Information Reports

This term we have been learning about sharing information and facts through Information Reports. We started by all writing a report about something we knew very well, Gladstone School, and we still all learned something new in the process!

Then we each chose a subject we wanted to investigate further and then tell everyone about. We have been working hard on our reports and here you can see some of the finished products:

Motorcross by Conall Doyle

Motocross is a sport, it is where you race motorbikes on other farms. Racers have to be good at motocross and if they are, they can get trophies.

Motocross riders

To be a good motocross rider like Ricky Carmichael, you would have to be strong and train a lot. Ken Roczen is sponsored by Suzuki and this means he gets money and trailers and gear, like fox gear.  All of that helps him to be a good motocross rider by giving him  more time to ride instead of working.

Motocross track

Motocross tracks are made from dirt and have jumps and berms. Berms are sharp corners to ride around. People come to the race to watch and cheer on their favourite rider. It is fun.

Conclusion

I like Motocross. I have my own Motocross bike it is a RM65 Suzuki. The thing I love most is racing because you can try and beat other people.

Horses and horse events

By Abi

Horses can be very useful. They can trot, canter, gallop, walk, race, and do events.  But before you get a horse you have to have the right equipment like a saddle, bridle, bit, gerth and food for the horse.

What Horses Eat

Horses eat hay, grass, carrots, apples and lots of other things. Some horses can be hard to ride. If you're a starter get a nice easy horse. Some are pony's some are fouls and some are horses but it doesn't matter at all. Horses look very, very furry and cute.

Things you shouldn't do

Don't stand behind a horse. Don't annoy a horse. Don't throw everything at a horse.

Don't let it starve.

Things you should do

Feed it. Ride it. Be kind to it. Groom it.

Put it in a nice grassy paddock but make sure there is not to is not too much grass.

The Ultimate Waterman

by Hamish Thomson

Introduction

The Ultimate Waterman is a competition for 8 athletes there names are Mark Visser, Daniel Kereopa, Kal Lenny, Manoa Drollet, Danny ching, Conner Baxter, Kala Alexander and Georges Cronsted.

Types of competitions

There are 4 competitions in the Ultimate Waterman. There are the stand up paddleboard, the long board, the short board and the stand up surf paddle.

Who competes in this

There are 5 countries Hawaii, New Zealand, Pyf, United States of America and Australia.  Also this year Danny Kereopa the New Zealand contestant, won. Kal Lenny from Hawaii is a favorite in the competition, he came 2nd.  

Gear needed

In the competition you need a  wetsuit, surfboard, sponsor, a paddle, a stand up paddle board and a paddle board.

Conclusion

So these athletes are really good surfers and there are some of the best surfers in the world and one day I want to be a surfer.  

Ruamahanga Adventures

On Wednesday we went to the Ruamahanga river. The leader for the day, Beachy (thats Kate Beach's dad), guided us through the day.

Beachy telling us his best joke

We learned to ford a river in a group safely and how to do a whitewater float.

Today we spent the day on the Ruamahanga Awa. Here are a few pics with more to come! Thanks again to Beachy and all of the amazing parents who helped out today.

A Moment in Time

A Surfing Moment in Time By Hamish

A Hockey Moment in Time By Anika

A Hapkido Moment in Time By Baxter

A cricket moment by Conall

Netball moments by Abi, Eva, Summer, Hannah and Ella

Lorenzo's Gaming moment

Asha's running moment

Natasha's dancing moment

Rice Investigation

Today we did an investigation on rice 

We had to work out what 1,000,000 grains of rice looks like. We worked out what 100 grains and 10 grains look like but we weren't able to work out what 1,000,000 grains looked like without counting each grain of rice individually. 

The next thing that we had to work out was how many A4 pieces of paper 1,000,000 grains of rice fit into. 

First what we did was work out how many grains of rice fits onto 1 piece of A4 paper. We used the place value blocks to work out how many grains fitted into 1 square centimeter and it was 5. 

Then we got the hundred blocks and saw how many fitted into a piece of paper and it was six so that means 600 and there was a bit left over so we put the tens blocks in and three fitted in so that means 30 so 630. 

Then we had to multiply it by 5 and 630 x 5 = 3150, so that was about how many grains of rice fitted into 1 piece of paper but we had to work out how many pieces of paper 1,000,000 fitted into. 

So we divided 1,000,000 by 3150 and it = 317.46031. So the answer is 317.46031 pieces of paper.

One hundred pieces of rice

Ten pieces of rice

We filled these bowls with 500 grams of rice each

by Sophie Borthwick and Anika Stewart

See if you can figure it out with your kitchen scales at home....

Today Room 3 is learning to self direct their learning

First we thought about the things we have to get done today. We know we need to make time to focus on some core subjects as well as other things. 

So we got out our diaries, split the page in to 4 learning times, and started thinking.

"I had to think about what time suited me for reading." Lorenzo

"I had to think about what time I could go on the computer, so I had to talk to the person I share it with to work out times." Anita

There has been lots of thinking, negotiating and scheduling what works for us. We really enjoy this and the teacher says " everyone is on task and knows what they need to do, it's great!"

I worked out 622 with ice block sticks

We are learning that our number system is based on ten

Learning with technology

Today we were so lucky to have Mr Kennard come and visit out classroom. He is an expert at using computers and iPads in classrooms. He helped us to learn how to create stories and show our learning through an app called Explain Everything. Mrs Rutene recommends all our parents to download this on to any iPads at home so we can create projects at home too.

Here is a story we created today:

This is just the start for us. We thought we could use this app for showing how we solve maths problems, for writing and illustrating stories, for explaining how things work...what else do you think we could use it for?