Mini Christmas Puddings

Yesterday our class made miniature Christmas puddings. We used Mallowpuffs, jaffas, spearmint leaves and melted white chocolate. The jaffas and the spearmint leaves on top resemble holly leaves and berries. The white chocolate looks like custard and holds the decoration in place. After making our own, some of us wrapped them up in cellophane to take home or give as a present. Today, we helped a junior class make their own Christmas puddings. We worked with our reading buddies and they also read from their poetry books to us.

Here's how to make your own mini puddings:

You will need:

Mallowpuffs
jaffas
spearmint lolly leaves
white chocolate

Method:

1. Melt the white chocolate in a jug until smooth and spreadable.
2. Slice the spearmint lollies into small strips.
3. Take a Mallowpuff and spoon a dollop of the white chocolate on top and let it run down the sides.
4. Place a jaffa in the centre and press down to make sure it stays in place.
5. Place two spearmint strips on the white chocolate to resemble leaves.
6. Leave on a flat surface until the chocolate has set.
7. Package if desired with cellophane and ribbon, or otherwise enjoy!

Have a go at making these at home. They make great Christmas presents, or make a nice treat for the festive season.

Here are some photos:





By Katelyn & Gulnoza

Our Froglets

As you know, our class has got tadpoles. We have been observing them every day, and now they are almost frogs. There is now a brick inside the tank so when the froglets become adult frogs they can come up to the surface to breathe. All the tadpoles have developed their back legs and some have all four legs. There are two tadpoles that have all their legs and now their tails are becoming shorter. Instead of only using their tails to swim, the froglets are using their back legs to manoeuvre through the water. Today, one of the more developed froglets came fully out of the water and stuck to the side of the tank. We noticed that as they became froglets, their body shape changed, they changed to a green colour and their faces have become more frog-like. Sadly, today is the last day we have the tadpoles in our class. Devon will be taking them home and looking after them. We all enjoyed watching the tadpoles slowly turn into frogs.

Here are some photos of the froglets now:

The brick in the tank

The back legs

A developed froglet

A froglet

The froglet on the tank

By Gulnoza, Katelyn & Ameleigh.

Intermediate Swimming Day

On Monday the 29th of November, the Intermediates went to Papakura Massey Park Swimstation. We went there to learn all sorts of water safety skills including getting out of a tipped kayak, flotation skills, diving and what to do in a survival situation.

After assembly in the morning, we gathered our gear and hopped on the buses. Everyone was buzzing with excitement and wondering what the day ahead would be like. When we got to the pools, we quickly got changed then met by the pool where we put our gear away and got into groups of around 15 people. Then we started rotating around the 6 activities.

They were flotation, diving, rescuing others, getting out of a tipped kayak, life jackets and survival scenarios. Each activity was half an hour long and was run by one of the swimstation instructors. We got to work with flutterboards, pool noodles, life jackets and the small kayaks.

We did four activities before having a break for lunch, outside in the sunshine. We had a surprise of getting hot chips, which was organised by our teachers. After eating and talking with our friends, we did a quick tidy up before completing the last 2 activities.

When we had finished, we changed back into our uniform, gathered our gear and assembled outside. The teachers did a head count to make sure no one was missing and then we got onto the bus. Once back at school we gathered in the hall for a quick talk. After thanking the helpers and organisers and listening to some quick messages we went home.

This day was fun and everyone enjoyed having a day out. We learned a lot of water safety skills and working as a team.

Here are some comments by a few people who went and enjoyed the swim day:

Gagan: It was fun. I really enjoyed the kayak and life jacket activities.

Ameleigh: I really enjoyed the swim day. It was a great experience and we learned a lot.

Gulnoza: I thought the swim day was really fun. My favourite activity was working with the life jackets. I would've preferred the pools to be a bit warmer though.

Here are some photos of the fun day:

By Gulnoza & Katelyn

Our New Tadpoles

Yesterday, our teacher brought in some tadpoles. We have eight of them and they are quite big. They are kept in a large, transparent tank which is supported by a plastic bowl in our classroom. There are oxygen weeds also and some bugs in the tank too. We feed them with a small amount of fish food now but when they become frogs they will start eating insects. We will enjoy seeing the tadpoles slowly transforming into adult frogs.

Here are a few photos of the tadpoles:

Looking down on the tank.

The tadpoles.

The life-cycle of a frog.

By Gulnoza, Ameleigh and Katelyn.

As you know, the intermediates have been writing and presenting persuasive speeches. In Kea 1, our base topic was Planet Earth. People chose a range of topics - from animal cruelty to tourism.

Everyone in our class has presented their speech and Mrs Whitehead then chose the nine best speakers. These 9 students then had to present their speech again in front of the class. Afterwards, the five semi-finalists were chosen. The people who will be representing our class are: Ezra - Evolution; Tracey - Dog Abuse; Connor - Tourism in Antarctica; Jenna - Whaling and Ameleigh - Recycling. The semi-finalists will present their speeches to Ms Gifford and Mrs McCarty next Monday. Then ten people from the intermediates will present their speeches to the whole team. We wish all the semi-finalists good luck for the finals.

Also this week our decorated blocks of wood were put onto a metal pole, which is now in our garden. They all look colourful and this has made our garden look more eye-catching. We would like to thank Mr Fowler for drilling a hole in the blocks of wood and for assembling the pole in the Kea garden.


Here are some photos:

By Ameleigh and Gulnoza

Calendar Art

As you know, our class has been doing koru calendar art. We used pastels to colour the designs and used permanent marker to outline them. All of our finished artwork looks great!

These are some of the best artwork completed in our class:

Top left: Bobbie
Top right: Gagan
Bottom left: Tracey
Bottom right: Gulnoza

Top left: Ezra
Top right: Sheena
Bottom left: Ameleigh
Bottom right: Jenna

Top left: Rene
Top right: Johnnie
Bottom left: Nishanth
Bottom right: Lauren

Our finished artwork can be printed on calendars, diaries or packs of greeting cards . These cost between $10 - $15 if parents wish to buy them.

By Gulnoza, Katelyn and Ameleigh.

The Busy Start to Term 4

We are now back at school after a two week holiday. This term has had a busy start, with maths, reading and spelling tests to see how much we have improved since the start of the year.

To test our public speaking abilities, we will be doing speeches in week 3. The speeches need to be persuasive and around 3 minutes long. In Kea 1, our topic is 'Planet Earth'. Some people have been writing theirs on recycling, deforestation, animal cruelty and pollution. We have had some experience in persuasive writing already; we wrote on whether schools should have uniforms or not. We had to write our speeches as homework for the first and second week of the term. Our speeches are due this Friday, when Mrs Whitehead will read our drafts. To practice reading in front of the class, everyone chose a passage to read from their novel that they are using for novel study. We had to read for about two minutes and be fluent and clear.

As part of our literacy, we are doing a novel study about a novel of our choice. After reading it, we need to answer comprehension questions and do some research about the author. This will help us understand the plot and characters better.

We have also started our calendar art. Our artwork has to incorporate korus and we are using pastels to colour them. We are blending the colours together to create a better effect and our artwork is also outlined in black vivid to make the design stand out more. Our finished artwork will be made into calendars, greeting cards and diaries for our parents to buy if they wish.

The term ahead will be full of even more hard work and excitement as the year concludes.