Can Ice Cream be Breakfast?

This week we have been very fortunate to trial out the School Kit: Can it Ice Cream? 
Our kids loved this unit, we took a scientific approach to it and the kids learnt a lot about heat transfer and how this contributes to changing liquid to solid. The kids were convinced that ice cream could not be a breakfast, but a few clever ones found some research that proved that having something cold like ice cream actually shocks the system into alertness and causes them to wake up and be more focused. Who would have thought!!

None of our kids were brave enough to try the baked beans, Marmite or miso... believing that salt has no place at breakfast haha. But they really did produce some delicious breakfast flavoured ice cream. We added banana, weetbix and peanut butter to the mix too and found that these ingredients (especially the peanut butter) created a cereal flavour. The kids were mostly very impressed with their flavours, and liked adding oats and muesli to their ice cream mix.

Thank you so much for this amazing experience and giving our big kids a bit of fun for the end of the term #dairynzschools and #schoolkit
Check out the kids individual blogs to see the ice cream they created and how it turned out.

Te Rau Pou Manawa o Kawakawa

This weekend our kapa haka group, Te Rau Pou Manawa o Kawakawa, competed in the Te Tai Tokerau kapa haka regional competition. They performed exceptionally well and came 3rd in the competition, securing them a place at nationals next year.
Words can not express the pride we have for these students and the effort they put into their bracket. If you would like to see their performance go to this link:

https://tehiku.nz/te-hiku-tv/maranga-mai-e-te-iwi-2018/8674/te-raupo-manawa-o-kawakawa

Here are some pictures of our roopu and their beautiful new kakahu.

Swimming in Term 4

We are pretty excited that our pool is open for the remainder of the year. On Wednesday we had our first swim for the summer, although there wasn't many of us, we had heaps of fun. We will be learning swimming and survival skills and are looking forward to cooling down in there as it has been pretty warm lately.
 

Library Opening

Today we had our long awaited opening of our school library. We started our day with a blessing of the building and a walk through. The teachers dressed up as crayons and read the story "The Day the Crayons Quit" to the school. We then had a small parade of the students who dressed up as their favourite book characters then we joined up with a junior class and read stories to them and vise versa. It was great to see tuakana teina happening within our school and they seemed to enjoy reading to our juniors. The teachers also swapped classes to read a story too. It is so good to have our library up and running again and we look forward to getting our own books out next week.

An Outstanding Piece of Writing by Mase

Last week we had to do our final writing sample for the year. We had to explain one environmental issue and what could be done to reduce this problem on our environment.

Mase (a Year 7 student) wrote the following piece and did an exceptional job. When it was moderated by other teachers from different schools he ended up with a total score of 38 which puts his writing at a level 5b! That is pretty outstanding!!! We are so proud of you Mase and love the way you write. I look forward to seeing where you go next year!

Rubbish and It's Impact on our Planet

Rubbish is a complete biohazard to the sea,the land and earth itself. It has become such a problem,millions of plastic bags are aimlessly floating out into the sea for another animal to become a victim to it. The epidemic is getting worse,but there are still many,many solutions to wipe the plastic out of the sea for good. Since all the ideas people have thought of,such as the upgrade of technology,the banning of plastic bags and the possibility to find an alternate solution are such common theories to help with the rubbish problem,people should keep looking into those ideas more.

1.The Technology: Technology is advancing very quickly,so it is very likely that tech could help with the problem of rubbish in the ocean and land. There are already inventions in the works such as a multi-million V shaped machine that traps all the rubbish in it,a vacuum sort of machine that sucks up rubbish and transports it somewhere (such as a dump) and a machine that sorts out recycling and landfill rubbish. Although they seem helpful,they’re still not perfect,Such as the V idea,If it’s going to trap the rubbish,is it also going to trap animals in to? So they’re is probably some work needed to the machines,but if done correctly,it could help a lot.

2.Ban Plastic Bags: The idea of banning plastic bags has been an in-and-out sort of question for years,But it is now already being used throughout NZ shops and supermarkets. Some stores require you now to bring a reusable bag to do your shopping,when other stores give you the option of bringing a reusable bag or using plain ol’ plastic bags. It could be a great idea to stop using plastic bags to reduce the amount of plastic going into the ocean,but it still doesn’t get rid of the plastic bags,so that idea may still need some thought into it.

3.Using a substitute: Some food shops are starting to now use substitutes to plastic cups and containers such as coffee cups being made out of plants and using different sorts of containers and wrappings made out of organic things,although supermarkets should start to use more recyclable tin cans for there food,they are still selling chips in plastic,biscuits in plastic and still all of there meat products are wrapped in plastic,so the supermarkets still need work.

In conclusion,Plastic is still a worsening epidemic,but with all the ideas of getting rid of rubbish over the last decade,it seems that people are finally catching on to the problem itself, so there is still a shimmer of light and hope that the plastic can finally just die off.

