Winter is Coming

We have been exploring ideas about the coming of winter, leaves falling off trees, and how this happens.

Our poem this week was about winter approaching: 

Children worked with a black and white print of a bare tree and applied coloured dye.

Then they shared their theories about why leaves fall off trees.

 

The leaves fall down. 
It starts to get cold, because the wind

blows the leaves and blows quickly. 

The wind blows all the leaves off the trees.
It is getting ready for winter, nearly going to be cold
and you have to wear winter clothes.

The leaves fall down because every day it is windy
the clouds are coming. 

The trees don't have any leaves on them because winter is coming.
We can see the long branches.
They are bare.

The leaves fall off because it is a little bit windy,
it's turning cold. 

The leaves fall off because it's turning into winter, 
it's turning cold. 

It's so windy and cold, the leaves fly off
onto the ground. 

The trees still have a little bit of leaves,
sometimes a leaf on the top.
Winter is coming soon.

The leaves fall off the trees when the wind moves
the branches because winter is coming.

The leaves come off when the trees shake
because the wind blows because it's winter.

The wind blows the leaves.

The branches are black.
The leaves fall off because it's windy
because the God of the Wind is windy. 

The trees don't have leaves because
its starting to be winter.

The trees have a little bit of leaves.
I saw a tree with half leaves.
When the trees sleep the leaves fall off. 

We Are Kaitiaki

Term 2 has started well, everyone is settling in, routines re-established, and children happily playing and learning.

This week we read the story Ngā Atua Māori, by NZ author Sharon Holt.  You can view a preview of the book here:

We thought about how we can look after certain Atua - Papatūānuku/Earth Mother, Tangaroa/God of the Sea, Ranginui/Sky Father, and Tānemahuta/God of the Forest.

We then wrote our ideas:

I look after Tangaroa.
I will pick up the rubbish.
By Raimin.

I look after Tānemahuta.
I will put my rubbish in the bin.
By Ajae.

I look after Papatūānuku.
I will put my rubbish in the bin.
By Markus.

I look after Papatūānuku.
I will look after the grass.
By Arielle.

I look after Papatūānuku.
I will plant more plants.
By Te Tomairangi.

I look after Tānemahuta.
I will sleep by him.
By Rosaeah.

I look after Tangaroa.
I will put my rubbish in the bin.
By Traevon.

I look after Ranginui.
I will look at the stars.
By Annalee.

I look after Papatūānuku.
I will put plants in the ground.
By Armanee.

I look after Tānemahuta.
I will water the trees.
By Lochie.

I look after Papatūānuku by walking softly.
By Haroon.

I look after Haumiatiketike by respecting the fruit he makes and not stomping on him.
By Maire.

I look after Tānemahuta by not cutting the trees.
By Ava.

I look after Ranginui by keeping him clean.
By Benji.

I look after Tāwhirimātea by giving water.
By Geneva.

I look after Tangaroa by cleaning him.
By Mia.

I look after Papatūānuku by putting plants around her.
By Tessie.

I look after Tangaroa by cleaning the beach.
By Chase.

 

Taniwha

We have been reading the beautiful Taniwha story by Robyn Kahukiwa.

When we wrote about the Taniwha we thought about:

What does it look like?

What does it feel like?

What does it sound like? 

The taniwha is cold and whispers.
By Ajae.

The taniwha is a giant dragon with wings.
By Maire.

The taniwha feels bumpy and has scary eyes.
By Traevon.

The taniwha has a soft head and a hard body.
By Lochie.

The taniwha is bumpy and smooth.
By Geneva.

The taniwha roars and has designs.
By Haroon.

The taniwha has smooth wings and whispers.
By Ava.

The taniwha looks like a snake.
By Armanee.

The taniwha is old and bumpy.
By Chase.

The taniwha sounds like a tiger and is soft.
By Mia.

The taniwha sounds like a mouse and is curvy.
By Tessie.

Home Learning

 

Monarch Butterfly Life Cycle

We have been looking at Monarch caterpillars and butterflies, discovering what the butterfly life cycle looks like.

We wrote about caterpillars and butterflies:

The butterflies fly on the leaf.
By Rosaeah.

The caterpillar turned into a cocoon.
By Armanee.

The caterpillar turned into a butterfly.
By Haroon.

When the caterpillar hatches it eats a leaf.
By Geneva.

The female butterfly lays an egg on a leaf.
By Ava.

My butterfly laid an egg before it flew away.
By Mia.

I had a caterpillar and it turned into a butterfly and it flew away.
By Tessie.

We also went on a butterfly hunt!  Unfortunately, we only saw one butterfly flying high in the sky, but we found many caterpillars! 

Te Mara Kai

We visited our kitchen garden and found some interesting things to take back to the classroom.

We found some coloured corn, which we found out is jellybean corn.  We also found some silverbeet.

We sketched the jellybean corn.