Term 3 Week 1

 Kia ora e te whānau. 

Welcome to term 3. We have started the term with 3 new students, so we welcome them to our Room 15 whānau. This week we have had a number of students away but that hasn't stopped the rest of getting straight back into things.

We were lucky enough to have the percussion group, Strike, visit our school. They put on an amazing show playing many different types of drums. They even had a Fire Routine that kept us on the edge of our seats.

            

Our Fact-a-thin Fundraiser Booklets were sent out this week. We can practice our facts at home to get ready for Fact-a-thon Friday, when we will do the test. Any form of sponsorship will be greatly appreciated. 

A reminder that our Kanohi ki te Kanohi is on Wednesday next week. Please book a time if you would like a catch up. It will be a great opportunity to finally meet up and discuss how things are going.

We have our museum trip next week. We need all of the permission slips returned to school to allow the children to come. Thank you for all of those that have got theirs back already and to those who have offered to help on the day.

In week 4 we have another class trip. This time to the Kukutāruhe Gully and Stream. The permission slips were sent home this week. Please get those back as soon as possible. Due to the nature of the visit more parent helpers will be required. Any assistance on the day will be awesome.

I look forward to having a kōrero next week.

Ngā mihi

Matua Taki

Term 2 Week 10

 Kia ora e te whānau

Well that's a wrap of term 2. We had a number of children away but with no teacher in room 14 or 20 we had some other students join us for the week. This week we worked on our instructional writing. The children made themselves a paper plane and then had to write step by step instructions on how to make it. They gave these instructions to a buddy who then tried to read the instructions and make the paper plane.

Our reo Māori has been growing steadily throughout the year. We rounded off term 2 by using kupu (words) and sentence structures that we have learned to have a mihimihi (greeting) conversation. Maybe we can practice at home and teach our whole whānau?

Using digital technology we began to learn coding. As a class we logged onto a national online digi-tech conference that introduced us to the basics coding. We are lucky enough to have some robots in our Tōtara team so we were able to practice writing code and then inputting it onto the robots. You can check out the coding app here. We had a lot of fun making our robots move around and even play a tune.

Enjoy your whānau time over these holidays. Stay safe and have fun, and I will see you all back ready to roll in term 3.

Mauri ora!

Matua Taki

  

Term 2 Week 8

 Kia ora e te whanau

This week we have been practicing our digital awareness to research what the stars of Matariki represent in te ao Māori (the Māori worldview). In small groups we chose a star and searched online for information and pictures. We then made a Google Slide to present our findings to the class.

Mānawatia a Matariki!

Celebrate Matariki!

Mauri ora

Matua Taki

Term 2 Week 6

Kia ora e te Whānau

This week was Support Staff Appreciation Week. In Room 15 we have a number of staff the help us in our learning journey. Our Learning assistant - Tomo, our weekly release teacher - Whaea Monika, our reading support teacher - Mary, the library staff  Cathy and Madeline, and our admin team - Sue, Sara and Cathy. We made some thank you cards for each of our support staff and went around the school delivering them as well as singing a waiata to them. We had great fun and the the support staff were very grateful.

 

Ka mihi ano ki a koutou, e te whānau, mō tā tātou awhina (Thank you whānau for your support also).

Mauri ora

Matua Taki

 

Term 2 Week 5

Kia ora e te whānau

Our Matariki haerenga (journey) continued this week with the Play, Make, Create book - The Little Kiwi's Matariki. We learned paper mâché which we used to create characters from our book. We make Kiwi, Weka, Ruru, Tui and Katipō.

This week we focused our writing around a traditional Māori game that we learned called Mauī/Matau. The children enjoyed the game and it showed through in the work with some great pieces written.

We finished the week with our pajama day. We had a lot of fun while raising funds for our new Pūtikitiki playground.  

Have an enjoyable long weekend.

Mauri ora

Matua Taki

Term 2 Week 4

Kia ora e te whānau.

It was good to be back in the class after being in isolation all last week. We have been continuing our Matariki haerenga (journey), reading our Play, Make, Create book - Matariki Breakfast. It tells the story of Kara who celebrates Mātariki with her whānau while sharing kai (food) and telling stories.

We focused our writing around our own celebrations. This included big events like Eid, Boxing Day, and birthdays as well as smaller but just as important celebrations, like winning a game and getting a new toy.

We finished the week with a bit of Matariki art which looks awesome.

Mauri ora!

Matua Taki

Term 2 Week 2

 Kia ora e te whānau

With all the beautiful weather we have been having, this week was a gentle reminder that winter is coming as we were hit by a cold snap. 

It was New Zealand Sign Language week and as a class we practiced some waiata in sign (Mā is white & Pepeha).

We continued with our Matariki Pūrākau (stories) with The Seven Kites of Matariki. Sticking to the kite theme we read Daphne Lister's poem, The Kites, and finished the week by making our very own kites.

