The Future

As a follow on from the discussion about transport now and in the past I suggested to the children that for writing that they might like to write a story about what kind of transport they think we might have in the future.
Amelie: What is the future?
Thomas: Everything is all silver. Everything that grows, a man comes along and sprays it silver.
Eva: That’s on Sponge Bob
Hannah: It is a place that’s up in the sky.
Vida: It’s a long time ago.
Lily: The future is when the car was first invented.
Connor: The future is all in the water on Sponge Bob.
Claire: It is a piece of art that never breaks.
R: It is a time portal and you go through back to the future. It’s a scientist thing.
Charlie: It happens in Ben 10.

From this discussion I drew a diagram on the board and we talked about the past, now/present and that the future is all of things that have not happened yet. We will need to look at this further.

They Came On Ships!

Today Charlie came to school and brought along some pictures of his ancestors and a painting of where they used to live. One of the things that Charlie shared with us was that his ancestors came to New Zealand on ships, 150 years ago.
Miss B: Why did they come on ships?
R: Because their feet were sore.
Eva: because they had no cars and they were poor.
Charlie: Because they wanted to get to New Zealand.
Miss B: How do people get to New Zealand now?
Amelie: Cars
Eva: In planes
Campbell: Maybe in a train.
Thomas: Trains can’t go in water.
Charlie: It was over seas.
Claire: They didn’t feel well.
Charlie: They didn’t feel good on ships, someone died on the ships because they were really, really sick.
Campbell: I spewed up on a boat before.
Hannah: there was only water around to get to New Zealand.
Miss B: so they could only come to New Zealand by water.
Charlie: Because they didn’t have aeroplanes.
Miss B: How did our ancestors move on land?
Lily: Walked
Amelie: Cars
Claire: Pretend Legs.
Hannah: They might have run
Amelie: Sprinted.

We wrote a list of all of the ways we move around now and then wrote a list of how we thought they moved in the past.
Now: car, plane, scooter, rollerblades, taxi, train walk, tram, boat, bike, rollerskates, van, bus, trucks.
Then: Feet, ships.

I then read the children a brilliant book called the Tree by Bob Darroch, where each page shows the tree in another era of New Zealand history. The children

The Haast Eagle

Today our Haast Eagle was hung up from the roof. It is made out of cardboard and the children have painted it and cut out feathers to stick all over it. It has a wingspan of about 2.6 metres and as per the children’s instructions it is swooping down to attack the moa.

Ancestors!

As a result of our What am I? pictures and the revelation that the Maori were still alive and that some of the children in our class had Maori ancestors, the class has begun asking questions of their parents about their own ancestors. We have put a world map on our window and are showing where children’s ancestors come from as they bring their information into the class. So far our class has ancestors from

England
Scotland
Ireland
Northern Ireland
Lithuania
Germany
Spain
France
Lebanon
Wales
along with Maori Ancestors

We are learning that some of our ancestors did interesting things like Claire’s ancestors were the first people to bring Clydesdales to New Zealand all the way from Scotland. There are other stories to come as the children continue to bring their family stories in.

The Maori are alive?

After our discussion during ChIL time the other day I had asked the children to talk to their parents about their ancestors and where they came from. Today we made the revelation that the Maori are still alive. The discussion started at the beginning of the day.
Vida: Miss Bell, I’m a Maori!
Miss Bell: That is great, did you find out last night?
Vida: Yes
Miss B: There are other children in here who are Maori, has anyone else found out if they have Maori ancestors?
Dakota, Tyra and Deepak raised their hands
Miss B: That’s right, Dakota, Tyra and Vida all have Maori ancestry. Deepak you are Fijian Indian.
Eva: I love Indian Food.
Miss B: So are the Maori still alive?
Mixed response of yes and no.
Miss B: If Vida, Dakota and Tyra are Maori, are the Maori still
alive?
Whole class: Yes!!!
We talked briefly about some of their original ideas, about the Maori living in deserts, and being very old and the fact people with Maori descent are New Zealanders, and live like everybody else.

What am I?

In a previous discussion Thomas asked the questions What am I?
in relation to some people in the class having Maori descent. So today I asked the children to draw a picture of themselves, I then wrote I am a… and noted for the children all of the things they were around their picture. It took a while to get all the ideas flowing but this is a list of the ideas they came up with.

