The topic of our second class was Space. I wanted to do this topic as my son Lagi loves planets. We met next to the Planetarium to have our class on a blue mat under the shade of a large tree.
I luga o le fala lanu moana
Na matou amata ma le faitauga o le tusi Vateatea e faamatala a Brian ma Jill Cutting, ae e faaliuliuina e Ainslie Chu Ling So'o. Na fa'ateleina le tusi lea ana na matou manao e faaaoga e faitau faatasi le tusi ma tamaiti. Na le pu'e se matou ata i le taima na faitau ai le tusi, ae o le ata lea o Lagi ma le tusi e faailoaatu le lapoa o le tusi.
We started by reading the Sunshine book Vateatea, told by Brian and Jill Cutting, and translated by Ainslie Chu Ling So'o. We turned this into a big book for shared reading purposes. Again I don't have a photo of me reading but here is Lagi with the book to give you an idea of size.
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| "Ua tulaueleele tagata i luga o le masina. E mafai ona o latou iloa le Lalolagi mai o." People have sood on the moon. They can see the Earth from there. |
I think this book is at an appropriate level for younger kids (2-6). For my 2 year old I think these kind of books are great for reading to her and asking her simple questions like "Ofea le masina?" O a isi mea lae i luga o le vateatea?". For my 5 year old this is the level I think he should be reading at (and it is the level he is reading at at home but I notice his faiaoga are giving him slightly simpler books).
The book uses the repetitive phrase "Tatou te va'aia...." As seen in the photo immediately below.
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| "Tatou te va'aia fetufaisiusiu ma fetulele i le po" "We see comets and shooting stars at night." |
Extending and Consolidating Learning
If you came to class and want to reaffirm learning at home think about using "Tatou te vaaia... " and "Ta te va'aia....". For example if you had the kids in the car and you were travelling to work and there are more than two of you, you could ask "E te manatua tatou tusi na faitau i le Aso Sa? Vateatea? Aia pe tatou ta'alo "tatou te va'aia"? O a mea tatou te va'aia i le taimi nei?" (If you are still working on your Samoan perhaps just practice and use that last sentence in bold. It translates as "What can we (more than two of us and inclusive of the person being addressed) see at the present time?") If there are only two of you in the car you could use "O a mea ta te va'aia i le taimi nei?") Then encourage your little one(s) to use that sentence structure to describe what you are seeing. For example:
Tatou te va'aia taavale. We see cars.
Tatou te va'aia la'au. We see trees.
Tatou te va'aia timuga. We see rain.
Tatou te va'aia le nofoafi. We see the train.
or if there are just two of you
Ta te va'aia le loli. We see the truck.
Ta te va'aia le alalaupapa. We see the bridge.
Ta te va'aia moli. We see traffic lights.
You could also have kids come up with stories by asking them to start a story with a sentence beginning "Tatou te va'aia...."
For example they may writie "Tatou te va'aia fetu i le po, ae ua le'i o'o muamua seisi i se fetu. O te manao e fao so'u roketi e fa'aaoga e ave a'u i se fetu....".
It may also be useful to check your child knows the difference between
Tatou (inclusive of the addressee when there are more than 2 people)
Ta (inclusive of the adressee when there are only two people, exclusive of others who are not being addressed. Lagi loves this one as he likes using "ta" to me to exclude his sister e.g. "Mummy, ta o i Rainbow's End?")
Matou (exclusive of the addressee when you are talking about more than 2 people)
Ma (exclusive of the addressee when you are talking about 2 people- i.e. you and one other.
I luga o le fala lanu moana
Next we asked the kids "E iai seisi e iloa se pese ia mea i luga o le Vateatea? Se pese ia fetu?" I was sure someone would volunteer twinkle twinkle little star but it didn't happen. "Pe o se pese ia le masina?" Lagi chirped in with "Masina, Masina e" though he may have had the inside running as this is one of my most loved nursery rhymes! So we sang Masina Masina e. I had a puppet show of sorts (a yellow cardboard moon and a green cardboard mountain, and a toy cat, dog, chick (standing in for a rooster which I couldn't find at short notice among my kids toys) and a bat. If you are familiar with the nursery rhyme you'll know why.
The lyrics for this nursery rhyme go
Masina Masina e
Ofea e te alu i ai?
Ou te alu i tua o le mauga
Ou te lafi lilo ai.
O le pusi e soso mai
O le maile e taufeai
O le moa e kokoea
ma o le pe'a e ai ulu pe.
I translate this in English (not exactly but more so it fits with the tune)
Moon, Mr Moon,
Where are you going?
I am going behind the mountain
To hide, to hide.
The cat is creeping closer
the dog is very fierce
the rooster he crows
and the fruit bat eats rotten fruit.
Extending and Consolidating Learning
If you came to class and want to extend learning based on this nursery rhyme think about whether you want to talk about positioning with your child. That is sing the nursery rhyme in Samoan and then ask "Ofea na alu ai le masina?" If they are a little older (around 5) they will probably answer confidently "I tua o le mauga." If they are younger you may have to prompt. Then you could play a game where you gave simple instructions and let them position themselves e.g.
"Alu i tua o mummy. Go to the back of mummy.
Alu i luma o mummy. Go to the front of mummy
Alu i lo'u agavale. Go to my left.
Alu i lo'u tamatau" Go to my right.
Switch it up. Get them to do the calls and you do what they say.
Ok enough for today. In the next blog post I'll talk about going into the planetarium and the fun we had in there including the children naming all the planets in Samoan and then the fun we had at the playground.
In the meantime- Manuia le vaiaso :)
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