Puriri - Report

For the past few weeks, we have been learning to summarize. Summarizing is when you tell the main point of something in your own words in a shorter version. 

We had to choose a Maori medicinal plant that is native to New Zealand. Then we had to research about how they can heal injuries etc and how to use them. I chose the Puriri, and I had to learn about what it does. We had a slideshow with information on some of the plants and I got some of my information on there. 

The Puriri tree has very green leaves, and those are the things that you need for the healing. in my picture that I'll put below, I explain how to use it. It was quite tricky to find out all the information on how to use it and what to do with it. I really enjoyed designing the poster. Next time I that I would change how I drew the flower in the corner. Later on we are going to paint them on signs and stick the signs next to the plant in our school Rongoa garden. 

Rongoa means Maori healing, so we have a Maori healing garden.

Here is a picture of my poster:

Bruce Goodin - Olympics Report

For the past few days, my writing group was learning to link paragraphs. Our success criteria was that we had to use phrases such as "As well as... He also...". We had to choose a New Zealand Olympian competitor to write about, and I chose Bruce Goodin.

Bruce Goodin is a 51 year old man who does equestrian (horse) show jumping, and cross country. He does it individually and with a team. He was in the New Zealand equestrian team for the Olympics this year. The reason why I chose him was because I do horse riding myself, and I wanted to find out about the people who are actually riding to compete in the Olympics.

It was quite tricky to find the information, because most sites didn't have much of the stuff I was looking for. I enjoyed writing about him because I learnt about his techniques, and about his horses, but next time I would change the order I wrote my paragraphs in.

Here is my report, and I hop you enjoy reading it:

Bruce Goodin

His name is Bruce Goodin. He was born on the tenth of October 1969. His hometown is Huntly, Waikato District, NZ. He is fifty one years old. When he was younger, Bruce Goodin went to Te Kauwhata College. 

As well as being David Goodin’s son, famed show jumper and cross-country competitor, he is husband to Ulrika, who represented Sweden in equestrian jumping. They also have a nine year old daughter named Elizabeth, who grew up on their farm.

Bruce Goodin also grew up on a farm, and started riding at age seven. His father was a rider, and always had horses and ponies around him. At first he didn’t like the sport, because he didn’t think he was any good. But when he was in his mid-teens he started to really enjoy it.

He in fact started to enjoy the sport so much that it grew into a real passion. He went on to become a horse breeder, equestrian athlete, coach, and horse trainer. His ambition was to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, and he got to be in the team. One of his most memorable moments was when he won the team competition at the 2018 Nations Cup in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. His hero was the British show jumper, John Whitaker. Both his father and his wife have competed in equestrian events.

Bruce Goodin’s personal philosophy is this: “It is about personal development, not a quick fix. It is about things being right for the horse, not for the rider's ego.” He has now competed at five different Olympic games. Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, Sydney 2000, Barcelona 1992, and Tokyo 2021.

Japan

This week we have been learning how to skim and skan. We were given a slideshow to make a copy of and fill out the slides to make it our own. We had to read a bunch of different texts to find the information we needed. Here are the links to some of them: Japan - EPIC , It's Cool to Learn About Countries: Japan , Nintendo Video Game Designer. They are all on epic, so if you have an individual epic account from your school, you can read them.

We had to change the background, font, and text colour of each slide. I didn't end up finishing my entire slideshow because I kept getting distracted, but I will post an update on them once I am finished. It was quite challenging to finish the slides that I did do. I really enjoyed learning about different things in Japan. Next time I would change how much I did on my slides, so that I could get them done. My digital learning object shows that I can embed a slideshow onto my blog. 

Here are my slides:

Gamefroot- 2

 Today we had a cybersmart lesson, and we continued with our GameFroot. We had to continue making it. I had a bug where you couldn't move and if you clicked the up arrow the background flied off the screen, but I got some help from one of my classmates and the problems got fixed. It was hard to fix it, and I'm not finished. 

Play my game here.

GameFroot

 For the past few weeks we have been using a site called GameFroot. We have been using it for making a game with Mrs Torrie, our cybersmart teacher. She taught us how to code our games, and to put in different obstacles and things to make the game interactive. I haven't finished my game, because I haven't been able to use my chromebook, so I've had to use a school one. 

My game has a weird thing where the controls don't work, even though I did the right coding, and when you click the up arrow on your controls the background goes flying away. I apologise for it not being finished, but I will blog the finished game when it is finished. It was tricky to try and fix the background bug, and in the end I couldn't figure it out, so I'm going to keep trying on that. Even though it was tricky, I still enjoyed working on it, so I will continue with it. 

Have you ever coded a video game before? Have you used GameFroot? Tell me in the comments! Here is a link to my game.

