Term 2 Class Assembly - Legends

This term for our literacy focus, we have been learning to re-tell legends in our own words.

The students read the legends in our reading sessions and then re-told them in their own words. From here we decided as a class which legends we would use for our assembly and we decided on Rona and the Moon and The Legend of Te Houtaewa.

To try something new, one group re-told their legend using digital technology. The students had to learn their parts and were filmed in Te Kauru's green room. I used the green screen app to create a mini-movie of Rona and the Moon. I am going to teach the class how to do this next term in preperation for the Te Hiku Film Festival. 

The class decided it would be fun to do a waiata as well so we learnt Rona's Waiata incorporating poi for the girls and drums for the boys. The class had a lot of fun with this.  

Our second legend was about Te Houtaewa, a Far North legend! The students who presented this part of our assembly worked hard to learn their parts and practiced presenting their parts with expression. Our actors tried very hard to create a great story for our audience. 

I think each of the students did a marvelous job and everyone should feel very proud of themselves!

Whaea Deb

Dancing with Whaea Gee

Every Wednesday we are lucky to have a lovely student teacher called Gloria Matthews in our class. She is working with the children one day per week, in Terms 1-3 and for 4 weeks in Term 4. Whaea Gee is currently in her second year of study for her teaching degree with The University of Waikato.

Yesterday, Whaea Gee took the students for a dance lesson which was so much fun. The lesson used lots of action words starting with the letter S. The students warmed up with lots of S actions; stretch straight up and swing it down, stretch to the side swing to the other side, sink and sag, scoop it up and shake it out, spin around and spring! The students worked in pairs to create shapes with their bodies and then in small groups they created their own dance routines. There was lots of moving and grooving, giggles and laughter. The class had a great time. Thanks Whaea Gee!

Movie Making with Harley Alexander

Our school is lucky to have local film maker Harley Alexander taking movie making sessions with the middle - senior school classes. Harley came in today and 'WOWED' us with his short film, 'Incoming Call' which engaged the students from the get-go! He introduced the basics of film making to our students and gave the class an opportunity to be part of a film crew. He also shared a video made by kids at the Kerikeri Summer Playhouse Camp which was all about 'How to Tell a Good Story.' The kids and I loved this!

They learnt what is actually said on a film set by each of the key roles in the crew:
Director - turn over
Camera - camera speed
Sound - sound speed
Clipper Clapper - "_____ shot" Take 1

The students then had an opportunity to act out their own scenes in smaller groups and this where the excitement really came through! The students thoroughly enjoyed their experience and we can hardly wait until our next session with him.