Highlights from Week 6
Week 6 back at school has been a blast! Here are some of the highlights of our first week back since Lockdown.
Everyone had news to share after such a long time away from the classroom. We brainstormed all the different things we had enjoyed doing during lockdown when we were in our bubbles. We selected some ideas from this list for our LockDown Comic. We have been working on these this week and will finish them in Week 7. (Spoiler alert, they will be spectacular!). In Maths, we have been doing Lockdown Statistics.
We enjoyed doing a friendship scavenger hunt, finding the right people to fill in our grids - people who biked or scootered or baked or played lego (and other such things) over lock down. There were 20 categories to fill in, which kept everyone busy for quite a while!
Lots of people enjoyed doing environmental art on SeesSaw, so we thought that it was a good idea to have another go at school. First, we collected leaves, twigs and seeds from the Nature Walk.
Every afternoon, we wrote in our school journal about our school day. People took their journals home to fill in entries for Saturday and Sunday so that we record a whole week at Level 2. Next week, we will finish our journals by writing about the things we liked the best, and the least, in our first week back at school.
We have been thinking about our feelings too. We read the Dr Suess book, 'My Many Coloured Day' and chose a feeling that was important, and then matched it to a colour and an animal! We will write some captions for these next week, before we display them on the classroom walls.
As we finished our MUST DO activities, we moved to MAY DO. Wallace and Lucas both brought Chinese chess sets that belonged to their Grandads to school. Here they are, setting up a game from Lucas's book shelf at home. Other people have been colouring insects in rainbow colours, doing electronics and playing with construction games.
We still have Music and PE in Level 2. Here we are singing with Mr McCully in the Music Room:
We have been doing hockey with Mr Dyer, and also practising our army moves in 'Captain Jack', in preparation for the Jump Jam play off with Room 19.
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| This shows all the cool work we did on SeeSaw as part of our distance learning. This week, we have been concentrating on book work for a change, as our chrome books are being cleaned and return by people who borrowed them during lockdown. |
We enjoyed doing a friendship scavenger hunt, finding the right people to fill in our grids - people who biked or scootered or baked or played lego (and other such things) over lock down. There were 20 categories to fill in, which kept everyone busy for quite a while!
Lots of people enjoyed doing environmental art on SeesSaw, so we thought that it was a good idea to have another go at school. First, we collected leaves, twigs and seeds from the Nature Walk.
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| Back in the classroom, we arranged our pieces into animals - we made owls, rabbits, elephants, penguins, birds, fish, mice, kangaroos, even dinosaurs (and I might have left a couple out too!) |
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| Once we had our materials in position, we used the hot glue guns to stick them in place. |
Every afternoon, we wrote in our school journal about our school day. People took their journals home to fill in entries for Saturday and Sunday so that we record a whole week at Level 2. Next week, we will finish our journals by writing about the things we liked the best, and the least, in our first week back at school.
We have been thinking about our feelings too. We read the Dr Suess book, 'My Many Coloured Day' and chose a feeling that was important, and then matched it to a colour and an animal! We will write some captions for these next week, before we display them on the classroom walls.
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| Chloe and Abbey both chose the colour pink to describe their feelings, but drew very different animals. Watch this space! |
As we finished our MUST DO activities, we moved to MAY DO. Wallace and Lucas both brought Chinese chess sets that belonged to their Grandads to school. Here they are, setting up a game from Lucas's book shelf at home. Other people have been colouring insects in rainbow colours, doing electronics and playing with construction games.
We still have Music and PE in Level 2. Here we are singing with Mr McCully in the Music Room:
We have been doing hockey with Mr Dyer, and also practising our army moves in 'Captain Jack', in preparation for the Jump Jam play off with Room 19.
Staying Safe at Cockle Bay in Level 2
Parents might be interested to see what Level 2 looks like in Room 18:
It has been very important to ensure good hygiene practices are in place. Everyone uses sanitiser or washes their hands with soap and water whenever they enter to the classroom, and before and after morning tea and lunch time. People enter by the cloak bay door, and decide which hygiene practice they will use - the bubble machine makes it a bit more fun!