By Mase

Term 4 Assembly

Today we had our final class assembly for 2018. We had a bit of a Halloween theme since it is the 'Day of the Dead' and Halloween was this week too. We only had a couple days to prepare for this so Mrs Henare and Mrs Cowles are extremely proud of the fun and entertaining assembly our class put it on. We hope you enjoy watching these clips.

Whaea Ruth

This term we welcome Whaea Ruth into our classroom and school. Whaea Ruth is a student teacher in her 3rd year of study with Waikato University. She will be with us for weeks 1-6 and will be doing 2 weeks of full control in that time. So far she has taken reading groups, PE and maths, as well as managing other parts of class life like the roll and break time duties. We hope you enjoy your time with us at Kawakawa Primary School Whaea Ruth!

Te Haerenga - Directions

In our class we have been learning how to give simple directions in Maori. We had to work with a partner, who was blindfolded, and direct them through the maze without hitting the sides. It was harder than we thought, but we had a lot of fun trying to get through. We hope to learn more directional language so we can direct a person to a destination. These are the instructions we learnt. Have a go directing a partner through our maze below and let us know how you did.
 Haere tōtika - go straight.

 Piki ake - go up

 Heke iho - go down

 Ka tu - stop

Kaitataki Tane and Wahine for Kawakawa Primary

Congratulations to Otulea and Leilani who have been named as our kaitataki tane and wahine for our our kapa haka group, Te Rau Pou Manawa o Kawakawa. They were presented with these beautiful korowai that were made by our talented Whaea Whetu. We are so incredibly proud of you two and know that you and the roopu will make us proud when you represent our school in the regionals on the 17th of November.

Share the Road

Today we were lucky to have a group of truck drivers and managers come to school to talk to us about sharing the road with trucks. First we watched a presentation about trucks and how to be safe around them. We learnt that trucks take a lot longer to stop than cars because of how heavy they are, and that when you are around trucks you need to be able to see the driver's face or you are in their blind spot and they can't see you. We learnt how rocks get lodged in tyres and can flick out when driving, also that trucks create a lot of spray (on wet days) and wind when they drive past.

We got to hop into a huge logging truck and play with the air horn (they run out of air when the truck is not going so it didn't last long!) We also looked at where the blind spots were.
Thank you so much to the team for teaching us how to be safe around trucks. We learnt heaps!

Did you know that a logging truck weighs 50 tons, a standard car weighs 1 ton - so 50 cars weigh the same as 1 truck!

Fun Run 2018

This year we decided to change our annual cross country to a fun run. The running track was the same, but we added fun obstacles that students could choose to do if they wanted, or just run straight past if they wanted to be more competitive. We dressed in our house colours and invited our whanau to join in the run for 500 extra points. We had an excellent turn out, the best in years, and we all had an awesome time. Here are a few pictures from our day... so much mud!!

 

Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori Challenge

Te Reo kiriāhua kiriata

This week we have challenged our students to make a te reo selfie video where they share their likes and who they are. As teachers this meant we had to make one first to show them what we wanted. This was a tricky thing for us to do and we had to step our of our comfort zone, but we are pretty proud of what we have achieved.
We hope you enjoy. Look out for Room 5 and 6 sharing their kiriāhua kiriata next week.

Drug and Alcohol Education

This term the Year 7 and 8 students have been participating in a drug and alcohol education programme. The aim of this programme is to educate about the effects that drugs and alcohol can have on the body and hopefully minimize the associated issues that occur in teenage and adult life. So far we have learnt how positive and negative traits can be passed on through generations, especially those linked with addiction, and that as we grow older we need to make positive choices around this. This week we learnt how alcohol affects us. We all walked through an obstacle course normally and then we put on 'beer goggles'. These goggles warped our vision and made us feel what it might be like to be drunk. Although this was fun, we also learnt the negative impact this can have on us, such as injury, alcohol poisoning, poor judgement, organ damage, loss of memory and much more. It definitely pays to avoid it altogether!
Here is a video showing how the goggles affected our coordination and ability to walk in a straight line.

Vessel Challenge to carry coal

To start our Inquiry topic about ' The uses of Awa', we had to get creative. In partners or groups of 3 (no more) create a water vessel that will float for 1 minute and hold 6 bits of coal.

Use the materials provided to build your vessel

• Sticks
• Flax
• Paper
• Material
• Rubber bands
• Balloons

Some of us had success with our vessels holding the bits of coal easily, where some the coal fell of straight away. It was lots of fun and got us thinking about what we could do differently next time to ensure it floated and could hold the coal. Watch out next term as we are going to build rafts to hold us.

