Home Learning - Week 6

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Tuurangawaewae - Portraits

Tuurangawaewae in maaori culture is a sense of identity and independence associated with having a home base. Through this we explore our own identity and place in the world. The main question we ask ourselves is Ko Wai au? Who am I? 

As a part of our Tuurangawaewae learning we explored the art style of maaori artist Robyn Kahukiwa. Robyn Kahukiwa is a leading maaori artist who has done a lot to raise awareness of contemporary maaori art. Her art style is often political and addresses the oppression of Maaori woman by the social structures of the dominant Pakeha culture and the change in Maaori tradition. In her artwork she acknowledges the disappearance of meaning and identity - specifically maaori identity.

Here are a few examples of the amazing artwork ruuma tekau maa rua has completed. The task was to complete a self portrait inspired by Robyn's style. We added in Tui to incorporate our hub name (Tui hub) and other designs inspired by papatuanuku.

Genius Hour

 Genius Hour

Where passions come alive!

Genius hour is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom. Room 9 was given a set time each week where they have a choice in what they learn.

The first thing we had to establish was a driving question, which we couldn't find the answer to on google. We had to research, plan and create our projects with only 1 hour per week to do so. We then reflected after each session on how our projects were going and whether we were sticking to our driving question. We thought about what was working, what isn't, what challenges we are facing and how can we overcome them. 

At the end of our 8 weeks of genius hour we presented our passions. Everyone in room 9 presented amazing projects and were able to reflect on the process. Our genius hour has inspired us to be life long learners and we will continue to ask questions, wonder and reflect on our everyday learning.

Sharing our Science Learning!

In term 2 we have been learning about the scientific perspective of how our world was created and how species have changed over time. This is called Evolution.

First, we did experiments, research and activities which provided us with knowledge about many different topics within Evolution. Examples of topics were; Extinction, Adaptation (Natural selection), Human evolution, The big bang theory,  Timeline of Earth, Humans adapting to live in space, and so much more.
We then were able to choose the topic that we found interesting and therefore wanted to further explore and research about.
Next, we gathered and interpreted data and became experts on our chosen topics. We then had to come up with a creative and interesting way of presenting our information. We had to think about what was going to be interesting to our audience and then think about the best way of presenting the information in order for our audience to learn. We decided that making our projects interactive was a great way to capture our audiences attention and would be something they are more likely to remember. 
All of our finished projects were fantastic and we were given great feedback from our Kauri team friends saying they were exciting and interactive. Each group or individual had so many positive things to reflect on and also something they could work on next time. The great thing about doing these projects is that it is the perfect opportunity to make mistakes, and learn from them. 

In term 3, we will have the opportunity to make our own Genius Hour projects where we will have more freedom, and be able to choose a topic about ANYTHING! Genius hour is a movement that allows us to explore our own passions and gives us a set time to learn about what we want to learn. We will then share our finished products with our whanau and reflect on our experience.

Leave a comment below about what you like about our Evolution projects! Did you see them in real life? What did you enjoy? What else would you like to know about Evolution?

Room Nine's Evolution Projects!

Join Jess and Ally making cupcakes!

WATCH! City Rail Link Callout for Kids Art!!!