Sunday, December 16, 2012

Prize-Giving

Friday 14 December after morning-tea, there was a special event in the hall. PRIZE-GIVING. The final assembly for the year. The assembly where every student strives to receive an award.

I am proud to say I received 4 awards. The 100% attendance, Academic Achievement, Literacy award and to top it off  the Main Freight award.  Which made my parents super-duper proud of me. 

The 2012 St Pius X Catholic school Prize-giving, is my last ever prize-giving at St Pius. It was truly the most special and the one I will remember forever. 


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Year8 Dinner- Poem

Masala was a fancy place to eat
that was where the year8's went to meet. 

Butter chicken was so divine
My taste buds were fine
But my teacher wouldn't let me drink wine

We took so many pictures
It was mixture of students and teachers

We had such a good time
but everyone had to say good bye








Friday, November 30, 2012

Virtues

Show your virtues everyday, and have determination it will lead your way.
Respect yourself, and those you meet
Be kind to people on the street
Always use the virtue honesty, because honesty is the best policy.

Camp 2012

Camp last week, were 3 days filled with laughter and joy. From arriving at Piha on Wednesday to leaving on Friday afternoon.

The 4 activities we did on the camp-grounds were Orienteering, Poles and Planks, Bush Skills and Archery. All four activities required us to think. 3 of the 4 required team work. Team work I am sure my team used. Team work, that allowed my team to get to know each other, including myself. Team work that allowed my team to bond. To form friendships.

We had many other activities.

-Walk to Piha Beach
-hike to Kitekite Falls
-Burma Trail

We had a Fashion Show, but instead of using your ordinary material we had to use newspaper and other re-usable things. Such as, cookie wrappers, and glad wrap. But out of everything we did, the best thing that happened, was getting to know everyone! Including those who weren't in my team.

I formed friendships with people I never thought one day I’ll be calling them my ‘friend’.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Water


Water is good for you

It’s good for me too

We drink it everyday
to wash the waste away

We keep our blood cells clean
Even though it can’t be seen

You can drink water from tanks, bottles and taps
after doing many laps

Fruit and veggies contain water too
and is good for me and you

The End

Monday, October 29, 2012

French Lesson 2

Je suis deux bonbons
I have 2 lollies

Je suis trois baguette
I have 3 french stick 

Je suis cing croisante
I have 5 crosiante

Je suis dix crayon
I have 10 pencils

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Reflection Testing Week

This week has been very important. It was testing week. To me, I found this week just like every other end of the year testing week. We had a test every morning for the past 4 days. I found the maths test challenging. Maths has to be by far, my weakest subject. I found the reading test, the easiest. Reading is my favourite subject. Overall I’m very happy this week is over.

Monday, October 15, 2012

French Lesson 1

Today for French my learning intention was to recap on basic French vocabulary. I learnt words that were used when greeting someone. For example, if I was to use the word 'welcome' in French I would say, 'Bienvenue'. If I was to ask someone their name I would say 'Comment tu t'appelles'. 

To help me practise, I used a website called 'Babbel'.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Thursday, August 23, 2012

St Pius X Autobiographical Poem


St Pius X
Humble, Holy, Caring, Poor
brother to 6 sisters and 3 brothers
Loves God and helping people
He feels happy when he’s with the people he loves
He needed people to love God just as much as he did
He gave his life to God
His fear was dying
He wanted to see Pope Pius IX
He was born and raised in Italy.
Sarto

Saturday, August 18, 2012

David Copperfield

This term I am reading the classic novel "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens. As part of understanding what we read my group had to summarise chapter 2. This is our summary..... 

Chapter 2 is about Davy observing his childhood. He remembers the times his nurse/housekeeper, Peggotty used to take him to church. She also used to look after him when his Mum was out. One night his mother came home with a gentleman. The same one that escorted them home after church. His name was Mr. Murdstone. Davy did not like him.
2 months later Peggotty asked if Davy would like to spend a fortnight at her brothers, away from home. Davy was excited to leave but at the same time he was sad to leave his home and his mum.

Olympics

This week for Integrated Studies I had to find facts about the Ancient Olympics, History of the New Zealand Olympic teams and facts about the Modern Olympics. This is what I found out....

Ancient Olympic Games
  • The ancient Olympic games were held in Olympia.
  • The athletes competed nude.

History of the New Zealand Olympic Teams
  • The first 3 modern Olympics New Zealand did not compete. Due to money and distance. 
  • In 1908 New Zealand joined with Australia and they formed a team together called “Australsian”. New Zealand sent an independent team in 1920.

