Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Ngatu

 This week we have been learning about the Tongan culture and how to make a ngatu, a cloth made from bark. We learnt that these special cloths are often made in groups and take a long time to complete.

Ngatu is made from the bark (tutu) of the paper mulberry tree (hiapo). Making ngatu is called koka‘anga. Ngatu is very important in Tonga. It is used for blankets, mats, clothes – and even kites. 

If you wish to find out more go to the School Journal Level 2 June 2018.

We decided to make our own special mat to display on our classroom wall. We didn't have the time or resources to make our own cloth so we used rectangles of hessian. Here is a picture of our display.



Tukutuku

 In Room 6 we are looking at the different cultures and traditions that make up our classroom. This week we looked at Māori weaving Tukutuku.

Tukutuku panels are used to decorate wharinui (Māori meeting houses). we also discovered the different patterns used and what they represent.


The kaokao pattern symbolises the arms of warriors performing a haka. It also symbolises mountains and the strength and shelter of the meeting house.



The mngroa pattern symbolises the stars, especially the group of stars known as the Milky Way. There is a traditional story that tells how Mui placed a shark in the night sky to form the Milky Way. (Mngmeans shark; roa means long.)

you can find out more about tukutuku by reading Junior Journal 55.

After reading about the tradition of weaving we gave it a go ourselves, but just using a very simple pattern.


  

How to Use Punctuation

 We have been looking at how to use and read punctuation over the last 3 weeks. Here is an example of our morning work.


We enjoy working out the punctuation on our white boards.