Jesus Is Born!

What I enjoyed:  I enjoyed painting the background, from darker to lighter.

My next step: I should have made the silhouettes a bit bigger.

Luke 2:7

7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Safety Tips

I will now share my three favourite safety tips...

1. If the oxygen masks come down, calmly put it on.
(Remember to put your one on first before doing someone else's)

2. Always stay seated if the seat belt light is on, and always have your seat belt fixed.

3. Lastly, remember to switch your phone to 'Airplane Mode'.

Japan

For the Summer Learning Journey I have chosen the country Japan.
Here are two fun facts about Japan:
1. In South Korea and Japan, there is a 'Cat Cafe'.  The cat cafe has actual cats inside to hang out with while having a coffee. :)

2. A building in Japan has a highway going through it.

I'd like to visit Japan one day because I love travelling to new places.  I like going to different countries and exploring new things.  

-  -  -

1. The capital city of Japan is Tokyo.
2. In the year of 2015 (October), Japan's population went to 13.491 million.
3. The weather in Tokyo during January is: 10 degrees (Celsius) which can be converted to 50 degrees (Fahrenheit) This is all for the daytime weather.  The nighttime weather can be 2 degrees (Celsius) also 36 degrees (Fahrenheit)
4. Tokyo is located in the middle part of the country.
5. The main language spoken in Tokyo is just Japanese.

What is a Capital City?
A capital city is where the government of the country mainly functions.  A capital city includes all leaders and officials, because a capital city is their home.

RESOURCES:
https://www.factslides.com/s-Japan
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2273.html
http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/english/about/history/history03.html

Te Reo

This Term we learnt to say where things are placed in Maori.  We used the words "on" and "under"
For example:

Kei runga i te pukapuka te makatiti
The stapler is ON the books.

What I enjoyed: Creating the class
What I need to work on: Try and go slower as we pronounce the sentences.
What I did well: Working together with Nika.

Showered In Thoughts

WALT: Show not tell. We are learning to write to imply. We are showing what we are feeling, not tell. What feeling could you infer from my piece of writing? I found it hard to use different describing words to describe the feeling without telling. I did well on describing how I felt before going on stage to do something. Next time I could shorten the writing.

My heart drops to my stomach.  Quick deep breaths. Bright lights lit the stage up showing the graceful dancer.  There my body stood. Completely frozen and unsettled. Sweat was already making its way down the side of my face.  It felt like a shower but only in sweat. My face heated up, my cheeks turned a deep dark red. The music suddenly stopped.  My heart felt like it stopped. I didn’t blink for a minute. I could feel vomit coming up but I held it back. Everything and everyone went silent… I realised I was supposed to be on!  Tears formed and slid down my boiling cheeks. It felt like swimming in a pool full of anxiety, fear and many other thoughts swimming along with me. My eyelids were heavy as my heart beat calmed.  My eyes closed… The chatter from the audience dug into me; hearing different whispers every second. Mouths moving constantly. Not one or two made me feel better, they were getting frustrated..

Ngatu

Ngatu

Have you ever heard of a Ngatu?  Not familiar with it? Nope, okay.  Well you’re in luck to learn all about this magnificent art!

Exactly what is a Ngatu?
Ngatu is a cloth, a cloth made from bark, that may be used for many different situations.    The cloth is created by women and young girls, they would sing traditional Tongan songs while they are forming the cloth.  Ngatu is the given Tongan name, as the Maori name is Tapa. The cloth can be worn as clothes and be able to wear during a traditional dance.

How is Ngatu made?
They first peel the bark, and they use the bark peeling to make the cloth and then they hang it up in the sun.  The bark is dipped into water to make it soft. They beat the bark with an ike so the cloth will be more thin and wide.  Next, the bark is hung\

up once again so it can dry.  After it has dried, the lay pieces of material on a table and it becomes the backing of the ngatu.  They spread a paste that is made out of flour and water onto the material. They then safely set down the feta’aki on top of the material.  Then, the cloth is leisurely rolled up into one piece and pick it up to take it outside. They unroll the ngatu to be shown to sun and left to dry.  Last but not least, the women will design or as in paint onto the ngatu with brown dye.

