Rain, rain, go away....

It has been raining heavily all day in Brightwater and it still hasn't stopped! Our parents started picking us up from morning tea time to take us home before the roads and bridges were closed. Mrs Robertson even left at 230pm so she could make it back into Nelson. All the classes from over the bridge had to come down to the hall as the creek was flooding.

Look at the photos Mrs Lines took this afternoon of the flooding at our school!!!

What a fantastic year we had at school!

We think the best things about 2011 at Brightwater School were...

Healthy Shared Lunch

Mrs Roberts and Ms Barrett organised a whole-school shared lunch last Friday. We all had to bring something healthy to put inside a roll. Then our buddy class helped us to make our rolls and we each got a tasty, fresh apple too! Some of us tried some new healthy fillings and loved them. We all enjoyed eating tasty food which is good for us!

Pack the Bus

WOW! The whole school were so generous! On Wednesday the More FM Pack The Bus came to Brightwater School. We all brought food, games, groceries and other things for people who do not have much at Christmas time. We sang Christmas songs and some of us spoke live on the radio!

We had 5 fabulous people from Room 12 in our class today. Their messages to their new teacher are in the slideshow too!

Christmas Games

Christmas is Coming

Christmas Countdowns

Pet's Day

What a fanstatic afternoon we had on Friday! It was Pet's Day at Brightwater School and
there were soooooo many animals to see! Cats, dogs, ducklings, turtles, ponies, chickens, sheep, calves, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and even a zebra...

Shape Animals

Today Jessica and Skylah used the different shapes to make pictures. They both made a cat, but the cats were standing in different ways. Can you see how the shapes make cats?

es.



They took the photos themselves too!

Brass Band Performance

Today we were lucky to have a Band perform to us. They came from all over primary and intermediate schools in Nelson and Tasman. They taught us the names and sounds of all the instruments and played songs. Jacques brother played in band.

Kaityn's Colourful Cupcakes

Today Kaitlyn brought to school some Colourful Cupcakes for us to eat. First she
had to make the mixture. Then she decorated them. Then we ate them. They were delicious.
Here are some pictures.

by Kaitlyn and Caleb.


Thanks Kaitlyn, Mum and Oliver!!!

More maths

Today in the afternoon some of the class played Addition and Subtraction Bingo. Jordan, Joe and Liam played a different game. They had to put the number tiles in order and then match the number of pictures on a card to the written number. They did a great job and worked together well!

Sensational Singing

Today in Discovery Time Darby wanted to practise singing one of her favourite songs (Firework by Katy Perry). She brought the lyrics to school and knew all of them! She asked Holly and Kushla to help her sing certain verses and the chorus. Mrs Robertson found the video clip on You Tube and they practised singing and performing it together. At the end of Discovery Time they performed it to the class. We think they did an awesome job! They all want to try singing in the choir next year in middle school. Good luck girls!

Rotation - Maths

Room 1 loves doing Maths on Fridays! Last Friday we looked at reflection (see below), this Friday we looked at Rotation.

If something rotates it goes around and around. We brainstormed some objects and shapes which show rotation. For example:
-a propeller
-a windmill
-flower petals
-a star (or starfish)
-a wheel on your bike or car
-a fan

We then took one cardboard petal and cooperated with a buddy to draw around it on paper. We then rotated the petal and did it again. We kept rotating it until the petal reached the top again. It formed the flower!

Geometry: Reflection and lines of symmetry

We have been learning about reflection and lines of symmetry. We know that if something is symmetrical it is the same on each side.

Above work:
Kaitlyn & Jordan reflecting shapes from one side of the paper to the other - Jordan even made his into a face!
Jess & Jacques painting one side of a butterfly and folding it in half to make the reflection and form the rest of the butterfly.

New talking vokis!

We found a new website where you can choose a cartoon and make it talk like you. Skylah and Liam recorded their voices this morning and chose their pictures. Click on them to hear Liam and Skylah talking. They are a little bit muffled because we are learning the best way to record our voices.

Johny brings a crayfish to school...

Thanks to Johny, his dad, Mr Baldwin and Pete!

Koru Designs

We have been learning about koru designs. It is found in lots of Maori artwork. The shape is similar to a fern unfolding as it grows so it symbolises things like peace, growth and new life.
We practised sketching the shape last week and today we drew big korus and coloured them in with crayon and vivid. We are going to try again later in the week with pastel and dye to get an even better looking picture.

