Acrostic Poems

The Rubbish Truck Monster

Roars from a rubbish truck monster as it munches up the rubbish,
Unruly like a lioness,
Black, old paint buckets, old and scrappy,
Busted, now getting crushed,
It is sucking and chewing on it,
Sacks and skirts getting ripped!
Horrible big teeth.

by Robbie

Rubbish
Ugly
Burn
Bury
Incinerate
Separate
Hidden

by Brianna


Rotten Food Scraps
Used, disposable packaging,
Biodegradable packaging,
Breaking down banana peels,
I don't like the smell,
Stinky, smelly rubbish,
Hazardous Waste

by Taylor


Recycling is good for the environment
Use things again
Bring your stuff to a recycling centre
Be wise with your rubbish
I wish everybody would recycle
STOP CUTTING DOWN TREES
Help recycle rubbish

by Kaea

Last Week of Term Two

Wow, what a busy term this has been.  We have had a fantastic series of lessons on our freshwater ecology with Zoe and Alan from the Whitebait Connection.

Checkout the stars measuring water clarity on the Whitebait Connections facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/whitebaitconnectionwellington

We finished the term with some learning about lighthouses and added a trip to Baring Head to see the whitebait spawning habitat in the Wainuiomata River and then trekked to the lighthouse.

The uphill section of the track was a challenge but the view from the top was unbelievable.

All in all a great term with many happy memories and oh so much learning.

Build a bridge challenge with @MathsPirates

Today we tried a challenge to build the tallest tower with spaghetti and marshmallows.

Flatworm

Koura, New Zealand Freshwater Crayfish

River Monsters The Longfin Eel Migration

Whitebaiting Oct 2012

Damselfly larvae hunt mayfly larvae (#395)

Mayfly Life Cycle: trout view

The Water Cycle

My new groups of students started today.  We will be up and running as quickly as we can.  We are going to be doing a programme called 'The Whitebait Connection'.  We will be looking at our freshwater resources and how we use and abuse them.

We will be starting by learning about the water cycle.

I love this catchy water cycle rap from Flocabulary.

KORAUNUI SCHOOL                        Experiencing Marine Reserves 2014

 

 

This year Koraunui School has created a Self-Organised Learning Environment (SOLE) classroom.  It is based on the educational theories of Sugata Mitra, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  The children work in small groups and are involved in a lot of team problem solving.  One of our sessions was based on the Experiencing Marine Reserves (EMR) programme from the Bait House in Island Bay.  It involves lots of practical activities (learning to snorkel and then to sew), research and then an action project.  Room Five discovered how enormous a problem plastic refuse is in our oceans.  They decided to do something about it and have made shopping bags from recycled materials.  These bags are for sale at Koraunui School.  $2.50 for a t-shirt bag and $5.00 for a tote bag. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The student reflections attest to the success of the programme.

 

SOLE was the best term of my life.  My favourite part was when we went to Island Bay.  Hugo

 

SOLE has been an awesome experience, especially in the ocean with the EMR programme.  I have learnt so much in SOLE.  It is so much fun in SOLE.   Maraea

 

Koraunui School SOLE has been an awesome thing to me.  I love SOLE and SOLE made me love marine life and it is so cool.  Ofa

 

Koraunui SOLE has been such a cool time experiencing the ocean and being taught by Miss C.  SOLE has been really fun.  Nicky

 

SOLE this term has been a great experience for me, I learned a whole heap of new stuff.  Everything we have learnt will come in handy for the future.  SOLE has given me a great opportunity to go snorkelling for the first time.  I had an amazing time doing it.  Charlotte

 

Protect endangered species!

Stop the whaling!

Support Greenpeace!

I learnt that you should not over fish or catch endangered species.  Don’t catch orange roughie.  The sea is life!  Hunter

 

This term I was in the EMR SOLE.  We went on two snorkelling trips to Days Bay and Island Bay.  At Island Bay (in the marine reserve) we saw blue moki, butterfish, and an octopus.  The octopus was bluey purple.  Rangiatea

 

At SOLE it has been a wonderful experience.  I love going to SOLE because we get to go snorkelling.

 

 

At my school I went to the SOLE group.  I have to go after morning tea.  We have been experiencing marine reserves.  It was fun snorkelling.  Boston

 

 

I liked this SOLE because it was an amazing experience of marine reserves.  I liked learning about the marine reserves and learning about all the other creatures in the sea.  Kody

 

 

Reflections of learning from marine reserves

Thanks for showing us that the best place to look for paua and sea anemones is in the seaweed because that is where they hide.  Nikau-Rawiri

Thank -you for a wonderful experience and showing us all of the interesting animals, triple fins, sea anemones, starfish and crabs.    Jonathon

I had a wonderful time experiencing the underwater with you.  There was a type of bug I didn't know.  It was called a sandhopper.  They like to dig holes under tree branches and seaweed.   Boston

Without you some of us would never have been able to have this once in a lifetime experience.  When I was snorkelling with you I saw some ENORMOUS paua.   Hunter

We had heaps of fun, especially when we jumped off the wharf.   Maddy

I enjoyed wharf jumping and snorkelling, and the fish were cool.  Ofa

You showed us all the wonderful wildlife under the sea.  Adonia

It was funny how I found a CD about the ocean.  Nicky

You are fantastic at spotting all the tiny fish, cushion sea stars, sea anemones, crabs, mussels and pretty big fish.  And don't forget all the rubbish we saw ....the knife, phone, smashed wine bottle and the crow bar.  Kairah

