Pedalwise at Ōtaki School

On Monday we were very lucky to have been visited by Pedalwise. A group promoting the riding of bicycles. These lovely men spent the afternoon with ngā tamariki teaching them basic biking skills.

First we have a talk about what we would need before bicycling - shoes and helmets! Also which of our tamariki had ridden bicycles before.

The the men worked with tamariki developing their bike skills at whatever level they were at. They were super supportive of those that were not confident or hadn't ridden a bicycle before. All but one child managed to ride their bikes by themselves by the end of the session (and that 'one' was VERY close!). We had a lovely afternoon - a big mihi to these lovely men for their time and patience!

Ted Bracey inspired art.

Here is a small sample of our Ted Bracey inspired art/ Each child mixed their own colours to create the different shades.

Coughs and colds....

With the recent change of seasons some of ngā tamariki have been experiencing coughs and colds. We have been talking about how we keep ourselves and those around us safe when we are sick

 

Paint a farm of 100 greens.....

Ted Bracey was a painter who lived a big part of his life in the dairy farming area of the Waikato.
Ted liked painting farmland but he didn’t like painting things exactly how they looked.
Ted was very good at mixing lots and lots of different greens. His paintings are mostly green layers.
He felt that painting green layers was a very good way to show all the different paddocks of a farm.
Before he made his paintings Ted thought very hard about the farm he had chosen.
• He thought about what people said about the Waikato being made of 100 different greens;
• He looked at the farm from as many different angles as possible (including from above);
• He mixed lots of different types of green;
• He decided which green would match which part of the farm.
(Schoolkit 2020)

Over the last few weeks we have been talking about what we know about farms. Watching Youtube clips about farms and reading about farms.
Today we looked at a number of Ted's paintings and talked about he blended the different colours to create his art.

Reading together.

Every day the students of Waitī have the opportunity to read books of their own choosing at their level of reading. They are able to read to themselves, read to a buddy, read to an adult or be read to. This re-reading of books cements in reading strategies they have learned through lessons, reinforces sight words and promotes the enjoyment of reading. Whether that be being read to or sharing a book with a friend. A special time in all of our days.

Binoculars

Last week one of the students in Waitī read a book about binoculars. They didn't know what binoculars were - and luckily enough we were able to find some. We all enjoyed looking closely at things that were far away.

But the best part was when it was discovered how small things were when we turned the binoculars the other way around. So much giggling!