Writing for showing off.

We had to choose three pieces of writing to 'Show off' to the teachers. Then we had to write our goals at the top and show an example of this goal. Here are my three pieces of writing highlighting where I have used my goals.

                                                                       

         

               

 

Prove it!

A prove it is when you have learnt something and are ready to show you have learnt it. You make a poster or a mini movie showing what you have been learning and how to do it, this is a 'Prove it'. Once you have gone to a teacher, showed it to them and they have approved, they will sign you off on your learning passport. A learning passport is a sheet with all the learning intentions on it if you go to a workshop with a teacher the sign a square next to your learning intention to show you have been to a workshop. This is a photo of one. 

 My learning  intention was to divide using proportional adjustment. Here is a photo of my prove it.

My athletics goals.

Athletics is coming up fast. Poutama had to create one or more goal/s for athletics. Here are mine. Hopefully I can achieve them on the big day!

Pan gram.

We had to create a pangram in groups of three, two or one. A pangram is a sentence with all the letters in the alphabet in it. The shortest one ever made is. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. We came up with: 

Monkeys can eat Mosquitos while playing the xylophone dumbly saying verbs has 61 letters in it. The goal was. To create the one with the least amount of letters. Ours was the second smallest, the winner had 51 .

Two Stars And A Wish, Term 3.

This week we had to look back over the term and choose two highlights and one thing that you wish you could improve on next term. This is called two stars and a wish. Here is a photo of my Two Stars And A Wish.

Inquiry sample

WALT Develop ideas, skills and concepts in drama

1. Focus - become the character, placement, patience. OK

2. Accept Ideas and build on them. GOOD

3. Levels - make it interesting for the viewer. GOOD 

4. Space - balanced, using a mixture of all the space, don’t bunch up. GOOD

5. Finish on time. OK

6. Be Spontaneous. GOOD

7. Centre stage - main idea is always in this position. GOOD

8. Contribute and participate.GOOD

Evaluation:

1. What are you most proud of? Why? I am most proud of the levels we use in our play because we have made our play more interesting to look at. I also am proud of our balance because that way people are looking all over the stage and everyone isn't just clumped together on one side. 

2. What did you find challenging? Why? I found that staying focused was a challenge because there was so much going on around me and there are some very funny lines at the end.

3.  My next ‘Get It’ goal is? Why? My next 'Get It' goal is to ask more questions and come up with more ideas.

Reflection

In Nics inquiry group we did an ECG! An ECG is when you think track over your learning an reflect on your Emotions, Cognition and Growth throughout your learning. This is a picture of my ECG.

 

Writing Sample

WALT:  Entertain

My writing goal this term was to use precise and technical language

SUCCESS CRITERIA 

Language features

I have used a range of precise vocabulary to communicate meaning.

TASK: craft a free-choice piece of writing that shows how I am developing my goal. This is a photo of the piece of my first draft that I will edit and perfect later on. 

The wind howled pitifully outside. That's funny!" I had thought to myself "There wasn't even a slight breeze when I was out there a second ago. Something felt very strange. I had felt empty inside. I then reached for my rucksack and pulled out a huge bun. I was just about to take a bite when something strange had whipped past me and snatched my bun straight out of my hand. Then I looked up and saw a beautiful girl standing there munching a bun that looked exactly the same as mine. She had looked up at me, she had had pretty golden locks that tumbled down her perfectly positioned shoulders, she had  also been wearing a simple white dress that seemed to glow with her beauty. The only thing wrong that had seemed wrong  with her looks were her eyes. They were red and bloodshot and had a evil look about them. It had been strange seeing such a beautiful girl in that horrible place at that moment. I did not know what to do, so I just stood there motionless. But I could not move because of her beauty. She started walking slowly up to me in a girly sort of way. She did not seem so girly. She suddenly let out a terrible scream. Then she stopped dead in her tracks. She fell to the ground. I was ready to run for my life but some how could not bring myself to. I walked cautiously over to her I stared down at her anxiously. She did not look alright to just leave there. So I gently lifted her and then gently flung her over my shoulder. She was not as heavy as I had thought. I walked around the deadly place curiously. I finally found an abandoned home that looked safe enough. I put her down. But then she suddenly sprang up. I let out a scream she had eaten half of my shoulder.  Blood oozed down my back and peppered the road with dark red spots. I did not give any notice of what she was doing I ran for my life. Finally when I thought had lost the town came to a halt. I was in a giant clearing with a river running through middle of it. The sound of the river was the noise the place seemed peaceful not like the town. I sat down on the soft, damp grass and checked my shoulder, or what was left of it. I could not see a thing really the mist that covered the whole clearing. I saw a glint of light or was it gold. I sprang up from the damp wet grass. I ran over to see what it was. Bear, I saw a big hairy bear. It had a big gold chain on it’s neck. I followed the chain with my eyes until my eyes sat upon a turtle. The turtle had a large shell with green criss-cross patterns spread over it. I could not believe my eyes. Why was a turtle guarding such an old grizzly bear? My eyes turned back and I noticed a big hill. It had a big gloomy cave that sheltered a knotted oak tree. I was wondering if the cave was that bears. But why was he not in it? Of course he was sleeping. 