The tables and tops of chairs are cleaned at morning tea, lunch time and after school, so our desk name tags are not fixed at the moment to allow for more thorough cleaning. In the morning, we decide where we will sit for the day, by placing our name tag on our chosen desk. We also have a mood wall there we can place our name under the emoji that best describes our mood when we comes to school. This helps us look after each other: we can see at a glance who is feeling tired or anxious, excited, happy or sad and may need a little bit of extra kindness to kick start the school day.
Tables have been arranged so that there is social distances between all students, based on the moist breathe zone. This is the New Zealand government funded song which reminds us, as part of our daily news each morning after the roll.
We go out to play at morning tea and after lunch eating in our classrooms, but we stay inside before school. There are plenty of activities to choose from, with some simple rules to remind us to keep social distancing. We use the ipad trays to play with Lego, Mobilo or Kliko, we play with the magnets in groups of two, or on the Science table in a group of 3 - electronics is popular this week.
It has been very important to ensure good hygiene practices are in place. Everyone uses sanitiser or washes their hands with soap and water whenever they enter to the classroom, and before and after morning tea and lunch time. People enter by the cloak bay door, and decide which hygiene practice they will use - the bubble machine makes it a bit more fun!
The tables and tops of chairs are cleaned at morning tea, lunch time and after school, so our desk name tags are not fixed at the moment to allow for more thorough cleaning. In the morning, we decide where we will sit for the day, by placing our name tag on our chosen desk. We also have a mood wall there we can place our name under the emoji that best describes our mood when we comes to school. This helps us look after each other: we can see at a glance who is feeling tired or anxious, excited, happy or sad and may need a little bit of extra kindness to kick start the school day.
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| Some people sing 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' and some people count forwards or backwards to 20 to make sure that they clean their hands thoroughly for 20 seconds. |
Tables have been arranged so that there is social distances between all students, based on the moist breathe zone. This is the New Zealand government funded song which reminds us, as part of our daily news each morning after the roll.
We go out to play at morning tea and after lunch eating in our classrooms, but we stay inside before school. There are plenty of activities to choose from, with some simple rules to remind us to keep social distancing. We use the ipad trays to play with Lego, Mobilo or Kliko, we play with the magnets in groups of two, or on the Science table in a group of 3 - electronics is popular this week.
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| We sometimes watch a short video at lunch eating, or sometimes just chat to people near us. |
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| SSR (Silent Sustained Reading) after morning tea and lunch also looks different as we are sitting at our desks for the time being, and not crowding on to the couch, cushions and bears in the class library
There is also plenty of time to have some fun in the sun as well!
Even the sunflowers have ben enjoying the sun while we were on Lockdown. They were only 2 centimetres tall when we left in March!
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Getting Ready for School in the Classroom
Just one more sleep to go!
Mrs Bigwood and the senior team have sent emails outlining how the school day will look in Level 2 of our response to COVID-19, but here are a few bullet points specific to Room 18 that might reassure, and make the first few days a bit easier (in no particular order):
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| Charlotte choreographs a social distancing dance by the Wiggles - we all be learning this! |
Mrs Bigwood and the senior team have sent emails outlining how the school day will look in Level 2 of our response to COVID-19, but here are a few bullet points specific to Room 18 that might reassure, and make the first few days a bit easier (in no particular order):
- Classrooms will open at 8.15am.
- Children can enter from 8.15am onwards and play INSIDE until the morning bell goes at 8.45am. (They cannot play outside on the field or in playgrounds, but must wait quietly near the door by the class garden).
- Everyone will wash their hands with soap or sanitiser when they enter Room 18 before school, before and after morning tea, after lunch; in short, before and after all activities. Good hygiene practice will be modelled and actively encouraged.
- Room 18 has good supplies of hand washing basins, liquid soap, towels and sanitiser. You are welcome to send a NAMED small towel expressly for your child's use. All towels will be washed and dried overnight.
