Guest Post by Georgia - Taradale High Sport

Each year at Taradale Intermediate, several classes are lucky enough to have sports tuition by some students from Taradale High School, which is right next door to us. 

We choose a sport and we then go over to the high school and have 4 sessions with two Year 12’s who are an expert in that sport.  They coach us for extra credits in NCEA.  The sports were Cricket, Handball, Soccer, Netball, Hockey, Softball, Problem Solving ABLs, Touch Rugby, Ultimate Frisbee, and Hip Hop and Jazz dancing.

Taradale High Sports are a great way to learn a new sport or improve on one you already play.  I think that the Taradale High sports are great and give people the experience they need.

Does your school have an exchange with any other schools? 

Or do you do an event with another school annually? 

From Then til Now - 100 Medals

Have a look at New Zealand's 'All Time Medal List'.  It's a wonderful occasion to celebrate the successes of our athletes from the fourth modern Olympic Games in 1908 until now.

Each medalist has been a leader in their own right and has gone on to inspire others after them.  We know these champions lived the Olympic motto:  "Citius Altius Fortius" - Faster Higher Stronger.  These words encourage them to give their very best.  

The Olympic creed complements this and promotes having a character full of integrity, respect, and kindness:  "The most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well."   We know this creed also promotes humility as the victors recognise the efforts all competitors have invested.

Who are your stand out Olympians?

What impact have they had in your country?

Abstract Art

Earlier on this year, Room 24 viewed the awesome artwork of the students in Huzzah, a class in British Colombia.  They entitled their work "Eye Candy" - and we thought it looked pretty scrumptious.  Three weeks later, we saw some more artwork that was almost identical to Huzzah's Eye Candy.  This time it was called "Blob Art" and it was the stunning work of the students in Room 6 @ Halcombe School, New Zealand.  

We'd thought about doing some pieces of our own after seeing Huzzah's masterpieces but after seeing the powerful finished products of Room 6 we decided it was time to stop thinking and start doing.  With two classes artwork in front of us, we had the privilege of being able to spend some time examining and analysing what was before us.  

We highlighted what different techniques both classes used to make their art effective before reaching a consensus as to what we were going to incorporate into our compositions.  What an opportunity it was to exercise our Habits of Mind and higher order thinking skills!  We decided on the name "Abstract Art" for our creations because while we were viewing the other classes' work many of us commented how we could see different things in the various pieces.

We'd like to thank both Huzzah and Room 6 for their inspiration.

What does our Abstract Art remind you of?

What is an art project that you've completed recently that you're proud of?

Do you have a favourite artist or favourite style of art?

Celebrating the Year So Far ...

Congratulations NZ2012!

It's Saturday morning and across Aotearoa, New Zealanders either went to bed last night elated or got up this morning to the brilliant news that our team had won two Golds and one Bronze in the space of just over six hours!


This is what we're looking like on the Gold table:

CONGRATULATIONS to the Rowers and Track Cyclists for their achievements!  We're so proud of you and so happy for you and your successes.  Lauren Boyle also knocked three seconds off her personal best and came fourth in the final of the 800m Freestyle.  Although that's not a medal, we think that's pretty outstanding!


You can follow the medal map and see current medal standings at any time.  Thanks to Mrs McKenzie and B4 for originally posting the link to this map on their blog.

Who are the NZ Olympians that have won medals?

Other than the codes mentioned above, what events were they in?

Do you know which athletes from Team NZ2012 have beaten a New Zealand record or a personal best?

How are you celebrating the Olympics at your school?  If you're from another country, how are your Olympians doing?

Tech Challenge

In the last week, Room 24 have completed two Technology Challenges; the Ball Grabber and the Balloon Snatcher.

Tech Challenges are fun tasks where teams of two are give a scenario and need to solve a problem using simple materials.  The teams need to design, develop and test their solutions.  The most effective and efficient solution wins!

Congratulations to Georgia and Kadin who have made it through to the School Tech Challenge!

What Habits of Mind are needed to be successful when designing and developing?

Do you have a similar competition in your school?  What solutions have you created in your competitions?

A Beloved Kiwi Icon & an Inspiring Writer

Margaret Mahy has been a favourite author for countless Kiwi and overseas children for many years.