Suddenly the lights all around me shot out into the dark with a big CLICK! It was dark now. I could not see one thing. I could not run and get shelter from anywhere because I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face . Then my brain popped with a idea. A big light sprang up above my head. When I had stopped thinking the light would go out. I could not stop thinking. If I had I would not have been able to see. I ran for my life to the big cave. There seemed to be a big screeching from up high in the tree. It sounded identical to the one from that girl who bit my arm. Suddenly the light went out. "Oh no!" I had thought to myself.

 I was nearly there. Then I jumped with fright. Something had popped out of the tree and landed right next to me. It was the girl. She had screeched out a terrible scream and tossed her hair back. She started to scooch next to me. I had noticed it was the same shoulder she was trying to bite. I imagined my shoulder only being a bone and no skin. Then I had had an idea. The light flicked on above my head. I screamed out something random. Then the turtle had woken up and tugged on the gold chain. The bear woke up with a roar and began to pull on the rope. The girl was still scooching towards me. The turtle jumped onto the bear and they had started running for me. I then realised this was the chance for me to escape. But where could I have goon. The old castle? I dodged the bear but he went right through the space between me and the girl. I was hoping for the girl to get tripped and taken. But instead she had the same idea as me. We both ran to the castle like maniacs. What was wrong with me. I had run through the golden rusty gates. The castle was made out of stone. Then I spotted a rusty old sign lying on the ground before my feet. It read..... TORTURE OF DEATH. The words seemed to be written in blood. I had not wanted to be embarrassed beside the girl. So I walked in anxiously. My heart beating faster than a cheetah can run. A tickle had run up my spine. There seemed to be some ghostly air surrounding my body. It was cold and dark in there. There was nothing to be seen except for an old ripped up blanket. I spoke in a low nervous voice. There was a slurping sound behind me. I turned around and jumped in surprise. My shoes tapped on the ground. Then suddenly a man looked up from the girl and had stared at me in wonder. He looked exactly the same to the girl except for he was a man. The girl belonged to this place. The man was her father. Then a women had tapped me on the shoulder. I turned round to smell a horrible thing coming out of her mouth. Snake, I yelled in confusion. The lady stared at me curious to know what I was. The lady started speaking in a voice so high. The parts I heard were. What has roots that nobody sees and is taller than trees. That was strange it sounded all like a well written riddle. Then the women walked away with nothing else to say.

Chapter 2 

I Arrive at the Tree of Riddles Rosalind has edited some of this piece.

The Oak Tree! I suddenly realised. Was that where the next riddle was? Sprinting to the clearing I was overwhelmed by how light it now was. Instead of a monstrous king towering over its subjects,  shattered splinters of the dead man littered the stoney ground. A hint of whiteness poked out from under a wiggly piece of trunk. Gently, I pluck the tattered, muddy piece of paper from its prison.  It had a riddle on it! It seemed to be like the one the lady had told me. 

“What has roots that nobody sees and is taller than trees. Up and up it goes but yet it never grows.” 

That was it. All I had to do was find out the riddle. Jumping around I bumped into something that was bumpy and squishy. Oh no. Here comes trouble. Opening my eyes I see the most horrible looking troll. Bumpy warts covered it's fat chunky body. Evil looking eyes fell upon me that looked like slits. Yet it was holding out it's hand for me to get up. Could I say no. No that was not right. People knew what trolls were like. Crying as soon as they did not get what they wanted. Taking the trolls hand I felt something trickle down my wrist. Troll snot! The troll heaved me up. Dripping from his nose appeared to be snot. The snot seemed to be erupting from his nose. I grabbed my tissue from my rucksack and gave it to him. He put it inside his pouch. Finally I had someone big to secure me. The only problem was that he was not fast at all. It took 2 hours to walk one meter to his old underground chamber. Wait a minute I thought that the underground chamber was the bear's. It is the troll's. I longed to go in there and now this is my chance. I had to. There was a lot of nonsense around the place. But there was a big fire burning which was pleasant and cozy. Noticing something unusual about the cave, I stared at it curiously. It was made out of chocolate. That was why it was dissolving. Chocolatey goodness slithered down the edible walls. I was about to alert the troll. But he had something else on his mind. Behind us a dark shape was creeping towards the cave. As it advanced it turned into a large shadow.It was a creature that I had only known from storybooks. It was a pink, fluffy, unicorn. But it was evil. I did not know that though. I wanted to run up to it and stroke it's glossy back. But something held me back. The last time I did something like that I lost a lot of blood for it. I decided to turn around and slowly walk away, because I couldn’t do anything without putting myself in a position where I could be hurt. As I walked I cry of agony rang through the clearing. I turned around to find that the unicorn had bitten the kind troll. I could not believe it. My mouth was wide open with surprise. I had thought that unicorns were kind and loveable creatures. I sprinted to the trolls ad. Pulling out the snotty handkerchief from his pocket and wrapping it around the bloody wound. The unicorn licked it’s wet lips and clearly decided it wanted more. My eyes roved the clearing, searching for something to fend the creature off. Spotting the oak tree I dragged the troll towards it hoping, it would protect us for a while. Then I hit something hard and fell backwards. I heard a deep voice booming in the trees above. " To enter here you have to find, the answer to a riddle." Here's your riddle answer clear what you think you know. What has roots that nobody sees, is taller than trees, up, up it goes, and yet it never grows?" The voice said. 