Modern Olympics

  • The first modern Olympic games were held at  Greece, Athens in 1986
  • The Olympic games are held in different countries every 4th year.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

French Week 1

This week in French I learnt how to understand and greet someone in French. Here is an activity I did, where I translated an English conversation to French. 
English
Roller: Hello Mimi
Mimi: Hello Roller
Roller: How are you?
Mimi: I’m ok, how are you?
Roller: I’m good.

FrenchRoller: Bonjour Mimi
Mimi: Bonjour Roller
Roller: Ca va?
Mimi: Comme ci, comme ca, Ca va?
Roller: Ca va bein.




Friday, June 15, 2012

Toby

I could hear screaming coming from outside the house.  It was my little brother, John, he was screaming, and when I ran outside, I could see why he’s screaming so loudly.

There he was. "He's going to attack me, he's going to attack me" yelled John. “He won’t hurt you” I said to John. “He will, he will” John replied.

I picked him up, cuddled him and took him inside. I named him Toby.

“We’re not keeping him” mum said. “WHY!?” I yelled. Even though I knew John was afraid of Toby, I tried to make John realise that Toby was not harmful.

While John was sleeping, little Toby started licking his face. John started giggling and woke up. As soon as he saw it was Toby making him laugh, he gave Toby a cuddle. John was no longer afraid.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

OH NO!

OH NO!
Annie and Angelica were getting ready for their school camp in the forest. Orienteering was their first activity. Their teacher, Mrs Jolie gave them their orienteering gear.

They started at the starting line. They made their way to the 1st and 2nd control, out of 10. They were alone in the forest. Walking past the trees and bushes they heard footsteps. They were frightened. They dropped everything and ran off.

They tried to find Mrs Jolie. But she was not in sight. Scared and Nervous were Annie and Angelica as they were lost. Annie looked across at Angelica and saw that she was upset.

It was getting darker. “OH NO”! They held each other hand-in-hand and both said “everything will be alright”. All of a sudden they saw a bright light shining from one direction. They ran towards the light and saw that it was Mrs Jolie. “Mrs Jolie, Mrs Jolie” they yelled, with relief. “You found us”, they said. Mrs Jolie wrapped them up in a blanket and took them back to their tents.

THE END!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Maths Reflection Week 5

This week for Maths I have learnt the name of 3 different strategies: Place Value, adding using tidy numbers and subtracting using tidy numbers. I also learnt how to use the most efficient strategy to solve a number problem.

Place Value strategy
Example: 75-39=?
75-30-9
75-30=45
45-9=36

Adding using tidy number strategy
Example: 247+98=?
247+100-3
247+100=347-2= 345


Subtracting using tidy numbers strategy:
473-146=?
+4   +4
473-146 = 477-150=327

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Rocky and the bone

There once was a dog named Rocky. He was hungry. A bone was on the other side of a big fence. A cat named Ruby tells Rocky to try and climb over the fence. But Rocky sadly can not climb. A friendly bird flies over and tells Rocky to dig, and go under the fence. He does. Rocky gets his bone and wags his tail happily.

THE END

Friday, May 11, 2012

The Matchbox- Chapter 4

WEEK 4 Chapter 4
TITLE OF THE BOOKThe Matchbox
PEOPLE IN THE GROUPAgnes, Dorothy, Lavinia and Ofa
ROLES:
DISCUSSION DIRECTOR
Lavinia
Write four to six questions about what you have just read. These questions will be used for group discussion during the next reading session. Think about the question helpers in the box below.

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Details? Inferred? What if? Opinion?


Who are the characters in the chapter? 7/5
What was Ginettas nickname? 7/5
What was inside the suitcase? 8/5
Why was Ginetta disguised as a cleaning lady? 8/5
Where was Ginetta when the suitcase broke? 9/5
Why was the name ‘Topolino’ given to Ginetta? 9/5





