Ms Finikin has found some decorated writing paper at sparklebox.com. She had left it on her desk for another group but we older kids had found it. It was an exciting find for us. Meenu did some research on leprechauns while Jennifer wrote three linked stories based on what she found.

Meanwhile, the younger kids had done some guided writing on the table top. They read it back. They were working on writing what they new, copying, letter formation and 1-1 matching as they read it back. The group composed the story together.

Ms Finikin’s box of Lego had prehistoric animals on the side. There were dinosaurs and pteranodons. We worked in pairs to make the creatures. Sometimes we struggled to cooperate but mostly it was fun. We researched our animals and Ms Finikin taught us how to know if it is a dinosaur or not. We learnt that pteranodons are not dinosaurs.

We wrote about our holidays. The ice rink had returned to The Square for the season and many of us went there.

The senior ESOL group illustrated Shimbir by Alan Bagnall. It is the story of a child’s first day in her class and the way her teachers helps her settle in. We talked about what helped us settle in when we first arrived at Hokowhitu School. We presented our story to another class before recording this. The main story was recorded by two of the students in the corridor.

One of our buddies, recently returned from Australia, remembered the crystal rabbit we grew in June 2013. Luckily Mrs Finikin had bought several of these crystal animals for Ms Finkin’s ESOL children so the buddy was able to find another one in the clutter/rich treasure trove of the ESOL room. She introduced it to the group.

Some group members found the dancing wizard. We wondered what it was. We had a play then wrote about it. We discovered it reacts to clapping in front of it.

Ms Finikin showed us two cards she had received for her birthday. They are very cool. We guessed what could be in them. As each of the three ESOL groups were shown the cards individually, it is easy to see changes in language ability based on time spent at our school. Some children were born in New Zealand so speak very well. Some children are in groups based on age.

On the last page of Voices in the Park there is a mug belonging to Smudge. We thought about the type of mug each character would have and designed them.

On Wednesdays we have Super ESOL. This is were all the ESOL groups come together. The students from the senior class are taught how to share picture books and help by listening to reading. We are buddied up and Ms Finikin either gives us reading books and instructions or we choose a picture book, depending on what our little buddy needs. Some or us big buddies used to be little buddies. It is exciting for us to be the big buddies now.

We have been learning about Chinese New Year. Many of us in the group celebrate it. We all know which animal year we were born in. Here are our stories.

Here we are with our red envelopes at Super ESOL.