Types of Media

 During Cyber Smart lessons we have been learning about different types of media. 

First we wrote up a definition of what media is we came up with: 

Media is something that entertains or gives us information. 

Then we learnt about some of the types of media around us, for example: bus shelter ads, podcasts, radio, video games, movies, websites, magazines and much more. 

Our follow-up activity was a hunt to find different types of media around our house. Here are some things we found that are forms of media. 

What forms of media can you find around you? 

Nature art take 2

After popular demand we bought back the nature art task for a previous lockdown. 

Check out the original post here. 

Here are the instructions for the activity.

Reasons why we enjoy this activity: 
We get to go outside

It's like a scavenger hunt

We get to make patterns

It linked to our class artist's style (Fiona Kerr Gedson) using mandalas

It's free, we don't have to buy anything

We get to be creative with different colours and shapes 

We can get our family involved

Before going out Mrs Patel had a session with us about how to find things in nature. 

We had to remember: 
- not to pick off trees/plants

- return everything back to nature

- create the piece of art out in nature

- not destroying homes of animals/birds (nest, bug hotels ect) 

Check out our nature art creations from this year: 

Why don't you give it a go? Share your creations with us. We would love to see what you come up with. 

Roll a Picasso drawing

Following on from our Roll-a-monster we decided to have another go, this time we tried out Roll-a-Picasso. We all put our artistic hats on and got going. 

We had some cool funky creations. Check them out: 

If you would like to have a go check out our class site for the instructions. 

Macarena dance off

One of our students sent in a video of the Macarena dance. So we thought why not have a lockdown dance-off. We put on some funky clothing, warmed up our hips, and got dancing. 

Check out our Macarena Dance off...

Here is the link to our Macarena dance off page on our class site. Check it out, have a go yourself! 

Roll-a-monster

We have really been enjoying the Roll a.... activity during distance learning. There are so many possibilities and we end up with such creative funky pieces of art. 

Check out our class site with more Roll a.... activities 

Here are the funky monsters we created. Some of our monsters even have a story to go with. 

Why don't you have a go? Check our class site for the instructions.

Whai String Games

As of Wednesday 18th August 2021 New Zealand went back into a Level 4 lockdown. That meant back to distance learning. Even though we had been there before it did take a couple of days to get used to. 

One of our focus tasks was as below:

Click on the image to take you to the focus task on our class site. 

Below are a couple of photos & videos of different string games/figures made by students in Gedson Class.  

 

Why don't you have a go at some of the string games? 

Groups we belong to

During distance learning we looked at different groups we belong it. 

 Our focus task:

From this we found out that even though we have our own identity and we are all unique in our own way, there are still things about us that are similar. 

What groups do you belong to? Can you find someone that belongs to the same group as you?

Nature Art

Challenge # 19

Our challenge was inspired by:

Andy Goldsworthy

We watched a few videos and analysed some photos of his work. During our Google Meet video call we brainstormed what we noticed about his artwork. Here are a few points we made:

Here is a link to our challenge.

Check out our cool creations: 

During lockdown this has probably been one of our most exciting challenges. We enjoyed it because we could get the whole family involved and go outside on the bright sunny days we had. 

It's easy, why don't you give it a go? 

Ponder this: 

Do you think the different seasons affect the types of artwork you can make? 

Discovery Box

Challenge # 18

What is a discovery box: A discovery box is made up of things that represent something or someone.

What do you put in a discovery box: Anything that you think represents you or the topic. This could include flowers, pictures, accessories, photos, drawings, clothing items, flag, ornaments.

Create task:
Find things around the house to make a discovery box about our culture or where our family is from.

Diverse cultures in our class: Afganistan, New Zealand, Indian, Muslim, Hindu, Tongan, Samoan, Fijian, Filipino, Bengali, Somalian, Persian, Rohingya.

Get creative to make your discovery box. If you can't find things around your house, you could: 

- Draw some things on paper.

- Find photos online and make a collage. 

- Take photos around your house.

Check out our discovery boxes. We had a lot of fun scavenging around the house and the internet.

What would you include in your discovery box?

Te Reo Lesson 1 - My home

Kaupapa - ‘Tōku Kainga’ - My home

Whainga paetae - The student will learn the kupu used for the outside/exterior of their home/house.

Have a look at drawings of our houses with labels:

Diversity Celebrations

Challenge # 11

As part of our diversity unit, we had a look at all the different celebrations our class members have. 

Our task was to draw a picture of our favourite celebration and label it.

Take a look at our creations: 

In our class we have children that belong to the following cultural groups:

Samoan

New Zealander

Philippino

Tongan 

Indian 

Afghanistan 

Fijian 

Ethiopian 

Russian 

Rohingya

What cultural group do you belong to?

What is your favourite celebration in your culture? 

Favourite toy explanation

Challenge #12

Following on from our Funday Friday crazy hair day we had a bring along your favourite toy day. 

Everyone brought their favourite toy to our Google Meet video call. We all had the opportunity to share something about our favourite toy. Then we had some questions Miss Mangabhai gave us to guide our writing. 

The questions here:
Where did you get it from? Who gave it to you? What is the name of your toy? Why is this your favourite toy?

We had to make sure we used full sentences when answering the questions.

Check out our responses:

Have you got a favourite toy? Share in the comments telling us about your favourite toy. You can use the questions to help you.

Shared Book: Bread

Challenge #10

During lockdown, many families did some home baking. 

We read a book called Bread and then answered the following question:  How do you like to eat your bread?

Check out our challenge on our class site. 

Check out our writing we crafted:

So tell us: How do you like to eat your bread?

Crazy hair/hat day!

On Thursday 26th March New Zealand went into lockdown. It had been 4 weeks and we still weren't allowed to go to school and play with our friends. We all missed having fun with our classmates. 

So Miss Mangabhai decided for our first Funday Friday during lockdown we would do a crazy hair/hat day via our Google Meet video calls. 

It was super fun. Our only criteria was to get creative with the things we could find around our house. 

Check out our crazy creations! 

“If it’s not fun, you’re not doing it right.” – Bob Basso

Step by step animal drawings

Challenge # 2

Drawing animals can be tricky at times. 

Miss Mangabhai found a range of step by step instructions on how to draw different animals. 

We followed the step by step instructions to draw an animal of our choice and then wrote a story about our animals. 

Check them out: 




You can find the step by step drawings here on our Class Site.

Why don't you give it a go? We would love to see what you come up with. 

What's your name fitness routine

Challenge # 1

Staying fit during lockdown was very important. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to use any playground equipment or go play with a friend. So we got a bit creative. 

Our challenge was to use our name to create a personalised fitness routine.
The different exercises for each letter of the alphabet were on our class site. 

Here are a few of our routines: 

Check out our class site if you would like to give it a go.