Digestive System

The children carried out their investigations independently from the teacher. They used the equipment in the classroom that they collected from home. We often re-use and recycle in Room 3. A couple of parents really like it that we turn their 'trash into treasures' in our classroom.

The children bring in;
-Plastic containers
-Paper towel rolls
-Ice Cream Containers .... and so much more!

This allows us to use our imaginations and problem solving skills to re-present knowledge. Below you can see our Digestive System's.

 

Shared Lunch

Today's shared lunch was a huge success. Thank you to those that supported by bringing a plate. And thank you to those who joined us for kai.

It was wonderful.

Ms Harrison

Owl Babies, Pepi Ruru

We watched and listened to a story called Owl Babies, by Martin Waddell. We were thinking about their environment and the textures we can see on their feathers. You can listen to the story below.

So we did some art. We were looking at zen tangle patterns as well and after practicing and drafting our work we made our own black and gold zen tangle owls. We were pretty excited to use the fancy gold and silver metallic pens.

Beach Clean up

The Room 3 children were very excited to go to the beach. A huge thank you to the parents who supported us and joined in with our cleaning and playing. The children are very diligent with cleaning our classroom and our eating area at school. They understand about taking responsibility for our environment.

It is wonderful that we can help in our community. It is also great that we can be rewarded with some leisure time to enjoy the beautiful bay.

The Digestive System

Room 3 children are learning about how we process food through our bodies. We have been learning about the superbly amazing Digestive System. We started out by watching the Magic School Bus. We took a tour through the tummy of one of the characters. If you missed it, you can watch it here on school tube.

We have a new favorite song in Room 3. Check it out below. We know about liquids, solids and gases. Some of us couldn't believe that our bodies were carrying out chemical reactions! 

Research 

We have become very good at working collaboratively in Room 3. We can think of a topic together and talk about how we can be successful. We can work in pairs, groups and independently to come to our own conclusions. 

We talk about how we can display our research. We decide on diagrams, labels and explanations about the 'job' of each organ. 

Sammy and Zara both begin their research on the iPads, they use Google Image. 

They find a diagram of the Digestive system and begin by learning all of the names of the Digestive system. 

Planting a Tiny seed

The children research about how deep they need to plant their seed. They must measure in either mm (millimeters) or cm (centimeters). Each seed is slightly different.

The children learn about how to plant their seed by reading the packet, researching on the internet and many know because they have planted seeds at home.

Archie, Hohepa and Shay write 'carrots' on the roof of their carton, before they start looking for the planting depth. 

The children have included soil, water, sun and love to start off their tiny seeds. 

Make Time

In room 3 the children have the opportunity to explore the classroom environment. They make or create in self selected groups or pairs, some children prefer to work independently.

We think about what we have been learning in class and we represent it in a structural form. Some children were thinking about how to prepare healthy foods, others recreated gardens and some thought about what living conditions (shelter, food and water) that help us to stay healthy. Nearly every group made characters to put in their scenes and creations.

 

Reflections from the Teacher 
This time is either guided or unguided and it is important for a number of reasons:

1. The children move into learning groups naturally. This tells me which peers work together well and who helps each child to learn. 
2. Children participate in authentic conversations with one another. Often teacher-led discussion is directed towards specific predetermined topics, these conversations can seem 'owned' by the teacher. Open times allow children to develop their oral language skills with a variety of speakers on a variety of topics who are right at their level, a little bit above or a little bit below. 
3. The teacher listens. The children take ownership and responsibility. Natural leaders and followers emerge and the teacher allow for this during planned learning activities and use this knowledge to further support and develop students. 
4. The children are working independently. The children guide the learning and develop self-confidence as they are not awaiting instruction from the teacher. 

A Tiny Seed

The children listened to a story called the Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle. In the story the little seed stayed small and it did not get eaten or hurt, like its other brothers and sisters. It was in the soil, and with a little bit of sunshine and rain, it grew. It had some leaves and it grew big. 

Then we drew a diagram to show the seed life cycle. 

The next day when listened to a script in enacted the life cycle of the seed. We thought about what it would feel like to transform and change in a snug, warm environment. 

Maara Kai

This week we have been learning about  maara kai or no dig food gardens. We watched a short documentary in class which taught us about the different natural materials we can use and how we should layer them.

Karanga and Kaitlin do some extra research to check if their work is correct. 

The children meticulously layer their gardens. 

Zara and Sammy label their work.

Hohepa explains where the labels will go.