What is in your view?

We have created a presentation that we have passed on to other schools. We want to find out what is in their backyard and what is in their view. Today we had a new response from a school in Michigan, USA. 

Rockford, Michigan, USA

Snowy playground in subzero temperatures.

1. What school do you go to?
Rockford Christian School

2. What is something special about your school? Our school is an environmental school, which means we sometimes learn at a camp nearby.

3. What is something you have enjoyed learning? We loved learning about apples since there is an apple orchard close to our school.

4. What do you most like about living where you live? We love that we live in a state that is shaped like a mitten and is surrounded by lakes.

5. Is there anything else you'd like to share about yourselves, your culture or your community? This Christmas, we had a Jingle Bell Post Office where we helped kids and teachers send secret messages to each other.

6. Is there anything you would like to share about your learning, your class or your school? We have a pumpkin patch in the front lawn of our school.

Cricket Madness

It seems that everyone is suffering from Cricket Madness with the World Cup going on and our Black Caps giving us something to cheer about. We spent Wednesday at the Eastern Zone Cricket Tournament and had plenty to cheer about too: great play, great fun, some great skills and plenty of good results going our way. 

Powhiri

Last Friday we held a Powhiri for welcoming the new Worser Bay families. 

Powhiri February 2015 from Christiane Turnbull on Vimeo.

Camp 2015: What are you looking forward to?

Created with Padlet

We have been writing goals for camp. We have been talking about what we are looking to and what we are nervous about...

Yay! We are off to camp. Its that time of the year when the Year Fives and Sixes head off to camp Kaitoke again. Yep, that time when the cabins get messy and the kids go crazy. And, of course the Year Fours join in with the fun; every Year Four is so excited about their very first visit, but some people are still nervous. I asked people what they are looking forward to…

 It will be super fun! - Ben 

 It will be fun sleeping in the cabins and eating the food. - Joab 

 Da food -Tom

  Seeing people try new things. - Nicola

  I’m looking forward to the bridge of doom. - Blake 

 Camp is cool. - Burton 

 I am looking forward to a good night sleep (yeah, right)! - John

Air New Zealand Safety Movie

Flight Safety Video For Air Nz from Matariki on Vimeo.

We have been making our own New Zealand safety videos for a competition run by Te Papa. 

Click here for more information: Instructions

Shaky Wellington

Deb came in today to talk about the physical geography of Wellington. 

She showed us this Gondwana animation:

http://sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Ferns/Sci-Media/Animations-and-Interactives/Gondwana-animation

The Ring of Fire is an area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. New Zealand is on the Ring of Fire. 

Why is New Zealand wildlife unique? 

What is significant about flightless birds such as the Kiwi and the Takahe?

Mount Victoria

We went to Mount Victoria to look at the geology of Wellington.

A big thank you to Deb and Will who spoke to us about how the landscape of Wellington was formed. 

To find out more about the geology of Wellington: 

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/port-nicholson/page-4

Questions to consider and discuss at home: 

• How was my backyard made/formed (Geology)?
• How has our Geology affected our flora and fauna?

Mount Vic Trip from Matariki on Vimeo.

To find out more about tectonic plates:

Zealandia Trip

Today we went to Zealandia. We have been inquiring into what is in our backyards. We found out what New Zealand could be like if there were no pests. Some of us saw things that we haven't seen before e.g. the Takahe and the Tuatara.

Here are some questions to discuss and consider at home: 

• What is in my backyard (flora and fauna)?
• What are the environmental threats to flora and fauna in our backyard?
• What can we do to mitigate these threats?
• What action can we take which will have positive effects on our environment?

Zealandia Trip by Gretel from Matariki on Vimeo.

Zealandia By Manaia from Matariki on Vimeo.

Here is the Zealandia promotional video:

MY backyard

Nic's Backyard from Matariki on Vimeo.

We have been thinking about what is in our backyards. 

We are interested in: 

Fauna - meaning animals and insects 

Flora - plants and trees

Geography - maps and our place 

Artifacts - things that we found i.e. dog houses and play equipment 

Geology - this is about the earth and how rocks are formed

We started to plan our presentations about our own back yard. 

We can present in any way we like. (Nicola has made a short movie about her backyard as an example)

By Emma M and Josie

Janne's plan

Air New Zealand Safety Video: In Our Backyard

Safety video from Matariki on Vimeo.

We have been making our own New Zealand safety videos. 

Click here for more information: Instructions

Bonsai

Last Tuesday, Hamish brought his three bonsai trees into class and we got to observe and then to sketch them. It was very fun, everybody loved it. There were three tables, one for each bonsai. Here are some examples of the sketches we did. Bonsai trees originated in China and have been carried on for centuries. You have to get seeds of trees that would normally grow quite big, but you try to keep them small by trimming the roots and branches of the tree.

