Hoplite Friday

Good evening,

Today was another occasion to break out the shields.


And a good time was had by all!

Have a great weekend,

Mr Grant

Oh, and another thing, or two

Good afternoon,

Again,

I forgot to mention that...

1. We are presenting some money for Jose tomorrow at assembly, so any additional gold coin donations would be very gratefully received.
   
   
2. I'm hoping to have the children complete an assessment on our ancient civilization's topic. Please remind them to think about...
   
   • What two things the Ancient Greek City States and the Roman Empire had in common?
     
     • They both fought lots
     • They both had a government
   • How did they do these same things differently?
     
     • The Greeks fought their neighbours for land
     • The Romans fought everyone for glory and slaves
     • The Greeks had democracy and voted for their leaders
     • The Imperial Romans had a Dictator (Caesar) who no body voted for

Have a nice evening,

Mr Grant

Hoplite Friday

Good afternoon,

Thanks to everyone who was able to turn up this afternoon for our wee Hoplite phalanx demonstration...








...it was fantastic to see you there...and have you throw tennis balls at us!

A big thanks to Melissa, Kerry, Bronwyn, Ginny and Fredrika for the food too, it was delicious.



If you've got any more you'd like to share ('specially video) I'd love to have them.

We also did some fitness...


...and read a book.


Thanks again, and have a great weekend,

Mr Grant

Dress Rehearsal Thursday

Good afternoon,

The children got all decked out this afternoon, and they looked amazing!



Better still, they are getting the hang of this whole team work thing too, which was kinda my point behind it.

They'll look fab tomorrow, I hope you can make it to our Hoplite demo. 12 o'clock start.

And thanks Dale for the helmet, it's brilliant!

Mr Grant

No Photos Tuesday

Good afternoon,

'Twas only after school finished that I realised that I've been too busy during the day to take photos of the children doing stuff.

Sorry about that.

Thank you Dale and Ani for spending so many hours cutting out the helmet components and for coming in this afternoon to fit them on the children. Thanks Melissa for lending a hand with that too. They look way cool!




Speaking of thanks and way cool, Sarah Clapp dropped off the shields that she was painting for me. Thanks Sarah, they look, well, way cool!




And speaking of other way cool stuff, the chitons that Fred made us all, the ones that were sent home to be dyed (or not, no worries) over the weekend, can they please be sent back to school tomorrow and Thursday. I'd like to have a dress rehearsal, of sorts, for Friday's demonstration on Thursday afternoon.

As for tomorrow, well, the room is looking great (thank's ladies!!) and I even managed to find the top of my desk!


You won't see that sight very often!

Thanks again, and see you in the morning,

Mr Grant

Hoplite Shields

Good afternoon,

I've been thinking a bit about what the children will do tomorrow. Something like this...


...but without the pointy sticks.

Further to this, I found these clips fascinating.






For the technically minded among us.

(Interestingly, this fellow plays Crossfire too, just like me and Mr Atherton!)

Don't forget School Photos tomorrow.

Mr Grant

Oh, and by the way, I found this. Could be fun...

The Generosity of Parents

Good afternoon,

Windy, aeh?

This morning saw us veritably awash with parent help, picking out the detail on our shields that our children would have found a bit beyond them.



Thanks guys, this whole Greek shield couldn't have happened with out you.




I must say Dale, using twink was inspired!

After a quick goodbye (and inspection!), we popped outside for a game of Rob the Nest.



They approached it with good humour and fair play. Everyone played by the rules and were cheering each other on. Lovely stuff.

Just prior to hopping outside, we wrote a poem together. Well, two actually.




After morning tea, I then set the children to write their own in pairs, which I'll put up in the room somewhere. If I can find space.








And a good time was had by all!

I won't be in the room on Monday, I'll be doing some ICT stuff here and off site, but remember - SCHOOL PHOTOS!. Come dressed in your best duds - not fitness gear. We'll probably be before morning tea - might see if we can go first, 'cause I won't be here after 9:30.

Have a great weekend,

Mr Grant

It's All Greek To Me!

