And the Rule is ..... (Skip-Counting Patterns)

We've been looking at patterns and deciding what the rule is to continue each pattern,
 and how to use charts and tables to show our information.

(We used a Level 1 NZ Maths unit called Beetle Wheels)

Skip-Counting Patterns from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Can you leave a letter, number or object pattern for us?

Flat Rosie's Visit

Flat Rosie is here for a week from Sydney, Australia.

She comes from the Year 2 class at Roseville College.

We were surprised to find out that all of the children at that school are girls!

Flat Rosie is traveling the world and even has her own blog.

The girls in 2T sent some wonderings for us to answer:

Now it is time for Flat Rosie to go home, as our 

two-week term break starts.

Read about our previous flat person project here.

(Click on the link and scroll down).

Have you read the story of Flat Stanley or done a flat person project?

Making Our Kites

Our Social Studies topic this term was 'Flying High in Asia'.

We used the context of kite festivals as a way of learning about some of the similarities and differences between a Chinese way of life and our lives in New Zealand.

We ended the topic by researching, planning 
and making our own kites.

Take a look!

This kite is a traditional Maori kite. 

The boys wove the flax themselves.They decided to not fly it, 

that it would just be a decorative kite.

The groups used Mr Salsich's Global Kite wiki to help them with their research. Thanks Mr Salsich! 

All of the groups used bamboo as part of their kite structure.

Other materials used were fabrics, string, pictures, plastic, and bubble wrap!

The kites even flew quite well. We had a lot of fun, plus we learned a lot about working together.

Have you ever made a kite? What shape was it? What materials did you use?

Skyping With Our California Buddies

We enjoyed a 'Share and Compare' skype session with 

Mrs Yollis and her Grade 2/3 students.

Here is the distance between us 'as the crow flies'.
Do you know what that means?

Each class prepared information on a Google Doc about the communities

 and the schools.
Whose school is bigger?

In New Zealand it was 9am on Friday September 21, and one of our students was celebrating his 7th birthday.
In California it was 2pm on Thursday 20 September where his birthday would be the next day!
Why?

Birthday boy!

We wrote our information on little boards to make for easy sharing.

We met mascots Panda and Beverly from Mrs Yollis' class,

Beverley the Bear liked the look of our couch! Zzzzz.

and introduced our mascot, the cheeky and clever 

Quicksilver the Kea, and his friends: kind and helpful Mr Beesley, and fun, cuddly Squirmy-Wormy.

Our mascots Quicksilver

and Mr Beesley

These boys proudly showed their 'manu taratahi', a traditional Maori kite that they made during our Social Studies topic.

These boys made this manu taratahi during topic. 

Thank you Mrs Yollis and Grade 2/3.

We hope to talk to you again soon.

Do you have any questions for us or for our Californian friends?

Have you ever Skyped someone from home or from school?

Hide and Seek

What do you like best about playing hide and seek? 
The anticipation of waiting to be found?
The thrill of being the last to be found?
Or do you like being the hunter?

These children have uploaded their recorded stories to their wiki pages:
Neil
Ivy
Elizabeth
Jia Xuan
Nikki
Jordan
Nathan
Mason

by Louisa

by Neil

Making Huts

Some topics really capture our imaginations.

We've been talking about making huts.

We had lots of stories to tell about huts in trees; huts made with sticks; and even an imaginative candy hut!
Handy hint: Put the slideshow on fullscreen to best read the stories.)

Do you like making and playing in huts?

Tell us about your hut.

Our First Math Videos

One of our maths groups is learning how to 

add tens to a 2-digit number. 

Another group of children already have this skill so their task this week has been to make videos explaining the process:

Adding Tens to a 2-digit Number (no. 1) from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Adding Tens no- 2 from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Adding tens (no-3) from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Adding tens to 2-digit numbers (no4) from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Adding Tens to a 2-digit Number (no 5) from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Do you have another method for solving problems like these?
Can you solve 35 + 20 and explain your thinking?