2020 Year Refection

These are some of my main highlights throughout the year.

For term on I started the year as a year eight student. It was similar to year 7 but you just felt older! We also went to
For the end of term 2 the main highlight was doing self defense. We had weekly lessons with Lynda and me and the rest of the year eight girls really enjoyed it.
Term 3 we where settling back into the rhythm of school and I signed up to go to adrenaline forest. Kirsten and I went together and we had heaps of fun!
For term for we where back into lots of activities and one of main ones was sailing. I went in a group with Sophie and Kirsten. We put the boat together and each had a couple turns going around in a lope.

Jellie Park!

On Friday all of the year 7 & 8 students in our class went to Jellie park. We took two buses to get there and once we arrived we all changing into togs then went swimming! It was REALLY cold at the start and I spent most of it trying to warm up in the sun but as the day went on it got warmer. Me and my friends spent a lot of time on the hydroslide or swimming in the main pool. It was really fun and I wish we could go again.

Tessellation!

Today in math we were working on tessellation, where you fit shapes into an area and there are no empty spaces. I tried four different shapes, A circle, Triangle, Rectangle and Arrows. I found that the circle and the arrows didn't tessellate but the Triangles and the rectangles did. I started by getting out a triangle and then duplicating it. I then set it out in the order I wanted then grouped it. This is a screenshot of the triangles that I did.

One Word Speech!

All of the year 8s in our class have to write a speech that is based on one main thing that has helped me being at the school. We each video ourselves saying it and then that video will be played at the leaves dinner. My word is confidence and this is my speech.


Hi My name’s Clara and my word is confidence.

Since I first started school I have never been the most confident person, hiding myself in with everybody else and not being noticed. My brother and sister have really helped me, encouraging me to try new things and appreciate the good stuff.

My confidence has grown heaps but it wasn’t until this year that I really noticed. Whether it was being made to stand up and say the Mihi Whakatau in the mornings or just putting my hand up and answer questions in front of the class.

Now I feel ready for high school and confident to try new things.

Then and Now

This week as a part of our literacy work we have done another pobble story. I did one about a time change btween two places and it was callen Then and Now. It is only the very start but I like it so far.

The heavy bustle of the airport drowns out the sounds of the passing taxis. I watch as the yellow cars navigate through the crowded parking lot, yelling and pumping fists at the nearby drivers all fighting to get a park. The hand tight ends on my wrist and tugs me forwards. We make our way through the crowded lobby, sidestepping around a group of flight attendants hurrying towards the large double doors. Raphael’s hand not holding mine pushed the doors open, revealing a huge open space. Shiny tiled floor reflected off the lights that speckled the ceiling, making the whole space glow. Large white pillars sit on either side of the ticket machines and rows of stanchions are crowded with people. He leads me towards the ticket bench where a woman with greying brown hair stands. Her tied eyes glance up at us as we approach and she closes the binder book with a significant click then turns her attention to us. “Two tickets, Los angeles” He says, pulling his card out oif the pockets of his dark wash jeans. His pale hands look shiny under the bright lights as the woman offers him the eftpos machine.

Jokes!

Every morning we start the day with handwriting that our teacher Mr Redmond puts up. We have to make sure we get the correct spelling, punctuation and linking. They are usually pretty terrible dad jokes that make everyone roll their eyes but this morning he put up one that for the first time in two years was good! This is it:

"I've decided to sell my vacuum cleaner."

"It's just  collecting dust."

End of year Speech!

 As the end of the year is getting closer I have started to write a speech to say at the end of year assembly. Its not nearly done yet but I have 2 and a bit paragraphs down that still need editing but they are coming along quite well. Another bit I want to add in is a bit to the year 6s that are coming into year 7 next year and my advice. I am happy with what I have so far and I hope the rest will be easy to write.

Pressing Flowers!

Isla and I decided to press some flowers. But we had a problem... We had no idea what to do! We got some pretty flowers from around our class then took them all inside. We then grabbed a book and some paper that we lay the flowers on the paper, folded it over and put it inside the book. We then waited for about 15 minutes before looking under the paper. I now have mine u under 4 dictionary but hopefully they work!

3D Shapes!

 Today in math we where drawing 3D shapes then cut them out and put them together. We did the measurements of 3cm by 3cm. We also added flaps so we could stick them together better but I still used Heaps of tape! It was really fun and I was part way through making a Flat based Pyramid but then we had to pack up. 

10 tips for year 7s coming into year 8!

1. Put your hand up for every opportunity you can even if you're not sure you'll like it. Not only could it be a great experience, it is really helpful for the teachers and it means you can get more experience because they know you are reposable.

2. Especially if you are in Sharon's literacy group you want to make sure that you can get as much class time as possible mainly at the start of the week but you want to keep updated with your work.

3.DON'T EVER talk back to a teacher. Talking back will get you a good yelling at and possibly miss your break.

4. No talking. Most of you will know this by now but just keep in mind they will say, "you have been doing this for over a year now"!

5. Don't be embarrassed to put your hand up and try new things even if you're nervous it will be great afterwards.

6. You're going to be the oldest kids in the school so make sure you set a good example.

7. Make sure if a teacher needs help you try and help out as much as possible.

8. Try and help the teachers with jobs and things like assemblies. Not only will this give you new experiences but it will be fun to.

