Level 1 English Connections

 Throughout your life people may overlook and underestimate you, making you feel small and unable to do what you want. Each character within these pieces has also experienced that feeling. I have chosen to use “reaching and realising your potential” as my theme as it relates to everyone and to my chosen pieces, Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera, No.2 by Toa Fraser, Bathe in the River by Hollie Smith and Brave by Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews. 

1. The Whale Rider is a novel written by Witi Ihimaera that displays my chosen idea of reaching your potential. The character who represents this in this novel is young Kahu, an eight year old girl who carries the mauri of her ancestor, Kahutia-te-rangi, The Whale Rider. Within the novel, Kahu was underestimated right from birth by her great grandfather, Koro Apirana. Witi Ihimaera wants us to capture the idea that you can be more than what people make you out to be.

2. Soul was portrayed as a trouble-maker who only caused problems for the family. When it came to him to show his true potential as a leader he didn’t fail to prove. His potential is realised when he disobeys his Uncle John to break open the door and break the superstition surrounding that door. This act brings everyone together in the end and is one of the obvious reasons why Soul became successor.

3. Bathe in the River by Hollie Smith is a song about finally feeling the freedom once you break down your barriers. It represents my chosen theme "reaching and realising your potential" perfectly. But it can also be interpreted to mean other messages as well if you look from different perspectives. At times you can feel overwhelmed and taken away with the currents throughout your life, this song helps you to realise you can make it if you believe.

4. The film Brave by Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrews shows the life of Merida, a young princess who has come to the age where she must be wed. She chose a different life for herself and was only able to achieve that when she realized her full potential. The directors executed the film excellently and were a good option for my theme. 

Kiwi culture

The haka is a war dance only new zealand does. It is performed by the native people of New zealand, The maori. The war dance/haka is used to intimidate the opponents with their frightening actions. The way the haka is done is by shaking your hands or stomping your feet on the ground.A kaea or leader will then chant commands to get his group prepared. The men will then make their way to the front and began shouting and doing their actions.Women will also chant the words but actions aren’t usually done as it is the men's item.Our most famous haka is ka mate that the All Blacks used to perform. Many people around New Zealand and the world will know this haka.New Zealand’s national rugby team, the All Blacks perform the haka before beginning every game. It is a well known item around the world that maori are very famous for.

 Haka has an impact on me because it is something I know well and enjoy at times. I had family members in kapa haka roopu and even helped create some. That is why this was an easy icon to do because i had lots of prior knowledge on it.

Science - 15/9/2019

In science today my class and I have been learning about the human digestive system. Here are some questions we have to answer related to our topic.

1) What are the four types of teeth in the human body?

1. Premolars - Crush food
2. Molars - Grind food
3. Incisors - Cut food
4. Canines - Tear food apart

2) What is saliva and what does it do?
It is spit used to prevent dry mouths and help us swallow our food.

All about me

Kia ora ko Te Aroha toku ingoa no Mangakahia me Matawaia ahau. Ko tekau ma wha oku tau. E haere ana au ko te kura tuarua o Peowhairangi. My favourite subjects at school are Music, Maths and PE. Enjoy my blog, Nau mai haere mai!

 Learning makes a big part of who I am now, I enjoy learning lots of new things and try my best to absorb all the things i’ve learned. Learning wise I’m good at paying attention when I feel like it and being able to pick up what’s happening around me quickly. Cooking and kapa haka are things I enjoy a lot. A challenge I have with both of these are not having the time or motivation as much as I would like.

My goals for this year are to be able to speak confidently to others in te reo maori even if it is just a simple conversation. I also want to be able to stand confidently on all turu of the taumata. In the future my hopes are to give back to my people and help them out in any way possible. I also want to go to university and study something interesting such as: lawyer, journalist, nurse, flight attendant or something in tourism.

Athletics Day

Last week Tuesday we had our school athetics. Everyone participated and came in their house colours. We had the normal activities such as ling jump, sprints, hurdles etc. But this year we added in some fun obstacles to make athletics a bit different. Here are just some of the many photos that were taken on the day. 