New Zealand and the world is paying tribute to this gifted lady for the joy and happy memories we have of reading her books and having them read to us.  Her books are such that as children we will have read and reread our favourite one over and over.  Miss McLeod remembers doing just that with The Witch in the Cherry Tree.

Margaret Mahy had a zest for life and an enthusiasm to celebrate the ordinary and live each day.  All those who met her and spent time in her company felt uplifted and happy.

The Christchurch City Library has recorded Margaret Mahy describing how she got ideas for her stories.  Here's what she said:

"Many stories, regardless of length, spring from a single image which makes connections with other current images or with images in memory.


I sometimes tell people about the initial incident, but seldom say that I am thinking about writing a story about it.  Sometimes telling people is just one of the ways of helping myself to make up my mind about whether or not this is actually going to turn into a story.  I want to hear what it sounds like.


My ideas mostly come from things that happen to me, but of course they are changed a great deal by the time the story is finished.  The ideas begin with real things but I invent all sorts of things to add to them, or I change them in some way before the story is finished."

What is your favourite Margaret Mahy picture book?  Or, have you read any of her novels?
What is it about Margaret Mahy stories that make you enjoy them so much?
Who is another children's author (focusing mainly on picture books) you love and why is it that you enjoy their books so much?

Guest Post by Ashleigh - Friday Enrichment Progammes

Friday enrichment programmes are a great way to do something that you love, out of class. At the beginning of Term One we got a list of all the Friday programmes which included Culinary Arts, Extension Art, Performers group, Funky garden art, Take 2 – (learning digital ICT skills), Media team – (creating the school magazine), Sewing, Kapa Haka, and Enviro Leaders.

Then you had to write an application explaining why you think you would be a good student to have in the programme you want to be a part of. If you wanted to you could get a letter of recommendation from your parents and teacher. In some activities there were stages that you had to get shortlisted for. For Culinary Arts you had to cook or bake something. For Extension Art you had to sketch a scene from Aladdin (which is our school production coming up this year). Fortunately I made it in to Culinary Arts which is really exciting for me. We get to cater for meetings, make home-made pasta, bake macaroons and participate in lots of other activities.

I think having Friday enrichment programmes is an awesome idea as you can try something different and learn new skills.

Does your school have any extra activities for the students to participate in?

If so what are they?

Our Dream Jobs

While we were on holiday, one of the questions in the Student Blogging Challenge was "What would our dream job/s be?".  Miss McLeod asked us to write a paragraph describing our dream jobs.  She also wanted us to practise using including a hyperlink mid-sentence (rather than saying, 'to see this click here').  Some of us aren't too sure what we'd like to do when we're older but quite a few of us are interested in careers related to animals, the entertainment industry, public service or those that are adventure-based.  Have a read below to see our current ideas about dream jobs:

AIDAN:  My dream job is to be in the navy.  In the navy you get free holidays and you get paid lots of money. I think I will like my dream job because I have wanted to be in the navy all my life. I think this will be a good experience for me for the whole time I am in the navy.

AIMEE: My dream job is to be famous pop star. Touring all over the world and having double platinum albums. A celebrity is someone that has public fascination on a day-day basis and is easily recognised.

ALEXANDRA:  My dream job would be to be an archaeologist so I could find out about the history of our world. I also think that it would be cool to rebuild or remake on the computer so you could see what it was like in those days.  My second dream job would be to be a professional diver because you could see the underwater life and my mum was a diver.

ARIELLE:  My dream job is to be an art editor. This is when you report on a wide range of art subjects. This includes light music to opera and other forms of classical music as well as songs that cover the same spectrum. It also includes performances such as stage and movie productions and paintings, sculpture and other art. I want to be an art editor because I am creative and I am able to get the job done quickly.  My second dream job is to be a chef. This is because you get to cook in restaurants and you can cook for others at home. Also because you will get to cook different foods at parties and at weddings if you get employed there.

ASHLEIGH:  I can’t really decide what I want to be but one of my dream jobs is to be a GP which stands for General Practitioner. In New Zealand they are commonly known as your family doctor. I would love to become a GP because I love to help people and it would be an exciting career. I would enjoy working with a wide variety of cases and medicines. It will take you at least five years to become a qualified GP.

