Finding the Difference

The Kidd-li-winks are working really hard to improve their subtraction. It is tricky however there are a lot of determined Kidd-li-winks.

The challenge was to create a pictograph.

There was an extra part. It was the difference between the highest data and the lowest data needed to be a certain amount.

Here is an example of a problem.

Here are some of the interesting graphs we created. Please note they took a lot of calculating, recalculating and thinking to solve the problems. 

Graph showing the different dinosaur bones found.

Each frog was worth 20 on this graph

This graph was frogs favourite dances. Hip hop was the favourite.
Each frog is worth 2.

The difference between the highest and the lowest data needed to be 20.
Did Toby and Emma solve the problem?

To find the difference between the highest and the lowest data we had to use our subtraction skills.

THINKING, DISCUSSING, MAKING MISTAKES, LEARNING

Guinea Pigs

Ruby brought her guinea pigs to school. She is an expert on guinea pigs and taught us a lot about guinea pigs and how to care for them.

We read books about guinea pigs and were taught little extras by the guinea pig owners in Room 8, Ruby, Neesha and Bowen. Using this information we wrote reports. Reports teach other people new information. 

Guinea pigs are not related to pigs. Do you know what guinea pigs are?

What do guinea pigs look like?

Something that is strange about guinea pigs is that their eyes are on the top of their heads so they see up best. Guinea pigs can be different colours. They can be one colour or multi-coloured.

What do guinea pigs eat?

Guinea pigs eat their own droppings if they are yellow. If it is brown it means they have eaten it more than once and the goodness is gone. Sometimes guinea pigs have apples for a special treat. There is one thing that guinea pigs are not allowed and that is rubarb it is because rhubarb have poisonous leaves. Guinea pigs eat and eat and eat until they are very full.

Babies

Baby guinea pigs are strange because they can see as soon as they are born. Adult guinea pigs use its teeth to pull the baby out of its bottom and then licks all the gross stuff off the babies. Baby guinea pigs look like the adult guinea pigs. Guinea pigs stop drinking milk when they are 2 or three weeks old.

Hutches

Everyday you need to move the hutch because they need fresh grass. Guinea pigs don't like to be in the sun because they have fur. You have to have a cover away from the sun. Guinea pigs have to be in a cage because cats and dogs will try to get them.

Guinea pigs are cute little creatures and are nothing like pigs.

Author Bella

Guinea pigs are a tiny animal that eat lots. Do you know what guinea pigs are? Read this report and find out.

What do guinea pigs look like?

Guinea pigs can be striped, black, brown or white it is called multi-coloured. They have four claws at the end of their toes. White guinea pigs have pink eyes.

What do guinea pigs eat?

Guinea pigs are herbivores because they eat fresh vegetables, fresh grass, fresh fruit and hay. Apples are their dessert. Guinea pigs eat until they are full. Guinea pigs are allergic to rhubarb.

Baby Guinea Pigs

When guinea pigs are born they are the size of your palm. New born guinea pigs can see. They are just like an adult guinea pig but smaller. Guinea pigs can eat grass after one day. They grow really fast.

Guinea Pig Hitches

Guinea pigs have a hutch with an outside run. Hutches protect them from cat and dog attacks. It is important to move the hutch so the guinea pig gets fresh grass. A guinea pig needs a roof for its hutch.

Guinea pigs are herbivores. Do you want to own a guinea pig?

Author Jeevanjot

Guinea pigs can have up to about ten colours. Do you know that guinea pigs are not related to pigs? 

What do guinea pigs look like?

Guinea pigs have have lots of beautiful long hair and they can have short hair. When guinea pigs have a dry nose they are alright but when they have a wet nose they could be sick. Some guinea pigs have pink eyes and some have black eyes. Their eyes are on the top of their head because they only really look up. Did you know guinea pigs have no tail? Their legs are very small.

What do guinea pigs eat?

Guinea pigs eat fresh stuff like fresh hay, fresh fruit, fresh grass and daisies. Yuck! When guinea pigs poo they eat it. The eat their poo because they lived in the high mountain in South America and there isn't much food. Guinea pigs are vegetarians that means they only eat vegetables and they eat guinea pig pellets. They wriggle and snuffle their nose to make them smell food better.

What do you know about guinea pigs when they are born?

When guinea pigs are born they are the size of your palm. Often guinea pigs have milk for two or three weeks. Baby guinea pigs grow really fast. They are just like an adult guinea pig but smaller. Baby guinea pigs are so lazy that means they just hang around doing not that much. 

Guinea pig hutches

Guinea pig hutches need to be cleaned every day and moved because they need clean grass and more grass. They have to have clean water and you have to clean out their cage. Also guinea pigs DON'T LIKE SUNLIGHT! So they have to have a steal roof. And they have to have a cage because cats and dogs can get them when they are out. 

