Wellington here we come.

Hi Everyone,
Guess what? We entered a competition ( All we had to do was send in a photo of our class. We've included two of them.) to win a $1 per person flight to Wellington and we were one of the 14 winners! So all 23 of us plus 6 adults are going. Air New Zealand's Jacqui Beaver is organizing the competition and she rang us today to tell us we are going on Monday 7th of December. It's very exciting but we have to be up early as our plane leaves at 6.ooam! We get to go to Te Papa and the Beehive and possibly a couple of other places as well. Aren't we the luckiest class? We will keep you updated as we learn more. At present, we are trying to learn all we can about Wellington. We know Wellington is New Zealand's capital city and that our government is there. Any information from anyone out there will be welcome.
That's all for now.
Room 7
Media Release Team.

Fit for Life

Our school is part of the Active Schools contract. As part of our integrated theme around fitness, we have been researching to find the most fun way to do it. Skipping came out as one of the best. Our film shows us in our quest for fitness. We hope this motivates you to try it yourself.
Room 7 would like to thank Mrs Burt for all her help and expertise.

Lyricyst, Utufiu, Jeremiah Research Dolls and Action Figures

Hi, our task was to choose a topic about toys to research. We chose to investigate the differences between dolls and action figures. We searched on the internet, we surveyed the class members and used our own ideas to answer our questions.
The trickiest part was putting our answers together. We solved this problem by working as a team and pooling our ideas.
We also tried to speak clearly in our presentation.
We hope you find our research interesting and we would love to hear any feedback about our presentation.

mnk

Our purpose for making this podcast is to present the results of our research. We visited M.O.T.A.T to help us answer our thinking questions. We also had to write a script for this interview. We worked well together as a group and helped each other learn our words so we could speak clearly and with expression. We hope you learn something about robotic toys.

Teddy Bear Inquiry

Hi Everybody,
Our group have been inquiring about Teddy Bears. Our task was to ask deep questions about our topic and then research to find the answers. The tricky part was finding suitable information to help us.
We hope you enjoy our podcast and that you learn something new about Teddy Bears
By Setaita, Genevieve and Maiolo

M.O.T.A.TVisit

On Tuesday 1st of September, the Glenbrae senior school students visited M.O.T.A.T. ( Museum of Transport and Technology) as part of our study about toys and how technology has affected them.
We spent time in the classroom with Cass (an expert teacher at M.O.T.A.T.) who was able to give us lots of new information and answer our questions.
There were many types of toys , mostly older, for us to observe and handle. It was pretty mind blowing to realise that the oldest toys - some that we recognise even today, such as the yo-yo and the doll - have been around since Roman times.
As you can see from the video clip, some very clever, patient person created this huge model of a ferris wheel out of K'nex construction pieces. They even put a motor in it so it would revolve. Astounding really! Although we weren't allowed to touch it, we were able to have an in depth look at it and discover how it was able to revolve.
Keep your eye on the blog for our recounts of this experience and the learning that will come out of it. We are formulating our thinking questions and gathering the information we need to make a presentation to share with you all.
Thank you for reading this post.
Room 7

Hi my name is Manase Vaka. I am a Year 6 student at Glenbrae Primary School.
My learning intention for this writing is to put paragraphs and capital letters in the right place.
My speaking goal is to read out loud so my audience can hear the story easily.
I hope you enjoy my movie and leave me a comment.

Myth Rona and the Moon

Hi. Here I am again like I promised. This time I've got sound! We have been writing myths about objects in space. This is a retell of the Maori myth "Rona and the Moon'. Our learning intention is:
To rewrite the story in our own words so that someone who has never heard the story before will understand what happens.
I would like feedback about how you think I did please.
Also this was the first recording I have made.
My learning Intention is:
To speak loudly and clearly so that all my words can be easily heard.
Please tell me how you think I did so I can be better next time.
Thank you for listening.

Geckos

Malo e lelei. My name is Tevita Fa'avae. I am 10 years old and I go to Glenbrae School. My poster is about geckos. I learnt lots of new facts while I was doing my report. I hope you enjoy reading my poster and looking at my pictures of geckos.

