Designing an Animal Carrier

We talked about the problem, then we looked at some animal carriers and talked about what we liked about them.

We shared our ideas.

From that point we made a brief of what a good animal carrier needed and then we designed our carriers.

Summer

Emma

Lachlan

Ashleigh

Max

Hannah

Melissa

Baxter

Lucy

We are really looking forward to the next stage - making them!

What are the Olympics all about?

This morning we shared all we knew about the Olympics with each other. Lots of us had watched the opening ceremony and some sports on the TV.

A few of us brought in newspaper clippings, others brought in some sheets about the Olympics and Emma made some Olympic rings and even told us what they were all about.

Then we wrote about what we know, what we have seen, what we hope will happen and what we would like to know.

Here are a few...

Baxter

Hannah

Lily

Max

We have a few wonderings about past Olympics and how do you get to compete in the Olympics - we think you some money and a ticket. We plan to do some investigating to find out more - can you help us?

Sketching...

We love drawing in Ruma Ruru - and now we have our own sketching books. Each week we will take some time to focus on drawing different animals, people, creatures and vehicles.

We looked at some 'how to draw... ' examples on the internet. There are LOTS! We will use some of these to help us think about our drawing and how we can improve on it.  A handy hint is to think of objects as groups of shapes...

Below are some links we have looked at....

http://www.squidoo.com/drawing-cats

http://www.ehow.com/how_8393950_draw-cartoon-cat-stepbystep.html

http://www.malanenewman.com/tutorial_donald_duck_fullface.html

We would love to show you what we have been doing so please come and look. Ms Copping also says we can bring some 'how to draw...' books from home to help us.

We wonder what we will look at next week? Dragons? Dinosaurs? Princesses? Trucks?

Olympic Games 2012

Well... it is here.... we can't deny it. The time to celebrate, recognise and support our top achieving sportspeople competing in the Olympic Games 2012 has come.

In Ruma Ruru we have been 'Reaching Out'... as a branch of this we will be having a look at 'Reaching Out for Success'. We will be looking at the Olympic Games through our Year 1 eyes and wondering what it is all about.

It would be great to talk with our Mums and Dads at home about the games - do you have anything from the newspaper to bring in? What do we know or want to know about the Olympic Games? What sports are there? Where is it? Who are some of the people? What does it take to be successful at teh Olympic Games?

Below are a few websites about the games... if you find any others that are good, please share them with us.

http://projectbritain.com/olympics/

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/all_about_the_olympic_games.htm

http://www.london2012.com/

http://www.olympic.org/london-2012-summer-olympics

http://www.olympic.org.nz/

This is the link on the links and activities page - lots of fun games -

Games and Learning about the Olympics

Reaching out to the SPCA

On Tuesday we visited the SPCA. We had a look around at "The Haven" and saw all the rescued animals. It takes lots of time and effort to look after all the animals.

We saw cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, rabbits, chickens and a goat. These animals are sometimes fostered out while they look for their 'forever home'. We also saw the 'hospital area' where the sick animals are looked after.

We took some kitten and puppy food and donated to the SPCA. They LOVED it and it was good to see the animals that will be eating the food we donated.

Mr Dog is soooo happy he has his 'forever home' with us in Ruma  Ruru!

Emma and Lucky

Early next term we are having Calf Club day. Some children are getting their pets ready now.

Here is Emma with her lamb Lucky. Emma says her lamb takes some time to look after, needs lots of walks and butts her lots.

Emma - what do you need to do to look after your lamb? Where does your lamb sleep? What does your lamb drink and how often? What else do you need to do to get your lamb ready for Calf Club day?


Is anyone else having an animal at Calf Club day?

Maori Language Week in Ruma Ruru

This week is Maori Language week in all of New Zealand. In Ruma Ruru we like learning Maori and English.

In the morning we ask each other what the day is and then we tell each other.

Ko te aha tenei ra?  Ko te ______ tenei ra?

We also ask how each other is feeling... Kei te pehea a kei? and we are learning lots of way to say how we are feeling.

You can watch our video and learn all about it says Saoirse.

What will we learn next in Maori asks Hannah.

I like learning Maori says Ashleigh.

Maori is fun to say says Lucy.

We also know our body parts in Maori says Jess.

Reaching out to the SPCA

Last term we wrote an email to the SPCA asking a few questions to learn more about animal shelters in our area, what they did and what we could do to help animals. Here is there reply...

What are the animal shelters in our community - 

The SPCA is the biggest in the Waikato - however there are also Animal Control (Councils), Paws for Life, Cat Protection League, Avian Rescue and lots of individual people who do their part  to helping animals find their forever home.

