Daffodil Day Dedications

 Our Daffodil Day Learning

This year, our Daffodil Day activities have been put on hold so we can't shave heads until we all get back to school.  Mr Huggins will have loads of hair by then. 

In Whakamanawa, we have had a digital learning object with some activities to do that are based around Daffodil Day.

For our online fundraising, we have raised over $1000 for the Cancer Society.  We are so pleased with our efforts and know that this number is sure to grow...kind of like Mr Huggins and his hair.

Check out our DLO.

Make sure you check out student blogs too because there are some cool Voki on some of the blogs.

Learning Languages

Português with Miss Cabral

This term we are really lucky to have Miss Cabral from the University of Canterbury. Whakamanawa is always keen to learn new languages and because Miss Cabral is from Brazil, she has started teaching us Portuguese.

Before lockdown, we started learning how to say hello and ask how people are. We also started learning how to respond by saying I am good thank you.

Lockdown has meant that we now need to learn in a different way to when we are at school so Miss Cabral has created a slide to help our language learning.

Check it out and maybe you could learn some too.

Incredibox

 Creating Music

Today as part of Whakamanawa's distance learning, we started exploring the Arts section of our Takitini Site.  We had a go at creating music using Incredibox and then sharing our mixes to our blogs.  

In our class Meet session, some students shared their screens and showed the rest of us how to do it and what they had created.  They were so cool that Miss Cabral and I were inspired and planned to have a go.

This is one that I had a play with and then used Screencastify to record it.

My next step is to try different types of music that this online app has.

Lockdown Challenges

 Whakamanawa Create Challenges

We have been really impressed by the creative ways teachers are encouraging children to make lockdown learning fun and interactive.

Today, in one of our daily class Meet sessions, one of the students suggested that we do something involving challenges for Whakamanawa.  We created a Google Slide and decided what areas of challenge we would have and came up with physical, creative, social and kindness.  

We then decided that students can have a part in setting the challenges.  

Here is what we have so far:

Lockdown Listening

 Whakamanawa's Lockdown Music Favourites

We all enjoy music and some music helps to get us through difficult times or allows us to reflect on things in life.  Our moods and the way we feel can be influenced by music.

In Whakamanawa, we decided that we would share some of our current favourite songs that are helping us cope better during the lockdown.  

This is a collaborative slide where we share music and explain something about what we like about each piece.   Check it out.

Mr Wilkinson's Birthday Surprise

 Happy Lockdown Birthday

Many people will be spending this year's birthday in lockdown mode and that includes our very own principal, Mr Wilkinson.  Usually, if we were at school we would do something special and we are pleased that lockdown didn't stop us.

One of our students created a slide for each of us to share pictures and messages.  we asked Mr Wilkinson to come to our class afternoon Google Meet.  We all changed our profile pictures and turned our cameras off so when he arrived, he was greeted with this:

We played this version of happy birthday and had a go at singing altogether. It was a cool bit of lockdown fun and we all loved seeing our principal on his special day.

 

It's a Lockdown Life For us

 Whakamanawa Meet

Going into our second lockdown has been a surprise that I think none of us was expecting.  Whakamanawa has just got started on our online learning and communicating.  We meet two times a day and have a few fun things planned.  We are looking forward to getting back to school and ensuring that we make the most out of this experience.

Prototec

 Prototec Time

This term we are focusing on getting faster at recalling our basic facts.  We will be using Prototec to do this.  Here is my first attempt at Stage 5.

Next time, I need to get better at the division section. 

Kiwi Can Says...

 Be Resilient!

This term our theme in Kiwi Can is Resilience.  Our Kiwi Can catch-phrase is:

Happy, sad, angry, excited.  

All emotions are invited.

Don't keep them in, let them all out.

It's what being human is all about.