Writing A Haiku Poem - Summer Learning Journey

 Today we had to learn about and write a Haiku poem, It's based on a traditional Japanese poetic form. First we had to read How to write a Haiku poem, then watch How to write a Haiku poem, and then we start out create. Our create was to write a Haiku poem. I have based mine on summer. A Haiku poem has to be written on 1 topic only, but a Haiku poem can be a funny one, seasons or even anything. Here is my Haiku poem.

What Christmas means to me

Last week I wrote what Christmas means to me and I wrote it in a poem. Here is my poem.

What Christmas means to me…

Christ’s birthday or Jesus’ birth.

Happy times with family and friends.

Remembering and celebrating about times of the year.

It also means giving the joy when you give your presents

Santa gives presents to kids because he likes to see the joy when they open it.

To give and receive.

Merry Christmas to everyone who is alone in the world.

A time to share.

So have a merry and a joyful Christmas.

By Selina Jiang

Ice candle

 Today we made ice candles, it was really interesting because when we ripped the cardboard out it was pouring our water. It looked really cool, and the ice candle that I ripped of the cartoon had a face.

Here are the steps on how to make an ice candle:

1. We got out old candles that don't work anymore and melt them over a stove and a pan.

2. well that was melting we got out milk cartons and cut of the top.

3. after we pour oil into the carton and used our hands to spread it on all sides of the carton.

4. then we hold in place a long white candle that's new in the middle of the carton and put ice in the carton.

5. once there is ice in, we carefully poured the wax from the candles into the cartons.

6. left it overnight and let it set.

November Student Reflection Newsletter

 Today we have been doing our November Student Reflection Newsletter. I really enjoyed doing the writing, and the photos. A lot has happened this month or are we just really busy? Anyways, enjoy my November Student Reflection Newsletter.

Thank you letter to the people who helped us at our camp

 This week we have been writing some letters to the people who helped us at camp and the people who looked after us when we had our fun. I really enjoyed writing the letter to one of the instructor Dominic. Here is my letter to the instructor.

WALT: structure (thank you letter)
Success Criteria	Self assessment
2 or 3 paragraphs	😃😀😀
Correct setting out	😃😃😃
Interesting information using adjectives, verbs, a simile and nouns

Selina J

40 Campion Rd

Gisborne

5th November 2020

Dear Dominic, 

I am writing to you to thank you for all of your hard work in making our Year 5 & 6 camp. I personally think that you were the bomb-dot-com because you were a great  instructor. You helped us make great memories, I thought that you were following my group because you were everywhere. But it’s probably because you know how to instruct a lot of things.

One of the highlights for me was doing the flying fox because I wouldn’t normally do the flying fox because I don’t like heights. I really enjoyed going from the top of the platform to the bottom, it was fast when I saw other people do it before me. I felt a bit nervous because the people before me went fast. But I wanted to go because it was a new thing for me to do and it was a lot different to my normal day.

So thank you Dominic for helping us have fun and instructing us to be safe. You have made our Year 5 & 6 camp a lot of fun with the other instructors. We really appreciate your work at Tui Ridge. 

Mā te wā

Selina

            

Letters to the Editor

 Today we were learning to write a letter to the editor about our Rerenga awa because we want it to have beautiful native creatures. So we have been busy and writing a letter to the editor. Here is my letter. The letter goes into the news paper.

Saint Mary's is a Green-Gold Enviro school, and we want more fresh water river creatures in our awa. But there is one problem; there is long grass down near the Rerenga awa and big blackberry bushes have grown. Some of the people from our school have emailed the council, been to visit the council and used the ‘Fix It’ app to tell them about it but they didn’t reply. The school has already cleaned up the awa, and we need to plant more native trees there. But we need the council to mow the grass and take out the blackberry bushes. Our school has already done our part so now we need the council to do theirs. We want more fresh water creatures in our awa, and native birds in our trees. Freshwater creatures only like the rivers by shady places. Because the sun just beams onto the river, it makes the water hot, right? The creatures don't like places that are hot. They only like shady places like under trees. So come on council - do your bit!

Screencastify on speech

This week we have been writing about our speeches because next week we are going to perform our speeches. I have chosen to do my speech on 'should plastic be banned?' I have chosen this because we are trying to persuade people. It was really hard to say my Māori pepeha because it was my first ever time saying my Māori pepeha, because the last years i have been doing my pepeha was all Chinese ones. Here is my video of me doing my speech.

Should animals be kept in zoos/ speech writing

WALT - use specific vocab

 This week we were learning to write about speeches because speeches are coming up at the end of the term. This was just a practice and starting to know how to write a specific speech. The whole class did this type of writing because it was just a warm up. Here is my writing, if you want to answer one of the question then please comment down below.

Animals should not be kept in zoos.

