If we think of our students as plants ....

Over the last couple of weeks you would have seen some great examples of reading, writing and maths on the BLOG and in the newsletter.  There are so many other rich learning experiences and links that happen daily.  Formative assessment is an important part of our teaching and learning. There are lots of different ways we collect information on progress and achievement.  Formative assessment is the ongoing process of gathering evidence to inform students next steps in their learning journey.   If we think of our students as plants.....

We want to make sure we are celebrating and capturing student voice too as this is such an important part of the bigger picture. Here are some of the celebrations and what our kids wanted to share so far this week. 

Home school partnerships are key and of course our students are at the centre so their voice is important too.  We are always keen to hear what your child’s interests and passions are and what they would like to learn more about.  

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Inquiry Learning - Explorers of our World

 

In Tautoru we continue to learn more about each other.  We hope that our students will develop a shared understanding through The BIG IDEAS and DEEP UNDERSTANDINGS FOR THIS INQUIRY.   These are:  

• People come from many different backgrounds, and we all have unique customs, languages, and stories. 

• Cultural diversity means that people in the world have different ways of living, celebrating, and seeing the world.  These differences are part of what makes up our stories. 

We want our students to be able to:

• describe the difference between a myth and a legend 

• describe the difference between Protagonists and Antagonists -  Heroes and Villains 

• identify differences and similarities across different cultures.  

• develop an awareness of multiple perspectives for similar phenomena -  Creation stories 

• make links to our local curriculum and iwi stories (ANZHC)

• pass down knowledge through stories - oral storytelling as well as other ways of telling traditional stories -  art, hieroglyphs, symbols, songs and dreamtime.  

Here is an example of how our Inquiry learning is mapped out against of model of Inquiry. 

This Inquiry has many links to Literacy - Reading, Writing and Oral Language. 

Here are some examples of our opinion writing. 

Here are some stories that we have retold through writing. 

Rona and the Moon 

by Ava 

Long, long ago in Aotearoa there lived a woman named Rona.  She had a sharp tongue

and a bad temper. One day Rona’s husband and sons said “We are going fishing.”  

“Ae, yes and you are leaving me to do all the work” she huffed. 

“I'll get the place to cook ready”. Rona realised that she had no water

to make the steam so she couldn't cook.

”I have to get some water and if I don't, I won't be able to eat.” 

So she set off to get the water. She hopped over the roots and rocks

on her way in the dark. Suddenly Marama the moon went behind a cloud

and all went black.  She tripped and fell onto a rock.  As she fell she screamed

“Upoko kohua”. Rona shouted again and again. The moon was really

really angry.  She swooped at Rona and at the same time she screamed.  

Rona quickly ran to the closest Ngaio tree and hung on for dear life.  

The moon was too angry.  Marama was so mad that he just pulled

her up with the Ngaio tree and she was never seen again.

Rona and the Moon 

by Zac

Long ago, far far away there was a mountain with a cave in

the middle of it.  There was a woman named Rona.  Rona had a sharp

tongue.  Rona had hurting words whenever she talked to someone. 

Rona had a husband and one day there was no fish for dinner. 

Her husband went out to catch some fish.  “I know why you don’t want

me to come ” Snapped Rona.  “It’s because your jobs are better than

mine ! My jobs are boring.”  So her husband just hugged Rona and

set off to catch some fish.  Rona grabbed a jar, she started walking

and suddenly she tripped over.  She called the moon a cooked head. 

The moon was tempered, he grabbed Rona.  She grabbed onto the

Ngaio Tree.  Now Rona and the Ngaio are in the moon.

Rona and the Moon 

by Oscar

Long ago there was a woman called Rona.  Rona had a bad

temper and a sharp tongue.  She always had something to

say to everyone who crossed her path.  She was very harsh

to her family as well.  In fact,  she was mean to her

whole tribe and that gave her a bad reputation.

One day in the light of the moon,  Rona and her husband were

at their boat.  Rona was saying goodbye because they were about

to go fishing.   Her husband said that she had to heat up the hangi, 

“Grrrr ! Why do you lazy bones get to go out to sea and have a

great time ?”  Snapped Rona.  But she gave him a hug anyway

and then went to set the hangi.  She had to heat the rocks

when suddenly she realised she did not have water.

