Throwing and Catching

We have been working on some strategies to help us throw a ball to someone safely and to catch the ball. Evie said she was very proud of the first time she was able to catch the ball. We had to help each other to make sure we had success. It was awesome!!

Hot Kiwi Chips!

As part of our inquiry we continue learning about things special to NZ. We used some Maori potatoes to make some hot chips. They were purple and looked very different. Most of us were brave enough to try them but some were not so sure. Would you try them?

Mapping New Zealand

During Pataitai time we can use playdough to make landscapes filling in the outline of the New Zealand Map. We then have to put the person where we think Wanaka is.

Buddies

On Wednesdays we have buudy time. Our Year 5 buddies read us stories and spend time with us making or doing different things. Soemtimes we just read to each other but other days we play sports, make craft things, write stories, or investigate something to do with inquiry learning.
Buddy time has proven to be very valuable in assisting in settling new children to school, having more familiar faces to approach in the playground.
Skills we get include security in knowing more people in the playground, respect from others, recognising children as teachers.
Skills the seniors get include practise in introducing themselves to others, how to read to someone else, prepare for a lesson, give clear instructions, communicate effectively, how to socialise appropriately with other children, how to teach and then reflect on their experiences.

It is a very special time in the week that we all value immensely.

World Cup Rugby Ice Cream



Bonnie




Eva



Evie

Jack

Jamie



Melody

We made our own vanilla ice cream and added black jellybeans. The jellybeans represent the all blacks rugby ball. It was very tasty and lots of fun to make. We had to use maths to measure accurately, reading to read our recipe, science to turn a liquid into a solid and technology to invent something new. What a lot of learning!

Our Haka

haka, ( Maori: “dance”) Maori posture dance that involves the entire body in vigorous rhythmic movements, which may include swaying, slapping of the chest and thighs, stamping, and gestures of stylized violence. It is accompanied by a chant and, in some cases, by fierce facial expressions meant to intimidate, such as bulging eyes and the sticking out of the tongue. Though often associated with the traditional battle preparations of male warriors, haka may be performed by both men and women, and several varieties of the dance fulfill social functions within Maori culture.

The best known Haka of them all is called "KA MATE". It has been performed by countless New Zealand teams both locally and internationally. It was adopted by the NZNRU [New Zealand National Rugby Union] and performed by them at every local and international match since 1906.

Haka are also performed by some other New Zealand national teams, such as the Kiwis (rugby league), the Tall Blacks (men's basketball), the Ice Blacks (men's hockey), and most recently the New Zealand Lacrosse team.^[1][2]

Our thinking about learning

Last week we had discussions, as part of our Pataitai Time, to think about what learning is. It is interesting that the children came up with all of the above ideas on their own.

Cross Country Training in Paradise

Today we walked our cross country track in preparation for training which begins tomorrow. We are running 500m up and downhill, across pathways then through a finishing line of cheering people to help keep us going to the end! 

Look how we learn maths!!

Online games linked to our blog so we can learn the same things at home as we do at school.

We use mats to help us make sets, add 2 numbers together, or write number sentences.



We use foam shapes to work collaboratively making patterns, tessalations and learn about shape attributes.  



We play twister using dice so that we can practise reading numbers, matching number patterns to written numerals and recognise patterns to 10.

We use whiteboard mats to practise writing numbers the correct way and reading numbers that we write.

We use the mimio, which is like a big touch screen, to play online games practising basic facts and number knowledge while having fun.


Can you think of fun ways to leanr maths at home?
We would love to hear about it.

Some ideas to try:
Make pairs with shoes and socks
Set the table counting the number of forks, knives etc.
Count the number of door handles in the house.
How many steps to get from the lounge to bed?

Our Inquiry Learning

Welcome back everyone and a special welcome to our new entrants who started school this term.
We are very excited about finding out about New Zealand and what it means to be a New Zealander. Our inquiry question is 'What makes New Zealand Unique?'. When the world cup begins we will be following some of the countries and comparing them to see what makes them different from our way of living.