2008-06-10T10:26:00.001+12:00

World Environment Day was on June 5th. Room 13 made some wonderful posters to get a message across to the community :
KICK THE CARBON HABIT!
All of Nelson Central School put their posters on the fences around the school so people could read our messages as they walked past. They looked fantastic!

SASA

2008-05-30T13:20:00.004+12:00

As part of our Inquiry learning unit ‘Our Connections’ we have been looking at our family treasures. Josephine invited her parents in to show room 13 a Sasa. This is a traditional Samoan group dance performed both sitting and standing. Clapping and hand movements are used to depict activities taken from every day life. We all had a lot of fun learning the Sasa.
Thanks to Eric, Sasha and Josephine for sharing this with us.

OUR QUILT

2008-05-27T08:20:00.002+12:00

Last term our syndicate completed an Inquiry learning unit called Central Rocks!
Our task was to make a display to show our community what Nelson Central School means to us. This is our quilt.

We interviewed people who used to go to Nelson Central School to find out what the school meant to them when they were there.

We talked about what Nelson Central School means to us. We thought about what we like here, what we think is important and what is special about our school.

Everybody in Room 13 designed a picture that we painted onto material. Helen and her mum put the quilt together in the holidays.

We think it looks fantastic.

AUTUMN

2008-05-15T18:29:00.004+12:00

Room 13 have been thinking about what Autumn means to them. We have used lots of adjectives to describe Autumn.
WHAT DOES AUTUMN MEAN TO YOU?

Autumn feels like crunchy leaves in my hand.
Autumn looks like pretty leaves falling from the trees.
Autumn sounds like whistling of the wind in the leaves on the trees.
But it is COLD. Brrrrrr.
By Isobel

Autumn feels like slipping on warm and fluffy cosy slippers.
The leaves feel like sharp things under your bare feet.
Autumn feels like putting on my warm pink fluffy dressing gown.
Autumn feels like sitting by a blazing fire.
Autumn looks colourful and pretty.
The leaves look like orange and red and brown stars.
Autumn sounds like crunching leaves.
Autumn sounds like somebody whistling when the wind blows through the trees.
By Josephine

Autumn feels like hot steaming Milo in the morning.
It is cold and freezing while you wait.
Autumn looks like really colourful leaves falling from the trees.
Autumn sounds like extremely heavy rain on the roof.
Autumn sounds extremely crunchy when you stand on a leaf pile.
By Callum

Autumn feels like leathery leaves and spiky leaves in front of my eyes.
Autumn looks like stalky leaves gliding, grenading like an army.
Autumn sounds like leaves on the roof while I’m asleep.
Autumn sounds like the crackling of the fire when Bella is by it.
By Max

You can read more of our writing by clicking on the link to Room 13 writing 2008

Animals come to visit

2008-04-04T08:05:00.002+13:00

Goats, dogs and a piglet!
Rosie the piglet
Mia and Netanya walking a goat
Omar and Quade with Jazz

Dear Marguerite,
Thank you so much for bringing the animals in to show us. My favourite was Jazz because she looked so cute and she was as soft as a fluffy blanket. It was the best day of my life. I hope you can come again.
From Paige

Dear Marguerite,
Thank you so much for bringing your animals in. It really was a special day. My favourite animal was the white dog because she was cute and she sat on my knee. I really liked walking Milo the goat. I also liked Jazz as well. I really appreciate you coming. Rosie was a cute pig. It was a really cool day!!!
From Josephine

KAHIKATEA SWIMMING CARNIVAL

2008-04-04T07:53:00.005+13:00

Cheering from the sidelines
Lining up for a race
Baz gives Jonti a piggyback ride
The Kahikatea Syndicate had a very successful swimming carnival. Well done to all children on a fantastic day with 100% participation. Everybody put in their best effort. Thank you to the parents for their support and cheering from the sidelines.

