Our thinking into how to spend our class money

Last term Room 16 did a Sponsored Walk to raise money to pay for the visit from the author Talia Evered. It was a huge success and we raised much more money than we needed. This term we have been talking about what to spend the rest of the money on. We decided that the money had to be spent on our learning as that was why people sponsored us in the first place. 

 

We decided to spend our money on a service (an experience for us all) rather than goods (things for the class). We came up with a few ideas and did a secret vote. Rock Climbing got the most votes but after we talked it through, we decided it was not worth spending our money on. Our thinking went like this: 

2 kids can climb at one time. There are 26 kids in Room 16. Say it takes 5mins to climb and 5mins to get in / out of the climbing gear, that means it takes: 
1hour for 12kids to climb 
2hours for 24 kids to climb 
2hours 10mins for all kids to climb 
That is a lot of waiting for only two climbing sessions each. 

We also considered going to Leap, the new indoor trampoline park in Hamilton. But when we looked at the cost, it would cost more than the money we had just for one hour of jumping. 

That is when we decided that we wanted to do something that would be a whole day experience for everyone. We decided on a trip into nature and now had to decide on going to the bush or the beach. 

Arguments for going to the bush… 
I think we should spend out money on going to the bush because we can sketch there and learn about bugs. We can sketch the river and the beetles there too. We can see birds in their nests and sketch the baby birds. Everybody has been to the beach. 
Sophia 

It will be funny if we went to the bush. We can sketch the trees. We can learn all about bugs like ladybugs and bumblebees too. 
Caylee 

I do not want to go to the beach because everyone has been to the beach. At the bush you can learn about the birds. 
Aryan 

I think we should go to the bush. There are redwood trees to sketch. Everyone has been to the beach. 
Darryl 

I think we should spend our money on going to the bush because we can learn about nature. We can play Hide and go Seek in the bush. 
Subair 

I think we should go to the bush. We have all seen a beach. We all should go to the bush because we will see different bees and trees. It is going to be fun going to the bush. 
Tulasi 

I think we should spend out money on going to the BUSH! We can learn about more bugs than we have ever saw before. Who needs to go to the beach in the middle of winter? It’s too cold. The water will touch you and you will feel frozen. It is just too cold. 
Katelyn 

I want to go to the bush because we can sketch trees. We can climb on the mountains. There might be snow on the mountain. I haven’t felt snow before. 
Anika C 

Arguments for going to the beach… 

I think we should spend our money on going to the beach because we might see starfish. I like starfish. I like the beach. 

Ahmed 

I think we should spend out money on going to the beach because we can sketch all of the things that we can learn. I love crabs because crabs snap. 

Kayden 

I think we should spend out money on the beach because you can play in the sand. We might see some crabs. They might be red. The might be under rocks. 

Quartez 

We can see turtles. We can make sandcastles. We can see fish. We can see sharks. We can swim in the sea. We can play hide and seek. 

Nirmal 

I would like to go to the beach because we can play on the beach. We can play ball. I like playing ball. 

Zahaad 

I think we should spend out money on going to the beach because we could dig up the sand and find gold from pirates. We could even find diamonds. 

Cruz 

We should go to the beach because the bush is not fun. People will not like the bush. People will like the beach. The people will have fun at the beach. 

Xzavier 

I think we should have a class trip to the beach and sketch the crabs. I like sharks. They go snap! 

Tyler 

I think we should spend our money on going to the beach because we can sketch sharks. We can draw in the sand. Who wants to go to the bush? There are puddles in the bush. 

Ryan 

I think we should spend our money on going to the beach because we could pick up beautiful shells and see all the crabs underneath the rocks. Also Raglan is not very far away. The bush is a little bit scary because if we walk up the hill we could slip and hurt ourselves. 

Kaya 

I think we should go to the beach because we can sketch beautiful shells. Who wants to go to the bush? There will be very very scary spiders. Some spiders bite. 

Mia 

I think we should spend our money on going to Raglan Beach because we can find pretty shells. Raglan Beach is not so far and we can find crabs. We will discover new things about the beach. If we climb up a hill we could fall down and hurt ourselves and it will be scary. 

Xuan 

I want to go to the beach. The bush is boring. The beach is cool because you can find crabs. I like crabs because they go snap! 

Elias 

I think that we should go to the beach because there will be crabs. The crabs might have shells on their backs. 

David 

Jack had a different idea on what to do with the money and decided to write his argument to try and persuade the class to vote for his idea. 

I think we should spend our money on making a small store to sell things and pay Whaea Eve to bag the things we sell. Whaea Eve can also buy things like clay so we can make things to sell. Then we could use the money we earnt to go to the beach, then after a month we could do the bush too. 

Jack 

He persuaded six people to change their votes and join him – getting more votes that going to the bush. Good try Jack! So it is decided, Room 16 are off to the beach!