Tutira Mai Nga Iwi

A few weeks ago a group of students got together to brainstorm how we could bring more te reo into LC2. They came up with some purposeful and fun ways for us to do this.

One point that they felt was important was to bring waiata (singing) into our common. Consequently Charlee, Kate, Ani, and Danielle have begun leading LC2 through learning Tutira mai nga iwi.

We have been filming some of our singing and reflecting on how we participate as individuals and work as a group during these times. We have started reflecting on how we can work as a group even better, and have come up with some great points.

First we focussed on just learning the words. When we first filmed ourselves, our students noticed that some of us weren't singing and were instead just 'mouthing the words'. We reflected that we wouldn't sound very good if we weren't all singing. We are now all singing as one.

Video One

Once we felt we were getting better at singing the words, we wanted to add in some actions so that it would be more interesting for others to watch and more enjoyable for us to participate in. We had a few practises at incorporating the actions and then filmed ourselves again.

Video Two

This time our students reflected that while we were all doing the actions, we all need to get better at doing them in time to the music and in time with each other. Watch this space for further improvement!

Immersed in Energy

What a super week in LC2!

Our immersion learning has been pretty full on with the children taking part in their first rotation with Elizabeth, Kerry or Reid. Then Thursday saw us all head off to Auckland Zoo where we investigated Animal Classification with some great learning about how animals use energy.

As part of a discussion today the student's have begun to question whether keeping animals in a zoo is appropriate. They held many excellent but different views and we have asked them to talk with their families as we know there will be a range of opinions, if you have the opportunity please share your ideas and encourage them to think about this issue. Consider these views from some of our class: 

"I like looking at the animals and seeing them eat". 
"Its making animals sadder without their mums"
"I don't really like the animals in the zoos because their spaces are small than they would have in the wild, because animals like to run around".
"I think its bad because they might die because they don't like their environment"
"I think its good and bad, for the good its because they're being protected, its bad because they're separated from their family. So I think its good and bad, so a normal place".

 

We're starting a new rotation next week, so all children will be moving onto one of the aspects, that is either Sun & Solar Energy, Kitchen Chemistry, or Forces. The children have been highly engaged and this is leading to more questions, writing and discussion within the class.

Have a great long weekend, and we'll see you all on Tuesday.