A VISITOR TO ROOM 13

2008-03-07T07:45:00.004+13:00

On Tuesday Matua Elmars brought in a Huntsman spider. It was cute and cuddly. I got to hold it. The builders found it by Room five then they gave it to Matua Elmars. They don’t make webs and they come from Australia. They have orange claws and they grow about the size of your fist. I love spiders!!!
By Frankie

Matua Elmars brought a Huntsman spider to our class. He told us some information. Frankie held the spider and she wasn’t scared. The builders found it by the new entrance. It was a funny spider. It had orange claws and it was cute. Thanks Elmars that was great.
By Netanya

On Tuesday Matua Elmars brought a Huntsman spider in. The builders found it by Room 5 and gave it to Matua Elmars. Elmars told us some information about it. The information he told us was that it doesn’t spin webs, it comes from Australia and it grows as big as our fist. It was furry and creepy but it was cute! Frankie held the spider! It was cool.
By Josephine

Matua Elmars brought a Huntsman spider to our class. Frankie held it. It chases its prey and it doesn’t spin webs. It doesn’t hurt people. The builders found it and gave it to Elmars. Elmars told us the Huntsman was found in Australia and came to New Zealand two years ago. There are not many left. The spider was hairy and creepy. It had orange claws and long legs. It was as long as a finger, it was brown and black.
By Omar

WORLD MATHS DAY

2008-02-28T18:45:00.002+13:00

Hi everyone,
World Maths Day is coming up on March 5th. To celebrate this event Nelson Central School is taking part in MATHLETICS. This is a wonderful opportunity for children to have fun with maths while interacting and competing with other children from all over the world.
All children have their own username and password (check their homework books for these) so they can sign in from anywhere, at anytime. I encourage you to help your child to check out the website, click on SIGN IN and watch the fun!

http://www.worldmathsday.com/

FUN WITH MATHS

2008-02-28T12:53:00.003+13:00

Looking at how boxes are made.
Elizabeth and Paige making a SQUARE with pegs.
Adam and Omar exploring different shapes.
Room 13 have been learning about Geometry in Maths. We have been looking at 2D and 3D shapes. Here are some photos of us having fun with our maths learning.

SWIMMING

2008-02-11T13:10:00.000+13:00

It has been a hot start to the school year so Room 13 have been having fun in the school swimming pool.

WELCOME TO 2008!

2008-02-11T13:04:00.000+13:00

Welcome to Room 13 for 2008. We are a class of 28 Year 2 and 3 children. Keep checking this space to see what we are up to. Please leave us comments because we love to hear what other people think of our blog.

Thanks, from Room 13.

SHOULD FIREWORKS BE BANNED?

2007-11-27T16:23:00.001+13:00

Room 13 discussed the fireworks that had been let off over Guy Fawkes. We talked about if fireworks should be banned or not and wrote an argument to support our ideas.

What do you think?

I think fireworks should not be banned because they are cool and awesome and fun to watch. The sparklers are cool and we should keep them as well. They light up the sky really, really well. I reckon you should be 18 or over that age to buy fireworks. It is not dangerous because we only have them twice a year on Guy Fawkes and New Years. We like to celebrate with fireworks. My family watches them every year because we like fireworks. That’s why I think we should have fireworks.
by David

I think fireworks should be banned. Fireworks should be banned because they can really, really, really, really, really, really hurt people. People could get hit in the face and die. Babies and animals might be scared by fireworks because they can be scared by the noisy fireworks. One day I heard in the news that a baby was in a pram and a firework hit the baby. That’s why I think fireworks should be banned.
By Rohan

2007-11-27T16:21:00.001+13:00

FIREWORKS
I think fireworks should be banned because animals and babies can eat them and get very sick. Fireworks can also set things on fire such as houses, trees and even people’s clothes! They make heaps of smoke and pollution and the world could end! Dumb kids use fireworks for stupid things like sticking sparklers in letterboxes and making it go up in flames. Fireworks are completely dangerous. That is why I think fireworks should be banned.
By Eli Kokesh

NELSON CENTRAL SCHOOL GALA

2007-11-27T16:03:00.000+13:00

Waiata on the school steps
Natayla has her face painted
Shiloh, Crystal and friends eating candy floss. YUMMY!
Corban-James has a go at magnetic fishing.

