Flax Rock Rocks!

Ezra, the supersonic climber!

We went rock climbing at Flax Rock and we loved it. Highly recommended! Room 6 were enthusiastic rock climbers and showed real Parkvale PRIDE, especially determination and enjoyment. I loved how the students supported each other. Check out their blogs for creative posts about their experiences!

Thank you to all the parents who made this possible!

Matilda showed super determination!

Flax Rock Rocks! - Video Maker

Master Chef Champions!

Master Chef - Video Maker

Our Master Chef day was so much fun! The Minions ended up overall champions, after winning the Brunch and the Spaghetti Tower Challenge. The lunch challenge was a six way tie, because we ran out of time to judge that. I was so proud of how all the tribes worked together, showing teamwork and putting Parkvale PRIDE into action. A huge thank you to the parents who helped on the day. Without you, none of this awesomely engaging learning opportunity would've happened.  

Judges' plates for our Brunch Challenge.

Battle of the Banners

Battle Of The Banners from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

We have our cooking day for Survivor Camp tomorrow. Today the tribes painted their banners. Watch the trailer to enjoy some of their creative process. Which tribe has the best banner? We have yet to vote on this. Your comment will help decide the outcome.

The Warriors

Minions

Green Thunder

Bubble Survivors

Golden Ferns

Blueberries

Tribe Logos

Warriors

Blueberries: Champion logo!

Our Survivor Camp tribes had lots of fun, designing and creating their logos. It was great to see the creativity and teamwork. I think they have all designed logos which represent their tribes effectively. Congratulations to the Blueberries, who won our logo design challenge, after receiving the most votes, beating the Warriors by one vote.

Golden Ferns

Bubble Survivors

Turquoise Minions

Green Thunder

Watch the making of these great logos, in the exciting trailer, "Which Logo Will Survive?".

Which tribal logo do you like best and why?

Which Logo Will Survive? from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Survivor Tribes

The countdown to our Survivor Camp on Thursday has begun. Here are the tribes. Who do you think has the best name? Why?

Perimeter and Area of a Bivvy

Jaidyn's 3D bivvy model

For our Survivor Camp, we are going to make bivvies to sleep in. There is a back-up plan involving tents if they don't quite work out! On Monday, we tried measuring the perimeter and working out the area a bivvy would take up. We tackled this challenge with our learning buddies. Now we are working out how much the perimeter and area would be for a three person bivvy. I am very impressed by the thinking, measuring and problem solving using number strategies!

Now some students are designing 3D models of their bivvies.



Perimeter & Area of a Bivvy from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Kuripapango: A Sneak Preview

Our Survivor Camp is coming soon! This afternoon, I was lucky enough to visit the site at Kuripapango on the lovely Ngaruroro River. Mrs Hardaker, Mrs Roil and I had a great time being shown around by our knowledgeable tour guide, Mr Ford. I even dived into the river in my work shorts, just to you know, check it out. Beautiful!

Here are some snapshots I took on my phone. As always, click on the image for a closer look.

Building Exciting Sentences

The other day we were writing about our caving experience. We have built up our signs of success for moment in time writing. These are to make it exciting to read. For example beginning in the action, short sharp sentences, strong verbs, using the senses and showing personality. As the students typed their first sentences into their Google document, some of them read them aloud into the Explain Everything app on the iPad. We listened back to the sentences and chose our favourite words. Check it out!



Caving Sentences from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Waterfalls and Rain: Aniwaniwa

Aniwaniwa from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Looking at the map, we gain an idea of the places we have been and the places we will go. Rain falls quite heavily, but we are all dressed for it. I say for the 100th time, "well, it is a rainforest" and we head into the bush. Sure enough, the canopy of the Te Urewera rainforest cushions us from direct rainfall, as our enthusiastic troop hikes up the damp track. I love the smell of the forest - I can't quite describe it. Almost nourishing or spiritual. I take a giant whiff like that boy in the story "Beans".  It spells out to me A-O-T-E-A-R-O-A. I feel at home.

