"Johnny Danger" - NZ launch takes place in Room 13!

On Friday we were really lucky to have Peter Millett, aka famous author of the brand new "Johnny Danger- DIY Spy!" visit our class. Peter came fully dressed in his formal spy suit and bow tie. He brought with him a few spy gadgets including a defuseable ticking alarm clock and lie detector test. 

During his reading session we were able to see if we could defeat the lie detector and solve some spy anagrams. James and Eliot were also lucky enough to have the first two books sold in NZ signed too! It was really fun spending time with Mr Millett and we can't wait for another visit. 

Another blinding experience!

On Monday Mrs Millett asked us to partner up and we had to lead our parnter on a blind walk. Each of us took turns to be lead in utter darkeness. It was pretty scary! Here are some recounts about the event.  (Note the deliberate language choices we made in our writing.)

The Blind Walk- By Bella

On Monday we had a little game. Me and Micaela were in a group. I closed my eyes tightly. I felt scared. She held my hand, and we walked out of the classroom. I heard her say, "We are going to the playground." 

I felt so scared I could even hear leaves shaking. I was shuffling on the grass. I started getting worried , when I walked in the playground. It felt like I was walking in the sea. Then I walked into the playground. Micaela helped me walk into the playground, so she made it easy for me. She was very helpful and kind. Then she told me to climb up. At first I climb, but I felt scared so I touched something in front of me. I touched something and I thought, "here is something!" So I climbed up!

Blinded! by Eddy 

Crunch crunch, I stomped on the leaves, that were like tiny mice below me. I got to the taunting playground and Levi shouted, "It's my turn to guide you!"in a menacing voice. He grapped my arm a lead me onto the playground and said, "Take a small step up." 
I staggerd blindly like a bat, but I was cautious at the time too. 
Suddenly I felt rope and Levi said,"Climb up, it's the spider web." I climbed up carefully. He helped me up the creaking and unstable tower. I felt unsure and then it started to rain. "Jump!" Levi commanded. So I jumped. When I landed I held onto the slippery pole for my footing. Then he said jump forward, but I didn't . So he pushed me. I landed safley on the splintered ground. After all that nonsense I thought he was the most despicable leader and I would never trust him again.

The adventure Walk. By Amy

I started to feel worried when Mrs Millett told me to close my eyes. She told me that we were going to trust our buddys to take us on a adventure walk. 
I heard cicades clicking and birds chirping. I felt so scared my hands started to sweat. I heard a strange noise. I started to feel worried but I realised it was just my heart pounding. My mean evil partner Eric took me around. I was thinking,"Where am I ?" 
I started to walk on the hard wet ground. Evil Eric took me around the ampitheatre. It started to rain so we shuffled back to class.

Teach me Tuesday begins in Room 13!

During the Student mapping meetings last week we all shared personal talents and skills that felt we could teach others. As a result of this Mrs Millett set up a Teach Me Tuesday timetable. Today we had our first session. 

Brydie started by teaching us how to draw cartoons. She showed us how to draw expressions on differnet cartoon faces and also showed us how to draw some well known cartoons too. We had fun drawing our own cartoons!

 Next, Levi shared with us his passion-basket ball! He began by explaing a few basic rules and then we did a dribbling drill. Next he organised us into two teams and we had a game. 


Both of our teachers did a really great job teaching us. They were patient and explained everything slowly and carefully. They were also really well organised with all equipment that they needed.

It was a great first "Teach me Tuesday" ~ We can't wait to see what we learn next time!

The Frightening balloon experience!

Yesterday Mrs Millett asked us to sit quietly at our desks with our eyes closed. We didn't have any idea what was about to happen. Read these expressive personal experiences to find out! 

The white threatening balloon-    By Eric Z
Looking at blackness I heard a loud crunch like a cookie. Then a puffing blow building up, then an exhale. Sounds like wind approached my ears. The breathing grew. Anxiousness punched me. Hearing something grow bigger and bigger with every blow. Nervousness grew, then a silent stop...
POP!
A frightening chill went down my spine. When I opened my eyes I saw pieces of puny white rubber lying silently on the floor.

The blinding experience-    By Micaela F
"Tweet, tweet!" I could hear the birds chirping in the background. My heart rate was plummeting.
"Foof, foof, foof, .....POP!
I could tell immediately that it was the sound of a balloon going boom. 
I was blinded by blackness closing around me. I felt sorry for the punctured balloon. My soul was drooping as if it had a heavy weight lowered onto it. Jolting shivers crawled up my spine like a spider climbing up a tree branch. The anticipation was over.
I opened my eyes to see Mrs. Millett smiling. We all opened our eyes. It was so funny!

The humungous BOOM!    By Eliot H
Crumble, crumble. I finally heard a plastic sound out of the blackness. It was like the sound of a lolly wrapper, but soon I realised it wasn't.
I started to hear puffing. I started to panic as the sound hovered over my head, as if it were a hoverboard. My spine started to shake and I could feel invisible sweat trickle down my neck. I felt like I was becoming claustrophobic, and I could also feel my heart rate increasing as fast as the speed of light. 
Just as I thought it was over there was a humungous "BOOM!" I thought a bomb had exploded, but there was suddenly a quiet mumble.
I looked behind me and there lay a white piece of rubber that looked like a soggy tissue. I was relieved that it was just a balloon, and promised myself to never fll for that ever again.

The strange noises...   By Jennifer K
My heart was beating fast. I didn't know what was going to happen. I stared into the nothingness. It was bold black.
I heard "Crackle, snap!" I was frightened, nervous and excited all at the same time.
In a sudden, I heard puffing, loud puffing in fact. I felt like wind was whirling around me, making me confused and I had know idea what was going to happen next. The sound got much louder and louder like a cloud doing a race.
"POP!" It was the sound of a balloon! It was terrifying. 
My eyes opened and lit up. All I saw left on the ground was a bright, white broken balloon.

Beautiful flower art

In Week 1 we made these beautiful chalk pastel flowers. We drew our outlines on black paper and then trqced over these with PVA glue. Next we coloured the flowers using chalk pastel. We had to smudge the pastel to get the smoky effect. 

Team Certificate recipients

On Wednesday we had our very first team assembly led by Room 13. Duirng the assembly children from each class were awarded with certificates. Here is a photo of our certificate recipients this time.

Term 1 Tipa newsletter!

We have been back at school for 2 whole weeks. Our team has spent some great time together and we are beginning to think about new names for our community. Here's a link to our first team newsletter for the year. In it you'll be able to find out a little bit about our teachers and what we're planning for the term. Happy reading!
Newsletter link 

CONNECTING TOGETHER

Today we had a fun afternoon in our community with a "Connection Immersion". The motivation activity was to kick off our Inquiry learning around "Connections".  In mixed class groups we moved through a series of 9 connection activities including making paper doll chains, creating electrical circuits, builing with Lego, making paper chains, creating 3D puzzles and learning lessons from migrating geese (see youtube link below). At each activity we had to answer these questions to get us thinking about connections: 

• How are these things connected?, 
• What would happen if the connection was broken?
• What other things can you think of that connect this way?

Here are some photos of the event. 

Team building in the Tipa team!

Today was our first day at school. At 12:00 we got together as a team to play some fun team building games. Here are some photos from the event.