Ngā mihi

Matua Taki

Term 2 Week 1

 Kia ora e te whānau

I hope the break was nice and you are all refreshed and ready to roll for term 2. We were straight into our school and class routines and I know we are only in week one but that holiday seems like a long time ago.

We have 2 new additions to our room 15 whānau, Tianna and Oceanaia, and they have fitted in seamlessly with everyone being very help and welcoming which is good because after all, it is a part of our class treaty.

We started looking into Matariki this week with our Play, Make Create book being Flit the Fantail and the Matariki Map. We completed some writing around directions from room 15 to another location in school. We read these out loud for students to visualise a map in their head and guess where they were being directed to. We also linked the piwakawaka to our poem of the week which had a focus on onomatopoeia. For our sketching we headed to the nature trail to sketch some trees and lo and behold, a piwakawaka came down and visited us. We finished off the week by making our own piwakawaka that the children have brought home.

         

Kapa haka was back on this week. We sung many waiata and began learning their actions with the help of Whaea Penny. 

                                       

 Check out Seesaw for our lovely messages that the children have written for you mums. Enjoy the weekend whānau mā, especially our mums on Sunday. I hope it is relaxing and you are spoilt from the whole whānau.

Mauri ora

Matua Taki

Week Eleven

Kia ora e te whānau

Finishing week 11 brings with it the end of term one. The term has been a bit disrupted with everything that has been happening. Even so, in room 15, we have manage to create some great connections and relationships, have a bunch of fun, and I think we even managed to learn a thing or two. 

With ANZAC falling in the holiday we had a bit of a focus on it this week. We learned The Ode, in English and Te Reo Māori. We also made some ANZAC silhouette art, which looks awesome in our room, and made some poppies to give to the students of Room 16.

The holidays are now here so enjoy your whānau time, be safe, have fun, and I will see you all refreshed and ready to go in term 2.

Mauri ora

Matua Taki

Week Ten

Kia ora e te whānau

This week rocked! We read and watched some pūrākau (legends) about Māui. From this we wrote character descriptions about him using adjectives and similes to help create a clear picture for the reader. During our Play, Make, Create this term we have covered a number fun things so this week we painted rocks to represent something that we have learned during this time. 

There are aniwaniwa (rainbows), butterflies, caterpillars, tuna (eels), te Marama (the moon), te Rā (the sun), volcanoes and more. And they are all tau ke (awesome).

This week we also began to increase our digital literacy. We have been practicing using Google Drive, making our own student folder, and creating new Google Doc where we type our work. We have even learned to change the font, the colour and size, and how to bold words. Most importantly though, we have learned to ctrl z, to undo our work when we accidentally delete it.

A reminder, we have our school photos on Tuesday 12th, April. If you would like your children to wear some nice clothes for the photos, please pack them some spare clothes for them to play in. This way they will not get their nice clothes dirty before the photos are taken.

One more week to go!

Mauri ora

Matua Taki

Week Nine

 Kia ora e te whānau.

This week we had a refocus on friendship and we read the Play, Make, Create book, We are Together. From this we did our writing about what makes a friend. We used adjectives and similes to describe the characteristics of friends. We also made a great list of things that we do with our friends that we enjoy. We finished the week by choosing a friend from our class and making a friendship card for them.  

                                 

We then secretly read our card to our friend on their Seesaw accounts. Have a look at Seesaw to see what your child's friend wrote about them. At the end of the week we revealed who had made the cards and gave them out for everyone to take home.

Kia pai te rā whakatā (have a good weekend)

Matua Taki

PS. We have school photos on Tuesday, April 12. We will send home information next week.

Week Eight

Kia ora e te whānau.

Week eight has been great! We have continued learning pūrākau (Māori legends) with our Play, Make Create book this week - Tuna and Hiriwa. From this we created some great reflection art (check out the children's work on Seesaw). 

We watched a small clip of Matua Taki's pet Tuna (eel), Eelvis, and learned about the life cycle of Tuna.

                   

Our poem this week was about the long journey Tuna make out into the pacific ocean to spawn, and how the young return all the way back to Aotearoa.

Kia pai te rā whakatā (have a good weekend).

Matua Taki

Week Seven

 Kia ora e te whānau

Another week down. This week we had a focus on āniwaniwa / uenuku (rainbows). We started with our Play, Make, Create book - Who Stole theRainbow? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y-UINrNkXc). When our book went missing from our classroom, we finished the week with a scavenger hunt around the school to find out Who stole 'Who Stole the Rainbow'? The children had a lot of fun finding the clues and figuring out the code to solve the crime.

We also practiced ngā tae (colours) in te reo Māori, wrote a rainbow poem using similes and adjectives, and we wrote and sung our own My Tae waiata (My Colour Song). Check out Seesaw for some of the work we created).

We also looked at a few pūrākau - Māori legends. Maybe your children can tell you about Māui, Paikea, Hatupatu and Tāne-māhuta. We even played a little game posing as each of those legends. We will investigate a few more legends next week and add them to our game.

