Rona and the Moon

In our POD and class groups we have produced a variety of art, dance and writing based on the Maori legend of 'Rona and the Moon'.

Room 2 have come to know the story well and enjoyed creating a Shared Book of the story, each taking turns to be the illustrator.

The Turtle and the Shark - Samoan legend

Our tamariki also listened and learned of the Samoan legend of the Turtle and the Shark.

The love story of the Turtle and Shark

Long ago there once lived a woman named Fonuea who was deeply in love with her husband whose name has been long forgotten.

They loved each other so much but the husband has been called by King Malietoa-Faiga and was not to return, which sadden Fonuea.

So Fonuea went with him but they didn’t make it to the island.

They came across the island of Tutuila where they were met by High Chief Letuli, who welcomed them.  There they remained living in eachother’s love.  But for Fonuea that love soon turned into guilt, where she felt for their families in Savaii but knew only sadness would be in store for them. 

So both Fonuea and her husband decided they cannot live without eachother and they jumped off a cliff to be together forever. The Gods smiled in their favour and so they  turned Fonuea into a Turtle and the husband into a shark.

Fonuea and the husband lived on in the sea eternally.

Sina and the Eel

The past 2 weeks our POD group has been learning about the Samoan myth called Sina and the Eel.

In this legend, we hear first hand the origin of the coconut tree.  And so the legend goes...

On the island of Savai'i in Samoa, one version of the legend tells of a beautiful girl called Sina who had a small pet eel. When the eel grew, it fell in love with Sina. This made the girl afraid. She tried to run away, but the fish followed her. Sina finally sought refuge in a village, and thinking that she had escaped, went to the village pool to get water.

However, when Sina looked into the pool, she saw the eel staring up at her.

Angry, she cried 'You stare at me, with eyes like a demon!' (Samoan: E pupula mai, ou mata o le alelo!). Village chiefs came and killed the eel. As the eel was dying, it asked Sina to plant its head in the ground. Sina followed the eel's request, and planted its head in the ground. A coconut tree grew from the ground. When the husk is removed from a coconut, there are three round marks which appear like the face of the fish with two eyes and a mouth. One of the marks is pierced for drinking the coconut, and hence when Sina takes a drink, she is kissing the eel.

In Samoa, the fresh spring pool Mata o le Alelo in the small village of Matavai, Safune is associated with the legend of Sina and the Eel. The pool is named after Sina's words to the eel in the legend. The pool is open to visitors.

-Sourced from wikipedia.org

Behind the Coconut Tree and the Eel, the children created Samoan Siapo - tapa cloth designs and patterns using dye and crayons.  

Some Aboriginal Art

   Room 2, Team 21 and Ruma 25 had fun creating these art works.  We had 5 year olds and 9/10 year olds working together.  Each piece of art tells the story of Bohra the Kangaroo and Dinewan the Emu.  We used line, texture, colour, shape, and value to express the story.

The Three Children and the Mean Person

By Team 21

This is a story that Team 21 wrote as we explored the world in stories.  We included lots of incredible language features like similes, repetition, and inferencing.  We learned a lot about speech marks when we were writing this story.

Ever since the start of the term, the three children had taken the long way home from school.  It would have been easy for each of them to cross at Bridge Street but every day they left school at Kenderdine Road, ran across Puhinui Road - How dangerous! - and crossed the railway tracks at the station.  Nobody suspected the reason why Krishay, Brooklyn and Soldier made their way home like this each day.

The trouble started on the first day of the term.  As usual, the three children were walking across the bridge excited about seeing their friends again but when they got to the middle of the bridge a dirty, spindly figure jumped over the railing of the bridge and stopped the children.  It was hard to tell if it was a person or an animal.  He had grey mud all over his face, yellow fang-like teeth and layers of dirty rags covering its body.  It demanded that the children give him their lunch money to cross the bridge.

Without planning to do it Krishay, Brooklyn and Soldier turned and ran back to Cambridge Terrace.  Brooklyn tripped and the other two turned to help her up.  The despicable figure was following them but was as slow as a koala with a baby koala on its back.  The children escaped to the safety of their street.

“What should we do?” asked Krishay.  “Should we call the police?”

Brooklyn whispered, “No.”  She didn’t want anyone else to know.

The three friends decided to take the long way to school and keep the mean person a secret.  He didn’t approach anybody else.

But now it had been four weeks since their terrifying encounter.  After Krishay almost got run over crossing Puhinui Road, Soldier decided it was time for the three of them to stand up to the odious man.  The friends devised a plan.  It was a plan as cunning as a fox and as simple as breathing.

First, Krishay, the smallest one walked across the bridge.  His knees were knocking when the mean person jumped up to him.  “Give me your lunch money,” he demanded.  

“I don’t have any but my friend who is coming across next has some,” stammered Krishay.  

“Ok then, you can cross the bridge,” spat the horrible figure, “but next time I want your lunch money.”

Next it was Brooklyn’s turn.  Her knees were knocking and her stomach was churning when the nasty man approached her.  “Give me your lunch money,” he demanded.

“I don’t have any but my friend who is coming across next has some,” stuttered Brooklyn.

“Ok then, you can cross the bridge,” spat the terrible figure, “but next time I want your lunch money.”

Finally it was Soldier’s turn.  He was bigger than the others and started to walk across the bridge with confidence.  Secretly though his knees were knocking, his stomach was churning and his teeth were chattering.  The creepy figure leapt out in front of Soldier.  “Give me your lunch money,” he demanded.

“Stop!” yelled Soldier.  “When my friend comes you can take his lunch money.  He has way more money than I do.”

“Ok.  You may run along now but next time I want your lunch money!” shouted the man, in a very angry voice.

Suddenly, Krishay and Brooklyn snuck up in the back and took the man’s black cap off.  They realised that it was only a kid that just really wanted friends and people to like him.  The next day, the boy came to school and saw his new friends Krishay, Brooklyn and Soldier.  The boy promised that he would never ever ask for money in his life.

Our Second POD Day

In our Pod groups today we learnt to create 3 different types of art from around the world.  In Room 2 we made Maori clay pots, 

in Room 21 we explored the seven elements of art through Aboriginal art.  There is evidence of a variety of textures, lines, shapes, and colours.  Form and space are used to create a story.  Also, the work is sometimes bright and happy but sometimes it is dark and moody.  

and in Room 25 we studied the art of Samoa.

We're looking forward to the next POD sessions so we can explore more stories around the world through art.

Our First POD Day

Today we worked in our POD groups.  The Unbeatable group learnt about Aboriginal art from Australia.  Aboriginal art tells a story using symbols and dots.  It is colourful and creative.
Here are some pictures of us at work.