9. Enjoy the year while it lasts, it will be over before you know it.

10. Have fun! This is going to be your last year at primary school so just enjoy it!

School A&P Show!

The A&P show this year was canceled, our school decided to do one themselves. There are three sections, All creates (Photos, tricks or art), How does your garden grow and Produce baking and crafts (Decorated cupcakes, Tallest sunflower ect) and hobby horse dressage. 

I'm really excited and I think I'm going to enter the hobby horse dressage by sewing and making my own horses head. I think it will be a bay or chestnut but I'm not sure yet. I also think I'll enter the photography challenge of a pet because my cat, Frankleigh, is very pretty and I'm sure I could get a good photo, and I'll take photos of my favourite pony Merlin because he is SOOO cute! 

I'm really excited and can't wait to get started!

What are Polygons ?

 Last time we where looking more about what are polygons are and what properties they have but today we where looking even more into defining what polygons are. This is a screen shot of putting polygons into different sides to make sure we understand the property that they have and what those properties look like in a shape. Notice that the polygons are all made up of strait lines, All the lines connect, Has no intercepting sides and is a 2D shape.

Math Photography!

 Today as part of our math we did photography of things that where vertical, horizontal, parallel and 3D. I got a few of each and it was really fun going around with my friends and finding things. I think now in math we will be moving more into 3D shapes. 

Polygons!

In math we are moving into geometry and today we where looking at polygons. These are some things I have learnt about polygons: Polygons came be named after how many sides they have (eg, Pentagon, Hexagon), They are 2D shapes, They are made of strait lines, All their lines connect, they have no intersecting lines.

10 Ways Manners Help The World Go Better

Having good manners is a crucial thing that we all have to have. To pay respect, lessen, talk and act with respect is something that we do sometimes without even thinking but sometimes and some people have to try a lot harder and be mindful to always use their manners. We ALL have to try some harder at different points in our life but we all have days where nothing is right. These are 10 different ways that manners help the world go better:

1. When interacting in simple conversation such as, hello or how are you, we are meant to respond in a positive and respectful way not yell, shout or ignore. Even if this feels like something not so big to you it makes the other person feel genuinely better. After all who wants to be ignored?

2. After eating, crafting or making something we always have to make sure we leave the place as clean as we can and if you move stuff this means you put it back. This also means you have to make sure you get up, move and do your part to clean and tidy up after yourself no matter where you are or who you're with.

3. If you borrow something from another person you have to make sure that you return the thing in the same condition as it was given to you in. This means if you get glue or something on it you clean it up. This means the person who gave it to you will let you borrow something again.

4. If you swear at home, that's ok and possibly normal but home is not everywhere. Places like supermarkets, schools or anywhere you will interact with other people, (So pretty much everywhere) you have to be mind full of your language. Whether this is around younger people or not it is still highly effective and you should NOT walk around swearing all you like.

5. Although it can be fun to tease and play around with your friends not everybody likes it. Friends might take it as a joke and you can laugh it off together but others will find it highly rude. By not doing this it will keep from lots of people feeling bad about themselves.

6. When you complement, encourage or help someone it will not only brighten their day it will make you feel really good about yourself and will encourage you to do it more often to others.

7. Kindness makes EVERYONE feel good. Even if someone isn’t having a good day and you try and help them it can be extremely hard for that person to thank you but even just by talking to them you can know that it will make them feel better even if not right away.

8. When talking, by keeping your voice quiet and not barging into their space this crests a peaceful and pleasant conversation for both of you.

9. Sometimes when we do lots of work and use heaps of integrity it might get to a point where we feel like we just aren't getting noticed at all. This is when we need to keep pushing on and doing the right thing and even if they don’t say it directly to you, you helping could be making a world of difference.

10. Honesty is one of the main things that help with all friendships. Being truthful not only means they trust you but your bond with that person will grow. If dosn;t take much time for people to trust you but it takes a LOT longer for people to trust you after you lie.

Tech!

Today for tech we swapped classes so we could learn two new things. My first block was cooking and for this term we are taking lots of traditional foods so today we made a Hāngi. It had kumra, pumkin, potato, chicken and carrot. It was really nice and steamy and I loved eating it. We also looked at how you make a Hāngi the proper way, in the hole in the ground. After break we went into Digi Tech. We started by looking at a game that our teacher, Ms Gormen, showed us a game she had started to make on Scratch, with a figure having to jump up some stairs, one of witch is moving to get a key without falling it the fire below and then come back down to collect a coin. We started at level 4 and Kirsten and I worked our way up until we were at level 6 with it all working and moving. In the free time afterwards we corrected a few glitches and cheats. They were both really fun and I can't wait for next week!

Geomerty!

 As the end of the year is getting closer we have been moving into geometry. We started today by identifying shapes then counting the numbers of faces, edges and verticals of lots of different shapes. I found I remembered a lot of the stuff I've learnt from last year. It was really fun and I can't wait until we do more angles. 

Writing Sample!

