Flick that Switch!

Our inquiry is about electricity… it is called FLICK THAT SWITCH! Miss Cookson’s Dad came to school on Monday to share information about his job with us – he is an electrician. We came up with questions to ask him, which you can read below. Then we made circuits using wire with alligator clips, batteries, light bulbs and buzzers. We learnt that all the metal parts of the circuit had to be connected to make the circuit complete. We had to be good problem solvers when the light bulbs or buzzers didn’t work. Some of the batteries we had weren’t working, so we checked to see if they were flat with a voltmeter.

Our Interview with Jan the Electrician

When did you start being an electrician?
When I left school, I was 15. I was taught how to be an electrician through an apprenticeship. So I did lots of my learning on the job.

Why did you decide to be an electrician when you were younger?
I liked to fix things and I liked to put them back together. I liked solving problems and making broken things go again! So I thought being an electrician would suit me.

Do you think you will always be an electrician?
I don’t know, I’m always open to new challenges and jobs ideas! I took a break from electrical work for some years and worked as a teacher’s aide and an ambulance officer too.

What do you do in a day at work?
Go into my office and pick a list of jobs that need to be done. This might include checking lifts to make sure they are working properly, getting people out of lifts that are stuck, or fixing broken parts of lifts.

Who is your boss?
An electrician is often his or her own boss, because we go and fix things ourselves. Sometimes electricians work as part of companies though too.

What tools do you use to fix things?
Tape measurer, voltmeter, electric screwdriver, lots of normal screwdrivers, wire strippers… lots of other handy tools. It all gets kept in my tool belt to keep my hands free for when I’m working, especially at the top of ladders.

Are there lots of electricians?
Yes!

What is the best thing about your job?
When people are stuck in a lift I go and let them out! People are always happy to be let out!

How do you get to the wires that are hidden?
The wires get put into walls before the buildings are built. So often, electricians have to work together with builders to organise when the wiring will be done.

What do you do to keep safe?
I wear a hard helmet to keep my head safe. I have steel caps in case something hard falls onto my feet. I have a reflective orange vest to make sure I can be seen at building sights. I wear safety glasses all the time because they are my reading glasses too. Safety gloves and a facemask are always in my toolkit. I have a cell phone in case I need to call emergency services.

Room 3's Supershop

Welcome to Room 3’s Supershop. We are learning about money in maths at the moment. We have play money that looks just like our New Zealand coins. Our shop is to help us learn how to use money – just like in real shops! Our shop has a sign to let us know if it is open or closed and we just love being the shopkeeper!

A Play!

On Tuesday we were lucky to have a play performed to us by some brilliant actresses from Room 14 (Elise, Janna, Lucy and Megan). Their play was called “Little Monster Goes to School.” Our favourite part was when the monster was being naughty! We were a great audience and gave them a huge round of applause at the end.

Kia ora Room 3! I just wanted to write a little note to say thanks for a great term 3. I’m having lots of fun getting to know you all and I love your enthusiasm and energy. You have all worked very hard this term and you can be so proud of yourselves. Have a big rest over the school holiday break… and come back with your thinking brains switched on! See you soon!

From Miss Cookson

Word Worm

We drew a wiggly word worm outside on the courts with chalk. We took turns writing some of the words that we have been learning. Our worm was so long and we were surprised by all the words that we can write! When we draw our next word worm… it might be even longer!

Wacky Hair Day

On the last day of term 3 we helped raise money for children whose lives are effected by autism. We made the day special by sprucing up our normal hairstyles into WACKY HAIR!

WOW Those Amazing Barbaloots!

In week 9 of term 3, the children at Muritai School performed like superstars. “The Lorax” was a fantastic show – with an exciting combination of music, dance and singing. The barbaloots in Room 3 showed off their funky dance moves and received lots of clapping from the audience.
Thank you all you wonderful parents who cut and sewed all those brilliant barbaloot suits!

Term 3 - Week 8

Along with every class at Muritai School, Room 3 has been busily preparing for our fantastic production... The Lorax. We are very excited to now have our Barbaloot suits… we are just about ready to rock!

