Robopā

Tautoro School have been lucky enough to participate in the 'Robopā - Robotics in Schools' programme launched by Awanuiārangi.  It has enabled our tamariki to access and manipulate technologies, robotic equipment and build on their coding capabilities.  They participate in teams, problem solve, engage in computational tasks, and ultimately design their own robot to successfully complete challenges set by the kaiako of Robopā.

We have already had our local school scrimmage, with lots of whānau and students from other classes come visit and learn for themselves about the amazing mahi that the senior students have been a part of.  

The question of the day was, 'What is a scrimmage?'

 

It's where each group works with another group (building team work) to complete a certain task.  In this case, to move as many blocks into the point zone as possible. You're timed with two minutes to accumulate as many points as you can.  The points you gain for each round gets tallied and accumulated toward your final score. The two teams with the most points by the end of the day, get to represent your local area at the regional championships held later in the year.  Our tamariki have the potential to win that and represent Northland at the National tournament held in Whakatane.

I loved how they were able to construct a robot, test its effectiveness, problem-solve and make changes, then re-test their ideas again in authentic situations.  There was lots of opportunities to communicate and collaborate with others and demonstrate their new found knowledge and skills to their peers, whānau, teachers and wider communities.

I felt that this programme engaged, inspired and motivated our tamariki to be successful innovators and creators of digital technologies (something they're familiar with).  It also encouraged them to develop and enhance their science, technology, engineering and mathematical knowledge, a bonus for me as their teacher :).

Please keep an eye for their posts regarding this experience.  

Nga mihi nui ki a roopu Robopā me Awanuiārangi.

Nā Akōmanga rima.

Mrs Beazley comes to Room 5

Handwriting

For many children throughout New Zealand handwriting seems to be a thing of the past, particularly for those with 1 to 1 devices, e.g chromebook in schools.  Whanau in Tautoro had a few concerns about the handwriting of their children.  Therefore, we have been lucky enough to have Mrs Beazley come to our classroom.  She is re-known throughout Kaikohe for her skills and knowledge in handwriting.

I have already seen a huge improvement in my students writing, from how they form and link their letters, grip their pencil, set out and take pride in their work.  Tall letters touch the top line, small letters start half way between, g's q's and y's have tails.

  

 

Stop Motion Animation

We had Tania visiting today to help us prepare for our movie making presentation based on Matariki later this year.  We were familiar with the process, however we've come to realise that instead of jumping in and racing to get things done.... we need to slow down and think about what we're trying to say. 

What is our purpose for doing this?  

Who is our target audience? 

What is our message?  

What is the best way of portraying that message?

So, thankfully we got to experiment with play dough.  Tania hand made clear back drops for pairs to use in order to eliminate the class room furniture.  We focused on making small movements for each shot (as it's estimated that feature films require roughly 30 shots per second).  We also focused on ensuring the pairs worked as a team, communicating 'clear' when all hair, hands and shirts were out of the picture.  The students enjoyed it, and grew as future movie makers.  We found play dough easier to manipulate as opposed to plasticine.

 

 

ProJoe comes to visit

On Monday Room 5 had a visit from Matua Bodean and his trusty side kick ProJoe.  They came to discuss the importance of making healthy food choices.  As a class we discussed the four main food groups - Grain Foods, Fruit and Vegetables, Milk and Milk products and  Meat and Meat alternatives.

Interestingly we learnt key words that would help us remember the significance of each food group.  We learnt that each food group also contains different nutrients that our body needs in order to grow strong, stay healthy and give us lots of energy.  We were reminded of why it's so important to eat foods from the four food groups in order to help us Go, Grow, and  Glow.

Glow Group = Fruit and Vegetables: This food group provides us with essential vitamins and minerals needed to have our skin glow; our nails to grow; our hair to shine and  they also help fight off infections and bugs.