Daughter, Lincoln person, Good dancer, Cousin,
Sister, Good singer, friend, Girl,
Artist, Rolleston person, New Zealander, Brother,
Ripper Rubgy player, Good writer, Good reader, Son,
Swimmer, Uncle, Spanish, boy,
Good channel changer, English Person, Painter, Drawer,
Child, student, ballerina, Princess,
Christchurch Person

Are the Maori still alive?

Today we began making a giant Haast eagle to hang up in the room at ChIL time, while the children were cutting and sticking a discussion began.
Eva: Are the Maori still alive?
Claire: No, because when we weren't alive, they were alive.
Connor: Yes, cause I think they live in a different land.
R: They're not alive, I went to New Zealand and didn't see any.
Connor: Thats because Maori live in deserts.
Amelie: Yes they are alive because people can talk Maori.
Lily: The Maori are alive but there aren't many left but I don't know why.
Vida: Theres not many left because they are very old.
Deepak: I saw a Maori in a museum.
R: Was it alive?
Deepak: It was a statue.
Amelie: When I went to the museum, I saw coloured people of Maori, trying to kill a moa. They were in a forest.
Dakota: They are still alive because some Maori people are on the news.

This was an interesting discussion and it is interesting to note that a couple of children in this discussion have Maori ancestry but have not made this connection.

In a discussion a few day earlier the words ancestors came up and we discussed how our ancestors are our family from a long time ago. I told them that some children in our class had Maori ancestors but they obviously did not make the connection that, that means they are Maori. When we were talking about this Thomas asked the question, What am I?, which may lead us onto some interesting learning about ourselves.

How big were moa eggs?

Today we explored the size of moa eggs. To do this we looked at a chickens egg, then an ostrich egg and then a balloon blown up roughly to show the size of a moas egg which was about 24cm by 18 cm. The children were fascinated by the eggs wanting to know what was in them and what had happened to the babies, the two real eggs had been blown to prevent possible accidents, but even once this had been explained the children still wanted to know where the babies were.

Extinct Birds of New Zealand

Today Lily brought in a beautiful book about extinct birds of New Zealand to share with the class there was a large section on Moa at the beginning.
Miss B: Now what is extinct again?
Vida: You can’t see one ever again, they are all dead.
Eva: Where did they live?
Miss B: Well we could look at where they live.
Raul: Extinct means fossils, Dinosaurs had lots of bones and they turned into fossils. Fossils that means they are rock.

We opened the book and counted how many different species of moa there were, the book we were reading noted 12. I read some facts out of the book for the children. We learnt that moas could live up to 50 years.
We started talking about the fact that moas would lay one or two eggs each season.
Vida: A moas egg is big and white and bigger than a chickens egg.
Miss B: I’ve got an ostrich egg and it is about this big but I think a moa would have an egg even bigger than this.
Claire: Maybe a moa would have an egg about this big. (Indicating about half a metre in height)

We looked at a picture of a Giant South Island moa.
Miss B: Where is this moa living?
Vida: In the jungle.
Brody: Or a forest.
Miss B: The biggest moas lived in the South Island.
Claire: Where we live.
Miss B: The biggest leg bone ever found was 1m in length. (The Tibia)
We compared that to the length of my Tibia and then against the children. Tyra would have been looking just above the moas knee is she was standing next to it.

Miss B: They had a flat beak.
Brody: Just like us.
Thomas: we don’t have beaks Brody.
I read a small section of the book outlining what the moas ate, which included trees, shrubs and vines. This proved to be exciting because the children had developed a theory of what they ate based on their current understanding of the world and it was proved right.
Vida: There were stones in the moas tummy too, it showed it in a book
Miss B: You’re right
At this point we discussed what gizzards stones are for and how they help the moa munch and crunch the food.

Miss B:So why do you think the moa became extinct?
Hannah: Because they shot them.
Charlie: Volcanos
Vida: The Maori ate all of them.
Claire: Because a crocodile bite them.

