KIZUNA- Message of Hope!

Last week, Miss Y sent a special message out to the teachers at our school about a special project:

 KIZUNA- A message of hope.  

KIZUNA is the Japanese word for “solidarity” or “tie”. 

UNESCSO is asking school children from around the world  to write a message of hope on a postcard, to both teachers and children that have been affected by the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.  They hope the postcards will be a sign that we are with them and thinking of  people of Japan.

Over 7000 schools were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami.  UNESCO needs 30,000 postcards to be sent.

Mrs. Mosbauer and Ms. Tieppo and other classes at our school, decided to take on the project. 

We had a mini focus on Japan in our own classroom so that we could understand more about the special place that Japan is. 

 First we invited a guest speaker.  Haruna from Year Four is from Japan and she told us about Japanese culture and why Japan is such a beautiful place. 

We then wrote our messages of hope and made our own postcards.  We tried to include happy pictures and symbols to try to cheer up the children and the teachers in Japan.  We have included some of our messages in our slideshow.  Miss Y will be posting all our postcards before the 31st July.

Mrs. Mosbauer helped us with all the Japanese Art activities.  We made some origami pets and crumpled pink paper to make Cherry Blossom trees.  We will keep the Cherry blossom trees on our prayer table to remind us to keep the people of Japan in our thoughts and prayers.  We also made our own mini fact book about Japan using some information books from our LRC.  It was also fun folding paper fans which were heart shaped.

We will always think about this special project and hope that we can bring a smile to the children of Japan! 

KIZUNA- Message Of Hope on PhotoPeach

Money, Money, Money!

 

This week, we have been learning about money.  We worked in our groups on different activities so that we can become more confident in dealing with money.  It is really tricky counting up different coins. 

 This month our class has also become involved in the” 5 cent challenge” competition.  We have been collecting different silver coins to raise money for new “bubbler taps” at our school.   Every class in the school is trying to raise the highest amount of money.   We are hoping that our class can fill the container of money to the top. One week to go.  Stay tuned!

Have you ever had to save and count up your money?  Have you done any fundraising?

Visit From Murrindindi.

Today we had a special visitor in our classroom.  Murrindindi, an Aboriginal elder, came to talk to us about our local area and its history.  We found out that the Aboriginal people in his family fished and camped along the Yarra River and the Merri Creek.   He told us that they would also collect special plants and berries which helped the Aboriginal people to feel better. 

 He also told us all about his culture and how important this is for him and his family.  Murrindindi showed us special things in his family like the possum and kangaroo coat, which his uncle passed on to him.  He also showed us a stone axe and a spear launcher.

We loved how he played the didgeridoo.  His special didgeridoo was made from a tree trunk that the termites had made hollow.  He made a kookaburra and dingo sound with the didgeridoo and we tried to guess the Australian animals.

We grouped the main ideas of Murrindindi’s visit in our Inquiry time and brainstormed all our new learning.  We have all learned so much! 

Open Classroom

On Thursday all the Year two classrooms in our school were open in the afternoon so that we could show our families and friends the fantastic work we do.   There was a real buzz in the 2TM classroom.  Our Mums and Dads looked through our workbooks and also the fantastic art work that Mrs. Mosbauer has been doing with us.  We also had our computers on and showed them some things we had been working on.  Some children also showed their families our Windows Into learning blog. 

It was also exciting to have some grandparents and friends in our classroom too.  Some of them had travelled a long way!  While the visitors were there, our slideshow of our Community walk was playing.  All our visitors were impressed with the photos.  It was a fantastic way for us to celebrate our learning!

Open Classroom. on PhotoPeach