Student Led Conference Invitation

 For the past couple of days my class and I have been making invitations to our parents for our student led conference. We were learning how to write invitations with useful information. 

FIrst we had needed to claim a slide, because they were all on one big shared slideshow. We then had to put our name at the top, and then go onto this site called Avatar Maker and make an avatar of ourselves, and then put it on the slide. We had to make it small, and then put it in the corner. Then we had to get a textbox, and write what was on the paper that we got given from the teacher. We had to start it with Dear Mum and Dad, and end it with Love/From (Whatever your name is). We also got to decorate the slide, and put a love heart or something on it. 

I found it tricky to catch up to everyone, because I had been away when they started, but I got help from my friend Camille. It was super fun to decorate it, and I enjoyed choosing the colour for the background. Next time though I think I would change how I wrote it, because I would have put Love Leyla instead of From Leyla. Thanks for looking at my blog. 

Here is a screenshot of my slide:

June Student Reflection

 Today we did our June reflections, because tomorrow is the last day of June. We reflect on our learning so that we can remember if there is anything we are proud about, or if there is something for us to work on. We do these reflections at the end of the month, and the teacher gives us a different one each time. We have been learning to reflect. 

It was tricky to get people to go onto my google drawing, and do the Classmate Complement. I found it enjoyable to write about my reading, because I got to tell you about what we were reading. Next time I would change the maths section, because I out my times table multiple times on accident. Here is a picture of my June reflection.

Maths - Measurement

 For a couple of days we have been learning measurements. The teacher gave us a sheet of paper with different things we have to measure. We had to measure how tall we were without our shoes on, the length of our right foot without our shoe on, our arm span, the circumference of our wrist, the circumference of our neck, and our popliteal length, which is the length from the back of our knee to the back of our heel. 

I am 148.9 cm tall, my foot is 26.3 cm long, my arm span is 150.5 cm, my wrist is 15 cm, my neck is 29 cm, and my popliteal length is 39 cm. We had partners that we would measure these things for, and my partner was Camille. Here is a link to her blog. We had metre rulers and measuring tape to use, and we had chalk to mark where. 

I enjoyed finding out my measurements because I never knew them before. I found it tricky to measure Camille, because I had to reach across her to reach the next place. Luckily, we got another person to hold the measuring tape/ruler. Nobody in my class knew what a popliteal length was, until we did this activity. The teacher said that we could do it independently, without her because she had testing to do, and it took us two days.

We went out to the concrete when we had to measure our foot, and marked with the chalk on it. For the popliteal length, we sat on a chair while the other person measured with the measuring tape. For the arm span, we went up to a wall and spread our arms out, so we looked like a lowercase t. Then the other person would get the measuring tape and put the start to the tip of one middle finger, then roll it out until it reached the tip of the other. For the height, we stood against the wall again and had the other person use the metre ruler to measure it. 

Have you ever measured these things on you? Did you know what a popliteal length was before reading this? Tell me in the comments! Here is a picture of my sheet!

How do snakes open their jaws so wide?

 My class has been learning to write explanations. We had two groups, and one were learning to write a complex sentence, the other was aiming to include a diagram. A complex sentence is a small phrase where you put it in a larger sentence, but you can move it around. 

There were lots of choices for what we could write about, but I chose snakes. I chose to write about how snakes open their jaws wide enough to swallow their prey, but I shortened that to just how snakes open their jaws so wide. I was away when everyone else started, so I had to work even faster. I got help from Kylah, one of my friends, so here is a link to her blog. 

I enjoyed finding out the facts about how snakes are able to stretch their jaws, because I didn't know them before. I found it tricky to structure my writing, because I hadn't had time to finish my plan. Next time I would change my title, because it's a bit long. 

Did you know how snakes open their jaws wide before you read this? Did you know about their split jaw? Tell me in the comments below!

Here is my explanation writing:

How Do Snakes Open Their Jaws So Wide

Introduction

Snakes open their jaws so wide so that they can swallow their prey whole. This is how they do it:

Why do snakes swallow their food whole?

Snakes do not have the right teeth to chew their food, so they must swallow their catch whole. Their jaws are constructed to allow them to stretch their mouths that wide.

How do snakes open their mouths so wide?

In snakes, the lower jaw is not connected like in mammals. At the front there is a split, and it’s held together by a stretchy ligament. That makes it so it can stretch, making the mouth larger. 

Diagram

Theseus and the Minotaur

 For the past few weeks, my class has been learning to infer. When you infer you read between the lines. My group and I were reading Theseus and the Minotaur. We read about how he became king of Athens. After reading the story, we evaluated the story. We had a doc where the entire group put down their thoughts, so I'll put it down the bottom. We also had to either create our own labyrinth, or make a WANTED poster for the minotaur. I'll put that there too.

