Term 2, Week 4 Newsletter/Home Learning....

Enjoy and looking forward to snow day :)

The SPCA Cupcake Day

This year, Mapua School is taking part in the annual SPCA Cupcake Day. This a fundraiser, and all the money goes towards the animals have yummy treats and any operations they may need to help them get better.
To participate, all you have to do is dust off your mixing bowls and get baking some scrummy cupcakes.
Last year it was a big hit and we raised lots of money for the animals in need, and we hope to do so again this year. Harriett and Emma from Room 11 have been organizing it this year.
"It's great to see so many keen bakers wanting to participate" says Harriett.
So get baking or buying to support the animals in need!
By Harriett and Georgia.

Our dance topic
This term we have been working on dance. You can make a dance about nearly anything E.G
A dance about cancer. The theme for dances are endless, like the theme for Max and Flynn's
dance was RUNESCAPE (our favorite computer game).

Construction on the New Classroom (Room 12)

Bang! Bang! Bang! That's all we hear these days! Plus a few, 'screeching saw' noises. Construction on Room 12 has begun. And it's right outside Room 11! For the past two days, we haven't been able to look outside without seeing the great big, orange fence barrier guarding the construction site. Or men walking around with great big, steel poles. And on day 1 there was a ginormous digger out there. Let me tell you something, the workers have really set up camp. They have their own little shed that holds all of their little (and big) 'toys'. They have trucks, they have a fence. My golly, they have a little moat surrounding the 'island' of posts that mark where the classroom's going. Yesterday, there were huge hammer-head thumps on the outside of our classroom's wall. During reading time!!! The classroom is planned to be finished halfway through Term 4. I don't think I can cope that long with all of the noise that is flooding the school. Oh well, I guess I can't do anything about it until it is finished. I can't wait to se what it looks like when it is finished.

And it's a try!

We arrived at school on Monday morning to see the giant rugby posts towering over the new hockey and rugby field. The field has been out of bounds for the last term and a half and it's finally done, plus we have rugby posts to go with, so it's a double bonus! For the last few days the bottom field has been covered in children and flying balls, this is the best place to be at morning tea and lunch times at Mapua School!

Winter Tournament

This month we have been practicing extra hard for the upcoming sports events. We have three tournaments heading our way, the winter tournament, the 7 aside tournament and the Takaka sports exchange. The teachers offered us a chance to play any of the four sports (hockey, netball, soccer and rugby) and we then got into groups inside those categories and practiced really hard. The different sports have a mix of boys and girls, yr5-6 and it is great to see the newcomers giving everything a go!

By Kelly and Emma

Juggling in Room 7

This week Room 11 has been juggling in Room 7 most of us are just starting to juggle but a few of us already know how to juggle. The skittles are the hardest to juggle but Jasmin can juggle them. Max and I can juggle balls. A few people can spin the plates but most people can only just juggle scarfs.

The back field opening

Pause, Touch, Engage and the ribbon was cut! Finally the back field was open, after a long wait of a term and a bit. Each classroom one by one ran through the new rugby posts cheering and smiling for the camera. Every one raced to get in the line to get their favorite flavor juicy. Their was lots of pushing and shoving but in the end every one got one thanks to the P.T.A team. By Hannah & Sophie

Happenings in Room 11 during week 2....

Term 3 - Week 2 Newsletter/Home Learning....

Hokey Pokey

Monday was an exciting day in room 11. We made Hokey Pokey with ice cream!!! We had to mix the ingredients (golden syrup, brown sugar and baking soda) together and then put them on a gas or meths stove and mix them until they were smooth and creamy. Then we poured it into our bowl and let it cool. Afterwards we got a spoonful of ice cream to go with it. It tasted really good with ice cream but after a while it got sickly and didn't leave a very nice after taste. By Georgia

Hokey Pokey

Monday 8 August 2011, Mapua School Room 11, 1:30pm.
This was the day that we made,HOKEY POKEY!

It started off a glorious day, the sun was shinning, a high of 18 degrees, perfect for Hokey Pokey.

We started of with making a tin foil plate for cooking the
Hokey Pokey, added all our secret ingredients for our super Hokey Pokey!!!!

Along the way we had a little incident!!
Thanks Mrs Stephens!!

