End of Term Awards

Congratulations to our amazing group of award winners.  These children have all shown excellence in the key competencies

Thinking

Managing self

Participation and contribution

Relating to others

Using language, symbols and text

Sports Spectacular

A big thank you to North Canterbury Sports for their fabulous organisation and also to parent helpers for supervising groups and on the big walk there and back!  We had a great day trying out hockey, soccer, cricket, rugby, netball, touch, bowls and then an obstacle course and tug of war.
(Sorry most of the photos were mistakenly deleted from my phone!)

Gorilla Posters

S4 are busy creating posters for a competition at Orana Park to help promote the need to save gorillas from becoming endangered.

Rua Team Assembly Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWpmc82V4BI

Here is the link to our Rua Team song "Individuality" for Monday's assembly.

We chose this song because we have been learning about how we are individuals and all learn in different ways.

Sports Report - Twilight Soccer

Twilight Soccer Monday 9th March 2015

Rangiora Borough Strikers vs Ashgrove Attackers

After our win last week against Southbrook Speed, we were keen to have a win again today. This week we versed Ashgrove. Lily scored the first goal and we were winning 1-0 at half time.

The second half was harder, someone tripped Daniel over and one person kicked the ball into my groin. Phoebe also had a hit to the chest. And one player from Ashgrove got a yellow card!

Troy scored a second goal for us and the final score was 2-2.

We had a fun game!

TJ Mattheou S6

Photos - the team in action,  high fives for Lily scoring a goal, the team (missing Pheobe), Hip Ray at the end, TJ kicking the ball in.

Another Thinking Tool - SCAMPER

The latest thinking tool we have been learning about is SCAMPER - an acronym whereby you can change something (e.g: an item or a story) by Substituting, Combining, Adapting, Modifying, Put to other use, Eliminating and/or Reversing or Rearranging something.  Many stories have been written by applying SCAMPER to original Fairy Tales and many companies use this tool to re-invent their products.  Take a look at this link to see what SCAMPER can do to a simple packet of smarties.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8w0rJhztJ4

The following story was written by some of our Rua children using SCAMPER.  In small groups children were all asked to give a part of the story (e.g: characters, setting, event, problem, ending), which was combined to produce the following:

On a dark and stormy night Jack, his mother and the farmer were sitting high up in their treehouse when the heard a knock on the door and the pitter-patter of feet as the friendly mouse giant came into the room.

They gathered their things and got into the pineapple carriage that was waiting outside to take them to the wedding of Jack and Little Red Riding Hood.  The wedding ceremony was about to start when the wind started to blow.  Rapunzel looked out the window and squealed, "Help! Mean, Lean Wolf is outside."

Mean, Lean Wolf blew, and blew and BLEW.  He blew so hard that the church and all the guests were blown far away to a Tropical Island.  

Jack and Little red Riding Hood got married and lived happily on the Tropical Island with their son, Shrek, and their pet fish, Puss 'n Boots.

Learning to Learn

The Rua team has been learning 'how to learn' this term.  The following Images show a variety of thinking tools that we are using to extend out thinking.  Your children should by now be able to discuss how we use these tools in class.  The SOLO taxonomy is an overview of all the thinking tools to ultimately enable children to reach the 'relational' or even the 'extended abstract' level of thinking.

If you want to know more about any of these learning tools google them or come into the classroom to see them in action!

We used a Y-chart graphic organiser to brainstorm what it would look like, sound like and feel like to be a Super Ruru learner.

De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats help us look at different aspects of situations.

We looked at the 5 key competencies (managing self, relating to others, using language symbols and text, thinking and participating and contributing) and decided that we need to develop self management skills and take responsibility for our own learning.

Gardner's 'Multiple Intelligences' helped us look at our areas of strength (Logic, self, nature, people, word, body, art-picture and music).

Tony Ryan's Thinkers Keys are fantastic for thinking 'outside the square'.  I am sure many inventions have come to fruition after applying the Thinkers Keys such as the BAR key (make something bigger, add something & replace something).  An example of this is bicycle to scooter to drift trike. 

SCAMPER - an acronym whereby you can change something (e.g: an item or a story) by Substituting, Combining, Adapting, Modifying, Put to other use, Eliminating and/or Reversing or Rearranging something.  Many stories have been written by applying SCAMPER to original Fairy Tales and many companies use this tool to re-invent their products.  Take a look at this link to see what SCAMPER can do to a simple packet of smarties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8w0rJhztJ4

Bloom's taxonomy

SOLO TAXONOMY - structured overview of learning outcomes

Rua team assembly award winners for courtesy 9/3/15

Well done Charlotte, Lily, Sophia and Paige.  It is fabulous to have children in our team who always use good manners, show respect towards others and display courtesy consistently.  You are definitely Super Rua Rurus!

Monarch Butterflies

Many of our classes have been fascinated watching the changing processes within the Life Cycle of a Monarch butterfly.

Can you see the tiny caterpillar under the leaf on the left?

Growing fatter by the day

Getting ready to form a chrysalis

Waiting to become a beautiful monarch butterfly.