The Wonderfully Whacky World of Dr Seuss

For the last few weeks we have been looking at the wonderful Dr Seuss as a part of our reading  topic. 

Week 4's homework project was to present a biography on Dr Seuss.
Week 5's homework project was to choose one of our favourite Dr Seuss written stories and present a story map to share with the class.

In week 4 Shayden received our homework of the week award for his outstanding mobile full of fascinating facts. In week 5 Jordan received our homework of the week award for her amazing big story map that was presented on an A2 sized canvas! Amazing! 

"I used my little brothers t-shirt and I made the hat and coloured it in" said Shayden. "I stuck them altogether and then used them to hang all the information that I had found from". Way to go Shayden, I love your creative thinking and how resourceful you are being! Ka pai!

"I put about 10 hours of work into it" said Jordan. "I did at least 2 hours every night." Wow!!! Jordan you have gone above and beyond to produce something truly amazing! What a star!!

Check out all the wonderful projects that our tamariki have produced over the passed couple of weeks.

Week 7 - MATARIKI

This week our homework topic was Matariki. It was a great chance for us all to research and find out more about the festivities that a lot of us attend or are involved in. It was a great sharing session with lots of new information shared and discussed. There were some amazing projects created and I am so very proud of the effort that everyone put in to their work. Ka pai tamariki!

Here is some of the information that we found out and shared:

• Matariki is an important time to remember those who have passed away and those who have come into the world.
• Matariki is the Maori name for the group of seven stars.
• Matariki has two meanings - Mata riki - tiny eyes / Mata ariki (eye of God)
• Today Matariki means celebrating the unique place in which we live and giving to the land we live on
• Matariki appears in the eastern sky around the shortest day of the year
• Matariki begins to rise in the last few days of May and this symbolises the coming of the Maori New Year.
• Traditionally during Matariki some would gather to make a small hangi and when they saw the stars they would weep and say the names of the people who have passed. They would then uncover the hangi so that the scent would warm and strengthen their souls and encourage them to keep moving forward in life.
• In the past seasons crops were planted according to the stars. If they were clear and bright it was a sign that flavourable and yummy food lay ahead.
• Matariki is the name of a small cluster of stars also known as Pleiades or the Seven sisters.
• Matariki celebrations were once popular but stopped in the 1940's. In 2000 they were revived. Only a few people took place at first but in just a few years thousands were honouring the celebration.
• Matariki is a time for singing, dancing, feasting, celebrating, sharing, rejoicing, and connecting with family and friends.
• The Matariki star's names areWaiti, Waiata, Waipuna-a-rangi, Tupa-a-nuku, Tupa-a-rangi, Ururangi and Matariki.
• Matariki is primarily celebrated in New Zealand but is also celebrated in Hawaii.

Here are some photos of some of the amazing projects that we produced this week. Well done my bright little Room 8 stars! You are all amazing!!

Week 3 "S" Projects

Congratulations to our FOUR homework free pass winners for week 3 with their amazing "S" projects.

Hunter created a really cool presentation on Sharks and had some brilliant illustrations and facts about how big sharks can grow. Jashar created a book of really interesting facts on stars and the solar system. Shaquila presented a very creative poster all about sharks and shared what she had learned with confidence. Tehya produced a bright, colourful and really insightful poster on snakes and how you can tell the difference between venemous and nonvenemous snakes.

A huge congratulations to all of you!! Enjoy your homework free pass!

Week 3 Homework Projects

This week we drew the letter S out of our letter lottery. 

Here are some of the possible topics that we brainstormed as a class.

I look forward to some more amazing projects this Friday!

Week Two Winners of the Week!

Wow!!! Room 8 are blowing me away with their amazing homework inquiry projects that they are presenting and sharing at the moment. The effort and pride our fantastic tamariki are putting into their work at the moment is outstanding!

This week we had topics covered such as Elephants, Europe, Egypt, Ed Sheeran, Eels, Eagles, Explosions, and the Eiffel Tower.

Some interesting facts that were shared were:

• During cold weather the Eiffel Tower shrinks by about 6 inches.
• An adult elephant needs to drink up to 210 litres of water per day (this is 210 of Mr Makea's water bottles!!)
• The Nile river runs through Egypt and is the biggest river in the world.
• Female elephants are called cows and when they have babies they are called calves.
• Female elephants are pregnant for 22 months (that's almost 2 years!)
• Baby eels are called Elvers
• Europe is a crowded continent with over 40 different countries and a population of about 696 million people.
• The Haast Eagle was known to be the largest breed of eagle but it has been extinct for the last 500 years.

Good investigating Room 8! What wonderful new information we have gained this morning!!

Here are our two winners of the week who both receive a homework free pass for next week.

Jordan produced a winning presentation on the Eiffel Tower and I was blown away with her creativeness in the way that she presented her very interesting facts. Briahna covered two topics this week to become our joint winner of the week, and presented some really fascinating facts on eels and eagles and what impressed me about Briahna was the way she discussed what she had learned over the week and how she was able to ask any questions that were thrown her way. She had really learned her stuff!! Way to go girls!

Term Two / Week two...

Here are some of the ideas that we brainstormed as a class that we could investigate in our homework projects.

This week the letter E was chosen. Here are our ideas to help get you started...

Term 2 Homework

This term we are constructing mini inquiry projects for our independent homework. This is aimed around developing our ability to inquire into a topic and research information to share. The topic is chosen by each individual but must relate back to our class letter of the week. The task across the week is to find the information we want to share and present it in a unique and creative way and have it at school to share with our classmates on a Friday.

In week one our letter of the week was B. We had a great range of topics covered including Bears, Brazil, Bees, Barcelona, Beyonce, Big Ben, Beaches, Balloons, etc...It was amazing to see our Room 8 tamariki bouncing in to school on Friday morning bursting at the seams to share what they had done across the week! You all shared with such pride and the new knowledge we all gained from your individual projects was fantastic!

Here is Zynchada's winning project on Bears. Zynchada presented her work beautifully, she found some really interesting information to share with us, and she was able to confidently discuss what she had learned from doing her project. Well done Zynchada, enjoy your homework free pass next week!

Week 1 Homework Task: Getting to Know Each Other

This week our task was to create and share a presentation about ourselves that would help us all to get to know each other a little better. There were some amazing projects completed and people were very excited to be able to get up and share aspects of their wider lives with us.
Here is some of the amazing projects that were shared. Awesome work Room 8!!!

Welcome to our Homework Blog

This is where we will share all the wonderful homework projects and home learning that we do throughout the year. This will also be an accessible space from home and school that will provide information about our weekly projects and tasks.

Information about homework procedures and requirements has been sent home also, but if you have any other queries then please call in and see me. 

We look forward to sharing all the cool learning that we partake in throughout the year.

Room 8.