Ode of Remembrance - Te Reo Māori

Room 10 learnt about the Ode of Remembrance in both English and Te Reo Māori.  They were asked to show their understanding by selecting images that reflected the words.  They were then asked to record themselves reading the Ode of Remembrance.

It has been a challenge to learn how to pronounce Māori words and read them out loud, but with practice makes perfect!

It was interesting to see how poetry and words can be meaningful in any language.

Lest we forget.

Here is Constance's rendition.

Here is Curtys' rendition.

Here is Cerenity's rendition.

Compass Poppies

Today Room 10 created circles with different radius lengths using compasses to create ANZAC poppies.

We found it challenging to construct the circles.  Some found that if you moved the paper around, that made it easier.  Some found the bigger circles were easier to construct than the very small ones.

We had to make poppy flowers that were small, medium and large.

The small poppy had an outer circle with the radius of 5cm and an inner circle of 1cm.  The medium poppy had an outer circle of 7cm and an inner circle of 2cm.  The large poppy had an outer circle radius of 10cm and and inner circle radius of 3cm.

We learnt that poppies are significant symbols of remembrance during ANZAC commemorations as they were the first flowers to bloom on battle grounds, so for us left behind, they can also represent a new start or new growth and that we should try our best to live as our soldiers fought so hard to give us our fresh starts and freedom we enjoy today.

Lest we forget.

Here are some photos of our learning:

And here is our final class wreath, ready for our memorial on Thursday:

Room 10's Waka Experience

Room 10 was given the opportunity given by the Okeanos Foundation to sail the Waitematā harbour with an amazing crew on the Aotearoa 1 waka haurua (double hulled catamaran).

Just like the movie 'Moana' we sailed out on a beautiful day and reflected on the gifts and knowledge of our ancestors, the importance of the sea and connected this learning back to our learning about our local awa - after all...what goes in the awa, eventually ends up in the moana!

Thank so much to the Okeanos Foundation for this amazing experience.  It is one we will never forget!

Here is a movie of our experience:

Mandala Art - Classroom Resources

Room 10 have taken an interest to Mandala art.  Mandala means circle in Tibetan and it is a sacred practice to Buddhists.  It helps with meditation, mindfulness and calmness.  We worked in groups to create Mandala art using classroom resources.  As we were creating them, we noticed that we were really focussed and wanted to make our Mandalas look tidy and symmetrical.  We are going to continue researching about Mandalas and how we can extend our thinking to Extended Abstract of the SOLO framework.  That means thinking beyond ourselves - which Mandalas help us to do.  Here are photos from this learning experience.

The River Talks - Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au!

Last Friday, we walked with Room 9 to Point England Reserve to attend The River Talks - presented by MAD AVE.  A community group based in Glen Innes.  We enjoyed learning about the health of our awa while enjoying some of the artists present their work.  We watched dances, listened to poems and drums, viewed artworks, and learned from people from our council and students from the local kura kaupapa Māori.

Here are some key photos and video from the day:

You can read how students in Room 10 felt about the experience by reading their reflections - some have been linked below:

Constance's River Talks Reflection

Huriata's River Talks Reflection

Perenara's River Talks Reflection

Kanye's River Talks Reflection

Azuredream's River Talks Reflection

Ko te rā Tuakana/Teina: Tā mātou hikoi ki te awa (Tuakana/Teina Day - Our walk to the creek!)

Yesterday we buddied up with Room 1 for an afternoon of Tuakana/Teina learning.  We walked to our very local creek and made some beginning observations as part of our inquiry into Te Taiao o Tāmaki (the environment of Tāmaki).  We noticed many interesting things:

• That the heavy rain from the day before had brushed the grass forward like hair.
• The the water level - which raised suddenly, from the rain and then dropped again, left behind a lot of rubbish - which comes from us!
• That the grate at the end of the creek, before the ocean was blocked and covered with grass, branches and mud.
• That the nearest river - Tāmaki River - which leads to the Waitematā is connected to our drain pipes!

We enjoyed getting outside and sitting and observing the water.  We can't wait to get back and to put our inquiry into action!

Nau mai, haere mai ki te tau rua mano, tekau ma whitu! (Welcome to 2017!)

Nau mai hoki mai ki tēnei rangitaki o Ruma Tekau!  Ko tēnei tō mātou haerenga i tēnei tau.  Pānuitia, tirohia, ā, tuhia tō whakaaro e pā ana ki ā mātou mahi!

Ko te kaupapa matua o tēnei wahanga o te tau, ko 'Te Taiao o Tāmaki.'  Ko te tino tumanako, ka whāngai mātou te whenua o Papatūanuku, me te wai o Tangaroa.  Ka mahi mātou hei kaitiaki o tō mātou taiao.

Welcome back to the blog of Room 10!  This is our journey this year.  Read, view and write your thoughts and comments to our work!

Our focus this term is Te Taiao o Tāmaki (The environment of Tāmaki).  We hope to learn how to nurture our earth and waterways so that we can work as guardians of our environment.

We look forward to sharing our journey with you!