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!