The life of a ****

This week our class have been writing stories which are set in past tense. My story is about a book on a shelf. I hope you enjoy. I found it fun to imagine what it would be like living as a book. Next time I would use more emotive language.

try guess what i am...

I first started off in a foil wrapping. I don't even know how i got here, i just appeared. I was surrounded in a pretty big box with all my cousins and aunties and uncles in different packets. It felt like I had 100 cousins and they all looked exactly the same. I have always been proud of my pink sugar coated skin, it shines perfectly in the sun and is a lovely deep pink in the dull inky dark.

One day i felt a lot of pushing and shoving around our delicate cardboard box and i heard screams as my cousins got separated from us. There was a lot of chatter coming from different families followed by a load grumble and a long amount of rumbling. The talking from other families stopped for a while but a few curious children kept asking their parents what was going on. The parents tried to explain but i'm pretty sure they had no idea what was going on. My family knew, so we just kept quiet. The grumbles soon stopped and we were laying there in the pitch black for what felt like forever. We finally saw some light seep in a crack in our box as a loud sliding noise followed by a big clang approached us.

There was lots of moving and we got placed on what felt like a store front. There is a bell that rings every 20 minutes and the same exact voice repeats a muffled ‘Hi, How are you?’.

After being on the shelf for around 3 days some strong force picked up my packet. All I heard was coins dropping and a big rush of cold air glide past me. Then suddenly the lid of my pocket opens and this big hand slowly reaches in and just takes my older sister betty out of her seat. As she is exiting the packet the big hand brushes against be and betty starts laughing. The lip is then shut and I can only hear a slight scream.

It had only been a few hours before several hands grabbed almost all my siblings, except for my little brother, Billy. But not shortly after some giant hand once again opened up the lid of our cardboard box and stole my little brother and my dad. So only my mum and I were left in our-once full- packet. It didn't take long for my mum to get snatched from her seat either. I was frightened at this point. I was just sitting there waiting for what what going to happen to me, because frankly I had no idea. The time had come for when our cardboard box (which I now had all to myself) was opened and a giant hand reached in. I thought the hand picking me up would be calm. But the hand seemed angry and pinched my soft pink skin. They unwrapped my foil and I felt exposed. I quickly started moving through the air and I got placed in a wet squishy room.

I don't remember what happened after that. Everything went black. I am now deformed on a random footpath in the middle of nowhere. My shape is now a lumpy ball. No long a flat stick. I have no idea where the rest of my family is, I miss them very much.  

I am a piece of gum

My Mihi

W.A.L.T... Use appropriate language features for a pick a path story

I enjoyed doing this because I got to use coding for writing. Next time I will use more language features for my story.

Click the picture to go my mihi game. 

My Mihi

This week is Maori language week and we made mihi to tell everyone about ourselves. We used coding to create a game on 'gamefroot' that told everyone about us! Here is my game.

http://gamefroot.com/game/brielles-mihi/

Graffiti is it messy?

At the start of this lesson we made a piece of graffii to show our thinking. Here is my argument on why i think graffiti is an art.

WALT: Use words and pictures to convey our thoughts.

Is Graffiti an Art or is it Messy?

Graffiti, is it an art or messy? I think graffiti is an art, reasons I and lots of other people think is because it is a form of self expression. It decorates the city and is beautiful. I am going to state a few things why i think graffiti is art and is not messy.

Graffiti is a beautiful art. When just used to write names and nicknames, it looks cool and garnishes the world’s plain boring walls. The simple words written on a brick wall can add colour, brightening someone's day. Graffiti is a way to spread a message to everyone in an artistic cool looking way. Graffiti is very alluring and should be used on buildings more often.

People may think graffiti is messy and a crime but is it really vandalism if nobody is listening to the words you speak but only the words on a wall? Graffiti is a message someone is trying to give in the form of art but is unappreciated because of the law. Graffiti is not wrong for society and nobody gets harmed from the sight of graffiti. People usually think it is messy because they don't know what it means. It is creative because it expresses everything you want it to such as, your love, your needs, your wants and just your way of thinking. Painting is a form of distraction and is better being in a environment exposed to drugs and alcohol. Graffiti artists usually don't have the time or money to involve in more serious crimes than just being themselves on a blank wall. People may think that graffiti is a waste of time and money but they are wrong because graffiti helps lighten up the community.

