What Christmas Means to me

 We wrote to the Gisborne Herald for a competition for children to writes 2 or more sentences about what Christmas means to them.

We wrote how its about when Jesus was born and how its better to give than receive.

What Christmas Means to Me…

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ the Son of God when he was born on the 25th of December around 4 BC.  God sent Jesus down, His only son so he could teach everybody that by loving one another here on earth you would have eternal life in heaven with God forever and ever. Christmas also is a time for giving. When you get presents on Christmas, sure you get new things! But you get an even better feeling inside when you give presents. When I give my family presents I think of how happy it makes them. Merry Christmas!

Catalina 

St Mary’s School

Ice Candles

 Yesterday we made ice candles. You can make ice candles too. 

All you need is:

Old candles that you don't need to use anymore.

Ice

Empty cardboard milk cartons

Oil

Tall candle

Firstly, we cut open the top of the milk cartons. Next we rubbed oil all over inside of it so it would be easy to get the candle out.

Secondly, we placed the tall candle in the middle of the milk carton. Around it we filled it up with ice.

Next we poured melted wax into our milk carton. Then we waited overnight for the wax to dry.

Lastly, we ripped the carton around the candle and the  melted ice poured out of the crevases and holes.

Tips

*Make sure you rub the oil all around the carton.

*Double check you have enough wax to make the candle.

Camp Thank you Letter #2

 Here is my second camp letter.

This time I am writing to Jane, the High Ropes instructor.

Dear Jane ,

I am writing to you to thank you for all of your hard work in making our Year 5 & 6 camp go ahead. Thank you for showing us how to keep safe on the high ropes.

The High Ropes were one of my favourite Tui Ridge Activities along with rock climbing. Before I was really scared of heights but now I find it easier to cope with them now that I went on the high ropes. At first I wasn’t sure if I could get up the rickety bridge but I did! 

So thank you Jane, for your perseverance, time, and energy to help keep us safe on the high ropes.

Nga Mihi

Catalina

Thank You Camp Letter

 We are writing thank you letters to the people who made this camp possible.
I chose Shaun, our group adult and Francesca's dad. 
He did belaying for the Rock climbing and high ropes. Belaying, is the person who moves the rope when you are in a harness high up.
Rock climbing was my favourite, and though I was really scared that I would fall, I knew I wouldn't hurt myself. It took a lot upper and lower body strength.

Catalina C
40 Campion Rd
Gisborne

5 November 2020

Dear Shaun,
I am writing to you to thank you for your help and work to make the Year 5 and 6 camp possible, just like every single adult that helped. This camp was one of my favourite memories out of my time at St Mary’s School. You looked out for everyone, including our group (Fran, Ciara, Selina, Elena, Jorja, and I), our buddy Group (Jason, Corin, Noe, Arcangela, Mikaela, and Unaise), and even people who weren’t in our group. It wouldn’t be the same without you!

I enjoyed the rock climbing the most out of the Tui Ridge activities. You were the best at belaying! Thank you so much for encouraging me to go further even though I really didn’t want to. Flying fox was hilarious when you zoomed down. 

So thank you Shaun, for taking your time to do this, look after us, and help the teachers cope with all of us 69 kids, which they probably couldn’t keep an eye on for 4 days all on their own! I hope you keep the St Mary’s Year 5 and 6 camp in your memories.
THANK YOU!

Ngā mihi
Catalina

A Letter to the Editor

 Today for writing we did a letter to the editor.
There is a newspaper column in the Gisborne Herald where people can get their say.
We wrote about how the council isn't responding when we ask them to do their part and mow and spray the bushes at our rerenga awa so we can plant more native trees.
I found it tricky to start it.
I found it easy to give reasons why the should help us.
Here is my letter:
Dear Editor, 
I am a student at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School. Our School is a Green Gold Enviro School so we plant New Zealand’s native trees in our Rerenga Awa, River Garden. Rerenga means garden and awa means river. We want to encourage native birds and insects, freshwater creatures, and create a clean, clear river. But the blackberry bushes are stopping us from planting more. We can’t have a clean river or freshwater creatures because we can’t plant any more trees, and can’t provide shade. It is the council’s job to spray and mow those bushes. We have been to see the council, emailed them, and used their app, but we haven’t got a response. Surely, the council can do their part of looking after the environment.
Yours sincerely,
Catalina, Room 1 st Mary's

Brownie Batter

 This week for writing we are learning how to use imagery using similes, alliteration, and juicy verbs.

Our cameo was an excerpt from "Joey Pigza Swallowed the key" by Jake Gantos.

I found it easy to use juicy verbs.