Should animals be kept in small cages and not be able to move around?

I strongly believe that animals should not be in zoos because it’s brutal. I think it’s mean because in zoos, they rely on humans to survive, they are taken away from their habitats and taken away from families.

Firstly, their natural instinct to hunt goes away because the zoo keeper’s feed them and decide when they eat, and how much they eat. Also the tourists or visitors feed animals junk food. They are NOT ALLOWED it because it makes the poor animals sick. It’s also not healthy for animals. It’s not their normal diet.

Secondly, lack of freedom means muscles detenciate. I mean the animals don’t use their muscles so animals can lose simple stuff like walking, swinging and swimming for some animals. It is too hot for some animals like polar bears and penguins, just because of zoos. Some zoos are also too cold for other animals like elephants and crocodiles.

Thirdly, babies are taken away from their mothers. Which is very hard for the babies to live. Like us, elephants feel joy when they see their families but grief when separated from each other. In zoos, they are lonely. There are no herds. They are normally in heards. Animals in erds, when they are separated, they will feel and have depression, anxiety, aggression and sometimes die.

I strongly believe that animals should not be kept in zoos because it is brutal.               

By Selina 

Extinct New Zealand Animals

Last week we have been writing about Extinct New Zealand animals. My extinct animal is the laughing owl. I have link the sites that I used to get the facts. I used my own words because if I just copy and paste than you and I would not understand what it means. I found it easy to write about it because the laughing owl (or the Sceloglaux Albifacies) is one of New Zealand's native owl. Also most of my classmates is also doing the laughing owl.

Sceloglaux Albifacies 

(Laughing owl)

13/08/2020

( click these links to go to the site where I went to get the facts. F1, F2, F3, F4, F5 and F6. )

Classification 

I am writing about New Zealand  Extinct animals. The Sceloglaux albifacies (laughing owl) were originally placed in the monotypic genus Sceloglaux.

Description

The laughing owl weighs around 600g. That’s almost as heavy as a basketball. Wow! The Sceloglaux albifacies are about twice the size of a Morepork. You can still see Moreporks now but there is not much in the world I believe.

Habitat

Laughing owl lives in both open country and forested areas. Of course they are nocturnal animals because they’re owls. They roosted in caves or fissures in rock areas.

Diet

The Sceloglaux albifacies eat small-medium sized birds, frogs, bats, lizards, juvenile tuatara and laver. That owl can eat a lot of different small animals. But now they are extinct. Sceloglaux albifacies also eat larger insects.

Threats

Before the Europeans came to New Zealand, the Sceloglaux albifacies happily doing it’s life cycle. But once the Europeans came, they were hunted down. Just for dumb stuff. They killed the laughing owl, stuffed it and put it in museums. Sometimes zoos too.

Dynamic Facts

It is 14-15 in height with a wingspan of 10.4.

By Selina

Fact file about the Pekapeka Tou Pote

This week I was learning how to identify the main idea and evaluate ideas.
I found it easy to find photos.
I found it challenging to find facts that will amaze you.
My digital object shows that I can identify the main idea and evaluate ideas.
Next time I would change the colors that I have picked.

Report writing

This week we were learning how to put report pieces together.
I enjoyed reading them and putting them together.
I found it challenging to get it all done and right.
        My Success Criteria is...

• To use a title. (To show what the report writing is)
• to write the classification. (Family gender)
• to write a description. (Looks like)
• to write about their habitat. (where it lives)
• to write a dynamic fact. (Fun fact)

Matariki star

This week I was learning how to make a Matariki star.
I enjoyed making my star.
I found it challenging to glue it perfect.

Matariki

WALT - visual language features.

This week I was learning how to use visual language features.

I enjoyed typing it onto my chromebook.

I found it challenging to challenge myself.

My digital learning object shows that I can use visual language features.

Matariki

What is Matariki?

Matariki is the Māori name for a cluster of stars. Matariki is the start of a new 

Māori new year. If you want to see it, you can look at the place where the 

sunrise is, just 1 hour before the sunrise, you might see the stars. Matariki 

starts in June/July, 

Matariki is a time to celebrate new life, it is also a time to remember those who

 have passed away and to plan our own future. Matariki is also a time to 

celebrate with whānau and friends - we enjoy kai (food), waiata (song), 

tākaro (games) and haka.

How many stars does Matariki have?

Matariki has nine stars, but before we all thought it was 7. But according to the

 Māori astronomer, Dr Rangi Matamua, who’s been researching Matariki over 

30 years ( Wow, that’s a lot of years).  Dr Rangi Matamua found that some of 

his tūpuna were able to see 9 stars.

Through the naked eye, you could only see 7 stars. But if you look carefully, 

you might see 9 or with a star scoop you can see the nine stars IF you look in 

the right spot where the stars would be.