We had a wonderful day at the Nelson Central School gala. The sun was shining and we sang songs, ate candy floss, played games, drank milkshakes, had our faces painted and lots more. A big THANK YOU to everybody that helped to make this fantastic day happen.
It was AWESOME!

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

2007-11-12T13:03:00.000+13:00

Raapa 31 October
Today I went to see the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. There were five people there. Their names were Tony, Peter, Jeremy, Galyna and Karl. Tony was the first to play. He plays the flute. I really liked his instrument. Then Peter played, he played the oboe. His song was cool too. Next to play was Jeremy, he played the clarinet like Squidward off Sponge Bob Square Pants. His instrument was interesting. Galyna was next. She played the cello. It was a high instrument. Last of all was Karl, he played the trombone. You could change the sound by pulling something. It was a great performance and I want to see it again.

By Caleb

NEW ZEALAND ORCHESTRA
On Halloween my class went to see the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. All the musicians were from Christchurch. Karl played the trombone, it sounded like a toad. Peter played the oboe, it sounded fantastic! Tony played the flute,Galyna played the cello and Jeremy played the clarinet. They played the Simpsons, it was funny. I hope they come next year.
By Eli Kokesh

SYMMETRY

2007-11-02T09:37:00.000+13:00

In Maths at the moment Room 13 are looking at symmetry of shapes and objects. We have been busy drawing, cutting, and folding shapes to see how many lines of symmetry they have. Some of us collected leaves from around the school and investigated their lines of symmetry too. Maths is fun! Dylan looks at the lines of symmetry of leaves.
Crystal, Tracey, Isabelle and Grace look at the symmetry of shapes.
Fenn and Troy working well.

BEDAZZLED

2007-10-30T16:28:00.000+13:00

We went to the Museum to see the Bedazzled Exhibition. Our teachers name was Imogen. There was a mirror there where I could shake hands with myself. We had to do competitions, in one of them I could see myself in it. In one of them I looked really short. I was so lucky because my dad came with us. All the mirrors looked funny, we got a spoon and I was upside down. We had such a great day at Bedazzled.
By Natayla.

We went to the Museum to see the exhibition called Bedazzled. When our class got there we sat on a chess board mat then we went to the Bedazzled room. Imogen was the person who taught us. The first mirror we saw was one that you can move levers so you can change your shape. Then we looked at all the other mirrors .Our favourite mirror was looking into infinity.
by Caleb and Sam

The Mask Parade

2007-10-23T16:15:00.000+13:00

On October 12th we had our big night, on Friday. We got into our lines then we started to walk. My mum and dad and sisters were watching me on the sideline. Our blue boxes were shining because we put some glitter on our box. After the singing we got our chime bars ready, after the whistle blows six times we started to bang 1, 2, 3 times on the chime bars. Then Room 9 did it. It was really cool. I felt happy because it was my first mask parade. We all had to wear black clothes. We finished where we started. The next day we rang up Tanya and she said we came first!
By Joseph

Nelson Science Fair

2007-10-17T15:13:00.000+13:00

Room 13 did very well at the recent Nelson Schools Science Fair. Our entry 'How Disposable Are They?' gained an Education for Sustainablility Award: 3rd place. Our project investigated how long different types of disposable plates took to biodegrade. We buried some plastic, paper and potato plates and observed their changes over a period of time. It was very interesting to observe:
The potato plate took 7 weeks to completely biodegrade, the paper plate had changed quite a lot in 8 weeks, and the plastic plate hadn't changed at all! We think people should not use plastic plates if they are just going to throw them away - they will never break down in the landfill.

On Thursday the 11th of October we went in Helen’s car to the Nelson Science Fair prizegiving. We had to go to the hall in Richmond School. When we walked up to get the certificate Helen took two pictures of us and when we were getting the prize. Then we got back in Helen’s car and then we went back home.
By Isabelle and Hannah

LIFE ON ICE

2007-09-20T16:19:00.000+12:00

Today we were lucky enough to have the "Life on Ice" interactive roadshow come to our school. We learnt so much about life in Antarctica....

