Te Manawa and Town!

The Senior Team made a day trip into town last week to investigate the symbolism in art. We saw the artwork in the square, Te Manawa, the Art Gallery and even the Library! Did you know how much rich art work our city has within the C.B.D?
Ask you student to explain a highlight for them!

Personal Investigations

We have been presenting some of Term 2's P.I's over the last few days. Some students will also be presenting their projects on Monday and Tuesday of next term.
We have had exploding volcanos, guitar solos, 'How engines work' and the science behind roting fruit! (To name just a few of the varied and colourful presentations)



I hope you all had a lot of enjoyment at home with these projects and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone investigates next time.

Thinking Boards

We're coming to the end of our time with Multiplication and Division. These pictures show us using a 'Thinking Board' to show our understanding of all the different ways a mult question can be thought of.

Have your student's mult / div skills improved this term?

Class Updates 20 June

Here are a couple of highlights from Week 7!
We say goodbye to Robert this week. His family are spending some time in Sydney and he will be back nex term. We hope to hear all about your adventures, Robert. Watch out for spiders and snakes!
Our connected topic for the next while is within the Maori Arts context and is called 'Nga Toi'. We have spent some time learning about symbols and how we use them to represent ideas.
We've started with a 'global' focus and our art this week was based on the 'Kuna' Indians of an Island near Panama. Their traditional 'Mola' designs usea lot of rich symbolism that's based on the physical environment - snakes, houses, boats, fish and trees.

We've pretended we were 'Kuna' Indians and made a design based on a symbol that would be important to us.
What do you think? You can post some feedback by clicking on 'feedback' below!
We're also looking forward to the winter sports tournament coming up at the end of this term. I hope everyone is practising and getting prepared!

Have a great week!

Homework Expectations!

We have been having some great discussions in class about our homework expectations and our views and opinions. It has also been 'enlightening' to hear some feedback from a few parents that their child seems vague or confused.
To help you bypass any confusion (whether genuine or contrived) we have created the following responsibilities of the students and me, as the teacher, for their learning at home. You can also see the photo of our list created this morning during our oral language time.
Students Responsibilities
- Basic Facts Ladder - as soon as a student has learnt their step I can test them and they can progress to the next one.
- Free Choice Reading - 20 minutes a day / evening. Books read to be written into their reading log.
- Self Reflection Answer - to be drafted into their Homework books and typed up onto template at school.
- Personal Investigation - as BIG or small as they want it to be. This is a self interest project with their choice of presentation.
- Spelling. Each student has a list (whether the rocket levels or essential list) they are learning and activities to complete.

Teacher's Responsibilities
- Posting the Self reflection question on Knowledge Net (in the future this will also be written on the white board at school) and reading these on Monday.
- Allowing 2x 20minute slots for spelling setup / checking / marking each week.
- Testing basic facts ladder steps when requested
- Giving time for P.I presentation / sharing and some feedback.

I hope this is clear for you and your student. I've also added links where these processes have been explained before; KnowledgeNet ,
Basic facts Ladder
Homework expectations

Please email me any questions you might have - mherring@riverdale.school.nz

Remember - it's JUST as important to have some play as well - adults and children!

Mr Herring

Knowledge Net!

Are you aware that your student has a login for our knowledge Net system at school?

This is an online environment that staff and students are using for things like notices, calendars, file sharing, internet links and e-portfolios. This is just the start and we are gradually learning the benefits to this, for learning, as we go.

Did you know that Room 12 uses K.N as a 'Virtual Classroom' that provides links to online learning objects, information for their Tri Team projects (including assessment matrices that tell them what I am looking for) and homework details for the week.


ALSO - you can go to the spelling page, click on the link to our 'spelling programme' file and see EXACTLY what is required. (Power to the Parent!)

Basic Facts Ladder

We have recently started using the school's new Basic facts ladder as our maths homework.
I have explained how this works, with the class, and even asked for clarifying questions..... however!

I am also aware that messages get 'garbled' on the way home. (I actually believe that there is an information WOLF that eats this info between school and home - this explains where notices go!)
Below is a copy of the ladder which has a text box outlining it's process. Like a ladder, the students start at the correct step for them and move up as they progress.

Once your child has mastered a step - practise in the car, while brushing teeth (hard to understand, maybe) I will be able to quickly test them before school, during, at lunch etc. It's really fast - hopefully their progress will be too.

Click on the image to get a larger view.

Your student has this glued into their Homework books and will be excited to show you! Their starting level is highlighted.