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=  = =St Albans Junior School Wiki = **Term 3 - Under the Microscope** This term the junior school are learning about electricity. We are finding out how to make circuits that make light bulbs and buzzers work, and how to put switches in circuits. We are also finding out reasons why some circuits do not work. The children are making predictions about what would happen if they changed certain components within the circuit, and then carried out investigations to test their ideas out. Along with this, we are learning about where electricity comes from, and how to be safe around things that need electricity. We are learning all these things about electricity during an interchange. Science is one part of this. We are also doing dance/music and folk dancing. Keep a look out for our podcasts, photos and videos that show what we have been learning. **Science Alive** Each class went on a trip to Science Alive to extend our learning about electricity. Whist there we did a practical session where we made circuits, learnt about static electricity, and talked about safety around electricity. Then we spent some time in the interactive rooms learning about all kinds of science. Check out our photos from our trips. media type="file" key="Science Alive Slideshow.wmv" width="230" height="184" **Electricity Safety Our key understandings about electricity were: - Many things use electricity. - Electricity does not work if there is a break in the circuit. - Electricity can be dangerous so we have to be careful. **  Try this fantastic website to help your children learn about electricity safety. [|electricity safety]

Please check out our safety in the classroom video. The wonderful children in Room 21 wrote the script, used the camera to record the movie and had a go at directing!! media type="file" key="Electricity R21 original.3gp" width="300" height="300" **Folk Dancing** The junior school did folk dancing as part of our interchange. While doing so we were learning to remember steps and movements, learn our left and right, and work with others to do the dances well. It was also really great fitness and lots of fun. We did a range of dances including the Bird Dance, Polka of the Rabbits, The Jibidi, The Pleskavac Kolo and Follow My Leader. The following video shows the progress Rooms 1 and 3 made with the Plescavac Kolo and the Jibidi. It also shows them performing Follow My Leader, which was the trickiest dance to learn. All other classes made the same kind of progress, which was fantastic to see.

media type="file" key="Folk Dancing.3gp" width="300" height="300"  Music **  Author / Illustrator Study Different classes have spent time looking in depth at the work of various authors and illustrators. Below you will find some web based links we used [|Mo Willems] [|Lauren Child] [|Mem Fox] [|Jeannie Baker] [|Pamela Allen] [|Lynley Dodd] [|Eric Carle]
 * As part of the music component of the interchange some classes did some work with poems, chanting and ostinato. Rooms 3 and 5 created poems related to learning they were doing in other parts of the curriculum, while Room 4 created a poem to explain an unusual lunchtime noise. Room 2's poem was created by the music advisor Celia Stewart and describes an annoying phenomenon we are all familiar with in summer!

House Day In Week 1 of this term we held a House Day. The children spent the whole day doing different activities with all of the children in their house. They participated in cultural activities (poi, stick games and haka), pikelet making, singing, dance, relays and bingo. They could earn house points as they went by showing our school values - excellence, respect, initiative, community, creativity, manaakitanga and fun. The house with the most points at the end of the day was the winner. This house was KOWHAI!!! Everyone had a really fun day and we can't wait until next time. Below is a slide show with photos taken on the day.

media type="file" key="House Day.3gp" width="300" height="300"

=<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 140%; text-align: center;">Term 2 - Beauty, Fun, Play and Adventure = <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">This term the junior school have been learning all about New Zealand. This included looking at NZ geography, famous New Zealanders and NZ icons. Classes then did an inquiry to find out what makes New Zealand such a great place to live. As part of our learning we went on a trip to the musuem, participated in Te Reo Kori, and had a Kiwiana mufti day. We shared our learning by having a shared Kiwi lunch and putting on a concert for our grandparents. The following photos show our classroom inquiry and NZ art displays. __Rooms 19 & 21__ __Rooms 1 & 2__

__Rooms 3 & 4__

__Room 5__

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 180%;">**Te Reo Kori** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Throughout the term the children have been participating in Te Reo Kori (the language of movement). This included learning poi, action songs, haka powhiri, stick games, Kotahitanga jump jam, and learning Maori commands through jazzercise. They rotated around these activiites in Whanau groups which included children from the New Entrants, Year 1 and Year 2. The following movie shows the children during their first Te Reo Kori lessons, and then the concert that was performed for the Grandparents. It shows the progress that the children made with their learning. It also shows how much fun it was. Have a look.

media type="file" key="Te Reo Kori.3gp" width="300" height="300"

=<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 22px;">Museum Trip = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Each class visited the Botanical Gardens and the Canterbury Museum. At the museum we had a lesson about Kiwiana and visited Fred and Myrtle's Paua House. In the gardens we saw a Koru sculpture, a silver fern, a big kauri tree and lots of fern fronds. Everyone had a great time. The following is some photos of each class on their trip.

__Room 19 & 21__

__Room 1 & 2__

__Room 3 & 4__

__Room 5:__

Here is a slide show with some more photos from our trip. =media type="file" key="Museum Trip.mov" width="300" height="300"=

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 177%;">**Kiwiana Mufti Day** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">On Thursday, June 25th we had a whole school mufti day. The theme was Kiwiana. The children came in some fantastic outfits. Amongst these were pavalova's, bottles of tomato sauce, hokey pokey icecream, jandals, and plenty of rugby players. The following photos show some of the brilliant efforts that were made.

media type="file" key="Mufti Day 1.mov" width="300" height="300"

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 171%;">**Our Big Day In** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This term we celebrated our learning by having a big day in. First we had a surprise performance by El Gregoe the Magician. Then we had a shared lunch of fish and chips, L&P, hokey pokey ice cream and pavalova with kiwifruit. In the afternoon we put on a concert for our grandparents. The following photos show El Gregoe's act and our yummy shared lunch. You can see the concert in the Te Reo Kori Movie.

media type="file" key="Big Day In.mov" width="300" height="300" =**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Junior Poetry Competition **= <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This term we held the 2009 Junior School Poetry Competition. The standard of entry was excellent and the participants made the judges job a very difficult one. The results were:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Year 2: !st - Jermaine (Room 3) 2nd - Georgina (Room 4) 3rd - Amelia (Room 3)
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> The following is a movie of the competiton.

media type="file" key="Junior Poetry Competition '09.3gp" width="300" height="300"