My Ngatu
The picture at the top is my design of a tapa cloth.  The creation of this was quite hard because we had to do layers of our prints.  We were inspired by photos of different Tapa cloths on the internet. That’s when we decided to chose 2 designs we like and use them.  A very popular pattern was the flower and another pattern which is quite difficult to describe but I can mostly say it has triangles.

The significance
Ngatu is important to Tonga because it is part of their culture for the past years.  As said before, it can be used for many different situations. Surprisingly, it can also be used a kite.  Ngatu can be used for different types of occasions, like a birthday and also for funerals. This can be passed down generation by generation and can be noticed by others who are not Tongan.

Lastly, to wrap this up, the ngatu is part of the Tongan culture.  It can be used for special occasions and also can be used for an activity; as in traditional dances.  

What I found difficult: I found it difficult to put the text in my own words because I personally think the original text was awesome. What I found easy: I took a few notes in my literacy book and tried to memorise the bits and pieces I have. So, to make it easy I had memorised and put it onto here. What I could do next time: Next time I should try and write more than just short sentences.

Cellphones shall not be banned!

WALT: Write a persuasive text. Should cellphones be banned in schools?

There was once a time where phones hadn't existed.  Now they do, you see them everywhere. In someone's hand, pocket or even in their bag. Before we had this advanced technology, we had flip phones.  Then, those were replaced with attractive favoured phones. Where you actually touch the screen, I mean back then we had buttons on phones. Okay okay, I'll get to the main topic.

Should phones be banned in schools?  Tweens and teens have phones now. It could possibly change them in a way where they would use their phones 24/7.

Firstly,  I disagree with this because phones can help you in a way.  I recommend the age of 12, for a child to start bringing a device to school.  Imagine this: The bell had just rung, students are leaving. You notice that no one has come to pick you up.  Your phone! Your phone is in your bag. You take it out and decide to ring your parents. You've informed them that you can now be picked up.  A phone can help you contact someone. You could possibly tell them about your day or just have a normal conversation.

Furthermore, phones can give a child or teenager a full responsibility for the phone.  It can help them look after their own things as they are growing older each year. But, it may take over them and could get the feeling of using their phone all the time.  Although, you can tell them when to stop using their phone or give them a time limit on how long they can use a phone. So, they will get used to the time limit and will know for themselves on when to stop.

Finally, a phone can give facts about the day.  An example is, you can set a calendar and will tell you about the events coming up for the day.  It can help you from forgetting things like a test or an activity that may happen in the day. A phone can give you facts about the recent news.  It might probably tell you about the weather and how cold or hot it might be. Phones can actually help you wake up in the morning by setting the alarm, the ringing will mainly wake you up so you can start getting ready for the day.  Most of us would probably sleep through it, but it's worth a try.

In conclusion, I feel that phones shall not be banned from schools because they are what we need to help us throughout the day.  A calendar to remind you, an alarm to wake you, a responsibility to help you and lastly a way to contact people.

What I learnt: I learnt how to use different words for a new sentence and how to back up my reasons correctly on why phones shouldn't be banned in schools. What I enjoyed: I enjoyed writing the whole persuasive text because persuasive writing is my favourite way to convince people about how I see things. What I found difficult: I mostly found it difficult is to actually come up with different reasons and I had some seconds thoughts on disagreeing with the topic but I finally chose my way to disagree. What I need to work on: Next time I could work on giving my opinions more of an understanding information to give my readers a chance to know what I am saying so no one would go 'huh?'.

