Maths in E7...

In E7 we integrate maths into our programme wherever possible... every morning we start the day with our calendar, working out the day of the week (in English and Te Reo Māori), the month and the date, followed by how many days we've been at school (we celebrate with a special party when we get to 100); we're often counting as we go - people, things... we make patterns, groups ... all the time developing our number knowledge and strategies and fostering our love of mathematics!

We have some favourite songs that help us recognise our numbers  ...

This week we focused on the number 4 ...

We've also been talking about 'teen' numbers, as we've now been at school for 19 days.  Teen numbers are made up of 1 group of 10, and then some extra ones. For instance, 19 is a group of 10 and 9 extra ones.  To help us understand place value of numbers we count the days we've been at school every day using sticks sorted into 3 cups (ones, tens, hundreds) - tracking as we go and then celebrating when we reach that magic 100.

Today we got to use the school iPads for the first time and explore the different maths apps.  There are some links to these on our class blog - check them out. We had so much fun.  Many of us have used iPads at home before. 

Oooooo What a Great Week in E7...

This week our letter study has been about the letter Oo.  We've learnt about how to write and say the letter O ...

Our poem this week was The Owl and the Pussycat, a timeless classic written by Edward Lear.  We found this brilliant clip on You Tube that the children love ...

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Our shared book this week was The Owl Babies, a beautifully illustrated book with a storyline many new entrant children can relate well too ... their parents leaving them at school in the morning and them left wondering if they will be back, but of course they are (and they have quite a bit of fun during the day in between times too) ...

We found a wonderful rhyme online too, all about a wise old owl....

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We also made self-portraits of ourselves, after a good discussion about 'Marvellous Me' and how we are all unique and wonderful, just the way we are.  Keep an eye on our blog early next week for pics of these, and of course look around our class next time you're in.  You may even spot our gorgeous owls, which we made today...

Our Class Charter ...

We have been doing lots of talking about our school values, exploring how we like to learn and getting to know one another over the last few weeks.  From this we came up with some class 'rules' (as Dehan called them), or 'Ways we do things' (Sophia) ... our Class Charter.  As a class we think these things would make E7 a Super-Duper place to be.

Check out our 'signatures' (our handprints)

Junior Athletics...

Today E7 joined the rest of our junior team in an athletics rotation.  We're readying ourselves for an athletics afternoon in a few weeks time, learning the different events and developing some of the skills we need for them.

Check us out ...

Frisbee (discus throws)... 

Baton relays...

Passing the baton...

Long jump...

Meet the Teacher ...

Hi friends and family of Super-Duper E7,

Thank you to those of you who came to our 'Meet the Teacher' evening tonight.  It was lovely to meet some of you again, and others for the first time.

If you didn't get a chance to come in, below is a link to our presentation. If you came and thought there was a lot of information, you might like to take another look.  To slow the presentation and read a particular screen, push pause.

Jolly Phonics...

What is Jolly Phonics?

Every Monday-Thursday morning, we start our literacy learning with singing the Jolly Phonics song, displaying it on the large screen in front of the class.  Our Jolly Phonics song is a multisensory way of teaching the different sounds of letters.  Children learn the name and sound of the letter (for instance ‘a’, as in ‘ant’).  Each sound has an action which helps children remember the letter(s) that represent it.

When children are reading and writing, they might refer back to the action, rhyme, letter sound and name, as a strategy.  As their confidence grows and their literacy knowledge expands, the actions may no longer be needed.

If you would like to hear and see Jolly Phonics for yourself, you can watch it here:

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Today for writing, E7 wrote a story about Jolly Phonics.  We wrote down the sounds in words, using Jolly Phonics to help us and also used our letter cards and words on the walls to help us ...

'Jole fonx is sogs and acsns for our citing.'

           Jolly Phonics is songs and actions for our [reading and] writing.

Pumped for PMP ...

E7 is loving our PMP sessions.  We have had three introductory floor sessions this week where we have learnt the names for some of the equipment we will be using from Week 6, and have been learning different games, songs and activities that help stimulate our bodies and our minds.  Here are some photos from our first session ...

Swimming Fun ...

Every Tuesday and Friday during Term 1 our class has time in the pool (if the weather is nice and the water is warm enough).  Today we enjoyed our first dip of the school year.  We changed into our togs all by ourself and went over to the pool.  We learnt how to get in and out of the pool safely and walked together in big circles to make whirlpools.  We held onto the side rail and tried to put our heads under the water, we had a go at blowing bubbles and kicking our feet to make a big splash.  We had a great first day in the pool...

Discovery Time ...

Today for Discovery we had the opportunity to have a go at a variety of different activities. We have started 'tuning in' to our Inquiry topic for the term, Marvellous Me and today's session was all about working out what we like doing and how we like doing it.  The activities we could choose from were things we could do independently and either on our own, with a buddy or in a small group.  There were things to make and things to do.  We were allowed to choose what we wanted and work with who we wanted...

