Warming Up!

Warming Up!
Starting 2011 as a team.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Reflecting on being a Rocket

School's out for summer! It is with mixed emotions that I write this, possibly the last post for the year. Our school term ended a week ago today, on December 14th. 

The Rockets have now all dispersed, and are home with their families enjoying summer in Hawke's Bay. We performed "Rudolph" magnificently on our Prizegiving evening with the rest of the Junior Syndicate. The term went so quickly, the last couple of weeks were warm and we were able to start swimming which was very exciting.

A big thank you and Christmas cuddle to all those who have followed our blog this year. It has been such a huge success for the Rockets, and has enhanced their learning in so many ways. Thank you to every one of you that has taken the time to comment, the children love to know that their voices are heard. 

Ka kite ano

Miss Revell

Here are some reflections from the Rockets themselves on their class this year:


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Rudolph!



Merry Christmas from the Rockets...

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Ryan's Magical Birthday



 The Rockets were very lucky on Tuesday this week, when they were treated to a lunchtime feast! To celebrate Ryan's birthday, his parents brought in some food to share.

We all got a happy meal from McDonalds! Everyone was incredibly excited. We are very grateful to Ryan's parents for their generosity.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

National Jandal Day



We celebrated the great work of our local Surf Lifeguards on Thursday by supporting National Jandal Day. Since 1910, Surf Lifeguards have been patrolling our beaches in their jandals.

For more information, have a look at the Surf Lifesaving New Zealand website or the National Jandal Day page on Facebook.

We decorated our jandals creatively and showed them off in a parade. The Teachers made some tough decisions in awarding the Junior School jandal prize to Kayden, and the Senior School's to Max. Well done boys, some excellent creating, innovating and imagining there!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

MKK X Factor



The Rockets and the Junior Syndicate were thoroughly entertained by the participants in the first round of the MKK "X Factor" competition. 

In this competition individual or group entries sing or dance. Sometimes, if they are particularly clever, they are able to do both at the same time! There have even been performances by Rock Bands this year in the Senior competition. They are very inspirational to us.

We are so looking forward to the final tomorrow. Watch this space for results! :)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Marvin's Motorbike Mayhem


Marvin enjoyed staying with Giulietta recently. Look what he got up to...


Have you ever been on a motorbike?

Cora's Writing

The Hawkes Bay Show

The crowd goes wild at the Hawke’s Bay show! I saw the spooky ghost train. It had vampires and monsters. It was scary. Then I went on the clown circus, it had rolling barrels and there was a big slide at the end. It was awesome.

After that, I went on the merry-go-round. I went on the pony that went up and down. Then I went on the big slides, they were bumpy and I went by myself. It was fantastic. 


Next I had lunch and I had a hot dog, coloured pop corn and candy floss. It was delicious. After that we went to the petting zoo. There was a 5 legged lamb, a calf and goats. 


By Cora
4.11.11

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Smartie Statistics


In the last two weeks we have been learning about Statistics. We have collected lots of different data. We have tallied what our favourite ice cream flavours are, and where we like to go on holiday. Most of the Rockets prefer to go on holiday to the city! It's exciting for country kids!

We were very excited on Thursday, when we all got our our mini packet of Smarties. It was hard work Managing our Impulsivity. We had to collect and share our data. We put the information that we collected on to a tally chart, and then a bar graph. The best part came at the end, however, when we got to eat our Smarties!

What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Pet Day 2011

Wow! So exciting. Pet day was held yesterday, Friday, November 4th. 

We all brought an exceptional array of pets. There were rabbits, chooks, cats, dogs, lambs, goats and ponies. Turtles and snails arrived too! It was an outstanding day in the spring sunshine. Thanks to all our parents for the transportation of animals and their support. A popular category was the best dressed pet. We had dogs that were Super Heroes, Zumba champions, Cowboys, Fairies and Rugby stars!

Thanks to the National bank for their support, and for lending us one of their busy Rural Managers, Marcus Bousfield for the afternoon. There were some tricky decisions for him to make in the judging!