Did you know there are 6 sorts of penguins in Antarctica? By Fenn
Did you know the longest dive was 500 metres, by an emperor penguin? By David
Did you know elephant seals eat penguins? By Crystal
Did you know the emperor penguin is the biggest penguin in Antarctica? By Isabelle
Did you know Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest place in the world?

We broke the record and managed to fit 74 children onto a life-size model of an elephant seal!

Dylan looks at the Weddell seal - the smallest seal in Antarctica

TEAPOT VALLEY CAMP

2007-09-11T13:43:00.000+12:00

5 September 2007

Dear Rebekah,
Thank you for driving me to camp. It was kind of you to take me to camp! My favourite part of camp was doing the maze because I liked getting trapped. I also liked eating lunch because it was yummy. It was fun and I hope we can do it again.
From Tracey

Dear David,
Thank you so much for coming on camp with us. I had a great time and loved those fun activities we did. My favourite thing was the jeep ride because I got to have 3 turns. I felt very happy. I also liked the maze because we went in a circle. I had a great day. It was a fine sunny day and I can’t wait until next year.
From Troy

Dear Peter,
Thank you so much for staying with us at camp. It was awesome having you there. My favourite activity was archery because I study bows. My second favourite was the Burma Trail because it was fun. I hope I can come next year. I like it.
From Fenn

We have chosen our favourite camp activities and written instructions on how to do them. Check out the 'Room 13's Writing' blog and read our writing. Click on the link on the right hand side of this page.

'It Makes Me Want to Jump, Dance, Move About!'

2007-08-23T13:45:00.000+12:00

Room 13 were lucky enough to have another visit to the Suter Art Gallery. We went to a session called 'It Makes Me Want to Jump, Dance, Move About!'. We looked at some art by Katie Walker and in groups turned ourselves into statues about the art work. Then we chose a painting to make up a dance routine about. We had a fantastic time - a BIG thank you to Esther and all of the wonderful parents that came with us.

CROSS COUNTRY

2007-08-23T12:18:00.000+12:00

On Wednesday 15th of August we had our cross country. It was at the Botanics Park. The class walked in two lines. My dad came. The whole school was there. Before the race I felt really nervous because I thought I was going to come last. When I was running I felt like I was going to come first. It was hard. After the race I felt happy because I did my best. The best part was when I went to the finish line because I came fifteenth. It was a great day and I hope we do it again.
By Caleb

On 15th of August 2007 Nelson Central School had the cross country at the Botanics. The whole class went in a straight line. All of the school took part in it. Before the race I felt very nervous because I thought I was going to be last but I didn’t, I came second in my age group. In the ‘Open’ I came 8th. It felt easy when I started to run really fast. I felt really exhausted because it was hard work when I came 8th in the ‘Open’. I would have loved to do it again the next day.
By David

On August 15th we had our cross country. It was at the Botanics. We walked with some parents. The whole school was there and some parents were there. We lined up in our age groups. The five year olds went first and the 11 year olds went last. When a teacher clapped the snappers I was ready but at the start I was last. Before the race I felt nervous because I thought I was going to come last but I came 14th. I felt proud and my mum felt proud too. My best part was coming to the finishing line because it looked like I was coming second. It was a nice day. I could relax. I’m going to come first next time.
By Rohan

On a spring day in August we had our cross country. I walked there with all of my friends and we walked to the Botanics Park. Lots of people were there and I was so lucky because my mum was there with my little brother. Before the race I had butterflies in my tummy. When I was running the wind was rushing through my hair. I felt cool because I came 7th. The best part was when I bet Kelle and Tracey. It was really fun and I want to do it again next year.
By Isabelle

FOR SOME MORE FANTASTIC STORIES CLICK ON THE LINK TO 'ROOM 13s WRITING'

THE HANGI

2007-08-17T14:23:00.001+12:00

THE HANGI
First they made a bonfire, then they waited for it to die down. After that they put the food into the trays and put the food onto the hot metal. Then they covered the food with wet sacks and waited for two hours. Next they dug it up and got the food out of the bonfire. Then they took it to the front field. After that the food was dished up onto our plates and we gobbled the food up. The food was smoky and yummy.
By Isabelle, Kelle and Natayla.

