Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Playing Bamboo, Switch and Global Tag

One of the themes the classes have posted about on 
the 'Our World, Our Stories' blog 
is favourite recess games.
Mrs Yollis' class in California showed us all how they play a game called 'Bamboo' on the parallel bars.

In a type of global tag, the post got our friends in Mrs Watson's 2/3 class in Canada 
thinking about how they could adapt the game to suit their taller parallel bars.
Their new version is called 'Switch'.


Next to play the game was a class at 2KM/2KJ's school. 
Even the teacher, Mrs deVries had a go!


Today we went out and played on our parallel bars. 
Our bars are tall (and wider), so we played the Canadian version 'Switch'.

It was quite tricky, but a lot of fun.

Tag, you're in!
Leave us a comment - did you play Bamboo or Switch?

Monday, November 28, 2011

Maui and the Fish

Last week we shared a turn to lead the posts 
The theme was Traditional Stories.
The story we share here is the Maori legend of 
'Maui and the Fish'.

There are many stories about Maui.
One of our other favourites is 'Maui and the Sun.'
You can read more about him here.


We hope you enjoy our retelling.

Legends are stories that have been told and retold and handed down over many generations.
People listened to legends long before the stories were ever written in books.
Do you think this legend is real?
How were legends useful to cultures in the past?

Friday, November 25, 2011

Connecting with Connecticut

This week we had the chance to skype with some of our quad-blogging buddies,

Our school day usually starts at 8.50 am 
but we started our skype session at 8.30 am (Wednesday) 
to fit in with Mr Salsich's class 
where it was 2.30pm (Tuesday).
We can only manage to do this during our summer when our clocks are put forward and it's winter in Connecticut and the clocks are put back.

Chase, Maura, Anthony, Carla, Joey, Creighton and Hanna shared some facts about the state of Connecticut and we shared facts about the country of New Zealand.
Then we had time to answer questions and to share 
items of interest.

We met Mr Salsich's class mascots.
 Shea introduced us to Perezoso the Sloth and
Joey introduced us to Juan Pablo, the green tree frog.

Ganda introduced our mascot, Quicksilver the Kea.
Nathan showed his rugby ball. 
It is a little different to an American football 
as it doesn't have laces.
Paige shared her toy lamb, 
because New Zealand has lots of sheep!

All too soon it was time for Mr Salsich's students 
to get ready for home, 
and time for us to get on with the rest of our day.
What similarities and differences did you notice?
Each place has a similar population but which place has more room for the people?
What is the difference between a state and a country?
What questions do you still have?

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Water of Life

B4 have been doing Science for topic with 
Mrs Webb and Mr Cook this term. 
Our theme is 'Water of Life'.
Today was a perfect day to learn about water!

Mrs Webb taught the children this song about the water cycle -

Join in and sing with us!




Have you ever studied the water cycle?
What do you know about the water cycle?
Why is it important to look after the earth's water?

Monday, November 21, 2011

Our Edublog Awards nominations 2011

Our blog has been a fabulous part of the learning in B4 since the start of 2010 and we have made lots of good friends around the world.
So this year we'd like to make some nominations for 
The purpose of the Edublog awards is promote and demonstrate the educational values of  learner and teacher blog sites. 

Here are our nominations:

Best Class Blog


Mrs Watson and her class 
were among our first blogging contacts and we have become good friends. 
Their blog inspires us to try new things.
We loved our collaboration earlier in the year 
when we wrote stories together using Storybird.

Best Group blog

This blog has led to wonderful learning for our class and for our blogging buddies.

The students have had the opportunity to share their stories and the blog had led to authentic writing experiences, and geographical and Social Studies learning.

Best Twitter hashtag
Twitter is a great source of educational information and many teachers relish the connection with other educators around the world. 
The daily 5 hashtag has been very useful in developing our changing reading programme this year.

Best Teacher blog




New Zealander Kimberley Rivett's reflective blog about her e-learning classroom is always inspiring.

To make nominations:
If you have some favourite educational websites or web tools visit the Edublogs awards site and find out how to make your own nominations.
Nominations close for voting soon and there will be an awards ceremony in December.

What do you like about our nominated blogs?

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Local Environments

The posts this week on 
are all about our local environments.
Head on over and check out the photos and videos!

What are the special features of your environment?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Iconic Kiwi Foods

The classes have been posting about food this week on the Our World, Our Stories blog.
That got us thinking about some iconic kiwi foods, the foods that make us think of New Zealand.
Here are some that we came up with:

Pineapple Lumps and Crunchie bars

Lemon and Paeroa (L&P)

Kiwifruit

Manuka honey

Roast lamb and Mint Sauce chips (crisps)

Where was pavlova created - Australia or New Zealand?

Can you think of some more 'kiwi' foods?
What  foods from around the world are regarded as iconic?

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Pets Day 2011

The children did a great job taking photos of Pets Day today.
To see previous Pets day click here.
Here's our 2011 Pets Day from their point of view!
Pets Day 2011 - the hall exhibits 




Pets Day 2011- the animals 




Tell us about your pet!
How do you look after it? What does it like?
If you don't have a pet, what would you choose if you were allowed one?

Friday, November 4, 2011

Recess and Lunchtime

Have you visited the 'Our World, Our Stories' global project yet?
This week the classes have been posting and commenting about 
recess and lunchtime.
Head on over, check out what we all have to say, and let us know about your recess or lunchtime activities.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Writing with a Purpose

 Our global connections provide numerous opportunities for authentic, purposeful writing.
This morning some children were working in pairs 
to add comments to the posts 
on the 'Our World, Our Stories' blog.


Others were writing letters to send back to
in Northern Ireland.
During the holidays we had received not a postcard but  a CUPCAKE card from them.
The cupcake was decorated with lots of little jewels.


What kind of writing do you like to do?