Excellent organisation from Ms White, Mrs Potter, Mrs MacPhee and Mrs Byers made the day a huge success. Great effort team! We can't wait for next year.



The Rockets made Sand Saucers in class on Thursday with Mrs O'Dowda. 
These were judged on Pet Day. Take a look!




Do you have a pet at home?
How do you care for it?

Friday, November 4, 2011

Writing Wall Updated!

Come in and have a look... our writing wall has been updated to display our published Holiday exploits.

We are learning to entertain our audience. We know that we can do this when we do things like using adjectives to describe things and making our beginnings interesting. We are able to use sequencing words like then, next and after that.

We would love you to give us some feedback.

What do you like to write about?

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Halloween Happiness


Hello Miss Revell

Here are some photos from my spooky Halloween Party.  We bobbed for apples and ate bleeding fingers.

From Ethan

Did you go Trick or Treating?

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Term 4 - Blast off!



Welcome to Term Four, 2011. Do you think that we have grown since our Term 1 photo?

The Rockets hope that you have all had a refreshing holiday filled with friends, family and lots of celebration! This term is short, but very busy.  First up, we have Pet Day on Friday 4th November.  
We are so looking forward to making sand saucers and bringing our pets. We have Athletics later this term, so we can't wait to get out on the field and get into that! There is also MKK Factor to look forward to, where we will get to show off our dancing and singing talent. So exciting!

Thank you for coming to visit our blog. We love sharing our learning with you.

What do you have planned for this term?

Monday, October 24, 2011

Congratulations All Blacks



The Rockets are so proud of our national heroes, the All Blacks for winning the Rugby World Cup 2011. Congratulations Richie and the team! You are superstars.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Ethan's Holiday

Dear Miss Revell

We went to the Coromandel and stayed in Whitianga. We watched the All Blacks game against Argentina. We went out on a really big boat and caught three fish. I let them go. We went to the beach and made sandcastles and I buried my Dad. We went on a ferry. We had a train ride in native bush and learnt about the man who made it all by himself. It was fun. On the way home we stopped and stayed with friends and got to have lots of hot swims.

From Ethan


Saturday, October 22, 2011

Emer's Holiday


Dear Miss Revell 

In the holidays I went to Auckland and we went inside The Cloud. We saw the The Giant Rugby Ball but we didn't go in because the queue was so long we would have had to wait an hour and a half! 

We went to the Tank Farm Park and we climbed The Gantry. Here are my photos. 

Bye Miss Revell 
from Emer

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Let's go All Blacks!




This is so exciting! The All Blacks are playing in the final of the Rugby World Cup 2011 on Sunday night. Marvin is SO looking forward to it. He has a few butterflies in his tummy, but he is ready to cheer the AB's on with gusto! Bring it on!

Friday, October 14, 2011

RWC Fanzone

 


Wow! The school holidays are so much fun! Still another week to go. Wahoo!
Marvin has been checking out the Rugby World Cup Fanzone at the Viaduct Harbour in Auckland. There is so much to do there. It is so exciting looking forward to the semi-finals this weekend.

What have you been up to in the holidays?

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Barefoot Sevens

Our combined schools Barefoot Sevens Rugby Tournament was cancelled this year due to poor weather conditions. We were really disappointed about this, so we decided to have our own tournament. The Juniors played first this morning and the Seniors played this afternoon. 

 We were very lucky as, although there were some showers, the rain held off this time!

Do you prefer playing with bare feet?


 

Crazy Rugby Hair day

Crazy Hair Day on PhotoPeach

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Shake your groove thing!



The Rockets let loose and had a really good boogie last night at our school disco. Everyone was able to dress up as their favourite fairytale character. The Maraekakaho Hall was a buzz with fantastic Fairies, perilous Pirates, slinky Spidermen, prepossessing Princesses and some tense Teachers concerned about their Zumba prowess! 

Thanks to Maraekakaho Friends of School - with special mention to the amazing Lisa Byers - the night went off without a hitch.

Who is your favourite fairytale character?

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Ko wai tō ingoa? Ko Rockets matou.


