Our First Kiva Loan

This term we have been learning about Kiva. They are a group that helps people who are starting their own businesses. We can lend money to help these people. When Mr Davidson went to America, he was given some free loans. After learning about things like money, sharing and making a business, we looked at some loans on Kiva. We decided to give to someone who needed money for school, so we loaned to Conchita from the Phillipines. Check out her Kiva profile here, and lend some money if you can. Since it's a loan, you'll get your money back at the end!

You can read more about Kiva at http://www.kiva.org/.

Duffy Books!

This morning the whole school went to an assembly in the hall. A special guest came to talk to us. He was a wrestler, an artist and he writes comic books. He was pretending to be a superhero and he had a mask.

We also got our Duffy Books. We each got 2 very good books that we are going to read at home. Here is how we decorated our box:

It is a polar bear inside of an igloo. Check out our blogs to see the books that we got!

Park and Walk Day

On Thursday, many of the Meerkats participated in the Travelwise Park and Walk Day. Many of us met at the park down the road and a few more met at the church, near the BP. We walked in a big group and even though it was raining we had a great walk together. We even got some hot chocolate for all of our work. Have a look at all the Meerkats who participated:

Shared Writing

This week we did some shared writing in partners. We looked at a picture of two teachers at our school and we wrote a description about them. Here is an example of one, written by Asafo, Dakshesh and Soileti.

The Marvellous Meerkats are Going to Mars!

Today we signed up to have our names go to Mars. Here is a look at our boarding pass:

We all got our own boarding passes. Maybe you can see them on our own blogs. You can sign up yourself right HERE.

Puppet Pals Retelling of The Prince and the Lion

On Friday, Han, Natalia and William used Puppet Pals to retell the story they have been reading this week. They worked together and have made an interesting video. They have improved so much on the last time they did this. I can't wait to see their next Puppet Pals video! (You may even be able to see some of their other work on their blogs!)

Weekly Certificates

Congratulations to Alex and Dakshesh, the winners of our class and Duffy certificates respectively. Both have been amazing helpers all week long. Great work boys!

Tongan Language Week

This week is Tongan Language Week. We each made a pattern so we could make a Tapa cloth as a class. First we traced over a line with a black crayon. Then we coloured it in with each colour. We could choose from black, yellow, red and brown.

Today in class we will be putting pictures of our patterns on our own blogs. Check out who made each square soon...

Blogs, Blogs and More Blogs

Over the past few weeks, we've been slowly setting up blogs for everyone in the class. We've got most of them setup now, and if you want to look at some of the work we've been doing, you can check them out on the left. Feel free to leave any comments, but remember they should be: Kind, Helpful and Specific. Most of the children have uploaded one of their fluency videos. Have a look at how well we can read!

Goodbye Hazelnut and Lunar!

Hazelnut and Lunar had a great time with us, but it was time for them to move on to the next school. Before they left, they got to meet some of the other staff at Rowandale:

With Mr Vasau

With Mrs Tofilau

They also got to see a powhiri for our new teachers. Do you know what a powhiri is?

They are now on there way to Denmark. Here is a map of everywhere they've been and the next school they're going to. Can you name all of the places they've been to so far? They have travelled quite a long way.

We wish them luck on their journey. Thanks for visiting us!