10th August - Compliments!

 Together in Karaka we talked about again what makes a good friend. Discussing the Rainbow Fish, we thought about the Octopus’ advice, and whether the Rainbow Fish did have to give away their scales to make friends. The children listened to a version of the story where the Catfish lets the Rainbow Fish know that instead of giving away their scales, they could simply say something nice about the other fish in the see - giving them compliments!

Karaka learned how compliments were a real good way of making others feel good about themselves. Just like the catfish, Whaea Fiona taught us about the many ways we can say nice things about others in Karaka, and with that, they made their own “compliments letter boxes”. The tamariki had a lot of fun creating their own personal letter boxes, and came up with some really cool ideas! Some made a house, and a couple even made some amazing Among Us letter boxes!

Learning how to give a compliment with Matua Tipene and Whaea Greta as a small letter, some students found their letter boxes had some wonderful feel-good compliments hidden inside! Hanging up the letter boxes in class, maybe they’ll find a nice compliment inside from someone in the class. :)

3rd August - Visualising with The Rainbow Fish

We were really excited to welcome two Whaea Fionas today. The students were learning to visualize, using the words in the story of Rainbow fish to create vivid images in their mind. The students eyes and ears were glued to the story, and were able to pick up a number of very descriptive words used to portray the Rainbow Fish - sparkling, shiny, flashing! All these words were collected into a nice digital brainstorm, and we were able to reflect on them leading into the next part of the activity.

The create part of the session had students using dough and an assortment of colourful trinkets to physically manifest their version of The Rainbow Fish. It was really cool to see that each and every student had created their own unique fish, and that all the students were thriving in one way or another. Wally had, unbeknownst to himself, made a sunfish, and he and those around him took delight in learning that like their own fish, the ocean housed fish of all shapes and sizes.

The teachers and students had a great time looking at each other’s masterpieces, and Matua even had all their Rainbow Fish come to life in their own unique underwater environment! Tuesday morning is definitely a time that Karaka class is going to look forward to going forward, but moreso, how much we’re going to enjoy the digital classroom, and all its possibilities.