Identity!

Samoan Siapo

As last week was Samoan Independence week, we looked at and designed our own Siapo (tapa cloth). We are currently in the middle of painting and framing them before they go on the wall!

When the Year 8's are away...

The Year 7's got up to a little bit of mischief while the Year 8's were away!

Paper wars, Pizza, Arm Wrestles and Capture the Keys!!

100 Ideas in 10 Minutes!

The Challenge was laid out. How might we get silence in an instant? Mr Price was after 100 ideas in 10 minutes. The Purpose? To force ourselves to become creative with our thinking in order to come up with new ideas! The results? Boom! Over 200!

Cross Country

Well done to all of Room 1 who participated in the School Cross Country last Friday! You all were amazing and did yourself proud! Well done to those who have qualified for the Inter-Intermediate Cross Country race. Here a few snaps taken about 300m from the finish line!

Socio-Cultural Theory

With our last Immersion lesson completed for Inquiry, the students went to Room 4 and looked at socio-cultural theory (Pavlov and his dog! etc) The photos below are of the students teaching each other skills and strengths that they have.

Mind Lab Trip - Fun Theory

On Friday 6th Room 1 we raced out to Petone to have a look at The Mindlab!

Students were introduced to Fun Theory and got to play around with a coding programme called Scratch.

Fun Theory is the topic of our Inquiry this term where students will look into ways of changing behaviours using fun activities.

At Mindlab students got to code a rubbish bin that made a sound when rubbish was thrown in and a virtual game of pong.

Inquiry Immersion - Newton's Third Law and the Doppler Effect

This term for Inquiry we are looking into changing behaviours using Fun Theory. To start us off we looked in things such as Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory, Chemistry changes, and Physical changes such as Newton's Third Law and The Doppler Effect. 

Newton's Third Law

Newton's Third Law is: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

We tested this by making balloon Rocket and Balloon Cars:

The Doppler Effect

The Doppler Effect is the apparent change in sound when the source of sound moves from a still observer. As the sound maker comes closer the sound will sound higher to the observer than when he is moving further away. As shown by Aaron below.

Term 2

Term 2 is going to be an exciting, fun filled, full-on term, for us all.

The following topics will be covered in the first few weeks of school:

Mathematics - measurement

Literacy - explanation writing and comprehension strategies

Inquiry - Behavioural and scientific change

PE - large ball skills

Cross country is in week 2 followed by a beep test assessment shortly afterward. We will continue to develop fitness throughout this term.

Enrichment commences on Wednesday (Tomorrow) of week 1 and every Wednesday thereafter.  

Winter sport also commences on Thursday afternoons of this term, weeks 3, 5, 7 and 9, for your child.  Students will need to remember PE gear on these days, which I know won't be a problem as Room 1 students bring PE gear every day to school anyway. 

Homework Week 1 Term2

The New Zealand Comedy Awards are called the Billy T awards and the winner receives a Yellow Towel that Billy T made famous. But what do you know about Billy T James? Watch the following videos and read his wikipedia page and tell me: 1. the impact he had on NZ, 2. why he so funny! At the end of last term the standard of our homework was very high and I expect that to not remain the same but increase as we progress through this term.
Billy T James - The Maori News
Billy T James Guide to Surviving the Bush
The Best of Billy

Wikipedia

Remember also that your Reading Log, Mathletics and the Writing Challenge needs completing too! Get those Green squares clocked up!

Homework Week 10

Hi Team,

Another really positive week for our Homework. It seems that the majority of you are really putting in the time and effort so that you complete it at a high standard. 

This week you need to ensure that your Mathletics and Reading Log are up to date. In terms of another task, I am not going to give you one. This is because I think you need this extra time to be spent on your Inquiry.  The more amount of time you spend on it, the better the result will be when you show your parents come student led conferences. I also would not leave it all to Sunday as it may help getting things done before the second draft (Wednesday). They are all looking really awesome and I look forward to seeing the final draft.

Mr Price

Inquiry Future Self

Students working hard on their Inquiry!

Today the first draft was getting prepared and tomorrow it is feedback and reflection. All students will have an opportunity to give feedback on their peers, reflect on their own and receive feedback from myself.

Homework Week 9 - The Performing Arts!

Well done for the brilliant lift in the quality last week! It was excellent! I hope that we see the same lift again this week!

This week I have 4 clips for you to watch, choose the event you would most want to go and see and tell me why. Then answer the questions that relate to your favourite choice!

Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman

1. What are the lyrics of Time to Say Goodbye about?
2. What are the types of voices a classical singer can have? What are the differences?

Swan Lake

1. What is the story of Swan Lake?
2. What are the main four styles of ballet? What are the differences?

Micheal Flatley's Lord of the Dance

1.What is the story of The Lord of the Dance?
2. How did Micheal Flatley become famous?

Andre Rieu

1. What are the lyrics of Amazing Grace about?
2. How did Andre Rieu become so famous?

Homework Week 8 - Rubbish!