Oh no! I was horrible at riddles. My face fell. This was the end of the road. I could not do riddles that was it. But I would try anyway. The gravel beneath my feet crunched and crackled as I tapped my shoes, thinking. There was no gravel in the clearing though. Just pure, green, grass. I stared down. Below me was a thousand meter drop at the least. It was a mountain. I had been teleported on top, of a mountain. I hated this place. I still do. An annoying voice squawked above " Oh for goodness sake. This is an easy one. On top of the answer to." It was an owl. I pondered over his words. 'On top of the answer to'. Realisation dawned over me. "The answer is a mountain." I said, my voice clear and confident. "Correct the voice boomed! Then I punched my arm in the air feeling so pleased with myself. I knew I could not have done better. I looked around for the unicorn. It was nowhere in sight. I released I was inside the tree. "It took you long enough!" The owl from the mountain said. I looked up in surprise. I hadn't realised he was there. Was he even a boy! "Yes for your information I am a boy and if you have not noticed I am also an owl or an Tyto alba, a barn owl. But..." He said taking a deep breath "You wouldn't understand that for you are just a puny child!" "Excuse em wa!"" I replied. " As a matter of fact I am the top of my class. Thank you very much!" A load of old tosh and that is the end of it." The grumpy and rude owl squawked. "My name is George pleased to meet you." He said every word in a rush, as though the world would end any minute. "Okay..." I said "My name is Christopher." " Another riddle!" It was the voice from the mountain again. " Voiceless it cries, Wingless flutters, Toothless bites, Mouthless mutters!" I had no idea! The wind whipped my hair pulling me forwards across some sort of soft substance. I looked down to see what it was. My feet weren't touching any thing. I was hovering above the ground. The wind was pulling me up. It was as strong as an elephant. It mercilessly sunk its invisible teeth into my soft skin, leaving nothing but a bright pink spot on my cheek. Toothless bites… What could that mean I thought to myself what could this mean. I have to get this I told myself. Nervously I blurted out an incredibly wrong answer. “Wind”. No what had I done. I was eagerly waiting for the owl to excitedly say. “INCORRECT”. But it did not come. Suddenly a blanket of happiness fell upon me. The wind washing it off. Clearly made my face into a half circle. The owl muttering away. Shouted. “ CORRECT”. I could not believe it. My mind racing with other thoughts. Would there be another riddle to answer.

This is my edited piece, I have gone through and put past tense in.

The wind howled pitifully outside. That's funny!" I had thought to myself "There wasn't even a slight breeze when I was out there a second ago. Something felt very strange. I had felt empty inside. I then reached for my rucksack and pulled out a huge bun. I was just about to take a bite when something strange had whipped past me and snatched my bun straight out of my hand. Then I looked up and had seen a beautiful girl standing there munching a bun that looked exactly the same as mine. She had looked up at me, she had had pretty golden locks that tumbled down her perfectly positioned shoulders, she had  also been wearing a simple white dress that seemed to glow with her beauty. The only thing wrong that had seemed wrong with her looks were her eyes. They were red and bloodshot and had a evil look about them. It had been strange seeing such a beautiful girl in that horrible place at that moment. I did not know what to do, so I just stood there motionless. But I could not move because of her beauty. She started walking slowly up to me in a girly sort of way. She did not seem so girly. She had suddenly let out a terrible scream. Then she had stopped dead in her tracks. She fell to the ground. I had been ready to run for my life but some how could not bring myself to. I had walked cautiously over to her I stared down at her anxiously. She did not look alright to just leave there. So I had gently lifted her and then gently flung her over my shoulder. She was not as heavy as I had thought. I walked around the deadly place curiously. I finally found an abandoned home that looked safe enough. I put her down. But then she had suddenly sprang up. I then had let out a scream. She had eaten half of my shoulder.  Blood oozed down my back and peppered the road with dark red spots. I had not given any notice of what she was doing I ran for my life. Finally when I thought had lost the town came to a halt. I was in a giant clearing with a river running through middle of it. The sound of the river was the noise the place seemed peaceful not like the town. I had sat down on the soft, damp grass and checked my shoulder, or what was left of it. I could not see a thing really the mist that covered the whole clearing. I saw a glint of light or was it gold. I sprang up from the damp wet grass. I ran over to see what it was. Bear, I saw a big hairy bear. It had a big gold chain on it’s neck. I followed the chain with my eyes until my eyes sat upon a turtle. The turtle had a large shell with green criss-cross patterns spread over it. I could not believe my eyes. Why was a turtle guarding such an old grizzly bear? My eyes had turned back and I noticed a big hill. It had had a big gloomy cave that sheltered a knotted oak tree. I was wondering if the cave was that bear's. But why was he not in it? Of course he was sleeping. 