Comments:

-I liked that they looked like baby trees. Milly
-I liked how they were twisty and twirly. Liam
-I liked the little temple that was on one of the bonsai pots. Emma C
-It looked cool and plastic. Louis
-I liked the reactions of the students when they saw the bonsai and how I could share my passion with the class. Hamish
-I liked how they looked like they were from the past or from somewhere else. Molly
- Pohutakawa tree leaves look like paddles. Joab
- I liked how one of the Bonsai trees had a curve. Meg

By Jude and Oto 

Air New Zealand: Saftey Video Competition. Let's show off our backyard!

We will be making our own Air New Zealand safety videos.

We have started to brainstorm our ideas.

Instructions

Watch these examples: 

http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/Education/Pages/SafetyVideoCompetition.aspx

We are getting ready for next week's Powhiri

Powhiri - Friday 20 February at 9.30 am. All welcome

You can't beat Wellington on a Good Day!

We have been writing poems about Wellington. We will share our poems with Class 11 at St Giles School, Lincoln, UK http://class11stgiles.blogspot.co.nz/

(See more poems in the comments section)

What poetry features can you see in our poems? 

Windy Wellington 

By Sam

The sky is blue, the wind is free,

The air is surrounding everywhere ‘round me,  

On every good day, bet you know what they say,

You can't beat Wellington on a good day.

The sun is up, the sea is down,

The sun glitters all over town,

The people say hey,

You can’t beat  Wellington on a good day,

The sea is down, the night is black,

Calm and heavy you'll follow the track,

On every good day, bet you know what they say,

You can't beat Wellington on a good day!

You Can’t Beat Wellington On Any Day

By George

Some days you can chill at the beach,

And the bad weather is out of reach.

But the other days are not so nice,

The rain pouring, no blue sky.

Then there are the middle days,

With multiple things like Te Papa and Wellington’s museums.

So simply Wellington is the best,

Better than all the rest!

Wellington

By Jack H

The wind screams in my face

Trees fall on the road

Leafs spins around like a green tornado

The sky is grey

Why is Wellington so windy?

You Can Never Beat Wellington On a Good Day

By Betty

The clouds bounce across the pacific sky

The ocean gently touches the sand

The summer breeze blows the beautiful trees elegantly

The sun is scorching the bay

That's why you can’t beat Wellington on a good day!

The clouds are fading away

Then that's the start to a better day

Divers diving in the sea

What time is it, I can't see

It's the afternoon now, it’s hot, why did I wear long sleeves?

Now I say “can't we go to scorcher bay?”

That is why you can't beat Wellington on a good day

The sea whimpers through the night

Now I'm getting frost bite

Now that's the start of a bad day, but I say

You can't beat Wellington on a good day!!

Wellington Custard

By Gretel

Ice- cream,

Lets Scream,

It’s sunny,

I can spend some money,

Down at the Dairy,

The shopkeepers hairy,

He gives me some rice,

With some pet mice,

The birds are chirping,

And something's murking,

Then the rain comes,

And the supermarket is filled with moms.

WELLINGTON CUSTARD!!!




Wellington Poem from Matariki on Vimeo.

Sport Evening Picnic

"The Sport's Evening was fun. We got to hang out with friends and family and be sporty!" Molly D

What is over the fence?

What's in our back yard from Matariki on Vimeo.

John has been taking groups of children over the bank to see what is there. We looked for insects, treasure and trash. There was tons of glass down there. We threw hoops, we dug where the hoops landed. 

By Rory and Jasper

Our New Pizza Oven: Nearly finished!

Fletch's picture of our new pizza oven. 

We have been investigating the installation of the pizza oven. 

We can't wait for it to be finished! 

Thoughts:

Asha: ‘They look really cool and we are going to make delicious pizzas’

Frankie: ‘They look really good and I’m excited about cooking Pizza in them’

Chanel: ‘I am excited about them being finished’

What is in your backyard? Please add any interesting picture that you have.

What is in your backyard? Please add any interesting pictures that you have...

Created with Padlet

Perry's Hedgehog

People have been bringing in things they have discovered in their backyards and displaying them in our Discovery Area.  There are insects; Weta, spiders and cicadas, a birds nest, a piece of pounamu, hedgehogs, bottles and coins.  It is amazing to see what people have found and, interesting to think about the things that have been thrown away.

What is in our Backyard?

Our new inquiry is called, "What is in our backyard?"

Today we made a movie about our school.

Our View from Matariki on Vimeo.

We are interested to find out about what is in other school's backyards so we have started a presentation that will be passed on to other schools. This is what we have so far...