Nau mai, haere mai. Welcome to Room 8 for 2013! We have settled into the new year and are now working on full cylinders. Lots of fun and laughter can be heard but yes, lots of learning too. Congratulations to the children as they step into the roles and expectations of Year 3 children. Well done and keep it up!

This is my last Blog posting.  I am handing this blog over to Louise Jones and she will run it in 2013.  I have enjoyed sharing the children's work and playing with the photos and making slide shows.  It is still exciting to get a comment from someone I don't know who  just found the Blog on the world wide web.   The connection with Mr Sliversides in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and his classes developed into a Travel Buddy exchange which was real and meaningful for the children.  We learnt that although we live on opposite sides of the world we have more things in common that differences. 

Haere ra Vicki Bright.

Amazing to see our Rocky Shore study come alive today! We carefully stepped on rocks to search for the creatures we had been studying about in class. Wonderful to see children turning over rocks, looking closely for the chiton, crabs, sea snail, sea slugs, anemones, cushion stars, cat's eyes, exoskeletons and so much more. Congratulations on placing the rocks back carefully. The sand sculptures were very creative! A big thank you to the parents who came and helped us especially at this busy time of year. 

My Taniwha has eyes as red as blood.  It also has teeth as sharp as a knife that can bite through bones.  It has ears like needles.  It has a firey tail that can burn a house down.  It has three pieces of hair that flow backwards when it swims.  then it gets dizzy.  It has spirals where it can move its legs.

My taniwha dribbles every time it sees something yummy.  It sneaks up to some eel, snap, he gobbles them up.  he only eats people when they're annoying him.

My taniwha lives in the most darkest, scariest cave in the whole sea.

One day long ago the Maori people found out about this taniwha and they wanted to kill him.  They gathered up lots of guns, they lined up on the shore.  They caught a lot of eels and put them on the shore.  When the taniwha came out to eat them, BOOM DEAD!

Legend says that it still lies dead in that same place.

By Jake.

My taniwha has sharp teeth like knives, claws as long as a sword, scales as shiny as a crystal and it has a tail that has koru patterns that are spiraly as can be!  

He lives in the sea in a dark and scarey cave with ferns that cover the entrance.  There are rocks and eel bones on the ground.

He eats eels, fish, pipi, scallops, mussels and all sorts  but his favourite food is fish pie!

My Taniwha is the kindest taniwha ever and also friendly and helpful.

My Taniwha likes doing bellyflops off the highest cliffs, baking the yummiest fish pie ever and swimming in the deepest part of the ocean where all the terrifying fish live.

By Jessica.

The Bright Whetu have been using clay to create a story container about a rock pool creature.  In December they will visit Maketu Beach and see these creatures living in the rock pools.  The sides of the container are like a book with images, words and patterns telling us about the creature.  To be successful the children must join the clay tiles together strongly.  The creature has to be modelled then attached to one tile.  Next extra details can be applied using little pieces of clay.  They must also make marks in the clay with different tools.  This is a lot of problem solving for them.  I think they did a superfine job.  When they return from the beach they can put a special shell or treasure into their container. 

On Thursday the Bright Whetu went to visit the places tourists can visit when they come to Rotorua.  Our first topic for study this term is thinking about Rotorua as a place for recreation for ourselves and visitors.  We of course have our own visitors from Canada.  It was a great walking tour in the spring sunshine.   See you on Monday, in an hour sunflower.

The Bright Whetu have created some unique pictures for their calendar art using only coloured paper.  The pictures tell the legend of Tane and how he created the forest with trees, insects, birds, berries and flowers.   We hope you wil be able to order one of these art works on a calendar. 

We are very pleased to have two travel buddies arrive from Canada.  Mr Silversides who teaches Grade One at Westmount Elementary School in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan sent them to us.  His class picked Scaredy Squirrel and the Pigeon to visit with us.  Scaredy is very anxious and needed the cheeky, clever pigeon to help him on such a long trip.  We have sent a travel buddie and book to the class in Canada.  We hope it gets there soon.  Each night someone will take the buddies home and write in their diary about what they do together.  Before Christmas we will send them back and the Canadians can read about the lives of children in Rotorua.  We meet Mr Silversides through the Blog.