This was the last week of our kauhoe (swimming) sessions. We had a lot of fun learning and improving our skills in, on and around the water. Though we will miss it, we will not miss those chilly 9am swims.

Kia pai te rā whakatā (have a good weekend)

Matua Taki

Week Six

 Kia ora e te whānau

Week six was Māra (garden) week in Room XV. We ventured out to observe the caterpillars on the swan plants and to check in on the progress of our school's kitchen māra. Our poem of the week was about butterflies, which you can read in your child's poem book, and our Play, Make, Create book was called The Scariest Thing in the Garden. We made some flowers for our friends and whānau, did writing about things we heard, saw, and smelt in the māra, and we did sketches of sunflowers. Don't forget, you can check out some of your children's work on Seesaw.

A big thank you to all of the parents for making time to chat with me this week. It was nice to kōrero (talk) and to get more insights into your children's lives, and of course for you to learn a little about me. Hopefully in the near future we can actually meet face (mask) to face (mask). In the mean time if you have any pātai (questions) fell free to contact me.

Ngā mihi ki a koutou.

Matua Taki

Week Five

 Kia ora e te whānau

We had a number of children away this week, we hope you are all doing well and we look forward to you all returning. We got out and about with our usual swimming and outdoor adventures, but this week included a visit to the library. With the renovations in room 5 and 6 complete it meant the library was back in business. We had a good time reading books and playing games, and the year 4 students were also able to issue books out to read at home.

Our sketching activity involved heading onto the Tōtara whenua courtyard to create shadow drawings. We used chalk to trace the poses of our buddies shadow, and then we went around to see if we could fit ourselves into each others shadows. To finish off we decorated and coloured in our shadows. 

We finished off the week with our Play, Make, Create book - Going Places, which is about a go cart race. We decided to make mini go carts that were powered by balloons. Check out Seesaw for some pics of the children's cars and how we made them. 

We raced them inside and outside and then the children got to take them home. If you would like to try building one check out this link: Balloon Car. 

Hopefully we see more of us next week.

Kia pai te rā whakatā (have a good weekend)

Matua Taki

Week Four

 Kia ora e te whānau

Our mahi (work) this week included our focus on Tūrangawaewae (belonging). We completed our portraits and have been working on our pepeha. If you haven't had the chance yet get onto Seesaw and check out the children's portraits, they look tino rawe (very awesome). 

 

As well as Seesaw, we also have Mathletics accounts where the children are free to go online and complete some math activities. The log-in details are inside the children's reading log books. 

We have been working on Mathletics in class and applying some of our math strategies in a range of math board games and math card games.

A reminder that our 'Kanohi ki te kanohi' (face to face) teacher/whānau meetings have been cancelled. This will be replaced with 10 minute phone conversations scheduled between 3.30pm-7.30pm from the 7th-10th of March.

Please follow the link to book a time and put in your preferred phone number. 

https://www.schoolinterviews.co.nz/code/hsp55 

Booking code hsp55

Ngā mihi

Matua Taki

Week Three

 Kia ora e te whānau.

This week started a bit all over the place, literally. With the storm last weekend leaving a trail of destruction we put on our Scientist 'hats' and went exploring. We made observations and predictions as we gathered evidence about why and how things came to be scattered around our kura (school). 

We have also been learning about statistics. We have been gathering and sorting data, as well as communicating our findings from the data. We made some great observations and came up with a number many to sort our information.

We got online with Seesaw, as you may have seen, and completed a couple of activities on there. If you have not had look, go and check it out (our log in information was sent home last week). I really enjoyed our sketches of Mrs. McKenzie

Next week we have swimming instructors in to help so our schedule has changed. We will swim on Tuesday and Thursday which we do not usually do so please remember togs. 

Kia pai te rā whakatā (have a good weekend).

Matua Taki

Week Two

 Kia ora e te whānau

Another short week but plenty of mahi (work) being done. We learned about Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi) which lead us to make our own class treaty. We have it displayed on our wall along with all of our 'signatures'.

The weather was tino wera (very hot) again this week so it was nice to be in the pool. Again, thank you for remembering your togs. We got out to continue our ball skills focusing on overhand throws and catching. The children had a lot of fun trying to throw their ball at the teacher (me), as I ran the gauntlet.

A reminder that we have sent home our whanaungatanga (relationship) notice. It would be greatly appreciated if we could fill in what we can and return them to class. We will be working on our  Tūrangawaewae unit over the next few weeks and these can help us make connections. Thank you to those that have done this already. Also a reminder that if we have a pencil case at home could we please bring it to school, they will be useful too.

Ngā mihi ki a koutou (thank you all)

-Matua Taki

Week One, All Done.

Kia ora e te whānau. 

What an awesome start to the year in what is a very different school environment. The tamariki (children) have adapted and adjusted well, and we have had a good time building whanaungatanga (relationships) and getting to know each other. 

 PS. A shout out to all of our parents and caregivers as every student had their togs to start our swimming program. Mihi atu ki a koutou! (Thank you all!)