Peas update....

The seeds have well and truely sprouted and have leaves on the sprouts now. The whetu and their buddy are in charge of watering the seedlings. Soon we will put in some stakes for the pea plants to grow up....

Whisper....

Continuing with our theme of 'w' we talked about whispering today. Marise whispered a phrase in the first person's ear and it was whispered carefully all around the circle. Was the phrase the same at the end? No! It wasn't!

W...W...W...Sundial?

One of the 'w' words Marise introduced Waitī to this week was 'watch' and we got into a discussion about how in the old days even before Whāea Nicky was born, people used the sun to tell the time. First, we looked at some sundials on the internet, and some students said they had seen these in gardens or parks. Then, we thought we might try to make our own. Fortunately the weather was co-operating!

 At 11.30 we drew around Ty's shadow (and his feet so that we knew he would stand in the same spot!) The next time we drew around his shadow was at 1:30 and then again at 3. We noticed how long the shadow was at home time.

The next day we drew around his shadow at 9:30 and 10:30. The once again at 12:30. Now we had our own sundial! At different times of the day anyone could stand on the feet outline and work out what time it was! We also talked about how the shadows at 9:30 and 3 were very long. That the sun was low in the sky at this time.

Skipping Term 2

At the beginning of the term we began to learn to skip. No mean feat for anyone. There is a lot to co-ordinate in order to skip. Everyone has tried their best to develop their skills. Ka rawe tamariki mā!

Lovely Lemons

Our 'l' focus this week seemed a good opportunity to think about ways to keep ourselves healthy this winter. We have been practicing coughing and sneezing into our elbows. "We cough or sneeze, into our sleeve".
We also made a remedy to help our bodies fight coughs and colds this winter. We made lemon honey drinks, emm delicious!!

Marshmallows

On the 5th of June we said farewell to Harley, who has moved to Christchurch with her family. As part of our goodbye we planned to toast marshmallows over a (small) campfire. But the weather conspired against us that week - so we had to improvise!
Haere rā Harley - we wish you well on your big adventure!

Peas in a pod

As part of our oral langauage program we have been playing a game. "What am I?" When it came to..."I am green, I come in a pod..." What's a pod Whāea Nicky?? Luckily I had just weeded the garden outside our class. On Friday we planted some pea seeds. It's a tight space to garden in and we will have to find some sticks for the peas to grow up. But we are all excited to see the peas grow! Watch this space!

Sense of Touch

Early in the week Phoenix had been our 'Whetu' for the day. One of the jobs for our whetu is to choose the books the teacher reads after lunch. One of the books Phoenix chose was called "Touch". We read about how we have nerves under our skin that send signals to our brains to give us information about what we are touching. Is it rough or smooth? Warm or cold? We did an experiment to see if we could guess what we were touching.

Once we had touched the item, we matched it with the picture, then checked if we were right. Phoenix has just touched the mystery item. You can tell by her face she is unsure of what it is.

Everyone had a chance to guess. We recorded everyone's predictions for what it might be. Is it worms or is it noodles?

In the end we peeked and saw that it was cold spaghetti noodles! Whāea Nicky was trying to trick everybody! 

E-E-Eggs!

E was our letter of the week. Marise had found some egg cups in her magic kete. We had all eaten eggs - but not from an egg cup! On Friday we boiled up the eggs, sung songs in the kitchen together - then back to class for eggs and soldiers - toast ones whānau!!

K for kites!!!!

This week our letter focus was 'k'. 'K' for kites!!

We made kites together this week and luckily enough, the wind was blowing on Friday for some fun

kite flying!

Cross Country

The cross country is an amazing test of perseverence for 5 and 6 year olds. I was very proud of Waitī's efforts that day. Mauri tū mauri ora! An active soul is a healthy soul!

Cross Country 21st May

On Tuesday 21st May the whole of Ōtaki School walked down to Haruatai Park to take part in the cross country.