Suddenly the 

lights all around me had shot out into the dark with a big CLICK! It had been dark then. I could not have seen one thing. I could not have ran and get shelter from anywhere because I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face . Then my brain had popped with a idea. A big light sprang up above my head. When I had stopped thinking the light would go out. I could not have stopped thinking. If I had I would not have been able to see. I ran for my life to the big cave. There seemed to be a big screeching from up high in the tree. It sounded identical to the one from that girl who bit my arm. Suddenly the light went out. "Oh no!" I had thought to myself.

 I was nearly there. Then I had jumped with fright. Something had popped out of the tree and landed right next to me. It was the girl. She had screeched out a terrible scream and tossed her hair back. She started to scooch next to me. I had noticed it was the same shoulder she was trying to bite. I had imagined my shoulder only being a bone and no skin. Then I had had an idea. The light had flicked on above my head. I then had screamed out something random. Then the turtle had woken up and tugged on the gold chain. The bear woke up with a roar and began to pull on the rope. The girl had been still scooching towards me. The turtle had jumped onto the bear and they had started running for me. I then had realised this was the chance for me to escape. But where could I have gone. The old castle? I dodged the bear but he went right through the space between me and the girl. I had been hoping for the girl to get tripped and taken. But instead she had the same idea as me. We both ran to the castle like maniacs. What was wrong with me. I had run through the golden rusty gates. The castle was made out of stone. Then I had spotted a rusty old sign lying on the ground before my feet. It read..... TORTURE OF DEATH. The words had seemed to be written in blood. I had not wanted to be embarrassed beside the girl. So I walked in anxiously. My heart had been beating faster than a cheetah can run. A tickle had run up my spine. There seemed to be some ghostly air surrounding my body. It wascold and dark in there. There had been nothing to be seen except for an old ripped up blanket. I  had spoken in a low nervous voice. There had been a slurping sound behind me. I had turned around and jumped in surprise. My shoes had tapped on the ground. Then suddenly a man looked up from the girl and had stared at me in wonder. He looked exactly the same to the girl except for he was a man. The girl belonged to this place. The man was her father. Then a women had tapped me on the shoulder. I had turned round to smell a horrible thing coming out of her mouth. Snake, I had yelled in confusion. The lady had stared at me curious to know what I was. The lady had started speaking in a voice so high. The parts I heard were. What has roots that nobody sees and is taller than trees. "That was strange it sounded all like a well written riddle." I thought. Then the women had walked away with nothing else to say.

Chapter 2 

I Arrive at the Tree of Riddles

The Oak Tree I had thought to myself. Was that where all the riddles were? I ran out of the castle and noticed that the oak tree had been shattered to pieces of wood. I found a piece of tattered muddy paper lying on the ground. It had a riddle on it. It seemed to be like the one the lady had told me. Well it started like what I heard. What has roots that nobody sees and is taller than trees. Up and Up it goes but it never grows. That was it. All I had had to do was find out the riddle. I was so excited that I had bumped into something that was bumpy and squishy. Oh no. Here trouble comes. I opened my eyes to see the most horrible looking troll. It had lots of bumpy warts. It had evil looking eyes that looked like slits. But yet it was holding out it's hand for me to get up. I could not say no. I knew what trolls were like. They would burst out crying as soon as they did not get what they wanted. I took the trolls hand. The troll heaved me up. It was amazing to feel how strong he was. Dripping from his nose appeared to be snot. I grabbed my tissue from my rucksack and gave it to him. It was wrong, I had thought to myself, to give him the tissue. He had put it inside his pocket. Finally I had had someone big to protect me. The only problem was that he was not fast at all. It had taken two hours to walk one meter to his old cave. "Wait a minute!" I had thought."That is the cave I thought was the bear's, but it is not. It is the troll's." I had longed to go in there and now this is my chance. I had to. There was a lot of rubbish. But there was a big fire burning which was nice and warm. I noticed something strange about the cave. It was made out of chocolate. That why it was melting. Chocolatey goodness slithered down the edible walls. I was about to warn the troll. But he had something else on his mind. Behind us a dark shape was creeping towards the cave. As it advanced it turned into a large shadow. It was a creature that I had only known from storybooks. It had been a pink, fluffy, unicorn. But it was evil. I did not know that though. I had wanted to run up to it and stroke it's glossy back. But something had held me back. The last time I had done something like that I lost a lot of blood for it. I had decided to turn around and slowly walk away, because I couldn’t do anything without Oh no! I had been horrible at riddles. My face had fell. "This was the end of the road". I had thought to myself. I could not do riddles. That was it. But I would try anyway. The gravel beneath my feet had crunched and crackled as I tapped my shoes, thinking. There had been no gravel in the clearing though. Just pure, green, grass. I had stared down. Below me was a thousand meter drop at the least. It was a mountain. I had been teleported on top, of a mountain. I had hated this place. I still do. An annoying voice had squawked above " Oh for goodness sake. This is an easy one. On top of the answer to." It had been an owl. I pondered over his words. 'On top of the answer to'. Realisation had dawned over me. "The answer is a mountain." I had said, my voice clear and confident. "Correct!' The voice had boomed! Then I had punched my arm in the air feeling so pleased with myself. I had known I could not have done better. I had looked around for the unicorn. It was nowhere in sight. I had released I was inside the tree. "It took you long enough!" The owl from the mountain had said. I had looked up in surprise. I hadn't realised he was there. Was he even a boy! "Yes for your information I am a boy and if you have not noticed I am also an owl or an Tyto alba, a barn owl. But..." He said taking a deep breath "You wouldn't understand that for you are just a puny child!" "Excuse em wa!"" I had replied. " As a matter of fact I am the top of my class. Thank you very much!" A load of old tosh and that is the end of it." The grumpy and rude owl squawked. "My name is George pleased to meet you." He had said every word in a rush, as though the world would end any minute. "Okay..." I had said "My name is Christopher." " Another riddle!" It had beenthe voice from the mountain again. " Voiceless it cries, Wingless flutters, Toothless bites, Mouthless mutters!" I had had no idea! The wind had whipped my hair pulling me forwards across some sort of soft substance. I had looked down to see what it was. My feet weren't touching any thing. I was hovering above the ground. The wind was pulling me up. myself in a position where I could be hurt. As I walked I cry of agony rang through the clearing. I turned around to find that the unicorn had bitten the kind troll. I could not believe it. My mouth was wide open with surprise. I had thought that unicorns were kind and loveable creatures. I sprinted to the trolls ad. Pulling out the snotty handkerchief from his pocket and wrapping it around the bloody wound. The unicorn licked it’s wet lips and clearly decided it wanted more. My eyes roved the clearing, searching for something to fend the creature off. Spotting the oak tree I dragged the troll towards it hoping, it would protect us for a while. Then I hit something hard and fell backwards. I heard a deep voice booming in the trees above. " To enter here you have to find, the answer to a riddle." Here's your riddle answer clear what you think you know. What has roots that nobody sees, is taller than trees, up, up it goes, and yet it never grows?" The voice said. 