Blogging

This term we are revisiting how to write a quality blog post that reflects who we are as learners. We are aiming to write more in depth learning stories that explain what we are learning, how the task/DLO relates to it, how we feel our learning is going etc. We have learnt how important quality blogging can be for reading and writing improvement so need to step it up a bit. We have created a simple guide to help our class go into more depth but hopefully they wont need it for long. Feel free to use it if it helps you too.

SEVENS

We took a girls and boys team to the local Sevens tournament in Moerewa. For most of them it was the first time they had played sevens. The girls had to learn how to tackle, which they picked up easily. It was a great day with some fantastic games. Well done to everyone that participated.

Year 7 and 8 Basketball

We took 2 Year 7 and 8 basketball teams to a tournament in Waipapa. Most of them had never played basketball before and had to learn the rules and how to play. They all did so well and improved with each game. Well done guys.

Room 5 and 6 Carpool Karaoke

We were on assembly last week. We thought it would be fun to do edition 2 of Carpool Karaoke. We had 15 minutes in Mrs Henare's car to come up with our little snippet for the video. It was lots of fun, some of us had to do a few takes as we kept making mistakes. We didn't see it until assembly with the rest of the school and our sneaky teachers and the other teachers at our school had done their own and added them in. It was lots of fun.

We were the Teachers.

We became the teachers at school the other day. We worked in a group of 3 or 4 to plan a shared book activity and a game to do with our junior students. We had lots of fun working with them and getting them to do some fun activities and learning.  We hoped they enjoyed it.

What are we doing to our World?

For our assembly this week we decided to make a video with some of the messages we have been learning about conservation and how we can look after our environment.  We hope you watch and think about what you are doing to make a difference.

Making Paneer Cheese

We have been very fortunate to have received the 'Is It Cheese Kit' from #schoolkit and #dairynzschools this term.  This kit is AWESOME!
We have looked into the different types of cheeses and where they come from, the properties of cheese and how it is made. We understand now how the PH scale works, and had fun testing different liquids to see if they were acidic or alkaline.
Then the fun really began! Today we made our first cheese, Paneer Cheese. It is a pretty easy cheese to make, with simple ingredients and we all got a chance to make our own. We did run out of lemon juice so some groups made it with white vinegar instead, but this did not matter at all. Most of us liked our cheese (we had it with crackers), some found it a little flavourless, and others didn't like it at all. We decided next time we would add a little salt for flavour.
The recipe is on Slide 2, have a go making it. We would love to hear about your experience!

Ki o Rahi

Today we had Casey from Ngati Hine come in and work with us for Ki O Rahi. When it came time for our session it rained so we had to move to the hall. We worked on passing with accuracy and then we played a modified game. It was lots of fun. Hopefully we can get out and have an actual game when it fines up.

School Kit - Setting World Records

This week we are very excited to have received our World Record kit from School Kit. We had a go at breaking some world records and have realised just how extraordinary the people are to have achieved them, although some students think they can beat the fastest heel to toe walk for 10m...this is yet to be proven though! We have looked at the secret formula for creating our own records and next week will make them, record them and hopefully, at least one will be accepted into the Guinness Book of World Records! Our class is having a ball and learning some valuable measurement and statistics skills while they are at it. Thanks School Kit!!! #healthyactivekids #schoolkit.
 

Town Clean Up

Last week our whole school participated in a town clean up as part of our studies on conservation this term. Room's 5 and 6 were in charge of cleaning up the river that runs through our park and at the back of our town. We pulled out so much rubbish, including a shopping trolley! It makes us sad to think that so many people disrespect our environment and are contributing to the poor water quality in our area. We will be doing another clean up at the end of the term so hopefully we find much less rubbish next time.

School Kit 2018

Thank you to Room 21 at Taradale Intermediate for being our buddy class for School Kit's Get NZ Writing for 2018. We loved reading all about you reading your awesome metaphors! Hopefully we can be in touch in Term 2 :)

ANZAC Poems

A couple of beautiful pieces of poetry from students in our class about ANZAC

Swiftly moving across the field Staying on guard, not being held
Running through the smoke and fog
Looking around for a people alike
Seeing nothing, not even a target walking through the smoke
He found a place with shelter and permanent peace.

By Angel


Family members marching towards the danger of war, making the ultimate sacrifice for their country and loved ones freedom. 
Gallipoli, the sounds of soldier’s guns roaring throughout the country.
Troops coming out of their trenches, running and screaming out their battle cries towards the enemy, as many soldiers fall, bleeding out.
Planes would be heard from a few miles away dropping bombs, costing many lives or injuries. Soldiers suffering throughout the hot steaming summer and freezing in the frosty winter.
Silence was hardly made.
They shall never grow old, as we are left to grow old, age shall not weary them, nor years will condemn them, at the going down of the sun, and in the morning. We will remember them.