Grow Group = Meat and Meat Alternatives: This food group helps to grow our muscles.   They provide our bodies with protein which plays an important role in building and repairing our bodies muscles and organs.  Meat is also an important 

Grow Group = Milk and Milk Products: This food group helps to grow our bones.  They provide us with the calcium our bones need to stay strong.  Our teeth too.

Go Group = Grains: This food group provides us with most of the energy our body and brain need to get going - carbohydrates.  They are also a good source of fibre.  

Room 5 Assembly

We've been really busy these last few weeks with quick rip and rippa rugby tournaments for our year 5,6 & 7 students.  We've been preparing ourselves for Tautoro's Speech Competition later in week 7 for writing, where the students have been focusing on topics that are important to them.

The tamariki have also been learning about Pablo Picasso's cubism - a branch off our geometry unit we're studying this term.  We've learnt about the difference of abstract and realistic pieces.

I hope you enjoy the spotlight on some of these amazing pieces of work.  Feel free to browse their blogs.

Nga Mihi

Whaea Gaylene

Tyrone & Chace - 2D shapes

Angel-Rose - Pablo Picasso

Neko Henley - Speech Planning

  

Self Management

We are very lucky and fortunate to have Miss Simeon teaching in Room 5 while our classroom focuses on self-management this term.  Our class is making sure that they are listening, following instructions and making the best decisions to ensure that they are successful in their learning.

The students have also been focusing on making improvements in their writing.  One key aspect of their writing is checking that spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct.  Setting up systems such as buddy checking and using apps such as read&write to support them have definitely built their confidence in this.

Room 5 is also using the Fred Schonell Spelling programme that not only encourages the students to learn the word, but learn how to use it effectively in their writing.   We have already seen massive improvements in spelling results for students who struggle to string those sounds together correctly.

 Buddy checking

 Shalom and Maui (mixed ability spelling programme)

 Proof reading a document sent by Miss Simeon.

I can't wait to see how much they have improved in a few weeks time.  Kia Kaha Room 5.

Ki-O-Rahi Champions - By Sally Matene

Ki-o-Rahi Champions

Last Thursday my team and I went to the Ki-o-Rahi tournament in Kaikohe at Lindvart park. The people that were in my team were Armani, Taonga, Tamaiti, Andy, Kohl-lee, Angel-Rose, Marta and me. When we started the game we were versing Waima school.

It was my first time playing against other schools.  I was super nervous because I was one of the youngest in my team and I didn’t want to let them down. The captain of our team was Andy.  Waima wanted to be kia oma, so we started off being Taniwha - that’s the team that hits the tipu and stops the other team from getting tries.

I was starting to get frustrated.  It didn’t help that the referee was confusing me. He wasn’t making sense.  He didn’t even know the rules which was annoying because
the other team was fending and having two tags on one side.  Matua Matt said “you can’t do that! That’s cheating!”  He ended up explaining the rules to the referee which made me and my team feel better and not as frustrated as before.

This game was a little intense because they were Kia-Oma and we were Taniwha. So kiaoma has 2 people guarding the tupu. The ki starts in Te Marama.  They have to throw the ball to their teammates who are the kaitiaki standing in Te Ao by the tipu. Then they look for people that they can see from their team to throw the ki to. The aim is to hit as many pou as you can before you get ripped.  Anyone can run around trying to get the pou but as the Taniwha it was our job to double rip them so we can get a hand over for our team. We’re also trying to stop them from scoring tries.  The number of points depends on how many pou you can tag.

So my job was to rip tags from the other team.  I thought I did good.  I got one double rip for my team which helped Marta, Helam and Andy hit the tipu and get us points. When we were ki-oma my job was to hit the pou.  I hated it when they were chasing me because I was scared they would rip me or get the ki off me.  I still got the try which was cool.  “Shot Sally!” I remember hearing Matua Matt yell out.
We ended up winning. The score was 11-1 to Tautoro.

I enjoyed playing Ki-O-Rahi.  It was an awesome day out competing against other schools.  I also liked working with my team.  We ended up coming first overall.

By Sally Matene