Museum Visit

Last week we went to the Museum to learn all about organic pigments and natural tools and Toi Māori (Māori Art).
We worked with Margie and explored different ways we can make paint and what we could use to paint with. We had a go at painting with feathers and we made our own brush from harakeke. We used onion skins and walnut pods to make dye. We also used paints made from ochre. We used the pigments and tools to create our own tapa patterns.

We also work with Awhina to learn about Toi Māori. We looked closely at different whakairo. We learnt they were used to tell stories and show history. We explored all the different patterns and discovered that different places around the country have different styles and patterns special to them.

Cave Paintings

For inquiry we spent some time looking at cave paintings. We were really interested in learning why we have cave paintings and what was used to create cave paintings. We looked closely and how people were drawn and why they choose the animals they did. We then used all the information we learnt to plan and create our own cave paintings to tell a story about what might of happened in New Zealand many years ago. Instead of using natural paints made from limestone and ochre we used crayons. They still look great!

Maths Activity

Celebrating Puanga

Today some us got up super early to meet on the school field to celebrate Puanga. We all stood around a bonfire. Mr Ohia spoke then we all sung a song. Some of us sent some lanterns off into the sky. We then went into the hall for some share kai. After that Mr Ohia's Ropu shared some facts about Puanga and a waiata. We then spent the morning in our houses doing lots and lots of fun activities. What a great way to spend the day!

Art Gallery and Library

On Monday we were lucky enough to be able to visit the District Library and Art Gallery. At the Library we got a tour and some of us were issued a library card. We really enjoyed looking through all the books and issuing them on their fancy system. At the Art Gallery Seitske showed us an art exhibition. We looked at all the creatures that were made from clay. We were then given an opportunity to create our own creature. We had such an awesome day!

Bike Saftey

This week we have been learning about bike safety. Some of us brought our own bikes to school to use and some of us borrowed the ones our lady instructors provided. We learnt what to check on our bike before we went for a ride, how to check that our helmet was on correctly, keeping to the left when we ride on pathways and roads, use our arms to indicate which way we are turning and many more safety rules. We all had lots of fun learning and practicing what were learnt. For writing next week we are going to create a poster to share what we have learnt with others. Look out for them on our individual blogs.

Tennis

We are lucky enough to be having tennis lessons with Gene Ridgeway this term. We are learning lots of new skills including the ready position, overhead serve, forehand and backhand ground stroke. To a partner we can serve the ball and have a rally over the net. Our skills are developing and our coordination is improving the more we practice.

Using Our Chunky Chalk

Today we finally got to use the chalk we made outside on the concrete. Using the brighter colours worked the best. We created cartoons that included an onomatopoeia which we had been learning about during writing. What ever was left of our chalk we got to take home. I wonder where else our chalk could write on?

Making Our Own Paint

Today Mrs Palmer said to us that we had run out of paint and we couldn't paint a picture. She said that we could work on our own or with a buddy. We got a cup and a paint brush and went to explore and find some ingredients to make our own paint. Some of us went outside, others found some things inside the classroom. It was lots of fun trying different ways to make paint. When we had something we thought might work we tried it out on our paper. Some of us had great success and others needed to try another way to make paint. We had lots of wonderings about paint when we had finished. For example Who was they first person who made/invented paint? Who invented the paint brush?

What was the first type of paint made of? Are there different types of paint? How does paint work? We look forward to exploring some of these wonderings during the term.