Thanks for helping out with the gear, keeping us together and telling us where the best spots were.  Thanks for cheering us on.  Finnan

I put my finger in a sea anemone, it was slimy!  I got to see an eleven armed starfish.  We saw a tyre, a can, a knife, a window wiper and a crow bar.  It is sad that nobody is taking care of the ocean.  Maraea

It was scary jumping off the wharf for the first time.  I was proud of myself.  Ethan

It is very sad that there is rubbish floating in the ocean.  You never know when it could kill our sea creatures.  Rangiatea

Snorkelling 2

Here are some more Taputeranga snorkelling pictures.

Taputeranga, the marine reserve

What a wonderful day we had at Taputeranga.  The children's confidence in swimming in deeper water has improved dramatically.   There was so much to see.  The parents who came with us made the trip amazing.  They were kind, patient and encouraging and so the children were inquisitive and adventurous.  We even had two Dads who didn't have children in the programme.

Here is the first batch of photos from the trip.  My underwater photography skills need some work, but at least we do have a record of the children and their adventures.

How To Make A Balloon Powered Boat

Balloon Powered Boat

How to make blackberry jam

Science Live @ Te Papa: Coastal Creatures (+playlist)

The Curioseum book trailer, we are enjoying reading this book.

Build a suessical tower

This weeks challenge is to build a suessical tower. I can't wait to see what we will create.

Thinking about our learning....what is it and is it important?

Kidsedchatnz is on tomorrow.  The focus is on learning.  Here are the questions we will be answering.

These questions link really well with choice theory and with inquiry where we are asked to reflect on our own learning.

MIDWAY trailer (filme de Chris Jordan)

This is a trailer for a very sad movie.  It may upset you but I hope it will encourage you to pick up rubbish (even if it is not yours) and be aware of the packaging of the products you buy and use.  Lets try and take recyclable bags to the supermarket instaed of using plastic bags.  One little step in Stokes Valley can have a big impact on the ocean.

Kill Plastic Not Wildlife

Snorkelling at Days Bay, we saw so much rubbish in the sea.  It was awful.  We need to be kaitiaki of the moana and take care of our seas.  It starts with us!

Sonya the Sawfish

An Australian story about the sawfish which has a very similar habitat and life cycle to our long finned eels.

Epuni School visit

Visit to Epuni School

Capture curiousity, collaborate as a team, celebrate success!

You have 100 lego blocks and 25 minutes, how tall a tower can you build?

Room Five joins in on the Maths pirates challenge.

The first Maths Pirates SOLE challenge.  Check out the movie for a little swashbuckling fun!

Pirate Challenge This week Build a bridge

Here is this weeks pirate challenge for my Friday morning so..... where's the maths group.

Build a bridge.

http://mathslikeapirate.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/pirate-challenge-1-build-bridge.html

Rocket Challenge

 

Yesterday with Mrs C we were making art, but the scientific way.  Instead of using pens and paintbrushes we used vinegar, dye, Alka-Seltzer tablets, coffee cups and film canisters.

To get started with, we got into groups of two.  All the groups split up and one got the coffee cup full of vinegar from Mrs C and the other one picked the dye.  Then, we poured the dye into the vinegar to make it colourful.  Next, Mrs C gave us our film cannister.. 

We went outside the Koraunui Care Centre and had a big piece of paper.  We blew all our film cannisters up.

After we finished blowing them up we went back to Room 5 and talked about where the maths was in the challenge.

The answer was:  measurement and fractions.

 

By Jason

Seafood For Dinner

What can you do if you go to a shop and they sell seafood that is a bad choice on the "Good Fish Guide?"

!. Explain that the fish are endangered and not a good choice

2.  Suggest other fish they could sell.

3.  Ask the shop to buy other fish.

4.  Write to the government

Ask the fishermen to stop fishing for this species because they are endangered.

Paekakariki Beach Day

What a wonderful time we all had at the beach.  The Year Six children had a fantastic day with the Paekakariki Surf lifesaving club and the rest of us had a great time swimming and engineering in the sand.

Kua pu te ruha, kua hao te rangatahi: When the old net is cast aside, the new net goes fishing

Well, our SOLE programme is underway.  This term we are three groups, from five senior classes, all working on asking BIG QUESTIONS and finding BIG ANSWERS.  We have three different approaches to this.

Tuatahi:  So.....where is the maths?  Georgette Yackman came up with the idea of 'STEAM'. "Science and Technology interpreted through Engineering and the Arts all based in Mathematical elements"

This programme will be based around practical science and technology experiments and challenges.  Each day we will ask, so, where is the maths?  I hope the children will bring this question home and start talking about it with you.  There will be a page on the blog for this group inspired by Whaea Diana's Math Pirates.

Tuarua:  Experiencing Marine Reserves, a social studies and science programme where we get to do a little physical education in the ocean.  Amazing!

Tuatoru:  Basing our experiences around the school garden we will be part of the school ecosystem, planting, growing, eating and exploring.

Alongside all this are our choice theory principles, working as a team, contributing, encouraging, supporting, listening and negotiating differences.

What an awesome year this is going to be!

Mrs C