Abstract Art

Earlier on this year, Room 24 viewed the awesome artwork of the students in Huzzah, a class in British Colombia.  They entitled their work "Eye Candy" - and we thought it looked pretty scrumptious.  Three weeks later, we saw some more artwork that was almost identical to Huzzah's Eye Candy.  This time it was called "Blob Art" and it was the stunning work of the students in Room 6 @ Halcombe School, New Zealand.  

We'd thought about doing some pieces of our own after seeing Huzzah's masterpieces but after seeing the powerful finished products of Room 6 we decided it was time to stop thinking and start doing.  With two classes artwork in front of us, we had the privilege of being able to spend some time examining and analysing what was before us.  

We highlighted what different techniques both classes used to make their art effective before reaching a consensus as to what we were going to incorporate into our compositions.  What an opportunity it was to exercise our Habits of Mind and higher order thinking skills!  We decided on the name "Abstract Art" for our creations because while we were viewing the other classes' work many of us commented how we could see different things in the various pieces.

We'd like to thank both Huzzah and Room 6 for their inspiration.

What does our Abstract Art remind you of?

What is an art project that you've completed recently that you're proud of?

Do you have a favourite artist or favourite style of art?

Guest Post by Ashleigh - Friday Enrichment Progammes

Friday enrichment programmes are a great way to do something that you love, out of class. At the beginning of Term One we got a list of all the Friday programmes which included Culinary Arts, Extension Art, Performers group, Funky garden art, Take 2 – (learning digital ICT skills), Media team – (creating the school magazine), Sewing, Kapa Haka, and Enviro Leaders.

Then you had to write an application explaining why you think you would be a good student to have in the programme you want to be a part of. If you wanted to you could get a letter of recommendation from your parents and teacher. In some activities there were stages that you had to get shortlisted for. For Culinary Arts you had to cook or bake something. For Extension Art you had to sketch a scene from Aladdin (which is our school production coming up this year). Fortunately I made it in to Culinary Arts which is really exciting for me. We get to cater for meetings, make home-made pasta, bake macaroons and participate in lots of other activities.

I think having Friday enrichment programmes is an awesome idea as you can try something different and learn new skills.

Does your school have any extra activities for the students to participate in?

If so what are they?

Koru Art

This week, we are celebrating te reo Maori me nga tikanga, that is Maori language and culture.  


To begin our week, we created pieces of KORU Art. In Maori culture, the koru (typically seen on a fern frond) symbolises new life and growth.


We used the art techniques of silhouette and and symmetry.  Don't the finished pieces look stunning!

How do you celebrate native cultures in your class?

What pieces of art have you completed recently?

Credible Characters & Puppets with Personality

Just over two weeks ago, we watched a video tutorial by the puppet genius, Jim Henson, about how to make puppets from regular household items.  Room 24 were inspired at how he brought the puppets to life - treating them as real characters with their own personalities and mannerisms.  


As our main writing focus this term has been narratives, we decided to create puppets for our lead characters.  


The requirements for our puppets were that they would be made from readily available items and that they would be a true representation of our main character.  They needed to show the visual qualities of our characters and, in some way, demonstrate behaviour that our characters would typically display.


We LOVE writing with our puppets close by as they are a source of inspiration and creativity.


Stop by in the next two weeks to read excerpts from our writing and to see some guest appearances by our characters/puppets.

Can you recall your most favourite character that you've ever created and written about?

Have you made a puppet before?  What was he/she made of?  

Or, if you were to make one, how would you create him/her?

Guest Post by Brooke: Challenge - Class Literacy

During literacy our reading groups sometimes get the opportunity to make origami. Our learning intention is to follow new, written instructions interdependently.

We asked a few students from our class, how they felt about this project. They answered, “our challenge is folding accurate lines and following the instructions.”

To overcome this challenge we are measuring, and if not successful restarting, and making accurate folds.

Have you made Origami animals or objects before?
What Habits of Mind did you use?

Kaweka's Flash Mob ... in Video

Kia Ora to all you wonderful readers out there.  This is our FANTASTIC flash mob that you read about in our post last week.  A huge thanks must go to Mr English for the time he took to edit the video for us.  We're now convinced he's a die hard Kawekian!


We hope you all enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed performing.

After watching our flash mob, what 'dance and drama' ideas do have for your class, your team or your school?

Do you have any favourite songs that make people want to just get up and dance?

Kaweka Flash Mob

At our last Kaweka team assembly, Room 5 surprised us all with a flash mob.  They performed it to the song, Everything's Gonna Be Alright by the Babysitter Circus.  We all thought the flash mob was FANTASTIC so the Kaweka teachers decided it would be a brilliant idea for our students to 'flash mob' the rest of the school.


We used the same song and same choreography and yesterday Room 5 led the way in the flash mob.  We had so much fun and it was definitely a success!  Who knows what will happen next ...


An enormous thanks to Ms Brooks and Room 5 for the inspiration and talent you showed!  Also, thanks to Kate (whose arm is out of action) for taking some TERRIFIC shots.

Have you ever been involved in an outdoor performance?  If so, what was it?

What other performances or events do you think our Kaweka learning team could plan in future?

World Read Aloud Day

Yesterday our class celebrated .  To do this, most of us bought books from home.  The books we bought in were "old favourites" - the ones we've read over and over.  We also bought our favourite novels and shared either an excerpt or gave an overview of the plot.  We talked about how family memories of reading books also makes them special.

We now all have several books that we're wanting to read.  Books become even more exciting when we see how much enjoyment others have got from them.  

Miss McLeod read the Mudmen chapter from Andy Griffith's book, Just Crazy.  It was hilarious with lots of crack-up moments - the reader had to work hard to read on past her laughter at times.

We then got into pairs and started rehearsing poems to read to the class.  Our task is to read/recite the poem expressively and with 'drama' in our voices.  Stay tuned ... we may post a video or two of this.

What are your favourite books and why do you like them?

Do you have any special 'book' or 'reading' memories?