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:

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?

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?


 

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?

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?

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?

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 :)

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.

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.

Marvin's South Island Adventure

Marvins Deep South Adventure - create a slideshow with music

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

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

Google Dreaming...

This is why Marvin needs to be supervised on the computer!

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.

Marvin's Malady

Marvin was a bit quiet earlier in the week. We weren't sure what was up with him. When he went home to Giulietta's house, she Listened with Understanding and Empathy to him when he told her about the pain in his arm. He was able to Communicate with Clarity and Precision when he asked him exactly where it was that it hurt. It turned out that he had a great big gaping hole in his bicep!

Nurse Whitney, Giulietta's Mum, focused on Striving for Accuracy during the surgery that she performed on him. We are so grateful! Marvin has fully recovered, and is once again fully engaged with his learning in Room 2 with the Rockets. Special thanks must go to the Whitney family for their care and attention, you guys rock!

Rocket Stars...

Kookaburra from MissRevell on Vimeo.

Ukulele Stars from MissRevell on Vimeo.

We have been finding humour (and sometimes the beat) learning to play some tunes on our fabulous school ukuleles. We had so much fun. Thank you so much, Mrs Shand and Max.
Marvin showed his stickability, persisting to get his fingers on the dots. He reckoned holding his tongue in the right place helped! Marvin said his Dad used to say to him "You hum it son, and I'll play it."

Mr Thorne does Phonics

Mr Thorne does Phonics from MissRevell on Vimeo.

The Rockets are loving using our school's new ipads. They love the "Mr Thorne does Phonics" app, and giggle as they try to mimic his British accent. Ms White thinks this is very funny! We are so lucky to have this inspiring technology in our classroom.