Finding out more about the Matariki stars

During week 9 Mrs Harris's literacy group did a project based on the Matariki Stars.

First, we watched a video of the stars. This prompted some discussion about Matariki and the solar system. We wrote down what we already know about Matariki on a sticky note. Many of us already knew what Matariki is and that there are 7 stars in the constellation.

Next, we did some research about the Matariki stars. We discovered that they all have different personalities and strengths. Mrs Harris told us to imagine what they would look like if they were human. We all chose our favourite Matariki star:

"My favourite one would probably be Tupu-a-rangi because she has the power of singing and also to heal animals and the forest" - Levi

"My favourite is Tupu-a-nuku because it's about all the nature and I like nature because when I was at preschool I always used to climb the trees" - Jahvi.

"My favourite would be Ururangi because she is basically the clouds that blow wind to everyone and make the weather happen" - Hanlin

"My favourite is Tupu-a-rangi because it's like songs and I love songs and birds" - Brady

"My favourite is Waipunarangi because she provides water for the world" - George

The next part of the project was all about art so we practised sketching our favourite star.

Finally, we talked about working together to create a Matariki masterpiece. Each of us had a different job to do. These were sketching, colouring in, sharing ideas, adding glitter and glue.

Below are some photographs of our stars. Can you tell which star is which by looking at our artworks?

Diving Deeper with Ms Nicholls

On Monday some of Koru 1 went to a special literacy session in the library with Ms Nicholls. We were diving deeper into the picture book "We're all Wonders".

Before Ms Nicholls read us the book she told us that for some of the tasks we would need to work together. She asked us the question "How will I know if you're working in a team?". Some of our responses were:

"Communicating to each other by talking to each other and explaining ideas" - Aiden
"Cooperating and sticking with an idea and trying to improve it" - Zeke
"Using good body language and good eye contact" - Archie

Next she read the book  to us and told us to look out for the powerful message in the story. She wanted us to think about the question "What makes you a wonder?" Here's what some of us thought:

"Everyone's different in their own way" - Te Wai
"We're all different and unique" - Jarius

Another question she gave us to think about was. "What's the difference between being unique and being a wonder, what makes you a wonder, think about it being like the word wonderful. What makes you wonderful"?

Then Ms Nicholls explained the different tasks to us. Each task provoked us to show why we are a wonder. We used digital technology and art. Here are some of our creations:

Digital Portrait Project

Today Koru 1 had a project based learning day. Mrs Harris took a group of children who were creating a digital portrait.

First we played a game called the elaboration game. The purpose of this game was to take a closer look at some portrait examples. We learned about four different styles of portrait photography. For each one we created a list of what was needed to take a successful shot.



We enjoyed using our creativity to compose our own portraits. Some of us selected locations outside, while others set up a scene inside the classroom. We worked in pairs or small groups to capture a variety of photographs.



To add another dimension to our portrait collage we did some close up perspective sketching. We used the iPad to zoom in on our eye. This allowed us to look closer and create a more detailed sketch.



Next was the editing stage. We learned about cropping our photos and adding filters for effect. The final step was to add our photographs into a grid. For this, we used the iPad app, pic collage.



Everyones digital portrait shows all four portrait styles plus a close perspective pencil sketch. It was interesting observing everyones finished project. They all looked very unique and eye catching.

Next time you're near Koru 1, come on in to have a look.

Trip To The City

Blog report by Charnz

In the morning at 9:45 Koru 1 got on a bus a we started our trip to the Art Centre. First we went to the South Quad to have something to eat and then we looked at these bubbled shaped things and a lady came to speak to us. She taught us about them and said what the meaning was about them. The person who made them was Seung Yul Oh. He was trying to remind us about the big earthquake that and how we all connected to help each other.



Then we walked into the Scape Public Art and made a little sculpture of the bubble type things and we used styrofoam balls and there were half one and all sorts of sizes. We used toothpicks to hold them together. When we had done as much as we could we got called up to take a photo with our models of  the bubble things that we discovered. After that we had to demolish them so we could experience more with the styrofoam balls. We had a certain amount of time until we went into the Botanical gardens.



When our time was up we walked out of the Arts Centre and we saw a statue of a man and Josie the instructor that helped us make the model things told us about the statue. Then we said goodbye to Josie and we headed off to the botanical gardens to have our lunch. When got into the gardens we saw heaps of interesting things and we went through Cunningham House. In there it was warm and we saw heaps of banana trees and there were signs saying where they were from. I saw one from Canary Island. Then when got out of there we straight to where Mrs Harris's group was eating.