Sam D and Skylah finished their first design today. Don't they look great!

Oral Language

On Wednesday we practise reading with expression. Today we read the poem Snail Party and two people volunteered to record themselves reading the poem with expression. They did so well! Listen to Sam Shelling and Kushla below..

Inquiry

For our inquiry topic this term we are learning about the different cultures around the world. We started looking at what makes NZ unique today. Here is our brainstorm. Can you think of anything else? Leave comments below if you can!

Click on the picture to make it bigger!

Welcome to Room 1 Jordan

We are so lucky to have Jordan arrive in our class this week! He has an older brother Sam starting in Room 5. Jordan has already made lots of new friends and met some old ones from his kindy days!

Practise your handwriting online!

Teddy Bears' Picnic

Yesterday Room 1 and Room 2 took their favourite teddy down to the park for a picnic! We had all sorts of fun! We played in the playground, played sports, had running races, hid each others teddies and even a chocolate bar treasure hunt! It was a fun but tiring day!

Practise fractions with this fun golf game!

Click photo to play!

Mihis

We have been learning to introduce ourselves in Maori.

Tena Koutou -Hello everyone (more than 2 people)
Ko _____ toku ingoa - My name is ______
Ko _____ toku matua - My Dad is________
Ko _____ toku whaea - My Mum is _______
No Whakatu ahau - I am from Nelson
Ko Wairama toku kura - I go to Brightwater School
No reira, tena koutou, - In conclusion, greetings to you all.
tena, koutou, tena tatou katoa.

Countries around the World

We have been learning about the the different countries playing in the Rugby World Cup.
We had a lucky dip and got given a country. We have been researching our country at home and finding out at least 3 facts about our country.

Today we looked at a World Map. We stuck each flag on the country. We were talking about all of the different countries and the world for over an hour! We just couldn't stop asking questions. Some things we found interesting were:

-Japan is around the same size as NZ but there are about 127million people there and only 4million here! We think they might build tall buildings or they don't have many parks to try and fit everyone in.

-Russia was HUGE!

-Australia is lots bigger than NZ but we still have a better rugby team.

-Africa is actually made up of lots of countries and isn't one place.

-When it was lunch time for us the people in England would be fast asleep because the world turns away from the sun.

-There is a lot of water in the world.

-Some teams have traveled a really long way to get to NZ. If it takes an hour to get to Christchurch from Nelson it must takes almost a day to get to Wales!

Fairytale Plays

We cut out masks and put them onto cardboard so they were like puppets. Then we practiced retelling the fairytale in our groups. We then performed the plays to the class. Some of us used really great expression and sounded just like the real characters!

Fractions!

We are learning to find half and quarter of sets of objects.

'The Three Little Pigs' Artwork

We made art collages of the The Three Little Pigs. We used lots of materials including cardboard, paint, straw, toothpicks, cotton wool and even sand. Look carefully to see the sneaky wolf hiding in our pictures!

Is Jack good or bad?

We wrote our opinions last week on whether Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk is good or bad...what do you think???

I think Jack is bad because his Mum told him to sell the cow for money but he sold it for beans. He broke into the giant's house. He didn't listen to his Mum. He stole a hen, gold and a magic harp. Jack also killed the giant. This makes him naughty and bad.
Darby

I think that Jack was good because he got money from the castle and golden eggs and a harp too because they were poor. Jack chopped down the beanstalk and that was the end of the giant which is good because the giant can't kill people now.
Sam Sargent

I think Jack is bad because he didn't listen to his Mum and he also stole the giant's things. He also killed the giant and chopped down the beanstalk with an axe. He climbed up the beanstalk again and again when his Mum said he had to stay home.
Mia

I think Jack is good because everything he stole was actually his father's stuff. He helped his mum who was so poor. He saved the giant's wife because he was trying to kill her and Jack. He was a hero because he saved the giant's wife.
Holly

I think Jack is bad because he came into the giant's house without asking the giant. Jack took a hen without paying and used it for money. Jack is also bad because he didn't listen to his Mum.
Sam Shelling

E-books

Great new website with loads of e-books. Listen to the stories or read along as well. Then complete the activities afterwards about the book. Choose from the drop down menu the appropriate age level and the type of book you are after.

Click the picture to go straight to the website.