We voted for Valerie this week.  Valerie likes playing at the park and playing at home with her toy ponies.  Her favourite things are playing soccer and going to church on Sunday morning.  Valerie is always kind to other children and Mrs Bright and Miss Jones.  She works hard and finishes her work on time.  Nice work Valerie.

The last citizen for this term is William.  The class chose him because they saw him working hard on his Taniwha drawing and story.  They have seen William  improving his behaviour.  William likes watching wrestling on T.V and kicking a rugby ball.  He is good at drawing cars.  Good effort William.  

In August I posted Patrick's drawing that showed him being in the rain with his Dad and helping to get wood.  The drawing was his plan for a personal painting.  Now the painting is finished and Patrick is very proud of it.  We can clearly see what Patrick is doing because he has branches and secateurs in his hands.  His job was to cut up the small branches.  Patick is wearing his blue raincoat because it was a wet day.  Patrick mixed all the colours for his painting.  I am very pleased with how hard Patrick worked on his painting.  At the end he carefully drew with pastels all the little details that are just too hard to paint when you are only eight years old.  I hope this painting becomes a family treasure Patrick.  Splendid work Patrick. 

Aliyah is this weeks Citizen Of The Week.  She likes watching T.V and playing with her friends.  She is good at writing, spelling and netball.  Aliyah is also good at convincing her Dad to do things with her.  We think she is wonderful to have in our class because she is kind and caring to others.  We think she is awesome at listening and doing her work.  We respect you Aliyah.

Hamiora is our Citizen for this week.  He likes sliding down the big slide at the park and swinging on the swings.  Hamiora is good at building buildings with the blocks.  We choose Hamiora because he is always kind to other people.  He has been outstanding in class always bringing his homework and trying his best.  Beautiful effort Hamiora!

This morning Patrick drew a very detailed picture of himself.  It shows Patrick wearing his rain jacket so he can help his Dad get firewood.  This drawing is Patrick's plan for a painting he will work on.  He followed all the instructions.  The figure fills the centre of the page.  There is no empty space on the page.  There are things in the background.  I'm looking forward to seeing Patrick work on his painting.  I'm sure it will be fantastic.  Better swish jellyfish!

Koby is this weeks Citizen of the week.  He got the most votes because he has been making a big effort to behave well and work hard.  Koby likes playing rugby, running and playing with his friends.  He is good at tackling and scoring tries.  Koby likes eating healthy food.  We think Koby is incredible because he is nice to us.  We also think he is a good rugby player.  Mrs Bright thinks he is very good at making connections during maths time.  Way to go Koby. 

The Bright Whetu children have made a connection between painting and geometry by painting circles on a long roll of wallpaper.  They started by painting circles in the centre of the paper and growing  the design outwards by adding more circles.  They moved around the design and added details to the work that was already there.  As the design grew there were more and more places to join in .  After a few minutes everyone was happily painting away. The amazing  thing was   the way in which the children worked.  Absolute cooperation.  Absolute focus.  Absolute fun.  Adios hippos!

My Toy Owl is soft like a fluffy duck.  She is like a patchwork elephant.  My owl is colourful with beautiful flowers on her.  She is made out of colourful fabric.  Her insides are made out of the fluffiest, fluff ever.  My toy sleeps with me and helps me get to sleep.  She is very soft so I can stroke her against my face.  I feel happy about her because she is always there when I need her.  I got her from Santa and his sleigh.  By Jessica.

Some days we are so busy and we don't realise what a great day we are having until it is over.  It wasn't until I stopped to look at the photos I had taken today that I realised how wonderful our Bright Whetu class had been. First they were absorbed in a Maths task where they had to make a plan and then give directions to their partner so their partner could find the last toy or shape on the plan.  Everyone was listening and carefully moving around the plans.  Thinking hard about counting squares and turning left or right.  After morning tea we went to room 11 to make pictograms of an Olympic sport using card.  Everyone was focused on carefully cutting and gluing their shapes to fill the card.  We will print these next week.  They are going to look fabulous.  After lunch they went to School Assembly and were so well behaved they won the Log of Wood trophpy.  That means they can sit on the seats at the next assembly.  Super hard work Bright Whetu.  Miss Jones and I are proud of you. Have a great weekend.

