Tō tātou whakapapa - Family History Inquiry

After a very successful sharing of family taonga/heirlooms and stories at the beginning of Term 3, our attentions turned to digging a little deeper on our own history. We became curious! What caused our ancestors to move around? What experiences did they have? A great chance to make some connections not only to our Aotearoa New Zealand History Inquiry but also some of the history of the world at large. 

We began exploring, by interviewing family, friends and grandparents and doing some background research. Then it was time to sort and create - either through historical fiction, biography or artistic expression. 

In the middle of all this, we were plunged back into a nationwide level four lockdown. Fortunately this played right into our hands. It meant we had a much more direct line to those interviewees. More time and space to check out artefacts, photos etc. The Inquiry rolled on, and for many of us it gained momentum. 

When we meet again, we are looking forward to celebrating this learning with each other. For now, here are a few examples of our mahi. Enjoy! 

Family story collage - what an amazing mix of countries/cultures!

Wellbeing and Positive Relationships.

 We've been tackling the big questions this week

'What makes you flourish?'

'What makes you well?'

'Why is connecting with others important?'

We've had some rich discussion around connecting with others, especially at the. moment. We are noticing we miss the classroom, our friends, playing together etc etc..
so why is connection so important? 

The Science:

Having positive relationships with others is important for a number of reasons.  Relationships are believed to foster good health by increasing the desire to care for oneself, encouraging health behaviours such as good diet and exercise, and increasing positive emotions that have a beneficial impact on bodily systems (Cohen, 2004). Overall, feeling connected to others is believed to play a key role in good physical and mental health throughout the lifespan. Cohen & Wills (1985) found that connection with others offers a 'buffer' for facing adverse events in life. Connecting with others can help build our own resilience and ability to 'bounce back'. 

In our session we've talked about what good friendships look like, how can we connect with others positively. 

'A good friend listens when you are talking' this idea has come up a number of times and we wrote down what makes a good listener.

Inspiration Book- Our New Inquiry

This week we are kicking off our "Inspiration Book" Inquiry. 

Why do we make art?
What is/are the the purpose/s of artworks?
What is the value of art and why does this differ according to culture etc.?
How can artists influence or effect change?
How can ideas and issues be expressed and explored via The Arts?

 We are so INSPIRED after our trip to the City Gallery and Wellington Museum.

Please add to our Padlet. What inspires you?

Being Powerful in Lockdown

Our learner attribute this term is "I am Powerful." We have been demonstrating this at home with all of the creative and wonderful things that we have been doing in our "bubbles". We are overcoming challenges, persevering, taking action and making the most of the situation. 

For our Arts Inquiry, we have been thinking about things that inspire us. Maybe some of these will inspire you... 

How to make a Spiderweb

A ping pong challenge!

Being creative with graphing about Covid-19 data by Emelie

"If you google 'giraffe' you can choose to see it in 3D then put it anywhere you like! It is heaps of fun and you can try all sorts of animals."

"We have started to stitch plants out of felt. Yesterday I finished my Venus Flytrap. Now I am working on a spider."

"We have been really inspired by all the memetic and compositional art... thanks for the wonderful ideas."

"You mix 2 cups of cornflour with 1 cup of water, and you can put 3 drops of any food colouring in. Very simple. Mix it up"

Ajooni: When I visited Weta cave last year, there was an artist who made sculptures out of tinfoil. I decided to do the same. Here is my cactus.

Petra: We did a taste test. I got everything correct. I loved the marshmallows and candy floss but the blue cheese was yucky!

What a great way to focus on our Positive Health and practice Maths at the same time!

Teacher Art Exhibition

Teachers have been getting creative for our Teacher Art Exhibition last week. You may have seen some odd look creatures in last weeks newsletter and around the playground. 

On Monday, the students took a tour of these pieces as we explained the inspiration behind them. It was really cool to see this and we also saw some work in the office inspired by stories we know well like Maui and Mahuika and the Māori creation myth. 

In the afternoon on Monday following our tour we returned to the idea of the 'inspiration book'. We started some big brainstorms with big picture thinking, what learning did we want to share about? What is possible? We will be exploring these in our Art Celebration.

Home learning:

• Arts Celebration planning has begun.  On Monday we began with our Inspiration Book.

This includes Who inspires me, (artists, writers, musicians, thinkers, politicians, mums, dads, etc. What inspires me, ideas, issues, concerns, amusements ( Our history, family, gender roles, racism etc.) and How I could use these inspirations to make artworks. (materials, methods, styles etc.)  The next step is to do a series of sketches of the ideas.  Don’t settle on the first idea or on just one idea but let your mind wander and explore a range of options.  This will be a kind of visual brainstorm, building on the Inspiration Book.

Cleo's Art- inspired by Cloe's Art!

Squareness- Problem Solving

On Friday we worked with the Year 3 students in Tautoru. We were demonstrating leadership. 

We are learning about the properties of a square and problem solving together. We explored the concept of “squareness.” We know that a square has 4 equal sides and 4 right angles. 

We asked: How many squares can you find that have dots from this array as their corners?

Our brains are growing!

Motukairangi Kapa Haka Festival 2021

The Kapa Haka festival was really fun. Wellington East Girl's College and Rongotai College (Ngā Taiohi o Te Rāwhiti) started it with an opening ceremony, then after the presenter's speech they shared their item. After that, Kahurangi school came up and shared an awesome item, and since they were the only other full school, there were so many of them! We were on third, and it felt really good to get it done so soon. It felt like just one minute, but our item was supposed to be five! There were a ton of other schools after that, including Miramar North School, Miramar Central School, Lyall Bay School, Evans Bay Intermediate School and Hataitai School. Once all the schools had shared, Everyone sung Matariki and Toia Mai on the seats they were on, and the thudding of feet on the floor and 1800 voices all across the room all singing was awesome. It felt so good to hear and see everyone singing and doing one song altogether in unison. I especially liked when we did the haka part, because different people were doing different parts of the song, and the fact that everyone knew their part in the song was great. It felt so good about doing something with different people who we might never have met, without clarifying that everyone knew what to do, but everyone did know what to do.
- Will J

We have worked so hard on our performance over the past few months. The mana and ihi in Te Whānau o Whetūkairangi's performance was palpable! Here's an explanation of the meaning behind each part of our item:

• 'Noho ake au' (Mōteatea/Chant) - This chant speaks of tangata whenua, the tribes of Ngāi Tara and Ngāti Ira. The founding ancestors of these tribes and our treasured Pā site, Whatonga and his son, Taranihoniho are acknowledged. Tara's mother, Hotuwaipara is also mentioned.
• 'Utaina' (Waita-a-ringa/Action song) - This song is about paddling a waka in unison. We uplift the canoe, the canoe uplifts us. I a, ha, ha!
• 'Ko Te Upoko o Te Ika' - (Haka) - Our school haka, speaking of Whetūkairangi's position atop Motukairangi (Miramar) at the "head of the fish of Māui" (Wellington). Kupe's pursuit of the wheke (octopus) and our maunga, Tangi Te Keo (Mt Vic) are mentioned too. We look to the stars, Autahi, Tautoru, Māhutonga, Mataraiki, the family of Worser Bay School.
• 'Hutia te Rito' - (Waiata) - Our finale is a metaphor, it speaks of how pulling the centre shoot from the harakeke (flax plant) will stunt the growth of the species. He aha te mea nui o te ao? What is the most important thing in the world? Māku e ki atu ki a koe, He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. I say to you, it is people, it is people, it is people.