Chalk vs Pen vs Internet

This is a video that Thea, Milly and I all contributed to make. This shows what school was like in 1960, 1988 and 2013. Milly had to fill in for Charlotte and she did a great job. This video is about 3 people, Madame Chalk,  Miss Pen, and Mrs Internet that are having an argument about school and what year it was best. We gathered alot of information to make this video so I hope you enjoy.

Maths Strategies, Camp Show me

Black bears plan

Term 2 Reflection

Term 2 Reflection

Sport:

Netball has been fantastic this term. We have lost one game and drew quite a few, other than that we have won every game. Our team works great together we are great at finding space, defending, catching. We really need to work on 3 feet though. Our best shooter would be Kate and Charlotte and I work well at defending. I would like it if we had more practice and for our coach to be a little more strict.

Mini ball  has been dreadful. We have lost every game and we were never close to winning either. We have had one practice all term and we never have any subs because practically nobody in our team shows up. We are great at shooting and dribbling but it’s when we get to the other end of the court they just snatch the ball off us so everyone gives up. I am great at catching rebounds and running up and down the court, that’s what my mum says. Hope has to be our best player and she does get the ball a lot but it’s better her than another ball hogging boy.

Art:

Overall art this term has been great. I have learnt to use so many different techniques with Mrs Morton. I feel like I have improved rapidly. I am pretty disappointed in my rata tree because I only had one day to finish it but I tried hard with my draft copy. Sadly my St Basil Cathedral art seemed boring so I didn't try to make it look nice. Other than that I have tried extremely hard this year to make my art look nice and up to standard.  

Book electives:

When I first heard about book week electives I thought it was going to be extremely boring. Once I went to the first day about how to make a picture book I sat and listened the whole time. It was really interesting how Oliver Jeffers said the pictures and the writing is as important as each other. I also like working with the water pencils. I wish we could do this more often and hope we could make a picture book in class.

Writing:

Writing was great this term. I learnt a lot of great writers tricks and different ways to start my story. I think my writing has improved a lot and my story about Mrs Roil was my best so far. I would like to have a full day of fiction writing just for fun. Speaking of fun, Mrs Roil rule is you're not aloud to have the word fun in your writing, you have to use something with a little more detail. As I said before writing this term was amazing.

Reading:

This terms reading was quite easy. I feel as though the journals weren't complicated enough. I would like to work on putting more expression in my voice when I am reading. I would like to read books that have reports in them so we could learn some interesting facts. I wouldn't mind if sometimes we could have someone to research as our reading as well.

Overall:

Overall this term has been great the only downside is losing all our mini ball games. I learnt so much more in class. I would like to have some holiday homework so I don’t get lonely playing with my sisters and her barbies. I have improved in all subjects and hope that I can do even better next term. P.E has also been great. The class is very supportive when we play golden child but I would like to play new class games that last longer. Next term I hope the weather clears up so we can actually play sport. Other than the weather this term was great, I wouldn't mind finishing our reading documentary. I wouldn't mind starting a new one as well, just for more work.  

The windmill farmer

It was early in the countryside and I had risen out of bed as a farmer does. I was ready to plant my windmills on the first day of Autumn. I slipped on my gumboots and wandered outside singing a happy tune.  The outside wind was blunt and the dirt had turned to mush from last nights rain. I got my tools out and started to dig little holes in the ground ready for my windmills. I took a few seeds out my pocket and walked backwards. As I went I dropped a little seed in each hole. I was trying to concentrate hard, but I was getting more tired as I went.

When everything was according to plan, I made my way back to my shabby house feeling exhausted but faithful at the same time. Once I reached the door, I turned to get a glimpse of the sunny sky and the high mountains. The sight was breathtaking, I looked at my Windmill seeds and then at my denim overalls. I still had one windmill seed left but instead of planting it I simply put it in the palm of my hand and blew on the propeller.

I arose out of bed the next morning, and to my disbelief the windmills had grown to a tremendous size. I was so gleeful and proud, I stretched out of bed and tiptoed outside in my socks. I felt excited, thankful even determined to keep working. The happiness inside me was growing bigger and bigger like my windmills were.

I ended the day by watering the windmills. Then I skipped inside with a smile on my face. I slipped my gumboots off when I reached my bedroom door then I fluffed up my pillow and jumped in bed. I nodded off not long after but I kept thinking something disastrous was going to happen.

About an hour later I was awoken by thunder noises and heavy rain. I peered through my window and gasped. The stalks of my windmills were starting to split.  I rushed outside, I was too late. My windmills had blown away, all that was left behind was a third of the stalk in the ground. I wept and wept but it didn’t make a difference. I was so heart broken  almost like I had been rejected. Without my windmills I was a miserable old man.