As the end of the year is getting closer we did a writing sample that all the year 7 and 8s do to see how their writing has improved. We had the topic of, It is wrong to fight. We could choose how we wanted to take that, whether it was verbal, physical or the sport. I think I did pretty well in the time frame given and I hope you enjoy.


It Is Wrong To Fight -Clara
Yes.

Fighting is an ongoing problem in our world and we have to all work together to stop it. But what is it we are really trying to stop?

What really is fighting? There are two main types of fighting, physically hitting, punching, kicking or any form of hurting them or verbally bickering with someone. Though physically can bring a lot of pain that doesn't mean that verbally words don’t. Though both forms of fighting can start off as funny antics; it can escalate very quickly, resolving with someone in pain, either inside or outside. As it can spread across the school like a bad sickness, the amount of fighting going on increases. This is why you have to make sure you can always get help when you need it.

If you are on the receiving end of fights it is essential that you have someone to talk to. The weight of being fought with will drop itself onto your shoulders and each day will become harder for you to get out of bed. Making sure you have someone to talk to releases that pressure on you and help with your mental health. In 2017 a study showed that kids in grade 9-12 have reported being in a physical fight from 2001 to 2017. At another school about half of students male (51%) Female (40 %) have been hit physically once or twice on purpose in the last year. These results show just how important it is that we confide and seek help from others. There are also some numbers you can call or text if you just want to tell someone about your situation: Lifeline (0800 543 354) or text 4357 for free, Child healthline (0800 611 116).

What if you have to protect yourself?
If you're in a dangerous or dodgy position you have the complete right to defend and protect yourself and others around you in any form whether verbally or physically but we just have to make sure a dangerous situation doesn't get mixed up with a non dangerous one. Fighting is also a hugely supported sport where they chose to put themselves in a position of possible danger and pain. Whilst agreeing that fighting should not be allowed in our community I appreciate that fighting is a popular sport and if in use of self defence it's fine but at the same time we all need to make sure that fighting whether verbally or physically is not ok.

So my point is that fighting as an act of self defence is supported and if you get attacked randomly you have the complete right to defend yourself but we have to make sure that there is a clear difference between an attack and just a friendly hussle but just trust yourself and always follow your gut feeling.

Analysis!!!

This is my story I have done with two of my friends. We should have done a lot more and managed our time a bit better but what we have is pretty good. Bluebell analyzed mine and highlighted the appearance in yellow, environment in green, actions in red and words that help you understand the character in blue. I also did the same in her writing.  Before we have writing this scene we had been looking a lot into what authors and directors do specific things to help develop by making deliberate choices like in Harry Potter we looked at Ron wearing old and scrappy hand me down clothes wear as Hermione is neat, tidy and dressed in robes All these small things help us as readers understand more about who the character is.

In this is the writing I did with Isla and Kirsten we where working on all of the aspects, appearance, actions, environment and speech that we use to build the character and when Bluebell went through looking for this stuff we could really see what we need to do more of (Appearance) and what we did quite well, (Speech). I am quite happy with our work and Kate seems like a pretty cool girl even if concided a geek!

A cramp starts to prickle up my arm and I shake it, trying to get rid of the pain. The noise of students chattering is a noisy blur as I return to my essay. A tall girl with dark brown curls cascading down her back kicked my foot and I wince, rubbing my tow. “Hahaha” the girl sniggered, smirking down at me, “Look at Katie-pie, the loner” 

I glance at her quickly then train my gase back to the ground, swiping at a lock of blond hair of my face.

Her friend rolls her eyes, “Come on Mia, she’s not worth our time”. With a last seething glance Mia stalks away with her friend in tow and I lose them in the crowd in seconds, though just before the door at the end of the corridor closes, I can just here the yell of “Lovey, lonely loner” 

I bit my lip and tried to ignore the burn in my eyes. I glance back down at papers in my hand and the title in big writing, ‘Hemiptera in the Rainforest’. 

“ They're, hemiptera, 7.6 million per square meter” I gobble midlessley, getting a few weird glances from the last of the students leaving but I'm used to it by now.

 I glance up when a pair of green and brown spotty shoes stop in front of me. “Himph, here we go” I mutter under my breath and pretend to not notice her standing there. 

“Kate, Kate” Miss Darins says softly but I keep my eyes down and continue scribbling on the paper. “Kate, love are you alright?”

“Mmm yep, fine” I say, not really paying attention. 

She bends down so she is crouched beside me and I get hit by a wave of perfume. “Where are all your friends”

I frown and glance away, watching the last few stranglers as they push through the double doors.  “Don’t have any” 

“Oh darling” The teacher breaths right in my face and I push back against the wall, skewing my face up slightly. “I can find you some”

Oh because teachers were for finding people friends. I clench my hands to force myself not to roll my eyes. 

“My books are all the matters to me” I say, my mind wandering. “Anyway I should keep studying” 

A look of maybe hurt or confusion flashed across her face but she quickly re Reuters to her normal expression. “Right and I have to get to a meeting” She stands up and flattens her already flat skirt. “Bye Kate” She says in a clipped voice then hurriedly walks down the hall, disappearing into one of the class rooms. I push against the wall and die inside.

