Procedural Writing

WALT: write a step by step procedure teaching someone a skill.

How to make the perfect lay-up in basketball Material required: A basketball hoop and basketball Step 1. Dribble the ball with your outside hand. Step 2. Take a step with your outside leg. Step 3. Step forwards with your inside leg. Step 4. Push of your inside leg pulling your outside leg up at the same time. Step 5. Raise the ball with your outside hand. Step 6. Gently push the ball up onto the the top corner of the box. Step 7. Follow through

The Run Reflection

I did my last run for the term today. Here is my graph for the last two years. As you can see it goes up and down a lot. The run has helped me get fitter which in turn has helped me with my basketball, rugby and touch. Everyday we did the run except Thursday's and if it is raining. This term I also helped calculate a staggered start which is when the people with the slowest Personal Best go first and the people with the best PB go last. How it works is you are actually faster then the people in front of you, so you have to try and catch them. Either you caught them and felt happy or you pushed yourself trying to catch them so in both ways it improved your fitness. Running most days definitely did improve my fitness and I will try to keep it up at home. Up was what we were trying to avoid on our graph but mine did slip up a couple of times as you can tell. Now we have finished doing the run I feel sad as it was a great way to stay fit. Overall the run helped myself and others get fitter like I've mentioned several times in this reflection. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Poll tax

Native logging

Teachers on strike

Teachers walked off the job yesterday to ask for a pay rise and better resources. They marched all over the country with signs such as:
This wouldn't happen at Hogwarts
Can you read? You're welcome
Don't make me use my teacher's voice

The local strike started at the town square went down to Damian O'connor's office and back.
Teachers want more support, better conditions, more staff and better resources.

Teachers are thinking about a second 2-day strike. I think it is a good idea because some teachers are tasked to control 40 students a day. Teachers also have to pay for resources out of their own pocket.

Vietnam War

Chess

Yesterday I went to a chess tournament, it was heaps of fun and I won three games and got four points. My friend Griffin from St Pats got first and a kid from our school got second. Our school won the junior, rookie and intermediate sections. As a prize our school has qualified to go to the national championships in Auckland. Sadly I didn't get picked to go but I did get two badges, one for winning in four moves and one for winning in twelve seconds.

I also participated in a competition to see who could build the tallest tower. I started off by myself and stacked the pieces up to sixty centimetres but then Toby, the kid who got third, came along and we made one sixty-four centimetres tall! I let Toby have the badge because he's a better player than me.

In my second game, I was really nervous because my opponent had a rating of five hundred and my rating was negative two hundred. Luckily I won but it was quite stressful. It was an awesome tournament and I'd love to take part again.

Ban mining on conservation land

It is vital to our existence that we ban mining.
The mining ban isn’t that bad because of these following reasons.

About 50,000 people said we should ban it. Have 50,000 said no to the ban.
Some people have said no but nowhere near that amount.

They are destroying the habitats of native animals and killing the bush,
so something needs to be done.

Its conservation land the conservationists can choose what to do with it.

There will be public input on the specifications of the law so there may be some loopholes.

You can still mine just not on conservation land where some mining takes place but not all of them.

It won’t affect many people as most mines are not on conservation land.

No NEW mines so you can continue mining on the ones already established.

Trees produce oxygen which we breathe,
and mining destroys trees so to sustain life in this country we need to ban mining.

If we ban mining we can still export coal from other countries that do commercial mining.

Banning mining will result in tourism rocketing, as there will be so many more sights to see in NZ.
Instead of spending money on mining,
we can focus our attention on preserving New Zealand’s stunning natural wonders.
(The seven plus natural wonders of New Zealand)

Because of the above reasons you can tell that without a doubt,
mining needs to be banned from New Zealand if we want to keep our country beautiful.

Debate reflection for term two.

There’s a much safer way for Trump to cut down on school shootings.

Reading about the terrible school shooting in America this week and Donald Trump wanting to go give teachers guns, I wondered: is there a better solution to stop school shootings?

Of course there is! Instead of giving teachers guns he could put up the age to buy a gun or that you need a firearms licence to buy a gun. But no, apparently it would be better to give teachers guns. In America when you’re eighteen you can buy a gun, go off to war and blow people up in a tank but you can’t have a beer! How stupid is that! You can buy a gun at eighteen but you can’t have a beer until your twenty one! That’s so stupid the Americans should be given an award for the stupidest law ever.

