#6 Newsletter 2024

Rāmere, te 17 o te Mei 2024

Orewarewa whenua, puāwai māhuri

On the fertile ground of Orewa, the sapling blooms

Congratulations to Naomi Gillam this week’s winner!

This Week’s Question/Pātai o te Wiki: What does the kīwaha/colloquium

“Kua taka te kapa” translate to?

Have something to share? Get in contact with one of our Across School Leaders – we would love to hear from you!

[email protected] Te Ao Māori

[email protected] Hauora

[email protected] Future Ready

[email protected] 21st Century Learning

[email protected] Structured Literacy

Zooniverse

Zooniverse is an invaluable platform for integrating citizen science projects into the classroom, providing students with hands-on experience in real scientific research. Projects like Planet Four offer unique opportunities for students to engage with cutting edge scientific exploration, such as identifying and measuring features on the surface of Mars that are unlike anything found on Earth. The images are of the south polar region, where dark seasonal fans and blotches appear during the Spring. By mapping these features we can explore the Martian climate and how it changes over time. We have also participated in the Zooniverse Project Spyfish Aotearoa which engages citizens in monitoring New Zealand’s marine environments by counting and identifying unique fish species that live within our marine reserves. Citizen scientists analyse underwater footage captured by baited remote underwater video systems and the Department of Conservation uses the information gathered to help determine the effectiveness of our marine reserves and inform future marine management and ways to protect our taonga species. Through their involvement in citizen science projects, students develop critical thinking skills, scientific literacy, and a sense of responsibility as stewards of scientific knowledge. Zooniverse fosters a sense of collaboration and curiosity, encouraging students to work together and ask questions as they explore diverse fields of science, and contribute meaningfully to ongoing research endeavors.

Check out their projects here: Zooniverse Projects

An example of a photo to classify on the Planet Four Project.

School: Orewa Primary

Contact: Sharon Mangino – [email protected]

Pink Shirt Day (held on 17th May) promotes values that Netsafe embodies such as celebrating diversity, tackling bullying and promoting kindness and inclusion.

This year Netsafe will be celebrating by dressing up in pink and having an online pink quiz to test staff’s knowledge about the day.

Find out more here to see how your school or students can get involved in your location.

AI Modules

Link

This training from Netsafe, sponsored by Microsoft and with support from Cyberlite, introduces you to the basics of generative AI use and the critical thinking skills required to embed it as a classroom tool used responsibly by your students.

Build your confidence and knowledge as a teacher so you can:

Define generative AI.
Explain how to use generative AI.
Identify considerations in the use of generative AI.
Analyse benefits and potential pitfalls of generative AI in a school environment.

There are four parts to this training, each addressing the corresponding learning objective:

What’s so special about generative AI?
Get started with generative AI
Generative AI: Critical thinking and considerations
Classroom use of generative AI

Esti-Mysteries: Estimation Meets Math Mysteries

Esti-Mysteries have been created by Steve Wyborney. Steve is an award-winning teacher and instructional coach from Oregon. He is well known for his use of instructional technology and his work with mathematics and his passionate belief in the exceptional potential of every student. In 2005, Steve was named the Oregon Teacher of the Year. Steve is on a learning mission to spread math joy to classrooms everywhere!

Check out the esti-mysteries below. Each image invites students to wonder what number is represented by the image. As you click through each Esti-Mystery, clues will appear that will allow the students to use math concepts to narrow the set of possibilities to a small set of numbers.

It’s beneficial for students to have a number chart to use while they are working to cross numbers out. Students can cross out numbers that have been eliminated by the clues – or circle the ones that remain as possibilities. They continue to estimate and discuss their reasoning after each clue

Esti-Mysteries Years 0-2

Esti-Mysteries Years 1-3

Esti-Mysteries Years 3-6

Esti-Mysteries Years 4-8

Try them – You’ll class will love you for it!

Ten Essential Elements of a Robust Reading Programme

Many of us are adopting and adapting new core reading programmes that align with Structured Literacy. Whatever approach or platform you are using or looking to use here is a list of ten things to do that will improve results for your students according to Dr. Stephanie Stollar. These elements should be in any robust programme and this is a great checklist. Choose an element of effective Tier 1 instruction from the list below and implement it today!

Get Explicit – State what you want students to do and provide a direct model.
Increase Engagement – Get students talking, writing, and interacting via partners, choral responding, and the use of silent signals.
Sequence Skills – Think about the order in which you teach things and what pre-requisites are required.
Practice to Automaticity – Provide multiple practice opportunities with skills that students can perform with 100% accuracy. Use centers and homework only for practicing skills that students can do accurately on their own.
Think From Speech to Print – When students want to know how to spell a word, cue them to say the phonemes and then match graphemes to the phonemes.
Integrate the Big Five – Take advantage of the reciprocal nature of the five essential literacy skill areas and integrate instruction on skills such as phonics and spelling.
Provide Cumulative Review – Review previously taught content before introducing new content.
Manage Transitions – Increase academic engagement time by reducing transitions with silent signals and routines.
Provide Immediate Corrective Feedback – Don’t let students practice mistakes.
Use Assessment Data – Get clear about what your students know and what they need to learn next.

Pōhiri – New Staff

Kāhui Ako ki Orewa is excited to announce that we will be holding a pōhiri for all of our staff who have never been to Te Herenga Waka o Orewa Marae before. Te Herenga Waka o Orewa is a unique community marae, that provides a space for Māori who live far from their own marae and all people to participate in Te Ao Māori here on the Hibiscus Coast.

You are welcome to attend no matter how long you have worked in the area. If you have never been to our marae then this is for you.

View Invitation

The event will be held Thursday 30 May at 3:45pm. There will be light refreshments as part of the process so if you have any dietary requirements, please indicate when completing the registration form.