How to Talona (Tongan Dance)

Today Aleki showed us how to talona.  Talona means to dance in Tongan.  First he showed us what to do then we copied him.  It was very tricky but fun.  We had to write instructions on how to talona which was challenging as we found it hard to describe some of the moves.

Aleki giving us instructions.

We tried to copy him.

Making Leis

It takes a lot of patience and skill to make leis.  First we had to thread the needle with the string then thread the crepe paper through.  We worked in pairs and tried to make patterns. The crepe paper is really soft so we had to be very careful.

We are still working on our leis. We wonder how long it will take us?

More on the Study of Tonga and Samoa

We have been bringing a lot of items and information to share with the class as part of the study on Tonga and Samoa.

Tulialo, Lesieli, DJ, Joseph

Amera brought her Tongan wallet and handbag.

Christina brought her fan.

Making Different Types of Graphs

This week we are learning to make different types of graphs in Statistics.  We decided to collect some data and use it to display in form of a graph.

We looked at the 2 questions:
- Do you like milkshake?
-Which flavour of milkshake do you like?

We had a choice of 5 flavours: lime, vanilla, strawberry, banana and chocolate.

We found out that 14 of us liked milkshakes while 6 of us don't.

We also found out that the favourite flavour was chocolate while nobody liked lime and vanilla flavours.

How to Hiko (juggle)

The Tongan word for juggling is 'hiko'.  The Tongan women are very good at juggling with 5 balls so we decided to take the challenge of juggling ourselves with 3 balls.

We then wrote instructions on how to juggle.

How to Hiko (Juggle)

You will need:

Equipment

3 balls

Steps

1. Hold two balls in your dominant hand.

2. Hold one ball in your other hand.

3. Throw one ball to your opposite hand.

4. Throw the other ball to your left hand.

5. Repeat.

By Willie

Making Samoan Lolepopo

Mrs Folu has been teaching us a lot about Samoa.  On Friday she helped us to make 'lolepopo'.  It is a sweet treat made out of sugar and grated coconut.  She brought a strange looking equipment called a 'tuai'.  A tuai is like a huge grater which is used to grate coconut.

Amera's writing on how to make lolepopo

Making Lolepopo

A lolepopo is a type of Samoan lolly.

First we cracked a coconut.  Then we grated the coconut flesh.  We then put some brown sugar in the pan. After that we stirred the brown sugar and we waited for it to melt.  Next we poured the coconut flesh into the pan and we tried to cover the brown sugar with the coconut.  We mixed the brown sugar and coconut.

Charle's writing

Making Lolepopo

A lolepopo is a type of Samoan lolly.

First, we cracked the coconut and we scraped the coconut with a tuai.

Next, we put the sugar with the coconut. The sugar looked like caramel.

Lastly we put the coconut with the brown sugar in the electric fry pan.


We all tasted the lolepopo, some of us thought it was really yummy while others were not so sure.

Gravity Free Water Science Experiment

What is gravity free water?

Gravity free water when the water in a jar is turned upside down but it does not flow out even though there's no lid to hold it in.

How does it happen?

Well, we filled a jar with water and put a cardboard on top.  We then turned it upside down and surprisingly the water stayed in the jar.  

With no air inside the glass, the air pressure from outside the glass was greater than the pressure of the water inside the glass. The extra air pressure managed to hold the cardboard in place, keeping us dry and the water where it should be, inside the glass.  Amazing!!

Samoan and Tongan Display

We are really enjoying learning about the similarities and differences between the Samoan and the Tongan cultures.  We have started to get a collection for a display in our classroom.

Which ones do you know?

Visiting Te Oro Display in Room 3

On Thursday we went to visit the Te Oro display that had been set up in room 3 for everyone to look at.  We enjoyed looking at all the classes work.  We read the information, played the games, looked at different ways of getting rid of pests and enjoyed being there.

We learned a lot too!!