The amount of people dying from being shot in America is ghastly, according to GVA (Gun Violence Archives)  already this year over 31o0 people have been killed and over 5400 people have been injured. There is no state in America where there hasn’t been a gun related incident already this year. In Wyoming there has been no injuries this year only deaths according to GVA. Trump said he would end the “American Carnage” but in July 2017 deaths had risen 12 percent as reported by the Washington Post. Last year there had been more mass shootings than days according to Mass Shooting Tracker. According to Quartz, America owns about half the world’s guns while only taking up about 5% of the world’s population and half of the country’s guns come from just 3% of the America population. The average gun owner in America has around eight guns according to Quora. In NZ there are only 230,000 registered gun owners out of a population of 4.6 million people. In NZ there are 1.1 million guns which means every registered gun owner has about four guns which is still a few but only half of the average gun owner in America.

Donald Trump could easily change the requirements to buy a gun but he doesn’t want to, he would rather “Give teachers guns.” Is giving teachers guns going to change anything? Yes, it’s going to make America an even more dangerous place. Think about it, someone walks into the class and starts shooting kids, the teacher whips out  their gun and shoots back, some students get caught in the crossfire and more students get killed than if you had to have a licence.

Who thinks Donald Trump should pass a law saying that you need a licence to buy a gun?

Thanks for reading my opinion on gun laws in America.

By Jack

Caving Cave Stream William Pike Challenge #1

All I could see was inky blackness as we descended into the cave. Then we turned our torches on and an arc of light spotlighted the cave around us. We continued walking forwards in the chest-high water, it was here I realized how cold the water was, not freezing but still soaking us and biting at any exposed bit of skin. We soon got to a series of side tunnels and stopped so we could clamber up the worn limestone rocks. I waited for my turn then climbed up to the tunnel and looked inside, not much just a couple of holes leading off from the miniature cavern. I slid down the rocks to get back down which was easy since the rocks were well eroded and smooth. 

Next time we stopped everyone ascended up onto the rock ledge and turned our torches off. In the darkness you could barely see the outline of your hand in front of your face. After everyone had got down we continued through the cave. For a while all you could was continue forward. Then I heard rushing water and turned a corner to see a waterfall flowing down towards me and my teacher extending his hand to pull me up. I took a deep breath grabbed my teachers hand and delved up. Soon everyone was up the waterfall and we continued.

After a while I began to hear rushing water and I even saw a pinpoint of light. Just around the corner, I could see my teacher hanging off the ladder helping kids up. It was soon my turn and I reached up and grabbed the bottom rung and started trying to pull myself up. My legs swung wildly but I soon got them back onto solid ground. I straddled the ladder and scrambled up. I was feeling rather good about myself until I saw what I had to face next. I reached out for the chain and grabbed hold of it. I ducked down and crawled along the narrow cliff face for what seemed like forever. I finally got to the end and I splashed through the water to the other side where my classmates were waiting.

Once everyone was up we walked back to the carpark and got changed. We ate lunch before getting back in the car and drove back, the car ride back was fun but the two other people in the car Pippa and Miller decided to attack me tickling me all over. I fought back but they kept tickling me, I was finally able to placate them with a peace offering of fruit bursts but not before we were all bruised and battered. We arrived at school at four o'clock and all our parents were there waiting for us. I thought cave stream was really fun and I would recommend it to anyone who likes caving. 

By Jack Byrne 

World War Two Life of a Nurse

Activity: Imagine that you are a nurse working on a large medical ship in WWII then finish the story.

One day you are walking along the deck of the ship when you hear a loud bang. You start to run as you see smoke coming from the far end of the ship. You run towards the room where your patients are waiting to receive treatment from the doctor. Just as you arrive at the door to their room you hear another loud bang and you.. (My writing starts here) look around to see what's happening. You see fire coming from the other end of the ship and then you see a military ship coming closer and closer. You hear screaming from your patients and you dash inside to see what's wrong. Inside you see a doctor telling everyone that they need to evacuate the ship because our ship is under attack. A group of soldiers runs into the room and starts loading the patients onto stretchers before carrying them out the door you follow them and see them place the soldiers on the second smaller ship.

You run back to the room where the patients used to be and see the doctor still inside. He tells you to take medical supplies to the other ship. After a couple of loads, a soldier tells you to jump on because their leaving. You tell him to wait that you're just grabbing the last box but when you get it the evacuation ship has left.

You see a rowboat close by and grab hold of it before dragging it to the side of the boat and throwing it overboard. You carefully lower yourself down into it and start rowing, after what seems like months you finally wash up on a shore. You see a man standing in front of a flag holding something and then you realize what he's holding, a gun! You stick your hands up in the air but he fires anyway. The funny thing is when he fires a bunch of people set off running. Then it hits you the gun was to start a race, the man turns to you and you see the flag properly it's the NZ flag, your back home.

Gifts

If could take gifts to a family in the 1930s I would take chocolate, lollies, games, books and sports equipment. If you could take gifts what would you take tell me in the comments

Flanders field

The poem In Flanders Field makes me feel sad because of the soldiers who died for our country although I do like the feel to it. Here is the link so you can read it for yourself.