Underground 4

Underground

Part 4

I stomped away angrily back to my friends with Tommy joking about behind me. “Don’t worry guys it wasn’t no demon it was just my stupid brother” Tommy popped up from behind the corner and explained to the group why he decided to follow us. As a group we walked into the direction of the strange rocks I had found earlier. They sat nicely in a row with weird symbols on them. A confused look was struck upon all of our faces as we glared at the rocks. Then finally Michael said “Your lucky I know what these are Billy” He picked up the rocks and began making out the symbols. “Walk, 50, North, Wall “ Michael repeated these words trying to think of what these could be. “ Walk 50 steps north to the wall? “ Derick said. Izzy walked the 50 steps north and came face to face with a wall. A stone wall. She turned around and yelled. “I don’t see anything here guys! “ As we walked to Izzy, Joel had picked the stones up hoping they could do something. When we began to approach Izzy Joel placed the rocks weirdly onto the wall. Then the mines began to rumble and shake beneath our feet and above our heads. Was this an earthquake?

Underground 3

Undergound 

Part 3

Joel and Izzy both looked at me with fear in their eyes, what they saw was unexplainable. “It… it grabbed me and t-t-t-took me. “ Joel stuttered. He wasn’t able to speak. “Izzy s-s-saw it too” but Izzy wouldn’t talk. She grabbed a stick and began scraping the dirt. Her picture was of a huge angry demon with dark hateful eyes, we were not alone. His name was Maer ceci (May-er-sick-eye) he was the demon that lurked in the shadow of the gold mines, Grand dad has told me a lot about these. “ We shouldn’t be here guys, i’ve heard stories about this thing. He’s been hunting lost miners since the old days and now, he wants us. “ Michael gave us his serious look that he only gave us in very VERY serious times. “ Grooooooowl !!! “ We flicked our heads into different directions, scared and shaking. Everyone stood and followed in a line behind me. “ We’re lost! “ I screamed in my mind. A panic expression on my face. Big footprints came stomping towards us and we didn’t know what to do! I went off on my own hoping to find an exit but I couldn’t. The long passageways seemed to go on forever. The stomping got louder. And louder. And louder. Then they were right behind me. I turned around in fear, about to come face to face with a dark, huge and evil demon. I turned around and there stood… My brother. “ Tommy what the heck was that for! “ I was furious, all that fear gathered up in me and it was all for nothing. Tommy is my older brother, I think he heard about our plan and wanted to scare us. “Chill Billy I just wanted to have some fun with you and your little friends that’s all “ He gave a smirk and an evil laugh.

Underground part 2

Underground

Part 2

As mums voice disappeared thoughts of what we could find in the gold mines filled my head. I met with Michael, Joel and Derek, all 3 of us then sped off to Izzy’s treehouse. We met Izzy inside and started taking action, grabbing all our bikes and setting off for the goldmines. When we reached our destination I made us stop by a creek near the opening. “ We just have to crawl through the creek and the openings right there. “ I assured the group. One by one we piled into the goldmine with our torches shining bright like stars from a distance. “ We need to split up and cover more ground, blow the whistles if you found something. “ I said in a serious voice. There were four passageways. Izzy and Joel paired up and walked away quickly into the pitch dark. So did Derick and Michael, leaving me to wonder around, alone. Passage one on the far left had a lot of curves into it. I didn't find much but a small gathering of rocks with white stripes on them that had been strangely placed in order. I didn’t take them into consideration until I heard a whistle blow. I ran to the sound, it was Joel. He sat there in shock with Izzy just standing frozen. “Are you okay? “ I questioned. Derick and Michael had both run into the passageway as well. I could tell that we were all thinking the same thing... “ What could it be that made them so scared? “

Underground Part 1

Another blog writing for this week, I'm doing a series on one story called Underground. So hopefully you stay tuned for the upcoming parts. 

Underground

 Part 1

“Billy, Billy you get back here now! “ I heard mums demand become more distant as I rode off on my bike. I have a reputation of being the daredevil or adventure seeker in my family, but what I discovered next was nothing like i’ve ever seen before. The previous day me and a group of my friends: Michael, He’s the smarts in our group, Izzy, She’s the muscles, Derek, The idiot, Joel, Just Joel and Me, Billy, The leader of this whole group and operation. We all heard rumours about a new opening being found in the gold mines. Since we were toddlers we’ve heard stories around town about how a whole city of gold was in those mines but it was too deep in the ground to ever be discovered. As we sat on the cafeteria tables Joel said “I’ve heard that crazy man Robert Greene once went deep enough and actually found it and made friends with all the people who lived in the city. “ Making all of us sit there and wonder what happened next. But then he told me that he ate cheese off of the moon so I don’t really believe him. “ Our hopes were gone. “ We should just go anyways, I want another adventure “ said Derek. After school we all had our daily meeting in Izzys treehouse. Michael pinned the map of our town on the treehouse walls, we then began discussing what time to leave and where to meet. “ 9pm sharp at the treehouse. It was 8:55 pm and I was going to be late, the punishment was a worm for each minute you were late. I sped off as quick as I could on my bike. That’s when I hear mum from the door, yelling at me as I sped away off into the night.