Claire: I wonder how they ate the foot and the beaks.
Charlie: I thinks beaks are bones. They didn’t eat them.
Vida: they chopped them up with spears.
Claire: The dinosaurs ate them.
Caitlyn: The mothers would have eaten the brains.
Amelie: they would have chopped them into little squares.
Miss B: What would they have used?
Claire: knives
Miss B: Where would they have got their knives from.
Claire: Make them
Miss B: Out of what?
Vida: rock and wood
Eva: They could have used axes.
Tyra: they could make their axes out of greenstone
Hannah: they could chop them with their hands
Caitlyn: they had claws.
Charlie: they let their finger nails grow and then they scraped them.

Using the book, I introduced the Haast eagle another predator to the moa. They had a wing span of 2.6 metres and were a hazard to the Maori as well. We talked about how the Haast eagle was also extinct and that we have a job to make sure that other birds/animals don’t become extinct too.

Vida: Like kiwis they are almost extinct.
Claire: In the botanic gardens there are kiwi. They come out at night.
Vida: Kiwi only wake up at night time.
Miss B: This means they are nocturnal.
Claire: Like owls

At the end of the session, one of the children asked what flax was so we went for a walk to to find some flax to look at.

The Legend of the Breathing Lake

Today Charlie brought in a book for us to read called 'The Legend of the Breathing Lake', it explains why Lake Whakatipu moves up and down. The legend goes that a giant who stole a chiefs daughter was burnt to death by a warrior to prevent him from terrorising the tribe again. As he burnt a hole developed beneath him making the base for the lake, the fire spread up the hill melting the ice that then became the lakes water supply. The rising and falling of the lake is caused by the giant breathing beneath the water. The book made a number of references to tools the Maori used and what they were made of. It mentioned the use of flax for rope, stone and greenstone for tools and a fire stick that was used instead of matches. The children decided that the Maori actually made the things they needed, where as we would just go to the shops. They developed the theory that the Maori did not have shops, as previously they had thought, and that the made everything.

Making a Moa

Today we made a life size South Island Giant Moa to put up in our class. It stands 3.7 metres tall and we had to bend its head to fit it up in the room. The children cut out feathers to stick on its body. When we were putting it up the children made lots of comments about how big it was.

Connor: It is bigger than adults and kids.

Raul: It is as big as a T-Rex.

Amelie: A giant is bigger than a moa.

Dakota: They are bigger than emus.

Lily: Moas are gianormous.

They also started developing some theories.

Eva: Moas are long necked dinosaurs, that eat trees. Dinosaurs with long neck eat trees and moas have long necks.

Tyra: A giraffe has a long neck and eats trees too.

We refined their ideas and wrote down the theory as...

We think moas eat trees because they have long necks.

We wrote a list of where we could go to find out whether our theory was right or not.

Early New Zealand Maori

Today I asked the children to draw a picture of what they thought the Early Maori lived in and a picture showing what they wore. I then asked the children to talk about their pictures and recorded their thought and ideas.

Moa Bones

Thursday 19th August

Today vida brought to school some moa bones that had been found on a farm.

Vida: This is a moa bone.

Miss B: What is a moa?

R: It swings from tree to tree

Campbell: They climb

Hannah: Scratch people

Charlie: Run Fast

Claire: (Pointing to bones) They look like claws.

Amelie: They lick people.

Lily: Moas are extinct.

Miss B: What does extinct mean?

R: They are gone and turned to bones like dinosaurs.

Dakota: They are dead.

Alex: They are like a kangaroo.

Charlie: They don't have pouches.

Connor: They got stinged. (extinct?)

Amelie: They are Stinky

Miss B: What do they look like?

Charlie: Brown fur. I hopped ona pretend moa that was hard and black.

Claire: It looks like a rock that is brown. (Talking about the bone)

Connor: It has sharp teeth.

Thomas: Like a T-rex

Connor: No

Vida then showed them a picture of a moa in a book, we talked about the fact that some were taller than us. Vida explained that they were hunted for meat and that the bones she was showing us had been cooked which was why they were black, where the fat had burnt into the bones.

Miss B: Who would have eaten the moas? (Wait time, no response) Who were the first people in NZ.

Lily:Maori

Claire: Was god the first one in New Zealand?

Caitlyn: They cooked them in ovens and they turned black.

Miss B: Did they have ovens?