Alayna was chosen as the first citizen of the week for Term 3.  This was a friendly way to welcome her back to Westbrook School.  Alayna and her family spend some time in Japan and some time in New Zealand.  Her sister Abby was a Bright Star last year so we are very pleased to have Alayna as a Bright Whetu this year.  Congratulations Alayna.  P.S. I had to wait until I had some photos of Alayna before I could put her post on the Blog.

During wet luchtimes the children have had plenty of free play, building with sets of solid shapes so they are getting a feel for their properties.  During Maths time they had to solve this problem: what shape can you make with 9 toothpicks and 6 wine gums?  This was a fun way to learn about counting the faces, the edges and the corners of 3 D shapes.  We discovered that the number of edges a shape has will tell us about the number of toothpicks we need.  The number of corners a shape has will tell us about the number of wine gums we need.  Geometry can be lots of fun.

Our box model toys are finished.  We had to design and make the toy using empty boxes, tubes and lids.  Doing this activity helped us with our geometry learning.  We can talk about the shapes we used and use their names.   

Phoebe is this weeks citizen of the week.  She is good at singing and playing netball.  Phoebe likes lollies and art.  We think Pheobe is great at always trying her best.  We are proud of you.

In the autumn the leaves are rosy red.

They gleam in the sun.

They turn old

They fall off the tree and it gets very messy.

Leaves feel crunchy like a crust.

They become bumpy then smooth like a piece of paper.

Autumn smells of soup cooking in the pot.

it smells of feijoas high up in the tree.

Hear the birds singing way up high in the tree.

Hear the crunch of leaves.

By Maiah

The Bright Whetu are busy being wonderful writers for Miss Jones.  Below are Jessica's lovely drawings that she made when she published her writing about her special person.  She chose to write about her Mum.  Fabulous writing Jessica.  I'm sure your mum is very proud of you.

My Mum is kind, helpful, fantastic and great at being a Mum.  My Mum loves me and she gives me lots of hugs and kisses. WOW!  Mum helps me when I get stuck on my homework.  She is a cool Mum.  When my Mum cooks she makes cupcakes.  I can smell them and they taste delicious.  Sometimes when my Mum is going shopping she brings me some lollies.  She is the coolest Mum ever.  When my room is dirty my Mum makes me clean it up . . . boring!  My Mum is nice because she tucks  me up in my bed.  It is nice and cuddly in my bed.  My Mum takes me shoe shopping  She is a magical Mum.  My Mum is very special to me.  I love her and she loves me.  In the morning I can always smell my Mums perfume.  It smells like flowers.

The Bright Whetu have started exploring the topic "Toys."  On Friday they used the construction sets to make a toy that could move.  Here are some videos showing the finished toys.   

I'm very sorry Paige that it has taken so long to tell the world that you were our first citizen of the week for term two.  Paige is good at riding her bike and jumping on the tramp.  She likes good friends like Jorja.  I think Paige has beautiful manners and always tries hard with her school work.  Spectacular effort Paige.

Hello Bright Whetu I'm sure you are enjoying your holidays.  Miss jones and I have to do some school work in the hoildays. This morning I found a clever puzzle maker site.  The first animal I saw was a raccoon and of course I thought of Chester.  I'm not very fast at putting the puzzle pieces together.  Can you beat my score of 25? Happy holidays from Mrs B.

P.S It was nice to get a comment from Cassey who was a Bright Star last year.  Her little brother has started school.  I wonder if he now plays the games on the blog?

Jessica is good at horse riding and running.  She likes horses, playing badminton and lollies.  We think she is kind and an amazing runner.  Remarkable Jessica.

It is time for our travel buddy Chester to return to Moose Jaw Canada.  It has been fun having him visit and he has seen a lot of New Zealand. He made a lot of people smile  and not just little people in school.  Bye bye Chester our little furry friend and safe travels back to Canada. 

Emotional Cats.

After making our masks Mrs Bright thought we could use the paper techniques we have learned to make a cat mask.  Cats can use their bodies to show how they are feeling.  We had to think about which paper techniques to use so people would know how our cat is feeling.  Cool cats, Bright Whetu.

