New Town U.S.A perform the Haka

After a year being immersed learning all about New Zealand the class are now 'kiwi american' kids. The class learned about the culture, landforms, songs, dances, sports, to wearing no shoes (popular amongst the students who loved to take their shoes off in the classroom). Earlier in the school year Ms. Lologa's brother came to visit and taught the boys the haka, after that the students watched many All Blacks Youtube videos and began practicing.

 This is part of the performance for the parents at our end of year party. Enjoy the video!


 
trim.F881A379-7FF4-47F2-8072-033A282703FE from New Town on Vimeo.

Cartoon Drawing With Mr. Mangum

We are enjoying having some of our parents come in to share their talents as well as talk about their profession. A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Mangum came in to class to teach us some very cool cartoon drawings. We loved it and made lots of great drawings. Watch our video of Mr. Mangum's visit!

Writing Celebration

We love to celebrate great writing in our class.  Our last writing unit was on realistic fiction writing.  Students wrote stories that included the following:  setting, main character or characters, problem the character is facing and the solution.   There were so many great stories and the class did a great job incorporating all the elements of realistic fiction in their writing.

We wanted to share our stories by having a 'Writing Celebration'.  We invited our parents to come along and read our stories.  Students and parents went around the class reading the stories.  Sticky notes were used to leave messages for the students about what they enjoyed about their story.

Watch the animoto video of our writing celebration.

Hamster Ball Race

Our Principal, Mrs. Perry and Assistant Principal, Mr. Watts raced each other in a human hamster ball.  The race was part of the PTA Swooper Sprint Fundraiser we had earlier in the school year.   Every year the PTA challenges the students to raise as much money for the school.  Over the past few years the money raised has been used to make a new track, and basketball courts for the K-2 and 3-5 playgrounds.

If the school raises enough money to reach the target then Mrs. Perry and Mr. Watts is given a challenge chosen by the students.  Last year Mrs. Perry slept on top the school roof overnight so this year it was decided that they would race each other.  

Mr. Watts was a crowd favorite but in the end Mrs. Perry managed to win the race.  We love seeing our Principals take part in these fun events.  It was definitely great to see that no matter who won, everyone still had a fun time watching the event!

Mr Watts. our Assistant Principal is getting ready to race.

Getting ready to watch the race with our free ice pop!

The Class Sing 'Happy Birthday' in Maori

A couple of weeks ago the class surprised me after lunch by singing 'Happy Birthday'. It was my birthday that day and they had secretly organized at recess to sing to me in class. I was the last person as always making sure that no one was lagging behind so when I walked in they started singing. I was very touched by the class and even proud to hear them sing the Maori version that I had taught them. Here is the video of the class singing. Ka Pai tamariki! Well done class!

Ms. Lologa

Maori Design Necklaces

Every Friday afternoons the class have been enjoying doing arts and crafts from New Zealand. A couple of months ago, the class learned about important Maori symbols and designs and their meanings. Students drew pictures from what they had seen on the internet and resources Ms. Lologa brought from New Zealand. The next lesson Ms. Lologa brought in some modelling clay for the class to create their own Maori necklaces. The students chose what design and symbol they wanted to make. As part of tradition, you must give your first necklace away, some of the students gave it to their family members or classmates. Watch our animoto video of the class making their necklaces.

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Talent Show Highlights

Last Friday, New Town held its first Talent Show.  The event was a big hit and the gym and cafeteria was packed with students and their families.  There were a variety of great acts and it was awesome to see students show their talent.  We have lots of talented people at New Town.

Watch the video of some of the acts from that evening.  Enjoy!

talentnight from New Town on Vimeo.

Making Poi

Invention Projects

In class the students have been learning about inventions and innovations around the US and the world and how they have impacted peoples lives today and in the past.

The students were given a project to do at home.  Their task was to plan, build and create an invention of their own.  They had the options of: drawing their invention, or create a model or build the invention that physically works.  Some students were able to test their inventions and demonstrate it to the rest of the class.

Watch the video of the class sharing their invention projects.

What did you think of our inventions? Was there an invention that you particularly liked? Why?

We look forward to your responses!


Inventions Projects from New Town on Vimeo.

Sochi Winter Olympics - Athlete Profiles

Over the past few weeks we have been keeping up with Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia.  Many of the students watched a wide variety of sports and a lot of them did not know what some of the sports were.  Last week the class chose an athlete from USA or New Zealand and then researched using the laptops.  Shaun White an American athlete was one of the most popular athletes the students chose to research on.

Watch Zach's video and find out about Shaun White.

Emma and Taylor chose an athlete from the New Zealand Winter Olympic team.  Click on the video to find about the athletes they chose.

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IMG 0740 from New Town on Vimeo.