Text in Contemporary ARt

Colin McCahon
Colin McCahon
Rosalie Gascoigne
Rosalie Gascoigne - Metropolis (1999)

In Art we are looking at Text in Contemporary art. We have been looking at Rosalie Gascoigne's work and Colin McCahon two New Zealand artists who have used text in their art.

We are now creating our own art inspired by Rosalie Gascoigne's Metropolis..........coming soon!

Wharenui homework

I love the homework this week!
This week you have to design a Wharenui - Meeting House.
See below for the criteria.

1. The wharenui is at least the size of a shoe box.
2. The wharenui is made out of at least 3 recycled materials. Eg twigs, leaves, shoebox, scrap material, unwanted material.
3. The wharenui has an apex roof.
4. The wharenui has one modern design. Eg a glass window, a solar panel, the colour of the front is not traditional.
5. The wharenui has Maori traditional designs.

You need to draw and label your Wharenui design in your homework book first. Collect your materials from home, outside, the beach, or even the bush. Think about how you will put everything together, ie strong glue, sellotape, and wire. Have fun!

Pepeha

This week Room 9 are learning to say a pepeha to introduce themselves.

Pepeha are sayings that emphasise a person’s origins and connections with the land and their whakapapa (genealogy) conveying a great deal of meaning and cultural information.

This is the format we will be using.

Ko _____________________ toku waka. (canoe)
Ko _____________________ toku iwi. (tribe)
Ko _____________________ toku maunga (mountain)
Ko _____________________ toku awa (river)
Ko _____________________ toku kainga (place you live)
Ko _____________________ toku whanau (family name)
Ko _____________________ toku whaea (mother)
Ko _____________________ toku matua (father)
Ko _____________________ toku ingoa (personal name)

Wearable Arts 2009

Inquiry

This week the children of Room 9 started their personal inquiry on an aspect of New Zealand history. The idea is for every child in the class to become an expect in one area and then teach someone at home about what they have discovered.

We started by making a big question that we wanted to know the answer to. This is an open question that required lots of information to answer it. We then thought of sub questions that would help us answer the big question.

Last Thursday we used the www to find the answers to our questions. It was tough going because we had to do a lot of skimming and scanning to find the correct information quickly.

We still have a lot of information to find. It is really important to use other sources to find information like looking in reference books and asking an expert!

Below is the rubric we are using to to reflect on the learning process and to help us keep on track.

Wearable arts! Decision time

On Friday the children in yr 5/6 will have to decided which group they would like to participate in for Wearable Arts. The groups are Nature, Maori/Pacifica, Settlers and Kiwiana. Your Wearable Art will reflect and represent an element within the group.

Think about what your focus will be. Remember it is not a costume it is ART!

The Rabbit and the Elephant - by Freijah, John and Will

The Rabbit and the Elephant

There was once a small rabbit and big elephant who lived in the forest. One rainy day, a tree fell onto the rabbit’s home. The rabbit was frustrated and terrified because her five babies were in the burrow.

Rabbit was so upset she was crying and screaming for help. Out of the forest came a huge, tough, blue gray elephant. Rabbit was a little scared of the of the elephant. But Rabbit was amazed to see that Elephant was in time to pick up the tree trunk off the burrow.
“Thank you so so much Mr. Elephant. You saved my babies!” Said Rabbit. “I thought if I help you, you may help me in future.” Said the Elephant.

The next sunny morning, hunters arrived in the forest. They were hunting for the rabbits to eat when they saw the elephant. They shot the elephant with a spear gun A spear pierced the tough, hairy, wrinkly skin of the elephant and fell straight to his side. The elephant made a terrible noise which scared the hunters away.

The rabbit saw the Elephant in pain and it jumped on to the elephant and gnawed and pulled at the spear with her sharp teeth and claws.

The Rabbit and the Elephant became really good friends because they helped each other.

“Little friends may prove to be great friends.”