They were able to choose one of the broader options such as sports, visual arts, expressive arts, construction, literacy and STEM (explore, design, test in science & technology). Once the larger groups were organised, smaller groups were formed with more specific options, based on the suggestions from ngā ākonga.
Sports - despite the occasional wet day they managed to get outside and try their hand at cricket, basketball and dodgeball. In cricket, ngā ākonga learnt how to hold a bat, hit with it and enjoyed a game to finish. It was wonderful to see ngā ākonga teaching their peers the batting skills they had learnt outside of school. For basketball, students learned how to dribble, pass the ball using different techniques, practice their shooting and play actual games of 5 vs 5.
Visual Arts - ngā ākonga explored three different art techniques: crayons and water colour, clay, and collage. Students chose their own themes and it was wonderful to see ngā ākonga working together as tuakana/teina (older and younger) to create individual and collaborative masterpieces.
Expressive Arts - ngā ākonga got to choose between learning a new dance, as part of the NZDance Challenge (here is the link to the dance they had to learn) or learning the different elements of dance and drama.
Construction - each week had a theme; the most popular one was constructing a castle. We loved how this group worked together, sharing resources and acknowledging each other's creations at the end. Many thanks to those of you that sent in boxes for this elective.
Literacy - each week we got ourselves warmed up with a literacy activity that meant the ākonga were able to dive into something that got them thinking! We did activities such as Group Scrabble and the Instructions Game. From there, each ākonga worked on their own solo or group project. We had students creating books on Book Creator, making comics, writing fun and creative co-operative pieces, illustrating stories, creating topic specific slideshows and much more!
STEM - each week we set a timed challenge. Students had to design and build a flagpole, a paper plane launcher, matariki kites, a rocket message launcher, and paper boats that could float and be propelled! The most popular challenge was the paper plane launcher where ngā ākonga had to design a catapult to launch their paper plane as far as they could!
As you can see, it has been an exciting time across our kura (school) and we are looking forward to next term's electives.
We hope you enjoy our photos.