Guinea pig grooming

Guinea pigs use their teeth to groom their fur, When you give it a bath you use shampoo and warm water. Just telling you that guinea pigs don't like taking baths. When you are finished you have to dry off your guinea pig properly or else they get sick.

Guinea pigs are cute and interesting. Guinea pigs an live in the wild or be good pets. Would you like an interesting guinea pig?

Author Ruby L

What is a guinea pig? Guinea pigs eat lots and lots. Did you know they are vegetarians. They don't eat meat. 

What do guinea pigs look like?

They have short fur or long fur. Do they have tails? You will find out in the index. What are they related to? Rodents. They have floppy ears and very sharp claws.

Food

They eat dry hay and carrots and cabbage and cucumbers and pellets. Also apples for dessert. Do not feed them rhubarb. They are allergic to it because the rhubarb leaves are poisonous. Fresh fruit and vegetables are eaten by guinea pigs. Guinea pigs like to eat hay and eat and eat until their tummies are full. 

Babies

When baby guinea pigs get born they have slobber all over their body. Next the mummy guinea pig licks off the slobber on the baby. When they are only one day old they can nibble and graze on fresh green grass and they can eat hay and drink fresh water. 

Guinea Pig Hutches

If you own a guinea pig they best thing you can do is buy a hutch.Clean the water every day. They can't be in the sun too long or else it will get sun burnt! Clean the poo out. If you don't clean the poo out the guinea pig will get sick and you can tell your guinea pig is getting sick because the guinea pig has a wet nose and if it's a dry nose he or she is alright. 

Would you like a guinea pig to have? They are fun, funny and cute. Would you like one perhaps? 

Author George

We hope you enjoyed reading our first reports and learnt a lot about guinea pigs. We sure learnt a lot about guinea pigs when we wrote them. 

Thank you so much Ruby for bringing your guinea pigs to school to share with Room 8. They are gorgeous!

Peering through the key hole adventures

The Kidd-li-winks wrote amazing stories about their adventures through the keyhole. Here are a few of them. Come in to Room 8 to read some others.

Bowen helping his buddy create a taniwha
Maybe this taniwha inspired Bowen's writing?

When I was outside a random door fell out of no where until it got stuck in the garden. Splash! A lot of mud came out of the ground. The sticky mud covered the smooth, old, cracked door. Meanwhile I caught a glimpse of a colourful crazy world through the key hole. Feeling horrid I slowly opened the...door. I quickly shut my eyes and screamed because I thought I saw a taniwha as a guardian of the marae. He sped away to let me come in. On the outside of the marae there were ancient Maori patterns. Inside there were korus. I dashed into the party room inside the marae. Inside the marae there were joyful people dressed in their pjs telling legends about taniwhas. Just as I was going to tell one something knocked on the window...what was it? It was a taniwha. How could it be? Taniwhas haven't been seen for thousands of years! Suddenly I thought since no one has seen one it could be a trick. I went to see what it was. It was a taniwha! Wait a minute taniwhas don't have 3 voices! I look around for a zip. I found one. I undid it. There were three of my friends pranking me. We all went in for tea. When I went through the door I ended up at home. Wow!
Author Bowen

"Bath time," shouted mum. I stop the running bath and hopped in.  I wondered why it was so bumpy. I peered down below me and there was something brown.  Quickly I pulled the plug and as the water drained away I saw a door.  It was rough and all different type's of woods,birch wood, oak wood, jungle wood, spiky ^^^ pine wood! It was a BIG suprise, IT WAS A DOOR! Wait did I s@y door two times!?!  The water was slowly draining away because of the key hole. That was good because I actually wanted to look through it so when the water was washed  away I could LOOK in the key hole! So now after the water was gone I peered through the key hole and murmured "White and blue?"  Then ^>!^>SPARK!>z><z>!z>z<! "O...OKAY" I stammered. I looked again... ^z><z>! Then I reached for  the door handle. I gulped. WAW WAW E E E E E E  O O O O O O O O O O WA SLAM "Was that a Wubbox(Its the RAREST monster In the monster UNIVERSE!)" So I opened the door again! BOO ZUKA ZA BOO SHUKA ZA ZA ZA ZA ZA Z SLAM! Grumpere! (a monster worth a thousand diamonds). Then I fully opened the DOOOOOOOOOOOOOR! THUMP! Yikes that was scary! So I went to explore around  the place. I heard more stuff, stuff, stuff, STUFF EEK! I turned around... Oh it's just a Dragong ( a monster worth 25000 diamonds). After a while the Dragong was still following me! "Cool! I've got a pet Dragong!" I found a small cave it had sparkly stuff! I found a pick-axe and rope. I went mining for dimonds 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,1,11,12, 8 Years later........ 2 5 0 0 0! They were BRIGHT green and sparkling in the dark cave. I went outta the cave by rope. The Dragong was still in th... COOL! It's climbing with it's gongs on its feet! CLANG! CLING! CRASH! Yay were out of the cave. I saw the door straight in front of me! CREAK! I'm back in my bed I saw the door on my bed. I saw the Dragong's gong... CLANG I gripped onto it I pulled it out... CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!                                 
It was my own pet Dragong!