Mask Making.

For art this term we learnt to make a mask.  First we had to practice our paper techniques.  We can now curl and fringe paper, make chains and spirals and layer colours on other colours.  Our masks had to be colourful and happy just like us.  Magnificent masks, Bright Whetu.

On Friday our class could use the school cameras and practice our photography skills.  We had to take a photo of a buddy on the playground and they had to be performing one of the Maori verbs we are learning.  We could choose to be on, under, behind, between or beside a part of the playground.  Then we had to choose from a list of verbs we are learning: e peke jump, hitoki hop, e oma run, e piu skip, e tu stand, hikoi walk, waiata sing, koreo talk, takaro play, e noho sit, tuturi kneel and haka.  We are all very capable  at using the digital camera and next time some of us will do a better job of including all the persons body in the photo. Way to go Bright Whetu.

Kaden is good at doing flips and high jumps on the trampolene.  He likes vanilla icecream and lollies.  We think he is helpful in our class.  Super Star!

To get to know each other the Bright Whetu children have been writing bio poems.  They have to share their likes and dislikes, their needs and wants, and what scares them.  They are wonderful to read and some like Jake's are funny.  Jake really does have that many teddies.  Wonderful writing Bright Whetu.

Jake

Lazy, smart, food, nerd

Son of Tania and Ian

Loves food, teddies and me

Feels tired when sick, sleepy

when asleep, happy with Daniel

Needs bananas to keep me alive,

sleep for my brain to work, meat

to grow

Gives teddies to me, Mum and Dad

Scared of girls because they chase

me, Norman because he bites me,

Tara because she hates me

Would like more teddies, I've got 105,

a mouse because they're cute

and a rat because they're ugly

who comes from Rotorua and

lives in Rotorua

Harvey-Brown

Cameron is good at playing rugby and being sensible.  He likes chocolate.  We think he is outstanding. Way to go Cameron.

Maiah is good at listening to the teacher.  She likes to read.  We think she is fabulous.

Hollie is good at writing stories and playing basketball.  Hollie likes to read.  We think she is an expert writer.  Wow Hollie.

Our maths learning has been about collecting data about our class.  We have learnt about tally charts and bar graphs. We made a bar graph to see when our birthdays are.  There are 28 people in our class.  11 people were born in the winter.  7 people were born in autumn.  6 people were born in summer.  4 people were born in spring.  The graph in the photo was made by Paige.  Great Work.

This year there are two teachers working with the "Bright Stars" in room 8.  Miss Jones has joined me and we have renamed the Blog "Bright Whetu" to reflect Miss Jones's heritage.  Whetu means "star" in Maori.  Chester the racoon from Moose Jaw Canada is still visiting with us.  The new children in room 8 like him just as much as the 2011 Bright Stars did.  He is halfway through his sleep overs and it won't be long before he has to fly home to Canada.  

In the last week of January Chester went on a road trip in the car to Christchurch because Mrs Bright's daughter was getting married.  This meant he drove 6 hours to Wellington took the ferry to the South Island which is a 3 hour voyage and drove another 5hours to Christchurch.  He was a tired little racoon after that but never once did he say. "Are we there yet?"  He continues to be a happy travelling companion and he was a well behaved racoon at  the wedding.  The  school year has just started and Chester will be meeting the new class of Bright Stars and continuing his sleep overs in Rotorua New Zealand.

Chester is being good and enjoying his holidays.  He had Christmas Day in Rotorua with Mr and Mrs Bright, their son Sam and his friend Bridie.   He shared roast pork and fresh vegies followed by trifle for Christmas lunch.  On Boxing day he had his first summer barbeque.  To celebrate the New Year he travelled 4 hours in the car to a wonderful bay called on Opito on the Coromandel Pennisular.  The weather was not very kind and he saw a lot of rain.  Finally there was a sunny day and he enjoyed watching people swim in the waves and the boats go in and out.  Mr Bright went diving for scallops and Chester had another barbeque dinner.  On New Years eve Chester stayed up very late and enjoyed dancing on the deck to very loud music.  He looked cool wearing his glowsticks.