Good evening,

Sorry for the late post, I've been doing exciting things with Excel!

This afternoon, thanks to many hands making the work light (well, sorta - was to me, I was out doing testing!) the children have applied some paint to their shield designs.


Thanks ladies for your help

And then we had them don on their chitons.





Hasn't Fredrika done well?!

I've sent the calico ones home for you to dye - if you want to! Don't feel you have to, but if you want to, you can dye them in primary, or secondary, colours - but only one colour please. The Hoplights were generally rich, so could afford richer cloth (and armour), but no stripes please!

They'll be needed back at school on Monday.

As for tomorrow, well...ummm...if we have any budding artists amongst our parents...err...ahh...some of their designs need some additional dealing that is, quite frankly, beyond the children...probably.

Like, the unicorns need ears drawn on them so that we can identify which bulge of the design is an ear, and which is the horn. Some eyes might be nice too.

Likewise the hydra, and Galoop...

Soooo....?

Mr Grant

Shield Day Monday

Good afternoon,

And quite a nice one it is too.

I can't believe it's already Week 3!

Well, today was all about getting the children's designs stencilled onto their shields.




They do look pretty cool! Thanks Ani and Bronwyn for coming in to help - that which I thought they'd be able to do themselves...well, some couldn't!

Note to self, if ever I'm mad enough to do this again, stick with simple designs. The Kiwi, Galoop, the Pegasus' and the scorpions have come out fine...as has the crayfish.

Next step is to block paint inside the lines, and then draw in a few details in Vivid - most especially the unicorns and dogs! Any help will be most gratefully received!

CU tomorrow,

Mr Grant

The Generosity of a Wife!

Good evening,

Just inside after Tracy and I finished painting the shields.




I had planned to do it at school, but I was laid down with a migraine after church. Thankfully, Tracy came to the rescue. She went off to school to pick the shields from the Sleemans (thanks for that guys), then came back and started an afternoon's work of sanding and undercoating while leaving me for the drugs to kick in before I could join her.

Thanks hon!

Mr Grant

Room 2 Newsletter for Term 4, Week 3

Good morning,

Here is the Room 2 Newsletter for Term 4, Week 3. Lots of requests for help...

• I'm base painting the shields tomorrow at school.
• The chitons need buttons hot glued on to them.
• The children are likely to need help with their shield stencils, Monday and Thursday afternoons, and Friday morning.

Any offers, please contact me.

Thanks,

Mr Grant

Puppy Friday

Good evening,

Today, whilst we had some help with the stencils for our shields...


...Room 2 read a new poem.

My Puppy Punched Me In The Eye
By Kenn Nesbitt
My puppy punched me in the eye.
My rabbit whacked my ear.
My ferret gave a frightful cry
and roundhouse kicked my rear.

My lizard flipped me upside down.
My kitten kicked my head.
My hamster slammed me to the ground
and left me nearly dead.

So my advice? Avoid regrets;
no matter what you do,
don't ever let your family pets
take lessons in kung fu.

Then off we went outside for a run...well, they did. I kinda ambled...trundled...wobbled?!


After a discussion comparing and contrasting New Zealand and Ancient Greek democracy...


...we carried on with the rest of the day.

Oh, and this just in...


...from NZEI, the Primary Teacher's Union.

For your information. (Looks like you'll have to download it to access the hyper-links)

Have a great weekend - I'm planning to paint lots and lots of shields on Sunday afternoon at school. If anyone wants to join me, please let me know.

Mr Grant

Democracy Thursday

Good evening,

Just back from buying more calico for the rest of the Chitons, the first of which some of the children wore this afternoon as we had the first taste of Ancient Greek democracy...a vote for class leader between two intrepid volunteers.

First they had to state their case...

"I'll give you all icecream!"

"I'll do whatever you want!"

...which the Polis (the community of a Greek city state) carefully considered...



...and voted upon.


Democracy was the winner on the day!


And once again in the morning Room 2 wrote. It was great seeing Kakariki group helping out Whero group so enthusiastically while Kahurangi beavered away.



Mr Grant