Oh no! I was horrible at riddles. My face fell. This was the end of the road. I could not do riddles that was it. But I would try anyway. The gravel beneath my feet crunched and crackled as I tapped my shoes, thinking. There was no gravel in the clearing though. Just pure, green, grass. I stared down. Below me was a thousand meter drop at the least. It was a mountain. I had been teleported on top, of a mountain. I hated this place. I still do. An annoying voice squawked above " Oh for goodness sake. This is an easy one. On top of the answer to." It was an owl. I pondered over his words. 'On top of the answer to'. Realisation had dawned over me. "The answer is a mountain." I said, my voice clear and confident. "Correct the voice boomed! Then I punched my arm in the air feeling so pleased with myself. I knew I could not have done better. I looked around for the unicorn. It was nowhere in sight. I released I was inside the tree. "It took you long enough!" The owl from the mountain said. I looked up in surprise. I hadn't realised he was there. Was he even a boy! "Yes for your information I am a boy and if you have not noticed I am also an owl or an Tyto alba, a barn owl. But..." He said taking a deep breath "You wouldn't understand that for you are just a puny child!" "Excuse em wa!"" I replied. " As a matter of fact I am the top of my class. Thank you very much!" A load of old tosh and that is the end of it." The grumpy and rude owl squawked. "My name is George pleased to meet you." He said every word in a rush, as though the world ewq`uwould end any minute. "Okay..." I said "My name is Christopher." " Another riddle!" It was the voice from the mountain again. " Voiceless it cries, Wingless flutters, Toothless bites, Mouthless mutters!" I had no idea! The wind whipped my hair pulling me forwards across some sort of soft substance. I looked down to see what it was. My feet weren't touching any thing. I was hovering above the ground. The wind was pulling me up. It was as strong as an elephant. It mercilessly sunk its invisible teeth into my soft skin, leaving nothing but a bright pink spot on my cheek. Toothless bites… What could that mean I thought to myself what could this mean. I have to get this I told myself. Nervously I blurted out an incredibly wrong answer. “Wind”. No what had I done. I was eagerly waiting for the owl to excitedly say. “INCORRECT”. But it did not come. Suddenly a blanket of happiness fell upon me. The wind washing it off. Clearly made my face into a half circle. The owl muttering away. Shouted. “ CORRECT”. I could not believe it. My mind had been racing with other thoughts. Would there be another riddle to answer?

This is my published version that I had tried to perfect.  I have decided to focus on the bit.   

                          

Evaluation

How has your writing has improved this term?

I have been using past tense instead of present tense I have worked quite hard at doing that. Now I can do it easily. I have also improved on my precise and technicial language because my sentences used to be weak and now they are strong and confident.

The part of my story I am most proud of is my first paragraph because it pulls the reader in and makes them want to know more. I think this is one of the most important things when it comes to being a good writer.

Next time, what is a goal you can work towards?

Putting in more precise and technicial language because that is my goal and I don't think I put enough in. If I put more in my writing would become even MORE stronger and it would act like a magnet to readers.

Feedback/Feedforward: 

Wow Ana! Your published piece of writing is AMAZING... I really like the way you used silimes and metaphors. You have used Great precise and techinacal langue. I really like the sentence: " I landed with a ear shattering thump because it is a very powerful sentence and you make it sound like a sentence that a real author would write. Next time you could work on your paragraphs because in one sentence in the other paragraph it was Kind of the same idea, in a different paragraph. But over all your writing is Super duper. From Hannah:). 