THE HANGI
First they built a fire. Next they waited for the fire to die down. Then they put the meat and vegetables on the hot metal and covered it with wet sacks and then soil. The food cooked for three hours. At about 12 o’clock they took the dirt off the wet sacks. Next they got the vegetables and meat off the hot metal and put the food on the truck. Then the food was taken to the front field. The food was put on long tables and dished onto plates. It smelt yuck but people liked it.
By Hannah and Crystal.
SLIDE SHOW MADE BY SAM AND ALBIE

SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS WITH JIM WILDE

2007-08-08T15:37:00.002+12:00

On Tuesday Mr Jim Wilde came to Room 13 to talk to us about science investigations. We put 4 gobstoppers into the corners of a dish of water. First we talked about (PREDICTED) what we thought might happen. After we put them into the bowl we OBSERVED the changes that were happening. We had predicted that:
* the gobstoppers would change colour
* the water would change colour
* the colours would run into each other
What actually happened amazed us. The colour started running into the water but it stopped in 4 perfect square shapes. WOW!
We look at channging some of the VARIABLES to see what would happen. We changed:
* The places we put the gobstoppers
* the size of the container
Then we PREDICTED what would happen next and OBSERVED the changes.

It was a fantastic lesson. A HUGE thank you to Jim for coming in to Room 13 to show us these great experiments.
Check out the photos we took - well done Caleb for making the slide show!

MAKING MUESLI BARS

2007-08-03T11:48:00.001+12:00

Last week Room 13 made some muesli bars. It was a great learning experience because it involved reading, maths and writing. It will also give us something to bring for a rubbish free lunch! Here are some photos of us making the muesli bars.

Well done Baimon for making a fantastic slide show!

MEASUREMENT

2007-08-01T16:41:00.000+12:00

We have just finished learning about measurement. Here are some photos of the fun we had in the last couple of days. We are using all sorts of equipment to measure things – string, rulers, metre rulers, scales and tape measures. Maths is great!

Maori Language Week

2007-08-01T12:57:00.000+12:00

As part of Maori Language Week we took part in some fantastic activities. Rooms 15 and 16 taught us some great new things - Rakau sticks, string games and poi. Elmars read us a lovely story in Te Reo. Check out our photos of the fun we had. Thanks everyone - it was awesome!

The Secret - a podcast

2007-07-26T13:41:00.000+12:00

Room 13 children have performed some plays for the rest of the class. This is a podcast of 'The Secret'.
Listen to the play on our podcast page: click the badge below.
Well done Kakapo reading group!

JUMP JAM

2007-07-23T13:15:00.000+12:00

On Friday afternoon our buddy class invited us to join them and do some Jump Jam.Some other classes came and joined in too. We love doing Jump Jam and can't wait to learn some more dances this term.
Thanks Room 6 - you rock!

GO ZONE: People Who Help Us

2007-07-22T20:05:00.000+12:00

Room 13 have been working through the Go Zone all about 'People Who Help Us'. They are really interesting to read through and talk about!

Room 13 Writing Blog

2007-06-28T16:23:00.000+12:00

Room 13 have just created a special blog for our writing. We have posted some stories about the cool things we have done this year. You can read our stories by clicking on the link to 'Room 13's Writing'. We will add stories to this blog during the year so keep checking in and leave us some comments.

What can we do?

2007-06-08T10:23:00.000+12:00

Sam shows us what's in his tray.

We are amazed at how much paper was going to be thrown in the bin!

We sort the paper into the 'Recycle' and 'Scrap Paper' boxes.

David and Albie sort out the last of the paper - good job!

After we saw how much rubbish our school produces every day we wanted to do something about it. We had a look at how much paper our class throws out. First we emptied out our trays of ALL unwanted paper onto the floor. We sorted this into different piles – RECYCLE and REUSE. Paper we could draw on the back of or use again was put into our ‘Scrap Paper box’, everything else was put into our Recycling box. Did you know that any paper can be recycled if it has no plastic or metal in it?