School is now finshed for 2011 but I will keep sharing Chesters activities.  At our shared lunch he had some new foods to try.  He is spending the holidays with me and will go to the beach, the lake and even to the South Island for my daughters wedding.  I'll have to sneak him into the photos because even her own dog is not aloud to go to the wedding.  But Chester is better behaved than her dog.  Happy Christmas everyone.

Today we invented Bright Star day to celebrate our year together using this Blog.  At the end of last year I wondered if keeping a Blog was worth the effort involved.  This year I have found the children so enthusiastic about it that I am left with no doubts.  Earlier this year we  used the Blog to keep in touch with Abby when she returned to Japan for two months.  We have made a connection with a teacher and his class in Moose Jaw Canada.  We exchanged travel buddies and these little soft toys have provided an opportunity for the children to talk and write.  We have taught each other how to post slideshows and "Bling" photos.  The children can make positive comments to each other.  I think they take pride in the work we share on the blog.  I certainly think they are a very creative class of Bright Stars.  So I will keep Blogging next year with a new class which I will be sharing with Miss Jones. She will teach in the mornings while I go and teach art to a variety of classes.  In the afternoons I will come back and teach maths to the new Bright stars. 

The Bright Stars live in New Zealand  a small country in the warm Pacific Ocean.  Some of the Bright Stars will be having BBQ food for Christmas dinner and going swimming or playing Cricket on the beach on Christmas Day but when they draw about Christmas the images they choose are from the Northern Hemisphere.

This afternoon the Bright Stars received a brown parcel.  The parcel felt heavy and we guessed and hoped it would be Chester.  When we opened it we found a soft, furry, grey racoon.  He had been sent to us by the Cyberkidz in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada.  There was also other interesting information about their city Moose Jaw.  We took Chester out onto the field so he could get some sunshine and watch us play scatter tennis.  Tonight Jakob has taken him home for his first New Zealand sleepover.  Thanks Cyberkidz it is so exciting to have Chester here.  

Perky has recovered from his trip to Canada  and is now having sleep overs with the Bright Stars.  Emily brought these photos to show us Perky brushing his teeth before bed and sleeping soundly.  I wonder if he dreams of Canada?.

A big thank you to the Cyberkidzs and their Moms and Dads who looked after Perky and gave him such a good time in Moose Jaw.  We are enjoying reading about what he got up to while he was away.  You were all very kind to him and made sure he was safe from family pets and other hazards.  I have brought him home tonight so he can enjoy a sunny spring evening in my garden and rest after his long trip home.  The Bright Stars want to give him sleep overs in Rotorua.  He sure is a busy bird.

This week we voted for Mizuki to be our citizen of the week because she is helpful during class time when she lets us share her pens and rubber.  She comes to school everyday and has only been sick on one day.  Mizuki can go along the monkey bars missing out every second bar.  Her mum thinks she is the best in her ballet class.  Her favourite colour is purple and her favourite food is chocolate.  Super job Mizuki.    

Thank you for your comments to the Bright Stars.  We will have to work fast next week and make comments back to you.  In the school holidays I went to visit Wellington our capital city.  Wellington is by the sea and next to the waterfront an ice rink had been set up.  There where lots of people learning to skate. and it looked like they were having fun.  You can see the ice was melting a little because it is spring time here.  We think you are lucky to have skating and ice hockey.  Bye for now.  

The first week of our last term at school and Danisha has been voted our Citizen of the Week.  We voted for her because she is cooperative and respectful when she is working in class and playing with her friends.  Danisha likes cats and swimming at the beach.  Her favourite colour is blue.  Her favourite food is chocolate.  That's terrific Danisha!

Hello Bright Stars I am sure you are enjoying the holidays.  I had a treat yesterday and went to an art day for teachers.  I got to make my own art which was exciting.  I was like you are at school and I had to listen to the instructions and work hard even when I thought I couldn't do it.  We learnt to make masks and I think you will like making them to.  We will have a try when school starts again.  

Don't forget to check on Perky on Mr Silversides Blog.  He has been on a trip to another town.  I wonder what Thanks Giving Weekend is? 

Bye for now.