Our first attempt at voice thread! We would love you to comment.

We have been learning how to greet each using Te Reo Māori. We can ask each other "What is your name?" which is "Ko wai tō ingoa?" and reply "My name is ........" , "Ko ........ ahau."

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

What's a blog?

The Rockets were so impressed with Gina from Point View School, and the way that she explained what a blog is. Take a look here.

Here are our thoughts:



Rieff on "What is a blog?" from MissRevell on Vimeo.


Monday, September 19, 2011

Go the Irish!


The Rockets are very proud of the Irish Rugby Team, after their momentous win against Australia on Saturday night. We are learning about Ireland while the Rugby World Cup is being played in New Zealand. 

We know that their national colour is green, that their flag has orange, white and green stripes and that they have Leprechauns running around in their countryside! We thought it was quite funny when we learned that Ireland is an island.
We love trying to spot Leprechauns on the Leprechaun Watch website.

Marilena brought this picture that she drew over the weekend. Isn't it fabulous!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Magic Tree Marvels

The Rockets learn high frequency words using a fun learning system called "The Magic Tree." This was devised by the Junior Syndicate Leader at Maraekakaho School, Ms Chris White. 

Today, Ayden and Ethan were  Super Star learners. They passed their "Strawberry" spelling words, which means they get a ladybird to put on the Magic Tree in our classroom. Mr Jones, our Principal, was really thrilled with the persistence they have shown in their learning. He has taken their picture and put it up in a frame in his office. Here is the picture that he has put up. 

The Rockets are really proud of Ethan and Ayden. Marvin can't stop smiling. Ka pai boys!

What did you persist at this week?

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Habits of Mind in Action!

Maraekakaho School uses the Habits of Mind as the foundation upon which we place our learning. We are always referring to them throughout our school environment. 
 These are the some Habits that the Rockets use, in "Rocket speak."

The Habits of Mind are a collection of 16 thinking dispositions identified by Professor Art Costa. Costa defined the Habits of Mind as the dispositions skillfully and mindfully displayed by characteristically intelligent people when confronted with problems the solutions to which are not immediately apparent. The Habits of Mind are not thinking tools, rather they are dispositions that inclines one to adopt a thinking tools and strategies.

 Here is Professor Costa explaining the Habits:


This is from some clever kids, posted on You Tube from http://dinorita.edublogs.org/ 



What Habits have you used today?


Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Quad Blogging


The Rockets are excited to be part of the Quad Blogging project.
This project involves 4 schools each with a class blog. The schools take it in turns in a 4 week cycle to be the focus of the other 3 schools. These schools visit the blog of the focus school to respond to posts, leave comments and generally learn about school life and students in different places.
Visit the Quad Blog website for more details:
The 3 other school that make up the Quad with the Rockets are:
Room 3 and Mrs Nelson from Craigburn Primary School in Australia.
Room 1 and Mrs McKenzie from Hamilton East School - NZ.
Year 3 and Miss Donacien from Wix Primary in England.



Mrs Yollis' Grade 3 class in California are experts at blogging. Watch their their presentation on how they learn from their experiences with blogging. 

What have you learnt about blogging from watching this?

Friday, September 9, 2011

MKK celebrates the RWC 2011



Wow! What an exciting day we had today! MKK was buzzing with the excitement of the forthcoming Rugby World Cup. We were able to choose to come to school dressed supporting our favourite team. Who do you think most of us chose!? Let's go ALL BLACKS!

Who do you predict will win the Rugby World Cup?

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Thanks for the comments!

The Rockets would like to thank Mrs Laburn and our friends in Room 3 at Point View School, for the time that they spent commenting on our blog today. We loved reading out the comments and discussing them afterwards. We hope to get some time tomorrow to reply to some of you!

Have you seen this fantastic poster made by our friends at 2KM and 2KJ at Leopold Primary School in Victoria, Australia? There are some great criteria for comments to follow here. They also have a great post on their class blog on how to comment. Go on, take a responsible risk and make a comment! Just have a go, we would love to hear from you!