Author Jerome

This is a Dragong

My Mum and me were gardening happily. Suddenly a door popped up through the grass. The door was covered in sloppy slugs and was old and rusty. It had looked like it had been there for thousands of years. I peered through the key hole bent down and saw lots of glittering bamboo sticks. On one side there was one panda on the other side there was two pandas. Excitedly I reached to turn the handle. Creek the door handle slowly opened, it was beautiful inside. I looked left and right and the pandas were no where to be seen. I looked straight ahead. In the distance I saw a faint shadow of three pandas. Tip top tip toe tip toe tip toe. "Come here boys" they crept closer and closer and closer until they were all cuddled up in my arms. They were cuddly baby pandas. They were 50cm long. They were making crying noises. It sounded like it was comping from their stomach. Since they were all babies that would mean they have lost their mother. "Come on lets get you some food" Snap crack "Here's some bamboo". Chomp chomp crunch crunch chomp chomp crucnh crunch. Snap we made a hut with the bamboo. Chomp chomp chomp "Arhg it's destroyed". "Aaaa" I sighed. "You little cheeky munchkins". "Ok lets go for an explore". That got them out of mischief. All you could see was bamboo the whole way through. Eventually we found their mum. "Eek eek eek" she seemed to say "Thank you for taking care of my babies". When she lost her babies her eyes were filled of tears when she found her babies her eyes were filled with sparkly diamonds. Suddenly the door popped up in a random place. "bye I have to go. I'm sorry". I stood by the door. All four pandas came up and put a sad face on. "Right I'll stay but only if you be good". The only terrible thing is I have to munch on bamboo for the rest of my life.
Author Henrietta

Suddenly out of no where came a huge shadow in the ice. It had a square body and a triangle handle. It was a door. I peered through and saw T-rex's eyes, Stegasaurus' spikes some were flat and some were spiky like a trident. When I looked at them I was scared at first but I was brave. I opened and saw a cave and a volcano. I was so close to the volcano. The ground was shaking and lava went every where around it. I ran as fast as I could. Suddenly I ran in some deep mud. The mud felt like it was dried sand and smelt like snow. "Ahhh, it's making me sink. I found a vine. I held on to it and pulled myself out. After I heard a noise. "Roooaaar tick tock the door will be closing in one minute who ever is left will be killed by the dinosaurs".After the ground shook rocks fell and blocked the door. I tried to climb over. Some were slippery so I put down my bag and got out a 20m long ladder and used it to climb over the rocks and had freedom!!
Author Zane

Running to the pantry I opened the doors. Suddenly the Nutrigrain exploded. Nutrigrain was flying everywhere and a door appeared. It looked like it was scratched everywhere. The door handle was a little bit bumpy. I inspected through the key hole. I could see someone peering through the key hole staring back at me. I jumped back because I was scared. It had a sticking out nose. It's eyes were sky blue colour. I was very very scared. My hand slowly went to the door knob. I step my first step on to the land. Suddenly I turned in to a rectangle and square. I walked to a villager. I pushed him. He started to chase me. I ran to Steve. He talked to me he said " Can you help me find an Endemen please?" "Ok" I said. A Endemen is a black with blue eyes man that can teleport. "But I don't have any weapons" I said. "I have spare weapons" he said. "Here they are". He chucked me an iron sword, iron pick axe, iron axe and bow and arrows. "I am ready" I tell him. So we set off. Every night we were looking for an Endemen but one night we wanted to sleep. Something said "There is an Endemen near by". We got out of the tent. I looked behind the tent. There was the Endemen. I kill him with my sword. He dropped an endepearl. We dug so we can find a cobblestone dungeon. Finally! We found one at last. We made an Eye of Ender ( an Eye of Ender is just a little bit like an Enpold but you can't teleport ). But suddenly the door appeared. I said "Goodbye Steve" and he said the same. I went through the door and back home.
Author Thomas

