This week we have begun to explore how to share ideas through drama. Drama is a wonderful way to play with ideas and communicate them to an audience. It’s also lots of fun!
Or imagine giving someone a gift but you don't know what it is. Where would your imagination take you?
We will keep building our knowledge of drama skills this term with different ways to communicate ideas and use our imagination.
We have learned about how plants change and this week we ventured into picking some greens (yes, greens!) from our garden to cook with them. We made some delicious corn fritters with some silverbeet. We had never tried silverbeet before so we had to dial up a bit of bravery to try this new green food.
It was fun to try something new and we will have new crops to try throughout the year.
As part of our inquiry, we have been learning about how we can behave like scientists to find out more. First, we learned that scientists are thinkers because they ask questions! They also observe carefully to notice what is happening. After doing some learning and getting out into our garden, we dialed up our Curiosity and came up with these questions about plants:
Next, we learned that scientists carry out experiments to find out answers to their questions. We set up an experiment and made some observations. We put some celery in food dye to see how it absorbs water. We also made some predictions as to what might happen next. Most of us thought that the whole celery would change colour. We made some diagrams of Day 1.
We discovered that plants have thin channels inside called xylem. They are like plant veins that help them transport water and food to the leaves. Here is a video about our experiment if you want to do it at home:
We had such a wonderful time at our school cross country. We used lots of our Grit Strategies that we learned last term, like positive self-talk, to give ourselves encouragement and persevere in the race. We also used this as an opportunity to write using our senses, in particular, explain how we were feeling.
Here are some of our stories from the day:
I watched Autahi. John finally called us up. We ran. I felt like I was about to fall. I caught myself. I was 10th place. Arthur
First we watched Autahi run. Then our class raced each other. I was feeling very good and I was happy too. I had lots of fun. It was good. The parents were watching us. They were cheering for us. The teachers were watching too. I felt proud. I was tired but it was good. - Thomas
Ximena shouted “Line up Tautoru!” I went to the starting line. John shouted “ready, set, go!” but before that he tricked us a bit then we ran like the wind. I went in bare feet. I went really fast, then I slowed down then I got to the grass. I went fast again and people cheered me on. I went onto the sand again ad came in 6th place- Finn G
I could hear people cheering me on. Ximena shouted “Keep going!” When it was our turn my heart was pumping. “Get ready set go” John shouted. I sprinted when we came to the hill and my legs were hurting. I said to myself “I can do it” When I came to the grass my legs were really hurting. When I came to the drive, it was really close to the finish line. Finally I came to the finish line I was so proud. I came 10th place.
“Get ready, set, go” shouted John. I sprinted along the beach. My heart was pumping, my arms and legs were getting sore. But I kept going. I sprinted up the hill and around the corner. I heard people cheering at me. Finally I crossed the finish line. I was so puffed out but I still had fun. Olive
This week is a very important week for Aotearoa as it is when we celebrate and raise awareness for one of our three official languages, New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). We use sign language as much as we can in Tautoru, practicing nine new signs every two weeks. In addition, this week we learnt to sign the alphabet and to introduce ourselves to others.
We practiced the alphabet using the posters photographed below and watching videos that showed the signs in action. After this we learnt how to say “hello, my name is…” followed by the signed letters of our names.
It was a lot of fun learning the alphabet this week, please ask your tamariki or any Tautoru kids you see around to sign their names to you, I am sure they will love to show off what we have learnt!
This week was the first Te Wā Mahi Tahi that we have had inside all year! Te Wā Mahi Tahi is our designated time for tamariki to explore learning through the context of play. We put out a range of materials for students to gather, transport, construct, order and create with!
Our Tamariki loved being creative within the walls of the classroom, and our next rainy Monday definitely won't get us down! Students enjoyed using the creation table, building houses, marble runs across the classroom and testing the distance that our toy cars can travel!
Through Te Wā Mahi Tahi students can explore their creativity, build their Leadership, Teamwork and problem solving skills. Each week we open our Te Wā Mahi Tahi sessions with a focus for the students to consider throughout the lesson, which extends their experience of the play and builds on their relationships with their peers. This week's focus was When am I at my best? Tamariki considered when they feel happiest in the classroom, and how we can bring these feelings to other areas of their learning. Here are some of the areas students said that they felt their best.
Please enjoy these photos of this week's Te Wā Mahi Tahi session!
We had a great learning celebration - Our students got to share all of their learning with whānau. We also topped off our Inquiry with a v...