Taekwondo Continues

This week was our 2nd week of taekwondo.  We are learning lots of techniques and discipline.

Ula, the Samoan Necklace

Mrs Finau brought us some 'ula' , Samoan necklaces today so we decided to use them to write our descriptions.  These necklaces are made of sea snail shells, shells, seeds and beads.  

We wonder how long it took them to make each necklace!!!

What does a taro plant look like?

Today I took a taro plant to the class so we could look at it before writing our descriptions.  Taro and taro leaves are common foods in Samoa and Tonga and a lot of students grow it at home.

First, we looked at the leaf then the shoot and lastly the stalk.  We had to write what we could see and what they felt like.

Taro Plant

A taro plant is a type of island plant.

The leaf is green.  It's shaped like a heart.  The leaf has veins.  It is dark and light green.

It has a shoot.  It is small.  The shoot is thin and it is green.  

The stalk is long.  It is brown.  The stalk holds the leaf.  The leaf is soft.

by Ocean

Taro Plant

A taro plant is a type of island plant.

The leaf is shaped like a heart and it is dark green.  It is small and it has veins.

The shoot is green, fat, a little bit short and pointy.

The stalk is long, skinny and it is light green and brown.

by Otolose

How does a pencil bend it water?

This was the question we had to answer for our science experiment.  Our challenge was to bend a pencil without breaking it.

What did we do?
We filled a jar with water and put the pencil in it.

What did we think would happen?
-the pencil would turn grey
-the pencil would look big

What happened?
The pencil looked bent when we looked at it from the side because the light passing through water made the pencil look bent.

Describing a Hibiscus

Mrs Pedersen and Mrs Hoebriggs kindly brought hibiscus for our class to look at so we could write their descriptions.  We learned some names of flower parts like petals, style, stigma and stamen.  We used our sense of sight, touch and smell to write our descriptions.

Hibiscus flowers are used a lot in Tongan and Samoan culture.  It is called 'kaute'  in Tongan and  'aute Samoa' in Samoan.

Willie's Description

Ariel's Description

DJ's description

Let's Taekwondo

We started taekwondo lessons today.  We learned some new Korean words used in taekwondo, learned how to kick and punch.

We wonder what we will learn next week!!!  

Our Culture Study Continues

Some of the students brought their cultural costumes to share with our class. We got a chance to ask questions about their costumes and what they were made of.  We are learning a lot about Samoa and Tonga.

Sione, Joseph, Eli, Kaulave, Aleki, Iosefo,, DJ

Writing Descriptions

Our writing focus this term is on writing descriptions.  

We are going to use the following checklist to write our descriptions: 

- a title

- an introduction

- use describing words (looks like, feels like, smells like, sounds like, tastes like)

-have some interesting detail

-write a conclusion

Here we are working with our partners to describe the dinosaurs.

Jump Jam to Term 2

What a great start to term 2.  We are so happy to be back at school and are ready to learn.  We wonder what exciting things we will be doing this term?

Tonga and Samoa

Talofa lava, Malo e lelei

This term we are focusing on the two Pacific countries of Tonga and Samoa.  We are going to learn about these two countries and how they are similar and how they are different.

Today we were so excited as some of the Tongan students brought Tongan clothes to show us.  They dressed in their clothes with some help from others.

Eli, Aleki, Kaulave and Sione being helped by others.

Kaulave is his ta'ovala, kafa, tupenu and Tongan design shirt.

Aleki in his ta'ovala.

Eli with her kiekie and dressed in ta'ovala and kafa.

Sione with his ta'ovala.

Christina with a shell from her kahoa.

Ta'ovala: The ta'ovala is the traditional woven mat worn by Tongans.

Kiekie: The kiekie is worn around the waist of a woman dressing up to go out.

Kafa: The Kafa is a braided rope, used to tie the ta'ovala, like a belt. It is worn by men and women and it can be made from a lot of things.

Our proud students: Sione, Aleki, Kaulave, Christina and Eli