Cross Country Fitness Goals

 This term we are focusing on cross country running during our fitness time. 

We have agreed on a circuit around the school. 

It starts outside Tautoru on the steps, 

down the steps to bottom grass, 

across bottom grass, 

across bottom court, 

up the driveway, 

past Autahi, up the steps to top grass, 

 across top grass, 

down to back court, past little kids playground, around Tautoru to the steps again.

We set ourselves a goal to either walk or run the circuit and decided how many times we would like to challenge ourselves. We then timed ourselves to see what our baseline time was.

We will now practise every fitness day to get faster and hopefully fitter.

Paper Mache Globes

 Paper Mache Globes

As part of our inquiry 'Who are we?', we are focusing on exploring the world in a variety of ways.

Through these activities we want our students to:

• Understand that the world is not flat like a map -  We are all on Planet Earth, 

• Develop an greater understanding of different places around the world.

• Locate places of interest on the map.

• Develop and further their understanding of who they are connected to in our class.  

• Develop a basic understanding of similarities and differences

One of our activities is to try and make a paper mache globe. Here are the steps we used to create these:

Step 1: Blow up the balloon, place it on your cup.

Step 2: Take a small amount of paper.

Step 3: Use the brush to put a small amount of paste on your balloon.

Step 4: place little pieces of newspaper over your balloon - make sure that it is all covered and no balloon is showing through (wear gloves if your hands are sensitive).

Step 5: When you need a break, put your balloon on your cup and on the bench to dry. 

Don't forget to wash your hands after!

 

Unfortunately we found that some of the balloons popped or deflated. We realised that we need to work quicker to get all of the balloons covered in one go with newspaper.

We will have another go next term with stronger balloons and work together to complete the globes.

Ko wai mātou?

Ko wai mātou ? Our Inquiry learning this term has given us some great information about the origins of all our whānau in Tautoru.  We have been able to see the connections in Tautoru to different places and favourite spaces.  We have had a range of activities over the last few weeks that have helped us learn about the world and where our special places and connections are on the map.   We asked some good questions and we know the world is not flat like a map.  We are looking forward to sharing this with our whānau on Wednesday.

 

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We are in the process of making our kindness creatures.  These tiny works of art complement our learning about bugs, camouflage and the skills we have been learning in art about shapes and patterns.  We have been looking carefully to make sure our bugs have lots of tiny intricate details.  Thanks so much to Chloe for coming to help us !  Here is a sneak peek.   

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Miramar Rangers - Football Tournament

On Wednesday our eager Year 3 and 4 tamariki had the opportunity to head to Miramar Park and compete against other schools in the Miramar Rangers Football tournament.

Students improved their football skills, practiced working in a team and demonstrating good sportsmanship. They had the talented Miramar Rangers Football coaches there to support.

Ākau Tangi Sports Day

On Tuesday Tautoru (year 2 and 3) along with Autahi (year 1) and the year 4's went to Ākau Tangi sports centre for a fun day of skills.

We were split into three groups which rotated around three activities:

1. Netball Skills

2. Gymnastics

3. Ball Skills

We had amazing instructors who taught us new skills and activities we can try back at school.

Netball Skills

One of the key skills we are trying to learn in netball is moving with a ball, into space and keeping our eyes on the ball so that we can catch it. 

We are learning the different ways we can pass a ball, and how we can move into the right space to keep the ball moving. 

We also need to make sure that the person who we are passing the ball to is ready - so we use their name and make sure they have their hands ready in a 'W' to catch. 

 

Our year 4 buddies helped by being great role models and encouraging us. 

We enjoyed working in mixed age and ability teams as we all learn so much from each other.

Another key netball skill is being able to throw the ball accurately. This was a fun game where we had to knock the cone off the chair - we will definitely try this back at school!

Gymnastics

We were lucky enough to have Miles and Emily, coaches from Harbour City Gymnastics Club teach us. 

We started with a warm up where we had to try lots of different movements with our body which was related to the positions used in gymnastics.

We did some stretching, and then were introduced to a fun circuit which included all of the exercises we had just been practising! 

Once again - our year 4 buddies helped us by showing what they can do, and helping some of us conquer our fears!

This position is called 'motorbike' as you crouch as you land, and it looks like you are driving a motorbike!

Ball Skills

This is an area of physical education that we have been working on at school - throwing and (ultimately) catching! Lots of us find this challenging, so it was fun to try all types of balls - from netball, tennis to soft squishy balls and try and throw them as high as we could. 

The emphasis was not on skills so much as just having a go and having fun!

"My favourite part was gymnastics"

"I liked EVERYTHING!"

"It was hard catching some of the balls"

"When are we going again?"

Observational Drawing

 

One of our independent learning tasks last week was doing an observational drawing of a butterfly. 

We supplied our tamariki with a large scale butterfly, a magnifying glass and some special drawing pencils and explained what an observational drawing needs to have - thinking again like a scientist.

We have been talking a lot about the life cycle of the butterfly, moth and frog, and our tamariki are really passionate about this topic. We are really impressed with the close detail and careful drawings completed.

Some people even chose to add a little bit of colour and tried to make their butterflies symmetrical.

Please pop into class and see the results for yourself!