Making Manu Taratahi (Part 1)

As part of our learning about Rāhiri, we have been making manu taratahi (kites). Rāhiri got his village to make a massive, long rope out of harakeke (flax) and tied it to a kite. He threw the kite into the sky and where it landed he split Ngapuhi into 2 parts for his sons Uenuku and Kaharau. Our manu taratahi are made out of raupo, harakeke and toi toi. First we had to make a frame for our kite. We did this by tying 3 sticks of toi toi in a triangle shape. We also tied a stick across the top to make it stable and strong. Next, we had to tie the raupo onto the toi toi using a criss cross weave. We have been finding this part really tricky but we have been super resilient and we keep trying. We are impressed with how they are going and are nearly finished. We will show you the finished ones next week (part 2). Here are some pictures of our first steps.

Staying in our Bubbles - Lockdown 2021

 During lockdown, we did lots of mahi. It was really different from schoolwork because we were at home. Our teacher gave us daily tasks that were heaps of fun. We got to go on scavenger hunts, make robots, build huts and reading nooks, creating obstacle courses and games, we used our maths eyes, we had active tasks and crafty tasks.  When we finished our tasks we had to take photos or videos to send to Whaea Dana. She loved seeing all the cool stuff we were doing!

We also had learning packs that we could do in our own time.

We had lots of emotions during the lockdown. Happy because we slept in, had no time limits and we spent heaps of time with our whanau. Sad because we couldn't play sports and we couldn't see our friends and other family (we did video call them though). Mad because we couldn't hug. Bored because we were stuck at home. Frustrated because our siblings were doing their own things and wouldn't play with us sometimes.

We love being back at school, seeing all our friends, and playing with them. 

Here is a slide show of some of the mahi we did during lockdown.

First Aid with Whaea Jo

 Today we were learning how to keep ourselves safe. Whaea Jo from St Johns Ambulance, came in to teach us.

We learnt:

- How to put on a safety helmet properly. 2 fingers from your eyebrows to the top of the helmet. A 'V' by your ear and 1 finger space under the strap on your chin.  You should wear a helmet, elbow pads, wrist braces, and knee pads when you are on a skateboard, scooter, and skates.

We also learnt that when we fall we should try to fall onto our knees then our hands to protect our head.

- If you get a blood nose, you pinch the soft part of your nose, lean forward, and have a tissue to catch any blood. Putting an ice pack on the back of your neck can help cool you down and slow the bleeding. 

- Always ask an adult for help when you are cooking with hot foods or wear kitchen mitts.

- If you cut yourself, or chop your finger off you need to hold a cloth onto it and press hard. Call for help. Put your hand above your head to slow the bleeding. If you have chopped a finger off, put the bit on ice and go to the hospital. They will be able to sew it back on. 

- We learnt about RICE for injuries like bruises or sprains.

R = rest - stop what you are doing and sit down.

I = ice - put an ice pack on it for 10-20 minutes.

C = compress - wrap a bandage around the area to put pressure on it.

E = elevate - lift the area up and watch Netflix for the rest of the day.

We had fun learning how to wrap an ankle with a bandage. We are sure we can do the right thing to keep ourselves safe now.

Magnets and Magnetism

This week we have been learning about magnets and magnetism.  We have learnt that the earth is like a big magnet where everything is pulled to the centre. This is called gravity. We also learnt that things like scissors, paper clips, Countdown tiles, staples and sharpeners stick to a magnet because they are made of metal.  We used a big ring magnet that came out of a washing machine to test this.

We also did an experiment called the floating paperclip. We tied a paperclip to a piece of string and taped it to a table. We built a bridge and taped a magnet to the top. We held the paper clip close to the magnet but not touching. We could feel the force of the magnet pulling the paperclip but it could touch it. This made it look like it was floating.

We think magnets are pretty fun and we are looking forward to doing more experiments.

 

 

Room 16's Stopmotion

 This week, we have been learning about stop-motion animation.

Our task was to tell a simple story using the stop-motion app on our Ipads. To make a stop-motion animation, you have to move an object a little bit then take a photo. Keep moving the object and taking photos until your story is finished. 

We learnt that:

1. If you move the object too far each time it doesn't look natural. You need to move it a little bit for each picture.

2. Do not move or hold the Ipad. It must be still at all times!

3. Make sure there are no people in your background.

4. Before taking each picture, make sure the camera is focused otherwise it is blurry. 

5. You can animate anything, but when you are learning, keep it simple. Only have a couple objects that move. 

Here are some pictures of us making our stop-motion, Whaea Dana will post our animation when she has downloaded them all. 