First stop, a weta house. Unexpectedly, there are two at home. Maybe they are wiser than us and know when to take shelter. The students converge on the superstar wetas, like rugby players after the loose ball.  A couple of kids manage to annoy each other in their excitement. Time to move on. We can hear the waterfall loudly now and glimpse it through the forest. Piwakawaka (fantails) follow our footsteps, no doubt enjoying the insect snacks we are inadvertently providing them. The track comes to a detour. We stop. This is where we descend to catch a great view of the waterfall. It's slippery and the track will be a challenge. I know Room 16 are up to it. Carefully, we step down, clinging onto roots and looking after each other.

At the bottom is a big flat rock. It makes the perfect viewing platform.The noise is loud and wonderful. It matches our excitement. Everywhere, I see smiling, laughing , enthusiastically chatting faces, with eyes wide open. Children and adults. My camera tries to capture some of the magic. It's good to be outside, in the bush, in the rain, at the bottom of a waterfall. Aniwaniwa translates to rainbow. For a moment, it feels like we have found our own pot of gold.

Perfect Pancakes

On the second day of camp the children cooked all their meals. Each meal was part of the Master Chef competition. We had a Master Chef competition for the groups throughout the day. There were even special judges from Italy and the USA. Watch the video below to see some highlights from the brunch part of the competition. Although it is simply titled "Good Pancakes", these pancakes were in fact perfect!

The extra music in the video was created on GarageBand by a teacher (me) playing with the app and by a student (Samuel) using his guitar skills with the app.

Good Pancakes from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Onepoto Caves: The Interviews

We are back from Camp Kaitawa and we had a wonderful time! A big thank you to the parents who came on camp: Anthony, Bridgit, David, Jason, Narelle and Richard. Without you we couldn't have had a camp and you all helped make it great! Another big thank you to the wonderful Mrs Hill (Mrs H) and her American student Miss Patel. You both helped make our camp enjoyable for everyone! We must also thank the Camp Kaitawa expert, Miss Hill. She came up as a guest during our camp, as she was helping a teacher from Haumoana School learn all about Kaitawa. Her expertise in the Onepoto Caves was much appreciated!

Here is a collection of interviews I captured while waiting in between caves.

Onepoto Caves from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Countdown to Camp Kaitawa!

There are now five more days until we go to Camp Kaitawa. We are all getting pretty excited! Remember to be at school with all your gear by 8.30am on Tuesday.

Here are the camp groups with their logos. I think they did clever jobs. Which one do you like best?

On Thursday, the groups have a cooking day, where they prepare, cook and eat all their own meals. They also need to provide small samples for the judges of the Master Chef competition. Here are their ingredients for the day. Already each group has come up with a proposed menu. I wonder which group will win Master Chef.

Two Weeks Until Camp!

There are now two school weeks until we go to Camp Kaitawa!

The video below has important advice for heading into the outdoors. By following The Outdoor Safety Code, we can enjoy all our outdoor adventures safely. It's from the Adventure Smart website, which is especially for enjoying the New Zealand outdoors. I watched it on Room 17's blog. They go to camp the week before us. 

Mountain Views Part 3: Orienteering

Orienteering from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Horse Trekking

Horse Trekking from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Mountain Views Part 2

Introducing Jacob!



Mountain InterViews 2 from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Carnage Corner

Carnage Corner from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Go Mr G!

Mountain Views Part 1

I have edited together some interviews from camp for a short video. These are all "in the moment" and obviously spontaneous. Part two to follow! I am sure Room 20 will be getting into some video editing in the next few weeks!

 
Mountain InterViews 1 from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.

Back from Camp

Brody, Where Are You? from Kieren Moriarty on Vimeo.
This video is a small taste of our awesome camp experience! A special thank you to our wonderful camp parents, Carla, Jordan, Julia, Sarah and Tom. Without them, we would've not been able to go to camp.

Camp Gear List

Leave a comment to share which thing you are most excited about at camp (like we did at circle time). Then I will copy and paste the comments into a wordle.