Scarlett enjoyed 'people-watching' during the session, watching the different activities and interactions between the children. She delighted in seeing the antics with the dress-ups and dramatic play unfold, was interested in what the group of boys were creating with recycled construction materials and also did a bit of work on a collage...

Cooper, Faisal, Rory, Nicholas, Dehan and Alex headed straight for the construction activity. They each worked independently but alongside one another, asking for materials and resources and sharing them fairly between themselves and showing interest in one another's ideas and creations...

Georgia and Romy were engrossed for the whole time in the Mobilo.  They sat down and started talking together about what they could make and decided to make something together.  Sharing ideas and materials, they co-constructed, adapted and enhanced their 'aeroplane-car'...

Anvesha, Tanishka, Ollie, Sophia and Kaydi pawed through the dress-ups, trying on different outfits and acting out different characters.  Sophia enjoyed being Angelina Ballerina, Ollie was a giraffe and then turned into a cat and we had a heap of princesses and fairies...

Peter and Mohit enjoyed working alongside each other and playing with the playdoh, experimenting with the different tools and moulds...

Over the next few weeks we will be extending our Discovery programme and working alongside the other new entrant classrooms.  Keep an eye on our blog to see what we continue to learn about ourselves and how we like to learn in E7... 

Fun with Music ...

At Eastern Hutt School we are really lucky to have specialist music classes available for all the students.  This term E6 and E7 will be going to music with Mrs Gain on Wednesday mornings.  The programme is based on the Orff Schulwerk method of music education.  To find out more about it, visit the Orff Schulwerk Music Education blog.

Today we were greeted into the hall with some very cool Cameroon, African music.  The Baka Pygmy people live off the rainforest and the beautiful music they make comes from instruments fashioned out of the rainforest too (and their own bodies and voices).  We enjoyed listening to the beat and hearing the different sounds in the music.  

We experimented with making percussion sounds with our own body, then using claves (a pair of wooden sticks) and trying different rhythms, beats and tones.  

Here is a short video capturing our first lesson, which all the children loved and are excited about going back next week...

Respect in E7...

Our school values are really important and underpin what we do and how we act here at Eastern Hutt School.  One of them is respect and we have been learning all about what it means to us in our classroom.

We watched this great clip about Respect ...

We used our 'Thinking Hats' and came up with ideas about what Respect might look like, sound like and feel like at school ...

We have started thinking about our class charter and what sort of classroom environment we want to have in E7.  In particular, we talked about what respect in our class might look like, and what is important to us ...

After only a week at school, the children have a good understanding of what they think is okay (or not okay) and what they want out of their school experience.  These types of discussions are invaluable, and it is wonderful to provide the opportunity for the children to talk about what is important to them.  Watch this space to see our Class Charter evolve...

Keeping Safe, Turtle Safe ...

It is important for students to know what to do in the event of an emergency at school. Today we practised what to do if there is an earthquake.  Most of the children knew they needed to be 'turtle safe'. We watched a special clip that showed us what to do in an earthquake and how to do it...

And we had a go ourselves ...

Finding a space under the table and holding on tight ...

Waiting till the earth 'stops moving'...

If there isn't room under a table, or we're outside we curl
up like turtles and cover our heads ...

Eastern Hutt Pōwhiri...

Haere mai, welcome to our school, our kura and our community.

Today marked a special day at our school, our first Pōwhiri to welcome the new students and whānau to Eastern Hutt School.  

We were welcomed into the hall by Mrs Williams who called us forward in Māori, and were seated as part of the manuhiri (visitors).  The rest of the school, including all the students and teachers, sung us a song as we came in.  After speeches from the manuhiri and the tangata whenua (the students and teachers) we had a hariru, where the visitors shook hands and pressed noses (a hongi) with the tangata whenua of the school.  This exchange signified coming together as one school and marked the end of our Pōwhiri.  We then stayed on in the hall to share kai (food) with everybody. 

For many of us, this was our first Pōwhiri.  Every term, new students and teachers will be welcomed to our school in this way.  We are looking forward to being involved in one again...

Some of our class and their families waiting patiently during the hariru...

Some of the manuhiri as they proceed past the tangata whenua.

Settling in...

What a super-duper first day and a super-duper group of children we have in E7.

Check out the 'About Us' page to see who is in our class.

Today we spent some time getting to know each other, becoming familiar with our school environment and our classroom resources - we even did some reading, writing and maths and had time for a full school assembly where we practised our te reo waiata in readiness for our Pōwhiri this Friday.

First, we all 'signed in' for the day...

We had fun exploring the junior playground ...

We went to full school assembly ...

We ate our morning tea and lunch with our new friends from E7 and E6 ...

We read some great stories together and showed Mrs Pescini what super-duper writers and mathematicians we are too ...

I wonder what we'll learn tomorrow?