The inventor

This term we have been learning about Invention & Design.  We had the privilege of having Taupo inventor Raoul Lealand visiting our school.
He brought one of his inventions to school - a BIG robot that can talk! It even squirted some of the teachers and students with water if you tell him to.  That was fun.

We went to the Learning Centre where we could ask him questions. We learned that he has his birthday every week on a Thursday! We would like that too.  He is such a nice guy and answered all our questions patiently.  We think he is great!

Music: The Cello

We love learning about music and we have been learning about the cello.

We learnt to say the cello parts, label a cello, draw musical notes and clap different rhythms as well as saying how different music makes us feel.
Some music makes me sad - Rome & Brooke
It make me feel happy - Ruiha & David
Some make me scared - Cyanalee

Rhino art

While learning about rhinos, we also created some art.  We like our rhino art and think we have done a great job.

Lesedi, the Travelling Rhino

Our class signed up for the global classroom project called 'the Travelling Rhinos'.  This is how Lesedi got to arrive at our school. 
During her time with us, we've learned that the rhinos are endangered, due to the myth that rhino horn is medicine.
We would like people to stop killing the rhino, because we would like to have rhinos in the world when we are adults.

This video shows how Lesedi arrives at our school and then meet our Rhino friends Ryan and his mother Ruth.  They live in our Learning Centre.  Lesedi also meet our class Kiwi. Our New Zealand Kiwi is also an endangered animal. 



We have also been writing stories about rhinos and asked people to save the rhino.  We had a great time with Lesedi and she was able to visit our school radio station, read stories with us, work on our iPods, iPad and Notebooks alongside us. 

We shared our stories in the school assembly and talked about the plight of the rhino.



A student in our class shared his story

Cultural Festival

We had a great time performing in the junior Kapa Haka group during the Cultural Festival. 

                                  He Honore

Ka Mate

HAKA

Ika Ika

Matariki

We watched a Matariki myth movie.  At the start of the movie the sky was black, there were no stars.  Tamarereti went out fishing in his waka.  He caught 3 fish, but then the wind died down and he fell asleep.  The wind carried him to the shore.  He made a fire and cooked his fish.  Tamarereti saw some rocks that were glowing.  He got into his waka and threw them into the sky.  They became the stars of Matariki.

We've learned:

• Matariki is the Maori name for the group of seven stars in the sky.  They are also known as the Seven Sisters
• The constellation was important for navigation and timing the seasons
• In traditional times, Matariki was a season to celebrate and to prepare the ground for the coming year
• Today, Matariki means celebrating the unique place in which we live and giving respect to the land we live on
• Matariki is the Maori New Year

We issue books

We love going to the Learning Centre, where we issue books to read.  Our librarian also reads us stories and we do some activities with her.