At the Marae

We went to the Ruapotoka Marae.

We learned about a Powhiri.

We learned how to raranga (weave ) a snake.

We learned Maori waiatas (songs).

We learned about Matariki.

We enjoyed our new learning, and more importantly we learned about all of the above in the Marae. How exciting is that!!!

Getting ready for the powhiri. The kotiro (girls) lead the way into the Marae.

The boys walked behind the girls because their role is to protect the girls when walking into the Marae.

The kaumatua spoke to us about their Marae. 

Here are the snakes  we made out of harakeke. Wow it was cool fun. We loved it.

 Listening to the last words from the kaumatua. 

The karanga - a welcome and calling us to the Marae.

Wet Lunch Times!!

We have been having a few of these lately.
Rain, rain, rain.
Wet, wet, wet.
Oh -soo cold.
There is nothing we can do about it.
BUT - we wrote about it.

Check out some of our stories below.


I like wet lunch times because I can eat inside.  Martin

I like the wet lunch times because the wet day monitor would come and we could play with him. I don't like wet lunch times because I cannot go outside to play. Alex

I like wet lunch times because you can do whatever you want. I don't like it because I miss out playing on my favourite place. Lani

I don't like wet lunch time because I get wet. Haley

I dont like wet lunch time because I will get sick again. I have a cough and it is because of the rain. Aliyah

I like wet lunch times because after you eat, you can play with the toys. It's better to play outside. Nathan

I like wet lunch times because I can play with my favourite things. It is bad because you get wet. It is bad because you get sick. Edward 

Communicating and co-operating with others

When making a project as a group, we all learned to communicate and to co-operate with each other. 
Here we are feeling pleased with our efforts. 

Kaitiaki of the trees

Kaitiaki of the trees

Kaitiaki - What does it mean?

Kaitiaki 

We have been finding out and discussing about Kaitiaki. What does it mean? 

First, we discussed how parents look after and care for their children and their whanau.  Parents  are the kaitiaki of the whanau. 
This helps us to understand what looking after  or to care means.

We worked out that a Kaitiaki is a person or group that cares and looks after;

trees (Nadia), family and kids (Shriya), earth (Sunia), nature (Kyan), air (Lovate), natural resources (Lani), the 4 sub-systems (Alex), planet (Edward) and cares for everything in the world (Nathan).


But... Why should we care?

Soccer Stars

Red light means stop!

Controlling the ball with our feet.

After the two sessions of special soccer lessons we learnt:

how to hold the ball with our feet

how to kick the ball

how to play a game working as a team.

We learnt heaps and we had fun!!

Maths Week

 Maths week has been awesome. Lots of exciting new learning.

 We used the length of our reading mat to measure the length of the netball court. Everyone had a strip of paper  the same length. We joined the pieces together following the yellow line from one end to the other.

 We had fun measuring and trying to hold our papers together. It was windy and we were hanging on tight to our papers. We found out that we needed 20 pieces to equal  the length of the netball court.

What else could we use to measure the length of the netball court?

We could use a meter ruler!      We could use the measuring tape?

 Who is the tallest person here? Who is the shortest person?

 We measured the length and width of the box using the rods.

More measurement using the pegs!!

WOW - we have been learning lots of new words too.

Which soil will hold more water?

What we know!!

All plants need water. Plants will grow well in good soil.

 We wonder what will happen if water is poured into the clay soil?

 Water came rushing out. It looked really really dirty. 

What about the loam soil?

Water came out too BUT  it was just dripping. Water was also a little clear.

What does this all mean?

The loam soil retained most of the water, so we think that plants will grow in this soil.

Most of the water that was poured into the clay soil came out. We think that plants will not grow well in this soil.

To prove our theory!!  We planted seeds in the two different soils. We will be watching to see what happen in the next few days!!

More later!!!!