After we had a little play around we walked back to the Arts Centre and we met two different ladies and went to Rutherford's Den. We put our bags away and we got these black robe things on it felt like Hogwarts a little bit. Then we went into the other part Rutherford's Den to do an experiment with bubbles. First we got into groups of three and there were some groups of two and we experimented if we used a heart shaped bubble blower what shape would it be. We also had a piece of paper and we had a hypothesis on shapes of bubbles and we had to guess what colours there were and after all of that one of the instructors had a stick and some rope and she tried to make a massive bubble. Then we went back to our bags and said goodbye and returned to school on the bus. Back in class, we reflected on the day. People had lots of highlights and the behaviour of the class was amazing.

Siapo-Inspired Art In A Connected Classroom

Last week a group of us were exploring Samoan siapo art and spending some time creating our own siapo-inspired patterns. To develop our value of being connected, and showing the connection between us, we are working towards creating a collaborative art piece to display in our new classroom. All going to plan, we will be moving later this week.

We began the morning by watching a video of some Samoan villagers creating siapo, following a special process from start to finish. We make our thinking visible on a large whiteboard by completing a See - Think - Wonder routine. It was interesting discussing how the art can be respected by other cultures too, not just people of Samoan heritage.

Here is the video.

We decided on our process and how we would manage our time and materials. The desired outcome was for each of us to have four 10cm x 10cm coloured squares (everyone's would be different, but the four we each create would be the same). We would then all contribute these to a large collaborative piece that includes everyone's pieces.

Below are some photos of us working on this project. Check out our individual student blogs for personal learning reports of the day. We will share images of the collaborative piece once installed in our new room.

Word Art

On Wednesday, we began a journey that would help us each discover our own word for the year.

This started with a mindfulness exercise, so that we could step into our imagination and think creatively. We were asked questions like "what do you hope for yourself?", "what do you want your year to be like?", "what does your heart need?" and "what qualities do you want to develop in yourself?". Next we made a list of the words that came to us during the mindful activity. Some of the words were feelings and emotions and others were verbs or adjectives.

Some of us decided on our word straight away and others wanted to think about it more overnight.

On Thursday morning we started creating some art to express our word. We used paint to create an abstract background. We experimented with different tools such as sponges, paint brushes and ice block sticks.

The next step was to digitally create our word. We selected our own font and printed it out so that it could be stuck onto our art work.

At the end of the day some of us explained our art to the group, mentioning why we decided to choose the word and how or why we created the background the way we did.

The result is a colourful wall filled with motivating words that are unique to Koru 1.

 

 

Island Maps And Adventure Stories

This week all of Koru 1 have been getting creative. We have been designing our own island maps, full of exciting places and features. Each of our maps are the setting for an adventure story we are writing. Literacy groups with both Mr K and Mrs Harris have been learning about what makes great narrative stories, exploring ideas around plot, characters, and of course, setting.

Linking with this art/writing project, Mr K's maths students have also been learning all about mapping and coordinates this week. Some things we have been finding out about are compass points, grid references and scales. Today we drew another simple map with various named locations, including a compass, grid references and a scale, then had our peers find locations on the map with clues we gave them.

We will be doing some more investigations involving geometry and measurement this term, so keep an eye on our individual blogs for our personalised learning reports!

Exploring Shapes

One of the deep understandings of our My Voice Is Powerful theme is how we can 'explore the arts in our world as a way to express ourselves'.



Building on from our About Me projects, when we taught others about who we are and what we care about, we are now each working towards creating a geometric art piece that expresses more about ourselves and in doing so allows us to learn more about some important mathematical concepts, as well as the exploration of cultural patterns and visual art techniques.

The final products will be designed by each of us to include many geometric shapes and patterns. But as we are in the initial stages, we are currently building our knowledge about the features and different characteristics of shapes before we can begin doing more of our own self-directed investigations relating to how shapes are used in art.

The Jerome Experience

Today we participated in the Jerome experience. Jerome taught us about a variety of Pasifika musical instruments.

We were lucky to hear him play the beautiful melody of the Pūtātara (the sea shell horn) and the Nuguru (whale tooth nose flute). 

He told us stories about the Māori goddess of music, Raukatauri. Then it was our turn to make our own musical instrument using clay.

Visual Mihimihi

We have been busy working on our visual mihimihi. This art project is going to part of our About Me slide show project.

Firstly we planned out how we could visually represent our home, our whānau, ourselves and our school. 

Some of us decided to use symbols to show this as well as incorporating kowhaiwhai patterning. We learned that different cultures have particular symbols and patterns that are important to them.

Next we slowly worked through the process of sketching a self portrait. For some of us, this was the first time we had taken the steps to create a self portrait with the correct proportions. 

Now we are transferring our plans to larger paper. This will be coloured in with pencil so that there is a contrast with the pencil sketch self portrait.

Please come into Koru 1 and check out the finished product. We will be discussing all the different elements of our art works and what the symbols mean to us with our classmates.