Lessons with Whaea Grace

 Lessons with Whaea Grace

Maori Language Week Art

For Maori language week, we read a story in a guided reading activity called Kuia and the Spider. The story was about a competitive Kuia and a spider that lived in her kitchen, and they would compete with each other to make the best weaving. This story incorporated aspects of Te Ao Maori, and positive familial relationships (grandchild and grandparent). 

After the reading activity, we made our own panels of weaving using different koru patterns, which we then proudly displayed on our window. Ezekiel was our weaving experts, and he helped the rest of the group a lot. 

Maori Language Week Game: Kemu Kaute

We learnt a new game, which was Kemu Kaute (counting game). Each different Maori word represented a number. When Whaea Grace called out a word, we would have to get into those specific groups and do the specific action related to the word too. 

Pictured here is the moana action. 

Kemu Kaute:
Rangatira = Chief. Children should stand alone by themselves, still like a statue.
Whare = House. In groups of two, stand opposite each other with arms outstretched to make a roof.
Hapu = Group. In groups of 3, stand together shoulder to shoulder.
Waka = Canoe. In groups of 4, stand in a line directly behind each other and row.
Moana = Ocean. In groups of 5, hold hands and make waves with arms.
Iwi = Tribe. In groups of 6, link arms to become a tribe. 

After finishing Kemu Kaute, we comepleted Te Reo worksheets and weaving activities. 

Maori Language Week Activities

Science Lesson

A small group of students completed a science experiment about clouds and how rain forms. For this experiment, we started with a jar of water that represented air. Then, we sprayed shaving foam on top of the water which represented a cloud. Next, we then used droplets of food colouring to put into our 'cloud' to represent rain. When the food colouring became too heavy, it dropped through the cloud into the air. The food colouring was important to use as it was a visual aid to clearly represent rain. 

Here, Tomillia is putting droplets of food colouring into the shaving foam. 

The food colouring has come through the shaving foam, and can now be seen in the jar. 

Big science idea we were exploring: when air rises, it cools. As the air cools, it becomes saturated and the water vapour in it condenses and gets smaller. This means it turns from a gas to a liquid. When the water vapour turns into a liquid in the sky, it forms tiny little droplets which cling to small pieces of dust, which creates clouds. When the liquid in the cloud becomes too heavy, it releases subsequently resulting in rain/snow.