Sailing On Lake Rua!

On Tuesday all the year eights in our class went on a sailing trip. We had a bus to take us all but my friends and I went on the van. Once we arrived we put all our stuff to the side and split into two groups. In our groups we got into groups of 2 or 3 we got taught how to rig up a boat! There where lots of names to remember but here are some: The main sail, the blood know, the boom, tiller exctention, the sprit and the center board. One we had the boats all ready and sails up we had a quick morning tea them changed into our gear. We then took some of the boats out onto the water and took turns going out, around a buoy them turned around, ducking under the sail and came back. It was really fun and I would happly have gone again but we went in for lunch. After we ate we took all the boats into the water and when a boat came in we would send another out. I sailed a few times then spent the rest just helping people get off and then others get on. At the end when all the boats where away we jumped in the water and had a great swim. It was heaps of fun and would love to do again.

Tangram!

Today in math we did some tangram! They where quite hard and my brain got very sore but in the end I got some really cool shapes. These are the ones I got, A swan, wolf and a horse! For the wolf I had to flip and rotate lots of the shaps ao they would fit perfectly into the shape.

Optional Uniforms?!

As part of our literacy we have been doing some daily persuasive writing and this is my favorite one I have done so far. Do you agree with my thoughts?



School uniforms should definitely be optional. Sending your child to school all smartly in a matching school uniform might have some parents pleased but others it puts stress on the fact of having to pay for what their kid has to wear.
As parents you want to send your child feeling happy and comfortable and having them in the same clothes as everybody else might make them feel like they blend in.
Being able to wear whatever you want could also help with learning because they could be more comfortable and then able to learn and focus better. Some people believe that having their kids go to school with a school uniform will give them a sense of identity but I think that it blurs their identity and they look pretty much the same as other students.
A US study found that students that wore their own clothes were better academically than people who wore uniforms.
I hope you now realize that uniforms should NOT be compulsory.

Healing Garden Science!

This year as part of our science Kirsten and I planed and learnt about a healing garden. I learned heaps throughout this and I hope you can do the same.

Before doing this I knew:

That Lemon Ginger tea helped with sore throats and blocked noses.

Chamomile helps with sleep.

This is our plan of our garden and attached is the sunlight and watering plans.
I now know all about what each plant dose :

German Chamomile - Help with calming and sleep.


Echinacea Tea - Helps with colds.

Lemon and Ginger drink - Helps with colds, sore throats.


Green tea - lowers the risk of heart disease , helps protect against cancer.And what soil each plant grows in:
German Chamomile - Well drained sandy soil
Echinacea Tea -Dry and sandy, not moist
Lemon - Grow best in sandy soil
Ginger - Ginger grows better in loamy.
Green tea - Well drained, moist soil in a pot

We have worked really hard with this and I hope you have learnt something new!

Meeting our Prime Minister!

 Meeting our Prime Minster!

on wednesday our teacher asked me and some of my friends if we wanted to go down to Rawhiti Domain for the opening of the new sports area. We agreed then the next day we walked down to the domain. Little did we know the primister would be there! We started by playing a game outside with two other schools while every bidy was seeted then we came inside and the opening begain. First of Poto Williams spoke about the buliding devopment then all the kids sung a song. After that Jacinds spoke then lots of people spent the next hour crowing arounds Jacinda! In the end I got her signiture (!) then we all took a photo with her! It was so awsome meeting her and seeing the new buliding and i hope she wins the election!

Science!

 This time we worked out what amount of water our plants need and when. This is what we got. 

Watering 

• Chamomile - make sure to water extremely in dry periods and water, does not require lots of water.

• Only water when dry.

• Echinacea - needs 1 inch of water a week to grow healthy,If the coneflower doesn't receive enough

• water it will die.Water plant with soaker hose once a week

• Lemon ginger - Ginger needs a lot of moisture when growing , soil should never dry out but don't

• overwater. Water once per week but deeply.

• Lemons should be water every 5 days or when the soil is dry to touch 2-3 inches below the surface.

• Green tea - Camellia Sinensis likes to be deeply watered about twice a week rather the being
• watered shallowly.

Photography!

 Isla and I went out a few days ago and took some photos of cool plants around our school. I chose to do lots of close up photos wile Isla did more of the far shots. Before we went out we opened a doc and did a small plan of what we wanted to achieve and get photos of. We looked at doing shots that had 1 main thing that took up the whole photo and also doing some that the main thing is focused on but to one side so its nit in the middle. It was heaps of fun and we are hoping to do more today because it had just rain so we could get some really cool shots. These where some of my favorite!

Our Healing Garden!

Over the last two days Kirsten and I have been working on our healing garden as part of our science.
We chose 1 of 3 options,
1: Healing Garden
2: Native Bird Garden
3: Vegetable Garden
We chose to do healing garden and focus on herbal tea but we added some other drinks to that aren't teas but are meant to help with calming and sickness.