I was walking through the Hamilton Zoo suddenly...a door appeared through the netting. I wonder where the door came from? I went, being brave, up closer to the door. I touched it. It was all bumpy and scratched. Step step step I went to touch the door handle. I touched it. Owww! It was slimy and slippery . Phew! I managed to get the door opened. I went inside. Arrggh! I was very anxious before I had my first step inside. I stepped inside. Pffff! I got covered in snow but I was in. Yipee!. "I'm in, I'm in, Yay!" I realised I was in the snow forest. Pfff! another plonk of snow fell on me. Before very long "Aaaarggh" A snow wolf popped put of no where. It was growling at me. Suddenly I ran off the door popped up from no where. I figure out that was THE door. The snow wolf kept on chasing me. I couldn't take it any longer so I ran to the door in time. Quickly! I got there in time to slam the door on the wolf's face "Errrrr!" It was hurt. Ohhh! I wanted to help it but I didn't want to go back in there. Suddenly..."Where have you been?" said my Mum "Let's go home".
Author Caitlyn

Investigating Levers

We were investigating how levers work. We began by finding out what happens when a lever has a little force compared to having a large force. Our prediction was right. The stronger the force on the lever the further the tinfoil ball went.

Our next investigation was to find out if it makes a difference where the lever is placed on the fulcrum. We played, observed and debated this. We ended up agreeing the longer the lever with the load the further the ball traveled.

We finished with a competition of trying to work out the right force to score a goal in the cup. There were quite a few goals scored but only one caught on film.   

Fulcrums And Levers from tracey hill on Vimeo.

Levers

We are learning about levers.
We watched this video and it made us think about levers we use everyday.  

There are many everyday things that have levers. We have learnt about fulcrums and pivots and how they work.

The Kidd-li-winks brainstormed some of these and drew diagrams.

Sea saw by Bella

Scales by Emma

Hammer by Czar

Human arm by Neesha

Crane by Gemma

I have put this movie on by popular request. We watched this when we first began our unit about forces. We laughed and laughed and laughed. I wonder if any of the forces in here are levers? 

Punting

We have been learning to punt a ball

It was our first time learning this skill. 

The success criteria we have so far

* Keep your eyes on the ball

*Drop the ball do not throw it up

*Kick with the part of your foot where your laces would be

*Follow through with your foot 

Watch for Neesha's cameo performance.

Punting from tracey hill on Vimeo.

We improved so much during PE. I wonder if we can learn to punt accurately?

Problem solving in the Sand pit

In the sand pit the Kidd-li-winks had to problem solve to lift an ice cream container of sand to find out what was written under the container. They were not allowed to touch the container with any part of their body. There was a box of different shaped blocks to use if they wanted.

Look at the photos to see the Kidd-li-winks thinking.

 

The Kidd-li-winks made different kinds of levers to lift the ice cream container- they found this was the most effective way to read what was on the bottom of the container. They even used a fulcrum to lift the containers (that is the bit of wood they used to make their lever work better).

What levers can you think of that we use everyday?

After they lifted each container they needed to write down each word they found on the bottom. When finished all the words together made a sentence.

There was a lot of problem-solving and working well together. Kidd-li-winks you should be proud of your learning. 

Building Vocabulary

The Kidd-li-winks are always working on building their vocabulary. One of our challenges was to choose a word we learnt the meaning of when we were reading and create a bubble map on the app Inspiration. We know we have to use, hear a word lots of times for us to remember it. 

Created by Caitlyn

Created by Bella

Created by Zane

Created by Jeevanjot

Created by Max

Created by Ruby

Created by Emma

It was our first time using inspiration. Mrs H has learnt something too. I have learnt how to crop the pictures on the i-pad so we only get the part we want. The Kidd-li-winks will do this next time they use this app. 

A HUGE BIG THANK YOU TO THE DIGI-LEADERS FOR COMING AND HELPING US LEARN HOW TO USE INSPIRATION. YOU ARE AMAZING!

Key Hole

The Kidd-li-winks used the skills they have learnt to create a door with texture. They used a special technique to create texture. Before painting the Kidd-li-winks ripped up masking tape and placed it on their paper where they wanted it to stay white. After painting they ripped off the masking tape and it helped to make their painting look like real wood. The children tried to create different kinds of wood eg. birch, rimu.

The next challenge was to create a world through the key hole. It could be anything...the Kidd-li-winks used their imaginations well.

Here are some of the worlds you can find looking through the key holes in Room 8.

Artist Max

Artist Caitlyn

Artist Emma

Artist Bella

Artist Mya

Artist Thomas

Artist Jerome

Artist Bowen

Artist Ruby

The Kidd-li-winks all worked really hard to make their worlds the very best they could be. They were all very proud of their efforts.

The authors in Room 8 are busy writing about their adventures through the key holes. Come and read some amazing adventures.