Suddenly my hat blew off my head. I caught it in time but I decided it wasn’t safe being outside in this storm. I turned back to my door and struggled to get inside with the heavy wind. Once I was inside, I felt the emotions coming on again. I sat on my bed sulking hoping tomorrow would turn out better than today.

I was wrong sadly. Seeing my windmills gone in the daylight had made me feel desperate. Instead of spending my day unhappy I decided to change my attitude and got out the one windmill seed in my pocket. I blew on it slightly. My world felt like it had changed, the storm had never come and my windmills felt like they were still there. My happiness grew inside, I felt joyful and ecstatic. I was jumping around my farm like it was a trampoline. I was going to plant my one windmill but this time it was going to exceed.

The catch

I snuck through the vines of the jungle, avoiding any bush or movement. I was hoping that nothing life-threatening was lurking in the jungle. SWACK!!!. I heard a large noise behind me and something started to tighten around my ankle. I peered around franticly and saw a rope pulling on my leg, I whimpered cowardly, hoping that the noise had continued through the jungle spreading my misery. I closed my eyes for a minute, I tried to think, nothing happened. I laid down timidly, something struggled through the bush, coming at me with a spear furiously. I stood up and tried to growl at him, warning him that this was my territory. He just kept coming closer so I yelped loudly like he had cut me but to my disbelief he had set me free.

I took this as a chance to get back at him. So I leaped on my front paws, clutching the grass and hoping this will frighten him. He stumbled back and shut his eyes with fear. I had the chance to pounce onto him but for some reason my nose took over and I wandered into the bush following a fresh smell of fish. I reached a basket with leafs and..... and.... and..... a tiny fish? This was so pathetic. I was so disappointed, I feel sorry for him. Without thinking I snatched the pitiful fish, leaped out the basket and ran through a clearing in the vines of the jungle.

He came after me moments later with a terrifying look on his face. I didn’t turn back, I kept running. I headed for a hill, it looked like it was near having a landslide.I took a leap of faith and landed straight on my paws. I kept running. After that I could smell the fish from the other lake. He was right behind me, following my every move, as planned. The lake was right around the corner.

I had led him to the lake to feed his people. He had such a grateful look on his face when he turned around the corner, just in time too. The biggest fish had just leaped over the lake blocking the sunlight from my eyes. His mouth dropped, his eyes were wide. I felt like I had achieved something amazing.  I passed him a broken stick and sat down, I think he knew what I meant because he took out a fishing line and a hook from his pocket and tied it all together.

It took a while but he was happy with what he had caught. We were walking back and he had two large fish lugged on his shoulder. He looked extremely pleased with me and threw the smallest fish to me with a smile. I caught it with my mouth gracefully and sat down but he kept on walking. I knew I had helped him enough so it was time for me to go. I turned into dust and faded away into the night sky. I still watch down on him now and then. He always manages to catch enough for the village and sometimes he even has some leftovers for the jungle animals.

Lake Waikareiti

Lake Waikareiti

In term 2, week 4, room 17 (our class) went to Camp Kaitawa. It was a long ride there but it was all worth it for the experience. I had so many thrilling adventures but my favourite part about camp took place on Tuesday the 28th of May. That was the day I went rowing on the clearest bluest lake with Miss Hill and my excited camp group.

Lake Waikareiti was amazing. It is said to be the clearest and coldest lake in the North Island. It was formed by a landslide 18,000 years ago and is still around now. Lake Waikareiti also contains a small island near the middle that has its own little lake. This island is called Rahui island. Another unusual fact about lake Waikareiti is that it has a rare plant growing near the lake called  blechnum discolour or a more common name for it would be crown fern.

 

The lake is located in Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, North Island. It has the surface of 880m and normally the temperature of the lake doesn’t go higher than 20 degrees. On Tuesday the 4th of June the temperature was 14 degrees Celsius.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next time I would like to test the temperature of the water in summer and winter and see the difference. The reason would do this is because I would like to gather the numbers and turn it into a maths problem. Also I would enjoy learning how to row so I could venture out to Rahui Island whenever it suited.

The lake was freezing but it was still my favourite part of camp. I’m happy I had the chance to go to camp with all my friends and spend a lot of time with them and my camp group. My camp group worked well together, everyone included themselves in activities such as the amazing race, my kitchen rules, rowing and much more. The girls in the dorm room woke up with a lot say but they still managed to charm people in the morning with their neat hair and lovely smiles especially Mrs Roil. Camp Kaitawa was an experience of a lifetime and I’m glad I didn’t miss out.