Saturday 21 November 2015

Celebrations!

As you know, our inquiry unit this term is all about celebrations. It’s fun looking in to the different ways we celebrate birthdays, Christmas and Easter, as well as, learning about some of the celebrations that people from other cultures celebrate. Diwali was one of the celebrations we looked in to, and it’s especially relevant as not only do we have a large Indian community here in Wellington who put on the Diwali Festival at the TSB centre every year, but Saisha and her family celebrate Diwali. So we have a little expert who shared with us some of the things that they do. We learnt about divas, rangoli patterns, and explored henna patterns. We also read the big book ‘Diwali’.

Rangoli patterns are so striking with their bright colours and use of patterning we decided that we would do our calendar art with a rangoli pattern. So we explored how to use water colour paints: How much water do we need to activate the paint? We learnt that a wee bit of water can make the colour intense and vibrant, or how adding lots can make it pale and light. What is the correct way to use a paint brush? Does it matter if we use a thick paint brush, or is it better to use a thinner one? All of the children in Room 1B should be able to answer these questions now. We are still exploring though, as painting is tricky business! I was so impressed with how well our pictures came out. Each picture was different, but equally as stunning as the next.

Our calendars have been ordered and are in the process of being printed. Hopefully we will receive them soon! Thank you for ordering them! I know you will be happy with the product you receive.


Jenna J

Tuesday 10 November 2015

A Splashing Load of Fun at Ally Todd

We had so much fun learning to swim at Ally Todd! We got our confidence up in the water and almost all of Room 1B can put our heads under the water now! Some of us can float on our tummies and backs, and a couple of us can swim “free style”.

The feedback from our instructors is to keep going to the pool to make sure we are really confident and able to put our heads under.

We looked mega cute all geared up with our togs on, swimming caps on and googles at the ready. By the end of it all Miss Hannah had putting swimming caps on down to one smooth motion. She was pretty chuffed! Some of us splashed her while we were swimming by accident. It was funny, but she looked pretty silly. We think she should bring her togs next time!


Check us out on our last swimming lesson!

 

Monday 9 November 2015

Swimming at Ally Todd

Term 4 started off with a splash for Room 1A with our swimming lessons at Ally Todd pool. Mrs Pupuke was amazed by the fantastic progress we made in a short amount of time but is looking forward to not getting splashed by those strong kicking feet!

Sunday 8 November 2015

Happy Diwali!

During Weeks 4 and 5 we are learning all about Diwali. Room 1A has been fascinated to discover everything that is involved in celebrating Diwali. We have enjoyed listening to the exciting tale of Rama and Sita, colouring rangoli patterns, watching videos of the thousands of twinkling 'Diya' that light up the streets during Diwali and modelling some traditional silk sari. We made rangoli pattern biscuits on Friday and some brave students even sampled some samosa and bhaji which are traditional Indian snacks.  This week we will be comparing Diwali to celebrations that we take part in and making some Diwali related crafts.



Sunday 1 November 2015

Let's Celebrate!

Room 1A's Inquiry focus for Term 4 is 'Celebrations'. We are going to be learning about celebrations around the world and comparing and contrasting these celebrations with the ones we take part in in New Zealand. Karyn (Our wonderful teacher aide) brought in some carp flags that she used as part of Children's Day celebrations when she was living in Japan. We learnt you fly one carp for each family member and that the different colours and sizes represent different members of the family. It took three of us to hold up the black kite which represents the father! We are looking forward to celebrating Diwali soon and have been busy making rangoli patterns to decorate our classroom.