Our Family Members Come Back to School!

Our blog is such an important part of our daily life in B4 so today we've invited our family members along to the classroom to blog with us.

The B4 students are showing their family member around our blog and teaching them how to write a great comment.

So -  for families and friends:

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we would love to hear what school was like for you when you were young! 

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School has changed a lot since Mrs McKenzie first started school in the mid-1960s.

She didn't ever get computers to use at school! 

It wasn't until the mid-1980s that there were even computers in the classrooms she taught in.

Mrs Mckenzie used to write with a fountain pen filled with ink from an inkwell or later, filled with a cartridge. Later she started using a biro.

Classrooms had blackboards but no whiteboards. 

Children loved being the monitor who banged the chalk-dusters on the concrete outside to clean them.

Mrs McKenzie remembers taking her lunch to school 
nearly every day, 

although a few children would go home for lunch. 

Once in a while she got to buy her lunch - fish and chips for 10 cents!

If children were naughty, the teacher was allowed to hit them with a leather strap!

How was school different for YOU?

When were you at school - was it in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s,90s or maybe in the 2000s? Was it even earlier? 

What do you think schools will be like in 5 more years? Ten more years?

(Thanks to our buddies Kathleen Morris and Kelly Jordan  and Mrs Yollis for sharing
their great family-blogging ideas.)

Back Up and Re-read

This is the final of our daily 5 strategy songs for now. 

The third strategy we are sharing is to back up and reread if the story stops making sense. 

Good readers often use more than one strategy at a time, 

for instance if we 

check for understanding 

and realise the story doesn't make sense then 

we can back up and reread and 

we might even need to 

cross-check 

some of the words we read!

The 'Back Up and Re-read' Song:

(Tune: B-I-N-G-O)

I read a bit and now I've found

I really just don't get it.

Now what should I do?

Now what should I do?

Now what should I do?

I'll back up and re-read it!

(Via Ms Durning's 2nd grade class)

Have you ever had to use two strategies together when you were reading?

What were they?

The Cross-Checking Song

We've been using our Daily 5 strategy songs 

for our weekly poems.

This week's song is all about cross-checking as we read.

(via Ms Durning's 2nd grade blog)

Cross-checking song 

(Tune: Do your Ears Hang Low?)

I am stuck on a word

but I know just what to do,

I will look at the letters

and then at the pictures too.

Does the word that I think it is

make a lot of sense?

This is called cross-check!

Check for Understanding

It's always important to know what we are reading about 

so we love using this song  (via Ms Durning's 2nd grade blog)
in our Daily5 program 
to help us remember to use 

the reading strategy of 'Check for Understanding'.

Sing along with us:
(Tune: Hokey Tokey)
You have a great new book
and you've started to read.
You know a lot of words
but there's something else you need.
You must Check for Understanding,
ask 'Who?' and also 'What?'
That's what reading's all about!


What strategies do you find useful when reading?
What great books have you read lately?

Getting on Together in Groups

We've started the year by exploring some ideas with 

Mrs Wistrand about getting on together 

in groups.

Groups we belong to:

(can you identify the kiwiana icons we used?)

having a choice or not having a choice:

how it look, sounds and feels to be in our B4 group:

and how to get on well together in a group:

What groups do you CHOOSE to be part of?

What do you think it takes for a group to work together successfully?

Sorting, Grouping and Comparing

We looked at the ways that we could sort ourselves into groups.

10 boys and 10 girls

10 in Kawatiri and 10 in Mawhera

10 Year 3s and 10 Year 2s

14 kids from last year and 6 new kids

Eleven 6-year-olds and nine 7-year-olds

(one 6-year-old is in the wrong line!)

How many students are in B4?

What are the all number pairs (number bonds) that equal that number?

Are there other ways we could group ourselves?

Some New Friends for Quicksilver

Quicksilver the Kea has been our B4 class mascot 

since early in 2011. 

The children love reading to Quicksilver and including him in games at playtimes. 

Last year he even got to go home with the students 

for a night each!

This year he has some new friends.

He wants you to meet 

Squirmy Wormy

and Mr Beezley

Quicksilver is excited to have these new friends.

Does your class have a class mascot?

Maybe your class mascot could introduce themselves to Quicksilver, Squirmy Wormy and Mr Beezley.

Crusaders Players visit Reefton

It's just three days into our new school year 
so it was an exciting early break in our programme when we had a visit from some Crusaders players.
The Crusaders are the Super Rugby team based in Canterbury and along with the Otago Highlanders team 
they are visiting the Coast 
to play a match this weekend.

Are you a rugby follower or is another sport your favourite?
Which team do you cheer for?