Making hokey pokey

We were experimenting with the method of science and in the process we got to make hokey pokey. We had to bring in a bowl, tongs, a wooden spoon and (optional) a gas cooker. We got into pairs and made a bowl out of tin foil. We had to write down the steps of making hokey pokey and then Mrs Stephens gave us the ingredients. Once the sugar and golden syrup was on the heat, we had to constantly stir it until the sugar dissolved and then quickly add baking soda into the mixture, and that's when the chemical reaction happened. It was meant to go all fluffy (but ours didn't!)
We then let it cool for about five minutes and then came Mrs Stephens with big whollops of ice cream and slopped it into our bowls.
So all in all we had a great time making hokey pokey and we learnt a lot about chemical reactions and the science behind it.


By Emily and Eden

Hi every one its Jade and Dylan here reporting on our science. can you guess it starts with h and ends with y its hockey pokey it was so yummy even Jade says so "don't you Jade"
"yes i do i think its yummy. Dylan here here are some awesome photos here it taste like baking soda if you don't stir it quick enough, Its not very good but you should try and make it some time if you get the chance. its good with ICE CREEAAAAMMM!!>(")

Do the Hokey Pokey

Bowls, spoons, tongs and gas cookers crowded Room 11 on Monday afternoon,
the class was finally ready to begin the expedition to make Hokey Pokey. First we made containers out of tin foil, then we put sugar and golden syrup into the container and stirred it over the heat until the sugar was dissolved, quickly we took it off the heat and stirred in some baking soda, this made it go a golden colour and changed the consistency. Next we poured it into some bowls and toped off with two scoops of vanilla ice-cream. Let us just tell you it was delicious. As we left the classroom at the end of the day the fresh smell of burnt carpet driffed out into the courtyard.

By Lily and Jasmin

HOKEY POKEY WITH FLYNN

On Monday 8th August Room 11 Make Hokey Pokey.
Focusing in on the method
Hokey Pokey
1.Get some tin foil and make into a robust container with high sides.
2.Carefully organise your stove and metal holder.
3.Place one table spoon of golden syrup and two tablespoons of sugar in the metal.
4.Stir sugar until dissolved and mixture boiled and remove from heat.
5.Add half a teaspoon of baking soda and stir quickly.
6.Allow to cool and eat with lots of ice-cream.

Making hokey pokey was lot's of fun and a good activity to bake in a group. I think that it was nice apart from it setting and not being able to eat it and it's not hard to make either.

Hokey Pokey

On Monday, we made Hokey Pokey for a very tasty science experiment. Now, we know what you're thinking; Hokey Pokey for a science experiment? The reason we made our delicious creation was to investigate how different chemicals react to each other. We made the Hokey Pokey by shaping tin foil into a sturdy, square 'container'. Then poured in a lot of sweet golden syrup. Then plopped a load of brown sugar on top. After that, we turned the portable camp stove on and held the mixture over the flames. The thing is, the flames kept going out!!! We had to relight the stove about three times!!! And after it was lit and stayed lit, it was like a ginormous wildfire. We thought it was going to set the carpet on fire. It did!!! Just kidding. While it was over the raging fire, we kept stirring until the 'potion' was a flowing liquid. We swiftly swiped the concoction off of the heat and threw in some baking soda. We had to stir really, really fast so no air bubbles were trapped inside and so no baking powder was left unstirred. It felt like our arms would fall right out of their sockets!!! They did!!! Just kidding. Once we put the baking soda in, it turned a nice, lush, golden-brown colour. Then, we dished out the marvelous, vanilla ice-cream and ate with delight. When we finished eating, we had to wash the dishes (ugh), that was the most challenging part; the Hockey Pockey stuck to the plate! It was rock solid! Like a limpet. We packed up all of the stoves, and to our surprise and horror, Mrs. Stephens burnt a hole in the carpet!!! And we're not kidding this time. There was no flames, just a big, black, dark hole. We knew we were supposed to use the stoves outside!

HOKEY POKEY YUM YUM

For science we made Hokey pokey to practice the method and a fun experiment and it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo yummy. We had to make a makeshift bowl out of tinfoil and put in some golden syrup, brown sugar. Then we put it over a gas flame and stirred it till it boiled. Once it started to boil we had to add a teaspoon of baking soda and stir quickly. Mrs Stephens spoiled us by bringing some icecream to have with the hokey pokey.

