African Dance--trying new things and growing our minds and bodies

We were lucky to have Naby visit us and teach us some traditional West African dance, drumming and singing.   First he showed us some dance, then we sang some songs, practised dancing and then learned a bit about the drums.  He showed us three different drumming sounds.  He explained that the sounds are like a family there is the deep sound which he called the Daddy, a slightly higher one that is called the Mommy and the highest sound was the baby.  

Each class had a turn at trying the dance and then the teachers did it too!  

The dancing and drumming were really good for our maths because we had to count the beats.  

1,2,3, 1,2,3, 1,2,3,4, 5,6,7,8

Learning about African Dance was really good for us to be able to see how different places, people and cultures sing and dance and for us to give something new a try.  Everyone did give it a try and we know that when we try new things we grow our brains! Music and dancing are also really great for our wellbeing and link to our positive health curriculum.  Singing and dancing out in the sunshine and with the birds was lots of fun and got us moving and grooving! 

Transition

On Fridays over the last few weeks we have been going to visit the area that we will be working in next year. Last Friday parents were invited to come to transition and it was lovely to see so many new parents. Thanks to all the children who came and introduced their parents to us. And thanks to all the parents who came to visit.

We have the POWER to ...

We have been thinking particularly hard this Inquiry into ways we can be powerful ourselves. We began by brainstorming all the ways we could use our power to change something for the better. 

Some of us decided to connect with others and use our power collectively and some of us have decided to work on more individual or personal matters.

Have a look at all the ways we can use our POWER ...

Grooving with Naby Bangoura!

On Tuesday we were super lucky to have Naby Bangoura visit Worser Bay School and teach us some traditional dancing.

Naby is a dance master from Guinea and is in NZ at the momment running some classes and workshops.

The whole school joined together on bottom court to learn some traditional dance moves and hear some wonderful drumming by Jennifer and her crew. We also found out the names of the special drums and the different sounds they make.

Thank you so much to Jennifer for organising the visit, Naby for teaching us some great dance moves and to the drummers for giving up their lunch time to provide us with some music.

Writing Workshops

This week our writers have been busy running workshops.

Today some of our writers ran workshops around punctuation, editing. using WOW words and similes, handwriting and letter sounds/blends.

   

The workshop leaders did a wonderful job of explaining their lesson focus and were patient, kind and encouraging to all those that attended their workshop. We were impressed with how many of our writers wanted to step up and lead a workshop.

    

At the end of our writing workshops we reflected on how they went and what we enjoyed about them. Here's what our writers thought:

"I liked being able to teach my friends things that I am good at".

"It was cool that my friend could teach me some things in writing that I find tricky".

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to lead a workshop but once I did, it was so much fun".

Tino pai rawa atu to all those leaders that led a workshop and to all our writers for collaborating and working respectfully with each other.

    

Football

We have really enjoyed learning new football skills this term. The instructors and teachers have been impressed at how much better we have become. We have had to use plenty of perseverance as the weather has become warmer- it's hot work! The instructors also commented on how well behaved we all are, and how pleased they are with our participation, competitiveness and supportive team work.

Well done Tautoru!!! 

Discovery

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Today at Discovery time we had four collaborative activities to choose from.
We could choose to:
*make a collaborative piece of art, drawing and painting pieces of nature

* make up a piece of music and some lyrics in a group

*choose a costume from the dress ups and in groups make up a play that uses those costumes

*with our friends see how many spoons of water it will take to fill a cup to a certain level and how many claps we can do while we throw different balls in the air