Māui and the Goddess of Fire - Storyboard

As part of our learning about the Kahu we have explored myths and legends that feature this special bird. One of these was Māui and the Goddess of Fire. In this story Māui turns himself into the powerful Kahu to escape a very angry Mahuika after he uses up all of her fire. 

After some hot seating and pretend phone converations between the main characters, we worked with a buddy to retell the story in our own words. 

Have a look at what we created...

Celebrating Matariki

In Room 8 we have been learning about stories and traditions associated with Matariki.

We learnt that Matariki can be celebrated by getting together with friends and whanau to share stories, skills and kai -  so Room 8 decided to do just that! We invited our buddy class Room 13 to come and join us for a some Matariki fun.

In the morning we put our reading and maths skills to use by following a recipe to make pikelets.

When our buddy class arrived in the middle block, we learnt how to sing Tirama Tirama - the Maori version of Twinkle Twinkle. Then we blessed the kai before going outside to eat it in the beautiful sunshine.

After that we spent time reading our buddy the story Matariki Breakfast and sharing the story of the Seven Sisters which we had retold in the form of a story board.

 

Finally, we finished of by teaching our buddy how to make an origami star which we then decorated. 

What a wonderful time we had sharing and learning with our friends from Room 13.

Weaving

Last week was Maori language week for 2018.

Room 8 spent time learning about Maori vowels and consonants, how to correctly pronounce NZ place names and the meaning being Maori place names. We sung songs, read stories, leant action songs with our buddy class and even had a go at weaving our own putiputi from harakeke.

Some parts were a bit tricky, but we helped each other and persevered to create a lovely flower.

We spent time learning about the tikanga involved with weaving flax.

We know:

• A karakia is said before harvesting the flax. This is to give thanks, to ask that no harm comes to the harvester, the weaver or whoever will receive the finished product. I also acknowledges that harakeke is a taonga - a gift.
• When cutting harakeke you should cut from both sides of the plant to keep it balanced. It's also important to only cut the outer leaves, not the inner ones as that is where the new flax grows from. 
• Pregnant women should not harvest harakeke - they are tapu.
• Harakeke should be harvested during fine days, not at night or in the rain as that can affect the quality of the harakeke.
• The first item you make should be given away.

Some of the new vocabulary we learnt...

Harakeke - Flax

Raranaga - To weave

Tikanga - custom

Putiputi - flower

Tapu - sacred 

How Maui Slowed the Sun

 In preparation for our trip to the Marae next week we have been exploring Maori myths and legends.

We are starting a piece of writing based on the story 'How Maui Slowed the Sun'.
Today we did some 'hot seating' where one person got to be a character, and the rest of us asked questions. Afterwards 'Maui' and Te Ra' had a heated disagreement .....

...and here we are working on a wall display based on the story.

We look forward to sharing our writing and wall display with you when we are finished. Watch this space.....!