Reading sample

My reading goal this term was to  'Play with possibilities' within and across text by considering alternatives.                                          

WALT

GET IT...use a range of sources by questioning and predicting

SORT IT...analyse and sort information to answer my question: see if my thinking has changed, look for patterns by questioning inferring, summarising

USE IT…discuss what I have found out with others and make connections 

TASK

inquiring readers go through a process to gather, organise and respond to new information. We have been using  the ‘GET IT, SORT IT, USE IT’ process. After reading ‘Wonder’ by R.J.Palaccio our group felt moved to DO something but we didn’t know what! We all had lots of questions so we decided to research more about disabilities before deciding. I wanted to know more about different disabilities. We tried to find the difference between a disability and a disease.

SUCCESS CRITERIA

I can research using different sources.

I can think logically, creatively, and reflectively.

I can make generalisations from patterns and connections

                                                   

The poem that we made was about someone who has a visabel disability. We looked at another poem and took some ideas from it. Here it is.

My Visabel Disability.

My body has a tear,

I have two paralysised legs,

And I'm half paralysised with fear.

My rage increases everyday,

And I'm the one who has to pay,

My angers growing right inside,

And yet I have no place to hide.

I've been forever cursed with this visabel disability

Which stops me from having,

Every cool ability,

This is my fatal flaw and the whole world can see,

ME!

Did my thinking change or stay the same during the ‘GET IT’ stage?

Yes because I was thinking about like it was something that you could just type in disabilitys but then I realised that it was better to type in what kind and be specific.

From ‘SORTING IT’ I can make these generalizations:

That some disabilities are created by diseases and one of those diseases is called Polio. Some people with disabilities feel independent.

‘USE IT’ (what did you do- those who did a social action, or what could you have done for this stage- for those who didn't?)

I did a poster and we recrafted a poem. The poem we recrafted was about an invisible disease and we recrafted it to a visabel disability. Now I am working on writing a letter to Sophie Pascoe.

Feedback/Feedforward: I think that you have done a really good job.

I think that you could explain it a little bit more.  Kaylana

Maths Sample!

WALT: Find patterns and describe them using rules!

Description: For maths this term we have been learning a range of strategies to help us solve algebra problems. 

Task:  Make a short movie or poster to prove that you have achieved your maths goal

I have made two posters with an Algebra question on each of them. I had to follow this Criterea.

Criteria:

Show, explain, prove your goal and how you did it

Clear message

Two questions to show your learning

Correct answer

Here are my posters. I hope you learn something from them. 

Evaluation:

What are you most proud of and why? 

I am proud of the fact that I could work out the problem ninety-four x four, because I worked it out in my head and it is a very difficult question.

What challenged you the most and why?

I was challenged by the fact that we had so little time to get it and I wanted to make mine perfect.

Next time, what is a goal you can work towards?

I could work on doing harder patterns because the patterns I used were easy.

Feedback/Feedforward: 

What a cool post Ana! I really like the way you showed all your working out in a way that the reader can understand. Good job! Next time you could work making the writing a bit easier to read. Hannah:)

Roll on the wall.

In Nic's Inquiry group we have been learning about drama. We were put in groups and chose a story within those groups to act out. My group's is The Old Woman Who Was Not Afraid. Here is the link to a video of us performing it: http://youtu.be/49vqPCKK5AM. I am the old woman. We had to do a thing called Roll on the wall. Roll on the wall is were you draw a picture of you character and write around it things about your character. Here is a photo of mine.

The Learning pit

WALA: The Learning Pit

Description: We have been learning about when good learning happens.

Task: Share what you know about the learning pit.

Criteria:
Draw the Learning Pit.
List at least 3 feelings that you might have when you are in the pit.√
List at least 3 strategies that you could use to get out of the pit.√
Label where good learning happens.√
List 3 things you could say to yourself when you are in the pit.√


Evaluation:
Reflect on a time when you have been in the pit.
I was trying to write but I had writers block.

How did you feel when you were in the pit?
I felt stressed because I did not have much time to do any writing and I hadn't done any writing

What did you do to work out of the pit?
I asked someone what they did when they had wwriters block and I took their advice.

Feedback/Feedforward: I think you have done a great job at giving examples of how to get out of the pit also you were awsome at adding feelings about when your in the pit. But maybe next time you could explain more about when you were in it and how did you get out.

Emma

Te Reo Māori!

WALT: communicate a message.

Description: We have been participating in 3 different workshops around colour, compositions and fonts.  We put these skills to use in a poster sharing our knowledge about Te Reo Maori.

Why? We have noticed that our posters are too cluttered and do not communicate a  message well.
When? Week 3
Who? The World

Task: Make a poster about Te Reo Maori.

Complete the criteria with targets to show your reflection.   Reflect on the


Criteria:
Message: My message is clear and purposeful.  Everything that is on my poster relates to my message.

Composition:  My poster is balanced.

Font:  My font is clear, readable and suits the message.

Colour:  I have used 2-3 colours that are complementary.  My background choice makes the text pop!

Accuracy:  All of the words on my poster are spelt correctly.