- Hard surfaces including desks, the backs of chairs, light switches and door handles, etc will be cleaned every day, table tops will be wiped down before all breaks.
- We will eat lunch in the classroom and then play outside - the library and dome is closed but the playgrounds and field are open (unless raining).
- School will finish promptly at 2.45pm and children will come to meet parents or care-givers as per the plan their family has organised. (Buzzibods is open for before and after school care).
- Water fountains are taped up for the time being, so children might like to to bring their own water bottle and replenish it at the tap in the Arts area in Room 18. People without water bottles can drink from a plastic cup issued solely to them.
- Lunch orders can be organised as usual, if you wish.
- Equipment and stationery can not be shared, children will use equipment from their own pencil cases. If your child doesn't have a pencil case, please consider a lip-lock plastic bag at this time.
- You might want to consider supplying headphones for your child as we only have six headsets allocated to the class. Children must wear headphones for all interactive online work such as EPIC and Maths Whizz as the sound is very distracting.
- Within the Room 18 bubble, we will be social distancing by keeping outside people's 'wet moist zone' (rather than using the 2 metre rule). This can be roughly measured by making a full circle with bent elbows.
- Room 18 has PE and Music on Tuesday, and Dance and Drama on Wednesday. PE gear is to be worn for PE and Dance, as usual.
- If children are unsure, I will be there to go over instructions.
- And finally, these first days of transition are labelled 'Play It Safe' - our absolute focus will on ensuring your child feels happy, secure and safe.
- Please email me if you have any questions or concerns and I will do my best to answer them, or direct them to right person who can help,
Highlights from Week 5 - our Last Week of Distance Learning
Now that New Zealand is in Level 2 in its response to COVID-19, Week 5 is our last week of Distance Learning Only ONE more sleep, and then we will be learning at Cockle Bay in Room 18!
Here is the last end of the week distance learning report and some highlights from Week 5:
First, our Maths-Whizz report. 18 students worked on Maths Whizz, and all those people progressed up at least two levels.
Our top 10 students (by time spent doing Maths Whizz):
- Milan
- Emma
- Otise
- Lucas
- Eillie
- Charlotte
- Kadin
- Sam
- Mia
- Abbey
Our top 10 students (by progressing up Maths levels):
- Otis
- Milan
- Eillie
- Kadin
- Mia
- Emma and Lucas (tied in 6th place)
- Sam
- Dimitri
- Adam
Nearly everyone has been reading on EPIC, and as a class we have now read over 1,750 books this year. A stunning result!
People also worked hard on the SeeSaw tasks this week. Here is a snap shot of some of the work.
In Maths, we have been learning about assays to show our understanding of multiplication facts using number and alls sorts of different material such as LEGO, beads, pasta, emojis and sultanas! We have also used LEGO to make symmetrical patterns.
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| Bead arrays |
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| LEGO arrays |
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| Emoji arrays |
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| Pasta arrays |
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| Some examples of LEGO symmetry |
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| We made animals out of natural things we found in the environment. |
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| And finally, we thought critically (and creatively) about what the lockdown has meant for others! |
Last CBS News in Lock Down
It's Friday again, and here is the last CBS News in Lock Down (with a special section for Room 18's home learning).
Level 2 at last!
With the government's announcement to Level 2 on Thursday, school will resume on Monday, 18th May.
Here are Room 18 emails about the ending of distance earning, for your reference. Parents will also have received group emails from Dorothy Bigwood, our principal and Mellini Pillay, Year 3 team leader.
By:124 Date:2020-05-13 09:32:22
Attachments: None
Last Google Meet today:
Dear Parents and Care-givers,
Today, Wednesday 13th May, is a poignant day for me because it will be the last day of distance learning. As parents will have received an email from Mrs Bigwood about this yesterday. CBS teachers and staff will be at school on Thursday and Friday making sure everything is ready for school on Monday - organising our classrooms and planning lessons that will keep us happy and safe in Level 2 Learning.