SUMMARY DIRECTOR-
Dorothy
Write two to three paragraphs summarizing the chapter or today's reading. Use the chart that guides you through summarizing.
Chapter 4 page 14&15, talks about Ginetta and her jobs. Her first underground job was in a city hall. During the next two and a half years, Ginetta was a researcher, a spy, a courier, a secretary for the Air Force, a cleaning lady, and a smuggler.
The truth was hard, in the war years. The newspapers were full of propaganda, but it didn’t report the truth.
One day Ginetta carried a cardboard suitcase which was filled with secret newspapers. As Ginetta stopped on a tram, her suitcase hinges fell apart and the newspapers flew out everywhere.
Ginetta hurried to pick it up and walked for miles to her flat.
Ginetta  wore many disguises. She dressed as a cleaning lady. Ginetta was sent to the Swiss border to pick up a knapsack. She had to do take it to her friend. When Ginetta returned, the central train station was bombed. As she walked, two officials were checking passengers bags for contraband. Ginetta tried to walk through. Ginetta reached for her knapsack and went to meet Nino who took her knapsack to the bank. “The knapsack was full of money to help families and prisoners.”
WORD FINDER DIRECTOR
Ofa
Find four to six interesting, powerful or tricky words from today's reading. Write them below along with the page number. Use flags to mark those words. You will be asked to share those words during our next guided reading meeting.
*Propaganda - rumors are spread to help or harm a person or group, page 14.

*Concierge - a doorkeeper, page 15.

*Rendezvous - a meeting or appointment, page 15.

Selection Director
Agnes
Pick the most interesting part to read to your group during our next guided reading meeting.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS PART

Put the page number and the paragraph number

*During the next two and a half years , she was a researcher, a spy, a courier, a secretary for the Air Force, a cleaning lady and a smuggler. Page:14

^I chose this sentence because it tells us how longs it has been since her parents were taken and her past jobs.

*They clipped and gathered information for secret newspapers, then risked carrying them to distant towns, even though the penalty for being caught was death . page:14

^I chose this sentence because it shows that this job is important for Ginetta and that she would risk her life for this job

*When Ginetta finally stepped off the train , hoisting her heavy load , a german soldier reached for her suitcase “Signorina,” he said , “may I help you?” Ginettas legs turned to jelly.

^I chose this because it tells us Ginetta was nervous.







The Matchbox- Chapter 3



Week 3 Chapter 3

TITLE OF THE BOOKThe Matchbox
PEOPLE IN THE GROUPAgnes, Dorothy, Lavinia and Ofa
ROLES:
DISCUSSION DIRECTOR
Ofa

Write four to six questions about what you have just read. These questions will be used for group discussion during the next reading session. Think about the question helpers in the box below.
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Details? Inferred? What if? Opinion?


*Who are the characters?
*Who was taking care of Ginetta?
*What is the chapter about?
*What was the signal to warn each other if there was danger?
*When did the pastora wake up Ginetta and the three children?
*When did Ginetta go to the store?
*Where did Ginetta and the three children spend the night?
*Where did Ginetta hide when her parents were taken away?
*Why did Ginetta drive the three children, why couldn’t it be her Mom or Dad?  
*Why did Ginetta join the resistance?
*How tall is Ginetta?     *How was Ginetta feeling when she noticed that her parents were gone?
SUMMARY DIRECTOR-
Agnes

Write two to three paragraphs summarizing the chapter or today's reading. Use the chart that guides you through summarizing.
At eighteen years Ginetta was asked to take her next door neighbours to neutral switzerland . Their jewish Dad has not been seen in a while. They were unsure what happened to him.

Ginetta and the kids stayed the night in the baita of the pastori. There were enemy soldiers around.  Four in the morning they were awakened by the pastoras to give food & warn about the barking dogs. Ginetta was sad  to leave the kids in switzerland.

Jewish people were being killed. They all agreed on a sign showing that they were taken and now in danger.  They hung towels at the window. As Ginetta walked home there was a towel hanging at their window. She had nowhere to  go.She now joined the resistance to fight for ideals and for her parents. She will fight with intelligence , reason  and courage. But not with violence.
WORD FINDER DIRECTOR
Lavinia

Find four to six interesting, powerful or tricky words from today's reading. Write them below along with the page number. Use flags to mark those words. You will be asked to share those words during our next guided reading meeting.
  • neutral- means not taking part or giving assistance in a dispute or war between others. “During the World War II Portugal was neutral”.

Selection Director
Dorothy
Pick the most interesting part to read to your group during our next guided reading meeting.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS PART

Put the page number and the paragraph number


*“Ginetta is one metre, fifty-seven cm tall and thirty-six kilograms and she could barely see over the steering-wheel.
* Ginetta’s neighbors, three children had not seen their Jewish Father for awhile.
*At the border, tears brimmed in Ginetta’s eyes as she left the 3 children in Switzerland, she wondered what would happen to them.

