In Room 5 we read Little Kiwi and the Treaty (by Nikki Slade Robinson) to help us to understand what a treaty is.

This book is a lovely story about two tribes of kiwi from long ago who have travelled a long distance.  One group came from up the coast, and one group came from over the mountains.  Finally they found the perfect place to live.  One group liked it because it had lots of kai, and they were good at hunting.  The other other group liked it because it had space to make nests, and they were good at building nests.  However, to begin with, these two tribes didn't know how to share the land and they fought a lot.  After a while the chiefs of the two tribes spent days talking, and finally they decided on how they would live together happily...by teaching each other their skills of hunting food and building nests.

While reading this book we discovered some interesting Te Reo kupu (words), such as, tipuna (ancestors), koro (Grandad), kuia (Nana), whakarongo mai (listen), maunga (mountain) and takutai (coast).

We also completed some sorting activities where students sorted different foods into what kiwi eat and what they don't eat, plus what kiwi build nests with and what they don't.  Room 5 also had a go at drawing a kiwi - they're pretty good!

As part of learning about the Treaty of Waitangi we also looked at some examples of weaving, specifically tukutuku panels (woven panels found inside a marae).  Then we decided to have a go at weaving in class.  We had lots of fun!

Some student voice:

Hazel - One of my names is Sydney.  It comes from my great-grandad! (When we were discussing tipuna.)

Josie - They had to live together and share the forest.

Sophie - They had to share!

Fletcher - The kiwi were fighting, then they made a decision to share their home.  One group made nests and the other group was good at getting food.

Claire - They had to share their home and the worms.  The grandfather told them a story about the kiwi who lived far up the mountains and they went hunting.

Matthew - The kiwi showed their friends how to make nests and to look for food.  They worked together.

Kaylani - The kiwi were fighting because they both wanted the home.

Eva - Kiwi were making nests and the other group was eating food.

Simon - One group was good at making nests and one group was good at making some food.  They wanted to live in the same house.  They were teaching each other how to make nests.

Thomas - The grandad kiwi was talking to the other little kiwi.