Creative Writing!

A tall mountainous landscape, with green trees. The bright blue sky glistened throughout the sparkling blue waters, with no clouds in sight. Above the bright blue water were some boats, ships, yachts floating above it, they stood still like ice on top of the water. The sun, bright as ever and scorchingly hot, it's rays hit me, and a black shadowy person appeared on the ground.

I am a hiker and I travel all around the world climbing different mountains in different countries. I have always enjoyed what I personally do, it was quite lonely hiking by myself. Although I got quite used to it. I continued to climb the rocky mountain, and I got even more exhausted each step up. I might even take a swim at the ocean.

While walking up the rocky mountain, I started getting thirsty. I sat down at the rough, hard, rock, I  and put my bag down. I slowly opened the bag, the small space of the bag was empty. I have forgotten to bring water, I knew I was in trouble, I started panicking but I knew I had to do something.

I stared up looking at the tall bright green trees, under the leaves of the tree were some bananas. But they won't keep me hydrated. I walked slowly trying to save energy, but I was looking for something specific. Then unexpectedly, I saw coconuts from the tree, I climbed the tree and cut off coconut from the tree; I started bashing the shell with a rock, a small opening appeared I drank the juice from the coconut, I knew I would be fine.

Summer Learning Journey - Activity 3 Mass Migration

Day 4 - Teaster Activity: Activity 3 Mass Migration.

As you know Donald Trump, the president of United States of America wanted to build a massive wall to separate the U.S.A from Mexico. Donald Trump's plan to build a wall was very pugnacious, meaning that some people strongly agree with his idea and some strongly disagree.

For this activity, let’s imagine that Donald Trump called you up and asked for your opinion on this controversial issue.

On your blog, please tell us what you think about his plan to build a wall between the U.S.A and Mexico. Is it a good idea or a bad idea? Why do you think so?

I honestly don't agree with the idea of build a wall to separate the U.S.A from Mexico.  Also, the majority of US citizens believe that the wall is not a good idea and it shouldn't be a priority for the president. Anyways I don't think that it is not a good idea to separate U.S.A from Mexico. 

Image Attribution: Mr Donald Trump New Hampshire Town Hall, Michael Vadon, CC BY-SA 2.0

Summer Learning Journey- Activity 1 Faster than a speeding bullet

Day 2 - Teaser Test: Activity 1 Faster than a speeding bullet.

For this activity, please create four new similes. You can use the starters below or you can make up your own.

… is as fast as… (eg: The brand new Ferrari is as fast as a lightning bolt)

… is as tall as…

… is as small as…

… is beautiful like...                                                                      

On your blog, share the similes that you have created with your readers.

Shelly-Ann Fracer- Pryce is a world-famous athlete also known as a (sprinter). She currently holds the 100m sprint and has been crowned the 'world's fastest women'. Shelly was born in Jamaica, Jamaica is a small country in the Carribean and has made lots of successful athletes and sportspeople.

My four similes:

Shelly-Ann Fracer-Pryce, is fast as light.
She is as small as a kid.
She is famous as Donald Trump
She is fast as Usain Bolt

Image Attribution: Shelly-Ann_Fraser-Pryce_Moscow_2013_cropped.jpg, Erik van Leeuwen, GFDL

Subject that I would like to learn!

For this week, Miss Birtch has tasked us to make a blog post about a subject we want to learn about that isn't available here at HHS (Hornby High School). Anyways, the subject that I would like to learn about is aviation. Aviation refers to activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. Moving on I want to learn about aviation because when I was a kid I really wanted to be a pilot, that's why I really would like to learn about aviation. Maybe someday I could even be a pilot. However, what would subject would you like to learn about that isn't in your school?

Cooking Technology!

This week on cooking technology, the food that we made today was cookies. The cookies that we made contained these few ingredients.

Ingredients:

• Condense Milk
• Flour
• Baking Powder
• Chocolate Chips 
• Butter 
• Vanilla Essence

The cookies smelt amazing and the outer cookie was crispy and the inside was soft. We struggled to measure the baking powder and the flour, but we still managed to fix it. Anyways, in the end, it still tasted amazing.

A Holiday At Italy!

If I was able to go anywhere in the world, I would love to go to Italy! I chose to go to Italy because it is such an amazing country that has amazing people, delicious food, wonderful art, and so much more. I mostly like to go here to eat food such; pizza, pasta, and gelato. I also want to explore this country and visit the landmarks, there are hundreds of destinations that you could go to when you are in Italy. There is the Milan Cathedral, Colleseum, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

When I am in Italy I would try out their gondola Rides, it is a traditional flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat that is similar to a canoe. The gondola is propelled by a gondolier who uses a rowing oar. I would really love to try this ride because it would be really relaxing because your not the one rowing the gondola. You can find this ride at Venice which is also an amazing destination to be at, and fun fact it is also where the spider-man movie was shot at. TeAnyways this is where I would have my holiday and I wish I could go here right now, but maybe I can go to this amazing country when I am older. 

