Room 6 at St Joes: February 2018

Friday, February 23, 2018

Kapahaka on Fridays!

One of our favourite times of the week - Kapahaka!

We've learnt a strong haka and a beautiful song so far 😃

For three weeks we are starting our Friday mornings with Kiwisport - this is taken by Naomi from Sports Activator. The past two weeks have been really great, with a large focus on co-operative games and having fun as a class. We are looking forward to next week already!

Friday, February 16, 2018

During READING time next week...

The students will be learning many strategies to help them with understanding what they are reading.We will be using a toolbox concept; with each strategy being a different tool that they can use to help them.

Room 6!

So many hilarious and beautiful personalities starting to shine through!

Bring on 2018!

Sharing our work!

One of my favourite things about our Room 6 class is how supportive they are of each other. Here are a few photos of the students sharing their creative writing in small groups.
This writing task is purely based around creative ideas and quick thinking. It is a timed activity where the children do not need to get hung up on spelling/punctuation/vocabulary choices...instead they read the given sentence starter...write, write, write their wacky ideas down...and then edit afterwards.

Our school wharenui!

Area 1 at school is now our Wharenui.

As the senior class, we have been tasked with creating an entrance way for our school wharenui. Because of this we have been learning about what a wharenui is and what it represents.

Representing the body of a tupuna, or ancestor, the wharenui is built with great symbolism. An explanation of some of the parts wharenui named in the picture, are below.

The tekoteko at the top of the whare usually represents the ancestor, who the whare is usually named after.

The koruru under the tekoteko usually represents a direct descendant of the ancestor

The maihi coming from the sides of the tekoteko as well as the raparapa at the end of the maihi, represent the arms and fingers of the ancestor.

The amo coming down from the sides of the maihi represent the sides of the ancestor.

When you enter a whare, you are not entering an ordinary building, but the body of an ancestor, whose arms (maihi) are outstretched, ready to embrace you.

INQUIRY!

Term One Inquiry focus:
What can I do to help improve our environment?

We have made a start on our inquiry learning. We began learning about the BIOSPHERE and have now moved to the HYDROSPHERE. Eventually, we will reach a point where are investigating and inquiring into how we can each make a small change in our lives that will have a positive impact on one of the four spheres. Watch this space!