Interesting+Stuff

**Our Special Song**  Room 8 has their own special song. We like singing it and it reminds us about how we can be **//really cool kids!//**Click o n the **//pdf//** file to see our song. Swimming time! We want to feel safe in the water. Our swimming lessons help us to look after ourselves in the water. First, we have to get to "like" the water. It is not easy getting into cold water and getting our heads under. But practice helps a lot! Our teachers notice that we are all getting better. Bethany's Caterpillar Bethany showed us her beautiful caterpillar. It was big! She told us it was a //Gum Emperor// caterpillar which she found on her grandfather's tree. She also had a cocoon and told us there was a caterpillar inside. What will the caterpillar look like when it comes out of the cocoon?

Mrs Blenkhorn's Caterpillars We are finding out about the Monarch Butterfly Caterpillars. There are lots of questions we want answers to. The caterpillars will tell us some of the answers. Meet our caterpillars - can you see the "baby". It is about 1 cm long. How long will it take to grow up? Here are some of our questions. See the "baby" caterpillar. We noticed that the caterpillars have 6 legs up front - and it looks like 10 clinging legs behind - WOW! No wonder they don't fall off the swan plant! //One day we noticed a caterpillar was hanging upside down! Hanging from a pad of white silk. We think it has decided to start changing into a butterfly.// //.... YES! On March 28 we saw the caterpillar wriggle out of its skin and - BINGO! - there was a new chrysalis inside. See -//

Here he is with Grandad. media type="file" key="Ray Cooper.mov" width="189" height="189"
 * Ray Cooper ** from Rayz Roadshow visited our school. He did some cool magic tricks. He was really clever and funny. We learnt that " rules are cool ".

__Term 2, week 2 - This is Maori Language Week__... During this week we are visiting the other Junior classes to do interesting things about //**Te Reo**// - Maori language. With Miss Moore we did some cool art work, with Mrs Shippham we sang some new //**waiata**// (songs). Mr Clark tought us how to make **//poi//** and Mr Beggs told us the legend about the Manawatu River and how the gorge was formed. Here is a picture of the mighty totora tree, **//Okatia//** who smashed his way through the mountains because he desperately wanted to meet **//Moana//**, the sea. His path to the sea formed the Manawatu River and the Manawatu Gorge. We also heard how **//Maui//** and his brothers got annoyed because the Sun (Ra) went across the sky too quickly. They wanted longer days so they made strong ropes to capture and slow down the Sun so the days would last longer.
 * MAORI LANGUAGE WEEK **



Some Japanese visitors came to our classroom one afternoon. They were students who were at Horowhenua College for 2 weeks. What friendly people they were! We had fun with them, making some origami hats and darts. 
 * JAPANESE VISITORS **

It is seed planting time. We have planted some seeds of radish, sunflower, lettuce and pine tree seeds. How do seeds know when to start growing? How do plants make seeds? Why does a pine tree have pine cones? We are amazed to think that in one tiny pine seed there is the plan for a whole pine tree! We looked on the internet and saw how to make a ** BIRD FEEDER ** out of a pine cone. We had to have an open pine cone. Here we are planting seeds and making our bird feeders. Asti was reading a school Junior Journal and she saw an article about another class of children making bird feeders. They called their feeders "Bird Cafes".
 * PLANTING SEEDS - OCTOBER **

Time for the annual Cross Country! We have been training hard - running around the track most days. Some of us have been practising at home too, running around the streets. The Juniors (Year 1 and 2) run around the school field, out the gate at Weraroa Rd, along the footpath and back into school at York St. It was a fine day, cool but good for running. A lot of our Mums and Dads came to watch. Here are some of us caught on camera!
 * CROSS COUNTRY - November 6 **

CHRISTMAS TIME Christmas time is great! Holidays - sunshine - presents - friends! Look at the awesome Christmas card that Bethany designed on KidPix - can you see her asleep in her bed with a Christmas stocking hanging on the bedpost? Santa is flying above the roof - if you look hard you can see Rudolph's red nose. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">We like singing Christmas carols. //Christmas on the Beach// and //Come and Join the Celebration// are two we like. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Here are the words for //Come and Join the Celebration.// It reminds us that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus (we noticed that the word //Christ// is in the word //Christ//mas). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Have a **<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;">Happy Christmas **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 140%;"> everyone!! Do you like our finger-print Christmas Trees?