BEN:  My dream job is to be a helicopter pilot working for Helipro Taupo  and have a motorised scooter and flat with a friend and take people for rides in a helicopter - now that will be my dream job.  My other dream is to be a professional mountain biker.  I reckon the adrenaline is a really nice feeling because you have to think really fast also not be scared of high jumps and know how to land them and get out of trouble and not get thrown off your bike.

BRAEDON:  My dream job is to teach people how to scuba dive.  Scuba diving is about seeing the world from the deep blue and the animals that live there.  Being a professional scuba diver would be fun because you get to swim with marine animals.

BRINEY:  At the age of 11, I do not yet have a dream job but I believe that I would be very interested in the world of animals.  I would enjoy this career because I would be able to rescue helpless animals, work in the shelter and train the dogs and other animals so that they will find a good home where they're cared for properly.

BROOKE:  Once I leave school I would like to be a famous music producer known all around the world where people will pay thousands just to me.  I believe that that your job could be enjoyable if it was your dream job but really it’s up to you. There are the people who sit there complaining how boring or how stupid their job is and then there are those who really enjoy their job because they did something about it.  Not everyone gets paid for their job because some people are volunteer workers.  School work is different from real workers because when you are at school, you have several subjects to study over the course of a day and you usually have the same amount of time. But when you’re at work, most of the time you don’t get to do enough of an aspect of the job that you enjoy doing but you get more than enough of what you don’t like to do.

CODY:  To be honest, I don’t have a dream job, but I reckon it would be fun to be a police officer.  Why I would like this because it has lots of action, running, chasing people, giving people ticket, taking them to court, arresting people, hi-speed chases, dealing with silly people and a whole lot more.  

CONNOR: My dream job is to be an artist one because I love it and two they earn tonnes of money.  My inspiration was Leonardo Da Vinci not only did he paint but he made inventions too.                                            

GEORGIA:  My dream job would have to be a zookeeper for a zoo because I really like animals. I would like to work with the wild cats because they are fierce but when you get to know them they would be your friend and you would feed them, care for them, do study on them and report any health problems.

JODIE:  My dream job is to work with World Vision and help out the people in un-wealthy places such as Niger. I have always wanted to get involved in helping out in Global Hunger.  Click here to find out more and get involved …   WorldVision

JOHANNA:  It might change but for now my dream job is to be a lawyer because you earn a lot of money and I kind of enjoy researching. 

JONATHAN:  My dream job is to become a customs officer because they stop crooks coming and doing damage to countries.

KADIN:  My dream job would be to work as an accountant  because you get to work with really complex number equations.  I also think that it would be a cool job to help people or give advice to people about their financial problems.

KATE:  My dream job is to work as a veterinarian so I may help animals such as farm & domestic house pets. If my career is going great later on in life and I have the education, I will start helping endangered animals. I have had a passion to help animals ever since I could talk. I do a lot to help an animal that is in need of help. Every spring when the baby birds are ready to fly some don’t make it. So the ones that are in my garden and are hurt on the spring filled ground my dog picks up in her soft jaws and patiently bring the soft feathered creature to me. One year I had five baby birds that were a mix of Fantails and Sparrows. I would teach them to fly and feed them. After a while I would let them out at morning and call them at night each bird would come back but after a long time they would just sit on the fence and only come by the cage if they wanted canary seed. So that’s one of my animal stories that I will never forget. So know you know what I want to be when I’m older.

KELLIE:  I have two dream jobs, one is two be a professional guitarist and perform in lots of places.  My other dream job is to be a video game creator and either be in my own game company, or two be in Bungie, or Microsoft Game Studios. 

Guitaring will be fun for me because I will get to play more complicated and faster pieces and I will get to see lots more of my favourite guitarists and performers up close/live. Click here to learn more.

I think game creating will be fun because if I have any cool ideas even if they’re just random I can make them come to life. And also just being able to walk around places that I’ve made myself will be a pretty cool feeling. Click here to see more.

KENNEDY:  My dream job is to a Policeman and to help other so if they try to hit someone they can go to jail. I would like to be a policeman so I can help others if they’re hurt. 