Mrs Stephens was very naughty because she burnt a hole in the carpet.

Bellow is a chart on Mrs Stephens burn mark, and a photo of some hokey pokey ice cream.

Oh my Hokey Pokey

"Yummy!" Was was the thought in everyone's heads on Monday the 7th of August.
We had just spent the whole day doing the same old schoolwork and being impatient to start our experiment with Hokey Pokey.
The first step to our delicious treat was pouring two tablespoons of oozing golden syrup into our tinfoil bowls ( which we made ), then adding 4 tablespoons of sweet sugar with the golden syrup. After placing our ingredients into our bowls, we turned on our gas/meths portable cookers, with our pairs sorted out whos would hold the tongs wchich would be holding the tinfoil plate, and who would constantly stir the mixture until it had boiled together. After our patience would last no longer, we would gently remove the Hokey Pokey from the heat and quickly add 1 teaspoon of baking powder into the cooling Hokey Pokey to make it foamy and scrumptious. Once the mixture and bakingsoda had combined, we split the hokey pokey into two ( because we did the activity in partners ), we poured it into our bowls and qued up for the orginaly but loved vanilla ice-cream.
By Laura and Eva

Dance!

Yesterday afternoon, Mrs.Bibby-Smith instructed us to create a dance centered around Chaos(but controlled!) We had to include the movements Strength, Love and Cramped. First we experimented by ourselves in our own space, and then we got into groups and started to come up with a routine.
Everyone stood up in front of the class and shared what they had created. There were lots of different heights and locomotive movements. We had to be joined together in some way at the start and the end. It was really great fun performing in front of everyone else(if a bit embarrassing) and great to watch everyone else.
Harriett

Hokey pokey

Making hokey pokey was fun and intense at the same time. There were so many things that could go wrong and nearly all of those things came true. We were yelling and shouting at each other because we didn't realise how fast it set once you put the baking soda in and before you know it, it goes rock hard and is almost impossible to scrape it off the bottom of the bowl. There were many things that we learnt from this experiment but the best thing was that the teacher bought ice cream to go with it mmmmm yummy!!!

By Hannah and Sophie

Term 3 - Week 2 Newsletter/Home Learning....

What a great first week Room 11 - remember your tongs, bowl, spoon and mini cooker, if you have one, for Monday and our chemical reaction science experiment.

Have a good weekend and remember to vote for Emma, Eva, Zarek and Kelly on the 'School is Cool' competition...

Mrs S

PRODUCTION POST

My thoughts on the production - A Magical Mystery Tour

I loved the experience that I experienced when taking on the roll as The Builder in our class play - The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
I have been in the other two productions, but I never actually said anything, I mainly danced but sometimes sang in a group, so I was rather nervous this year because I wasn't sure how I'd react to having a live audience in front of me while I was acting. The main reason as to why I was nervous, as I have never been very good at speeches and tend to speak very fast.
I ended up loving being on stage, working with others in my class and just wanted nothing more than to do it again. My most memorable moment would probably be when the play started and us five villagers are standing behind a piece of cardboard, hearing the music start, dancing to the front of the stage and hearing the audience laugh, definitely a favorite moment.

Thoughts by,
Laura

My thoughts on the Production last term!!!

Ok, well as some of you already know we had our production on the last week of term. The theme was based around The Beatles and no not the bug, it was the most amazing band of all time you know!!

Our play was The Pied Piper Of Hamelin, it's a rather sad story. I was the narrator it was kind of scary because I am not much of a public speaker but I guess it was good for me, because it was one of my goals for last term.

On the Dress rehearsal I had a last line after they chased the mayor out of town (That was apart of our play) and every one started clapping so I had to wait for them to stop then I said my line so they had to clap twice. On the Wednesday performance it was a full house. That was the most scariest thing because my family was there and so the most I spoke was in the scene that my class was in when they stopped into a freeze frame and most of the audience looked at me when I spoke.=(

At the end when everyone had down their performance we all came into the hall for the finale and sang Revolution, Let it be and Yellow Submarine.