I found it tricky to use alliteration.

Sucking and licking the orange rubber spatula, my mouth watered and shook as the full oozing of sugar and chocolate took over my flavourless mouth.  Blissful brownie batter slid down my throat like a wet paint slithering down a wall. I savoured  every single drop. I scraped the bowl  with my finger because that spatula just can't reach the rest. What were fingers made for? I shielded my bowl from my desperate siblings. I looked back at the bowl wondering why it was now so sparkling clean. Then my eyes widened. I was ready to cartwheel 100 times.

Catalina's Room 1 September Student Reflection Newsletter

 Here is my September Student Reflection Newsletter.
I found it easy to fill it in since I've done it a lot. 
I found it tricky to explain Maara Kai.
If you want to learn about biosecurity click here.

Why you should be Vaccinated

 In class we are writing our speeches.

Our success criteria was to 

*use a rhetorical question

*use persuasive language

*use emotive language

I found it easy to think of my topic.

I found it hard to use emotive language.

Listen to my speech here.

Animals should not be kept in Zoos

 WALT use persuasive and emotive language.

I found it hard to use persuasive language.

I found it easy to use a rhetorical question.

 Would you like to be taken away from your family and cooped up in a cage just so children can bang on the glass and make faces at you? No? Then why are we doing it to animals? I strongly believe that it is cruel and mean because in captivity they rely on humans to survive, they don’t learn to hunt themselves because they are hand-fed and tourists feed them junk food. 

Firstly the animals rely on humans to survive because the zookeepers decide what they eat and when they eat. They are Hanford and their instinct to hunt fades away. Tourists feed animals junk food like chips and it's not their natural diet! They become fat and it's hard for them to do what they usually do. 

Secondly, the animals are taken away from their natural habitat. Some countries are too cold for animals like the African elephant and too hot for animals like the polar bear. Their lack of freedom weakens their muscles.

Thirdly, animals are separated from their families. Did you know that elephants who are separated from their families suffer from mental health issues, anxiety, depression and sometimes even die? We are taking away their happiness of being together from them.

In conclusion, I urge you to not support animals in zoos because they rely on humans, taken away from their natural habitat, and separated.

Care for animals!

The Moa

 Listen to my reflection here.

The Moa’s classification is the Dinornis Robustus/ novaezelandiae. 

Description

Moa’s may have looked like an emus, judging by its skeleton. Their feet have three toes face forwards and one facing back. Female giant moa were larger than the males and were probably over 2 metres tall (taller than you!) and heavier than 250 kilograms (definitely heavier!) Moa had poor eyesight, good sense of smell and a short beak.

Habitat

Moa lived in New Zealand and the Stewart Islands. Little Bush Moa and Mantell’s moa lived in thick forest, while the crested and upland moa lived in the mountain zones of the South Island.

Diet

From the analysis of their fossils it suggests that they ate shrubs, trees, herbs, and grass.

 Each of the six types of moa had different shaped beaks, indicating they adapted to different plants.

Threats (were)

Maori substantially hunted Moa for food. Moa bones were carved into fish hooks, and pendants. The skin and feathers were made into cloaks and clothing. There have been a number of claimed historic sightings of the bird, but none had critical observations. Now, the moa are extinct.

Catalina

10/08/20

x

Toroa (Southern Royal Albatross) Fact File

We are doing a fact file on NZ animals.
I chose the Toroa (Southern Royal Albatross) because I went to Dunedin I went to a Albatross sighting place.
I found it hard to make the fact file from scratch.
I found it easy to find an Albatross picture.

Report Writing

This week for writing we are unpacking reports (observing the content).
We got a Level 3 Lion Report and cut to bits (literally).
We tried to put them back in the right order, with paragraphs, sticking to one topic per paragraph.
Then we used our pink highlighter to highlight the spelling mistakes.
Their success criteria was to:

• Adjectives, for description
• Subject specific vocab, words relating to the topic

I found it hard to glue all the pieces in the right place.
I found it easy to highlight the mistakes.

Matariki

WALT use visual language.
For writing we are learning about Matariki.
I found it hard to write about the nine stars.
I found it easy to write about what happens and Matariki.
I tried to use subheadings.

What is Matariki?
Matariki is the Maori name for the 9 sisters and cluster of stars that appear during June and July. It was a time for family, food, games, and haka.  Our ancestors used it to predict the weather- if it was hard to see the stars separately it meant that they would not have much harvest. However, if the stars were easily seen by the naked eye, it meant the crops would flourish and they would have lots of food.
Maori use the Maori calendar, not the European calendar, so the dates for Matariki change every year.

