Observation Something Happened Here…

LI: Learning about New Zealand history.

For reading we looked at New zealand history from the school starter kit. We chose one of the 36 cards and learnt about the tangata whenua which tells us the mountain, river, tribe and marae for place we choose. We chose observation, this card was about Abel Tasman and Dumont D’urville. Abel Tasman’s story was about murderers bay, we learnt why he gave murderers bay the name and what happened.

I found this task interesting because I was given the opportunity to learn about history behind New Zealand.

Thank You Card

Me and the rest of thr netball team crated a thank you card for Miss Morris before she left the school. This card was created for Miss Morris as she was leaving our school. We wrote things about how she was an awesome coach and how she helped us level up our netball skills. We had good memories with Miss Morris and hope she will visit us soon.

 

Character Dispelling

For reading I chose a character from a text and dispelled the gender bias. I chose Brainy smurf as my character, when I dispelled the gender I changed a few things, for example a gave her more feminin clothing and a more defined body shape. While I was dispelling the gender I stayed with the theme of a steryotypical “nerd” because ofter when you hear the word “brainy” people think about “nerds”.

I enjoyed this activity because I got to take one of the characters I like and dispell the gender bias that followed from the past in evolution. This task let me express my ideas and think about questions like “what actually would my character look like as a female?” overall this activity helped me display my creativity and learn about gender bias and how men are displayed as more empowering as woman.

Aretha Franklin Song RESPECT

I completed this task so that I could achieve a CARE award in order to get a badge. For this task I needed to research about Aretha Franklin’s song RESPECT.

Aretha Franklin is a famous singer who was in the music buisness for over 60 years. One of her most famous singles RESPECT. Aretha Franklin created because she noticed that everybody wanted and needed respect. This song was noticed by many people and became an anthem for feminism and civil rights.

I enjoyed this task becasue I got to learn how a song can change society and make a better changes in the world. I found this inspiring on why and how this song became an anthem for feminism and civil rights.

Collaborative Art

LI:  To use different types of warm and cool colours to recreate a world-known painting from Van Gogh.

This week’s art is about Van Gogh and his famous art piece “The Starry Night”. The Class was divided into 2 groups of 16 people, 1 of each group remade “The Starry Night” in warm colours and cool colours digitally. Each group divided 16 pieces of the Starry Night with each person in the group. Working as a collaborative team we gathered all or pieces to 1 DLO to finally reach our desired outcome.

I found this activity fun because I worked with everyone and used my art skills to re-create a square from a famous painting.

Escape From Afghanistan

LI: To explain in fewer words what the text is about 

 

Our challenge in this activity was to summarise the text in our own words. We were challenged to use powerful vocabulary instead of simpler words. My summary tells the journey of all refugees and the journey they went through.

I found this Mahdi’s journey stressful because all of the obsticals he came to were stressful

Tension Graphs

LI: To gauge the tension in a text

Escape from Afghanistan Tension Chart:

My name is Rez Tension Chart:

From Afghanistan to Aotearoa Tension Chart:

When I compare these graphs I noticed that these refugees had a really hard time setling into a new country and leaving eveything they have behind. 

I found this activity interesting because I was able to learn more about refugees and how they come with the obsticals they face.

Synthesis Challenge

LI: To compare and contrast the way authors hook us in and build tension in a set of texts.

Our group has made the decision that “My name is Rez” has the best introduction out of three texts. As It states what Rez’s childhood has been like. For example “We have never had our own homeland”. Meaning that she has endured psychological trauma and emotional scars that will forever be attached to her for the majority of her life. In act 1 it explains that her life is filled with hardships from being punished for getting something incorrect, to having both of her parents’ villages being bombed. The horrors they faced seemed to never end. But in the end she became a lawyer that helps refugees come to New Zealand and she had a prosperous life.

Our challenge in this activity was to compare and contrast the ways each author built tension and hooked us in using evidence from the texts to support our thinking. When we had read all three texts in the set we wrote a collaborative statement to convince other students why one of the story beginnings was better than the other(s).

I found this activity interesting because I got to learn about different refugees and the ardous journeys they faced.

Procedural Writing

LI: To write a set of clear instructions that show how to make a hangi.

How to make a hangi

You will need:

Equipment/Materials

  • Shovels
  • lighter/matches 
  • stones/iron
  • paper
  • lighter
  • twigs/kindling
  • metal baskets
  • Cloth sacks
  • hook tool
  • Gloves
  • cylinder of water
  • big leaves
  • wood
  • at least 2-3 people to dig the pit.

 

  • Ingredients:
  • Vegetables(potato, carrots, taro leaves, kumara, pumpkin,  cabbage.) 
  • Meat (ox, chicken, beef, lamb, pork)

Numbered Steps:

  1. Dig 1m(4ft) deep pit. Make sure it’s slightly larger than food baskets.
  2. Gather wood and volcanic stones then stack the wood piling the stones on top
  3. Light the wood on fire and let the wood and stones wait for about 3-5 hours so they heat up, you will know when they are ready once stones start turning white.
  4. Prepare the vegetables and add garlic powder and seasonings to add flavor.
  5. Collect meat for the hangi and season with salt and pepper or garlic powder, commonly chicken, pork and beef. 
  6. Line baskets in foil or banana leaves and place food in making sure meat and vegetables are in separate trays.
  7. Soak sacks and sheets in water and place on the side of the pit so dirt can’t get in.
  8. Place all the food trays into the pit on top of the hot rocks making sure the meats are added first and then the vegetables.
  9. Put a wet sheet on top of the trays that is long enough to touch the bottom tray, then add more wet sacks and sheets on top of everything.
  10. Let the food cook for at least 4 hours and then remove all sacks and sheets carefully so that no dirt gets onto the 
  11. Use gloves to transfer the trays of food and let it cool down.
  12. Carve meat to serving sizes and enjoy!

Today we unpacked how to follow and write a set of instructions. To do this effectively your instructions need to be explicit and the steps to follow ordered. Each step begins with an instructional verb and should be written in a way that is easy to understand.

SAFETY MESSAGE: Always make sure someone is looking after the Hangi to make sure that nothing burns and the environment is safe.

I enjoyed trying to follow the steps of the worksheet at the start because it taught me thayt I should always read the instructions carefully before I do anything.

A Moment in Time

LI: To recount and explore the learning and experiences from our Year 7/8 camp

I wrote a poem based on my senses like auditory, tactile, visual, and kinesthetic. I used my prior knowledge of the senses and unpacked different words and ideas that describes the Hunua Falls. These moment in time poems represent my experience at Kokako Lodge. One of my ideas were “I saw the birds flying freely in the live green trees”,  I then used word hippo to find more powerful words to strengthen My poem.

I found this activity fun because I got to use my sences to create a strong poem about my experience at Kokako lodge.