Nice to meet you Emma ... the Summer Learning Journey

Today we welcomed the Year 4's to our classroom for a visit. They weren't there to see us, but to hear from Emma our guest. Emma is working for Uru Manuka, promoting the Summer Learning Journey.

The Summer Learning Journey is a wonderful opportunity our students have to stop the summer slump. The summer slump happens when, over the six week holiday, students push pause on their learning. The Summer Learning gives students the opportunity for our Year 4-8 students to make sure the summer slump doesn't affect them, plus they can also win some fantastic prizes. 

There are a couple of videos here that might help you understand a bit more about what it is about. The Summer Learning Journey featured on Seven Sharp in August. 

Seven Sharp 

Learn more on the Vimeo Video

Our students have all signed up and a letter came home. We are looking forward to seeing the journey over the holidays and the interesting blog posts plus we can't wait to see who wins the Chromebook or possible a drone, headphones, Bluetooth speaker & other spot prizes. 

You can find out more by heading to the website.

Is it the end???!!!

Well ..... it's the end of Hooked on Books week...

But the good news is we are very much a class that are Hooked on Books for more than just a week. 

The purpose of this week has been to try some different genres and authors that we may not have heard of or read before. Every book has been completely different to the others and it has been exciting to come to school not knowing what book we would be unwrapping that day. 

Today's book was Cool Nukes by Des Hunt. Des Hunt is a New Zealand author who has written many other books set in New Zealand. This is the blurb and it should give you a good idea on what the story is about.

 "Professor Walter Mayhew has always been weird, but an explosion in his backyard laboratory seems to have sent him over the edge. Then he disappears - in bizarre circumstances. Three of his young proteges, Max, Jian Xin and Cleo, start receiving cryptic messages, which look like plans for a nuclear device - one which could solve all of mankind's energy problems. The children decide to make the device for the upcoming ExpoFest science fair ... but if it works, the technology will be worth a fortune. And certain people aren't about to let three kids get the credit"

It's been such a great week that we all hope Hooked on Books returns in 2019.

Blogger of the Week ...

Our Brilliant Blogger of the week is ....

Click on the link to check out Thom's awesome blog!

Link to Brilliant Blog

Book Character Day

What a beautiful day to come to school dressed up as different characters. Book Character Day is one of the best days in the year, according to a number of our students. This year we are having it as part of our second Hooked on Books week. Whoop, whoop! 

One of the best things about senior students is that they don't just come in purchased gear, they make and create their own costumes. 

Check out our slide of photos from this morning. Who do you think is the best? We can't choose. Comment below who you would vote for?

We also had a whole school Book Parade. YMS looked A W E S O M E ! So many students had put in a massive effort with their costumes. Check out our parade video too. 

Hooked on Books Day 3

You guys know the drill by now. A new day this week has meant another new book. What was it I hear you ask? Well if I can have a drum roll then I will let you know. So here goes ...

Hunter, show us what our new book is please!

Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson is a very different book to what we have already read this week. The main character is Matthew Corbin and he hasn't been to school in weeks because he suffers from an obsessive compulsive disorder. His hands are cracked and bleeding from cleaning. He refuses to leave his bedroom. To pass the time, he observes his neighbors from his bedroom window, making mundane notes about their habits as they bustle about the neighbourhood.

When a toddler staying next door goes missing, it becomes apparent that Matthew was the last person to see him alive. Suddenly, Matthew finds himself at the center of a high-stakes mystery, and every one of his neighbors is a suspect. Matthew is the key to figuring out what happened and potentially saving a child's life... but is he able to do so if it means exposing his own secrets, and stepping out from the safety of his home?

It really does have a great twist to this story. What a great new addition to our class library.

Hooked on Books Day 2

Another exciting day today in Rimu. It was Chloe's name that was drawn out to open the box.

What would it be? Would it be another mystery story? Would it be a horror? Would it be an adventure? What was it going to be?

