Using Powtoon

We have been learning to use Powtoon. This is an example of our first attempt.

How Parents can help with Maths at home

7 steps of the Scientific Method

Adjectives

Today we learnt about adjectives. Adjectives are words that describe nouns (naming words).

Watch this video,curtesy of Schoolhouse rock grammar, to improve your understanding.

Family Culture

Last week Rusty shared how photography is a huge part of his family's culture. His
 mum and dad travelled all over NZ for a year to take photos for this book. Rusty wasn't even born yet. This book won the best in the world award at the time! Awesome.

Tennis lessons at school

We were lucky to get a professional coach to come in for the next few weeks to improve the tennis skills of our students. Here is Room 4 being taken through their paces.

Community day -6 March 2015

Building communities within a community.

HDS held an awesome Community day on 6 March 2015.  All the vertical communities invited the parents of their students to share food made by the students. Students shared their learning and also organised games for everyone to join in.

The Piha Community certainly had an enjoyable time. Hope I got everyone on a picture.

More sharing of cultural artefacts

Here's more of Room 4's students sharing about their family's culture.

Traveling has been a big part of Tani's family's culture.
He certainly is a well-travelled lad .

Tyler shared his family's Japanese connection.

Iggy shared a bit about his family roots on mum's side.

Golf plays a huge part in the Williams family.

Alesha's dancing certainly keeps her family busy.

Sharing cultural artifacts

Last week children brought in artifacts to share their families' culture.

I've received several request from parents  about what to send to school, as even they struggled a bit with what is meant by the word 'Culture'.

To simplify things, we said that culture is what we DO, and identity is WHO we are.

The discussions and question about the artifacts highlighted that the difference between the two concepts is not always clear.

These are some of the photos taken last week. I'm hoping to post more photos of this week's sharing, later.

Paige sharing her  her dad's All Black Jersey. Certainly a big part of  her family's culture and also a big part of New Zealand's culture. 

Sophie shared about her Scottish heritage. This told us about her heritage; therefore who she is (Identity).  Having Scottish parents though, will almost certainly influence the culture of your family. 

Sharing what happens when birthdays are celebrated. Cool!

Shyama shared an Indian tradition to wear a necklace which is linked to a person's age. This is her second necklace.

Scarlett sharing how ART is a big part of her family's culture (what they do). This is a book about her Nana's life. 

Jack shared how he received the Pounamo from his Nana. You can't buy one for yourself. It must be given to you. 

Mikayla shared this beautiful mask, which was made by her Poppa.