Matariki: Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence Nic and Scott's Group

Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence Defined. Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman,the developers of the personal strengths classification, define the appreciation of beauty and goodness as “the ability to find, recognize, and take pleasure in the existence of goodness in the physical and social worlds.”

Today we had a focus on the character strength of Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence. We worked across the school in Whanau groups. 

Kyla (Solly's mum) worked with students to make Maro for Matariki.

We took photos of  things that we think are beautiful from around the school. We made these into a collage. You can see this next week at our Arts Celebration. Please make sure that you visit all of the spaces in the school to look at all of the wonderful learning that we have been doing.

We also created a piece of found material art inspired by Andy Goldsworthy.



We also loved the opportunity to work with the artist Stan Chan.

Matariki: An Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence - Susie, Chris and Gillian

This morning our wonderful bunch started off the day by wandering down to our magnificent Worser Bay beach. Along the way we admired and reflected on all the beautiful sights, sounds and smells that were all around us. We all agreed that we really are so lucky to be surrounded by all of this beauty.

 

 

After morning tea we got stuck into some collaborative art pieces. With a buddy, we made a 'Thankful Tree' and created some Matariki stars to hang on a massive mobile. Our Thankful Trees show all the things we are thankful for in our lives - we thought really hard about what we were thankful for. Each Matariki star was connected to either the land, sea, river/lake, forest or our families and aspirations. 

 

Our collaborative art pieces will be siplayed around the school next week during our Arts Celebration.

We were also super lucky to have Janet run a yoga workshop with us. The yoga helped us to tune into our bodies and thoughts and gave us a clear, calm mind heading into the afternoon.

Thank you to all those parents that helped us out today. We really enjoyed your company! We really are so grateful for all the sensational things surrounding us, at home and at school.

Our Playground

We have been having a wonderful time collaborating, being creative and using teamwork to move and build with the driftwood that we now have in the playground. We have been thinking, connecting, being problem solvers and negotiating to make decisions about how and where to build our tree huts and forts.

Super Heroes

Displayed around the room we have some beautiful writing and pictures showing the super powers we would have as superheroes. Our super powers are based on our character strengths. Come and read about the "keep trying" girl who had to use perseverance, the "helper" who used kindness and the "powerful learner" who got nervous and had to use bravery.

Matariki Legends.

We have been using our character strength of "Creativity" this week to make up our own Matariki legends. Have a read:

Once upon a time there was a shiny sky father and a rocky earth mother. They were attached together but Maui pushed them away. Maui was mad and he threw seven rocks in the air. They turned into stars and that is the story of Matariki.

In the beginning it was dark and gloomy. Pigeons ate sand. Sadly the pigeons died but Tane did not want the pigeons to die so he magiced them alive. They flew into the sky and that is how Matariki was born.

Once upon a time seven starfish went into the water. A rock banged into the white moon. The moon came too close to earth and the water came up, up and up and the starfish came with the water. That is why the seven stars are in the sky.

In the beginning there were seven kites and they flew too high and went into space. They all turned into stars. That's why the Matariki stars shine.

Once upon a time there was a rocket ship and it zoomed so fast that it created stars. They are known as Matariki and they are special.

In the beginning the nights were very dark. One day Tangaroa got very angry because the starfish stuck onto her. She angrily pulled off the starfish and threw them into the sky. The starfish came together and made Matariki. So in June on a clear night you can look into the night sky and see Matariki.

Wig Wednesday

Today we showed our bravery, sense of humour and creativity when we wore our wigs to school to remember all the children who have had cancer and especially those who have lost their hair during their treatment. We also showed our kindness and generosity by donating money to the Child Cancer Society. Thanks to all those families who sent along a donation.

The Haast Eagle

The Shooting Spiders have been learning about the Haast Eagle.



Here are some chalk sketches ....