Evaluation:
What are you most proud of and why?
I am proud of the way the shadow pulls the reader in.

What challenged you the most and why?
Trying to get the whole poster balanced because sometimes there were more words on one side than there were on the other
Next time, what is a goal you can work towards
 Not having as many colours on it.

Term 2 2014 Reflection!

My end of term reflection

WALT: evaluate our learning honestly.

This term we have not done a reflection at all! So we decided to do a reflection on the term. Here is mine.

What is an effective learner?
An effective learner is someone who listens and works hard and effect their learning in a good way.

What were the highlights for this term? Why?
My highlights were cross country because I pushed myself to not walk. My second favourite highlight was doing my writing sample because I had to work really hard and I think I produced a brilliant piece of writing.


What were your greatest challenges this term?  Why?
Probably my writing sample and my effort in cross country because I had to push myself really hard.

How are you going towards acting with integrity? Why?  How could you improve?
I think I am going very well with showing integrity because I always try my hardest to do the right thing. But honestly I could work on picking things up at pack up time.

What are your goals in our learner disposition wall?  Where to next?

My goal is get to Self agency because I want to have time to do other things as well as my priorities. 

Grasshopper tennis!

WALT: improve our small ball skills like catching, throwing, and hitting.

Description: We have been participating in a tennis programme with Big John (John Salisbury) from Tennis Manawatu. He has taught us some tennis skills that help with controlling and hitting the ball
Why? To reflect on how we are going with the tennis skills we have learnt. We will share this during our Student Led Conference.

When? Week 8
Who? The World

Task: complete the rubric with targets to show your reflection. Make a comment to the questions below?

Evaluation:
What are you most proud of and why?
I am proud of all of my work at grasshopper tennis but out of them all I am most proud of my racetrack because I have improved since our first session and can now do it with out the ball falling off my racket.
What challenged you the most and Why?
Probably the lobster activety because it was hard to catch the ball with two rackets.

Next time, what is a goal you can work towards?

Getting better at hitting the ball over the net accurately.

Buddy comment: Well done you have done a good job and I can see that you have good skills. Keep it up! Grace.S 

Heat and temperature writing.

WALT: Inform the reader about what you are writing about.

I can...	my comment:	buddy comment:	teacher comment:
state the main point in the first part of a each new paragraph	I have tried to achieve this but I am not sure weather I have achieved this or not.	I like the way you used lots of description in your writing :Kobe	You have tried to start with main points for each body paragraph.
include evidence (facts, experiments etc) to support my main point	I think I did well at this and I have tried hard to get my voice to come through.	I like this because you writing is brilliant so your voice must come through very well. :Kobe	I really like your examples and how your writer’s voice and sense of humour is coming  through in all types of writing.
explain the evidence and how it proves my main point	I had trouble doing this and it is the hardest to do but I think I have achieved this.	I like the way you have tried and you have not just given up on this.	You have tried to explain how/why your example proves your point - this is really tricky, well done.
Practise writing a linking sentence to my next paragraph	I think I need to work on linking my writing between paragraphs	I like the way  your ideas link in you paragraphs. :Kobe	Your ideas link in your paragraphs.A next step is linking between paragraphs.
infuse style: topic-specifc vocab, second/third person, present tense, transition words	I think I have done well but I need to work on this a bit more.	I like the way you admitted that you had to work on this and I agree with you! :Kobe	Great style. I wonder what other transition words. from the list you could use in an explanation?

We had to write a description about some sort of energy. I chose to write about heat and temperature and how they cannot be the same. I hope that my writing informs you of how heat and temperature are not the same and you like the strong language that I have been learning to use. Here it is.

The question is, are heat and temperature the same thing? Well they utterly most definitely cannot be! Heat and temperature are different in many ways but we sometimes overlook that. In this explanation I only tell you about some of them.

Everything is made out of tiny little things called atoms. The atoms in heat are very excited and when they touch another object the atoms in that object have a party. That is how some objects change form. When they get excited they heat up just like your body does after you have been running.

Heat, (for a starter) is warm energy. For example, the sun has lots of heat energy which travels to earth on a wave called a heat wave. On an extremely hot day if you carefully look just above the ground you may see a fuzzy, wobbly little line. This is a heat wave. On a cold day you simply cannot. A heat wave is called a HEAT wave because it is extremely hot. This means that heat energy is hot as well. We know this because temperature is a way of measuring this warmth (and coldness).

Temperature is a way of measuring heat energy. A thermometer is something that tells you the temperature. Here are two picture's of one.

A.

 B.

Thermometer A is at a high temperature. You can tell this because the top of the coloured area marks what the temperature is and the higher the top is the hotter it is. Thermometer B is at a low temperature because the top of the coloured bit is very far down. If you count the little lines from the bottom up to the top the coloured bit then add on a ºC to the number you counted up to then you will have what the temperature is! For example, if you counted 18 little lines then the temperature would be 18ºC. ºC means degrees celcius.  If you have a fever you use a thermometer to tell how sick you are. Again the higher it is then the hotter you are and the hotter you are the sicker you are.

So therefore heat and temperature cannot be the same thing because temperature is a way of measuring wam heat energy and cannot be the same as heat.
I think I have done well and achieved the success criteria but I could improve on my links.

