Getting ready for Matariki

Kristina checking which paper strips are correct

On Friday afternoon instead of Jump Jam we did some craft activities with a Matariki theme.  Bentley and Kristina were very patient in weaving coloured paper through slits in their colourful stars.  What a great way to combine two Matariki themes of learning to weave with a Matariki star.

Bentley concentrating on getting it coloured paper woven through the correct slits.

The Four Kites of Matariki

The team one teachers made a movie for the  immersion assembly today for the term 2 topic of "Now that's thinking."  The focus for team one is on kites and Matariki.

tariki.

Matariki Stars

In Te Reo class, Room 16 has been busy making Matariki Stars to decorate a mural that Whaea Saf has been organising.  Matariki is the celebration of the Maori New Year.  The stars of Matariki are also known as the Pleiades cluster of stars.  They are visible for most of the year but they disappear from the night sky in Aotearoa in late April and reappear in the north eastern sky in late May or early June.  When the stars appear again, and the new moon appears it is the beginning of the Maori New Year.     The seven stars in the cluster are named  Matariki (the biggest star),Waiti, Waita, Waipuna-a-rangi, Tupuanuku, Tupuarangi and Ururangi.

Room 16 decorating their Matariki stars.

Gabriella making a Matariki star.