Friday, December 12, 2014

Prizegiving

Sadly another school year has come to an end.  What a celebration of 2014 we were treated to last night at the LAS prizegiving!  Congratulations to all of the students who received awards and trophies in recognition of their extra-special achievements.  We know that you all 'Strive to Excel' and we are proud of the year that all of our Room 4 students have had.  Some of you achieved outstanding success in South Otago representative activities, which have been acknowledged and congratulated during Junior School assemblies throughout the year.  We look forward to following your continued successes and watch with interest as you become the older students at LAS and receive some of the many sporting and academic awards on offer.

We were super proud to present the following special awards to Room 4 students....
Anna - achievement  in Reading and Topic Studies. Effort in all curriculum areas.

Isla - achievement in Mathematics, Reading and Topic Studies.  Effort in all curriculum areas.

Te Aroha - achievement  in Reading, Writing and Topic Studies.  Effort in all curriculum areas.
Evan's Bequest for Diligence award for Year 3.

Bryce - achievement in Mathematics, Reading, Writing, and Topic Studies.  Effort in all curriculum areas. Academic award for Year 3.

Samara - achievement in Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Topic Studies and Information Technology.  Effort in all curriculum areas.


Alyssa - achievement in Mathematics, Writing, Reading,Topic Studies and Information Technology. Effort in all curriculum areas.

Josie - achievement in Writing, Reading, Topic Studies and Information Technology.  Effort in all
curriculum areas. Evan's Bequest for Diligence award for Year 4.

Toby - achievement in Mathematics, Writing, Topic Studies, Information Technology, Visual Art and  
                                  Health and Physical Education.  Effort in all curriculum areas.
Academic award for Year 4.

Lanie - Lawrence Area School Citizenship award for Room 4

Friday, November 28, 2014

Tree paintings

We have been learning to apply paint in various ways e.g. using brushes, sponges and also our fingers.  We have also been working on mixing colours to produce interesting effects.
For this painting project, we had to paint the same tree in winter and one other season of our choice.
For the winter painting, we were only allowed to use black, white and blue paint (or were supposed to!  Some of us snuck an extra colour in).  We had to mix these colours to produce interesting tints, tones and shades.
We then had to re-create the same tree in another season.  
See if you can work out which seasons we have depicted in our paintings.
Aaron
Alyssa
Anna
Arnika
Bryce
Charlotte
Clifton
Imogen
Isla
Jayme-Leigh
Josie
Lanie
Oakley
Regan
Ryan
Samara
Te Aroha
Toby
William


Thursday, November 27, 2014

Student of the week - Alyssa

This certificate says it all.
We will really miss you next year Alyssa.  You are a fabulous role model in Room 4.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Fabulous recounts

Sit back, relax and enjoy reading some of Room 4's amazing recounts.  
To read the Year 4's recounts, please click on their individual blogs (see right hand side bar).

Perfect Christmas
Presents, Christmas tree, stockings. Everything we need for a perfect Christmas. Wait a minute! Where’s my family? We can’t have a perfect Christmas without people.  I sprinted to Mum and Dad’s room. “Christmas, Christmas,   Christmas“ I sang cheerfully, jumping on Mum and Dad’s bed. “Toby, Katie and Emily are still asleep, now be quiet you’ll wake them up” and just like that they came charging in. Dad complained “Ok kids  let's get up and have breakfast.” So that is what we did. Finally Nana, Grandad, Keryn and David all got up. That meant
present time …
2 minutes later paper was flying through the air. Mum demanded “I’ve had enough!” so we had to do it one at a time, which took forever but it was still exciting   to see  what the others got. Then it was my turn again. I started to tear and tear and tear. It was my very own Holly Webb book. It looked like a very fun day ahead of me.   

Anna

           Frisky Kitten
Wet,cold,raining. I was soaked from head to toe COVERED in rain! I could hardly breathe,let alone talk. I was SO excited! Nan,Mum,and I were at the S.P.C.A. to get a kitten of my own! “So what are you going to call it?” Nan asked excitedly “MOSSY” I said immediately. “Well lets get inside then its freezing out here!” As soon as we opened the door warm air wafted into our faces.

Nobody knew we were at the door, only an inviting little puppy barked as we walked in. It was so cute I wanted to pick it up and take it home with me! When we got into the cats and kittens area all of them went back to sleep or only stirred, except for two little kittens right in the corner of the room. I told Mum that those were the ones that I wanted
but she sadly said that I was only allowed to get one, so I got the boy! I clutched the cat carrier and ran to the car,
sad to be leaving the girl behind, but still I couldn't wait to get home!
Imogen

Rendered Image
I was off. Up, down, up, down. I was in the air. Then I landed. I was coming around the  corners, then I was straight, then I wasn't. I could see the bog up ahead . Next thing  I was in the bog of death.  I was getting  deeper  and deeper in the mud. I was struggling to get out. I could see the mud rising  closer and closer  to my feet. One km to go. I was wondering if I would survive or not. Luckily I did. I was out. Then I was in the slippy slidey. I stopped  and thought ‘Will I make it or won't I make it?’. I revved my  motorbike and I was off into the slippy slidey. Slip, slide, slip, slide. I was losing control. I couldn't steer. Crash!  I fell into a thistle  bush. Ow prickles everywhere.  Ouch.  
Aaron 

WELCOME 2014
BANG, BANG, BANG! Fireworks shot  up into the air like missiles .We  started to count down… 10..9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1…

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!”

The view was spectacular. Red, orange and purple shot up into the air.A warm feeling hit me at the beautiful sight. It looked like lights flickering on and off, over and over again.