I enjoyed making the poster because I got to design the minotaur. I found it hard to write what I agreed with and what I disagreed with on the evaluation doc. Next time I would change how I made the minotaur. I got help from my friend Camille, because I was away when we started, so here is a link to her blog: Camille S

Have you ever read the story about Theseus and the minotaur? Have you ever created a wanted poster? Tell me in the comments!

Prototypes

 This week for reading we have been creating inventions that haven't been created yet and would help the human race in may ways. 

I created a bracelet that you slip over your lower arm and it shoots out a hologram above it and it's like an arm ipad. The hologram has all the apps on it and you have to swipe on the hologram to change page. It also has a holo-robot that get shot out of the bracelet and you can tell it what to do. 

It was really cool to be able to create a gadget that wasn't real, because we got to make whatever we wanted. I found it tricky to explain what it did, because I couldn't find the words. Next time I would colour it differently, because it comes in different colours. 

What would you do with a holo-bracelet if you had one? Do you have any ideas about what gadgets you would make? Tell me in the comments! Here is a photo of what I created: 

Past - Present

 Privet! Yesterday we had our cybersmart teacher in. We were told to go onto this slideshow and insert photos of what the item in the photo looked like today. We learnt about copyright and past. Mrs Torrie gave us a series of slides where we had to put in the photos. 

I wasn't there so I had to do it today. My friend Camille helped me and explained what I needed to do, and then I knew what to do. We would look at a photo of the item from the olden days, and then we would have to put in another photo next to it of what it looks like now. 

It was pretty hard to come up with the ones for the last few, but I just asked Camille what she had done, and she gave me some ideas. I enjoyed finding out what togs and TV's and all of the other things looked like in the past because I didn't know. Next time I would choose different things to put on the slides. 

Have you ever seen what olden day swimsuits looked like? Did you know what their cars had looked like before this? Tell me in the comments! Here is the link to my friend Camille's blog: https://saintmarysgiscamilles.blogspot.com/ . Here's the slideshow!

Museum of Technology

 We went to the Museum of Technology on Monday. When we arrived we had to get into teams chosen by the teacher. Each team had one of the kid's parents as the adult who looked after them. I was in a team with Arabella, Maddison, James, Isabella. Arabella's mother was our adult, and she brought her baby with her, so we all got to say hi to Beau (It's said Bo). 

James got a little booklet of paper with all the tasks we had to do, because we had a scavenger hunt. We went around the place and found lots of items and had to write down where and what they were. 

Just before lunch we went to a room that had all these medical equipment pieces from the olden days, and there were three wheelchairs. We got to try out the wheelchairs, and they were so fun! We took lots of photos, and there were lots of tanks and busses and trucks that we were allowed to go inside of.

It was quite hard to find each item for the scavenger hunt, because there were lots of equipment pieces jammed together. I loved going inside of the jail, and going on the tanks. Have you ever been to the technology museum? If so, what was your favourite thing? Tell me in the comments!     

ANZAC Day

This week we have been learning to summarise. We read about the ANZACs. My group had to read four stories and watch two videos, and then we had to make a diary entry that we thought an ANZAC soldier would write, and we had to make a postcard, pretending we were fighting in the war, and that we were writing home. We had to make the postcard sound slightly more optimistic, because we wouldn't be telling our family that it was the worst thing in the world. We had to make the diary entry sound like the truth. Some people used google tools (google doc, google drawing, etc) and some did it on paper. I made mine on paper, because I thought that it would look more realistic, and the people in the first World War wouldn't have a had computers with them. 

I found it pretty tricky to fill out the whole page because I didn't know what to write, and I had used a large piece of paper. I found it enjoyable to make the postcard, because I got to design it by myself. It was easy to make up the street and address, because I just popped it off the top of my head. Next time I would make the postcard have one of those images on the back. 

My digital object shows that I can embed photos into my blog. 

Have you ever sent a postcard to someone out of the country? What cool fact about ANZAC day do you know? Tell me in the comments! Here are the images of my post card and diary entry!

Marae Noho

 Today I have been reflecting on our trip to the Takipu Marae. On Thursday we brought our bags to school wearing mufti, and then after we had roll call, we loaded them on our bus. There were two busses, one was really big, and the other was quite small. It took half an hour to get to the marae, and then when we got there, some people welcomed us in maori for another half hour. After that we went inside and put down the mattresses and got to choose who we would sleep next to, and then we put down our bags and pillows and sleeping bags. 

After we set up, we went outside and had some free time to play with our friends and do some games. Me and my friends Camille and Hannah just sat around and talked for the free time. Then we went inside and had the lunch that we had packed for ourselves, then when we were finished, we went outside and played some more. Mrs Aperahama put on some music too, and brought out the rope for a game of tug-o-war. 