Hi. I'm Utufiu Niko. I'm in Year 6 at Glenbrae School. I'm proud of my poster showing the results of my learning about New Zealand reptiles. It will be displayed in the foyer at Glenbrae School. If you visit our school, make sure to read the interesting information on my poster. Thank you.

Skinks in New Zealand

Skinks are ground and tree dwelling. They are small and fast moving. Rainbow skinks are the smallest lizards in New Zealand. The Australian people brought the skinks to New Zealand.


This kind of lizard can drop its tail to confuse its predators. In time, lizards can grow another tail. Their skin is smooth and tight. All skinks have shiny skin. They have ear holes. They can camouflage themselves so they can hide from their predators.


They eat kawakawa plants. Lizards eat a variety of food. They sometimes eat insects. Skinks eat bugs, which are delicious to them. They are omnivores.


Many different Skinks live in grasslands. You may find some skinks in bushes as well. They can sometimes be on clay banks to bask in the sun. Skinks habitats have been destroyed, to build shopping centres and houses. They can also live in sandy beaches.


These lizards are not endangered because they have been looked after. There are lots of skinks on different Islands. Skinks are safe from extinction. Different people are helping our skinks so they can stay alive.


Skinks are small and precious. Skinks are special to New Zealand. Every body hopes that the skinks will stay alive.
By Siosaia T

Skinks and Geckos

Hi. I'm Lyricyst, a Year 6 student at Glenbrae. This is my first movie post. Next time I will have sound on it. Thanks for reading my work. I would love you to comment on my report. My goal was to present facts in a clear and informative way and to add appropriate illustrations. How do you think I did?

The Extraordinary Tuatara

We are just learning about posting videos. That's why I don't have any sound on mine. That is my goal for my next movie.
From
Erika

Tuatara

The Nearly Extinct Tuatara

New Zealand is famous for one of the most endangered species – the Tuatara. Lots of people think that the tuatara is a lizard but it is part of the dinosaur family.

Special Features.
Tuataras have an organ called a third eye on top of their head. They have good eyesight. They can camouflage themselves so predators can’t see them. Tuatara have no ear holes but they can still hear.

Food.
Tuatara eat only meat. They eat insects, wetas, lizards and spiders. Tuatara eat eggs, baby birds and even other tuatara. It is a carnivore. A carnivore is something that eats its own kind.

Habitat
Tuatara have lived in New Zealand since the time of the dinosaurs. Tuatara live in burrows. Tuatara are only found on small islands such as Stephens and Brother’s Islands in Cook Strait.

Endangered Status.

Now tuatara are an endangered species found only in New Zealand. They are close to extinction. There are there not many in the wild. Tuatara are mainly extinct because of hawks, hunters and pigs killing them.

Conclusion.
The tuatara is special to New Zealand. We try to protect tuatara from predators because they are one of New Zealand’s reptiles. I wish that I might see one, one day.

By Maiolo F.

NZ Reptiles

In New Zealand there are two lizard species - Geckos and Skinks. They have adapted to cold weather. Geckos and Skinks bask in the sun to get warm so they can catch their prey.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Geckos have broad feet with microscopic hairs that help them climb up walls and trees. Skinks can drop their tails off so they can get away from their predators. Their tails then regrow (and they can drop off again). Geckos have soft velvety skin. The gecko’s skin sloughs off in large pieces. Skinks skin comes off in small pieces. Geckos clean their eyes with their tongue. Skinks don’t need to clean their eyes because they have moveable eye lids.

FOOD

Skinks and geckos eat insects and smaller animals. Their favourite food is insects and spiders. They eat berries and fruit as part of their diet. Geckos and skinks are omnivores.

HABITATS

Skinks fight each other over sites to bask in. Skinks bask in the sun. Skinks and geckos live in small burrows, but geckos also live under strips of bark off trees.

ENDANGERED STATUS

Some species of Geckos and skinks are found in New Zealand. They might become endangered because there are not many of them in this country, due to the number of predators that have been introduced. Their predators are rats, cats, dogs, mice, stoats, Tuatara and ferrets.

CONCLUSION

These two reptiles are special to New Zealand. We need to help protect them from predators. We can help stop predators by clearing forests and bushes of their enemies.

By Kitione T