LISA:  My dream job would be to work at Auckland Zoo. This is my dream job because you get to work with animals and spend lots of time with them.  I would be someone who takes care of the animals. I think that working at Auckland Zoo would be a great experience.

MACKENZIE:  My dream job is to be an Animal Dentist.  Everyone should enjoy their job and the best job I could ever think of doing is to be an animal beauty therapist or vet. 

MOLLY:  My dream job is to be a movie/TV actress and singer.  Imagine it, your singing on stage with people shouting your name, MOLLY MOLLY MOLLY!

I would smile and wave to the crowd then run across the stage hi-fiving people. I’d be singing my new hit single and listening to my back up girls oohing in time with the beat. I really wish I was famous, READ THIS to find out what it’s like to be a singer.

The camera’s pointing at you. You slap the person in front of you and a round of applause comes from behind the camera, you bow with sarcasm and then say to the person well done, you did a good job! He replies: You were close to actually slapping me!

Wouldn’t you love that? Nearly slapping someone for people’s entertainment? I know I’d LOVE it! I’d meet cool people like Selena Gomez, Reece Mastin, Emma Stone,(I think that’s her last name) and lots more people! READ THIS to find out what it’s like to be an actress. 

NAVAJO:  My dream job is to be a person who digs up dinosaurs and prehistoric animals bones.  They are called Palaeontologists.  Palaeontology is an awesome job because you get dirt in your nails and you get to travel the world to find extinct creatures like, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Mammoths and Terror Birds.

NICOLA:  My Dream job is a Flight Attendant it would be pretty cool. Because you get to hand out food to people and you get to go to different places and you would meet new people from all over the world.

RYEOGEUN:  My dream job is doctor because the doctor can help many of people and doctor can have much money and I can help someone when they heart at the street. It’s not easy to be a doctor first they need a test to go in. They have to be careful then before because when they are not careful somebody can get heart. I will work hard and I will be successful my dream.

SAVANNA:  I would love to work at a chocolate factory because I will have treats and I will have lots of good mates to hang out with so I won’t be a loner. 

SAM:  My dream job would to be a skydiving instructor because skydiving is extremely fun. Click Here for a picture of a job as a skydiving instructor. This is my dream job is this because you are paid to jump out of planes.  You meet people from all over the country and world.  You also help people conquer their fears.

SIMON:  My dream job is to be a photographer.  One great bonus about being a photographer is that you can travel to places like Africa and photograph the lions, monkeys, elephants and more.

TROY:  My dream job is to be a fire-fighter.  Being a fire-fighter is a big responsibility and it takes courage because you are saving peoples lives when the building is to the ground.     

Do you have a dream job? 

What is it about this job that appeals to you?

CELEBRATION - 1000 Blog Visitors!

New Zealand has just had school holidays for the last two weeks.  During this time we reached our 1000th visitor milestone.  It was a bit of a shame we weren't at school to celebrate but it definitely made for a fun first day of Term Two today.


In fact, by the time today arrived and Term Two began we had had just over 1100 visitors.

We celebrated in style with balloons, party poppers, and a special cake called a gateau.  We had candles with the digits '1000' on them.  Our most active bloggers got to blow the candles out while the rest of us popped the poppers.  Finally, we could tuck into the cake and lollies!

Do you have a ClustrMap on your blog?  What is the most remote country you've had a visit from?

What do you find encourages visitors to place a comment on your blog? 

Postcards - Hawke's Bay Style

Room 24 spent Term One inquiring into Culture and Identity.  We talked, discussed, reflected and explored and then discussed and reflected some more about what it means to come from a place, be from a place and be part of a particular group of people.


Our main focuses were what it means to be: Kiwis (that is New Zealanders), from Hawke's Bay (specifically Napier and Taradale), students at TIS, and members of Room 24.


All our discussions and time spent inquiring about our culture and identity resulted in us feeling really proud about who we are, where we come from and where we belong.


During our study, the opportunity arose for us to send postcards to B4 in the South Island.  We were excited about being able to showcase Napier and Taradale and chose to make our own postcards by photographing local places we either visit or think are neat tourist attractions.


