Diwali

This week we have been learning about Diwali. Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights. It gets its name from the row of clay lamps that Indians light outside their homes. We talked about the things that happen at many celebrations and found out people who celebrate Diwali follow similar ideas. They have candles, lights, visit a temple, have a holiday, share food, listen to music, wear special clothes, let off fireworks, visit others and give presents. To welcome people to their homes, people create rangoli patterns outside their door to invite others in. We created some rangoli patterns of the lotus blossom outside school this week

Welcome to New Zealand Chinese Language Week!

This week in the New Zealand Chinese Language Week! Before we get start, I'm sure you want to know what is it all about! 

What is New Zealand Chinese Language Week?

New Zealand Chinese Language Week (NZCLW) is a Kiwi-driven initiative that aims to increase Chinese language learning in New Zealand. The initiative is the first of its kind in any Western country and emerged in the context of a rapidly strengthening relationship between New Zealand and China.

More information from the official website of New Zealand Chinese Language Week Click here

Here are some phrases we can start with to celebrate. 

There are also some posters around so you can practise at your own time! 

Have fun learning Mandarin!

Sleepover

Thursday night was the Sleepover for Year 3 and 4. It was an absolute blast. Children were having fun outside on a lovely spring evening, showing off their talent, sharing stories, having supper and most of all sleeping with their friends. Oh yeah:)

Eco House Minecraft Competition

We have found a Minecraft Competition that we want to enter. We thought that other students might want to enter as well. Nicola will send in the entries. Send entries to her by next Friday 29th September.  nstevenson@worserbay.school.nz

"How do you put ‘Eco’ into a Home?

So, what are we looking for in the perfect Eco-House? Some of the key elements will be:
Low environmental impact: How does it fit with the world around it? We want to see a minimal impact on the environment – both in construction and on-going use.
Sustainable: We want to see use of sustainable materials in the construction.
Energy-efficiency: How energy efficient in the house? Construct is so that it makes best use of renewable energy resources, for heating and lighting, etc."

Overall, you need to create us a building that’s friendly to the environment around it – and explain why you think it is."


This is Ollie's design


You can find out more at:
https://interfaceonline.co.nz/minecraft2017/

By Thomas, Lachlan, Hugo W and Alex B

International Dot Day

Friday 15th September was International Dot Day. This day is a celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration in response to the book "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds.

We spent our morning celebrating Dot Day in Tautoru, using our character strengths of creativity, curiosity and teamwork.

Have a look below to read the poem we shared together about a dot.

Then we got busy creating our own dot, adding patterns, shapes and all sort of designs to make it our own. We coloured it in with crayon, used sharpie to make parts stand out and then added some dye over the top. Each dot looked completely different and unique.

We added our dots together to create a large collaborative artwork which celebrates how creative all of us are. Pop by and admire our project.

Tuesday ...

Tuesday was a busy day in Tautoru. The children spent the day using their creativity to make different types of skeleton art. They also played some super fun and interactive maths games that explored the idea of probability and chance.

Come in and see our crazy skeletons, bending and twisting in all sorts of directions.

Here we are playing and recording the game "Rock Paper Scissors" to explore the idea of Probability and chance.

Fitness Frenzy!

This term our Inquiry has centered around the power of our bodies. We now understand heaps about what and how our body systems work and have shared lots of information on how we can keep our body and mind healthy. 

This week our challenge was to create a fitness routine that would strengthen our entire body! In our groups we came up with all sorts of exercises and routines to get our hearts pumping, our bodies moving and our muscles working! Some of the routines we came up with were made up of exercises specific to gymnastics, parkour, tennis and taekwondo.

As of late we have been focusing on the "celebration" part of the Inquiry cycle. We have become much more confident in finding different ways to share and celebrate our new knowledge. We have also been talking a lot about "Taking Action". These routines do just that!

Today we shared our routine to another group and used the rubrics/success criteria below to give each other feedback about each routine. We really enjoyed giving feedback to each other and agreed on our next steps.