We have decided to do our healing garden all with ingredients to make some lovely teas. These are the teas we have chosen so far: German Chamomile tea (Chamomile tea helps with calm people and help with sleep) , Echinacea tea (This tea is used to help protect against the common cold), Lemon ginger tea (It helps with colds and sore throats ), Green tea (Lowers the rick of heart disease and helps prevent against cancer). These teas each help with different things and are all very nice to drink.
We have found out about what each tea is made out of and learned about how to plant those plants. We hope to add some more teas in future but for now we have to research some more about the teas we have so we can plan where and how to plant them in our garden.

Algebra!

Today in math we where working on algebra. I learnt heaps and I hope you do to. This is what we learnt:

Edited Writing!

We have done another pier assessment on our writing. I have chosen my two goals to be:

Check punctuation, spelling and grammar
Interesting language that matches my topic and purpose.

I have edited this piece of writing below and I hope you enjoy :)
Please comment if you see anything I could improve or add. 

The metal chain is cold against my sweety palm. A gun to my back prods me forwards and two guards on either side of me keep me from trying anything. Not that I could with my hands tied. We turn left into another white corridor and at the end stands a tall woman holding meal ties and chains. I slow down instinctively but the man behind me shoves the gun hard into the gap between my shoulder blades. She smiles as we approach and the guard finally takes the gun away and clicks it into its holder. She walks forwards and clicks a metal tie to each of my hands and conducts a chain to each then takes the handcuffs away. Now both my hands had ties but we're apart. The two guards hold my wrists while she bends down and attaches a tie and chain to each of my ankles.
“Let's go” she said in a clipped british accent. She takes one of the chains and leads me into a big glass tank.
“No” I whisper. I’ve seen this in movies before but never thought it would happen to me.
“Yes'' she says, a sly smile on her perfect face. She yanks the tie to the left and ties it to a knot above my head. I cry out in pain as she wrenches the other hand to the other tie. They are too far apart and my muscles cry out. I’m practically hanging with my feet just touching the ground so I can’t put up much of a fight as she fastens my feet ties. “Good,” she says, punching me in the gut so I lean over as far as the ties allow and couch. She laughs, “If only I could torture by myself” She leave the box and the door swings shut behind me. The seals around the frame are thick and glass around me double sided. A flash of leeward catches my eye and I look down. “Crap” I mutter then start trashing the ties. The water is clear and beautiful on any other day but today it will be my death. It continues to trickle in, coming faster and faster. I can just make out the lady standing behind the glass smiling at me as I struggle. I show her middle finger and she laughs. The water is now swirling around my knees, sloshing slowly upwards. It's cold and raw on my skin and I shiver. It's rising at a rapping pace and I’m forcing myself not to break down crying and screaming. Water surrounds my waist and the water stains the bottom of my shirt black. I glance up and see the shadow of the woman is gone. “I can do this” I mutter to myself, tugging harshly against the chains. Of course they don’t move. What did I expect, to be able to break metal?
I shift my feet and feel the surge of water swelling around my body. It’s now wrapped itself around my chest and lifted me slightly. I gasp as the water reaches my lower neck and swallows my top completely under. Why have I wanted so long to fight for my life? I writhe, straining and pull as hard as I can at the metal chains but all I got out of it was red lines around my wrists. The water is now at my chin. I start to panic. If I lower my chin why will the whole face emerge in water? “Help” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Help-” I’m cut off by a sure of water flowing into my mouth. I tried to cough it out but the water had reached over my mouth. I strained the ties and tried to come further up but the ties didn't budge. I close my eyes and let the water rise slowly over my face. My arms droop as far as the chain allows and I float there, all the fight in me gone. My brain is working but now ideas come to mind of how to get myself out of this big mess. Then something hits me stronger than any force of water could ever. I don’t know where it came from and never will but it's an idea and it's the only idea I have. All I have to do is believe. ‘I can do this’ I think then even stronger ‘I can do this’ “I can do this!” I yell, letting the water flood into my mouth. Adrenalin bubbles up inside me and I feel my body radiating. In one almighty tough, I rip my arm out of the handcuff then the other. “Yes!” I whisper, the final bubbles of air I still had in my lungs escaping and floating up to the surface. If I could do that could I break thick glass? I have to try.
Swinging back my fist I hit the glass. Then double over. The water has stopped coming in now and the tank is full. I let myself sink down to the bottom. My head droops and I think. I can;’t have much air left and my lungs are screaming for air. The water stopped most of the power of my pooch so I have to go to the top and try and break the glass up there. I kicked upwards and faced the ties around my feet. I lift my fist and punch again. And again. The punch gets harder with each hit. I need air. A snap. A crack. A hole. The surge of water carries me out and rips my feet out of the ties. I had broken the glass.

Units of measurements!

Today as part of our maths work we did a sheet all about making sure we write the equations the proper way and making sure we always use units of measure. Sometimes I still need to remember to add units but mostly I add them. I feel like I've learnt so many new things this year and I'm starting to really enjoy maths.

Peer assessments!

For literacy this week we have been editing some of our writing and peer assessments. I have chosen two goals for my writing and then altered my first draft so it was the final copy. My goals were for all my sentences to link together well and good spelling and grammar. I think I have done most of the sentences well and I'm pleased with them but spelling is an ongoing problem I have but I really hope extra practice at home will help with that. This is my final copy. Enjoy!

