The Room 4 Tamariki have been enjoying sharing news and items from home this week.  We have had plenty of enthusiastic volunteers already!  The children are gaining confidence speaking in front of the class and are learning how to adjust the volume of their voice to engage their audience.  As an audience, we are learning to listen actively and respond, and are beginning to understand the difference between questions and comments.

As part of our play-based learning here in Room 4 we enjoy regular experiences with Sensory or 'Messy' Play.  Sensory play is any activity that stimulates children's senses; touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing.  Sensory play activities also facilitate discovery and learning by encouraging tamariki to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore.  Take a look at all of the fun we had with foam this week!

This week we have been enjoying lots of games in Room 4, particularly Bingo!  We have been learning to take turns, be positive to others and also understand that we can't always win every game but we can still have lots of fun!

This term our topic of inquiry is 'Kitchen Science'.  So far we have learnt about the 3 states of matter; solids, liquids and gas and the tamariki have been enjoying taking part in fun experiments.  Take a look at these photos below of the Room 4 learners enjoying 'The Magic Milk' experiment - it was so interesting to see how the dishwashing liquid interacted with the fat molecules in the milk!

What a busy week full of learning!  We had a visit from some brand new, baby chicks - the Room 4 tamariki were very taken with them and learnt all about caring for such young creatures.  Everybody was very gentle too and loved having a cuddle.  Take a look at the photos below.

In Room 4 we are well on our way with Structured Literacy and are learning so much everyday.  The tamariki are using their letter sound knowledge and segmenting knowledge to write dictated sentences!  You can see from the photos below that everyone has been working hard on using finger spaces too.  Room 4 is full of very clever learners!

Our latest 'Kitchen Science' experiment has been making sherbet!  We learned that when you combine an acid (in this activity, the citric acid) and an alkaline (bicarbonate soda) with saliva they mix together to create a gas in the form of lots of tiny bubbles.  The tamariki also had to follow instructions and use measurement, and then there was the most important aspect of all - the taste test!  The verdict was (mostly) unanimous - delicious!

This week Ruru whanau were lucky enough to have a visit from 'Science in a Van'!  The tamariki watched science come alive right in front of them!  There were plenty of squeals of delight and lots of 'ooohs' and 'aaahs' as the experiments were carried out.  The scientists told us that a big part of being a scientist is making predictions and then setting out to prove or disprove them.  It was a lot of fun and tied in very nicely to our current 'Kitchen Science' topic.  Take a look at the photos below;

It's been a little while since we've got together as an entire whanau (Year 0's, 1's and 2's) and so everybody really enjoyed this weeks' Ruru Whanau Assembly.  In Room 4 we had some deserving recipients of Duffy Awards and these children were able to choose a special book to take home to keep.  I am so proud of all of the learners in Room 4, for always giving their best and for making such great progress!

Our 'Kitchen Science' theme continues and this week we made 'icecream in a bag'!  This was a simple recipe involving cream, caster sugar, vanilla essence, ice and salt.  Oh, and a lot of shaking!!  We ended up with a lovely, whipped consistency however and all of the tamariki agreed it was delicious!  Maybe this is an activity that can be tried at home too?  Take a look at the photos below;

The room 4 tamariki have enjoyed engaging in water play this week as well, and have had fun using our water pump and fountain system.  It was a challenge to keep the water trough topped up and the children had to work as a team to pull out the stoppers to get the water flowing.... take a look at all of the incredible learning taking place!

The Room 4 learners gain so much from our daily play-based learning sessions and this week they have thoroughly enjoyed exploring loose parts outdoors.  Loose parts play boosts children's imagination and creativity while also developing their problem solving and negotiation skills.  There is no 'right' way to do things with loose parts, the possibilities are endless!  Today we had a supermarket, a ship, a cave, a zoo and an icy Arctic environment to name but a few - take a look at the photos below;

We are learning about measurement at the moment in Room 4 and we have explored weight, length and height.  This week we have been using non-standard units of measurement to discover which items are longest and which are shortest.  Take a look at the photos below to see the tamariki using the maths cubes to measure images of  mini-beasts;

Wow!  What a busy week it has been!  Firstly we had the Ruru Whanau Cross Country on Wednesday - and everyone tried their very best.  We have been training for weeks to build our stamina and learn the route, while also improving our running technique.  Well done to all of the participants!  Take a look at the photos below;

This week is Maori Language Week and we were extremely lucky to have the Taki Rua performing group come to Pokeno School and perform a show for our tamariki, all in Te Reo Maori!  It was engaging, funny and educational.  Take a look at some of the photos below;

We have also been learning to make poi and have been practicing the action song 'E Rere Taku Poi'.  We are hoping to perform this at the school assembly next week!  Check out the photos below;

This week, Pokeno School was lucky enough to have a very special visitor to hand out some special Duffy awards!  Dylan Schmidt, Tokyo Bronze Olympic medalist, was here and spoke to us about his sporting journey and about perseverance and resilience.  He also showed us how he can flip in the air - how exciting!  Lachie from Room 4 was lucky enough to shake his hand and receive a special award.

At this weeks' whole school assembly, the Ruru Whanau performed 'E Rere Taku Poi'.  Everybody did such a fantastic job and were so excited to demonstrate all of their hard work and learning - take a look at the photo's and video below.  The tamariki have brought their poi home now so can demonstrate their skills at home too!

This week Ruru Whanau had a visit from Ruben the Road Safety Bear!  The tamariki were very excited.  Ruben taught us all to 'STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and LINK' when we cross the road.  He also taught us that when riding in a car we must be in a carseat until we are 148cm tall and with a belt on.  We also learnt that we must wear a helmet while riding our bike and we should make sure it is tight.  Thanks for helping us keep safe Ruben!

Have a safe and happy term break!  I look forward to seeing all of the children back & ready for a fun and busy Term 4.