Orchestra... music to my ears

As part of our amazing topic for this term; room three have been learning about an Orchestra and all the different instruments in an Orchestra. First we had to get into groups of two or three. In these groups we had to create our own digital learning object using a presentation showing our learning and research about an Orchestra. If you would like to visit partners blogs than click on either of the hyperlinks on the presentation and it will take you there.

Can apes really understand sign language?

Walt: Find evidence in a text
Use the process of elimination to find the 'best fit' answer

This week our task was to read a text called Koko and collect as much information as we can to complete this google presentation. This text was about an ape that was taught American sign language. While reading this text I found out that people argue with the teacher of this ape of whether Koko actually understands sign language. What I found interesting was the fact that apes have so many similarities to human.

Fare welling Ms Vani

During assembly this morning there was a lot of things going on but one of the most important things was giving a fare well to our social worker Ms Vani. Although she has only been here for a short while she has really helped to make a difference in our school.

Ms Vani was a really important person in our school and we are supporting her in her journey to a new job. She has helped a lot of students during her short time in our school and we all appreciate her and her caring nature. I'm sure that everyone who worked with her will treasure their memories that they had with Ms Vani.

Mr Jacobsen's Amazing Talents

As part of this terms topic "Musical Madness" Mr Jacobsen our assistant principal showed us one of his amazing talents in assembly this morning. He taught us about the different wind instruments from the different areas of the world and when they were invented.

First was the Conch shell from the tropical part of the world such as the islands. When these shells were found, people drilled a hole in it to blow through it light a trumpet. Next was the Shofar which is made from a ram's horn. Then it came to the two most recent wind instruments which was the Bugle & the Trumpet.

Vagahau Niue

As you may have already known; this week is Niue language week. This week we are learning about the perspective of an author writing about the language week this week. While reading through some of the articles, I even got to learn a quote in Niue. 'Ko koe, ko au, ko tautolu, ko e tau Niue'. I was really amazed at how much the Niue language is very similar to the Tongan language.

A Start to a New Term

                                                                                       

As is the case every term, the whole school gathers in the hall for an amazing start to a brand new term. To introduce our focus for the term we had a lovely performance from the Senior Management Team (Mr Burt, Mr Jacobson, Mrs Nua, & the musical expert Mr Wiseman). They performed a song called ‘Musical Madness Saves the Day’ which gave away the topic of the term (Musical Madness.)

                                                                                  

Next it was time for the teams to introduce their learning intentions for the term. First up was team 1( our year one’s) their team of teachers performed a play showing them playing card games and listening to music. There were many different types of music played and it made them feel different emotions for each song. Their performance notified that they were going to be learning about how music can impact on emotions.

Team 2’s (our year two’s) learning intention is similar to team 1’s but they sang a capturing song with them playing instruments with the amazing singer Mrs Gaston. They sang to us ‘In the Jungle the Mighty Jungle’.

Then it came to my favourite performance; team 3 (year 3&4). I reckon that this team was the most entertaining because they made a film about songs in real life. Instead of them talking to one another they took bits of lyrics from songs and put it into their video. Their learning focus this term is based on how music impacts on our daily lives.  

After that team 4 (our year 5 & 6’s) presented a movie that they had created throughout the holidays. It was about how music can make things fun such as car rides and so on. Their focus was basically the same as team 3 which is learning about how music impact in our daily lives.

Last but not least was team 5 (Intermediate). Our team of teachers performed an informative play, they pretended to be a family who were watching a film. They watched this film repetitively but every time they watched it there was different music playing in the background. The different music that was played made them feel different emotions. So our focus this term in team 5 is learning about music and how it can change a film.