Next, graffiti is an important source of creativity in the world and should be 100% seen as art, because it is. How many of the buildings that have graffiti on them are even being used? It has no affect on anyone purchasing an item from a building with graffiti on the outside of it so why do people consider it so messy? Graffiti is one of the best hobbies, but some people think it is not a hobby or a fashion, but they think it is a lifestyle. People who allow painting on their walls know that it is one of the best way of garnishing the city. If you do not like graffiti, do not criticize it; just try to understand everybody is different and everyone is creative in their own way.

How often do you see a bare abandoned container that is not being used and is just sitting there ugly? Graffiti artists find it a good place to use as a blank canvas and it ends up looking cool.  It changes the way we see footpaths and when we are walking down the street. But graffiti takes time, patience, talent and skill and creates a beautiful masterpiece that everyone can look at and enjoy. Graffiti is just a form of writing and help support people's thoughts and turns their thoughts into gorgeous words.

In conclusion, i believe that graffiti is art and is not messy and is a just a form of self expression and

No Petrol?!

W.A.L.T ... Understand what could happen if we ran out of petroleum

This week we were writing about what would happen if we ran out of petrol tomorrow . While doing this I enjoyed learning about what could happen in the years to come . Next time I will try to stay on topic .

Plan

Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if we ran out of petrol? There would be nothing to power cars and truck. Here is a few thing that could happen.

The first thing that anyone would do is try to convert petroleum engines to a natural petrol engine to try stop the transportation issue the quickest.

The world fossil fuels are said to all be gone by the year 2088. Fossil fuels are really old. People like to call it the ‘oil age’. Some people also seem to say that a peak in fossil fuels will be in 2025 but then it’s downhill from there. People have tried to stop the world from running out of fossil fuels/petrol but it only lasted a few months before the country that was testing became panic struck.

If the world ran out of petrol tomorrow most businesses would be destroyed and completely useless to the whole world. Families that live ‘far away from civilisation’ would hardly be affected because they usually live without petrol anyways. If the world ran out of fossil fuels, starvation would kill through half of the population within a few months then another third would die within one year.

If the world ran out of petrol there would be no cars or trucks to ship food or supplies for those who need it. There would be no public transport so traveling would be extra difficult. There would be less carbon emissions and a more economically friendly environment but that world would be one big chaos. If there was no petrol to fuel up cars we would have more technology in simple types of rooms such as bigger screens and more advanced software because people's minds will not be sidetracked by cars, although there would still be a few people trying to figure out a new way to run a car.

In conclusion the world would be in bad state of chaos without petroleum and fossil fuels and there would be a new way to start cars but by the time that would have been done most of the population would be gone. Big factories would not be able to find a solution to powering their machines for a few years so the world would not be a happy place to live on.

The Legend of the Steepest Street in the World

The past few weeks my class has been writing our own legends. 

I enjoyed doing this because I got to be creative and write my own legend. My next step is to use other words so that I don't repeat the words I have already used.

Trapped Alone

The past two weeks we have been writing two descriptive paragraphs about what we see in the photo below. We had to use descriptive words to show not tell. I enjoyed doing this because we had to make it descriptive so the reader can make a picture in their mind. Next time I will add use more descriptive words.

 The Man

Heavy loud drips on the roof echoed thorugh the darkness, the man finally found shelter. Light from the moon seeps in through the cracks and pinches the mans muddy, filthy face. The sound of big claps from the sky become muffled by the howling wind. Every movement he makes creates an explosion of dust and a series of soft creaks. The man becomes dizzy as an excessive amount of dust bursts into the air and suffocates him. The man has not been in the shelter for long but has discovered it has not been used in a while.

His eyes close as he struggles to keep them open, his heavy breathing radiates around the building . As he starts to doze off, his body is beginning to relax and his breathing is getting fainter every minute. When the man is in a light slumber, he awoke with the sound of rats scuttering in the walls. Nibbling and scratching from in the walls, rang in his ears and created his body to become stiff. The heat from his body emits into the cold, dead air. The mans frostbiten nose and toes struggle to find warmth, so the man curls up into a ball and uses his own heat as a blanket. After several hours he finally loses himself in a deep sleep that in a way feels like he is in  hybernation because he slept for what seemed to be an unending amount of time.