We love comments on our blog! from MissRevell on Vimeo

What would you like to comment on?

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Enchanted Forest

MKK was very lucky today to be treated to a performance of "The Enchanted Forest" performed by the amazing team at The Magic Play House.

Their website describes The Enchanted Forest as:
"... essentially a 'Rock concert' for children! It showcases catchy original music, partnered with life like puppets of animals that can be found in the New Zealand bush. 
Old Tuatara M.C's the concert in rhyme, and is a part that would be most effectively played by a teacher, with children performing the Kiwi's, Pukeko's, Slippery eels and Bell Frog's."



 Wow! What a brilliant show... we loved it! Thanks to everyone at The Magic Playhouse.


 Who was your favourite character today?


The Frog, because when he jumped he looked like he was doing a dance. Giulietta

I liked the rat because he was trying to sneak some eggs. Ryan

I liked the kiwi because he was beating up the rat to save its precious babies. Nataliya

I liked the snake because it slithers around and it looks like an "S'. Sam

I liked the rat because those black bands looked like sunglasses. Lorna

The rat is really frustrated with the possum because the possum is to slow to get the eggs. Cora

The green bird was my favourite because it farted on the nasty rat and his eggs. Rieff

My favourite was the Kiwi because it lives in New Zealand and it has a sparkly, shiny hard beak. Marilena

The Kiwi was soft and smooth. At the end of the show the Kiwi was funny when it was fighting the rat and it jumped out of the tree. Max

The frogs are funny when they sing. They sound like little mice squeaking loudly. Ethan

The little tinsy bird was my favourite because when the possum said "I will look after your eggs" the bird knew that he was lying. Ayden


Friday, September 2, 2011

Lanson's Dad's RWC Jerseys



The Rockets very excited today to have Lanson from the MTs come in and show them his Dad's RWC jerseys. We very interested to learn about the RWC in 1999, which was before we were born! It was so amazing to see the real jerseys and see how big they were. Did you know that some of the jerseys haven't even been washed! We are so excited about the RWC in 2011. Go ALL BLACKS!


Which is your favourite team?

Lanson and his Dad's RWC shirts from MissRevell on Vimeo.

















Here is Lanson's Dad, Taine leading the Haka.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Kereru Champions



The Rockets had an incredibly successful day running at the Kereru Cross Country yesterday. We were so excited to get up into the Hawke's Bay hills and show off our long distance running skills and tactics! We were so thrilled having three champions in the class. Jack won the Year 2 boy's race, Lorna came second in the Year 1 race, and Ocean came third in the Year 2 race. Wow Champions! Well done we are so proud of you! All the Rockets had big smiles on their faces on the way home. Marvin was so thrilled and proud of everyone's efforts. Go team!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Crazy Characters!

Book Week on PhotoPeach
We have had such a fun day today at Maraekakaho School. To celebrate book week, we dressed up as our favourite book character for the day. It was all very exciting, we paraded class by class in the morning. All the classes were judged and prizes awarded. We are continuing our "readathon" for the next two weeks.

Can you tell who we all are?


Who is your favourite book character?

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Our new listening post


We are so excited! We were inspired by our friends at 2KM and 2KJ at Leopold Primary in Victoria, Australia. Their teacher, Mrs Kathleen Morris, posted some ideas on her blog about using an ipod touch in the classroom.

We were lucky enough to already have an ipod touch that we share in our Junior Syndicate, and so we decided using it for this purpose would be really cool. We just needed to buy a little headphone splitter - you can see it here in the photo. Now five children can listen to the ipod at the same time.
Thanks for this wonderful idea Mrs Morris!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Cross Country Champions!

Cross Country on PhotoPeach
The sun was shining this afternoon as the Rockets limbered up and prepared for our annual Cross Country run. Armed with the Habit of Mind - Persistence - we were ready to take on the course. Miss Hunt had added some more challenges this year, so we were really excited. Marvin was thrilled to take on all the action as a spectator, and is home at Jack's house tonight, celebrating his win with him.
Well done Rockets! Excellent training and persistence.


