Welcome to Kaituna Kid's Blog. We are a fantastic bunch of Yr 1 - 4 kids from Havelock School. Feel free to check out our recent learning and add your comments to our posts. We look forward to your feedback!
On Friday 5th April the whole school made a visit to the local estuary to explore which living creatures survive in the mud. After establishing a base and estuary boundaries students worked in groups to create their own mud castles. Maneuvring through the mud became rather challenging as paths were worn, yet also created a lot of fun for the kids as they slid and slithered through the mud. Those who stood still for too long were prone to getting stuck in the mud! There were a variety of mud sculptures created. Check out the photos below.
The winning mud sculpture.
The beginning of an interesting sculpture.
This group made a toilet from mud.
This group spread their sculpture out and framed it.
Some got rather muddy in the process!
After having some fun in the mud we got down to serious business investigating the living world of the mud zone. We once again used quadrats to explore set areas of the estuary. Recording was difficult due to the sticky mud that clung to everything. Crabs were found of various sizes which produced a few squeals from the kids!
Towa beginning his exploration of the qaudrat.
One of the larger crabs found in the mud.
Next on the agenda was to create Estuary Collages using non-living natural materials found on location. The quality and variety of ideas used in creating these artworks was astounding. No two artworks were the same, all were of a high standard and worthy of praise. It was interesting to see the different materials each group used to frame their artworks and the effect that various materials had.
We have been practising the following greetings daily;
Good Morning my teacher.
Good Morning my friend.
Good Afternoon my teacher.
Good Afternoon my friend.
We have also been practising singing the New Zealand National Anthem in sign language as well as English and Te reo.
We have also learnt to say please and thank you.
There is an awesome website which can help you learn sign language. It allows you to search a word then gives a diagram and a video of the sign to use. It is called The Online Dictionary ofNew Zealand Sign Language.
Here is a video of Conor and Tyrani greeting each other using sign language.
Over the last couple of weeks Kaituna kids have been learning about Cinquain Poetry. Our Cinquain poems we have written are based on an ocean theme and each have the following pattern:
5 Lines
Centred on the page.
A pattern of syllables for each line (2, 4, 6, 8, 2)
A capital at the beginning of each line.
The first line is an ocean creature.
The second line uses adjectives.
The third line uses verbs.
The fourth line uses words about feelings.
The last line relates concludes the poem.
We wrote our poems in groups after brainstorming all of our ideas on a big sheet of paper. Each member of the group was responsible for one line, but we all had to agree on the final poem. After completing our draft copies we used a website to publish our poems so that they were centred on the page nicely. Cinquain Poetry Website. Then we printed them out so we could practise reading them together as a group.
We have also been learning about drama. We have done lots of miming in class and communicating using only body gesture and facial expression. Our main focus has been displaying and recognising feelings. We have played lots of fun games to explore drama and even acted out the Big Books we use for Shared Reading. In the following slideshows of our Cinquain Poems, we have captured freeze frames of us acting out the action and feeling relating to our chosen sea creatures in our poems. We had lots of fun doing this and trying our best to display the mood of our sea creature at the same time.
The music you can hear in our slideshows was made using body percussion only. In class we have experimented with different types of body percussion and also viewed an interesting video clip on youtube of non-traditional musical instruments using newspapers. STOMP Newspaper Music
Each member of our group had to use a different body percussion and together we tried to make it sound like the sea or the sounds our chosen sea creature might make. Listen carefully, in some videos you can hear bubbles underwater and in some you can hear dolphins!
The following slideshows were created using Animoto which is free online software for making 30second slideshows.
This term our topic has been Te Moana. We have been learning about all sorts of wonderful sea creatures and their habitats. We visited Whites Bay to experience the contrast in sea life between the rocky and sandy shore. Next week we plan on visiting the estuary in Havelock to explore sea creatures that live in muddy habitats.
We have also learnt about the different tidal zones that sea creatures can and cannot survive in.
Splash Zone - High Tide Zone - Middle Zone - Low Tide Zone
Mr B preparing all pupils for their White's Bay exploration.
Cave located on rocky shore of White's Bay looking through to Rarangi Beach.
Tiny octopus found hiding against rock edge on sandy shore.
Sea anemone
Students working hard to identify rock pool creatures.
Tayla enjoying the sandy mud hole.
How many barnacles, limpets and periwinkles can you see?
Ashelyn and Jessie making a sand castle.
Elliot searching for Cats Eyes on the rocky shore.
Group driftwood sculpture.
Sandy shore groups exploring their quadrats.
George hiding in his groups' driftwood sculpture.
Rocky shore groups exploring their quadrats.
Sandy shore group exploring their quadrat.
Having fun digging holes in the sand.
How many barnacles?
Towa holding up the mummified eel he found on the beach.
What has Mrs Eden spotted?
Skye testing the water.
Mr B organising pupils to prepare for home after their sea swim.