Vance (the person that was in control of the fireworks) cheerfully said “You want some more?” We all screamed”YES!”  Then more rockets  shot up into the sky. They looked like darts whistling through the air

All again wonders started. My eyes burned from the sight. One after another, fireworks darted into the air. One after another we all screamed, “Yay!”

This would probably be one of my most memorable moments in my life. 2014, New Years fireworks, in Hampden!!
BRYCE

Teddy Bear pencil and charcoal sketches

Mrs O brought some of her teddy bears to school and we used our sketching skills with pencils and charcoal to replicate the teddies as closely as possible.  Haven't we done well!

Teddy Bear sketches on PhotoPeach

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Student of the week - Anna

We have been flat-out in Room 4 with end-of-year assessments.  It has been fascinating to note the students who have made progress across many curriculum areas.  Anna is certainly one of those students.  She has knuckled down and really worked hard to improve her learning, with super-pleasing results.  Excellent work Anna :-)

Friday, November 14, 2014

Student of the week - Josie

Josie is such a deserving winner of Student of the Week.  Every single week her homework is to the highest possible standard.  She always completes more than is required and her neatness is 'the best of the bunch'.  Well deserved award Josie.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Student of the week - Lanie

We have been doing some super-duper, fabulous, amazing writing in Room 4 lately.  One student has been noticed for her extra special effort and improvements with her writing.  Way to go Lanie!

Doing your best

Here's a piece of writing that made Mrs O smile today...

"OK Room 4, some of you didn't do your best yesterday," said Mrs O disappointingly.  I knew she meant me.  My smile went upside down.  My face screwed up.  My tummy felt sore.  My hair went on it's ends.  I felt TERRIBLE!  I started to think 'What will Mum and Dad think?'  I do not know....
So today I'm doing my very best and Mrs O will be very pleased about my writing.
By Anna

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Technology - Food Packaging Unit

 Our technology unit this term has been food packaging and we have been investigating the purpose of food packaging and thinking about the choices that companies make when they package their food items. We have also been looking at whether the packaging is environmentally friendly or not.
 This morning (before we ate our morning tea) we investigated the food packaging in our lunch boxes. It was really interesting to see how many items in our lunch box that had commercial packaging on them. We realised that the purpose of the packaging was to keep our food altogether, to keep it clean, to keep it fresh, to keep the bugs out, to show us the brand, to tell us the flavour, to show the ingredients and to show us the expiry date. Food packaging is VERY important and it serves lots of different purposes. 
We all counted up the number of food items in our lunch box that were recyclable and the number of wrappers that needed to go in the rubbish. We were astounded by the results.
We had 31 food items today that needed to go in the rubbish. They could not be recycled or re-used. 
Using that as an average, that would mean we would have:
155 rubbish items per week,
1550 rubbish items per term, and
6200 rubbish items per year!!!
(and that's only for our class)
We thought that this was a real concern because many of the rubbish items were plastic and foils that can take up to 500 years to break down in a landfill, so the amount of rubbish lying around would be enormous!!!
 Toby was very proud of his lunch box because it did not contain a single commercial wrapper. He uses the same plastic snap-lock bags over and over so that he does not need to use glad wrap. His Mum buys large bags of chips and nuts and she puts smaller portions into snap-lock bags. He also uses washable containers to keep his fruit clean and fresh. We worked out that Toby's 5 re-useable bags and containers save
5 pieces of rubbish per day
25 pieces of rubbish per week
250 pieces of rubbish per term, and
1,000 pieces of rubbish per year!
(That's quite a saving from just one person!!!)
We all looked closely at the changes we could make to our own lunch boxes to reduce the amount of rubbish we had each day.
 This afternoon we carried out a food packaging investigation. We each got a different type of food packaging, which were all made from different packaging materials. Bryce and Anna were looking at a plastic container that had been used to package pears. We all had to describe the packaging and explain why this sort of packaging had been used by the manufacturer. 
 Then we had to think of a different way that the same food could be packaged. Lanie and Toby were investigating a tin can containing spaghetti.
 Imogen and Arnika were investigating a plastic pottle that contained beef stock. They are looking here to see if their food packaging is environmentally friendly.
 William and Samara were investigating a glass jar containing jam. Students had to explain why food packaging that was recyclable or re-useable was more sustainable. They all thought that it reduced the amount of rubbish in our landfills, which made the planet much cleaner and healthier.
 Isla and Regan are looking closely at their milk bottle to see if they have any recommendations for the company, suggesting a better way to package the food product. They both decided that Milk was packaged perfectly, as it was a sensible container and completely recyclable. Lots of the other groups came up with some terrific suggestions for improved packaging. 
 Alyssa and Charlotte investigated a blue polystyrene tray which had stored fresh meat in it. The meat had been covered with a clear plastic wrap. They were interested to note that although the tray recyclable, the plastic was not, so they were trying to think of a better alternative for the manufacturer. 
 Ryan and Te Aroha were looking at biscuits. The plastic tray was recyclable, but the foil wrapper was not. They fund it difficult to come up with a better suggestion because they could see that the foil helped to keep the biscuits fresh. 
 Josie and Jayme-Leigh were investigating Nutri-grain cereal. They also found that the non-recyclable material was used to keep the product fresh and clean. They could see that the cardboard was used to stop the food being crushed, to advertise the brand and to make it easy to stack on the supermarket shelves. 
 Then each group shared their findings about their different packaging back with the class. We presented a documentary. 
We found out A LOT about food packaging today - we cant wait to create some of our own!!!