What other Habits of Mind did you use today? Why?

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Marvin's latest exeats...



In Room 2, we always ask, What would Marvin do? Marvin is helping us learn the Habits of Mind. He is a master of the Habits, and always knows the right thing to do. Marvin manages his impulsivity by thinking before he speaks, and he always remembers to sit still and put his hand up to answer a question.  Marvin is always persistent in his learning, he tries and tries again until he meets his goal. He strives for accuracy by checking he is meeting all the Success Criteria.


Which Habits do you think Marvin used when he went skiing recently?

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Leaping Leprechauns...

The Rockets are learning a little bit about Ireland this term, and today we have been writing about Lorcan the Leprechaun.
We have been adding adjectives to enrich our writing, and make it entertaining for our audience. Our friends at 2KM and 2KJ have been using them too, and they have some great examples of how adjectives colour our writing. Take a look at this interactive whiteboard presentation All about Adjectives. It's really clever and helpful.

Lorcan the Leprechaun is very rich and fast. He ran to a pot of gold but it wasn't there. He has a very pointy nose and square glasses and green sparkly eyes.
- Sam

Lorcan the Leprechaun is a cheeky little fella. The little man is a master. He moves as fast as a cheetah. He wears green pyjamas. He wears a really big top hat like a giant. He shoots up to people and says "Hey!"
-Rieff

There was once a greedy leprechaun who lived in the (most) richest place in the land. He was real cheeky and his hair was as silver as a 50 cent coin. His clothes were light green. His shoes were light green and dark brown. His arms were hairy, and his hands are greenish, and his nose is long and pointy. His feet are springs. He bounces, jumps and dances all over the place. His top hat is red velvet. His eyes shine like the stars and all the ladies fall when they see him.
-Chardanae


All the Rockets' Leprechaun writing is posted under the 'Our Writing' page. Please have a look! We would love you to comment :)

Saturday, August 13, 2011

On the line!


Click the on the speaker icon to hear our commentary!

We have had fun this week, working on sending an inspirational message of support to our heroes, the All Blacks. Marilena and Kayden used Garage Band to record the audio on this slideshow, and Mr Jones made them laugh by showing them how they could make their voices sound like the chipmunks! Here we are honing our passing skills with Mrs O'Dowda.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

MKK meets the Magpies

Maraekakaho School today welcomed three Hawkes Bay Magpies. A buzz was evident across the school as everyone arrived dressed in their best black and whites. 

Thanks very much to Hugh Reed, Brad Webber, Brodie Retallick and Dan Sommerville, the Magpies Development officer for taking the time to visit us. It was wonderful to have you answer all our burning questions, and to get out on the field and into the drills. Best of luck for the rest of the 2011 season, we are all right behind you!

Magpies on PhotoPeach

Monday, August 8, 2011

Marvin loves the Magpies!

Magpie Magic on PhotoPeach

On Friday, Marvin went to watch the Magpies. The Magpies play Rugby. The Rugby was in town at McLean Park. The Magpies are a very good Rugby team in Hawke's Bay. The Magpies are very good because they work together and think interdependently. Marvin shouted "Come on the Bay!" Marvin wanted the Magpies to win, and he shouted "Yay" when they did!

Composed and written by the Rockets who are learning to entertain their audience.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Oliver's Magical Birthday

Hi Miss Revell,
I turned 7 in the holidays and had a wizard party.
We ate jelly with worms in it.
We made poisonberry’s to drink.
We played musical cushions and got wands.
We also made hats.

Oliver S
Oliver's Wizard Party on PhotoPeach

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Rocket RWC Commentary

The Rockets have been putting together some tips for the All Blacks, and how they could use the Habits of Mind to succeed in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. We have had some fun with drama to role play what this would look like. This was adapted from a fabulous original script from "Habits - Centre Stage" by Sandra Brace.