What do they do and what do they need to survive?

The SPCA is here primarily to Prevent and Protect animals from cruelty, neglect and abuse - we are the only legal animal Welfare organisation able to investigate complaints and prosecute irresponsible people who don't care for animals we had over 1200 complaints last year. Our Secondary service is to re-home animals that are unwanted. All animals are given vet assessment and care, we feed and house all the animals till we can find them a home. However sometimes animals are 'put to sleep' because they are too sick to survive or have unrehomable behaviour that makes them dangerous.
What can I do to help - can little things make a big difference? 

Yes! saving one animal is important to us all. Learning what the Five Freedoms are and how they apply to animals, and us! why they are important and spreading the message. Doing things like donating puppy & kitten food, fundraising to help us save more lives. Volunteering or Fostering see more on our website.

Regards Michelle Locke
Funding Manager

We are looking forward to visiting the SPCA and learning more about what they do and what we can do to help. We are going to take along some kitten or puppy food as we know growing bodies need alot of food and energy!

TWO more sleeps to go!

Does anyone remember what SPCA stands for?

Cross Country Training...

Anton came and showed us some fun ways to get running fit this morning.

We learnt how to find our 'fast foot' - just ask us! This is the foot that goes at the back when you start running.

Other things we know are important are:
Have both feet facing the front (where you are running)
Have your 'L' arms out the front ready to go.

When you are running look where you are going!

We are going to practice these activities and some more to get running fit ready for Cross Country on Friday 17 August!

What could we do at home to get fit for running?

More Magical Memories...

Last post before Monday Morning...

Here are a couple of shots of Saoirse enjoying the snow this weekend. See you all tomorrow morning!

Hi Ms Copping and Ruma Ruru


Check me out with Woomi the snake in sunshine coast. Happy holidays. Love lucy x

A Message from our B - Boy ... Baxter

Word on the street is Baxter is a ski demon and his Mum had trouble keeping up... the photos show us this is true!!

Keep all the holiday messages coming through Ruru - it is so wonderful to see you out exploring the world!

Happy Holiday Happenings...

A Message from Saoirse...

Hi Ms Copping

 

I hope you are having a nice time. 

I am at the Arts on Show in Hamilton this week.  It is really fun. 

We are singing, dancing, & disco.  We get Lollipops when we do good there.  The teachers at the show thought my name

is soairse, and that was wrong.

We are heading to the snow this weekend.  We will take some photos and send through so you can post one on the

blog. 

I have also been to the movie "Brave".  It is really, really scary and it made me cry.

I went to Katikati to stay with my Grandpa & Grandma.  We went horse riding and I saw a tTi bird.  It was really pretty and

it had white under its chin.

What was your favourite thing in Fiji?

Have a good week.

Love

Saoirse

Birthday Party fun...

A few children in Ruma Ruru are having birthdays over the holidays. Here are Luke and Lachlan at Noah's party. They are monsters and they loved riding Noah's peddle car.

Who is that cheeky face at the back?

Jonte's story...

We have been at the Mount this week. Nothing but sunshine here. We are at Poppa's boat at the moment on the marina. Off to grab some sushi soon. Hope you are having a nice holiday. From Jonte.

Lachlan's story...

I have been working on the farm everyday these holidays. we have been setting up calf pens and feeding silage to the cows. Guess what we found this morning in the paddock???? Our first calf... this is a girl calf. We have to feed her milk twice a day. It is very cold for baby calves in the frosts. There are still 557 cows left to calve so we are going to be very busy. I will have to choose one calf for Ag Day at school. From Lachlan.

Update: Lachlan now has 10 more calves. That makes for busy work on these frosty mornings.

Keep sending in your stories and look at the previous post to see what others have been up to!

A Message from Ms C

Bula Ruma Ruru

I MISS YOU! I miss your cheeky faces and your hairy brains! I was thinking about how much I missed you and suddenly thought - hey - we could blog each other about our holidays!

So, write a comment about what you have been up to or send me a picture with a few sentences and I will post it for us all to read.

Our class had some big holiday plans - some of us were visiting our Nana and Poppas, some of us were having a BIRTHDAY, some of us were having friends over, some of us were visiting other parts of the country or leaving the country, some of us had some jobs to do on the farm, some of us were going to have 'sleep ins' and do some baking and some of us were going to the beach!

Tell me all about it!

Much aroha
Ms Copping

P.S I have had a great week on holiday with my three favourite 'things'.