Arts Rotation

We were all very excited to be back at school on Monday and it was fantastic to see students keen to get started with their learning and we had a treat for the first day back - an Arts rotation!



Students worked through three different projects, printmaking, mixed media art, and photography. We have a school wide Arts Celebration in week 5 and we are using this time to introduce and explore different arts techniques and artists.



Remember to book time for the Celebration in week 5, either a Wednesday or Thursday night or both if you wish! We will continue to focus on visual art of the next couple of weeks and then explore how to create a soundscape or musical piece to accompany our art. Lots of fun activity to come over the next few weeks!





Students loved the tactile element of this activity. A great opportunity to get mucky, sticky while creating our landscapes. Check out seesaw and the blog for future posts.

Number Talks Workshop

During the holiday break we ran a workshop on Number Talks. This was attended by 30 teachers and principals from 10 schools as well as Maths advisors from the Wellington region. We wanted to share what we have been doing at Worser Bay because it has a big impact on student engagement and achievement. 

What does developing a Mathematical Community of Inquiry mean to us? 

• Mathematics is a creative and challenging real world activity.

• Positive beliefs about mathematical ability are essential.

• Maths has to be visual and collaborative; with time and strategies to investigate, discuss, explore concepts and reflect.

At Worser Bay School, we have been inspired by the work of Jo Boaler who is a professor at Stanford University. She provides resources and ideas to help students get excited about Maths. 

"You have probably heard people say they are just bad at math, or perhaps you yourself feel like you are not “a math person.” Not so, says Stanford mathematics education professor Jo Boaler, who shares the brain research showing that with the right teaching and messages, we can all be good at math. Not only that, our brains operate differently when we believe in ourselves. Boaler gives hope to the the mathematically fearful or challenged, shows a pathway to success, and brings into question the very basics of how our teachers approach what should be a rewarding experience for all children and adults."

For a Number Talk to be successful, students need to be respectful in discussion. We have co-constructed (with our students) the rights and responsibilities for discussion in a Number Talk. 

This is how a Number Talk works...

We asked the students about Number Talks...

'The Great Waka of Tama Rēreti' - Matariki Whānau Day

Our 2019 Matariki Whānau Day was a huge success, with each whānau group coming together to celebrate Te Ao Māori through the Arts.

Carl and Nik's whānau group (with fantastic support from Cloe!) watched and listened to some different versions of The Great Waka of Tama Rēreti.

We then got in to groups to create backgrounds and moving figures for a paper theatre.

With the help of Carl's height, we filmed our movie in just a few takes.

Later, we used GarageBand to record some background noises, such as the Taniwha, water and fire.

A special mention must go to Matilda, who did an exceptional job of narrating the story.

Check out our finished product below!

'How Maui Discovered Fire' -Matariki Whanau Groups Day

James and Nicola's Whanau groups (with Neil stepping in to great affect!) retold the tale of how Maui discovered fire, through the medium of puppets!

First we got into groups and retold the legend on paper

Then we got back together to share, before planning and discussing what we needed to make as a group. We talked: how we wanted to do it, what characters we needed to make, the settings for the scenes and the backing music!😎

We made sure that everybody played their part in creating the artwork for the show - as well as the telling of our story, whether on stage during the performance or recording the voice acting and narration. Some of our seniors even made the backing music, an original score 😉

         

Here's the audio by itself, perfect for bedtime

Matariki Creativity Celebration

We've begun to celebrate Matariki, Te Tau Hou Māori, The Māori New Year.

Some of us begun by creating some special star art to represent the different stars of Matariki. We've been learning a waiata that also has all the names of the Matariki star cluster: Waiti, Waita, Waipunarangi, Tupu-a nuku, Tupu-a-rangi, Ururangi and Matariki.

As  Matariki celebrates Te Tau Māori- the Māori new year- some of made a wish for the coming year. We use the character strengths of Love and Hope to wish for things to help our world become a better place. You can have a look at our beautiful art this week in Tautoru.

We also made some amazing models of waka to represent the wonderful stories that we've been learning about during Matariki. We worked hard and used our perseverance to make and decorate the models.

Here is one of the stories, The Great Waka of Tama Rereti.

A Day at the ASB

We had another fantastic day at the ASB on Monday. Tautoru really enjoy these days as we get to explore lots of different games and try out activities that are often new to us.



Dodgeball and Basketball were very popular. We have a number of students playing miniball this term and it was great to see these students share their knowledge and help others developing their skills. Lots of teamwork and kindness was on display!



Thanks to the parents that were able to help out for the day and check out seesaw posts for more picture of the students in action.

Worser Bay Orchestra at Assembly

Music enhances our Positive Emotions. Research shows that Music improves brain health and function. It makes you smarter, happier, and more productive. Listening is good, playing is better! When music enters our brains it triggers the pleasure centre that release dopamine (a neurotransmitter) and that makes you feel happy. Playing an instrument increases some gray matter volume in the brain and can improve brain function. 

Rhosyn: I play the ukulele in the orchestra. We practise on Thursday afternoons. It is fun hearing all of the different instruments at once. Practicing together has been fun because I am part of a group. I used perseverance and bravery to perform on stage. I have a sense of gratitude that I can be part of the performance.

Evie: It was fun to perform on stage. I play the violin. I have played since I was four years old. This shows my love of learning and how I have stuck with it! Thanks Kirsten, Vicky and Sarah for helping!

Edward: I play the saxophone, some people mistake it for a trumpet! I used zest in the orchestra performance at assembly. The audience looked really happy and some have said that they want to join now.

Emelie: While I played the guitar I stared at the audience while playing with frozen fingers. I used my bravery, perseverance and zest. I am proud of myself because I made some mistakes but kept going and not stopping.