Exposition Writing

Over the last few weeks of term 2 and this week we have been working on exposition writing. This is a chance for us to argue our point of view and use facts and opinions to back up our topic sentences. We were given the opportunity to work collaboratively with others in our class to create an argument on whether we think cellphones should be banned at school or not. Check out Iris, Mia, Reagan and Arielle's piece of writing. The girls have used some great topic sentences as well as facts to back up their opinions to create a very successful piece of argument writing. Ka Pai girls!

Science Fair

This morning T2 had the opportunity to visit Grey High to look at the Year 9 and 10 science fair. We really enjoyed looking at the different experiments, particularly the ones that involved bacteria and food! This was a great transition for the Year 8's  who are attending Grey High next year.  

Homework Draw

Congratulations Kyra for winning the homework draw for this term! Kyra completed her homework every week and was pulled out of the box. Kyra chose to take Iris to McDonald's and it's safe to say both girls enjoyed their raspberry floats!

Take the Cake

In T2 we have many kind people who go above and beyond all of the time. It is really nice when these acts of kindness are recognised by others.
Today in assembly, Kyra was recognised for her act of kindness by lending her production script to Katelynn when Katelynn's broke.
Kyra you are always a kind, considerate and thoughtful member of our class and it is great that you have been recognised for this. Ka Pai, we are all so proud of you!

Matariki Planting

Today we had Eli come in and talk to us about Matariki and why it is important to begin planting seeds now for the new year. We teamed up with P3 and were their Tuakana. We planted seeds, weeded the glasshouses and the gardens surrounding the glasshouses. We are looking forward to seeing the seeds grow. A big thank you to Eli for coming in and helping us.

Star Blogger of the Week

Congratulations to Morgan who is this week's Blogger of the Week in T2! Morgan is a fantastic role model when it comes to making positive, thoughtful, helpful comments! He is very good at giving constructive feedback and always makes the point of replying to other people's comments when they comment on his blog. Ka Pai Morgan! You can check out Morgan's blog here: https://gmsmorganm8586.blogspot.com/ Leave him a comment so he can reply to you!

Interpreting Timetables

Over the past 2 weeks during Maths time, we have been learning how to read and interpret timetables. We think that this is a great life skill to have as we need to be able to work out timetables when we use public transport around the world.
As part of our maths mahi, we had to complete an interpreting timetables workbook. Once these are completed, we have to embed them onto our blogs. Here is Reagan's mahi. She has interpreted these timetables exceptionally well! Ka Pai Reagan!

See Ya Simon Novel Study

Kia Ora everyone. For the past 6 weeks, T2 has been reading See Ya Simon as part of a novel study. We have been reading it as a whole class and have had a range of comprehension activities to complete, based on the novel. One of the activities we had to complete was a character profile. We had to choose 3 characters that we had been introduced to in the novel and create a profile on them so people who haven't read the novel, know a little bit about them. We also had to create avatars of what we thought the character might look like. Here is an example of some fantastic character descriptions completed by Mia. Wananei Mia!

Star Blogger of the Week

Congratulations to Hannah for being T2's Blogger of the Week! Hannah is increasingly sharing her work on her blog and this week has shared her wonderfully written myth. Check out her blog here: https://gmshannahh4189.blogspot.com/

Blogger of the Week

It seems like forever since we have had a new blogger of the week with us having book week and camp but this week's blogger of the week is Reuben! Reuben has been trying extremely hard to post more detailed and meaningful posts on his blog and he has added a really cool description of camp. Head over to his blog: https://gmsreubenp7469.blogspot.com/ and check out his cool posts!

Hanmer Camp 2019

On Monday T1, T2 and TH went to Hanmer Springs for camp. We had a great time tree climbing, mountain biking, orienteering, walking up Conical Hill and doing the statue walk. The highlights would have to have been going to the Hot Pools both nights and visiting the Lolly Pot shop and filling ourselves up on sugar!

A huge thank you to the parents who came with us and made camp so much fun.

Door Decorating - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Kia Ora everyone! We have gone Harry Potter mad in T2 and T1 this past week for book week. One of the activities was a door decoration competition and we decided to base our walkway from the novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. We all chipped in and Miss Hines thinks we have done an amazing job. Judging takes place this afternoon. Fingers crossed we win!

Book Character Day

As you know, this week at Grey Main School is Book Week. This is a highlight on our school calendar and today we had book character day where we dressed up as some of our favourite characters from books we have read. A huge congratulations to all of those children who participated, you all looked fantastic! Check out our slide below that Miss Hines made, showcasing our characters and our costumes!

Buddy Reading 2019

This week is Book Week at Grey Main and to kick us off, yesterday we had buddy reading with another class. Our class was R2 and we really enjoyed listening to them read and read them stories too!
Thanks R2 for having us!

Star Blogger of the Week

Congratulations Mia for being our Star Blogger of the Week. Mia always posts very detailed blog posts that capture her audience and replies to comments on her blog. Check out her blog here: https://paroagreymiap.blogspot.com/
Well done Mia!

