He waka eke noa

He waka eke noa is a whakatauki (Maori proverb) which is about all being in one waka (boat) together.  It refers to a group which everyone is a part of and everyone is important to.  At the moment we are in the process of building a waka display for a classroom wall.  We are nearly finished.  Lilly, Peter, Ella and Hazel did some incredible problem solving and measuring to make the actual waka.  Check out some photos of us in action.

Awesome Writing Goals

Last week in our table groups we discussed what some great writing goals would be.  We brought our ideas together as a class and now have a list of goals to use.  When we edit our buddy's writing and when we're coming up with goals for ourselves we can use this list.  Here are the goals:

Awesome Writing Goals

• Increase the amount of my writing
• interesting/engaging words - thesaurus / dictionary - disco words
• strong nouns and verbs
• punctuation
• Openers and connectors
• Use different sentence starters and words to connect sentences.
• Focused writing
• Paragraphs
• Vary sentence lengths
• Add detail
• Structure my writing - sequence it (order events)
• Write in the same tense (past/present)
• Strong personal voice - i.e sense of humour
• Editing my writing to make it stronger. This could mean removing words, adding new ones, changing sentences, etc
• Brainstorming
• Add senses and feelings/thoughts to my writing to make it stronger
• Show and don’t always tell the reader
• Spelling

Detextives

Today in Micheline's reading group we discussed being "detextives."  This is like being a detective when we read.  We talked about things that might trip us up and ways we can solve these problems.  Check out our great ideas, maybe you can practise them at home!

Haiku competition

If you'd like to practise using interesting words in your writing at home, you could enter this great competition!

Seaweek National Children’s Poetry Competition

Write a Haiku (俳句 high-koo) 3-line poem inspired by the Seaweek 2016 theme “Toiora te Moana – Toiora te Tangata, Healthy Seas – Healthy People” and illustrate it with an image.

Email entries with your age and contact details to mels@subliminal.co.nz
Image must be attached to the email in JPG format with the poem text separate from the image in the email.

Competition runs from Monday 22 February to midnight Sunday 6 March. No late entries will be considered and no correspondence will be entered into. All entries are the property of NZAEE Seaweek and may be used for publicity purposes.

2 categories: Age 10 and under and Age 11-16.

1st prize in both categories is a Young Ocean Explorers branded mask & snorkel set plus a Young Ocean Explorers book and DVD. Sponsored by Young Ocean Explorers.

Find out more here: http://seaweek.org.nz/competitions/#haiku

Find out how to write a great haiku by watching this you tube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOMuVpN8XqM

Good luck - and if you do enter - let us all know!

Karaka Newsletter

We have had a fantastic first day back getting to know each other and enjoying the glorious Wellington weather.

Here is the link to our first newsletter for 2016.

If you need a new copy of the Single Sign On Agreement here it is.


We also welcome you to subscribe to our blog posts.
If you would like to be emailed when new posts are made then add your email. You will be sent a confirmation email and it is important that you open this and click on the link otherwise it will not work.

Learning about our team mates

Learning about our team mates

We have been learning about our table group and what they like. We had to write this down on a sheet and then memorise that for a quiz. A table group is a group of 4/5 kids working together to help each other.-Jack, Tim, Payton and Charlotte.

Welcome back to 2016

We hope you have all had a relaxing and enjoyable break. 

Keith, Leon and Micheline are looking forward to embracing Modern Learning Practice in Karaka!

We will be teaching and learning together, providing an engaging and challenging learning environment for all learners. We plan to teach students strategies to become more active and focused in their learning.

Each student has a home group, made up of students from Year 5-6. Please contact your child’s home group teacher in the first instance if you have any queries.

Students and teachers will work together to identify next learning steps using assessment and reflections. It is likely that your child/children will have learning experiences with all three teachers during the year.  

We will be planning and teaching collaboratively to access the strengths of our team, ensuring we provide rich learning experiences for everyone!

Nga mihi

Keith, Leon and Micheline