I LOVE . . .

We've been working on poems that have rhythm and rhyme, alliteration and humour. Today the whole class worked together in buddies on a collaborative Kotuku class poem.  Here's the result.

I LOVE . . .

I love the feel of cool slimy glue,

alpacas, budgies, sloths and shrews.

I love skiing down a slippery slope

and peeing with Mr Antelope.

I love that weird mood where everything’s funny,

when the ice cream is hard and the chocolate is runny.

I love it when Eylish screams at a spider,

And guzzling gallons of sweet berry cider.

I love the roar of a revving-up plane,

a platypus, a teddy, a thundering train.

A flash of lightning in thunderstorms,

crisp, chicken sushi without the prawns.

I love to watch a comedy movie,

a present, a coke and a chocolate smoothie.  

I love to swim in smooth seas when it's sunny,

and slurping down slushies that cost lots of money.      

I love the ponies that eat golden hay,

and I love the traditional, hot Christmas day.

I’d love to see something that looks like a seal,

a onesie, a beaver, a spectacular meal.

I love jumping off Mapua Wharf

on a sunny, hot day with my friend-the dwarf.

I love the sound of drizzling rain

when I’m brushing my horse’s thick, jagged mane.

I love the taste of pan-fried bacon,

and showing my teachers they are mistaken.

I love lawn mowers that cut clean, green lines

and the scent of breathtaking, evergreen pines.

I love the taste of the blue salty sea,

a coke, L & P, and a glass of iced tea.

These are the things that mean lots to us

Writing this poem was not really a fuss.

Marshmallow Challenge

 The Marshmallow challenge is an international team building and technology challenge around the world.
The Marshmallow challenge was created by a guy called Tom Wujec who created it for team building. The task is who can build the tallest structure that can hold one marshmallow on top. You get 20 sticks of spaghetti, 1 metre of string, 1 metre of tape and one marshmallow also you have to do it in 18 minutes. The tallest structure is 99 cm and our tallest was 87.5 cm so we were close. Here are some pictures of us doing the Marshmallow challenge.

I HATE PEOPLE

I hate people over 91,
and people who are really dumb.
people that scream, burp and fart,
that whine, spew and are bad at art.
I hate people!

Mono prints with Sally

And a few more pics from our Art Session with Sally

Freedom With Bamboo on PhotoPeach

Art on Friday With Sally

Last Friday morning Sally came to do art with Kotuku class.
We did ink drawings using a long bamboo stick and dipping it into the ink, we also used dye to add a bit of colour. First we had to choose an object to draw, there were natural things like Paua and Kina shells.
Next we did a test run on normal A4 paper. After that we got to choose if we wanted to do it on a bigger piece of paper. The main point of the exercise was to be free and not worry about what it was going to turn out like and just do it. After Sally left we put a border around our favourite picture and put them up on the wall.

The Granny in the Music Store.

The Granny in the Music Store

The granny comes on Monday

she brings her music spirt,

every thing has a rhythm, a beat, a rhyme,

music is in my blood she would sing.

The guitar strums singing its tune,

Harps hum harmonys,

pianos prance around the place 

Maracas shake their bottoms.

By Sarah

The Taste of Watermelon

I can taste the juicy texture of Watermelon as it dives in the gloom of my mouth.
My empty stomach gulps up every drop wanting more.
The feel of a hard seed takes my mouth by surprise.
I grab fiercely at another piece and stuff it in my mouth.
Bit by bit it starts to disappear!.

Making Huts.

  Making huts is fun. there are tones of different types of huts so

 you get to use your imagination. You can make a big castle with tall towers,

 you could make an army trench with holes in the walls for guns, you could make a labyrinth with hidden passages and secret chambers,

 or you could make a regular hut, actually there is no such thing as a regular hut because a regular hut to one person is a grand castle but to someone else it's a box with a hole in the side.

If you want to make a hut for the first time it's easy,

All you have to do is make the floor (if you want one) then make the walls then the roof.

So if you want to make a hut it's simple and easy. 