The Matariki Legends
Other parts of the world see Matariki, but they see a different perspective. The Japanese see 5 stars and call it “Subaru.” In Greece they call it “Pleiades.” In the Maori culture Matariki is the Mother of the 8 daughters, also part of the nine stars.

The Nine Stars of Matariki

What is Matariki?

Matariki is the Maori name for the 9 sisters and cluster of stars that appear during June and July. It was a time for family, food, games, and haka.  Our ancestors used it to predict the weather- if it was hard to see the stars separately it meant that they would not have much harvest. However, if the stars were easily seen by the naked eye, it meant the crops would flourish and they would have lots of food.

Maori use the Maori calendar, not the European calendar, so the dates for Matariki change every year.

The Matariki Legends

Other parts of the world see Matariki, but they see a different perspective. The Japanese see 5 stars and call it “Subaru.” In Greece they call it “Pleiades.” In the Maori culture Matariki is the Mother of the 8 daughters, also part of the nine stars.

The Nine Stars of Matariki

*This picture does not include all stars.

Matariki is the star that represents reflection, hope, and the gathering of people. She is also part of the health of people.
Pohutukawa is the star connected to the ones that have passed away.
Wati, the twin of Waita is the star connected to fresh water, as in, rivers, lakes, and also the animals that live in them.
 Twin of Wati, Waita is the star connected with the ocean and the seafood within it.
Waipuna-a-rangi is connected to the rain.
Tupuanuku is connected with everything that grows in the earth and is harvested.
Tupuarangi is connected with things that grow in the trees, like manu (birds) and berries.
Ururangi is the star associated with the wind.
Hiwa-i-te-rangi is the star connected with granting our wishes.

Ahmet's Journey Comic Strip

WALT use visual language feature such as pictures, text boxes, and speech bubbles.
I found it hard to find pictures of Syrian boys.
I found it easy to do the actual comic strip because I read a lot of graphic novels.
My digital learning object shows I can insert a slide and use shapes and pictures.
Next time I would try to make it more detailed.

Gravity

WALT organise text into paragraphs.
We are learning about gravity in writing.
Here is my explanation.

Imagine you tripped up and your lunchbox flies out of your hand. What happens to it?

The lunchbox falls down. Why? The lunchbox fell down because of gravity. Gravity is a force that pulls us back down to earth, unlike space. For example, pretend you have a slinky attached to your shoes. It allows you to jump up! But… eventually fall back down. 

Gravity is a natural force that keeps us on the ground instead of floating off into space. A force pushes or pulls when it acts against an object. It can cause an object to move or change direction.  
Gravity is like invisible super glue that keeps us all on earth. You can’t see it, but it’s always there.

There once was a man called Isaac Newton.
He was the first person to really study gravity.
You might’ve heard this story when Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree and an apple fell and hit him on the head. Boink! He wondered, why doesn’t the apple float up, or fall sideways? That’s when he made up the three laws of Newton. 
The first law was that an object will stay there unless an unbalanced force acts upon it. The second law  is force equals mass equals acceleration, meaning the more force, there’s more mass, which is the object of matter, equals more speed. The 3rd law of motion is for every action there is an opposite reaction, like if you push a chair, it will move, which is the reaction.

Squash a boink down and will bounce up. The more pressure you put on it the higher it will bounce but also,  fall back down because of the cause of gravity.


If you invert a dropper popper, it will activate it. Dome-down, with a ping pong ball, it will fly into the air when it hits ground, it will revert and launch the ping pong ball. It will go in the air but gravity will still take hold of it and fall back down.

What happens when you throw a ball up, sideways, or down? The answer is the same. It will still stay in the air for a while, but then, once again, go back down.

So, no matter where you throw a ball, its going down. Gravity is cause and effect. It will cause objects on earth to stay on the ground, like us!.  You will get an opposite reaction, which is Newton’s 3rd law of motion. An object comes back down on earth, no matter what.

Homophones

WALT recognise homophones.

Homophones are words that are pronounced the same but have different spelling and meaning.

There, T-H-E-R-E, means over there, that place. They’re, means they are. You use an apostrophe for this, drop the A and it becomes they’re, they are. Their means it is their things, their stuff. Another example of homophones is whole and hole. Whole is the entire object. Hole means like a ditch, or a trench. Our last example is allowed and aloud. Aloud, A-L-O-U-D means saying something out loud. Allowed means that you have permission to do something.

Splash Slide

WALT to learning to use a hook.

I am going to use

• use juicy verbs
• different sentence starters
• simile

I found it hard to describe at first so I had to restart.

I found it easy to use a simile. Next time I would fill in my star instead of a simile I would use personification.