Hannah: They didn't have ovens, they used fire.

Claire:They had pots and they put the moa in and put it on the fire.

Vida: They killed them with spears they made.

Hannah: they have fur.

Connor: I think they look like kiwi mothers.

Claire: I think that the people who ate them picked them up, put them in a fire and cut them.

Vida: They have tiny wings like kiwi so they can't fly, it makes them special.

Amelie: Why did they eat moas?

Miss B: Where do you think the Maori lived?

Dakota: In the desert.

Amelie: In a different country.

Lily: Caves

Charlie: Tents

Claire: Boxes

Amelie: Big Containers

Hannah: They make houses out of straw.

R: They lived in trees.

Eva: Cubbies

Dakota: They made their houses out of wood.

Connor: Moa look like giant birds.

Vida: Like ostriched but taller than them.

Dakota: Moa have sharp teeth

Brody: and vampires

Amelie: Why did they get the moa?

Campbell: Why did moas become dead? (extinct)

Amelie: Where did the Maori and moa live?

What is inside us?

After our discussions about tummy bugs and our initial drawings we decided we needed to learn about what was inside our body before we worked out what a tummy bugs and how it makes us sick. We put Jo up our window and have been putting up information about our insides. The other day we drew see through bodies again to show what we have learnt so far.

Gymnastics

Tummy Bugs

After our discussion about what a tummy bug was I asked the children to draw see through picture of a person, including all the things that they knew were inside us. Their knowledge of what a bug is, is very much like those we find in the garden eww!

Deepak

Jack

Claire

Caitlyn

Campbell

Alex

Thomas

Brody

Pirate Fun with Captain Bullen and First Mate Eilken

What is a tummy bug?

What follows is discussion that took place in our class today, it was interesting listening to the childrens ideas and I am interested to see where their theories will lead us...

This discussion took place prior to school starting...
Amelie: Where is Miss K?
Miss B: She is still sick.
Amelie: How did she get sick?
Miss B: She has a tummy bug.
Amelie: What is a bug and how did it get there.
Miss Bell: Well maybe we could find out?
Amelie: That could be our adventure today.

When the bell had gone I told the class about the discussion and asked them what they thought a tummy bug was.
Claire: Yucky Stuff in your food and it goes into your tummy.
Charlie: It makes it sore.
Tyra: It crawls around. (What does it look like?) like a ladybug.
Amelie: It affects your tummy by getting sore and you feel like your going to puke. (What is a bug?) I think it is yucky food.
R: It means you stay at home, throw up. you have to stay at home for 100 weeks.
Lily: It means you're sick. (What makes you sick?)
Charlie: something makes your tummy sore, like a bug in your tummy, it might be like a flea and make you itchy.
Connor: When you're sick you need to stay at home.
Vida: They might be like praying mantis. (So a praying mantis is a tummy bug?) No laughing I think it is yucky food.
Campbell: something like a stick.
Thomas: Something you're allergic too.
R: I'm allergic to peanuts, I am! I throw up.
Miss Bell: Where or how could we find out.
Amelie: Get a telescope and hear what is going on in your heart, I mean stethoscope.
R: Go to imagination movers, they do brainstorms and figure out ideas.
Charlie: Take a picture inside and see what it looks like.
Claire: You go to a hospital and take an x-ray to see what it is.
Connor: Ask a doctor to tell us what is making us sick.
Miss Bell: Where could we look at school for answers.
Tyra: The school office
Amelie: We could go to the sick bay, thats why they call it sick.

With a little bit of help we decided that we could look in the library or use the computer. At this stage we have two theories that a tummy bug is either a real bug as in an insect or something that is in yucky food.

Vida

Tyra

Thomas

Lily

Jack

Hannah

Gemma

Eva

Deepak

Dakota

Corban

Connor

Claire

Charlie

Campbell

Caitlyn

Brody

Amelie

Alex

Book Week Dress Up Day

Today we dressed up as characters from books or different countries. Weren't we creative?

Can you guess who or where we are from?

Washingline Maths

This week the children have been hanging out the washing each morning. The t-shirts have the number 1-20 written on them and the children have to hang them up in the right order.

Claire

Vida

Caitlyn

Charlie

Hannah

Jack

Tyra

Eva