Women can vote

I do not think it is fair that women were not allowed to vote until 2015 in Saudi Arabia because men and women should be equal as they are both intelligent people who deserved to be treated like they are. Other countries let women vote earlier such as 1893 (NZ) and 1902 (AUS). I believe that men and women should be treated equally not one ahead of the other.

St Paul's Cathedral, Summer Learning Journey

St Paul's Cathedral is in London, It was built in June 1675 and it took a decade to design and 40 years to build. The reason it was built was to replace the great cathedral that perished in the great fire of London. It was opened in 1708 and it was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The crypt in the cathedral is the largest crypt in western Europe, the first person to be buried in the crypt was its designer Sir Christopher Wren. The two largest bells have names Great Paul and Great Tom, Great Tom is sounded for a royal death, the death of the Bishop or the death of the Lord Mayor of London.

Bill Kini summer learning journey

Bill Kini was a gold medalist at the 1966 commonwealth games for heavyweight boxing. He was also a good rugby player. If I got to interview him these are questions I would ask him.

Did you practice one sport more than the other?
What did you feel like when you won the gold medal?
When you were growing up did you ever think that you would win a gold medal?
On average how many hours per day did you train?

Village of Waitangi summer learning journey

Activiy: What three things would you like to do at the village of Waitangi.
I would like to visit the treaty house, read a replica of the treaty and look at a Maori war canoe. I think I would like to see the canoe the most though as it is one of the largest in the country.

Translate Te Reo Maori and English Summer learning journey

Use google translate to translate Te Reo Maori to English and English to Te Reo Maori.


1. Nau mai ki Aotearoa translates to Welcome to Aotearoa
2. Jack is my name translates to Ko Jack toku ingoa
3. What is your name translates to He aha to ingoa
4. He pai taku ki te takaro i te whutupaora translates to I like to play rugby
5. Where do you come from translate to No hea ko

Te Matatini festival songs Summer Learning journey

Activity: Rank three Maori songs from a Te Matatini festival

1st Te Puko o Te Ika
The reason I chose this as first because I really like the beat
2nd Te Iti Kahurangi
Because everyone is singing together well
3rd Tamatea Arikiui
Great song with a nice feel to it

Poi Toa summer learning journey

Poi Toa
Relay

you use the basic rules for a relay except instead of just running you have to be swinging a poi the whole time your running. The first team to get everyone back wins and if you stop swinging your poi you must stop running and start swinging your poi again before you can start running. Would you like to play this game? Tell me in the comments.

Waiata

The Waiata I found that I like the most would probably have to be Te Aroha because it sounds calm and relaxed and is not really loud. It is a song about love, peace and faith for everyone. Te Aroha really just sounds and feels peaceful without having to know the english translation.

Comment below telling me your favourite Waiata and why.

My family summer learning journey

Activity: Pick three members of your family and write two facts about each.

My brother loves lego and he also enjoys playing hockey.

My Mum is a great baker and she's travelled around the world.

My Dad is a great builder and he likes hunting

Pepeha summer learning journey

Ko Aoraki te maunga - My Mountain is Mt Cook

Ko Mawhera te awa - My river is the grey river  

Ko Mawhera ahau - I am from Greymouth

Ko Te Kura Paroa tōku ake kura - My school is Paroa

Ko Trish rāua ko Russell ōku mātua  - My parents are Trish and Russell

Ko Jack tōku ingoa - My name is Jack

The more the merrier? Summer Learning Journey

In the 1800s families were pretty big, in fact they had an average of seven to nine children!
Activity: Pretend you were part of a family of nine children.

I would not like to have nine siblings because it would get crowded and you would never be able to do something alone as you would always have people wanting to do something with you. Although I wouldn't like to have nine siblings there are some upsides such as you would always have someone to play with so you'd never be alone.

Comment down below telling me what your opinion is.

Favourite meal

My favourite meal is roast pork with broccoli salad and roast potatoes. The reason this is my favourite meal is because I enjoy roasts and I like the taste of pork the best. My favourite part of the meal would have to be the potatoes, I love them and eat every single one on my plate and then go back for seconds and sometimes thirds or fourths. Once I've finished the potatoes I move onto broccoli salad which is a healthy salad that is made up of bacon, feta cheese, cucumber, spinach or lettuce and of course broccoli. This is my favourite meal comment down below saying yours.

My dream job basketball player Summer Learning journey

Wharepuni

A Wharepuni was one of many Maori buildings in a village. Others include Kauta where the Maori cooked and Pataka where they store items. A Wharepuni's purpose was to house people for sleeping.
Two things that are different about my house and a Wharepuni is that we cook and eat inside in our house where a Wharepuni is just for sleeping in and my house is made from wood and a Wharepuni is made of ferns and bark. Two things that are similar about a Wharepuni and my house is that people sleep in both of them and that the structure is similar only it is made of different materials