The Right to Write!

In Autahi we have been dialling up our Strengths of Creativity, Love of Learning and Humour in writing. Based on Rod Campbell’s Dear Zoo, we wrote about our own pets.

To begin our writing, we check what important ingredients are needed to write a good sentence:

• Finger spaces.
• A capital letter at the start of the sentence.
• A full stop at the end of the sentence.

Sharing ideas is an important part of our process, as well as saying our sentence out loud. Before getting started, we often also draw a picture plan. This helps us remember what it was that we wanted to write about in our sentence.

A big part of writing is being able to hear the sound that each letter makes so that we can spell words properly. If we are not sure of a sound, our teacher can help.

Some of us dialled up our Perseverance to write more sentences! After describing our pet, we wrote whether we would keep them or not - just like in Dear Zoo.

Writing can be really tricky because there is so much to remember! But with our Creativity, our Love of Learning, our Humour and our Perseverance we can become the finest of wordsmiths!

All the ways to be smart

As part of our deep dive into Teamwork, we have been reading 'All The Ways To Be Smart', by Allison Colpoys and Davina Bell. 

 

'All The Ways To Be Smart' is a lively exploration of how each one of us brings something different and special. 

 

When we're part of a team, we bring our 'ways to be smart' to the group. More different 'ways to be smart' make our team stronger.

 

 

We have been exploring our personal 'ways to be smart' through drawing, painting and writing. Our individual artworks will together to make one, big piece of Autahi team art. 

 

 

All our individual pieces of art working together make the collaborative artwork extra special. Visit Autahi to enjoy our completed artwork and see all the different 'ways to be smart' that we bring to our Autahi team.

Teamwork in Action!

 They say "Teamwork makes the dream-work" and we have definitely been seeing that as we dial up our strength of Teamwork in Autahi! 

Through our story for the week, Frederick by Leo Lionni, we learnt that not everyone in a team plays the same role. In fact, we learnt that each of us brings our own special strength to our Autahi team. 

Some of us use our Zest and Humour to keep our teams spirits high!

Some of us use Creativity and Curiosity to inspire our team!

Some of us use kindness by making sure that everyone feels included!

The first group of 'lookers' viewing the creation & a team of 'builders' re-making the creation with their 'lookers' support. 
 

We then practiced our learning through a challenge; in groups of four, we were challenged to re-create some pre-made creations using our classroom objects.  The challenge was, only two of the team mates were allowed to view the creation (they were called the 'lookers') and only two of the team mates were allowed to re-make the creation (they were called the 'builders'). 

More building and communication in action!

This challenge saw us using our communication and listening skills to reach success - which we totally did!

Dreamwork! Our creations look just like the original

There might not be an 'I' in Teamwork, but there is most definitely a 'WE'!

Autahi's Big Wharewaka Adventure

This week, the Autahi explorers headed to the waterfront for an epic morning of exploring with both our Wharewaka walking tour AND a tour of the new city library. With so much to see, hear and think about, we will be talking about this trip for weeks and drawing on it for further learning.

In the meantime, here are some highlights from our day, told through photos and the pictures the children drew to 'catch their memories' when we got back to school.

For some people, the bus was the best part of the trip.

The Wharewaka is home to several waka and they made a big impression.

It was exciting to have the chance to get up close and touch them. We learnt that one is decorated with albatross feathers, which symbolise peace.

Our memory drawings from this special day are on display in Autahi. Please come and take a look.

Zero Waste at Worser Bay School

Keep calm and recycle on!

In Autahi this week, we were bin-credibly lucky to have Lorraine, the Waste Educator / Kaiako Para Kore from Wellington City Council come in to teach us about rubbish, recycling, composting and more!

Here we explored the can-tastic world of recycling! We sorted recyclable materials into four piles - metals, cardboards, soft plastics and hard plastics. We were pretty shocked to hear that any materials that can't be recycled end up in the land fill!