  “Aue,” Rona said.  “You can’t have a hangi without water” 

So Rona set out for the lake to get water.  

The light of the moon was almost like day when a big cloud

managed to cover the moon.  “Upoko Kohua !”  screamed Rona. 

This made the moon angry so he swooped down and grabbed

Rona and pulled but Rona grabbed onto the Ngaio Tree. 

The moon heaved and literally ripped the tree out of the ground.

She was whisked up to the heavens.  When her family came

back they shouted “Rona”.  They spotted her in the moon

where she was to stay.

Marvellous Maths Continued !

 

You would have seen a few posts ago how Tautoru maths programme is evolving. 

This week in Tautoru we have been focusing on our number knowledge and problem solving strategies.  Our number knowledge is so important as it also has a big impact on what strategies we can use when we are problem solving. 

Number Talks are short, focused discussions that build maths number knowledge and encourage flexible thinking. These are usually maths problems or rich tasks that are open ended to allow for a range of skills, knowledge and strategies to be used.  These sessions encourage students to share their thinking out loud, fostering a deeper understanding of numbers and operations.   We have the perfect opportunity to work across year groups ad we all learn something new from each other.   

Talk Moves is another phrase that you might hear as part of our maths programme.   These are the ways in which we communicate our ideas and solve problems.  We use such things as rephrasing, reasoning, and building on others’ ideas—students are learning to communicate their strategies clearly and respectfully.   Together, Number Talks and Talk Moves are helping out Tautoru students make sense of maths by developing flexible thinking, boosting confidence, and creating a collaborative maths classroom.   Everyone has an important part to play.  

Part of our maths programme is have the freedom to use materials to explain thinking.  We can draw our thinking or write down a process or equation.   

We can use place value blocks, counters, number lines, hundreds boards.  These can all be used in a variety of ways.  Here are some examples below. 

Love of Learning - Literacy

Last term we completed our assessment for our structured literacy teaching and we have certainly hit the ground running.  We are beginning to see some exciting progress across reading and writing where students are beginning to apply some of the spelling patterns and decoding strategies in Reading and Writing.  

We are utilising a range of strategies throughout our ‘60 mins a day’ where students are able to practise and master different skills.

You might look at a simple task and wonder what teacher decisions are possibly at play with such a simple task.    

We got outdoors in the sun on Tuesday to practise our spelling, decoding and handwriting skills using chalk on the concrete.   Students completed a word chain with this week's BSLA focus.  

A BSLA word chain is grounded in scientific principles of how the brain processes language, especially in the early stages of reading. It targets phonemic awareness, a strong predictor of later reading success, by having learners actively manipulate sounds in a sequence of connected words.

Practicing word chains repeatedly helps consolidate the grapheme-phoneme correspondences.

They strengthen the ability to process and recall sound patterns, which supports decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling).

Children learn how changing one sound alters the entire word meaning, promoting flexible thinking about language.

This is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.

In a word chain activity, students are typically asked to change one sound in a word to create a new word (e.g., "cat" → "bat" → "bit" → "big"). This develops the brain’s capacity to focus on discrete phonemes.

Our students practise word chains in their writing books daily.  This time we are also practising using chalk.  

There is a range of material that describes the benefits of using chalk as a medium for writing or handwriting.  In a nutshell, chalk gives students the opportunity to ‘master’ that correct grip needed for handwriting automaticity.  It also gives sensory feedback that helps with muscle memory and letter formation.  

If you would like to learn more about our Better Start to Literacy Approach please come along to our BSLA Parent Workshop on Wednesday 07 April at 3.15pm or 5.00pm. 

Maths - The Magic Within Rich Maths Tasks.

 

Rich maths tasks are a big part of our maths programmes and are important for several key reasons. These tasks are designed to engage students in meaningful, challenging, and thought-provoking learning experiences that help build a strong foundation in mathematics. 

So what is a rich maths task ?  