Bullying Free Week

May 13th to May 17th was Bullying Free Week through out New Zealand. Through out that week and the week following we have talked about what bullying is, how we feel when we are bullied, and what we can do about it.

Peanuts!

May 16th was Support Staff Day. It was a chance for us as a staff to reflect on the important role our support staff play at Ōtaki School. In Waitī we are lucky enough to have Marise work with us. Marise plays a vital role in ensuring ngā tamariki learn their 'Early Words'. She also has a magic kete that supports the phonics learning in the class. Marise finds items to go in her magic kete that start with the sound of the week. Thanks for everything you do Marise!

This week it was peanuts. Marise brought in a packet of roasted salted peanuts, as well as peanuts still in their shell. We learnt that peanut plants aren't very big and that peanut plants fruit underneath the ground. We also found that peanuts were the main ingredient in peanut butter. 

So on Friday we made peanut butter. First we made it in a mortar and pestle. We smashed, bashed, and mashed the peanuts unitl they became smooth enough to spread. 

Next, so we would have enough to share, we blended some more peanuts in a kitchen whizz. It was noisy!!

Very soon we had peanut butter. We took turns to make toast and spread it with our freshly made peanut butter. It was yum!

Fairy Bread

On Friday we made some Fairy Bread. First we cut the crusts. One, two, three, four.

 We spread the butter on our bread. Then we sprinkled the sprinkles. Then we cut the bread in half.

This was a great opportunity to talk about fractions, halves and quarters, and what is a fair share?

Waitī sat together to eat the fairy bread. Then we came together on the mat to discuss writing about how we made it so the students who hadn't come to school that day would have the instructions when we come to make fairy bread in the future.

This is Karenna's writing. Ka nui te pai tō mahi!

Little Red Hen Theatre

Oral language is the base for all our learning. One way we are developing our oral language skills in Waitī Room 8 this term is through retelling familiar stories. 

We have been focusing on the story of 'The Little Red Hen'. Listening to the story. Discussing the 'problem' in the story. Discussing what is fair. Is it fair that the Little Red Hen does all the work and then the other animals want to eat the bread?

We sequenced the story as a group. This helps all of us get the whole story clear in our heads. What happened first? Then what happened?

After this we discussed other things like - who are the characters? Where is the story set?

During this time we have read different versions of the story too. We have discussed 

what is the same , what is different.

Then one day we all wrote our own version of the story. It has been exciting to watch the learning that has taken place through the telling of this story. 

The last activity we undertook for this story was to act out the story as a class. The tamariki all were a character each and they retold the story to me, their audience. There was a lot of giggling and they acted out the story.

The Theatre has now been set up with finger puppet props and the show continues to play on in class! Come on in and be an audience! We would love to see you!

Orange juice!

Waitī Room 8 Pushed! Squeezed! Twisted! Squashed! Their way to make orange juice on Friday Week 1 Term 2. The verdict? Delicious!! Tino reka! Yum!

Levin Adventure Park

On our way home from our theatre trip to 'Mr Magee and the biting flea' in Palmerston North, we stopped off at Levin Adventure Park for our lunch and a play. We were so lucky with the day, it was warm and bright, tamariki had a wonderful time playing together!

Mr Magee and the biting flea.

On Thurday of Week 1 Term 2 Waitī Room 8 and Waitā Room 10 travelled by bus to Palmerston North to the Regent on Broadway. We watched the production based on Pamella Allen's books, Mr Magee and the biting flea was the finale item.
It was neat to note the reaction from tamariki as we entered the theatre. They were completely captured by the drama of the physical setting we were in.
The show was a great success. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Kidscan Jackets

Ōtaki School  is proudly supported by Kidcan. The warm winter raincoats have arrived for our students new to the school. Looking great team!

Noodles!!

Week 10 Term 1
Our letter focus this week has been n, and the truth be told more than nine ninja's needed noodles!!
Waitī very much enjoyed the process of making the noodles. First making the dough, then rolling it. Finally making the noodles.
We all sit together when we make kai. We share our food and talk to our friends around the table. It is a favourite time in our class.