 

Kupe's Travels

This term, we have been learning about Kupe and his voyage to New Zealand.

We created a Google map that shows where Kupe traveled.

Here are some things that we learned.

1. Kupe was a great chief from Hawaiiki.

2. Kupe followed Te Wheke o Muturangi to New Zealand. He killed him because he was eating all the fish in his village.

3. His wife saw the long white cloud and named our land Aotearoa.

4. He came in from the east coast and first landed in Wellington Harbour.

5. When he came back from killing Te Wheke, he found his daughters had slashed their chests and the blood stained the rocks. These are named The Red Rocks or Pariwhero. 

6. He named the two islands in the Wellington Harbour after his daughters. Matiu and Mākaro.

7. He went to Sinclair Head to gather seafood and collected seaweed to make storage bags for the kai.

8. He travelled around the South Island where he found pounamu as he explored up a river.

9. He started travelling around the North Island and went into the Whanganui River to find people. His servant drowned when he tried to cross the river to collect wild cabbage.

10. He planted karaka seeds at Patea.

11. His family travelled all the way up to the Hokianga where they decided to settle for a while because there was plenty of kai available. 

12. While in the Hokianga, he sacrificed his baby son which turned into a taniwha. He also cursed the place Kohukohu because his hangi didn't work. He left his taniwha Arai-te-Uru and Niniwa to guard the entrance to the Hokianga.

13. Finally, he went back to Hawaiiki. He passed on all his knowledge and his waka to his grandson Nukutawhiti. He brought heaps of people over to New Zealand and this was the start of the great migration. 

Here is our map of Kupe's journey.

https://www.google.co.nz/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1H-g_5oo79Cvn5laMyIfsVaplF_DDzzJ-&usp=sharing 

Term 2 Week 4 in Room 16

 This week has been busy!

First, we learnt to play Ti Uru. Ti Uru is a Maori game where we have to pass the ball to our team members and try to win a point. We win a point by passing it to a person who is standing in a hoop. When we get a point, the hoop is taken away. When all the hoops are gone, that team wins.  Ti Uru is a really fun game to play. We are learning how to catch and pass a ball, how to spread out to give more space, and how to work together as a team. We can't wait for the tournament in Week 10.

Next, we learnt about healthy drinks with Matua Tupara. We learnt that energy drinks have lots of sugar but also caffeine which makes your heart beat fast and can lead to a heart attack if you drink too much. Ribena has the most sugar in it. We should be drinking water and milk only to keep us hydrated.

And finally, today it is Gumboot day. A day to raise money and awareness for depression and mental health. Mike King says that depression is like walking through mud, which is why we wear gumboots.

Did you dress up for Gumboot Day?

 

Pink Shirt Day

 Today is Pink Shirt Day to help raise awareness for anti-bullying. Most of our kura wore pink clothes, but some dressed up really pink! They looked amazing. 

Pink Shirt Day raises money for the Mental Health Foundation.

We can show kindness by helping others, complimenting others, letting other people play our games, using nice words, including others, sharing with others, showing our 3rs (respect, responsibility, and resilience), smiling at people, and being polite. 

Every day, try to give someone a compliment and chuck them a smile if they look sad.

Happy Pink Shirt Day

Footprints of Kupe

 Excitement washed over us as we arrived at Manea - Footprints of Kupe, in Opononi on Wednesday.

Our guide took us on a walk through a garden of carved statues. She told us old stories about the gods and how they helped Kupe on his journey to Aotearoa.  Next, we went into the dark theatre where we watched a terrifying but cool show about Kupe and the Giant Wheke. We felt Te Wheke's tentacles touch our legs and some people were very scared.

We learnt that Kupe sacrificed his baby son who became a taniwha in the Hokianga. We thought this was pretty sad. There are 2 other taniwha at the entrance to the Hokianga Harbour their names are Araiteuru and Niniwa. Tumatuenga the God of war gave Kupe strength so he didn't give up on his journey. Kupe had his best friend Ngahue journey with him on the waka Tawhirirangi.

The trip was exciting and fun, even if we did get a little scared. We are enjoying learning about Kupe.

Room 16's New Students

 On Monday, four new students came into our class, and sadly, we moved three of our friends into Room 1.  Our new students are Year 1 students from Nga Rau Rito and one of them is a Year 3, new to our school altogether. 

We are excited to have them in our class and have welcomed them with kindness and lots of help so they know how we do things in Room 16. 

We look forward to working with them for the rest of the year.