Rich maths tasks are tasks designed to be flexible and open-ended.  They have the ability to lead to many different maths ideas and pathways and they enable us to explore a range of concepts and strategies.  They are what we call 'Low floor, high ceiling".   They are accessible for a range of ages, stages and mixed abilities. 

These tasks encourage students to engage with mathematics in a deeper way. They allow students to start thinking more critically about numbers, patterns, and mathematical relationships.  These tasks require them to problem-solve, explore multiple strategies, and reflect on their thinking in a collective way. They create many great opportunities to develop oral language skills through having to articulate their flexible thinking or questioning to understand more.  

Being able to talk through a problem solving processes really does make our brains grow !! 

Here are some examples of our word problems for our end of term learning celebration:

1.  There are 44 kids.   We have 11 apples.  How would we need to cut them so that each kid has an equal share ?  (What fraction of a whole is each kid going to get?)

2.  We have small groups of 6 kids.  We have a cookie each and 36 jellybeans.  How many will each kid get ?

3.  We have made mousetraps.  (1 piece of toast with cheese) They are cut into 1/4s.  We have 44 1/4s.  How many slices of bread do we need ? 

How would our numbers change if we had 1/2s ? 

We used pictures to describe our thinking.

We used concrete materials - counters to help us with our equal sharing. 

We used our multiplication and division knowledge.

 

Celebrations in Tautoru

We are so lucky to have a rich and diverse community.  We have over 15 different cultures and ethnicities in Tautoru. We have had the pleasure this week of whānau sharing their experiences around Eid al-Fitr .  Eid al-Fitr is an important celebration for our Muslim whānau. The theme for Eid is unity.  This celebration reinforces the values of peace, generosity, and compassion.  Eid al-Fitr is not only a celebration of the end of Ramadan but also a time to reflect on personal growth, forgiveness, and renewed faith. It’s a reminder of the power of community, the importance of charity, and the blessings of life itself.  

We love to learn about our cultures and ethnicities that make up our Tautoru whānau.  

“Eid is celebrated when we can see the new moon in the sky.”   

Te Hikoi o Te Kura o Whetūkairangi

 Tonight we had the pleasure of learning more about the beautiful place we can call ‘home’.  

Our Worser Bay Hikoi is a chance to learn about the significant places that surround Worser Bay School. We visited the locations and learnt about the associated history as we went. We started at Churchill Park following the path and walkways up to the top of the hill where Oruaiti Pā once stood.  

We heard the stories of Kupe and his voyage to Aotearoa.  We learnt about Kupe’s great adventures following ‘Te Wheke o Muturangi’ out into Raukawa Moana.  John shared his knowledge and stories linking to many other locations too.  

Our desire is for our children to leave Worser Bay knowing the rich kōrero and history associated with our place. We hope to pass on this knowledge so they can then share this as well as pūrākau like that of the great Ngake and Whātaitai. 

How fortunate we are to be able to look out and see the exact place where Ngake smashed out of Te Whanganui a Tara into the great Moana !

Check out this beautiful pūrākau written by Ben Ngaia.  

 

This special version of the Ngake and Whātaitai pūrākau is a traditional story told from the perspective of the Kahui Maunga people.  These two taniwha inhabited Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington Harbour, long before the ancestral migrations. The story tells how the shape and landscape of Wellington, its harbour and the Lower Hutt area came about because of the actions of Ngake and Whātaitai. Long ago, Te Whanganui a Tara was an enclosed lake, but Ngake forced his way out into the sea by battering through the clenched teeth of the fish of Maui to allow the fish to breathe. Whātaitai was washed down the throat of the fish, causing it to cough, and Whātaitai and three morsels flew out. The morsels became islands in the harbour, but Whātaitai was stranded and grew weak and died, becoming part of the land around the harbour.”

At Worser Bay School we feel a deep connection to the land, sea and sky. Our Pou also connect us to pūrākau and kōrero tuku iho gifted to us by Te Ātiawa, Mana Whenua.  The 3 Pou stand on our school site to acknowledge this rich kōrero and to acknowledge those who came before. 

Come up and see what connections you can make.