Thank you for reading 

Jonathan

The Feel Of Riding Horses

The Feel Of Riding Horses

The feel of the wind whipping through your hair as you gallop over a cross country course, sailing over jumps the size of skyscrapers.
The feeling of joy as your four legged friend performs the perfect dressage move.
Feeling like you are on top of the world as you ride under a blanket of clouds, all thoughts sailing away in a chilly winters breeze.
When you are riding nothing else matters just the partnership between horse and rider.
But sometimes its not all fun. Like the feeling of the ground rushing up to meet you, and then the pain washing over every inch of your body.
Those are the feelings that sweep over my body when i'm riding horses.
By Meila

Walking on the Beach Haiku

Soft golden sand
Caves in over my feet
Leaving small dents.

By Lucy

Golden Bay was usual enough

Golden Bay was usual enough; it had a beach, some rocks and a sky over it, and even an old rustic bench. My family, friends and I did what friends do, go swimming in the pleasant sea, make lethal bamboo spears, jump off kayaks into the sea and splash through it like seals, fish off the rocks and feast on mussels doing nothing important.
By Hunter

Stealing Thunder Mary Casanova; Book Review

Stealing Thunder is about a girl called Libby, Her and Griffin (A boy she meets) find out that Libby's Kind Neighbor Jolene Porter Is leaving for a while and her husband is watching the horses until she comes back. Libby has never trusted Mr Porter and also learns to know that Mr porter has been reading the magazines about how to get good insurance money, Apparently is to kill or "Accidentally" Make a mistake or break or kill something....

Libby and Griffin Try to steal Thunderbird (Thunder) and the other three horses with all their might but they fail and Libby Unfortunately fractures two bones in her foot but is still eager to try again so at midnight her and Griff Sneak over to Mr porters house and head to the stable to see the horses again but suddenly the door creaks open and Mr porter comes in, Libby and Griff tiptoe around finding a big enough hiding spot for Libby and Griff to fit in together with Libby's Cast in the way "Thunders stable" Libby whispers. Libby hobbles over to Thunders stable and ducks down onto one leg as Griff appears next to her.

Mr Porter Pulls A match-box out of his pocket, lights a match, throws it towards a hay bale and leaves.....

Will Libby and Griff be able to save three horses in a huge fire with only three legs total?
Read the book to find out, Recommended for Ages 8-13, Boys and Girls.

Ella's Haiku's

Snow Falls Silently
Bushes Blanketed By Snow,
I Pull On My Gloves.



The Fire Crackles
The Soft, Furry Cat Purring,
Cuddled Beside Me.


By Ella

Haiku

 Tree-Tops Bending Far,

 

 Birds Are Gliding Gracefully,

In A Mountain Scene.    

Sarah haiku

At Mahana School 

Everyone is friendly 

The scenery is scenic

I belong here

Haiku Leaves

Leaves flow peacefully
flooding the ground layer by layer
with the joy of life.
by Tiarne

Haiku

Spiky twigs stretch out

pale white snowdrops cast shadows 

the low sun smiles

Cool wind brushes by
peaceful daffodils shining
the low sun smiles

Christopher Davis

Haiku

Heed the peaceful wind

caress the swaying flax bush

sunshines luminous.

orion

Orion Is ...

What has Orion done to deserve this?

Man Over Board !!!!!!!

history rules

Our Day in Rome

candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson

Floss loves spending time with her dad in his greasy spoon cafe. But when floss's mum and new husband Steve decide to move to Australia floss has to chose between her mum or dad she picks to stay home with her dad. After a while floss wishes that she moved with her mum, because her dad is not the best a ironing or washing but that's not it her dad and herself are about to get kicked out of the cafe!. What happens with floss and her best friend ship with Rhiannon. Does floss become Friends with the new girl at school. Also does her dad fall in love with girl and does floss like her?. Find out when you read this packed of adventure book it will take you to another world.
I rate this book 9/10
I recommend this book for 9+

By Tiarne

Jonathans Writing.

One day in the winter holidays in Toronto, Canada, I went to my dad's friend's house. It was really cold, so we were sitting by the fire watching TV when I had an idea,"How about we drive the remote-control car on the pool?". When we got dressed we went out with the car.

The car was made of a base shape but had connectors so we could change the shape of it. It also had many awesomely funky accessories worth about $ 49.99.
 
So, when my turn came, I drove the r.c. car over the dodgy ice.
Some times the ice broke right behind it so it looked like the deadly cracks in the ice were chasing it. Eventually we drove it over the ice so much that there was almost no ice left!