Reflection

What did I find tricky?

Describing so I did it again.

What could I do differently next time?

Change the challenge myself. I can use similes now.

 

The balmy sun cooked my back gradually. Gripping on the post enveloped with damp, jade-coloured moss stained my small hands. I squelched my feet on the grey, saturated mat.

The lifeguard motioned for me to go on. I wrung my togs and climbed in the 120angle cobalt coloured slide. As I stepped in, the slide groaned when I pivoted. The sapphire water reflected the sun and it quivered. 3, I thought. 2, 1… 

Heaving at the metal pole, my arms aching, I launched. Time slowed down. Sped up. 

Zoom! Down, down, down and down, like an out-of-control rocket. I was having second thoughts, and overthinking my actions,  but couldn’t anymore because-KABLOOEY! A charge of water blurred my eyes and went up to my nose. I choked and spluttered. Whew! 

The Choco Cake Caper

For writing, we had to create a mystery story.

I love watching the InBESTigators on Netflix, so, I knew how to plan out this story.

My success criteria were to include Mrs Naden as a suspect.

Selina had the best lunches. In the world. Spaghetti Bolognese. Vietnamese Pho. Mac & Cheese. And best of all… Her Mum’s Chocolicious Gourmet Cake. People would PAY Selina just to smell her breath after she ate the cake! Eww! The melt-in-your-mouth texture… The deliciousness of the moist cake…

“NOOOOOOO!” it was Monday morning. Cake day. “Nonononononono!” Selina howled. “This isn’t happening!” 

“What isn’t happening?” cried Mrs Naden, putting her hands in her pockets. “My lunch! My Cake! My Doritos!” Selina whined. Joan came in. “Your cake? That’s sad,” she said and put on a puppy look. She didn’t sound all that sympathetic. “Did you know, I had a gourmet MARBLE cake. It was at my party and…” she went on and on. Ciara, Selina’s best friend calmed Selina down with a red velvet oreo. “What’s going on over here?” asked Catalina. “I-I’ve go-got no lunch.” sobbed Selina. Catalina put on a concerned look. “Did you leave it at home?” Selina shook her head. “No, I definitely brought it to school. Ciara saw it.”

“Ciara was with you?”

“Yeah. She said I was very lucky I had food like that. She asked if she could have some. I said no.”

Catalina looked at Ciara. Ciara looked away.

“Well, go to Morning Tea, all of you,” said Mrs Naden quickly. She turned to Selina. “Go and get some food from the office.  You must have left it at home. Let’s leave it at that. I’m on Duty.”

Catalina was still thinking… She needed to investigate!

Catalina knew that everybody knew and loved Selina’s cake.

But, who liked it the most?

“Hey Ciara,” Catalina said, but Ciara interrupted her. “Is this about the cake?” Catalina nodded. Ciara sighed. “I asked Selina said no, then I washed my hands, end of story” Ciara smacked her hand over her mouth. “What?” said Catalina suspiciously. Did she wash her hands? Why? To take cake crumbs off her hands, maybe? “Uh, nothing. Listen I gotta go.” 

“But-” 

“Sorry, go to go!”

Catalina took out her hand and wrote on it.

Suspect 1: Ciara? Washing her hands after asking for the cake.

Catalina walked across the field. She saw Mrs Naden, eating chocolate. Chocolate? Wait a sec… Mrs Naden had a sweet tooth. A whole mouthful of sweet teeth. Catalina went over and interrogated her. “Mrs Naden?” Mrs Naden looked up from her container full of ambrosia. “Selina’s cake tastes delicious, doesn’t it?” Catalina smiled.  Mrs Naden managed to stretch her lips into a smile. 

“Mhmm! Very good!” Then Mrs Naden stopped. Wide-eyed. “I mean, it smells and looks delicious,”

Catalina smirked. She had her cornered. Catalina provided a small device. A recorder.

She clicked a button. “Mhmm! Very good!” Mrs Naden furrowed her brow as if she had no idea what Catalina was talking about. But it was no use. She was truly and utterly busted.

Mrs Naden apologized to Selina and gave her the rest of her lunch. The rest of the Ambrosia, more chocolate, and, noooooo! Her coffee. But Selina let her keep it. Well, what was it with Ciara? She was washing her hands because she was about to go to a secret cooking class. Catalina grinned, as she wrote, 

The culprit: Mrs Naden. Busted!

Another crime solved!

My Lockdown Diary Pg 19-20

Today we created

• Morning, wakey, wakey! What's the plan this morning?
• What are you looking forward to after lockdown?

I found it easy to plan the day.

I found it easy to think of the things I miss.