We are always reflecting on our learning but every month we also create a newsletter for our whānau and blog readers to read and comment on about our reflections. We do this because it's great to look at everything we have achieved and think about our next steps in learning. We have found that it's really important to know what we are learning and why.
Here's Ciara's.
Have you ever done something similar to this before?
This week is Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week). We use a bit of te reo in our class and thought it would be a great opportunity to share what we know for others to learn. So for Reading we read stories that had some te reo words in them. Then we went on to Book Creator and made our books. We thought about the layout in picture books toddlers use when they are learning to speak. We then created our own, and added audio so people who are wanting to learn Māori words can hear the correct pronunciation.
Here's Josh's. Click on the image below:
Malo e lelei! This week, we challenged ourselves to learning more Tongan language. We are very lucky to have two Tongan students, Noe and Sione, who have been teaching us songs and prayers in Tongan.
This is what we have learnt:
How to bless ourselves in Tongan:
Tamia moe alo, laumalie, malononi. Ameni.
Grace before meals:
Sesu tapuak'i mea kai. Malohi ho mau sino. Ameni.
Hail Mary:
Sioto ofa, Malia, 'Oku ke mohu kalasia. Oku iate koe ae Eiki. 'Oku ke monuia koe 'ihe fefine fua ho manava. Ko Sesu. Sangata Malia, koe fae 'ae Otua. Ke ke hufia akimautaolu angahala 'ihe ahoni. Pea moe aho o 'emau Mate. Ameni.
When we get better at our pronunciation, we might make a Screencastify of us saying them and blog it.
This is the song we learnt. It is called E 'Otua. Even though we mucked up the first verse, we carried on like true professionals!
We have been writing persuasive texts because at the end of Term 3 the whole school prepares a speech to say. This week, we finalised a topic by choosing something we felt passionate about. Then we wrote them, put them on cue cards and practised them by filming oursleves on Screencastify.
We have co-constrcuted our success criteria for saying them. We have decided we need to stand still so the audience doesn't get distracted, speak in a loud clear voice so we are heard and make eye-contact to engage the audience. Next week we will present them to our class, then have the semi finals so we are ready for the finals in the last week of term. Some of us have put our Screencastifies on our individual blogs.
Another month has gone so it's time to reflect on what we have done and where to next. You can read our reflections on our individual blogs but here's a sneak preview of Joan's:
Today, we spent the afternoon making Kawakawa balm and drinking Cleaver tea. The tea is a natural tonic and we decided that it tasted a bit like parsley.
We made the Kawakawa balm from the leaves and stems of the plant. It's growing in our Rongoa Garden (Healing Garden) at school. Whenever we pick the leaves, it's important to think about the care of the plant and it's future growth. Never take too much and whatever you don't use, always return to the base of the plant. Saying a karakia asking for permission to take some leaves and thanking God for this wonderful gift is also part of the process.
Picking leaves with holes is best - insects know best! What they eat is the most potent and this is what we want.
Making the infused Kawakawa oil
First you need to make the Kawakawa oil. You can add essential oils such as lavender or tea-tree for extra medicinal purposes but we chose not to as some people don't react postively to them.
Tearing the leaves and stalks of the Kawakawa, they were placed in a crockpot with 1 litre of olive oil. The leaves had to be under the oil. Then the crockpot was turned onto the lowest setting possible and left for about 5 hours. Once the time was up, it was left for about a week to infuse then strained through a muslin cloth into a jar. A small group of children had already done this part of the process a couple of weeks ago.
Making the balm
We poured some of the infused oil into a double boiler (with water in the bottom pot) and heated it. Then we added some melted beeswax. It was about 1/4 cup of beeswax to 1 1/4 cups of infused oil. Then we carefully poured the balm into some jars and it set.
We are now selling the Kawakawa balm so we can buy a Friendship Chair for our school.
Do you know what Kawakawa balm is good for?