Then, after about two hours of watching TV, making Lego things and playing hide and seek around the house, we went out again to drive the car. It was his turn to drive it over the dangerous endurance pool so I took a hasty step back (you can tell how he drives). So he started driving the car over the ice but one thing he didn't know was that the ice in the deep end was about 0.5 mm thick, meaning that when he drove it over the deep end of the pool there it goes!


We heard cracking and snapping so we turned around but saw nothing unusual, but then we turned back and saw nothing there ether, no car, no ice, no nothing! There was utter confusion for what was two seconds but felt like two hours! We both looked down into the water simultaneously and saw a trail of bubbles coming from the carwreck! Accidentally he touched the water and somehow got an electric shock (Guess how.).

We stood utter disappointment when he had a crazy idea to jump in to the water to get it. "But you'll freeze!"I said, but what I didn't know was that the swimsuit was insulated. Then up he goes, onto the diving board, ready to jump (into freezing cold water). "3,2,1, Jump!" we shouted and he jumped in...

I waited for what was only 5 seconds but felt like 5 years. Then I heard splashing and cracking then finally up he comes. "It was very cold even with the insulated swimsuit," he said, "And I kept on being shocked! And for the car, Well, I don't know, no harm on trying it out." So we drive it and... It worked!

Because of the little incident we decided not to drive any more cars over the pool (ever!).
 I don't know why, but I found it an extraordinarily  incredibly funny experience.
 

 
 

SUPERFUDGE BY JUDY BLUME!

I already read SUPERFUDGE by Judy Blume and it was better than the first one I think because they moved to New Jersey for a year and Pete meets a boy called Alex so, him and Alex own a Business to find worms for Mrs Muldour Because she likes eating them! Meanwhile Fudge and his friend Daniel are riding their bikes to the lake down the highway and the whole family thinks they are lost but they were just having lunch and spending their money at the bakery and riding bikes but after that they got their bikes taken away because they were naughty!
By Ella.

Grandads Farewell

It was a seriously sad but sunny day in Rotorua. The urge of crying came closer as every second passed.

A few weeks ago me and my family flew up to the north island, because my grandad was in a very critical condition, he only had 2 months to live. It was a long flight but the thought of driving two hours after that in a car was worse. Eventually we arrived to see my Nana come out of the bright flower curtains with her face held high to greet us. We walk peacefully into the warm comforting lounge to see my grandad eating a peace of rose red water Mellon. You could not even notice he was about to die.

Before we new it he was gone and we were entering the church with tight hearts, sore eyes and loving memory's. Then suddenly the image of him in the hospice bed panting like a fire breathing dragon, mouth open wide and pale white skin, flys circling him like pray as his eyes stay firmly shut.
We sit in the seats at the church watching as all of the photos from grandads life pass even the horses he broke in by himself he also loved hunting, working with tractors and other machinery, he was a kind person and when you needed help he would always be there for you. That is my story of my beloved grandad.
by Tiarne

broken nail

I was about there years old , I had just hoped off the toilet. I was a persistent child back then and I was going to wash my hands. The only problem was may brother lewis was going to have a shower too, so shoved me out. As I said I was a persistent child and I was going to wash my hands. So I prided the door open a crack, my finger was only just in it and the door went slam.

I screamed like a punched pig, blood went all over the place and my nail was only on by a flat, fleshy, floppy bit of finger, it wasn't pretty.

That night my mum washed, inspected and bandaged my finger. That night to calm down I watched Peter Rabbit, Winy the Pooh and Richard Scurry. A few days later my nail fell off with out a tug, a couple of years later I lost an other nail.

Gridiron Tramp

                                                          Gridiron Tramp

It's Saturday morning and I have just had the longest night of my life. I woke up at 5:30am to wake Dad and Mitchell, but Dad said go back to bed and wake up at 6:30am, now that was on long and painfull wait, but 6:30 finally came around I got to wake Dad and Mitchell up, they got up and we milked the goats had showers, packed our packs said goodbye to Mum and soon we got up to Flora car park.