The woman is frozen as she sees the tree. The heart carved into it more than 15 years ago still stands brightly within the mist of trees. Her dog brakes loudly, the noise echoing through the trees but she didn’t notice. Her mind flashes with memories of her and her sister, playing at the beach, the playground and at the school fair back in year 6.
‘If only I could bring her back’ She thought, pressing my palm against the engraved shape.
No. There was nothing she could do to bring her back. And, nothing she could do to make up for what she did. Tears don’t count as an apology.

Triangle Area!

This is how you work out the area of a right angled Triangle!

Area of a circle!

This week we have been doing lots of equations using pi. I know how to find circumference of circles but now we are looking at areas of circles. The formula to find areas of circles is PI (3.14)x R x R. The R stands for radius which is half of the diameter. The main thing to make sure is that you don't add two 

R's together you have to multiply them together.

Memories!

This week as part of our work we where working on show not tell. We got given 5 different images that we had to do a piece of writing for from what we could tell from the picture. My favourite one so far was Memories and this is my piece. Enjoy!
The woman is frozen as she sees the tree. The heat carved into it more than 15 years ago still stands brightly within the mist of trees. Her dog brakes loudly, the noise echoing through the trees but she didn’t notice. Her mind flashes with memories of her and her sister, playing at the beach, the playground and at the school fair back in year 6.
‘If only I could bring her back’ She thought, pressing my palm anaced the engraved shape.
No. There was nothing she could do to bring her back. And, nothing she could do to make up for what she did. Tears don’t count as an apology.

Finding the circumference of a circle!

Today in maths we were finding the circumference of a circle by finding the diameter then multiply it by π (3.14). We walked through a circle painted on the caught and then ran back to class to add the equations up. I learned how to write it up and its like the volume. C= π x D and that is basically the find circumference its 3.14 x the diameter. I got 13 foot lengths(we got this from previous weeks lessons) so then I converted that to how many of my feet fit into a meter and that was 4.5 across so I multiplied that by 3.14(π) and got

14.137 metres as my final answer. I am really understanding now about finding the circumference of circles using the diameter and pi. This is a photo of us working out the diameter.

How to take up a horse :)

This week in literacy we did a diagram following the ones we read earlier. I have chosen to do mine about How to take up a horse. I wrote it thinking about years 6-8 so they are around 9-13. This is because I have used some colour but it isn't so much to help the reader understand but to make it nice to look like. Hope you learn something new.

Adrenalin Forest!

Yesterday we went to adrenalin forest! It was heaps of fun and would defanitly reccomend again. We left school just after first break and drove to the forest in the school vans. Once we arived we put our bags down and got our harness on. Once they where on we went over to a practis rope so we could learn how to put out clipers onto the rope. Next we went over to a very low flying fox and tried that pout a few times. Once everyone had had a go Kirsten and I went over to level 2. We flyed through that quickly and also zoomed through level 3b. Then, feeling very good we went over to level 4. It was hard and long. We must have been on there for at lest 40 minuites and lots of obstacals where long rope walks or things where we had to pull up a zipline for 10 minuites. It was still very fun and I would love to go back.

Volume!

Today in math we worked a lot on volume and writing out workings out. To start with I leaned the proper way to write the equation out. eg.
V= lxWxh
   =6x8x4
   =192m3  

I also learned that the 3 at the side of the equation shows that it was volume. We worked on easyish questions at the start but by the end I was a bit confused! Thankfully the calculater saved me at the last question we did:
V=l x w x h
=11 x 16 x 1.5
=264m3 
Once we had that figured out we had to find out how much it could cost if each square meter was worth $4 for the workers. It was $1,056 the cost but Then we had to find 30%! It was very hard but somehow I ended up with the right awncer!
Even though it was hard it was fun and I felt like i learned a lot!

Kaimanawa!

In science we have been looking at Eco Systems of a native and endemic animals. I chose to do the Kaimanawa horse that is endemic to NZ. This is my throughts on how humans have effected them. Enjoy.

Scientific Diagram!

For the last to weeks we have been looking at the kingdoms, animals and plants. We have now moved to look at how a sientifc diagram is written so we can write one ourselfs. We have read 3 different texts, each with different leves. Here are my througths on what each basic section of a scientific diagram have. Do you agree with what each section needs?

Explaining Scientific Diagrams
Intro
Scientific diagrams help people understand pieces of information. They have many different elements and the elements range from purpose, audience, visuals, symbols and labels.

Purpose
Scientific diagrams almost always have a purpose. There are lots of purposes to focus the diagram about but the text we looked at was all to inform. To tell the writing is informative you can tell from the language used. In text 2 (Planting an apple tree) they use factual language to tell and inform the reader how to plant a tree and because they used that language I could tell that it was written to tell the reader how to plant a tree.

AudienceThe audience of a diagram is important to think about when writing one. This is important because you want the reader to understand and learn the content. In text 2 they use harder language then text 1 (How do plants grow) because the age recommendation would have been older. Some of the words they use in text 2 like biodegradable and burlap, the younger readers might not understand but then in text 1 they use easa language so the younger readers will understand. 