All together I had a fun time making the play with my class mates and teacher. I think we all did a great job.

By Eva =) ^_^

Production

Everyone wanted to know what their play was in the classes. Our class did the Pied Piper of Hamelin. We worked really hard for day one of our play, we had to come up with ideas on how our play should start. Then we got sent into little groups; The music group, the script writing group, the dancing group and the costume group. Lots of people tried out for the main parts but there could only be 9 main characters. After a long think Mrs B and Mrs S came up with a decision.

After 2 weeks of hard practicing we were finally ready for the production. All the costumes were done, the backdrop was ready, the dances were great and we were ready.
On the night everyone was nervous even the teachers, waiting back stage was very nerve racking for everyone as well.

All the hard work was worth it though because the audience loved it!!!!!!!!

And this is how cool we looked!!!

From Emily.C

Term 3

I am really excited about this term, I can't wait to do the Science Fair and doing all of the experiments. I also can't wait to do the 7-aside Tournament and doing all the practices.
I am looking forward to doing dance with Mrs B.
This term is going to be great !!!!!!!!

From Emily C

Term 3

I am really looking forward to term 3 and the things we are doing. I am really excited about the 7-aside winter tournament and the practices we will be doing to prepare for it. I am also looking forward to the Science Fair and making our science display boards and doing the experiments.
So I think I am really going to enjoy this term!!!

By Georgia

Winter Sports

This term we are looking forward to the winter sports. We know we will win like last time.

Jake is really excited about the winter sport and believes that we are going to win like last year!

Braden is excited to smash the opponents!

Kaleb is looking forward to win and not get one goal against us, again!

Blog again, we shall...

Jake and BK

Back To School For Term 3

Isaac's First Day of Term 3

Getting up on Monday morning at 7 am was tiring but I eventually dragged myself out of bed and got ready for the school day.

When I arrived at school so many people were talking about their holidays. The morning started off like a usual Monday morning but halfway through the day Emma and Zarek started to go quite mad because they found out that they were one of the School Is Cool Finalists.

Flynn's First Day of Term 3

I had to rush to school after I had slept in to 5.00am. Some people think school is boring but I like it because it's more fun than staying at home with my brother. When I arrived at school no one was in the class because it was the first day of term 3.

To be continued... (maybe)

Science term 3

This term we are exited to be learning about science. We will
compete in the science fair later this term.We are doing something about the stone age tools
, no one copy us! This term will be the best.

Owen & Jade

Some people say that they don't want to go back to school because it is boring but I think going back to school is cool because everyone is so friendly and nice also I am so exited because snow day is coming up 3 weeks and 2 days.

Our Thoughts On Term 3

We are looking forward to Term 3 because of the new achievements in store for us, learning more about science and the way it works as well as the Science Fair.
For The Arts this term we are learning more about dance, it should be a great experience and a whole heap of fun!
Winter Sports is our sports focus this term, we hope that we will learn a few new tricks and do well at the tournament.
We are not quite sure what Google Docs is so we can't wait to learn more about them.

Thoughts from
Laura and Jasmin

Back To School

Going back to School was exciting for both our mums and us. We like going back to school because we get to catch up with our friends, learn more and have lots of fun while doing so.

We are happy to be back at school and are looking forward to taking new opportunities and being all we can.


By Hannah & Sophie

Term 3

Even though I have had great holidays, I am glad to be back at school for another new Term. It's great to be able to see all my friends again. This Term, I am really looking forward to Science Fair and the Science Expo. It should be really great to learn more about how scientists work.
I am also looking forward to going to all the open evenings of the college's, and seeing what opportunities they all have to offer.
It should be a really fun Term!
By Harriett

School Is Cool!

Last term everyone in our class created a poster or video of their own on why we think school is so cool. We then entered them in the "school is cool" competition and waited for the finalists to be announced on the 1st of August 2011 (first day of Term 3). Our group (Zarek, Kelly and Emma) entered a nerdy news report on why WE think school is cool, there were also a lot of posters entered from the other students. The end result was great, our video made it into the 20 finalists for the videos of all ages. Also, Emma's and Eva's got their posters chosen to be in the finals for the Year 7 posters. These results were out of 2000 entries and we are very proud! Please vote for us on: http://www.schooliscool.org.nz/!