Friday 8 November 2019
Rāmere, 8 o Whiringa-ā-rangi 2019
In this week’s update:
- Rōpū Pāngarau/ Maths Group: Tuakana- teina programme
- Te Reo Me Tikanga Māori: Student-created Kahoots
- Tuhituhi/ Writing: Digital Resource Links for Literacy
- Rōpū Taunaki Ako/ Learning Support: More Transition Activities
- Pānui ngaio/ Professional Reading: 5 Powerful Ways to Save Time
- Ted Talk: What Makes a Good Life?
1. Rōpū Pāngarau/ Maths Group
The maths group are in the process of designing a pilot tuakana-teina/ mentoring programme, run along the same lines as the AFL coaching that is currently offered in the primary schools. Two major differences are that it will be run by the Orewa College year 10 students, and will be based along academic lines. As a starting point, the students were asked to volunteer their services. Next they were asked to come up with lesson ideas. We asked Orewa North if we could pay them a visit and trial our student-run lesson with their classes. It is a pilot programme in its infancy, and we know we will make a number of adjustments along the way. We will record our progress to share with our community. But we were pleased to get a double thumbs up from the primary school students at the end of lesson one.
Have you completed our Digital Curriculum survey? If yes, Thank you! If no, please find the link here.
Thanks to Jackie Boyd from Silverdale for sharing this link which has the digital curriculum progressions in kids speak.
2. Te Reo Me Tikanga Māori
Top tip for teaching/normalising te reo Māori
Student-created Kahoots as a fun way to consolidate language
We all know the power of engagement in being able to increase positive learning outcomes. Kahoots have always been a great tool for teachers trying to draw students in. How about getting akonga/students to create Kahoots when learning te reo Māori?
For example, a lesson on the structure, “He aha tēnei? What is this?” could easily be consolidated with students creating their own quiz. This is a fun, repetitive activity that consolidates the language structure and explores new language/ kupu. This is also a fantastic opportunity for students to use another online platform that can be useful across all curriculum areas. Students can work in pairs or small groups and take turns testing the class. This ongoing exposure is a surefire way to lock in language that is so often forgotten.
Students and teachers can log in easily with their google accounts at https://kahoot.com/
3. Tuhituhi/ Writing – Digital Resource links for literacy 
Take a look at this fabulous website to really engage and hook our young writers. 
Storyathon is an exciting free online event for Y4 -9 New Zealand and Australian students. Students are challenged to write a story that is EXACTLY 100 words. STORYATHON has been inspired by the work of the highly acclaimed high school English teacher and university lecturer, Paul Grover.
Storyjumper – for those familiar with this site, or new to this website, follow the link here. You can now design your own characters in your StoryJumper books! Dress up your characters and change their outfits and expressions as your story unfolds. For each character, you can pick:
- Skin tone
- Hair style and colour
- Facial features
- Clothing style and colours
Our writing focus group are continuing to work on their two areas of development of LPF matrix review and design of anchor charts from curriculum levels 1 to 5. We have worked through the genre of information report and developed a simple outline for teachers to use across levels. A graphic to support this will also be designed. Our next genre of focus will be persuasive writing. If you would like to join our discussion you are most welcome to attend our after school meetings at Orewa College, dates below.
Encouraging a growth mindset – give it a go!
4. Rōpū Taunaki Ako/ Learning Support Group:
To make the idea of transition to college or high school an exciting adventure, rather than a nerve wracking experience, try some of these activities with your students.
- Make a poster, iPad sketch, graphic, video or other visual to show all the things to look forward to, or the things they like doing at school.
2. Cut out puzzle pieces for your students to write something they are looking forward to, are excited about, or liked during their visit to college. Stick all the puzzle pieces together on the wall. All students can see the many positive things to look forward to.
3. A simple chart for students to express their feelings about moving up to college.
4. You could adapt this idea using more Kiwi school relevant words. Students can also suggest words. E.g. form teacher, house system, English, Maths, subjects, lunchtime, assembly, Deans.
5. Pānui ngaio/ Professional Reading:
“Lack of time is a huge problem for teachers everywhere. There’s just never enough time for teachers to do their work well AND have a healthy, balanced life outside the classroom. For as long as I have been working to serve teachers and help you do your work better, time was always the one problem I couldn’t solve. I could share powerful teaching strategies, classroom management tips, game-changing tech tools, but when it came to really nailing the time shortage, I came up empty-handed.
Until now.”
6. Ted Talk: What makes a good life?
What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it’s fame and money, you’re not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you’re mistaken. As the director of a 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.
To keep up to date, follow us on our Kāhui Ako website: https://orewakahuiako.com/
UPCOMING:
Kāhui Ako ki Orewa 
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