Mandala Art - Classroom Resources

Room 10 have taken an interest to Mandala art.  Mandala means circle in Tibetan and it is a sacred practice to Buddhists.  It helps with meditation, mindfulness and calmness.  We worked in groups to create Mandala art using classroom resources.  As we were creating them, we noticed that we were really focussed and wanted to make our Mandalas look tidy and symmetrical.  We are going to continue researching about Mandalas and how we can extend our thinking to Extended Abstract of the SOLO framework.  That means thinking beyond ourselves - which Mandalas help us to do.  Here are photos from this learning experience.

The River Talks - Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au!

Last Friday, we walked with Room 9 to Point England Reserve to attend The River Talks - presented by MAD AVE.  A community group based in Glen Innes.  We enjoyed learning about the health of our awa while enjoying some of the artists present their work.  We watched dances, listened to poems and drums, viewed artworks, and learned from people from our council and students from the local kura kaupapa Māori.

Here are some key photos and video from the day:

You can read how students in Room 10 felt about the experience by reading their reflections - some have been linked below:

Constance's River Talks Reflection

Huriata's River Talks Reflection

Perenara's River Talks Reflection

Kanye's River Talks Reflection

Azuredream's River Talks Reflection

Ko te rā Tuakana/Teina: Tā mātou hikoi ki te awa (Tuakana/Teina Day - Our walk to the creek!)

Yesterday we buddied up with Room 1 for an afternoon of Tuakana/Teina learning.  We walked to our very local creek and made some beginning observations as part of our inquiry into Te Taiao o Tāmaki (the environment of Tāmaki).  We noticed many interesting things:

• That the heavy rain from the day before had brushed the grass forward like hair.
• The the water level - which raised suddenly, from the rain and then dropped again, left behind a lot of rubbish - which comes from us!
• That the grate at the end of the creek, before the ocean was blocked and covered with grass, branches and mud.
• That the nearest river - Tāmaki River - which leads to the Waitematā is connected to our drain pipes!

We enjoyed getting outside and sitting and observing the water.  We can't wait to get back and to put our inquiry into action!