Then we had dinner, which was delicious burgers and spaghetti. They were amazing! Then we changed into our pijamas and had showers and got our pillows and sleeping bags, and pulled them to where we were watching the movie 'YES DAY!' and I sat next to Tessa and Halo. Sadly we didn't finish the movie because it was really late at night, and we had to go back to where we were sleeping, and you guessed it, sleep. At first it was really noisy because lots of people were talking when others were trying to sleep. But after a while everyone went to sleep.

The next day we woke up and got changed, and it was Friday. I hadn't slept much, but for some reason I wasn't that tired. After we had gotten changed and brushed our hair and done all that, we had breakfast. Breakfast was toast, cereal, fruit, and spaghetti and baked beans. We had to leave and there was a history lesson about how the marae was related to the Horouta waka, and then we got to do lots of activities outside once, and they were really fun!

We had capture the flag with Mrs Naden, but with a plastic hamburger and squeaky rubber chicken. 

Then we had craft activities with Mrs Aperahama, and cup games with Miss Hickling! After that we had some people come from the museum and teach us about the maori ancestors, and we even learnt about some different star constellations! We also had some traditional maori games to play, and we went into the star dome! After that we had lunch, and they were sausages, patties, and pasta. 

After lunch we had free time, and then we had to pack up our stuff, pick up the mattresses, and load our bags into the busses. We said goodbye to the marae, and got on the bus. On my bus, there were six wasps, and a boy on the bus kept aggravating them, and made another boy really scared and cry. But nobody got stung, and we arrived at school safely. 

And here's a link to my friend Camille's blog: https://saintmarysgiscamilles.blogspot.com/

Here are some photos from the Marae:

March Reflection

 Today I did my March Reflection. We had to write what we enjoyed and completed this month, along with other things. I enjoyed writing about what happened this month. I also found rating the Wild Robot Escapes really fun. I found writing the 'Slam dunk' kind of tricky because I couldn't remember what I had gotten amazing at. 

I think that next time I would be more descriptive about what I had learned on my reflection. Next time I also need to work faster and be more focused on my learning. 

My digital object shows that I can embed a Google Drawing on my blog. 

What are you proud of that you did in March? Have you improved at anything that you used to find really hard? Tell me in the comments!

Te Kuri a Paoa

We have been making pastel art of Te Kuri a Paoa. We learnt about Paoa and Kiwa through art, and we learnt that when Paoa and Kiwa came to New Zealand they thought that Young Nick's Head looked like their dog, and so they named it Te Kuri a Paoa. But then Captain James Cook came and named it Young Nick's Head, because he saw it over Nick's head. 

We had to use pastels and blend them to make the dog. First we outlined everything in chalk, and then we got out the pastels and started to colour it in. It took a week to make it, and we also had to use different pastel techniques and different smudging ways. It was quite hard to smudge and blend the pastels, because it was all quite fast-drying. When we had done one step, we had to come down to the mat to learn the next. Some people were away and had to finish later than others, and it was hard for them because they didn't the teacher explaining things to them. 

It was really enjoyable to learn about Te Kuri a Paoa while we were doing our art, because I love art and I really liked using the pastels. It was quite tricky to get the paper aligned properly when we were glewing it though, and next time I think that I'd change how far up on the page my dog is. 

Have you ever used pastels? Did you know about Te Kuri a Paoa? Tell me in the comments!

My Favorite Sport

 Today we had our cybersmart teacher in and she taught us how to put audio on our slides by using Mote. We had to make a slideshow about our favorite sport. I enjoyed putting my voice onto the slides. I found it tricky to write about my favorite sport. Next time I think I'd change the background of my slides.

Goal Setting Term 1

 We have been learning to set goals. The teacher gave us two sets of slides and we worked on them as a class. We had to choose a person who we wanted to be more like who was on the Horouta Waka, and then we wrote down how we were going to be more like them. I chose Hineakua, and I am going to be more like her by being more self-organized and responsible for myself. 

I enjoyed writing about how I was going to improve myself this year. Next time I think that I'll explain more about how I'm going to be like Hineakua, and why I want to be more like her in my Goal Setting slide. I found it quite tricky to write how my whanau are going to help me, because they weren't there when I wrote it. 

My digital object shows that I can embed slide into my blog. What are your goals? Who do you look up to that inspires your learning? I hope you liked my blog!

Statistical Data

 For the past two weeks we have been collecting data for graphs. We chose a series of options and gave them to everyone in our class. Mine were class pets. It took quite a while to ask everyone and make the graph. We have learnt to gather, sort, and display multivariate data. First we had to ask everyone in the class, and then we made tally marks of the answers. Then we had to make a graph to show the answers on google sheets. Then we had to take a screenshot of it and put them on here. I found it tricky to make the graph. It was easy to put in the information after. Next time I would change the questions to more original answers. What are your classmates pets?