Visuals
In a scientific diagram the audience is important not just for the text. Adding pictures can help readers understand the text better or just add some colour. If the text was for younger kids they might add more pictures that are easy to understand like in text 1 but if it was for older kids the pitchers might be more realistic and informative. In text 1 they have lots of colours to help show the tree is green for example but in text 2 they used black and white because the reader is older so they don’t need colour to understand.

Symbols
When writing a scientific diagram we have to think about adding some symbols like arrows, lines, Circles, color coded pictures etc. This helps label images and parts. Some things like arrows in Text 1 show the way the sun gives light to the plant but in text 3 (Tui planting calendar) they use colour coded small plants to symbolize what plants are good to plant at each time of the year.

Words
Using labels when doing a scientific diagram can help the reader understand the diagram. They use headings and side notes to help the reader understand the context and depending on what age the diagram is written differs the words used and length of sentences.

Final Tech

Today was our final day of tech for the class. Because of Covid we did 3 weeks of this term doing our old subjects but that finished today and next week we have new subjects. In sewing today I sewed my liner into my bag, turned it through and then sewed to hole up. I'm quite pleased with my bag and painting skills which are pretty much non-existante! It was heaps of fun making it and I'm looking forwards to taking it home.

Emma!

In Literacy this week I have been writing a story of my choice. Then main charterer is called Emma, hence where the name came from! I havn't written to much but its a start. Comment if you like it! Enjoy!

The rain hits the windows in crashing waves and the building practically shakes. Students crash into the building leaving the cafeteria door swinging shut. I hunch in my jersey against the blasting wind and wave my way through the bunch of dripping students. I needn't have bothered. A path clears ahead of me and I hurry through without a glance back. Pushing open the door I step outside and welcome the cold wind, sucking the warmth from my core. My hood hangs down over my eyes, shadowning my face. Only a handful of people have seen me with it down. “Hey Emma, Wait up” Cait runs towards me. We walk in silence down the path towards the science block. “You ok?” She speaks quietly and glasses over at me. “I’m fine” My voice is thicker than normal and she must notice the change in my voice for she tugs at my gersey to stop walking. “What's up?” Sometimes I hate that she can read me so well. I shrug, my gas trolling at the ground. “Parents fighting again” I say finally, rolling my eyes like it's a big deal but in truth it's killing me. “I’m so sorry emma” She says, her eyes flicking over my face. I shug “It's fine”. We Finally reached the car park where the blue and yellow bus pulled into the overcrowded lot. Students shoved and bustle as they tried to get a seat on the bus but today I couldn’t be bothered trying. Unlike Cait I don’t have a bus stop right next to my house. Cait lives on Walmore street, the main street in town where I live on a dead end street next to the beach. We reach Cait stop first and she jumps off with a quick glance back the hurries into her house. Two stops later we pull up near a roundabout with tall houses on either side. I let the bulk of students get off first then I swung down, landing hard on the ground. My black leggings grip tightly as the rain soaks through them, sending shivers racking through my body. My feet steer me towards my street and I hear the bus heave away from the stop and continue down the street. I make the familia turn into the dead end street and slowly walk towards my house. It’s a two story house painted a pure white with light blue window rims. A black fence marks the propatie space and the gate is swung open and jammed in a bush. I tug at the metal until it comes free then latch it shut. My feet slow as I approach the house and I hesitate before pulling open the door. Mum at the table on her laptop and she barely reacts when I walk in. She has a new book due on sunday so the next 4 hours would be crazy. My older sister is lying on the couch, scrolling through her phone. Her waist length black hair is cascaded down her front and she glances up at me before looking back at her phone. Sometimes I wonder how many kilometers she scrolls on that thing.

Botanic Gardens!

Yesterday we went to the botanic gardens and we learnt all about the animals and living species and how the world has changed. We first sat down and talked about what the space we live in now was like 2000 years ago. It's crazy but it was all wetlands! Tree trunks where soden and the whole ground was just giant and when. When the Maori arrived they drained all the water out so it was firmer ground. Years later when the Europeans arrived they went to the rivers like the Avon and made the sides straighter and closer together so the water would flow quicker but this meant taking away all the bushes beside the river which meant that ducks and other small animals that lived in the plants lost homes. Now people are planting these bushes again to try and help bring back homes and animals. We also played some games like one where we got an animal pegged to our back and had to guess what animal it was, what it's life status was and what its origin status was. I was the Laughing Owl, I was extinct and I was endemic (Meaning it was only ever found in new Zealand). The other game we played was we stood behind a rope and at a sight saying Botanical gardens and another rope 10m ahead had a sign saying Port hills. This is because in summer the fantails fly up to the port hills but in winter they fly down because it gets too cold but when they fly it is a very long trip so they have to stop along the way. We each got given a square of carpet that resembles a green space. A green space are spots where fantails can stop, sleep and find food part way through this trip. These spaces are parks, backyards and other green spaces! Sometimes it can be hard to find one so in groups we had to get from one line to the other without touching the grass. I worked with Kirsten and Isla and together we (awkwardly!) made our way across. Once everyone had done that two people who were acting as construction workers trying to build in green spaces could come around and take some squares of carpet if we weren't standing on them. Isla fell off when one square got taken away but Kirsten and I quickly got across without touching the grass. The whole trip was heaps of fun and I definitely recommend going! :)

Evalution Tree!

