Literacy Time

Kia ora Whanau

I wanted to share with you some of the reading and writing we have been doing this week.

We had an assignment to find a poem that made us feel something and bring it in to share on Friday. Some wonderful poetry was read, and in some cases written by the students. Elena filmed people who wanted to read in front of the camera.

ARGUMENT WRITING:

We have been learning to write arguments. We have learned to make an introductory statement about our point of view, several reasons why we think what we think and then conclude by restating our point.

For this example the students had to repond to the statement:
Children should be allowed to watch as much TV as they like.

 

 

Week 7 Term 4

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So Delicious - We Want to Eat You Alive!

That's what we said as we munched on the salad greens the Junior Enviro Team planted from seed a few weeks ago.

The greens included rocket, beet leaves, lettuce varieties, mesculin, parsley and the like! Mmmm

Star Student:

This week we collaborated with our table groups to nominate a student we'd noticed displaying the qualities of a "Star Student". Each table put forward a person and justified their opinions. They were all so good, we had to let "The Power of the Ponky" decide - i.e. the inky-pinky-ponky method of decision making!

Mira is a deserving recipient. She has shown improvement at Kapa Haka in the run up to Fa'anu'u's farewell. She is making good decisions about managing distractions and you can see below some more things we've noticed about Mira!

Mira dons her heritage hairdo (Go Germany!) and takes out Star Sudent!

Fa'anu'u's Farewell

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In honour of Fa'anu'u's Retirement assembly (today at 2:00 pm) many children chose to come in clothes that celebrate the diverse cultures of CQS. Looking good, people :)

Looking great there, Team!

Make way for the QUEEN!

Fa'anu'u sings a lovely song that proves she really is the best.

Michael gives a funny and touching speech. Fa'afetai!

Mel & Janessa ready to rock and/or roll!

Kapa Haka Practice

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I just had to share our last Kapa Haka session with Hemi. The children are sounding marvelous!

Week 6 Term 4

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We have been busy this week practising for Fa'anu'u's farewell assembly next week.
Here are the kupu (words) to one of the waiata (song) we will be leading:

Ka pīoioi

(Ka pīoioi e tohu  aroha hau kaīnga)

E hoki mai ra

kia kite atu I tō iwi e

(E rotarota ana)

E rotarota ana

e katakata ana mai rā

(Pūkana whētero)

Pūkana whētero mā

te iwi o matua

(Kia kite ata anō)

Kia kite ata anō

I tō ataahua

e kanapa ra

(Pupuhi ai e te hau)

Pupuhi ai e te hau

Kapohia aku roimata

Ka pīoioi e tohu aroha haukāinga

Visual Art

We have been learning about printing and creating our own printing blocks. What great fun!

Star of the Week

This week's star is Rashmi. It has been so wonderful to see Rashmi grow in confidence, as you can see in this photo. I appreciate Rashmi's positive attitude. She often sets the tone for the day when we call the roll by proclaiming that today will be the best day ever. 

I

Week 5 Term 4

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Maths Learning - Statistics

This week we have been looking at the Schoolgen website that was set up to monitor how much power we generate with the solar panels above Mānuka and Pōhutukawa. We have been learning to understand bar graphs, notice trends and make predictions using the data on the website.

There is a definite dip in the winter months

Dennis and Tom come up with some predictions for November

We have saved 900kg of CO2 - that's the same weight as 2 polar bears..

...or 10 Dan Carters!

Arty Smarties

We got to work on making a printing block today. This involved cardboard, string and a whole mess of glue! Watch this space to see these art works evolve..

Cultural Festival @ Mt Cook School

It was good fun to be involved in the annual Cultural Festival for the town schools. The middle group Kapa Haka did their best performance to date. Thanks so much to Hemi and Whaea Liz for their support and encouragement.

Ka mau te wehi!

Star Student

Our Star this week is the very deserving Ted! Ted is a compassionate and caring member of Nīkau. Sporty, friendly, helpful and someone who doesn't give up easily - Ted was nominated by many of his peers.

Week 4 Term 4

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Sorry I (Anne) have been so behind in updating the blog. Here are a few photos we have been wanting to share.


Library

We are so fortunate to have such a lovely, well-stocked  and well cared for library. It is a highlight of the week to spend time there each Wednesday.

Casper enjoying his chapter book in the library.

Reading is fun with a buddy!

Topic - Ka Puāwai

One of the lessons we've been working on this week is about gender roles.  The manual I've been working from suggests drawing two body outlines on the board labelling one 'girl' and the other 'boy'. I then ask the children to imagine that two aliens have arrived from outer space. They've never lived on Earth before. One is a girl and one is a boy. They have asked the class to tell them how boys and girls behave. I am pleased to share with you the wisdom of Nīkau!

Boy

• Don't eat people or their lunch
• Be kind to people and help
• Have races
• Try to be good
• Join in with boys games
• Be sensible
• Sit on the mat

Girl

• Give people chances
• Be kind to people
• Play sports
• Be helpful
• Make friends
• Do gymnastics
• Keep trying
• Respect people

 

Star of the Week

Felicity is our shining star this week. Thank you for your dedication to your learning and for being such a focused worker.

Week 3 Term 4

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Athletics Training

In PE time we are practicing our running and relay skills. Just for fun, we are learning to pass the chicken instead of the baton. No chickens were hurt in this game :)

Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!

Wellington East Girls Visit

English language learners from Wellington East came to school to get to know the children of Nikau and survey their interests as they plan to design a game for children as one of their assignments. The girls were very friendly and enjoyed their time in Nīkau. The children also enjoyed the one-on-one attention of a teenager! The WE girls will be back to trial their prototype games once the have been made.

An old favourite - duck, duck, goose we taught the girls

Talking design

Star Student

Congratulations to Carly. She is a fabulous choice as a student leader. Well done to the sensible voting students and astute observers in our class.

Week 2 Term 4

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The Longest Bridge

We have been talking about how to be a good friend. We have thought about what we can do to strength our relationships.

I shared with the children about a time a visitor had come to another class I was in and told the story of how he'd traveled all over the world. He said a lesson he had learned was that every thing we say to/about a person or do with/to a person is like a brick. We can choose to use our bricks to build bridges between us or walls. Sometimes a wall is an appropriate way to protect yourself. But, if you want to have a closer relationship with someone you need to build bridges, not walls.

This inspired a huge bridge built collaboratively one wet lunch time. Well done team! 

Wow! It takes a lot of work to build a bridge between people when they are far away from each other.

Assembly Performance

Well done Dennis, and the afterschool Chinese class that performed at assembly.

Gymnastics

Oh my! Look at these amazing bridges. Abe continues to develop flexibility and strength in the weekly gym sessions.

Star Student

Well done, Shufen. You are impressing us all with your willingness to try new things and to share your learning.