Hurry up Chloe, we really want to know ...

Aha it's a humorous book. Laugh Your Head Off 4 Eva is a compilation of short stories by different authors. I hope we find them funny.

And our first book was ...

The box was waiting for us when we got to class this morning. You could sense the excited buzz throughout the classroom.

Mika was the lucky one that got to open it. We all watched on .....

The book for today was Liars by Jack Heath.

It's about a boy who develops a truth app and then uploads the app onto the internet for people to test for him. Unfortunately there are a number of people who don't want their secrets discovered so there are a few problems. Someone tries to run his Dad and him off the road and then follows them to the hospital try and capture Jarli. This book has kept us captivated all day, and there is a long list of children who have put their names down to finish reading the book during our reading times.

I wonder what our book will be tomorrow ...

Hooked on Books Week is Back!

We are super excited because this week is Hooked on Books Week.  We had so much fun with this in Term 2 that we can't wait to see what amazing books and activities we'll do this term.

Hooked on Books Week  is where every class gets gifted a new book every day. We read it (some of it, if it is a novel) and complete different activities around the story. At the end of the day the book becomes part of our class library for us to enjoy at any time.

This time we are also having a dress up as your favourite book character day on Thursday. What do you think we should come as?

Well I can't wait to see what our book is for today! Do you have a favourite book that you think would be great for our class library?

What an athletic bunch we have in Rimu

Monday was an important day in Rimu. Not because it was Mrs Spragg's first day back in Rimu after her 3 months off galavanting around the world, but because it was Zones Athletics. 

Our amazing sports heroes were supposed to go on Friday, however, the weather was pretty terrible. Thankfully Monday was a stunner and our 19 students jumped on the bus with Mr Robertson, Ms Lange and Judy. 

They had a great day, with many performing really well. We don't have the official results yet but we are proud of the way they represented their school, of the way they handled themselves during a hot day of competition and the way they showed great sportsmanship. 

Mahi whakamataku tamariki!

(Mrs Taylor and Mrs Spragg would also like to note that they had a lovely day working with the other 19 students. They were fab and worked so hard on other things.)

Here are a few photos Mr Robertson took at the running races.

Thank you Mrs Stratton

Some of you may remember that one of our regular Rimu teachers has been away with her family in Europe for the past 3 months. We were very lucky to have Mrs Stratton step into Mrs Spragg's shoes while she has been away.

Today we say good bye and thank you for everything you have done over the past 3 months to help ensure that Rimu ran smoothly. It really has been fantastic to have you in our class and for you to support us with our learning.  Thank you for being an amazing Rimu HERO! Come back and see us soon.

Waste Not Want Not!

Over the past months, the children of Rimu have been looking at what is happening to our world with the increasing levels of pollution and why it is so important to us to make changes regarding this. They chose which aspect of this they would like to look at and then conducted their own inquiries.

They are now in the final stages of their work so it is all go in our classroom at the moment and they are doing a great job. What a fantastic topic! Now that the children have learnt the skills of how to conduct an inquiry, they can't wait to do the next one.

 

We are sailing .....

We were extremely lucky to get to go sailing as a class today at Lake Rua. We were a little worried about what the weather would be like today, because it honestly hasn't been that great at all this week in Christchurch. Lucky for us though, it was a lovely fine day with a good wind for us to sail in.

First we learnt how to rig up the boats.

              

After that we learnt all the different steps in order for us to safely sail.
                       

Soon though we were out on the lake. Sailing is awesome. For our first go,  many of us forgot the steps but we got back in the boats for a second turn and we really started to get the hang of it. We had a couple of children capsize, but as we were all wearing life vests, we were all nice and safe.

It really was a brilliant day, where we learnt heaps, had fun and showed some awesome teamwork.Way to go Rimu! 

A special thanks has to go to the amazing parents and grandparent that came with us today because you were absolutely fantastic. Thank you all so much for coming with us, we really appreciate it!