The storm

My 20 minute blog writing was a quick and short narrative about a young girl and her nightmare. Enjoy my quick little story :) 

The storm 

As the heavy storm got worse the quivering girl curled up tighter in her bed. The lightning and thunder were all banging and rolling constantly filling her ears with loud clashes and bangs like an unpleasant marching band. The old oak tree hung low over her window giving away a silhouette of what seemed to be… a monster! It was knocking loudly on the window. She shivered in fear, being only 7 years old and terrified of a storm seemed silly but to her it was a living nightmare. Then the monster growled and slowly snuck into her room. The young girl had her eyes closed shut and held her blankets very firm in her hands and over her face. The growl grew closer and closer. She waited for the monster to grab her but when she pulled the blanket down to reveal the monster it was her imagination. Trying to take advantage of her dreams. As her eyes opened the day was new and the horrible storm was only a dream. The birds chirped and flew happily in the crisp morning air. She awoke with a smile. “Uhh it was only a dream”

Room 5 & 6 Assembly

Since its been Halloween and our classes were on assembly we decided to have a Halloween themed one. I personally wasn't that thrilled and interested in the assembly but others enjoyed it. We performed a dance called  Un poco loco from one of my favourite movies, Coco. Another dance called rave in the grave, presented our te reo selfie videos and a song. Here is a photo of our classes after the assembly.

   

Geometry 2

One more geometry activity to share with you guys :) I picked an activity where you had to name all the properties of these geometrical shapes. Im not confident on working on geometry as I don't know most of it. Such as vertices and edges, i needed to ask for help and research on google what they are before it started to make sense. I checked if i was right on google as well (hope that doesn't count as 
cheating) but here my working is anyways. 

Geometry Activity 1

We are learning about geometry this week and I decided to do a position and orientation activity. I created my very own maze and made directions to help you get to the end of my maze. I found making it difficult. First I drew a draft on my book and then transferred it onto paper. I then made my directions using the compass way. (Never, Eat, Soggy, Weetbix is the way I remember it) You can pretend to play yourself and try even making your own maze. Enjoy!

What makes a quality blog post

Our reading activity for this week was to make a DLO (Digital Learning Object) about what makes a quality blog post. I used the site easel.ly and found it very easy to use. Finding certain things I wanted on my presentation was a bit difficult but I tried my best and gave good results. Here is my presentation from easel.ly I have made. Hopefully you guys can follow these tips too to help makes your blog posts better! Enjoy :)

Maths Eyes - Week 6

Another post about our weekly Maths Eyes. Here is a picture of these bricks and my Google Drawing I used to create my presentation. Hope you enjoy :)

Maths Eyes

Our weekly maths task is to use our 'Maths Eyes' We look at a picture of an object or anything maths related and write down what kind of things we see. Points, angles or parallel lines are all maths related things we have to look for in the pictures we are given. We also have to create questions for others to answer. Here is my maths eyes.

Carpool Karaoke 2018

Being part of last year's carpool karaoke was pretty fun. This year our teacher (Mrs Henare) decided to make a remake and this time with room 5 for our combined assembly. We each had 15 minutes to perform our little skit part in Mrs Henare's car. My group and I are the first video, performing I want it that way - Back street boys. Hope you enjoy our own version of carpool karaoke.

Maths Eyes

One of the tasks we were forced to complete was Maths Eyes. We look at a picture of an object and see something related to maths. Such as parallel lines and shapes. This is what I did.

Student conference

Instead of parent teacher interviews our school held something a bit different this year. Students were told to make a slide called a student conference, showing all there work, behavior and goals from the start of this year through to mid term. One night we had our classes open for us to bring our parents and whanau in to present them our student conference. Here is my presentation, enjoy :) 

4. What I did today

It's not the funnest activity but this is what I got up to today. These are some of the shows I've watched or re watched today.