Read the following two links:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/78033347/hundreds-of-wellington-homes-blacklisted-by-council-for-abusing-free-recycling-bags

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/10335144/Dumpers-avoid-2-50-bag-fee

-What is the main issue at stake here?
-Is there a bias in the articles?
-Is the price of getting rid of rubbish in Wellington too high?
-If you were in charge of rubbish in the Wellington region, how would you ensure all rubbish was thrown away correctly? (You may need to do more research for this one).

As Mr Eames said earlier today, I should see the expectations grow, and therefore, if I think that your homework is substandard then your comment will be deleted. Don't forget your Mathletics, reading log and Writing challenge in order to get your nine green squares in a row!

Dodgeball Clip

What better way to let off steam than to hit each other with Dodgeballs!

Inquiry Proposals!

Hi Guys and Girls,

With your parents, sit down and watch your Inquiry Proposal.
Comment below the following things:
-How did your parents react?
-What questions did they have and how did you answer them?
-Did your parents have any ideas that may help you with your inquiry?
-What did your parents say about your delivery? Did they give you any feedback?

Back to Work!

Now that we have settled back into work it all heads down and full steam ahead!

The Best Holiday Destination Ever!

For Homework this week (Week 6 Term 1):

Complete your Mathletic tasks.
Fill out your Reading Log (In your Reading Folder).

I want to go on a holiday. I want to get away from the winds of Johnsonville and relax. The only problem is that I have never travelled before and I have no idea where to go. Please help me! Tell me where I should go and why, tell me how much it is going to cost and tell me why it is better than any other place in the whole world. Persuade me why I should go to your favourite destination instead of the rest of the classes. Good luck!

As we talked about in class, how do we ensure that everyone is held accountable for their homework? I would love to hear your ideas.

Comment below.

Just a wee snippet of the photos from camp!

Traps, Poison or ??? - Homework

While away on camp we had a quick look at how the DOC (Department of Conservation) team controlled pests in the Tararuas. I want to know what you think about this. Do you think that using traps is the best way control our pests? Why/Why not? Are there any other solutions that you can find? How are they better/worse? Is DOC doing the best possible job they can?

Comment below with your answer. Please ensure there are no grammatical errors.

Pancakes! Get your Pancakes!

Before sending them off to camp where they were to cook for themselves we thought we better give them an opportunity to practice! Pancakes was the order of the day! Here are a few snaps of the students cooking, eating, and yes believe it doing the dishes.

We Are Learning - To show an understanding of the factors that shape a community and how one's personal identity contributes to the identity of the class.

This is Because: Students in Room One are building a learning community which recognises and acknowledges all members of the class

The Big Questions for investigation:

How does your community influence your personal identity?

How does your personal identity influence your community?

Created with Padlet

'Playing' with Fire

In preparation for camp, Room 1 went through a vigorous test of how to light a fire which will hopefully come in handy when cooking their meals at the campsite! Mrs Brown gave the students the challenge of creating a floating fire using matches and whatever else they could find!

Raroa Curriculum: The ability to apply and reflect upon meaningfully learned knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts and situations.

Community Day!!

Today the students got to experience Community Day where the principles of ASPIRE are put on display! They were tasked with completing as many activities as possible for their House (Uru, Raki, Rawhiti and Tonga). Well done to Uru for taking out the day! Here is a snapshot of the activities offered.

What does good learning look like?

What does good learning look like?

We are delving into how good learners behave and what that might look like!

First we looked at some research by a man named Guy Claxton.

He has put together a document which he calls “The Magnificent 8”.

The Magnificent 8 is a list of things he thinks good learners do.

Here are some of our learners showing examples of Claxton's Magnificent 8:

Raroa Curriculum: Our learning environment will be emotionally and physically safe and inclusive

The Marshmallow Challenge!

The Marshmallow Challenge is a task used to watch how people collaborate with each other. It allows an observer to identify personality traits and how people react in different situations. Here is Room 1 attacking it!

Raroa Curriculum:  Socially Constructed Learning – Ako

·         The organisation of  learning should be highly social so that learners have opportunities  to teach each other and collaborate

DPE (Design Production Education) kicks off!!!

Today the students had their first DPE session, this one with the wonderful Mr Bailey! We learnt how to tie a number of different knots and how to hatch in preparation for camp!

Raroa Curriculum: Practical, hands on learning experiences integrated throughout the curriculum

Day One 2016

Welcome to the Room 1 learning log (blog). This blog has been set up in order to share and celebrate what we are doing in class. It will provide a snapshot of a few activities we are undertaking during the year and track our class progress.

Year 8's - Welcome back to your senior year at Raroa.  You will be very familiar with how the school works now and I hope that you are ready to help the Year 7's settle into this year with a positive start, by helping them to find their way around and answer their questions.

Year 7's - Welcome to your first year at Raroa. I am sure you will make many new friends here and have some amazing experiences with all the opportunities on offer here. Both the Year 8's and I will be here to answer your questions and to help you settle into what will be a busy first term.

I have a wonderful group of students in my class this year, who are ready for the challenges of the year

I feel it is going to be an exciting year. We have achieved so much and it is only day one. Today the class got a chance to find out more about each other, about the school and about me.


Raroa Curriculum:       Provide opportunities for students to embrace diversity; value people, environment and themselves.