Chapter Chat

Us getting ready for our first Chapter Chat

Last week Te Maunga took part in our first Chapter Chat.  Chapter Chat is a twitter chat involving lots of classes and students around New Zealand talking about the same novel.  The book we are all reading this term is Ghost by Jason Reynolds.(Click here to find out more about this book)  We are loving the book so far!  We get 10 questions to discuss during the chat and we can complete some tasks related to the chapters we read that week.

Some of us couldn't drag ourselves away from the chat!

We have had to learn how to use Twitter, how to get our point across in less than 140 characters, how to be good digital citizens, how to answer questions about the book and how to respond to others properly.

Some of enjoyed it so much we stayed in class after the bell went to keep participating!

We can't wait for the next chat!

Whanau Celebration Day

On Thursday Paihia school  had a whanau day. At whanau day we did a karakia in the whare  then we sat down listened to the fun activities that we are going to do for the day. After all the talking we went back outside to play and plant and do different activities.

The very first game we played was poi toa, then we played maui and matau. We had to buddy up into partners we had to buddy up with someone close to us. The very first thing we did was learnt how to throw a poi toa. My partner threw the poi toa  and I caught it “yay” said Mihipeka.

Then we went to the next activity maui matau. We had to use the  rakau to play the game. First we had to stand in a circle. We all had a rakau-(stick) When the leader says maui-(left) you have to quickly move to the left and grab the other person's stick but you have to leave your stick where you were standing. When the leader says matau-(right) you have to move to the right and grab the other person's stick. If you drop the stick you are out.

After we played maui and matu we went planting. We planted lots of different kinds of trees and we planted it next to our pump track. Then the bell rung and we had a whole school shared lunch and it was yummy.

Here are some photos:
       

Waitangi Treaty Grounds

Paihia School went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds to do some fun activities and to learn about Matariki. We got to make kites with Rahu (she is one of the workers)  out of Nikau fronds.

We also played some games - that were supposed to help you get better at listening and moving quietly. It was a hard game because you were blindfolded so couldn't see your opponent and you had to try and tag them by listening to them rattle their shell, but they were also trying to tag you.

We also got to plant some trees in the bush.

It was an awesome day!

Whaea Jessie

In Te Maunga we have been so lucky to have the wonderful Whaea Jessie as our student teacher.  we have had Whaea Jessie in our class for two weeks. Sadly Whaea Jessie has to go back to university  in Auckland, but she will be back at the end of term 3 and the first few weeks of term 4.  We can't wait for that!  We all are going to miss her so much so that is why we are going to say a big good bye on Friday the 23rd of June. Whaea Jessie help us with our maths, reading , writing, literacy and lastly Te Reo Maori. She is a great student teacher. We all  hope she gets to come back to Paihia School and teaches one of our classes.

Breakout EDU

In Te Maunga we did Break Out EDU.  If you don't know what Breakout EDU is, watch this video.  We were learning to collaborate with our whole class. Last time we did this we failed.  Nobody listened, nobody was collaborating and people were running around doing their own thing.  This time we all worked together, worked as a team and we BROKE OUT!!!

Click here to see an HD version of the movie.

Our New Furniture

Last term, the Board of Trustees gave us some money for new furniture. The whole of Te Maunga was allowed to choose what furniture would be good and make a difference to our classroom.  We all split up in groups, had a booklet of all the furniture we could get and in the end we would sit on the mat and discuss what furniture we all want. We picked five beanbags, 6 tall chairs,7 wobbly chairs, four floor cushions, 6 small chairs, one very small table, a very high table and a medium table just like the tall one. It was such a big surprise when we got our furniture. The furniture arrived on the 2nd of May.  The furniture is like a boost to our learning. The furniture keeps us comfortable as we work. Our old furniture didn’t give us much room in our class so the new furniture is very helpful for that. We love the furniture. We all thank the Board of Trustees  and Mike’s Woodshop.

School Tryathlon

Last Friday our whole school competed in a tryathlon.  Our class swam at the beach, ran back to school then biked around the field.  We thought it was a pretty cool day, but the best thing was the ice cream for finishing. It was amazing.