Basketball Competition!

At the start of term 4, on Monday and Tuesday, we had a basketball competition. The competition was held at Pioneer Stadium, we used a van to get there, my teammates who were there were, Gerald, Jullien, Lars, Tobey, Tai, Ryan, Nikora. Jacob, Christian, and me. When we finally arrive at Pioneer, we saw a team about to go in and I couldn't tell what school they were, anyways we went inside and there were a lot of other schools and the people playing were really tall. So I got a little scared because some of them were taller than us and some could even touch the ring. We then changed into our basketball shoes and started warming up. In the first game we won, as well as the second and third games. But then we started getting really tired and we lost the fourth game and the fifth, although I managed to get a draw in the last game. Then our coach who was Tobey's brother told us that we had to win the first game on Tuesday to get to A-Grade. But overall I think we did pretty good on the first day.

On Tuesday we came back and feeling more energized and desperate to win so we can get to A-Grade. We changed and warmed up, afterward, it started. We all really wanted to get to A-Grade but the team we versed was really tall and talented. We thought we lost that game but the people scoring got the score wrong and we managed to win. We were all happy to make it to A-Grade and we still had 4 games to go. But we won 2 games and lost 3 on Tuesday and we got fourth which was really good in A-Grade. Anyways we all had lots of fun during the tournament and I wish that we can have the opportunity again because it was really fun.

Food Technology!

During term 4 we were making different types of food in food tech, we have made quite a lot of dishes such as; burgers, sushi, pizza slices, and other dishes. But today we have made a dish called apple turnovers. An apple turnover is a triangular-shaped dish that has apple inside of it, the apple contains sugar and a little bit of cinnamon. Anyways here are the ingredients needed to make this dish.

Ingredients:

• Sugar
• Cinnamon
• A sheet of puff pastry
• Apple
• Eggs

Steps:

1. The first step is to place the puff pastry to a clean surface and make it a diamond shape facing towards you.
2. Then put the apple almost at the end of the corner, but put just about enough of apple but not too much because it won't close.
3. Sprinkle a little bit of sugar and cinnamon into the apple.
4. Grab the opposite corner of the pastry and place it on top of the other corner.
5. Get a little bit of water and rub water into the ends of the pastry to act as a glue.
6. Grab a fork and use the end of it and squish the ends of the pastry to lock it.
7. Spread the egg wash on top of the pastry and poke a hole with it by using a fork.
8. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes and you can enjoy your apple turnovers. You can also sprinkle some powdered sugar on top of the apple turnovers to make it more delicious. 

Making Our Own Games!

This week on P.E. Hurumanu, we made our own games. There was a total of 6 teams and you had to play each other's games. All of the teams got different equipment each, but the opposite side of your team would have the same equipment as you have. I was in the blue bibs team and the opposite of us was the no bibs teams, we both got the same equipment which was; 2  hula hoops, 2 rackets, 1 tennis ball, and cones. We planned our game, but we found it hard to think of a game. Fortunately, the teachers gave us ideas about what our game could be like.

Our game that we manage to make was like basketball or netball. We didn't use most of our equipment but we also used the tennis ball and some cone. The rules were pretty basic and easy to learn, all you had to do was shoot the tennis ball into the netball hoops, we used netball hoops as the ring for our game but we asked first if we were allowed to use them. That was pretty much our game, it went pretty well when the no bibs played our game. Anyways we played the no bibs game and it was really fun.

Guitars With Mr. Mitchell!

This week on Music, we looked at 3 different types of guitars. We were lucky to have Mr. Mitchell tell us all the different types of guitars. Anyways the first guitar we looked at is an acoustic guitar, the acoustic guitar is harder to play than the electric guitar but it has a good sound to it. The acoustic guitar is also good for starters, it also has a wooden body and metal strings.

The second guitar that we looked at is an electric guitar, the electric guitar doesn't have any soundholes to it, but if you plug it into the amplifier it's very loud. You can also practice the electic guitar even if it's not plugged into an amplifier. The electric guitar has a wooden body and metal strings.

The last guitar that we looked at and probably the most interesting guitar I have ever seen was the travel guitar. It is a very small guitar because it is easy to fit in the plane when you traveling. But the downside to it is that it is almost the same sound as the ukelele.

