Sharing soup with Room 5

 On Wednesday Room 5 made some tomato soup with the tomatoes growing in our gardens. They invited us over to have a look at the process while they were cooking them. We prepared the bread rolls to accompany them by putting them in the oven and slicing them in half. Then we went over to share the soup. It was delicious. Here are some comments and photos.

Brianna-it tasted like tomatoes and vegetables.

Mia-I loved it. It was yummy.
Angelo- it tasted yuck and yum. The first taste it was yum. I drank so much.

Sophie-it was delicious!

Elroi-it tasted spicy.

Joseph-it was so warm and hot.

Tristan- it was delicious!

Ayra-it was spicy

Arya-it was excellent 

Aenon-it was nice and hot.

Marcus-it was good

Jonty-it was good with the bread

Roman-it was good and yum

Kayssie-it was delicious and sweet and spicy

Irwin-it was nice

Xander-it tasted like tomatoes 

Jayde-it was very good

 

 

Structured Literacy Approach

 Kia Ora Kākano whānau, 

                                         It is likely you will have seen a big change in the reading books your child is receiving since last week. As you may be aware, St Marys is in the process of changing to a ‘structured literacy’ approach to reading. A consequence of this will be a change in the type and frequency of books being sent home. Each week the book will be targeting a specific reading/spelling rule that your child is learning to master. The books may appear too ‘easy’, however the focus is firmly on the particular rule being taught. 

On Mondays your child will bring home an activity sheet with words from the story. (There may be other activities that come home, focussing on your child’s individual needs).  These words can be sounded out and practised, with the actual book coming home near the end of the week. Repetition is the key to embedding the rule until it becomes automatic, so this book can be read over and over again.  At this stage they will be photocopied, however the quality will improve in the near future. 

Until your child has run through the Stage 1 portion of the programme they will not anymore be ‘classified’ as being at a particular ‘colour level’ of reading. Stage 1 is expected to last for the first 2 years of school. We are working on an alternative reporting system to show progress and next learning steps, aligned with our new programme. 

As a parent, you may wish to learn more about this approach and the Science of Reading. If you have questions, please feel free to find further information at:

 • Lifting Literacy Aotearoa 

• Learning MATTERS 

• iDeaL Approach 

• APM Reports – At a Loss for Words. (Very interesting analysis of current methods of teaching reading)

Due to Covid we haven’t been able to schedule a parents information evening around the IDeal Structured Literacy programme. We hope to be able to set this up later in the year. 

If you have questions, please contact your classroom teacher.

Regards,

Kākano Teachers

Week 9 Term 1

 Week 9

Kia ora whānau

It is week 9 this week and we continue to be impressed with the way the children are working across all Kākano classes.

It has been pleasing to see many children return to school after periods of illness or isolation.  As always, we remind you if your child is displaying any cough or cold symptoms you keep them at home and test for Covid.

In class we continue to…

• Keep our space well ventilated with open windows and doors

• Clean hard surfaces throughout the day

• Remind children to sanitise as they enter the classroom

Homework

Throughout the week your child will bring home an activity to do with your support.  The activity will be in their Home book. The activity aims to support the classroom learning your child has done that day and should take no longer than 10 minutes.

We thank all the whānau who take the time to share in their child’s learning.  We have noticed a remarkable difference with those children who are regularly completing home activities.

If you have any questions about work that is being sent home, please email me: lornad@stmarysrotorua.school.nz

Gym  

Mondays at lunchtime if your child wishes to attend. Girls bring shorts and a t-shirt. Boys can come in their uniform - you can bring shorts and t-shirts if you wish.

Roller Skating

Fridays at lunchtime if your child wishes to attend. Bring your own skates and helmets. 

The week ahead:

Monday - normal school day

Tuesday - normal school day

Wednesday - normal school day

Thursday - normal school day

Friday -  sausage sizzle and juicy day $1.50 each.

Thank you for your continued support

Picking apples to apple crumble

 Yesterday we went to the vegetable garden to pick some apples. We then wrote about the apples we picked. Some were hard, some were rough and smooth.

Today we took on the task as a class of making an apple crumble. This was a real challenge for some of our tamariki! They had to peel the apples, some of our class had never used a potato peeler before and found it very tricky.

The children cut up the apples with a knife-they all did a brilliant job, keeping their fingers away from the blade. Well done guys.

Mrs D made the crumble but K1 did all the hard work getting the apples ready.

Everyone got their own pot of apple crumble with ice cream. What a fantastic Golden Time.