Our trays are a lot tidier now and we have lots of scrap paper to draw on and make things out of. When we have finished with this paper, we will smooth it out and put in the Recycling box. See if you can do the same!

Talking a load of rubbish!

2007-06-06T14:27:00.000+12:00

Last week Sarah Langey from Waste Education Services came to talk to our school about how we can reduce the amount of rubbish we produce. We saw how much rubbish Nelson Central School made in only one day – it is a HUGE amount! A lot of this rubbish could be recycled and reused. We will have to think really hard before we throw something in the rubbish bin. A big worry was the amount of yummy food that was thrown away - whole apples, sandwiches, bars and muffins. We think children should take food home if they don't feel like eating it at school.
On Friday we are going to have a ‘RUBBISH FREE LUNCH DAY’. We could put our food in reusable containers or just put things straight into our lunchbox. Do you have any ideas how we can cut down on packaging in our lunches?

Peter the 'Pestman"

2007-05-25T12:43:00.000+12:00

On Wednesday there were lots of wasps buzzing around in Room 14. Lesley had to call in the experts to get rid of them. This is Peter. He climbed up a big ladder to pump the powder into the ceiling of Room 14. Now all of the wasps are gone. Thanks Peter!

What a wild day!

2007-05-25T12:28:00.001+12:00

Room 14 had a wasp nest in their ceiling! This meant that on a wild and stormy Wednesday this week all of the Room 14 children came to our classroom for the morning. It was a bit of a squash but we did some great work using ‘Thinker’s Keys’. We came up with 5 questions to describe something – it is like a riddle. Can you guess what we are describing?

What animal has big eyes?
What animal sleeps in the day?
What animal is nocturnal?
What animal has feathers?
What animal lives in the trees?
By Jamie, Leo and Liam

What likes to eat bananas?
What likes to swing on trees?
What has a long tail?
What male pokes out his tongue to attract females?
What has 2 arms and 2 legs?
What makes silly noises?
What looks a little bit like people?
By Anne, Paige and Shayden

What can really hurt when it stings you?
What has small wings to fly with?
What lives in Room 14’s ceiling?
What is small and has 6 legs?
What has black and yellow stripes?
By David , Devon and Jackson

What lived 65 million years ago?
What could really scare you?
What could eat a human?
What has big sharp teeth?
Who is the King of the reptiles?
By Caleb, Joseph, Jordan and Troy

What is something which goes “BOOM!”?
What does the Army drive?
What is bullet proof?
What is big?
By Fenn, Bryn and Dylan

What has two wings?
What says “quack”?
What lives on the water?
What swims?
What eats bread?
By Hannah, Amy and Ashley

What is something that blows?
What makes leaves fall off trees?
What can blow paper?
What can be very strong?
What sometimes goes with rain?
By Grace, Tracey and Ryan

Write an answer in the 'Comments' section if you work it out!

Suter Art Gallery

2007-05-16T11:21:00.000+12:00

We have had another super trip to the Suter Art Gallery. We went to see Ani O’Neill’s exhibition ‘Lei Mai’. Esther taught us all about tivaevae – where it comes from, how they are made, what they are used for and why they are made. We all got to make our own tivaevae square. It was great fun and our tivaevae look fantastic!

Cable Bay Trip

2007-05-16T10:17:00.000+12:00

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On Monday 14th May Room 13 and Room 8 headed off to Cable Bay to explore the rock pools. This was a follow up activity to the Rocky Shore learning we did in Term 1, and it was a long time coming – we had to wait for a good low tide at the right time of day. It was definitely worth the wait as we all had a fantastic day. The weather was lovely, the water was clear and everybody was incredibly well behaved. We saw so many interesting sea creatures, it was amazing. Have a look at the photos and see how many things you can name. If you look closely you might see some of the following:
• crab
• sea anemone
• wandering sea anemone
• cushion starfish
• brittle starfish
• hermit crab
• chiton
• cats eye
• limpet

We had such a good time that we would like to go back again. A big thanks to all the parents who made this trip worthwhile!