Today we looked at the 6 animal evalutions. On the photo we have drawn a tree  and written from the bottom up the order we think they devloped in. 

MRS GREN

At school we have been learning about biology and I have made a slide about Shetland Ponies using the 7 living processes and we remember the acrim MRS GREN

Hope you lean something new!

Tech!

Today in tech we did a challenge where we put on a arm to our robot. We did a bit of picking stuff up then we did a chart of all the things that could be improved of the desine of the arm. After we wrote done some ideas we went back to our robots and did a challenge where we had to go around a board and code the robot to go around all the dots then come back to the start. My partner, Jessica and I managed to go over all the dots!

For our second class in sewing I pined and sewed my side seams and handles onto my bag. Then I sewed a triangle shape on the corners so it had box shape. This is called mightering. Next week I'm gonna do the same to my liner then sew my liner to the inside of my bag. I love Tech!

Black Beauty Quote!

As my group is nearing the end of the book we did a rewive. I have also illustrated it with a photo of a horse. Do you agree with the quote? 

Mindfulness Jar!

For mindfulness in school we have been talking about our jars. Our jars are about that things so wrong in our days that can make us get into red brain so we get angry. By doing just small things we can make sure we stay in green brain. I have made a marble fulled with all my fav things that would make me happy. I hope you can relate to some of my fav things and enjoy!

Top 3 Poems!

Over the last 3 weeks we have been working through a slide with lots of poems. Now once the 3 weeks have ended we have made a slide with our top 10 and now top 3. Hope you enjoy!

Horse Abuse :( (So bad)

As I have mentioned in my earlier posts I have been reading black Beauty and the bit that I'm up to is very bad. Beauty and Ginger are at their new home and they have to have a bearing rein on. A bearing rein is a strap of leather that is tied on the horses wither and goes over the head and onto the bit. It is used to prevent the horse from putting its head down to far but it puts extreme pressure on the horses neck. In the book at their new home the previous owner, Joe, mentioned to their new owner, York, that Ginger had been used in the bearing rein before but hated it and put up a fight and that Booty had never been in one. York said he also liked a loser rein but My Lady liked her horses to have their heads up and proud.

Another piece of horse equipment (They don't use this in Black Beauty) is a martingale aka tie-down is the opposite of a Bearing rein. The martingale is a strap of leather that is tied to the horses bit and the girth. This forces the head down to the horse's chest making it hard for them to breath. Although this is unbelievable uncomfortable it makes the horses giants smoother so riders find it nicer. Both the Martingale and bearing rein are terrible pieces of equipment and people who use these things should be stopped.

#StandUp For Horses

Literacy this week!

For this past week I have sadly been sick so I had to stay at home but thankfully with all my work being posted online I could work at home.  We have been carrying on with our slide of poems we have to do, (I have posted lots below), and we have also made a slide show with our ten favourite poems we have written. As the other part of our work we have been locking into Matriki. We read a story of The Tohunga and then we had to do two activates about it. As my first activate I chose to do a timeline of all the major events that happened in the story, (photo is below) For my second activate I picked one where I had to write about in what ways The Tohunga, Jacinda Ardern and Ashley Bloomfield are all alike, especially now because in the story The Tohunga helped and saved his village people and Jacinda and Ashley have saved our country, (slide below)
Hope you enjoy!

Ode Poem!

I have written a ode poem and I chose to do it about my book. Its not for one book in particular but I think it suits almost all the books I've read. Hope you enjoy!

Maths!

In maths for the last few weeks we have been working on adding, multiplying and dividing fractions. We also we over how to convert mixed numbers to improper fractions then do it backwards. It was hard at the start but now I'm really starting to get the hang of it.

Black Beauty Novel Study!

This term we have been doing a novel study within our group. I have chosen to read the book Black Beauty. This is our second week doing this and each week we have to read ten chapters. SO far I am up to the bit where Black Beauty is sick after being over-ridden and its very say. I love this book though and would recommend to others.

Diamante Poem!

Today I have written another poem and the one is about the wind. A diamante poem is written as like                                                                                        this:

This is mine:

Self Defence

Yesterday we did our second lesson of girl self defence. Our teacher is called Linda she has taught most of the year 8 girls at our school. I now know how to kick, what places hurt the most, how to get out of a grab by twisting you elbow into there face and lastly if they are trying to tug you away we learnt how to kick them in the knee so they fall. It's heaps of fun and the funny thing is that the names for those last to moves are called Dodgy Jonny and Dangerous Jonny. 

I help girls all over the world can stand up for themselves and know that we are just as strong and as powerful as others. 

Bio Poem!

This week as part of our work we have read a Bio poem then we have written our own. Mine is about my friend Kirsten. Enjoy!

Kirsten
Smart, Athletic, Energetic
Friend of Poppy’s
Loves dogs and licorice
She feels happy, calm and tired
Is scared of worms, kangaroos and deers
Who has won many netball games
Who took wants to go bungee-jumping
Lives in Christchurch, New Zealand
Richards