Marilena and Ollie Commentary from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Emer and Kayden's Commentary from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Pōwhiri for Mr Jones


Pōwhiri for Mr Jones from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Maraekakaho School welcomed our new Principal, Mr Jones, yesterday with a pōwhiri. A pōwhiri is a ceremony of welcome involving speeches, dancing, singing and hongi. This ceremony was traditionally used to welcome visitors on to marae - the sacred space or courtyard usually in front of Māori meeting houses - and the ceremony is now commonly seen in everyday New Zealand life. Pōwhiri can happen anywhere that tangata whenua (hosts) wish to formally greet manuhiri (visitors).

This custom frequently takes place in the workplace to welcome new staff and important guests, at schools, sports and leisure clubs, and at significant occasions or ceremonies, such as a building dedication.
Pōwhiri on PhotoPeach
The Rockets have written about their experiences of the pōwhiri today...

When we were at the Powhiri, it was fun and when we ate food I got some crunchy marshmellows.  -Ayden

We all looked at the the actions that Clive School did for their songs. Max

The Powhiri was awesome because we got to sing to Clive School and they got to sing to us, and we got to make new friends. Ollie C

Yesterday at Maraekakaho School, we had a Powhiri and it was groovy and fantastic. I liked the food, it was delicious! Kayden

At the Powhiri we had lots of food. I liked the Powhiri because we got to have two songs, and the other school got to sing songs too. Marilena

Yesterday we had a Powhiri, it was awesome and I liked when we sung and ate some food. Ethan

Yesterday we had a fantastic blasting Powhiri that was really really fun and exciting. We got to sing and listen to Clive School's waiata. I loved the food.  Chardanae

Yesterday, we had a Powhiri. It was fun because we had food and I was really hungry. We got to listen to Clive School and watch them do the actions to their song. Jack

The Powhiri was awesome, because we got to meet other kids and we ate some food. Ryan

The Powhiri was fun and it was the best day of school so far! Ella

Yesterday we went to a Powhiri. We sang and there was lots of food. Jordyn

On Monday we had a Powhiri and it was very very fun. We sang two songs and had some food.  Lorna

I loved the Powhiri, because I got to try lots of different foods and all of them tasted really yummy.  Wayne

Jack's Adventures

Kate and I went to the snow it was fun.

Jack.


Jack posted this himself on the blog this morning, with lots of Rockets watching and helping. Jack's Mum said that Kate and Jack got to play in the snow past Waiwhare on the Napier- Taihape Road and then they brought a ute load of snow home and made a snowman at the front gate. Jack said that he put some snow in his sandpit! Great effort Jack.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Term 3 Kicks off!


Welcome to Term Three, 2011. I hope that you have all had a refreshing holiday filled with friends, family and lots of warmth! Marvin is certainly enjoying being back in the Hawkes Bay, with the snow on the ranges, and not underfoot! 
This term, with the World Cup the Junior Team are looking at "Kiwis, Centre Stage!" The big picture question above this is ‘What is our place in the world?’ The Rockets will be learning about Ireland, as the Junior Syndicate has chosen certain countries to follow for the Rugby World Cup. Leprechauns are on the loose! Watch out!

Fairies!

It was Marilena's 7th birthday on Friday, and she had some fairies around to celebrate with her. Do you recognise any of them?

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Marvin's South Island Adventure



Where is Marvin now?
The first person to email Miss Revell with the correct answer will receive 50 House points!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Cora's Holiday Fun

Cora's Holiday Fun on PhotoPeach

Hi Miss Revell
I went on the gig with Jenna at her house. Thunder towed us. It was fun. Jenna's mum also let me ride her other pony. Jenna and I dressed up in tiger suits. We pretended to be real tigers in the jungle.

We bought Junior Monopoly as a treat because we had such a long term. We played it in the morning and Callum won but I will win next time.

We cracked loads of walnuts one morning. I was eating some of them and we are going to make afghan biscuits with them.

I have been reading lots of stories and I read Sleeping beauty to myself. I love reading!

I helped make Callum's birthday cake. It was chocolate and we got to lick the bowl and spoons. It tasted really yummy and I was scoffing it!

I enjoyed reading about your holiday with Marvin on the blog.

