Exploring cultural diversity in the classroom with maths

Using the knowledge we each bring from our home culture can help us think, work and solve problems much more easily in the classroom.

Room 1 Maths problem solving using a Growth Mindset puzzle - 

5 languages and 6 numbers for each language

Samual was able to identify one set as Cantonese - his home language

Celebrations to kick off 2017

Welcome back to school!

We have plenty to celebrate for the start of this year.

Celebrations are a part of all our lives and this summer there are two important events in our community. 

Members of our Asian community celebrate a very important event on the lunar calendar - Chinese New Year - The Year of the Rooster. 

Infograph of interesting facts

Don't forget this weekend is the Auckland Lantern Festival at the Auckland Domain.

Thursday 9 February (opening ceremony and lantern only night 7:00pm to 10:30pm) to Sunday 12 February.

About the Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival has been part of Chinese New Year celebrations since the Han Dynasty (206 BC- 221 AD).

It is usually held on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, it marks the end of New Year festivities.

The holiday comes from an ancient Chinese belief that celestial (heavenly) spirits could be seen flying about in the light of the first full moon of the lunar calendar.

People used torches and lanterns of every shape, size and colour to help them in spotting the spirits.

Room 2 Posters for Chinese New Year - There are many students at Sunnynook who identify as being Chinese  - 新年快乐 Happy New Year to you!.

New Zealanders celebrated Waitangi Day on 6th February with a national holiday to recognise our founding document - The Treaty of Waitangi.

The Treaty today

Te Tiriti ināianei

With the signing of the Treaty in 1840, Māori and Pākehā began the long journey towards creating a nation together.

Throughout this time, the Treaty has never lost its importance. And today, perhaps more than ever, it is helping to forge productive working relationships between Māori and other New Zealanders.

The journey continues – and it involves everyone living in this country.

Nō te hainatanga o te Tiriti 165 ngā tau ki mua, ka tīmata te Māori me te Pākehā ki te waihanga kaupapa haere whakamua hei whakakotahi i a rāua.

Puta noa tēnei wā, kīhai te mana o te Tiriti i memeha. Ināianei, he nui rawa atu te hiahia kia mahi kotahi te Māori me ērā atu iwi o Aotearoa hei painga mō te katoa.

Ka haere whakamua tonu, engari me uru mai te katoa o tēnei whenua.

Auckland Diwali Festival

This week Indian communities in Auckland will celebrate Diwali.

The Auckland Diwali Festival takes its inspiration from Diwali or Deepavali (row of lamps), an important and ancient Indian festival celebrated throughout India and in Indian communities around the world. Indians will celebrate the week with family and friends, dressing in traditional clothing, exchanging Indian sweets or gifts, cooking and eating together and enjoying song and dance. 

Video of Auckland Diwali Festival Highlights

Blue Guru Indian music and dance troupe

This week our Indian cultural team will create a few rangoli patterns to welcome guests near the entrance to our house, our school.The bright patterns encourage the goddess Lakshmi to enter, and bring positive energy to our environment. Please come and observe these students create their design outside the Technology Room this week (weather dependent). 

Day one of our 2016 rangoli

Mahi's rangoli design

The word 'rangoli' is derived from the words 'rang' and 'aavalli' which refers to a row of colours. The design usually follows a certain theme. The central design or motif is symbolic and represents natural elements like birds, snakes, fish, flowers, sun, moon or a flower. It usually has a geometric and symmetrical shape, which expresses the infiniteness of time. A rangoli is often bordered by a lotus design, to represent the goddess Lakshmi. The lotus symbolises the beginning of life. 

Mrs Pinto drawing a design for day two 

Mrs Pinto with Tanesha and Mahi

Helpers working on the rangoli

Brike & Zayan were hard at work using their hands

Mahi's second design being filled in on day two

Mrs Pinto's design with colour

Ni Hao - Chinese Language Week 2016

Check out the gallery of photos showing a group of our Year 5 and Year 6 students working on their Chinese word posters to share with the school.Each of the students chose a word that had special significance. They wrote the word in Chinese characters along with some images to show the meaning. I was so impressed by their knowledge of this ancient and beautiful writing system.  I have a new appreciation on the challenge our students face in keeping a heritage or home language such as Chinese, as well as learning in another language - English. Congratulations and thank you for all for your efforts this week Erica, Rebecca, Jessica, Cindy, Bonnie, Mia, Jack, Lucas, Ivan, Jeff, Mark and Henry. Look out for the finished product in the library.

Click on the website below if you would like to learn more about the language.

NZ Chinese Language Week website

Celebrate Dual Cultures in Term 3

Duality Maps Help You Explore Two Cultures

Celebrate being bilingual!    Be proud to have two worlds:

• your first home language and the world of the second language
• you will understand your extended family and its history
• you will understand how language and culture are one
• you will understand more about who you are
• your family's language is a treasure or taonga

Post a comment on how you feel about speaking and learning other languages

Art imitates life

Art reflects the cultures and histories of the people living in a community.

Take a look at the snapshot of ideas, experiences, memories, and dreams young artists around Sunnynook have created this term.

Self portrait, pencil, paint, Jess Cen R4

Multimedia emotions on a rollercoaster, April Pian R6

Pencil/pastel study of marine life in rock pool, Amy Cho R5

Stencil/spray paint of Tui, Aoi Miyata R2

Post a comment about your favourite artwork this term. What ideas were you expressing?

Visit the Auckland Art Gallery to see A Space to Dream: Recent Art from South America

Ernesto Neto
Just like drops in time, nothing (installation view) 2002

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki website

Maori New Year begins with Matariki on 6th June

Matariki is a cluster of seven stars in the constellation of Taurus.
Because the star cluster can be seen all around the world from almost every single spot on Earth, and in different cultures it has lots of different names:

• The Pleiades or The Seven Sisters in Greece
• Subaru in Japan
• The six wives of the six sages in Tamil
• Seven chickens in Thailand
• Matali'l in Samoa

Matariki has always been an important time in the Māori calendar. Calendars use the Moon to set the months and the Sun to mark the seasons. Early Maori used the lunar calendar - Maramataka - to guide them in fishing and growing crops.

Matariki means ‘eyes of the god’ or ‘little eyes’. Some say that when Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother, were separated by their children, the god of the winds, Tāwhirimātea, became angry, tearing out his eyes and hurling them into the heavens. Others say Matariki is the mother surrounded by her six daughters.

The Māori New Year signals a time for connecting with, and giving thanks to, the land, sea and sky. It’s also a time for the community to farewell people who have passed away and accept everything that has happened in the last year, and to look to the future and celebrate new beginnings.

Look at the night sky this month. See if you can identify the phases of the moon. On 6th June at 6:30am you may find Matariki in the dawn sky. Post a comment on what you see in the night sky.

Visit the observatory in Auckland to learn more about the stars.

Stardome observatory planetarium in Auckland

Listen to He waiata Matariki our kapa haka group are learning this year.