Anyways that was the 3 guitars we looked at, I hope you enjoyed!

A Little More About Me!

Kamusta, I am Vann from 7/8 AL. This term Miss Birtch will be teaching us every Wednesday in period 5 for an hour. I really look forward to working with Miss Birtch because she also watches our games in basketball during Fridays, and she's also really kind just like our homeroom teacher. Since Miss Birtch will be teaching us every Wednesday, I think that it makes Wednesday something to look forward to. Anyways this is some information that would help Miss Birtch know me a little more.

1. Basketball: I really love playing basketball with my brothers, friends, and other people. Playing basketball or just practicing it makes me happy and it helps me to keep fit and healthy.

2. Biking: Sometimes on the weekends I would go biking to Wycola Park to play basketball, I sometimes also go with my brothers to play but sometimes I don't. Biking also is very healthy for you just like walking but biking is faster than walking and it saves more time to practice basketball.

3. Games: When I have a lot of free time I would play games either on my laptop, phone or the ps4. I would play games with my friends and my brothers, I really enjoy playing games and it makes me happy.

4. Anime: When I also have a lot of free time I would watch anime on my laptop or phone.

Anyways, I really look forward to working with you Miss Birtch every Wednesday!

Orana Park Visit 2!

Today the 25th of September, we visited Orana Park once again. I have been into Orana Park 3 times. However, I still remember the information that they told us last time, although I have learned more new things specially how global warming affects the animals. Anyways I was very excited to see the animals as well as the ones that I have seen before. When we finally arrived at Orana Park, they gave us stickers that had our name as well as a number. Everyone had a different number whatever number you got was going to be your group, there were 4 groups in total, I was in group 4.

Before we went to go "see them animals" we ate lunch first, afterwards, we all split up into groups and we went to different routes. Anyways my favourite animal that I was able to see was the kea and the geckos. The reason why the geckos and the keas were my favorite because the geckos looked really cool and cute. They were also really hard to see since they were camouflaged, anyways I also really liked the keas too because I was able to get really near them and they were very intelligent.

Anyways this is my 3rd visit to Orana Park, I hope that we could go again to learn more about the animals and maybe even find new animals. Here are some pictures of us and the animals in Orana Park.

Pictures:

Music Suite Visit and STOMP!

Last week of music we have been making our own songs, although we also made our own beat by stomp. Stomp is a group of people who make beat and rhythm by uses their body to make sounds. You can also use other equipment to make a rhythm. Anyways after that, we went to the Music Suite for a visit. When we got there the music teacher there had us to do a quiz, the quiz contains questions that relate to musical instruments. The musical instruments that were in the music suite were; keyboards, pianos, guitars, electric guitars, ukuleles, drums, electric drums, flute, and last of all a saxophone. 

Some of the questions were like, what is the difference between an electric drum to a normal drum? What family does the piano and keyboard belong to? That is just some of the questions, but there were 8 questions in total. Unfortunately, I got 1 question wrong, for the questions, we get right we get a stamp on our CARR Card. So I only got 7 stamps, but it was still really good. 

I really enjoyed the visit to the Music Suite, and I hope that we will be able to go back again and maybe play different musical instruments. Anyways here are some pictures during the visit.

Making my Own Song!

This week on Instrumental Industries - Music. We had to make our own songs, the song that I made was inspired by basketball. I also took some of the lyrics to other songs but made them a little different. I chose to make my song about basketball because I really like playing it and watching other people play it. Anyways this is the song that I made.

Song:

Chorus: Get out the way,

get out the way,

get out the way yeah!

Get out of our yeah!

Verse 1: This is our sport!

This is our court!

This is where we belong!

This is where will win our games, yow!

Verse 2: Win, win, win, win, win,

All were going to do is win.

Win, win, win, win, win.

Never going to lose again.

Chorus: Get out the way,

get out the way,

get out the way yeah!

Get out of our yeah!

End: Getting better everyday,
going to win our games.
Getting stronger and better.
Get out the way yeah!

Ella West Visit!

On the 9th of September, a very special person was going to be visiting our school. That person is Ella West! This was possible because the students who were reading 'Night Vision' and 'Rain Fall'. Had an opportunity to communicate with Ella West. Now she is visiting our school! I was really exited even if I haven't read the book yet, but it was because it was my first time having an author talk to us.