From Cora xxxxxxxx

Friday, July 22, 2011

Ethan's Holiday Fun

Dear Miss Revell and Marvin

Yesterday we had Thursday Fun day with Mum and Dad and Amelia...we went to Napier and went biking on the walkway, we saw this big as anchor from a ship from the Royal New Zealand Navy. We saw Pania of the reef and a huge clock. We had such a cool day!

Hope you guys are having a great holiday!

Love Ethan


Adventures in Christchurch!

Hi team!

Well it has been a bit of a drop in temperature! When Marvin and I left Auckland this morning, it was 12 degrees. Arrived in Christchurch to a chilly 3! We could see our breath...

We were so excited to board the new black Air New Zealand A320 today. Super smooth interior and flight! The crew were fantastic, and even allowed Marvin to help out in the galley. More updates soon!




Marvin does Christchurch - Online Slideshow Maker

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Thanks Mrs Morris!

It was a wonderful surprise today to see that the Rockets' Blog received a mention from a fantastic Australian teacher, Mrs Kathleen Morris on her blog - Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom. Take a look here! 

Mrs Morris has a Grade 2 Class at Leopold Primary School in Victoria. Have a look at their blog.  Her class do amazing learning that she posts regularly too, and it is really great to be able to read about this.

We are so lucky to have a wonderful authentic audience to share our classroom successes with. Thank you to all those people who stop in to read about what is happening in Room 2, Maraekakaho School. We love getting your comments, and seeing the places that you are from. It is so exciting for us all. 

Marvin's Holiday

Hi there everyone! Just to let you know that Marvin and I are having a wonderful time in Auckland. We have made so many friends - particularly at the Viaduct today. Rockets, we would love to know what you have been up to - please email us and we will update it on the blog...
See you soon!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Pavlova Paradise

We were very lucky on Friday, finishing off our learning about who we are as New Zealanders with a special treat. The Rockets and the MTs shared pavlova and chocolate fish to welcome in the holidays! We are pleased to report that a double thumbs up was received from all those who hadn't tried it before.
Annabel shared with us all her research on pavlova. Stunning learning everyone!
Marvin's eyes are bigger than his stomach!

Annabel on Pavlova from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Silly Sentences

The Rockets have had fun this week with an activity called "Mad Libs." These are super fun. Have a listen to some of our silly sentences!

Rieff's Silly Sentence from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Ella's Silly Sentences from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Cora's Silly Sentence from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Emer's Silly Sentences from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

More Marvin...

Marvin has continued his adventures outside the classroom. Here he is at Rieff's house polishing off pikelets, and sharing some of his grease monkey skills.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Why is Marvin such an expert in the Habits?

We have been re-visiting our writing on why Marvin is a master of the Habits of Mind. Have a listen and see if you agree...

Emer on why Marvin is an expert... from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Kayden on why Marvin is an expert... from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Gym Bunnies

This term we have been using many of the Habits of Mind when learning Gymnastics. We have had to Strive for Accuracy with the precision of our movements and take Responsible Risks by just having a go when we weren't sure that we could do it. There have been many moments of Wonderment and Awe when we have achieved moves that we didn't think possible!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Matisse Masterpieces

We have been busy little beavers today, using many Habits of Mind to create some fantastic art. We have been learning about Henri Matisse, and how he loved colour and shape. We found it hard to believe that he died over 50 years ago - even before Miss Revell was born! (That seemed to draw a great deal of attention) We were inspired to create original work that looked similar to Matisse's collages, and the exemplar that Miss Revell had knocked up.

We focused on four habits in particular - Creating, Imagining and Innovating, Managing Impulsivity, Taking a Responsible Risk and Striving for Accuracy. Do you think that we have been successful in using these Habits? Marvin does.

Writing Wall updated!

Come in and have a look... our writing wall has been updated to display our published fairytales. We would love you to give us some feedback.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Giulietta's writing

Wow! Many of us have been creating and imagining at home recently. Giulietta brought this writing in this morning. My apologies for the wobbly scanning - I wasn't taking my time and striving for accuracy! Marvin will be disappointed.