World Literacy Week
All around the world children have been celebrating literacy, with World Literacy Week. Throughout the week teachers have been taking turns reading to children in the library. There have been lots of fantastic listeners filling our library up! On Monday, we dressed up as our favourite book characters. In Room 3 we had a cat called Mog, a policeman, superman, a pirate, Rapunzel, a ballet dancer, Buzz Lightyear, a Power Ranger, many beautiful princesses… and more! Here are some of us dressed up and in character!

Term 3 - Week 7

This post is a collection of some of Room 3’s writing about our visit to the Senior School last week. A big thanks to Ms Berry from Room 22, who took time out of her busy day to show us around.

I was at the big kid’s school. I saw a garden with herbs and the boat with wobbly seats.
Author: Isabella

I went to the herb garden and we saw the worms.
Author: Gabriel

We went and saw the worms. The worms were slimy!
Author: Callan

I saw a worm farm. I went into the boat. It was fun. I liked it.
Author: Noah

At the senior’s garden I saw the worm farm. I saw lots and lots of wiggly worms and it was fun.
Author: Rosa

Term 3 – Week 6

Milo Cricket
On Monday afternoon we practiced our cricket skills with Milo Cricket. We had fun doing lots of different relays with the wickets and the tennis balls. Then we got to show off our batting skills. We had a great time with Milo Cricket and got to take home a bag of cricket goodies! Here we are being cool cricket kids!

Term 3 - Week 5

Wow – it has been another busy week here in Room 3! We have really been enjoying warming up in the chilly mornings with Jump Jam. A big thanks to our parent/grandparent helpers who are testing us on our Reading and Spelling Rockets. We wrote a class letter to the New Zealand Olympic Team and sent it to them through their website. We told the team how well we think they are doing... and that we have some great athletes in our class too! This week, we had a big class discussion and then wrote our class treaty together. We each made a weaving as a symbol of how we are all special, unique people … as well as being a very important part of Room 3. We joined them together on the wall to show this.

Term 3 - Week 4

World of Maths
On Monday, we got the chance to use our super maths brains! The "World of Maths" came to visit Muritai School and we spent the afternoon being maths wizz kids! There were lots of different activities around the hall, we split up into small groups and worked our way around them. Some were pretty tricky - like "Pack-Up" where we had to fit different shapes into a big cube. Lots of us loved the "Trucks" activity - where we had to see how heavy the truck's load of boxes and logs were. Another fun activity was called "Monkeys" - we had to race the monkeys down a special board and a flashing light helped us count how long the winner took to win the race. We recorded all our answers in special booklets. We were lucky to have some parent help too - thank you! Take a look at us in action...

Term 3 - Week 3

Our First Post Together
This is the first post that we have written together in the lab. This week, we have had fun doing:

• skipping
• our Olympic countdown
• writing about what it would be like to be in the Olympics
• discussing the official Olympic website
• looking at 3D shapes in maths

We have had a fantastic week.

Thank you for commenting on out blog.

Term 3 - Week 2

Disco!
On Friday evening we danced and danced! The disco was so cool, we even had a real DJ playing the music. Some children in Room 3 dressed in costumes – they looked great! Others looked very groovy in their special dancing dresses! We loved the music… especially the chicken dance!

Shape Outside!
In maths at the moment, we are learning all about shapes. We were lucky to have a sunny afternoon one day this week, so we made the most of it and found all the shapes we could around our school. We were surprised how many shapes we could see… shapes are all around us!

Term 3 - Week 1

First Week with Miss Cookson!
I have loved my first week here at Muritai School! I am very lucky to be working with a class full of excited and energetic learners. It has been lovely to meet some parents and family members of the children in Room 3 this week. We all have so much to look forward to - I'm very happy to be on the journey with you!



Visual Art: Jane and the Dragon
We have been reading Jane and the Dragon, written and illustrated by Martin Baynton. We thought the dragon in the story was cool, so we used our imaginations to create our own dragon artwork. We are learning to create layers in art at the moment, so we...

• drew our dragons using colourful pastels
• glued them on the black paper
  
• decorated the wings with sequins
• stapled the wings onto the dragon's body.
  

The layers in our fantastic dragons really make it look like they are flying! The children in Room 3 are such wonderful artists!