Category: Ako | Learn

What is a River?

LI: To identify and describe the features of the Tamaki River

This week we have been learning about what rivers are, their unique attributes and how to label them. We then created a DLO about the Tamaki river and its history. Did you know the Tamaki River was originally called Te Wai o Taiki, meaning “The Waters of Taiki”. The name Taiki is a shortened form of Taikehu, the name of an ancestor of Ngāi Tai. Using our knowledge that we acquired, we showcased the features of the Tamaki river using an aerial map. We then compared the Tamaki River with a prominent river in the world. Our group chose to look at the Mississippi. Finally we made a comparison of the two rivers.

We found this activity fun and interesting because we got to work togeather and learn interesting facts about rivers around the world.

Explination Writing

LI: To understand the structure and language features in an explanation

How did Goldilocks upset the Bear family?

To upset somebody is making them feel bad, disappointed, and worried. In the fairytale/story Goldilocks makes bad decisions and ends up upsetting the Bear family in different ways. Have you ever felt upset in any way?

Goldilocks was curious, with this in mind she entered the strange house cautiously.

While trespassing, Goldilocks smelt the exquisite smell of porridge so she tried them all, as a result for the last one being just right she gobbled it all up.

After filling her stomach Goldilocks was exhausted so she felt the need to sit down. As she tried to sit on all the chairs with the last one being comfortable it broke underneath her, as her fall being rough she hurt herself in the process so she wandered off for a place to rest in mind.

As she stumbled upon 3 beds she yawned and tried to fall asleep in the first bed, but it was too hard. As she tried the next bed she sunk right in, it was too soft. As she was now giving up all hope she tried the last one being just right for her, as the bed was as comfortable as it was, she dozed off.

The Bear family returned home soon after and when they saw their home looking horrendous and their furniture in pieces they were furious. When they walked into their bedroom Baby Bear was angry to see a little girl in his bed, once Goldilocks woke up the Bear family scared her and she ran terrified with never going back to the forest in mind.

The impact of what you do could affect others in many ways. As Goldilocks did not intend to try and upset anybody, the consequence of her actions made other people angry, and could have put herself in great danger. 

To help us understand how to write an explanation we looked at the purpose, the structure and the language features needed. An explanation tells us how or why something is the way it is. To help us understand this we learnt about cause and effect. Cause and effect is an action and a reaction. We used the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears to help us understand this. Here is our explanation that describes how Goldilocks upset the Bear family.

This activity was fun because learning about how to write an explanation using cause and effect is a good way to help understand what it is and how to use it in an explanation.

Treaty of Waitangi

LI: To explore the world in 1804 and the art of the Treaty.

This week we looked at what the world was like is 1840. Did you know in 1840 the british stopped sending convicts(People who commit crime) to Australia?

After this we identified some of the key people and their role in the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. I found it interesting that a black and white photo taken in 1840 of some building is the oldest known photo.

We then used the information from both of these activities to help us read a painting of the day the Treaty was signed. The photo above was a painting by an artist called Marcus King made in 1938 from a interpritation he though what it was like inside the tent signing the treaty.

Basic Facts Challenge

Today I started my maths journey with subtraction up to 20. This activity is used so that I could expand my knowledge when working with big numbers.

Today my time was 5m and 12s. My goal for next time is to complete subtraction up to 20 randomized. to achieve this goal I need to practice more and try and remember my basic facts.

Fluffy’s Text Message

I completed the kick start activity called Fluffy’s text message for the summer learning journey.

First, I read a story about a class with a pet guinea pig named Fluffy, and a student gets to take Fluffy home during the school holidays.

Then I created a DLO showing a text message between Fluffy and the SLJ team. I drew a picture that showed Fluffy’s doing their favourite activity.

I enjoyed this task because I got to come up with fun thungs Fluffy could do during summer.

Maths Riddles

For the summer learning journey I completed the task called Maths Riddles.

I needed to answer 5 tricky maths questions, for example: at the time Coco was 6 years old her sister was half her age. How old would Coco’s sister be if Coco was 20 years old? The answer would be 17 becuase is Coco’s sister was 3 at the time Coco was 6, the age gap would be 3 years, and 20-3=17.

I enjoyed this task because answering riddles is fun! I got 3/5 questions correct. I think I did good at this task.

SLJ Land of Voyages

For the summer learning journey I had to build my own waka hourua.

i used minecraft education edition to create my own design for a waka hourua. I used wood and fences to create the base and paddles.

I enjoyed this activity because building a waka in minecraft was fun. I think I could try to add more things to it.

SLJ Art for arts Sake

I completed the summer learning journey task called art for arts sake.

First I chose what I wanted my silhouette to be, I chose a flying eagle.

Then, I drew the eagle on a piece of paper and coloured it in black.

Lastly, I cut out my black silhouette, and stuck it onto a white piece of paper.

I enjoyed this task because I enjoy doing art.

SLJ Smart Chips

I completed the summer learning journey activity called smart chips.

First I listened to the christmas carol called a pukeko in a ponga tree, also known as “the twelve days of christmas.”

Then I used smart chips to fill in the missing parts of the song, For example : On the first day of christmas my true love gave to me, a … in a ponga tree, “pukeko” would fill in the gaps. I completed the whole task.

I enjoyed this task because I got to learn a new christmas song in Te Reo maori. I think that I did a good job at memorising the order of the song.

SLJ Mars Rover

For the summer learning journey I designed my own mars rover.

I needed to use shapes and tools to create my mars rover, I decided to name it WALL-I because I got insporation from the movie WALL-E. I added different types of things to my rover including wheels, test tubes and cameras for eyes. A fact about my rover is that the box inside the body is used to test things that it can find on mars.

I enjoyed this activity becuase it was fun learning about mars. I think I could try and expand my learning and try to learn about more thing in space.