Then, we were so fortunate to meet Lorraine's eco-mazing pet worms! Did you know that worms have FIVE hearts? Well Autahi sure did! We loved getting to peek at Lorraine's pet worms and their completely home-made soil. It really inspired us for our own composting here at Worser Bay School!

Have a chat with your child at home about what house-hold objects can be recycled or composted!

Te Tiriti o Autahi: Nurturing our Mouri through a commitment to Teamwork, Kindness and Love

This term, Autahi is on a mission to 'dial up' our character strength of Teamwork. We’ve discovered that being a great teammate isn't just about working together—it’s also about leaning into our strengths of Kindness and Love.

Understanding Mouri

We started our journey by asking a simple question: "When a guest walks into Autahi, how do we want them to feel?" Through this, we explored the concept of Mauri (or Mouri) in te ao Māori—the essential life force or energy of a person or a place. We realized that when we show manaakitanga (kindness), aroha (love), and kotahitanga (unity/teamwork), we are actually nurturing the Mouri of our room and creating a positive space for everyone. 

Connecting to History

Coincidentally, we learned that on April 29th, 1840, Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed right here in Te Whanganui a Tara by local rangatira. This discovery sparked a deep dive into what a treaty is and how they help groups of people work together fairly.

Our Commitment to Each Other

Inspired by Te Tiriti, Autahi decided to establish our very own Class Treaty - Te Tiriti o Autahi. 

To show our Teamwork, Kindness, and Love, we’ve agreed to:

• Invite others in: Saying "come and play with me" to our classmates.

• Show empathy: Asking "are you okay?" when a classmate is sad.

• Be helpful: Asking "can I help you?" if someone has a problem.

• Respect space: Staying in our own 'bubbles' so that others can learn.

• Active listening: Truly hearing and valuing each other's ideas.

We’ve officially written these promises down on our Autahi Treaty and signed with our hand prints and our names to show our commitment to our classroom!

Kia mahi tahi tātou! 

Algebra and pattern

 
Our Maths curriculum is arranged in learning areas: Number, Measurement, Geometry, Statistics and Algebra. At first glance, the inclusion of Algebra in the year 1 curriculum sometimes raises a few eyebrows, especially if we're picturing the kind algebraic equations that we worked with at high school. It makes a little more sense when it becomes clear that, at this stage, Algebra is about two key concepts. First, symbols can be used to represent operations (like addition or subtraction) so we can write number sentences to help us explore maths ideas. Second, noticing and creating patterns is a vital maths skill. 

Here's what our students need to know about pattern:

• Patterns are made up of elements (including numeric or spatial elements) in a sequence governed by a rule, and they arise in a range of situations (e.g. cultural patterns, patterns in the local environment, patterns on everyday objects).

• Ordinal numbers (e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd) can be used to describe the elements in a sequence.

• Repeating patterns have a repeating group of elements called the unit of repeat.

• A missing element can be predicted from other elements in the pattern.

Categorising, making collections and building patterns is part of how our students play. 

 

Our students explore these ideas further by observing patterns and noticing what rule is at work. They try copying and continuing repeating patterns, and also create their own. We work on being able to say what the unit of repeat is: what is the rule and how do we know?

 

Here, we're building some repeating patterns. If the unit of repeat is consistent, other people will be able to spot the pattern and add to it.

Our patterns included consideration of objects, colour and sizes. We discussed whether the pattern was broken if we use the same objects, but using inconsistent colours.

Being able to describe the pattern is vital to knowing whether really does repeat and how we might continue it. So, we also had a go at drawing and writing the rules for our patterns.

We began by working with visual patterns, using objects. But, of course, patterns can occur with words, sounds, musical notes, actions, numbers... so there is a lot more for us to explore.

When you are out and about with your child, do some pattern spotting. What can you see in the built environment? On the supermarket shelf? On people's clothing? Once you start looking, you may find that you are seeing patterns just about everywhere.