Fractions, Decimals and Percentages

What I did well:
I think I did well on explaining on how to convert, though I had some trouble along the way so I may have mixed a little bit of words up due to some confusion.
What I enjoyed:
I enjoyed that I got it finished and I'm proud of how my presentation had worked out even if I had trouble, I had it finished.
What I could next time:
Next time I could justify on some on how to convert them to make sure that the people who are viewing understand what I am trying to say and teach them.

Posted

These are my posted activities for the past weeks.  The slideshow will update every time I finish and add a completed activity.

'Posted' is a book which contains with cellphones being banned because of some issue.  Kids have found a way to communicate through post it notes.

The 7 Sacraments

What I did well:
I think I did well on making the pictures or symbols match with each Sacrament because instead of googling images, I made them myself.
What I enjoyed:
Making the little symbols was what I enjoyed doing.  I didn't trace any image out to create them.
What I could do next time:
Next time I could maybe justify on what a Sacrament is more and give information so people can understand what I am saying.

Coat of Arms

I worked with Niel and Tali for this activity.

In summary, we had to find our school motto, which was just our C.E.R.R (compassion, excellence, responsibility & respect.)

We found a symbol and the colours that represent our school.  We have justified what they meant.

All three of us had coloured in the Coat of Arms, and chose to show Niel's colouring picture in this presentation.

Tinikling

WALT: Explore how different cultures produce music

I chose my own country, the Philippines.  The bamboo poles create a beat, and more detail is that, girls or boys dance in between the poles and try to avoid get hit by the poles.  But, the poles have a kind of rhythm that will get those who are dancing in between to get moving.
Next time, I could maybe add more information and detail rather than having just a one sentence answer or just a few words.
As said, the poles are made out of bamboo.  The bamboo poles are all even sizes, you can do it with 2 poles only or you can add extra poles and extra people.  To dodge the bamboo trap, of course, the dance would be planned first before the people do the actual thing.  The poles  are usually chopped off to use for Tinikling.  Music can go along with the dance as the bamboo poles have a beat which makes the music exciting to dance to.  2 people or more (optional but I think 2 people is good) , can dance in between the poles.  The bamboo poles can be painted in bright colours to go along with the clothing of the dancers.

Respect

We are doing this because the class is starting to lack respect.
There has been swearing going around recently, which we are not allowed to do because it is not showing our CERR values.
(Compassion, Excellence, Responsibility, Respect.)
With our hands, people would do rude gestures to other students in the class.

For the past weeks, the behaviour in the class changed and everything is starting to go wrong. I've gone up and was honest on what was happening in our class.  My class is truly lacking respect.  We are not treating each other correctly.

Guidelines For Babysitting

These are my guidelines for those who are babysitting.

What I did well:
I did well on writing all these things that babysitters need to know or do if they are going to babysit children of other parents.

What I could do next time:
Next time, I could add more guidelines and research on babysitting, but I'm not a professional babysitter so I wrote down the guidelines I know.

What I enjoyed:
I enjoyed writing what I already knew so I could share on this slideshow what I know about babysitting.

My family holiday!

My holiday with my family!



My holiday wasn’t quite a big of a holiday, but at least I got to spend it with my family… 
I am going to tell you all about my holiday that I spent with my amazing family.  It may be an ‘Eh, boring’ holiday, I know, but it’s better to have it with your family rather than having it being you all by yourself with no one to be with be such a loner… It doesn’t matter what you think about this, but I need to share this family holiday with you. :)

Firstly, my family and I went on a helicopter!  No, I’m just kidding, but what I did was also pretty cool.  My family and I watched two great movies that came out, though I can’t seem to know which one was my favourite.  Infinity War or Rampage?  They’re both cool movies, my dad and I really wanted to see Rampage first so we watched that one first.  And all I can say is that to make sure your Gorilla isn’t 10x bigger than its usual size the next day.