We signed in, and soon we were off up to Whiskey Creek where my Poppa used to always stop for a drink. So we have a drink to remember him, we had an invigorating drink and I must say that mountain water is the best water you can ever get, not like this filtered town water.

We got up to Flora Saddle and then we soon arrived at Flora Hut and a tramping group were redoing the roof. They were taking off the iron and cleaning it all up so we just left them to it, and carryed on to Gridiron. We had a few stops at some streams, had a nibble and crossed the swing bridge.

Mitchell had a stick pointing up from his pack and there was this bar going over the start of the bridge, he went under the first one but the second one he forgot to duck and Dad said "don't say anything", he suddenly stopped and we laughed. Then we left there and tramped on to the Gridiron Gulch, the big entrance to Gridiron,  used to keep cattle in there.Then we headed on to have a squiz at the Upper Gridiron Hut, we had a look up at that one, all it was is a hut built into the rock, it had a potbelly stove, an awesome swing chair, an outside fire pit and three bunks. We got to Lower Gridiron, we had some lunch, and put our sleeping bags up top. Some girls came and two parents, the girls were really noisy. They made our Mahana girls look quite. Some other people came, a Dad and a girl and they were quiet nice. Then it came to tea time which was potato flakes, peas and sausages and that was scrummy.

To sum it all up we had a good time and the people were quite nice, we came home, and it was so nice to be home. We also had our nice Ginger Beer that we forgot to take up.

                                                           By Lawson

Ella's Book Review;

Judy Blume Double Fudge; Book Review

I Read DOUBLE FUDGE this year….. I Got hooked at the start because a boy called Farley Drexel Hatcher is obsessed with money, It all started when Farley asked his brother one night; “Pete?”

“How much would it cost to buy New York?” And all he really can reply is; I don’t know? Why would you ask such a stupid question?

I found out that a book is more exciting near the end because they met their long lost cousins and one was even named Farley Drexel Hatcher! They also got stuck in an elevator in their apartment! What a Catastrophe! I also have the next book called SUPERFUDGE too! I can’t wait to start reading that! I am only borrowing these books from a Friend but if anyone has it or you managed to find it, read it because I recommend it for ages 8-12 and Girls and Boys!

(Sorry Mr Neal, I couldn't get this to publish on the book review page!)

My earliest memory

My earliest memory.

I remember the day with joy even tho most of it is hazy. My Mum, sister Emma and I were down having lunch at Hot mama’s with Emma’s friend Okeey. I was 4 then and my attention span was short. It had been half an hour and I was bored and starting to complain. I remember Okeey being the goon he is, started to entertain me by pulling sugar sashays, from the cup on the table , and scoffing them down. One after the other they disappeared. I was laughing my head off, while Mum and Emma were only smirking.
That is my favorite earliest memory. :D 

By Sapphira

Pipes Ahoy!

It was a splendid sunny day in the tiny town of Kawhia, the sky was a brilliant blue.
Me and my cousins were jumping off a brown crumbly bank covered in long grass waving in the wind.
Leah was doing bombs off the bank making splashes of water as high as Pluto.
We swam down the channel and discovered a Willow tree with scratchy branches reaching down in to the water.
We climbed aboard it and it sank down even lower like a sinking ship.
We came up with a game where three of us linked into the chain, and the other floated down the channel with a stomach full of butterflies. But if you weren't careful you would be sucked through the pipes and get popped out at the other end, to be taken out to sea.
One time Jacob jumped in and went gliding down the channel, while I held Leah's legs and Locke held mine. Suddenly Locke's grip loosened from my ankles and he went rocketing down the channel after Jacob, then I slipped and went down after the others.
That left only Leah to rescue us, the current was really strong and before long we were dangerously close to the pipes.
As we got closer to the pipes the water started sucking us under like an angry monster.
Jacob and I, who weren't the worlds best swimmers were ducking under and popping back up with mouth fulls of salty sea.
We realised that we could hold Locke, so with a bit of effort we reached him and clambered onto him drowning him.
As we were about a metre from the pipes our hero Leah grasped us and started fighting against the current up to the tree. After about 2 minutes of hard swimming we reached the willow and clambered aboard it, the finger like branches biting into our skin.

By Meila

Lottie always wanted to...

