Celebrating Matariki

 This week, we have been learning about ngā whetu o Matariki and learning about why and how we celebrate Matariki. 

We have been learning about names of whetu o Matariki, and learning some songs about them with actions. 

We have planned to cook pumpkin soup and garlic bread for next week. 

This week, we made whetu with cardboard and different coloured wool. 

We also learnt about some stories behind Matariki too like Tawhirimatea who hurled his eyes into the sky as he was very angry about his parents, Ranginui and Papatūānuke separated. We are very excited about cooking soup to celebrate Matariki and be together as Room 2 whānau. 

Exploring digital technology

This week, Room 2 children have been learning digital technology. In the beginning, we explored the concept of a technological system. What is a technological system?  

We talked about how to make a toast using pictures step by step. 

We also learnt the word "debug" which is fixing an error. We made toasts with jam on them and talked about each process. We then talked about how a toaster was a technological system, and why. We discussed what happened to the bread and how it became a toast. Amazing ideas were shared and children shared their knowledge and ideas with each other. 

We then talked about kitchen items and whether they were technological systems or not. 

We discussed if a frying pan was a technological system. This was really interesting as some believed it was and others didn't think so. We talked about why they thought so. They all thought that a stove was a technological system. We also looked at a gas stove and an electric stove. This was such an interesting activity as they discussed their thoughts and ideas. 

The next day, I made a grid with masking tape and we had a turn being Kupe catching an octopus and getting to NZ on the grid. The children needed to tell the person being Kupe which way to go. We used words like "go forward", "Turn left", "Turn right", and "go backwards". This was such a fun activity, lots of laughter were shared. 

Then we moved onto using Bee-Bots. Our children were so excited about this technological system. We learnt about how to tell a Bee-Bot codes of which way we wanted it to go. If we made an error, we debugged it. 

I liked the way how children discussed where the errors were made, and they would debug the errors. I would like to explore the use of Bee-Bots again next week so that they will have more time using them and become confident at using them appropriately. 

Beeswax wraps

 This week, as a part of celebrating Tāne Mahuta week, we have been talking about how we can look after our environment. For the last few weeks, our tamariki have been developing knowledge about ngā ātua too. 

We have been talking about the effect of plastic pollution. When we looked at our lunchboxes, we saw the food that is wrapped with plastic wrap. To solve the problems, we decided to make beeswax wraps that can be reusable. 

As we were learning about plastic pollution, we looked at some single-use plastic like plastic bags, plastic straws, spoons, and containers and we talked about what we could use instead. 

Our tamariki have developed an understanding of what will happen to our environment when the plastic products get into the ocean, forests, and our streets. Plastic bags look like jellyfish to turtles in the ocean and they eat the bags causing them to get sick or even die. 

We talked about some solutions for plastic pollution too. 

We can pick up rubbish on the streets, beaches, and at our schools. Someone talked about the use of submarine to pick up rubbish in the sea. Another person talked about simply using less plastic in our lives. Some amazing ideas were talked about. We also looked at a video of a boat that collected rubbish in the sea. 

With all of this new learning, we started designing our beeswax wraps. 

Children wrote some messages that were important to look after our environment. 

Then the next day we started making the beeswax wrap. We looked at the beeswax, and some smelled them as they talked about how the wax smelled really nice like honey. 

We spread the beeswax on the fabric and placed a piece of a baking sheet over it. We then used an iron to melt the beeswax. This was such an interesting process as the children were able to see what was happening to the wax. The wax was bubbling with the heat of the iron and becoming liquid. Someone said "It is bubbling gold." 

The children were so very excited about their beeswax wraps and we wrapped food from lunchboxes with our wraps and went on a little picnic together. It was so wonderful to see children learning to use the wraps. We had such a great time together.