We are really happy with our finished postcards and we hope B4 enjoy receiving them.

Have you ever received a postcard before?  

Where is the most interesting place you've received a postcard from?

Koru Art

This week, we are celebrating te reo Maori me nga tikanga, that is Maori language and culture.  


To begin our week, we created pieces of KORU Art. In Maori culture, the koru (typically seen on a fern frond) symbolises new life and growth.


We used the art techniques of silhouette and and symmetry.  Don't the finished pieces look stunning!

How do you celebrate native cultures in your class?

What pieces of art have you completed recently?

Credible Characters & Puppets with Personality

Just over two weeks ago, we watched a video tutorial by the puppet genius, Jim Henson, about how to make puppets from regular household items.  Room 24 were inspired at how he brought the puppets to life - treating them as real characters with their own personalities and mannerisms.  


As our main writing focus this term has been narratives, we decided to create puppets for our lead characters.  


The requirements for our puppets were that they would be made from readily available items and that they would be a true representation of our main character.  They needed to show the visual qualities of our characters and, in some way, demonstrate behaviour that our characters would typically display.


We LOVE writing with our puppets close by as they are a source of inspiration and creativity.


Stop by in the next two weeks to read excerpts from our writing and to see some guest appearances by our characters/puppets.

Can you recall your most favourite character that you've ever created and written about?

Have you made a puppet before?  What was he/she made of?  

Or, if you were to make one, how would you create him/her?

Guest Post by Brooke: Challenge - Class Literacy

During literacy our reading groups sometimes get the opportunity to make origami. Our learning intention is to follow new, written instructions interdependently.

We asked a few students from our class, how they felt about this project. They answered, “our challenge is folding accurate lines and following the instructions.”

To overcome this challenge we are measuring, and if not successful restarting, and making accurate folds.

Have you made Origami animals or objects before?
What Habits of Mind did you use?

Kaweka's Flash Mob ... in Video

Kia Ora to all you wonderful readers out there.  This is our FANTASTIC flash mob that you read about in our post last week.  A huge thanks must go to Mr English for the time he took to edit the video for us.  We're now convinced he's a die hard Kawekian!


We hope you all enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed performing.

After watching our flash mob, what 'dance and drama' ideas do have for your class, your team or your school?

Do you have any favourite songs that make people want to just get up and dance?

Student Blogging Challenge

Over the next eight weeks, Room 24 is involved the global STUDENT BLOGGING CHALLENGE.  


It's a marvelous opportunity for us to become familiar with the many aspects of blogging and, we think most importantly, to connect with other classes around the world.


We are in the second week of the ten week challenge.  Week One focused on "About Us" and Week Two asks us to share "About My Place".  The amazing thing is that these two weeks are fitting perfectly into our inquiry question for CULTURE & IDENTITY, "what makes us us and what's unique about ourselves as Room 24, students of TIS, from Hawke's Bay, and as Kiwis (New Zealanders)?" ... whew, what a big question!


So far in the Challenge, we've had comments on our blog from Ohio and Maryland as well as new visitors from around the globe.  Yesterday, we connected with Room 6, St Mary's School in Mosgiel, NZ, and Mrs Jundef's Tech Class in New Jersey, USA.  One of our class goals this year is to be involved in a global project with other classes from around the world, so Room 24 sees this as the first step in achieving our goal.


The Student Blogging Challenge has been on the go since 2008 and runs biannually in March and September, so if you're not involved in the March challenge we really encourage you to enter the one beginning in September. 

Have you connected with other classes from within your country or around the world?

What global projects have you been involved in, if any?  And what are the benefits of global projects?

Have you any ideas or plans for future global connections?

Kaweka Flash Mob

At our last Kaweka team assembly, Room 5 surprised us all with a flash mob.  They performed it to the song, Everything's Gonna Be Alright by the Babysitter Circus.  We all thought the flash mob was FANTASTIC so the Kaweka teachers decided it would be a brilliant idea for our students to 'flash mob' the rest of the school.


We used the same song and same choreography and yesterday Room 5 led the way in the flash mob.  We had so much fun and it was definitely a success!  Who knows what will happen next ...