 By Hana

ANZAC day prepearion

On Friday we went down to the RSA and helped with ANZAC day preparations. We had to make up the boxes that the poppies go in and then put the poppies in them. We had to add the pins to the poppies also. We then took the boxes and walked through town and delivered them to the local shops for them to sell between now and ANZAC Day. It was great to be able to help out in our community.

River Poem

Some great writing about the River by Malia.

River poem

Don't always blame the river

Silent waters flow through the level land

Crystally sparkles in the sunlight

Through the valleys and into the ocean

The pitter patter of the rain

Speeding up the flow

Enlarging the water amount

The river rapidly runs

Too much rain

Let the water into the ocean

As waves hit upon the sandy banks

There is a storm tonight

Don't always blame the river

Week 10 Certificates

Congratulations to Roxy, Tyran, Flo and David for receiving the class certificates for Week 10.

Sport

Some beautiful writing for Te Aroha. They were given the topic 'Sport' and could choose what style of writing they used.

Certificate Winners for Week 9

Congratulations to Rico, Miria, Ana and Jahnazyah (left to right) for receiving certificates this week. Keep up the great work!

Metaphor Poem

This year we have joined up with School Kit to get NZ kids writing. The focus is on figurative language, in particular writing metaphors. We created a class poem example together and came up with some fabulous metaphors. Now, each student has to write their own metaphor poem using the same template...keep an eye out for them on their individual blogs! We hope you enjoy our poem.

Certificate Winners for Week 8

Congratulations to Payton, Taylor and Vaughan (starting far right). They have been recognised for their awesome work ethic and attitude. Well done girls and keep up the great work!

Swim Safe with Whaea Nikki

This term we have been having Swim Safe lessons with Whaea Nikki. She has been teaching us how to swim constantly for 6 lengths of our pool, how to use life jackets and the importance of staying together in a huddle if we were ever stranded at sea. We learnt how to swim in rough water by making waves and currents with kick boards and how to use different survival strokes when we get tired. All these lessons will be extremely valuable in case of an emergency in the water, which is always a possibility as we live so close to the the ocean and swim often in rivers.

Week 6 Certificates

Congratulations to Kailua, Hana, Noah and Mia who received today's certificates for their hard work this week.

Volvo Ocean Race Education Day

10 students were lucky enough to travel to Auckland to participate in the Volvo Ocean Race Education Day.  We had a great leader Paul who showed us around for the day. We learnt about the impact plastic is having on the ocean and that it is being found in the stomachs of baby Albatross. We all make a promise to try and limit the amount of plastic we use. Say no to plastic bags and straws. Next was our turn at learning to sail. We loved it. It was pretty windy so we went really fast. We met Blair Tuke and Peter Burling. It was an amazing day and we all enjoyed everything we learnt and did. Watch this video with some of the highlights of our trip.

Poi and Haka workshops

For Kapa Haka this year Horrace our tutor wants all the girls to have a set of poi.  In class we decided to start making these. For some of us it was the first time making poi. It took us a long time to get the wool ready and then we found it hard to do the 4 plait and get it nice. We are slowly getting there and we will share the finished product with you when we are done.

SPLAT

We were learning a new warm up today for maths called Splat. We had to quickly find out how many dots and then it gets covered by a splat and we have to figure out how many dots under the splat. It is helping us with our speed and basic facts.

Week 5 certificates

Congratulations to Raharuhi, Dakota, Luke and Jaqueline(who was absent) on receiving this week's class certificates. Keep up the great work.

Types of students

We all have different types of students in our class. We did a skit about some of the funny ones in our class. Do you have some of these students in your class?

Do's and Don'ts

For our item we looked at the right way and the wrong way to do things. We created a Do's and Don'ts skit. It was funny thinking about things we could act out. We had made a video but on the day it didn't work so we had 1 practice then we did it on stage.

Bullying Skit

On Friday Room 5 and 6 were on Assembly. Here is one of the items we did about bullying. It was trying to show everyone that bullying comes in lots of different ways and it is very hurtful to those who are being bullied. Remember to always show respect, responsibility and resilience. 

Introducing the Awesome Students of Rooms 5 and 6!

This year we are participating in the Tuhi Mai Tuhi Atu program to get us blogging and interacting with students from other schools. We are very lucky to be connected with the students in Toki Pounamu at Saint Patrick's Greymouth. We look forward to sharing our work with you all and seeing what you have been learning at your school. (We hope to have a cool name like yours in the near future, we are just trying to find one that fits us.). Bring on 2018! It is going to be a great year!

Our Certificate Recipiants for Week 3

This week our certificates went to Malia, Ryker, Otulea and Leilani. These 4 have stepped up and begun the year with an awesome attitude and great role modelling. Well done!!

SWIMMING HAS STARTED

Woohoo today we had our first swim of the year.