Lottie always wanted to write a book, because there was so many possibility's of what could happen. It was one of the only places where she was free to bee herself and she could choose what could happen when she wanted it. Many dreams wishes, hopes and fears were all weaved into her story's. She was inspired by other writers and sometime she found a great book which sucked her away from reality and made her feel as if she was standing in the characters shoes. Lottie thought books were amazing.


Lottie always wanted to travel, Rome, London, Paris. She wanted to go there. She was fascinated by the fact that the other country's were so different in many ways like religion, food and transport. she always thought it would be amazing to live on a street with a river on your doorstep. Or a place where the seasons seemed to merge into one. She wanted to try their food, and learn about there amazing culture and beliefs.


Lottie always wanted to be a chef. She liked to think of others enjoying the food that she prepared. She liked watching master chef and trying to replicate the dishes that the chefs prepared. She made many dishes some completely failing and others her best. she entered some competitions and got pacing which inspired her to try even harder. Lottie liked cooking.

A Memory

On a rare sunny Greymouth day, our family was on the way to the Airport. We were on our way to AUSTRALIA!!.

When we were there we went to Australia Zoo. I remember the time distinctly, it was a piping hot day and we were watching some green and crimson parrots. They screeched and squarked like an out of time orchestra, while they danced gracefully in the air, and dad was lucky enough to feed them!
I watched in amazement as the plates of food dad was holding became engulfed in a swarm of hungry beaks . But one of them wasn't interested in food, instead it came over to me.

 At the time I was relaxing in my buggy wearing my favorite lime green hat. The bird swooped down like an eagle targeting its prey, it latched on to my hat, claw digging into my scalp, "AAHHHHH!" I squealed scaring the bird, making it flutter away to its other feathered friends.

I remember that time so vividly even though it was 8 years ago.

CHARIOT RACER

HERE IS MY FIRST ANCIENT ROME TASK: A DIARY ENTRY FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF A CHARIOTEER (CHARIOT RACER)


I have my Grey pony, my Bay pony and my Black pony lining up for the races, I am on the blue team.
The magistrate signaled the start of the race with the drop of a white flag, my gate opens before me. My horses automatically Gallop ahead like I am not even there, THE RACE IS ON.....
I hear the crown going wild, Titus's Triumphal Arch shimmers in the daylight in front of me. I race past the Spina and get overtaken by a man from the green team, I whip my horses with my leather whip and I surge them forward - The charioteer from the green team curses and swears at me! I keep my spirits up because I am in the lead!
I glance Behind me as I hear screeches and whinny's from the horses behind me, A disaster has struck on the hairpin corner as a charioteer goes flying through the air, their horses kept running and all was frightening! Blood on the road!
By Ella.

Orion's Hangi Instructions

Hi I am Orion. Today I taught kotuku about hangi, this is the story.
First we put rocks in a fire to make
them hot. Then we dug a hole and 
put the hot rocks in the hole and put
vegetables and meat in the hole. Then we put wet sacks in  the hole and put dirt on the top of the hangi and wait. As we wait there are people called
steam patrol. They make sure that
no steam gets out of the hole.
5 hours later the food is served. Yum!

One Square Metre

The class made a 10,000cm square because we are working on area. Some of us didn't think that it would be 10,000 square cm blocks. We also had a black piece of paper which is 30cm x 30cm and the area of it was 900 square cm.

Castles Completed

Both teams worked feverishly to complete their castles, and here are the finished products. After our accurate measuring, we worked out the area of the square towers using the formula for finding area. Area = length x width.

The formula for finding the area of the whole circular castle is pi x radius squared.

And the winner is.....to be announced soon.

Netball game

On Thursday at netball practice, I was chosen to play G.A 'goal attack for Saturday's game.

Before the game on Saturday Mum made me shoot 100 hoops but I didn't get them all in.

We played against Broadgreen Intermediate . I was really nervous. The final score was 10 all.

I shot nine of the ten goals which was pretty good.

Our team is called Mapuana, we have players from Mapua and Mahana.

When I got home Dad said I did well and it must have been "because I did all that practice".

Boys vs Girls - the battle is on!

The Battle is On to Construct the Most Accurate Castle. 
Accurate measurement is the main purpose of this exercise, so careful adherence to the instructions is paramount. Here are the beginning stages in progress!
Watch this space!!!!