An enormous thanks to Ms Brooks and Room 5 for the inspiration and talent you showed!  Also, thanks to Kate (whose arm is out of action) for taking some TERRIFIC shots.

Have you ever been involved in an outdoor performance?  If so, what was it?

What other performances or events do you think our Kaweka learning team could plan in future?

World Read Aloud Day

Yesterday our class celebrated .  To do this, most of us bought books from home.  The books we bought in were "old favourites" - the ones we've read over and over.  We also bought our favourite novels and shared either an excerpt or gave an overview of the plot.  We talked about how family memories of reading books also makes them special.

We now all have several books that we're wanting to read.  Books become even more exciting when we see how much enjoyment others have got from them.  

Miss McLeod read the Mudmen chapter from Andy Griffith's book, Just Crazy.  It was hilarious with lots of crack-up moments - the reader had to work hard to read on past her laughter at times.

We then got into pairs and started rehearsing poems to read to the class.  Our task is to read/recite the poem expressively and with 'drama' in our voices.  Stay tuned ... we may post a video or two of this.

What are your favourite books and why do you like them?

Do you have any special 'book' or 'reading' memories?

Camp Opouahi - an Excellent Challenge

It’s been a while since Miss McLeod has published a post on our blog.  In fact, two weeks ago today we were arriving back at school from camp.  Room 24 all agree that camp was awesome, excellent, exhilarating, exciting, thrilling, full of happy times, grand, challenging, great, cool and fun!

Here are some quotes from students about their camp experiences:

“My favourite part was feeding the eels because I’d never seen so many slimy creatures before” - Kennedy.

“I enjoyed caving because it included two of my favourite things; swimming and climbing” – Mackenzie.

“My favourite part was caving – I loved walking through the water and the wetas” – Lisa.

“It was scary, going into the caves.  I thought it might collapse on us and then we’d all be drowned” – Ben.

“I liked the caving because I’d never been in a cave and it was exciting” – Jono.

“My favourite part about caving was being in tight places with spiders and wetas” – Simon.

“I liked canoeing because I liked being out on the water” - Jodie.

“My favourite activity was canoeing because it was my first time in a canoe AND I liked the swimming part” -  Ryeogeun.

“I liked the caving because I liked exploring around in the dark” – Connor.

“I took pleasure in everything because it was fun and it was all a great challenge” – Johanna.

“I liked caving because it was a new experience and I liked the feeling of having adrenaline running through me” – Kellie.

“I enjoyed the caving because it pushed me out of my comfort zone” – Ashleigh.

“The activity I liked the most was seeing the glow worms because I’d never seen glow worms before” - Arielle.

Where do you go to camp?
What activities will you be taking part in?
And, what do you think the highlight of camp will be for you?

Challenge - Our Inquiry concept for Camp

This year when head out to Opouahi for camp one our key focuses will be on the concept of CHALLENGE.  We will be caving, canoeing, hiking, tenting, cooking and more.  Room 24 are asking themselves the question, "how can we face and overcome challenges?"  


This was a good question to ask ourselves last week as it started pouring with rain part way through our training walk.  We have a 6km hike into camp (with only backpacks - not all our gear), so the rain was actually an opportunity for us to explore what we might do if it does rain while we're on our hike.  Obviously, we need to prepare and make sure we have all the gear.


Today, we looked at 'Challenge' from the perspective of teamwork and problem-solving.  We had to get balloons across the field using only our torsos.  The balloons couldn't touch the ground and the team members had to stay connected to each other.  If we dropped the balloons or became disconnected, we had to head back to the beginning and start again.

It was a good challenge as we all had fun and we were encouraged to work together.  Afterwards, we brainstormed the challenge skills and ideas in the Wordle below.  We also looked at the Habits of Mind we used.  We decided we'd used these ones:  thinking flexibly, persisting, working with others, seeing the funny side, using past knowledge, stop & think, trying new idea, listening to others, thinking about thinking (reflecting), make it right, innovate, and be clear.  

Congratulations Room 24 - Miss McLeod was super impressed with you!

Is your class facing any challenges in the near future?  What strategies will you use?

Do you have any wise words of advice that we can use to help us overcome the challenges at camp?