The 9 visible stars include: Matariki, Tupuārangi, Waipuna-ā-Ranchi, Waitī, 

Tupuānuku, Ururangi, Waitā, Pōhutukawa and Hiwa-i-te-Rangi. Each star 

holds a certain significance over our wellbeing and environment.

The 9 Matariki stars.                                                        

Matariki

Matariki is the star that signifies reflection, hope, our connection to the

 environment and the gathering of people. Matariki is also connected to the

 health and wellbeing of people.

Pōhutukawa

Pōhutukawa is the star that connected to those who had passed away.

Waitī

Waitī is connected to the fresh waters of the bodies and the food sources.

Waitā

Waitā is connected with the ocean and the food sources within the ocean.

Waipuna-ā-Ranchi

Waipuna-ā-Ranchi is connected with the rain.

Tupuānuku

Tupuānuku is the star that is connected with everything that grows within 

the soil and is ready to be harvested or gathered for food.

Tupuārangi

Tupuārangin is the star that is connected with everything that grows within 

the trees, like berries, fruits and birds. 

Ururangi

Ururangi is connected with the wind.

Hiwa-i-te-Rangi

Hiwa-i-te-Rangi is connected with granting our wishes, and releasing our 

 aspirations for the coming year.

WALT - structure paragraphs.

WALT - structure paragraphs.

This week we were learning how to use structure paragraphs.

I enjoyed writing the plan.

I found challenging was using sequence idea in order.

Why do you not float when you jump?

What happens if you jump up? Do you go down? Or you just float off into space?

Today I will be talking about gravity. I will be using dropper poppers to help talk about gravity.

Gravity is like a super hot glue around Earth and it makes gravity. Just like an apple fell and hit the ground. Why does it not go up or right or left?  

The super glue around Earth makes gravity. It's like super glue but you can’t see it.

Gravity is a force that pulls everything down. Not left or right but down.

If you use a dropper popper with a ping pong ball, the ping pong ball will fly up into the sky. But why does it not stay in the sky? Well gravity pushes the ping pong ball back down. If you invert the dropper popper dome down with a ping pong ball, it will fly into the air. But come back down.

No matter where you throw the ball, it’s going down.

Homophones

WALT - recognise homophones.
There means here. E.g My puppy likes to sleep there. Same sentence, My puppy likes to sleep here. They both mean the same thing. "There" is like "here".
Their means you are talking about a person. E.g I really like their shirt. Same sentence, I really like her/his shirt. They both mean the same thing. "Their is like "her or his".
They're is short for "they are". E.g Kim likes eggs only when they're hard-boiled. Same sentence, Kim likes egg only when they are hard-boiled. They both means the same thing. "They're is like "they are".

Dolphins

Last week I was learning about recall and make inferences.

I enjoyed reading and watching the videos.

I found it challenging to do some of the slides.

WALHT - use a hook.

WALHT - use a hook.
Today I was learning how to use juicy verbs, different sentence starters and adjectives.
I enjoyed writing about this recount.
What I found challenging was using adjectives.
My digital learning object shows that I can use juicy verbs, different sentence starters and adjectives.
Next time I would change some of the writing.

                                                                        Beach

Running through the hot burning sand, I got to the water as quick as a flash. It’s hard to run on the hot sand. Sticks and shells just got in the way. Oh no! A big, dark, deep hole. Finally we made it to the water and waves. 

My brother tried to defect the waves. He was no match for the waves. Waves kicked him down, tripping him up. He stopped and stomped all the way to the beach.

A few minutes later I was on my back in the water , and… OWW! A tiny little crab pinched me. I ran as fast as I could, out of the water and onto the hot sand. It wasn’t that hot because  I was in the water. 

Everyone was tired so mum bought us ice cream. My little brother, my other little brother and I had a race. Whoever finished their ice cream last won. Mum also bought us hot chips. Ice cream and hot chips are the best!

Onjali Q. Rauf Fact File

This week I was learning how to use combine sources of information.

I enjoyed finding a photo of Onjali Q. Rauf.

What I found challenging was finding wow facts.

Going to the park writing.

WALHT - different sentence starters.

Today I was learning how to use juicy verbs, different sentence starters and Smilies.

I enjoyed writing about our park walks during the lockdown.

What I found challenging is using different sentence starters.

Going to the park.

Wind blew into my face as I biked across the road. We arrived seeing Lucy the dog run up to us. I started the ball and kicked it to dad. As the ball goes as fast as Lucy. As quick as the Flash. Lucy gets the ball. The sun went down. Sky turned dark. Helmets on and ready to go. Our bikes go as fast as a slow car.

mystery scenarios

Today I was learning how to write about mystery scenarios.
I enjoyed writing about teachers from school.
What I found challenging was Metaphor.