Aloha e nā ʻohana!  Wow…the weeks are flying by and we are voyaging on!!  Hereʻs whatʻs been going on this past week.

READING:   Introduction to a new online reading program called Raz-Kids.  You may check it out online at raz-kids.com. We are also starting new books in our enrichment reading groups.  Reading is a part of our entire day here at school!!  It is in everything that we do.

MATH:  We just wrapped up Unit 1 which focused on counting, number bonds, sequencing, counting on..  We are beginning our Unit 2 which is entitled “Making Shapes and Designing Quilts”.  Your keiki has a parent letter for you that went home today explaining our upcoming unit and how you can kōkua.  Mahalo nui for cutting all the shapes at home!

WRITING: We are in the final stages of the first piece to our “Slice of Life” project.  We will continue to build upon this collection of narrative writing exploring your keikiʻs favorite things, people, places, activities, food, etc.  We are also in the final stages of our digital project about Hilo as we continue to learn about our Moku o Hawaiʻi- the districts of our Hawaii Island….Puna field trip coming up on October 17th.

Please enjoy some “snapshots” of our days here at school…..so much to learn as we journey on…

Raz-Kids, number bond bracelets, shape fun math activities and more…

Raz-Kids on our Ipads

Slice of Life….the first narrative piece of our project…Who Am I?

What a great week we had and a Fabulous Aloha Friday!!

The Hawaii Chamber Music Ensemble treated us to fabulous music and taught us about their individual instruments….we learned a lot of interesting things like the bow for the viola, the cello and the base is made from horse hair…wow!

We then enjoyed lunch with some of the KS Varsity Football players…it was fun!  We hope to see all of you at the Homecoming game tonight at home field.

Happy Aloha Friday!  Enjoy some pictures of our day!

Aloha e nā ʻohana!
“Hilo i ka ua Kanilehua” ~ Hilo of the Kanilehua Rain.
The rain blessed us this morning and it was a blessed day indeed!  Mahalo nui i ke Akua and to our moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas who chose to mālama our keiki as chaperones on our field trip to Hilo today.  All of our keiki were on their best behavior and represented Kamehameha Schools, our Princess Pauahi and their ʻohana with dignity and pride!  Maikaʻi e nā keiki!!!
Here is a collage of some of the places we visited today in Hilo.  We learned so much and we will be reflecting on and compiling all that we have learned and documented on our Ipads.  We will prepare a video of all of our pictures and hope to share that with you next week.  For now, please enjoy this snapshot of our day.  I ahiahi maikaʻi!
Me ke aloha nui……Kumu Wai

Hoʻomaikaʻi iā Shay Beals lāua ʻo Ethan Loo….Congratulations to Shay Beals and Ethan Loo, our August 2014 Haweo Awardees! The Hawaiian value for the month of August was “Mālama”- to care for, to protect, attend, to preserve, to tend to, save, maintain….
Mahalo nui to Shayʻs ʻohana- mom, dad and tutu for enjoying lunch with us today.
Mahalo nui to Ethanʻs dad for joining us to celebrate with Ethan at our Haweo luncheon today.

Aloha e nā ʻohana!!

This week we have 5 “bonus” spelling words added to our spelling word list which makes it a total of 13 spelling words.  The keiki were given an option to copy the additional bonus spelling words into their planners this morning.  To my happy surprise, a handful of our keiki chose to copy them in their planners..Yay!  We discussed this choice during our ʻohana time this morning. We are challenging our keiki and will be raising the bar for them. The 13 spelling words will be required for a handful of the keiki (they know who they are) and will remain a choice for the others so if your keiki choses to study only 8 or all 13, itʻs OK.  Mahalo nui for supporting your keiki!

Aloha!

Kumu Wai

Wow….we get our iPads in the morning and then we are blessed with ʻike Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian knowledge) from Uncle Kawika and Uncle Kaʻimi who malama or take care of our school grounds. As part of our study on Hilo and the significance of the ti-leaf plant in reference to how Hilo got itʻs name……Uncle Kawika and Uncle Kaʻimi prepared a “show and tell” kind of lesson for us this afternoon. They brought ti leaf plants of different sizes and colors, they taught us about the uses of the ti-leaf plant, the propagation methods and how to properly harvest ti leaves from the plant so we do not break the “head” or the “cane” of the plant.  Then we got busy and learned to “hilo” or “twist” the ti-leaves.  Mahalo nui again to the Uncles for gathering the ti leaves for us to practice before we get out into the ʻaina and apply our learning…we canʻt wait!  Eo e Hilo!

Uncle Kawika, Uncle Kaʻimi and Papa 1.

We are learning a lot…mahalo Uncles.

Uncles showing us how to harvest the leaves properly..Mahalo!

So much ʻike Hawaiʻi…Mahalo nui!

Starters ready to be planted….

Kuhaupiʻo and Mafatu “hilo”ing their ti-leaves…maikaʻi boys!

Levani and Lahela doing their thing…maikaʻi girls!

Ethan and Kamalu did great! Maikaʻi!

Maikaʻi girls! Looks great…you all know how to “hilo” now….

Shay and Keʻalohi did a great job….you know how to “hilo”!

Garrin and Paliku got the “hilo” twist of the ti-leaves down and had fun too..maikaʻi loa boys!

The energy was electrifying and it was not coming from the IPads….our Papa ʻEkahi keiki were so excited and ecstatic to receive their iPads this morning!  Ms. Richardson, Uncle Kyle, Aunty Ellen and our new technology teacher Ms. Rachelle Galang were with us as we happily accepted our iPads this morning.  Our tech team is awesome…Mahalo nui!  E nā mākua, we will be integrating technology in many aspects of our curriculum and we look forward to the journeys we will be embarking on with this.  I mua!

We are happily receiving our iPads.

Keiki are getting familiar once again with their IPads…what a reunion it was!

Yay, our iPads are here! Mahalo nui Ms. Richardson, Uncle Kyle, Aunty Ellen and Ms. Rachelle Galang.

Pūpūkahi i Holomua- Unite in order to progress!

Mahalo nui to all the ʻohana who attended our Annual Kula Haʻahaʻa Open House last week Thursday……it was a journey to remember!  Again, I am honored to be a part of your keikiʻs educational journey this year in Papa ʻEkahi and I am excited to be with you, the ʻohana, as we experience all the adventures together.  The adventures of reading, writing, math and social studies…..and all the wonderful experiences in between and beyond. Our specialsʻ teachers have amazing adventures of their own to share with your keiki this year as well.

Mahalo nui e nā ʻohana for all of your unwavering faith, steadfast support and unconditional aloha for your keiki, our kula and our lāhui!  I mua!

If you were unable to attend and have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.:)  Aloha!