KAHOOT IT !

Over the last couple of weeks we have been reviewing our learning in Te Reo by playing a game on Kahoot.



After swimming we are joined by the Year 4 students and we Kahoot It!



It is a very engaging and fun way to reinforce the Te Reo we are learning in class. It is an online game in which the students work in teams and answer questions posted by the teacher. The students then race the clock to lock in their answer to gain points.



This week we have been working on the following phrase

        E hia? How many?

E hia ngā ika?

E ____ngā ika.

Check out the blog for links to NZ Sign Language.

Drumming

This week we have started a new focus for the afternoons ..... Music.



The students will work with a different teacher each session and explore different musical elements. This is in preparation for our school wide performing arts celebration which is coming later in the year.



It is a fantastic opportunity for students to develop and learn new musical skills and strengthen character strengths such as, creativity, team work, perseverance, and kindness (especially when using the drums!).



The rotations are drumming, singing, rakau, and art responses to different musical styles.

Fom the Inside, Out! Understanding my Emotions makes me POWERFUL.

We have been continuing to explore our emotions during our Positive Ed morning this week. Today we read the story 'Kei te pehea Koe'? (How are you Feeling?). We practiced many different emotions to respond with in Te Reo like....

 

Today's focus was on identifying the things that make us feel a variety of emotions. We added ideas to a shared poster and created our own emotions book related to the characters from "Inside Out".

  

Being able to identify how we are feeling and the things that make us feel a certain way, enable us to be powerful across all aspects of our lives.

 

In a recent publication by Baumeister and Teirney called Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, they state that success (however you define it) tends to be accompanied by a couple of qualities. One of them being Self-Control. 

They go on to say that "one of the greatest obstacles to self-control is an inability to effectively manage our own emotions. To effectively manage our emotions, we first need to be able to identify them". 

When we can identify our emotions it helps us to choose effective thoughts and actions in a variety of situations.

The Epic Brain

We've been learning about our amazing brain! Ever heard the saying "Your brain is like an elastic band"? Well it's true! 

Take a look at the fabulous posters we created after we did some learning about our brain. We watched this video first and then created a piece of writing to explain why "Your brain is like an elastic band".

 

 

According to research by Carold Dweck, connectivity between neurons can change with experience. With practice, neural networks grow new connections and strengthen existing ones. 

  

These neuroscientific discoveries have shown us that we can increase our neural growth by the actions we take, such as using good strategies, asking questions, practicing, and following good nutrition and sleep habits.

  

Singing...Great for BUILDING those Positive Emotions!

We have been focusing on identifying, experiencing and building positive emotions in Tautoru. 

Did you know that singing and listening to or playing music are some of the ways you can boost your wellbeing?

Singing and music help you to release endorphins - which are associated with feelings of pleasure, and  oxytocin - which can help alleviate stress and anxiety.

With that in mind we have been singing our hearts out in Tautoru!! This morning we started with some warm ups (which made us giggle).

 

Then we practised 'Count on Me' and 'Whakarongo ra'.

Here are the words to 'Whakarongo ra'. We are practising this song to present in our next assemby. Ask us to teach you the actions and words to this beautiful waiata at home.

A Trip to the Botanical Gardens

On Thursday Tautoru visited the Discovery Gardens as part of our Inquiry, Kaitiaki O Te Ngahere.

While we were at the Discovery Gardens we discussed the parts of a plant and what their functions are.

One activity we did was matching different food items like coffee, bananas, popcorn and mint to the actual plant they came from.

Then we made our own little plant pot out of newspaper. We found out that plants need, sunlight, air, water and space to grow. We filled it with soil and planted a bean seed. It was so exciting because we got to take these back to school. We are going to look after them and measure how tall they grow during maths.

Before we left we got to explore the gardens and find out which plants grow really quickly. Some of us tried flowers.....they tasted a bit peppery!

Of course we got to have a play at the awesome playground.

Thanks to all the parents that came along to help, we had a wonderful time exploring.

Positive Emotions

Tuesday mornings are our Positive Education mornings in Tautoru. Over the last two weeks we have been exploring emotions.

We all experience a range of different emotions at different times. Did you know that you can feel all sorts of emotions during a day?! Your emotions are what make you, YOU!

During our Pos. Ed mornings we have been mixing colours and thinking about how they make us feel.

We have also been showing different emotions on our faces and drawing self portraits.

We know that we can't feel happy all the time and that's ok. But the more we experience positive emotions and build on them, the more perspective, perseverance and creativity we have for our learning throughout the day.

If you are interested in finding out more about building positive emotions, check out this blog post by Georgiana Cameron here.