John and I arrived back late on Friday night from Dunedin. We visited Invercargill, Queenstown, Arrowtown, Wanaka, Glenorghy and many more places. The weather wasn’t too good in Invercargill, but just brilliant for the rest of the trip. Arrowtown was my favourite with its rich autumn colours. We were there just at the right time - for the autumn festival. We enjoyed the time away and have come home to sort out our garden and prepare for next term at school.
I went to a concert at Westlake Boys Auditorium last night. It was to raise money for the Westlake Symphony Orchestra to go to Australia. Lily was singing in Correlation choir. It was wonderful. All of the pieces were exceptional - especially the choir of course!
We had a very special end of term with the arrival of our six baby mice. Thank you to the families who are taking care of them during the holidays. We will all be very keen to see how the babies have grown by the time we get back to school.
I am off to Dunedin tomorrow for five days away with John - can’t wait as I haven’t been to the south Island in years! I will take lots of pics to share when I come back. I may not be on the blog for a while as I won’t have access to the Net very often.
HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY and come back rested and focused for a very full and exciting term all about science.
Lesley
Here is a short video of baby mice - pretty much like ours! I did mean to video them yesterday, but just got too busy and forgot!
We have enjoyed our maths unit on statistics. We collected some very interesting data and graphed it using PowerPoint. Today we discussed our findings:
We found that, although we should all have the same results, that this was not the case. Out data was not RELIABLE! We thought this was probably because some students had not OBSERVED the features themselves, but relied on a verbal response from their peers. In addition, there was clearly a difference of opinion about what some features actually looked like! It seems that our criteria for what was a ’straight thumb’ and a ‘hitchhikers thumb’ were not clear enough! This is good learning for next term when we do our science fair projects.
However, despite the inconsistencies, the overall patterns show clearly which are the dominant features and which are the non dominant (recessive). It will be interesting to compare the adult data and see if this is the same!
We have four additions to Room 12 - baby mice. What a shock we all had when we discovered them hiding in the red house! We did some research to find out about the life cycle of a mouse. We discovered that the gestation period for mice is 18 - 20 days. We have had the mice for 18 - 19 days. Vanilla could have been pregnant before we got her. We have to do some quick thinking about what to do next! It was a very exciting day and we also learnt heaps. We will post some photos soon. Check on some of the students’ blogs to read their responses to our exciting event.
The golden mountains glowed and caught my eyes. Scarlet sand slithered down the hill. Quiet. The scorching sun blinded me. I heard a sound. The wind rushed around the topaz trees. “Breathtaking isn’t it?” A mysterious voice said. I spun around. A lady with snow white skin and midnight-black hair walked towards me. In her arms was a precious baby wrapped in a silky gown. The lady’s name was Catherine. I looked around to see a room filled with colours of turquoise. Lush green trees stared at me. Catherine’s warm voice welcomed me and she talked about her husband. She sat on a stone brick seat and played with her baby. I went on a head into the Study to find my mission.
Looking out to the dry Rocky Mountains, it’s so silent and dead. The hot, shimmering sun gleams down on me and the abandoned desert is so still. It looks just like Jupiter, Orange, red and yellow. I turn around. The place I’m now in is so different, It’s lush and leafy. I hear a lady walking through the moist damp bushy plants, with her glorious baby called Releesha wrapped in a cloth. ‘Breathtaking isn’t it?’ she says. Catherine sits on the stone garden seat and talks to me. Her hair is in a pony tail, the colour of black ink.I walk myself towards the turquoise door into Atrus’ study. By Courtney
Before me is a huge white tusk reaching out of the ground and into the sky. Turning, I see frothing waves crashing onto the rocky shore. Suddenly I see what I am looking for a crooked man clothed in rags climbs up a ladder and disappears from view. I follow him and he runs into a house and locks the door. Then deciding to look around I gaze upwards, the soft blue sky looks back at me. Jagged rocks stand high and imposing like sharp daggers upon the golden shore and a crisscrossed maze of bridges shudder as the wind whistles harmlessly above them. By Zac
Well done everyone for planning, organising and running a very successful cake stall. Thank you to all the wonderful parents who helped with (or did) baking. We couldn’t have done it without your help.
We made $141.90! Wow that’s pretty good when you think that we only charged very reasonable prices.
I will buy the maze as soon as I can get to the pet shop. Hopefully before the end of the week so that the mice can have it before the holidays.
I don’t know about you, but I am really pretty tired now. We have just three days to go. We still have a few important things to finish including our statistics project, publishing our writing and finishing our art work.
Don’t forget to bring your statistical survey results in to school tomorrow.
Crimson and scarlet rocks cover the landscape. Jagged rocks rise from the earth like spikes and far below them emerald green trees line thebottom of the canyon like sprinkles on a cake. Creamy lapis lazuli blue sky covers the top half of the landscape. A barren moor spreads itself across the sides of the rocks like a blanket on a bed. Wind beaten edges stick out from all sides of the canyon. A soft voice whispers “Breathtaking isn’t it?” I turn. I am in a room dappled with sunlight that streamed in from red, blue and teal stain glass windows. Lush, green vegetation covers all sides of the room. Fresh dense ivy drapes from the windows flowing like water from a tap. At the back of the room huge, mahogany doors with aquamarine ornaments stand still waiting to be opened. A woman with a baby stands there. She has pitch black hair and a long flowing dress made from the finest silk. The scene overwhelms me. By Simon
Some of you are ready to put your published work on your blog. (We will also publish a coloured copy for our class book).
Your writing should be the best you can achieve at the moment. Remember, you are on a learning journey, so it doesn’t have to be perfect. What’s perfect anyway? However, make sure that you have corrected spelling mistakes and that it makes sense when it is read. Check that you have read and responded to all my comments on your drafts. You could download a picture as well if you like!
When you publish on your blog, make sure you put a category on the post. You do this when you are on the ‘draft writing page’. Look to the right of the screen and you will see ‘Categories’. Add a category for Myst III and tick the box. This will help students and teachers find your work in a search.
Cake Stall
I am really looking forward to our cake stall tomorrow! Remember to take your produce directly to the stall in the morning. If the weather is really bad we will be in the hall. If the weather is not too bad, but a bit drizzly, we will be on the hall steps. If the weather is fine we will be out the front as planned. Remember what I said this afternoon - if you are baking tonight - don’t leave the clean up all to your parents!
Welcome to Room12s classroom blog at Bayfield School in Auckland. This blog provides a place for communication between students, teachers, parents, family and our community. We encourage parent involvment and feedback that will support our learning. This space will be used to post information about what we are learning in Room 12 and about our progress. We will be able to publish some of our work on the blog and get feedback from our peers and family! The children are gradually developing their own blogs which are linked to the class blog. Check out the 'pages' section where you will find references and links to items of interest for parents and students. We look forward to your comments and feedback. Lesley (Room 12's teacher)
Entries (RSS)