Then, we would sometimes take walks around Wigram.  It was very calming, the weather was nice enough to be outside and enjoy the shining sun.  It felt good to be outside, though on some days it was quite windy.  Sometimes, my mom and I would start taking a walk during the evening and the sun was setting down.  I would gaze at the sunset, which had light blue sky and beautiful peach clouds.  I could stare at it all day until it would fade away as the night sky comes out.  It was cold in the evening but it’s fine with me, the cold doesn’t bother me as much as it does to other people.  If I remember, I would bring my phone during the walks so I could take a photo of the sunset.

After, my sister and I started taking piano lessons.  We call our teacher, ‘Teacher Gracey’.  I enjoy playing the piano because I’ve always wanted to play the piano ever since I fell in love with music.  Music is my get away, it distracts me from bad thoughts and the world.  The world is basically muted for me when I start playing my music.  Even if I’m sad, I still find the time to listen to music, my music changes when my mood is different.  Say, when I’m sad, I’ll listen to sad songs. 



Then, it soon had been my last few days of the holidays…  It was fun and I can’t wait for the next holiday.



After the holidays, we needed to write a recount of our holidays.  Like what we did, or what we may have seen during those free days off school.  My holiday wasn't quite a big one but I present you my holiday with my family.

What I did well:
I think I aced my whole recount, I tried to put more of what I am like into my writing.

What I enjoyed:
I enjoyed thinking back into what I have done in the holidays and picturing it in my head and feeling like I was doing it all over again.

What I could do next time:
Next time, I could take a leap and use more punctuation.

Anzac Day Poem

What We Had To Do:
We had to create poem called a 'Diamante Poem'  that would go in the shape of a diamond.  We used nouns, verbs or adjectives in every line.  We may have had 2 nouns and 2 verbs in one line.  Or, we had 2 verbs and 1 adjective.

What I Did Well:
I think I did well on creating my poem though I had some trouble coming up with words that would match with the theme.  I needed to make sure they were proper nouns, verbs and adjectives.

What I Enjoyed:
I enjoyed the words I had chosen to use mostly, because it went with the war kind of vibe.  It was hard to try not to repeat some words.

What I Could Do Next Time:
Next time, I could maybe come up with more strong and deep words, so my poem could be more understood rather than being just an old boring poem.  I tried my best on this poem, and I'm proud of how it came out.

Mind Map // Commonwealth Games

On this activity, I had to create a mind map of what I already know about the Commonwealth Games.  Then, I had to watch a video on YouTube about the Commonwealth Games and list down the sports I see within it.
Welcome to greatness GC2018

What I did well: I did well on creating the mind map and I also did well on listing down the sports I saw.  In my point of view I found 12 sports within the video.

What I enjoyed: I enjoyed on thinking back to the last time (2014) I did facts about the Commonwealth Games.  I remembered something about a girl named Lauren Boyle who is a swimmer and I researched about her.

What I can do next:  Next time, I should go deeper into my thinking and see what else I could remember so there wouldn't be only 4 things on my mind map.

Netball / Commonwealth Games

For this activity, we had to first list down the sports that are in the Commonwealth Games and then we had to pick one sport and write a detailed information poster about the sport we chose.  We had to include the rules and the other things that are involved in the sport.
I decided on writing about Netball.

What I did well:  I think I did well on explaining what the rules are and what they are called if you break one of them.

What I enjoyed:  I enjoyed writing everything mostly, like I said, I did well explaining the rules and I also enjoyed doing them too.

What I can do next time:  Next time I could explain how the game starts, how the game ends, and how everything else goes.

Borobi the Koala // Commonwealth Games

What I did well: I think I did well on answering the questions the were asked and explaining who Borobi is.
What I enjoyed:  I enjoyed writing and researching about Borobi.
What I can do next time: Next time I could add more detail on the Borobi I created.

Transformation

What I did well: I think I did well on explaining what they are and what it does.
What I enjoyed:  I enjoyed doing the pictures and explaining.
What I can do next: Next time I should go deeper and add more.

R.E

What I did well: 
I did well creating images that go with the words,
What I enjoyed:
I enjoyed drawing.
What I can do next:
Add more detail to my drawings :)