What a busy few weeks in Pīwakawaka Hapori. Check out what we have been up to....
By Ruth Faulkner | Posted: Wednesday June 5, 2024
Rūma Rima is learning about flight and air pressure. We are discovering the effect that air pressure has on ping pong balls, as well as designing and flying paper planes. This integrates with measurement, as we can use non-standard and standard units to see how far our planes will fly. Alongside other classrooms, we thoroughly enjoyed John’s visit as part of the Museum Outreach service. As an extension of the Maui theme, for Art, we created the sun and added ourselves, as Maui, trying to pull the sun down so that our days can be filled with sunshine and light. In Writing, we have been using the storybook ‘What If?’ To open up our imaginations to possibilities and alternative solutions.
In Rūma Ono, we've been exploring the physical world through our Project-Based Learning (PBL) Science lens. Our hands-on experiments have taken us on a journey through magnetism, forces, and matter. We've been excited to learn and use scientific vocabulary such as method, variables, predictions, fair test, accuracy, and data. This learning has been reinforced through recounts and scientific reports in our Writing sessions. In Maths, we have focused on enhancing our addition skills, particularly adding groups of tens and ones to build a solid foundation in basic arithmetic. We wrapped up our week with a creative project, making fun place-value rainclouds. A highlight for many was our visit from John Neumegen from the Museum Outreach. He captivated us with Drama, Storytelling, and Singing, bringing to life two Maui legends: Maui and the Big Fish and Maui and the Fingers of Fire. The students had a blast acting as puppets and retelling these wonderful stories.
Over the last few weeks, Rūma Whitu have thrived on being scientists, diving into investigations around flight and forces, and art creations involving a scientific nature. We gained a lot of enjoyment from creating artworks involving a 'push and pull' element and magic art using sharpie, washable markers and water. A further highlight was our time with our buddies, taking on the challenge of creating a paper plane that had the longest flight path. In Writing, we have continued on with our science theme, thinking like scientists through the writing of science reports and investigations. In reading, we have been viewing non-fiction material to help us understand the science around our physical world. Maths has seen Rūma Whitu focus on the concept of capacity, including looking at the thought-provoking story of "Mr Archimedes' Bath." Mrs Garden's maths time on a Wednesday morning has involved learning about time, making clocks and sequencing activities involving the days of the week and months of the year. Finally, Miss Kinraid, our wonderful student teacher, has been very busy teaching us how to do a Samoan Sasa dance, and as part of Samoan Language Week we have also learnt how to sing a Samoan Language song that includes the use of sign language.
In Rūma Waru, we have been learning how to be good friends, and Wise Ruru has been helping us. We also enjoyed learning about crossing the road safely and practising using a pedestrian crossing. In Maths, we have been learning about measurement and enjoy using many different materials to see how long, short, wide and high something is. We love reading in Rūma Waru and especially enjoy sharing books with our special reading buddies. Mr Neumegan came in to tell us some stories about Maui, we loved dressing up and taking part, helping to make the sound effects too. On Thursday, we have Harold the Giraffe visiting, and we are super excited to learn about keeping healthy and happy. School is so much fun!
Now that Rūma Tekau Mā Toru have settled into their new classroom, we have been enjoying learning about the physical world for our recent PBL topic. So far, we have created a wonder wall of what we think 'The Physical World' could mean. Using our five senses, taste, smell, touch, sound and sight, has helped us to come up with many ideas of what it is. We discovered that it is the world around us and how it moves/works. Our favourite part so far has been experimenting with magnets. We found that we can move some metal objects with our magnets wands, it was like magic! We were also super lucky to have a visit from the Museum Outreach Programme with John. He introduced us to two Māori Legends Maui and the Big Fish & Maui and the Fingers of Fire. We got to dress up in the many characters in these legends and act out they story.
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