Anyways If you have no idea who she is, I will gladly tell you information about her. Firstly she is an author, she has published a lot of books including 'Night Vision' and 'Rain Fall'. She has also made a series of books that are called thieves, it was also her first book that she has ever published. But Night Vision was probably her most famous book, because it won awards and it also had 40,000 words! Rain Fall however had 50,000 words, she is currently writing a new novel which is called 'Sound of my Heart'. When she writes a novel, she tries to have about 1,000 words. Meaning if 'Rain Fall' had 50,000 words, then it probably took 50 days to make it. Although she still needs to send it to her publisher which might take more days.

When she started writing 'Night Vision' and 'Rain Fall', she got the idea from a documentary that talked about a disease. She also talked about her dog being in the story, he was called Jim. Anyways she used that idea and used it to write 'Night Vision', 'Rain Fall' was based on real people and places. Unfortunately when she publishes her books, it gets published in Australia instead of New Zealand. That's why she can't get on the top authors of New Zealand. Her name also isn't Ella West, she just uses that name because she said it sounds cooler but we now know her real name. Anyways that's all I hope you know more about Ella a West.

Class Novel - Trash!

At the start of term 2 we have been reading a class novel called "Trash", the author of the book was Andy Mulligan. I really enjoyed the book because it was about children who were living on a dump site, the dump site was at Behala and was called "Smokey Mountain". In fact Smokey Mountain is actually located in the Philippines at Manila. It was called Smokey Mountain because there is a lot of trash getting burned, and that's where it got it's name from.

Anyways there were 3 main characters in the story; Jun-Jun (also called Rat), Raphael, and Gardo. They went through difficult challenges together, one is having no money for food, and having a bad shelter. Although, one day Raphael was working through the dump site and found a bag that had 100,000 thousand pesos. Raphael told Rat and Gardo about the bag. But then cops started arriving at the dump site searching for the bag, they offered the people who finds the bag money. Although Raphael didn't tell the cops that he had the bag because he might go to jail. Now they're in big trouble, if you want to know what happens next. I highly recommend you to read the book if possible because, I really enjoyed it and I think you would too. There is also a movie made about Trash, but I haven't seen it yet. Anyways I hope you enjoyed!

Decades of Music!

Today on Music class, we have been learning on the decades of music. For examples genres and who were popular back then. Anyways we had to research different decades and make a slideshow for it, my slideshow contains musicians, singers, and bands.

So here is the slide show that I have made:

How to make a Hangi!

Today in Maori, we were learning about Hangi. We were learning about what they were and how they were made. Anyways, a Hangi is a traditional New Zealand Maori method of cooking. It is when they cook food on heated rocks that are buried in a pit over, which is also known as an umu. Hangi is used for large groups on special occasions. When I first found out about Hangi, I wanted to try it because I found it interesting to cook food underground. But if you want to know how to make a Hangi here are the steps to make one.

Step 1: The first step for making a Hangi is to dig a pit that will be big enough for the food.
Step 2: The second step is to make a fire in the bottom of the pit using hardwood.
Step 3: The third step is to pile up rocks that can handle the heat from the fire, pile them up on top of the hardwood.
Step 4: The fourth step is to set the wood on fire and leave it to burn.
Step 5: Once the wood has burnt out, the rocks should be really hot.
Step 6: Prepare the food.
Step 7: Place the food on the Hangi, meat on the bottom and vegetables on top.
Step 8: Cover the food with wet clothes, it has to be white clothes because if you put clothes with colour the food will turn the same colour as the piece of clothing.
Step 9: When the food is covered with clothing, cover it with dirt.
Step 10: After 3 hours uncover the Hangi and remove the food. Then you should have your food!

Music: NZ Singer and Band!

Today in music, we had to research about a singer and a band that is in New Zealand. When we got our singer and band, we had to answer some questions about them. The singer that I chose was Lorde, and the band I chose was Split, Enz. When we have finished answering the questions, we then had to make a DLO. This is the presentation that I made.

Tane Mahuta - Outdoor Classroom Project Update! + Gym Sports!

For today's update on our project of creating an outdoor classroom. We are still continuing on it, and we have managed to progressed a bit further. We have started to separate furniture and any other objects. When the other people were separating the furniture, we were moving the furniture inside the greenhouse so it is much tidier. Some of the furniture inside was; tables, cabinets, and we also separated the object out of the greenhouse into groups. What I mean is, like any metal would be grouped up somewhere, any wood that could be burned will be grouped somewhere, etc.

After that, some of us had to leave because we had gym sports. Which meant that the people who had gym sports, wouldn't be able to help out in the classroom part. Although, gym sports was really fun too. When we got there the teachers in charge made us run laps around the gym. Then we did some stretching, and after that, we played multi-sports! There were six sports in total; football, dodgeball, hockey, basketball, touch, and netball. It was a pretty fun experience and I can't wait to do it again.