It's a happy time because it Cockle Bay School will reopen for everyone very soon, but it is also a sad time because means that today is our last day of distance learning. I will miss all the fabulous work students have been sharing (especially eager voices inviting me to listen to their learning via SeeSaw video). I will miss the Google Hangouts when we have been able to connect and share our thoughts about learning and (our new normal) home life. I will also miss the day to day rapport that has built up between school and home, teacher and parent through this strange time of distance learning. I feel these strengthened home/school relationships will put us in good stead for the rest of the school year, and I will be looking at building on these to enhance your child's learning.
As a way of celebration, our last Google Hangout today but will be a PJ Party. Please tell you child to wear their pajamas (maybe even you as well!) and bring a joke to share!
Thank you once again for your on-going support,
Kindest regards,
Bridget
By:124 Date:2020-05-14 12:28:49
Attachments: None
Message: Room 18's Distance Learning for Thursday and Friday:
Dear Students and Parents,
This is to let you know that there has been a tweek to our distance planning. After team meetings here at school, it has been decided that learning activities that were already planned can go ahead. With that in mind, I have assigned some Maths activities from Thursday's plan. We will be doing multiplication arrays at school next week so people may enjoy the extra practice (especially as it involves LEGO and things they can find around home).
There is also still a variety of learning activities on SeeSaw for students to select from, as well as online reading and Maths on EPIC, Sunshineonline and Maths Whizz. In addition, I am including a link to a fabulous website of Science experiments and Science scavenger hunts that can easily be done at home, if you wish, on:
https://sciencewithmslun.wixsite.com/science/activities
I am looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday,
Kind regards,
Bridget
Here are Room 18 emails about the ending of distance earning, for your reference. Parents will also have received group emails from Dorothy Bigwood, our principal and Mellini Pillay, Year 3 team leader.
Cockle Bay School
|
Attachments: None
Last Google Meet today:
Dear Parents and Care-givers,
Today, Wednesday 13th May, is a poignant day for me because it will be the last day of distance learning. As parents will have received an email from Mrs Bigwood about this yesterday. CBS teachers and staff will be at school on Thursday and Friday making sure everything is ready for school on Monday - organising our classrooms and planning lessons that will keep us happy and safe in Level 2 Learning.
It's a happy time because it Cockle Bay School will reopen for everyone very soon, but it is also a sad time because means that today is our last day of distance learning. I will miss all the fabulous work students have been sharing (especially eager voices inviting me to listen to their learning via SeeSaw video). I will miss the Google Hangouts when we have been able to connect and share our thoughts about learning and (our new normal) home life. I will also miss the day to day rapport that has built up between school and home, teacher and parent through this strange time of distance learning. I feel these strengthened home/school relationships will put us in good stead for the rest of the school year, and I will be looking at building on these to enhance your child's learning.
As a way of celebration, our last Google Hangout today but will be a PJ Party. Please tell you child to wear their pajamas (maybe even you as well!) and bring a joke to share!
Thank you once again for your on-going support,
Kindest regards,
Bridget
 |
| A poignant memory - our last Google Hangout in Lockdown themed pajamas and jokes |
By:124 Date:2020-05-14 12:28:49
Attachments: None
Message: Room 18's Distance Learning for Thursday and Friday:
Dear Students and Parents,
This is to let you know that there has been a tweek to our distance planning. After team meetings here at school, it has been decided that learning activities that were already planned can go ahead. With that in mind, I have assigned some Maths activities from Thursday's plan. We will be doing multiplication arrays at school next week so people may enjoy the extra practice (especially as it involves LEGO and things they can find around home).
There is also still a variety of learning activities on SeeSaw for students to select from, as well as online reading and Maths on EPIC, Sunshineonline and Maths Whizz. In addition, I am including a link to a fabulous website of Science experiments and Science scavenger hunts that can easily be done at home, if you wish, on:
https://sciencewithmslun.wixsite.com/science/activities
I am looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday,
Kind regards,
Bridget
Distance Learning for Wednesday, 13th May
Here is the plan for the week, and the learning activities on SeeSaw for Wednesday in more detail, in case your child needs your support or some clarification:
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