THE FUTURE STARTS NOW

2007-05-08T15:48:00.000+12:00

The theme for Nelson Central School for 2007 is 'The Future Starts now'. The children in Room 13 thought about what this statement means. We decided that we need to think about what we can do NOW to ensure our world is still a wonderful place to live in the FUTURE. Have a look at the COMMENTS to read our ideas and make sure you tell us what 'The Future Starts Now' means to you. We will come back and look at this later in the year after we have learned more about this topic.

POPPY ART

2007-04-25T15:03:00.000+12:00

To make our poppy pictures we looked at pictures and models of poppies. We sketched them in our books first, then onto some paper. We went over this with oil pastel and then put coloured dye over our picures. They look really neat!

ANZAC DAY

2007-04-25T14:45:00.000+12:00

We have been learning about ANZAC day. It is a special time to remember the people who died and were injured in the war. We have made some beautiful poppy pictures. The poppy is the international symbol of rememberance, and in New Zealand we use it to remember the people who died in Gallipoli.
We also made some ANZAC biscuits which were really yummy. These biscuits are special because they are nutritional and they also last a long time. They were sent to the soldiers in Turkey and had to last the long boat trip - sometimes for two or three months.
Today we made ANZAC biscuits. It was exciting. We used:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2cup coconut
1/2 tablespoon golden syrup
75 grams butter
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon boiling water.

We had to cook them in a really small oven! We can’t wait to eat them.
By David and Sam

End of Term 1

2007-04-04T16:17:00.000+12:00

Well, the end of the term is here. Room 13 has had a GREAT start to the school year. We have been on some neat trips -including a virtual field trip to Goat Island Marine Reserve to learn about the Rocky Shore. A lot of wonderful work has been produced and some fantastic learning achieved. Have a relaxing break and see you all back here next term. Feel free to leave a comment on the blog so we can catch up with each other over the holiday break. Ka kite ano.
Helen

The photos are of Room13 children working on the Alphasmart portable word processors. We use these to publish some of our written work for our wall display or books. Come in and have a look at some of our super writing!

Nelson Symphony Orchestra visit

2007-03-29T16:19:00.000+12:00

On Saturday 31st March the Nelson Symphony Orchestra are performing a concert for children called 'Peer Gynt'. Some of the orchestra members came to Nelson Central School to talk to us about their music. David plays the violin, Francis plays the oboe and Veronica plays the clarinet.
They all showed us how their instruments work. The oboe and clarinet are woodwind instruments and need a reed to make a sound. We all got to listen to some music and pretend that we were trolls, creeping around and jumping out from behind rocks. David dressed up as the Troll King from the story and they played us some of the music from the concert.

Suter Art Gallery Trip: Nga Tangi o te Tangata

2007-03-19T16:19:00.000+12:00

Well, we have had another fantastic trip to the Suter Art Gallery. On Tuesday 27 March Room 13 went to see the exhibition 'Nga Tangi o te Tangata' . We learned about the history of Nelson and Tasman through songs and arts. Esther told us the story about Kupe and Te Wheke a Muturangi, which tells how Kupe tricked the giant octopus to save his family. Some of the story was a bit gruesome and we got to draw a scene from the story using koru. The trip to the Suter was great fun and we heard some cool instruments. Thanks again to the wonderful parents that support Room 13 on these trips.

Swimming Carnival

2007-03-12T16:27:00.000+13:00

The Kahikatea Syndicate had their swimming sports - it was great fun and everybody from Room 13 took part!

Welcome to Room 13's new blog!

2007-03-12T16:23:00.000+13:00

Hi everybody. Welcome to the new blog for Room 13.

We are a year 2 & 3 class living in Nelson, New Zealand. We will add items of interest to the blog to keep you up to date with what we are learning and some of the fun things we get up to. Please feel free to add comments!

We are all just learning how to do this so be patient.

Regards, Helen Zachariassen and Room 13