It's Great to Be Me

This term we've started a health unit about Ourselves. Because half my class is involved in a programme run by external facilitators, I've had to think more about how they could learn about what we've been doing, as well as give opportunities to have them share what they've been doing. I also wanted to push myself technically, so have set out the start point for the unit in a series of slides on Google. I've given my students access to the document, and have helped all my students set up their own blogs for recording their progress. I see this as a chance for my students to work through things at their own pace, with regular catch-up sessions to share where we're up to and what we've been learning.

Te Wiki o te Reo Maori

When I first heard that this year's 'theme' for Maori Language week was "Word of the Week" I was a little disappointed. It seemed a bit harder to get into than in previous years.

However, I have since had a change of heart! I have been using the word of the week in my classroom by introducing the word, using the online resources (http://kupu.maori.nz/kupu-o-te-wiki) to ensure correct pronunciation, and then challenging my students to use the word throughout the week.

This week's word was engari (but) and the kids had a bit of a giggle when it was first introduced (homophones can cause difficulties in a year 7/8 class!) however, since then we have had such wonderful sentences as: My picture looks cool, engari Jane's* looks even cooler!

It's been a great way to use a little bit of te reo in everyday life.







*Not her real name

Maori Resource: Hei Waiata, Hei Whakakoakoa

I love it when you're just minding your own business, trying to do a little research on the internet when you stumble across something useful. This happened to me today, while I was looking up the meaning of a waiata that my student teacher is teaching my class (turns out it's about unity, which is a nice theme for my year 7 & 8's!). In my searching, I stumbled across this great waiata resource on TKI. 46 songs with translations, music, and suggestions for incorporating them into your classroom. Nice work, TKI!