We Are Into Our Painting!

 

Tidy room? Not for long!

Paint has been flying in the Māhutonga Matariki spaces! Kate is working with groups of kids on portraits of gramdparents. Thanks to the interviews they are bringing deeper knowledge about who these people really are and they are expressing their feelings of love and care through paint. 

Under paintings in the style of Basquiat.  

In other projects we are using Jean-Michel Basquait and Amedeo Modigliani  as artist models to shape portraits of each other. We have been wondering how we can explore emotions and tell stories with paint.

And, we are learning to control the paint brush; not an easy task! As I said, paint has been flying!

Lexi's underpainting in the style of Modigliani.


Most of all, it's really, really good fun!

Softball

This week we had a visit from Amber from Wellington Softball Association.

She was teaching us about Softball.  

It was an awesome way to spend a sunny afternoon.  For some, they were familiar with the rules and setup, for others it was a brand new experience.

First we played a running relay race around the bases, getting familiar with the direction and order we run in.  Then we buddied up and practised some overhand throws and catching. 

Towards the end of the session we got to play softball 5.  This involved us hitting the ball with our open hands, while the other team fielded, trying to get the ball back to a hula hoop at home plate before the batting team made it safely to a base.  It was lots of fun and everyone got involved and into it.  

Trying new things is so important for us to not only see what we like, but also to step out of our comfort zones and approach things with a growth mindset.  

 

Sketching with Pastel.

 We are trying to capture figures in motion using pastel, just focusing on movement and bright colour so we see the vibrancy of people alive and active.  It's really challenging, not focusing on the detail but on the big movement and shapes of the people we are drawing. 

These are some of the 'action shots' depicting movement in the playground. One person is dancing, one is climbing a tree, another one, kicking a football.

These figures will go together to make a large action mural for the Arts Celebration.

SLCs Māhutonga Matariki

 It was great to see so many of you with heads together discussing the rich learning going on in the senior Whānau. These are truly student led conferences with teachers making themselves scarce.  This is not to say that there has been no teacher input.  In actual fact it is quite an intense and a great opportunity to help students reflect on what they are actually learning. 

Our Learner Attribute this term is 'I am a Thinker'. During the SLCs this has been really evident. Good job kids! 

We love these opportunities to connect!

Paper Planes Statistical Investigation

 

It was great fun making paper planes on Monday. We were investigating which design would fly the furthest, recording data and trying to analyse why certain planes were more successful. Going through a Statistical Inquiry cycle was a good learning experience for us. 

More comics!

 Production of comics for the zine is in full swing. Come in to see us in the classroom to check more of them out!

Great ideas!

Mind Maps: The Things we care about.

Connected to questions of identity are big ideas around our values and what we care about. Making mind maps before we write is a good way to organise and develop ideas. We are having conversations with each other as we create the mind map, extending and building on other's ideas. 

Using a mind map is a great tool for showing what we know, building knowledge in collaboration with others and an aid for memorising important ideas and information.   

We will be sharing the writing based on these mind maps next week. 

Takaro Tahi

 Traditionally on Friday afternoons, the junior school have had 'golden time'. This is where tamariki have been able to celebrate the great work they have completed throughout the week by choosing how they would like to spend the afternoon. Some people bought board games to share and play, others spent time creating craft, music, lego or marble runs and also had more time to choose play outside. 

During this time, the seniors also had 'Friday Games' afternoon. They were able to choose which game they would like to join, after they had completed their weekly reflection.

We have decided to trial a new idea on Friday afternoons this term by combining the whole school together to create a play afternoon called Takaro Tahi (play together). 

Our tamariki can still choose the things that they love to do the most (two ball football with John is a big draw card!), but as an added bonus, we now have the 'big kids' playing with and alongside our juniors. 

We have been using this time to put out some 'loose parts' like ropes, pulleys, pipes and containers to see what the tamariki would create together. 

We have been excited to see how well they work together and help each other create new ways to play. The seniors are experts at helping us tie knots, making swings in the trees and creating a pulley system along the big slide. 

Single Frame Comics: Inspired by Maddie Dai

 Last year we were visited by the wonderfully energetic, FUNNY Maddie Dai, cartoonist with The New Yorker no less. She gave us some great pointers about how to kick start our own cartooning careers.   

One thing we have been really working on; The punchline.

Well this guy got the idea!

It is a really complex set of skills but we are getting there. What about these ones?

Now we are getting excited about Te Wheke 2, the next edition of our school zine! 

Portraits!

We have been doing a lot of drawing, sketching each other, our teachers and even ourselves! 

The rules are simple:

• Use 1000 lines
• Keep a soft hand
• Draw what you see, not what you think you see or how you have drawn in the past
• Don't be careful!

We are enjoying the results.

We are going to have a go at painting members of our family next.  Ambitious? Why not!