*“The Jewish people agreed on a signal to warn each other in case of danger- a towel hanging in the window meant “ Don’t come home - we’ve been arrested. You must flee.!”
*“Ginetta chose to join the resistance. She would fight for the ideals her parents had believed in, but she would fight with intelligence, reason, and courage. Never with violence. Never with a gun.”


The Matchbox- Chapter 2

WEEK 2 Chapter 2
TITLE OF THE BOOKThe Matchbox
PEOPLE IN THE GROUPAgnes, Dorothy, Lavinia and Ofa
ROLES:
DISCUSSION DIRECTOR
Agnes

Write four to six questions about what you have just read. These questions will be used for group discussion during the next reading session. Think about the question helpers in the box below.
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Details? Inferred? What if? Opinion?


  • Why does Ginetta put her odds with people in authority?
  • Why does her parents hide the newspapers they bring from Switzerland ?
  • Who are the characters in the second chapter?
  • What is the second chapter about ?
  • Where is chapter two based?
SUMMARY DIRECTOR-
Ofa

Write two to three paragraphs summarizing the chapter or today's reading. Use the chart that guides you through summarizing.
Chapter 2 talks about Ginetta’s family and what she does with her life.
Her Mom is Jewish and her Dad is Catholic. This happened in 1937 to 1940. During this time Ginetta would help care for the sick and poor.

While she was working, Ginetta would dream of her summer holidays. Climbing the mountains and living in the stone house with the old shepherd and his wife.
WORD FINDER DIRECTOR
Dorothy

Find four to six interesting, powerful or tricky words from today's reading. Write them below along with the page number. Use flags to mark those words. You will be asked to share those words during our next guided reading meeting.
  • Physicians - a person who is skilled in the art of healing and is legally qualified to practise medicine.
  • Smuggler - to import or export goods secretly.
Selection Director
Lavinia
Pick the most interesting part to read to your group during our next guided reading meeting.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS PART

Put the page number and the paragraph number
Book Title: The Matchbox
Pages to read: 7-9
Today’s Date: Thursday 26 April 2012

  • “Ginetta’s parents, her Jewish mama, Rosa, and her Catholic papa, Dario, both physicians”.
  • “One day her teacher was praising Italy’s dictator, Mussolini”.
  • “Ginetta and her friends would save the lives of many innocent people”.





Thursday, May 10, 2012

My Mum

My Mum is someone I can talk to about ANYTHING. She is someone who helps me when I need help, someone who comforts me when I feel alone, and she is someone who always believes in me, when no-one else does. She is my best-friend.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Strategies

This week I have been looking at different types of strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems. 


One of the strategies I have used is 'Subtracting using tidy numbers'. My learning intention was: 'We are learning to solve problems by equal additions that turn one of the numbers into a tidy number'. 


What this means is, if you add a number to both numbers in an equation to make one of the numbers a tidy number. The answer will still be the same, even if you didn't. 
example; 61-37= 24 if you add 3 to 61 & 37 you have 64-40 and your answer will still be 24.

Margaret Aylward

Thursday, May 3, 2012

My First Basketball Experience

“We’re letting them win”......

I walked into the courts, filled with excitement. A man who was obviously our instructor told us to stand on the yellow line. We did. He then began introducing himself. His name was Coach Bruce.

Afterwards Mrs Tui put us into 4 groups. Once the groups were sorted Coach Bruce started demonstrating a few basketball skills. He showed us how to dribble a ball and the proper way of holding it. This was all new to me.

As soon as he was finished we played a game. Each person from each group had to dribble the ball to the cone and back. At first it was sort of easy. Until Coach Bruce announced we had to use our left hand. I found it difficult. First team to finish were the winners. My team won once. We were very happy.

The next game we played was sort of similar. Each group had multiple coloured cones they had to collect. (during this game a tall man walked into the courts. Coach Bruce told us his name was Coach Dwayne. He plays for the Auckland Pirates) We played and played. I was having a lot of fun. Even though Ofa’s team kept winning. Coach Bruce asked us “why does the white team(referring to their coloured cone) keep winning? Daniel answered “We’re letting them win”. Everyone laughed.

Later we played another game. This time we had to focus on our shooting. We challenged Agnes’ team. They won. Showing good sportsmanship we congratulated them.

After all that fun our time was sadly over. We said thank-you to Coach Bruce and Coach Wayne. I can not wait till next week when we have another basketball session.