Blogger of the Week

Check out our Blogger of the Week Alex! Alex has been super busy in the last week of term posting on his blog and in his first day back this term, he already has posted twice on his blog. Alex loves getting comments on his blog so check it out: https://alexjc102015.blogspot.com/

 

ANZAC Walk

Today T1 and T2 finished off this weeks ANZAC work with a walk down to the cenotaph, the RSA and the old Grey Main memorial gates at Dixon Park. At the cenotaph we looked at the names of all the soldiers who never returned from WW1 and the names of the places that the battles took place in. At the RSA we met John who showed us all the war memorabilia that the RSA had collected, including the guns that were used in WW1 and the medals that the soldiers were give. At the gates of Dixon Park, we hung the poems that we have written on the backs of poppies and Katelynn, Kyra, Reagan, Megan and Harvey read their poems as a mark of respect and remembrance. Some of our class also went across the road to the old people's home and delivered the ANZAC biscuits that we made this week.  We all really enjoyed taking some time to remember those who fought for our freedom so many years ago.

Homework Lunch Draw

Congratulations to Billie-Jean who won the homework draw for this term. Billie completed her homework each week and her name was pulled out of the draw. Billie chose to take Rata along to McDonald's for her lunch treat. Congratulations Billie!

ANZAC Week in T1 and T2

This week in Totara 1 and Totara 2 we are studying ANZAC Day. We have a number of activities that we are studying including animals at war, the frontline and military hospitals and ships. Another activity that we are completing is making ANZAC biscuits. In groups of 4 we are all taking turns making a batch. We are planning on delivering them to the local rest home when we walk down to the cenotaph on Friday. 

Blogger of the Week

Congratulations to Iris who is this weeks Blogger of the Week. Iris puts a lot of detail into her blog posts to inform her audience of what she has been working on. Iris also replies to comments that are left on her blog. Check out her awesome blog here: https://gmsirisr7696.blogspot.com/
Well done Iris!

Star Blogger of the Week

Congratulations to Reagan for being our Star Blogger of the Week. Reagan writes detailed posts that gives her audience a lot of detail and she also writes superb comments. Check out Reagan's blog: https://gmsreaganb3868.blogspot.com/

Get Writing Schoolkit

This week we sent our Get Writing pack to a school in Hamilton. Included in this pack was 32 postcards that we had decorated and wrote poems on the back of them and a big sheet where we had to add words and phrases that we enjoyed in our class, plus a little bit of information about where our school is and the region we live in.
Here is a photo of the postcards we received from the school in Hamilton.
It was pretty cool to read the poems that they had created as they were so different to the ones we wrote!

Mia and Reagan's 'how to' video.

This term T2 have been working on their blogging contracts. One of the tasks was to make a 'how to' post about something they knew how to do.
Mia and Reagan teamed up after school and made a 'how to ride a hover board' video. Miss Hines thought it was hilarious and a great way to showcase a talent that they have so she decided to publish it on the class blog.
Thank you Mia and Reagan for sharing your work!

Thelma Eakin's Visit

Today we were lucky enough to have Thelma Eakin, who is one of the authors of The Mine's Afire, come in and talk to us about the novel and answer the questions that we had. She talked to us about how long it took to write the novel, the characters in the novel and what inspired her to write it. We learnt that she had originally written a play about the Brunner Mine disaster and from there she was approached to write the novel.
She also bought in a safety lamp and what she calls her 'Oscar' which is a brass replica of the monument made for the disaster.
Thank you Thelma for coming in, we really enjoyed meeting you!

Star Blogger of the Week

In T2, Miss Hines wants to celebrate the success and hard work of those who put in 100% effort into their work. One of the initiatives is to earn 'Star Blogger of the Week,' where each week she will pick someone who may have written an amazing blog post, or even a fabulous comment. This will be celebrated both in the classroom and on our class blog.

Congratulations to Kyra who is our first Star Blogger of the Week. Not only does Kyra go above and beyond to post her wonderful learning (and her Mainstars I might add!) but she also writes some very positive, thoughtful, helpful comments on other people's blogs. Thank you for being such an incredible role model Kyra! If you would like to leave an awesome comment on Kyra's blog or just browse some of her deatiled posts, go to this address... https://gmskyraj4693.blogspot.com/

Brunner Mine Trip

Yesterday Totara 2 went to the Brunner Mine Site. We have been studying the novel, The Mine's Afire! which is set at Brunnerton at the time of the Brunner Mine explosion. We got to visit the actual site of the mine, see where the characters lived and we even went to the cemetery to visit the mass grave where a lot of the miners were buried. We started the day with some background information. We had to act out some scenes, we took a tour of the mine site, and we learnt how they made coke (not the drink or the drug!) Check out the photos below of our super cool day. A huge thank you to the teachers from Shantytown and the parents who accompanied us on this trip. We couldn't do it without you!