Integrity Sample!

WALT: communicate a message with others.
WALT: show integrity.
What? Make a Puppet Pal to show our understanding of integrity.
Why? To show what we know about integrity, to share during our Student Led Conference.
When? Term 2, Week 1 - 7
Who? The World
DESCRIPTION: We have been learning about integrity.  We want to share our understanding with others. So we made some  puppet pals with our clay figures we made on art day, to show our understanding of integrity.

What? Make a Puppet Pal to show our understanding of integrity. Why? To show what we know about integrity, to share during our Student Led Conference. When? Term 2. Here is the link to our video.  http://youtu.be/UaTjcF2XLvY . This is a photo of our storyboard.

WALT: communicate a message with others.

Create a story board showing the beginning, middle and end of our message.
I think we did really well with creating the story board because we followed it well.
Use Puppet Pals as a tool to share our message.
We did well at doing this but I  know we could probably work on working as a team.
Keep our audience engaged.
We could work on adding a bit more humour in  our video.

WALT: show integrity.

Everyone in our group has contributed evenly.
We said that everyone could act their own character but, Cooper's characters were a stone and a phone so he didn't talk in the movie.
Integrity is the main theme of our message.
We did well at this because it was hard not to do kotahitanga.

Feedback/feedforward: Wow cool movie ana, I really like how they handed the phone to  the teacher and I like the clear voices that you used as well.-Lili

Science sample!

WALT: show our understanding of how energy works. 

My friend Bella and I made a poster about kinetic and potential energy and heat energy for our science sample. We created a small door to a science lab with two questions to answer. You can only answer one of the questions. We worked really hard on it and we hope that you like it! Please leave a comment and tell us what you think!

DESCRIPTION: Each week we have been learning about a different type of energy.  For example, States of Matter, Kinetic and Potential, Radiation, Conduction and Convection. 

SC:

Gathering Data

I can gather information using my 5 senses

I can gather information to make a prediction

I can use my information to draw conclusions

I can share my findings using evidence I have gathered

Task: Make a video (no longer than 30 seconds) about on example of   

energy. i.e. States of matter, Potential and Kinetic energy, Newtons Cradle or forms of energy like Radiation, Convection, Conduction.

What makes a good poster:

- clear writing

- detail

- images

- interactive

I think we did well at putting lots of detail in in our poster and really letting other people interact with our learning. We could work on making our writing a little bit more clear and putting on photos. Overall I think we did a great job!  

Feedback/Feedforward: I really liked the way you made a colorful poster that grabs the readers attention, I also liked your description. You did a great job! 

From Hannah K 

Mnemonics.

WALT: Rote learn my spelling words by creating a mnemonic for them.

Task: To create a mnemonic for five of your spelling words.

Task description: We had to create a mnemonic for five of our spelling words. A mnemonic is when you chose a word and then make a sentence with the the first letter of each sentence, spelling out the word. For example,  Fiona Let Us Find Feijoas Yesterday= Fluffy. I used five of my words (ranted, cried, radiant, panted and aroma) and created one for each of them. Aroma is my favourite because it is true that All Rumors Only Make Arguments, but maybe I could improve the one for ranted.

What I learnt: by using a mnemonic that makes sense, then it is easy to remember the mnemonic so you can spell the word.

 Here is a picture of mine.


I think I did well at creating mnemonics that make sense and are appropriate. Peer feed back: I think you have made up great mneonics, you have also done a great desciption.

Maths Sample.

WALT: Use our five times tables to solve mainly six, seven and eight times tables.
In maths we are learning to solve tricky times table questions like 17x6, using our simple 5 times tables. For example, if the question was 6x16 you would go, 5x16+1x16=96. So the answer is ninety -six.
We had to do a difficult maths sample to show we know how to use this strategy. Here is a photo of mine.

The success criteria is to be able to understand and use this strategy without any trouble.
I think I have achieved this because I understand the strategy and can use it easily if I need to. Peer feed back: I think you have worked hard and understand what you are doing and how to work it out. Grace's comment:)

Hot and cold!

We have writers notebooks. A writers notebook is a place were you store all your ideas, so later on you can go back, and make storys out of them. In our writers notebooks we had to make a page about hot and cold things. Here is a picture of mine.

Spelling prioritie.

I had to make a spelling pyramid out of the first five of my spelling words. A spelling pyramid is when you chose a word and you write the first letter at the top of the page. Then you write the first two letters bellow the first letter. You repeat this over again, each time adding on a letter until you get to the   whole word. Here is a photo of mine.

Learning partner pic collage.

We had to make a learning partner pic collage about what a learning partner is for. My learning partner is Grace S. Here is ours.

Math graph.

We are doing timetables. We are practising our basic facts by doing tests. The first level I passed easily and then the same for the second then I didn't get them all right so I had to stay on the same level. The next time I got them all right so I could finally go onto the next level. Here is a picture of a graph I use too record my scores.

Solid, liquid and gas

In science we are learning about solid, liquid and gas. We were given a work sheet to do. I got an amazing twenty-three out of twenty-three. Here is a picture of our difficult work sheet.