Under the Rug

Under the rug

Two weeks past and it happened again. The mouse that was hiding in my walls was under my ever so precious rug. This was not a normal mouse. This one was a huge one! The size of a cat. I always tried to get it out of my house and i even called professionals but that rat would not leave. I know you were probably expecting some demon like thing but thing, trust me, is way worse. He gobbles up all the food in the fridge and pantry. The mouse eats 10 times as much as me. I need to get rid of it.

How Does Mould Form?

This term we have been learning about mould. Her is all the informtion i foundout about how mould forms and grows. I think i got alot of useful informationbut next time i think i should probably use oictures to show what spores are and to make it more interesting.

Planning

How does Mould form?

Have you ever wondered how mould forms, grows and works? I am going to tell you right now. Mould reproduce and is formed by lots of tiny spores that the naked eye can’t see. Indoors mould usually begins to grow on moist surfaces, but mould inside should be avoided. Outdoor mould is really helpful for nature because it breaks down dead organic things such as dead trees and old leaves.

Moulds are a large number of fungal species where the growth in hyphae results in discolouration and a fuzzy layer, especially on food. The network of the branching hyphae is called a mycelium. It is considered a single organism. The hyphae is generally clear so the mycelium appears like very fine fluffy white strings over the area. The dusty texture of mould is created by profuse production of asexual spores formed by different ends of hyphae. The shape and formation of the mold is used to classify moulds. Many of the spores are coloured, making the fungus more obvious to the human eye.

Spores are one of the main things that create mould. Spores are made by non-flowering plants, bacterias, fungi and algae. Some bacteria  produce spores as a way to survive in harsh conditions because spores can last a long tim

e in bad conditions. Spores float through the air, because they are airborne, and land on damp surfaces then begin to form mould. There are many types of moulds but all require a moist surface. The spores are carried by an air current and land on anything, so mould is very contagious.

Mould is found everywhere and can grow on almost any surface where there is moisture. Water vapor makes condensation on surfaces that are coolers than the air’s moisture, which enables mould to grow. Floors or crawl spaces and basements with dirty floors and without vapor barriers are mould prone.

That is basically how spores and mould works.

The Astronaut, the Robber and the Rugby Stadium

Astronaut Catastrophe

One nice sunny day in the weekend there was only a few people in the rugby stadium. People were strolling casually, absorbing the nice view. One of these few people was an astronaut. He has just gotten back from his mission.He had decided to have a little look around before heading back to the station.

The astronaut had sat down on a seat and was watching everyone walk past. The astronaut soon noticed there was a rock that was very capable of tripping someone up in the middle of the path. He carefully watched the rock and all the people dodging it. But, there was one man. Who was dressed rather silly. In a burglar costume, or what he thought was a costume. The astronaut watched him steal someone's bag! The robber ran through the walkway with the rock just laying on the ground, tripped over a did a somersault! The astronaut grabbed the bag from the burglar and then saw the funny side of it and laughed really hard.

The robber did not find the incident funny at all. So he then proceeded to chase the astronaut all around the rugby stadium. The astronaut was careful to not trip over any rock or anything and i don't know if your burglar tried or not but he fell over at least 4 more times. The astronaut managed to hide from the robber and find his way back to the station without the scratched up robber seeing him. When he got back to his work, he had a long but still funny story to tell to all his co-workers.

You may be wondering what happened to the robber. The police were called but he actually did escape the rugby stadium. He just got caught across the road from it. He was the most wanted criminal of all time! Lucky the astronaut is a great runner.

The Park

This week we had to write a recound about anything eg: the holidays. I wrote mine about that time i went to the park with my friend. The WALT: Use the correct structure for a recount. Next time i think i could make the recount longer.

The Park

 

It was a chilly brisk but yet sunny wednesday morning. I was with my friend Emma and we were walking toward the Margaret Mahy park. We were ready to start our adventure.

First of all we sat down because we were tired from all of the walking. Our legs were aching and frost bit out toes. The warm slowly made us thaw out and even more ready for the day.

Later when we were finally ready, we got up and began to head towards the huge slide. We climbed up the big wall with heaps of hooks to grab onto and made it to the top. We slid down and the wind blew through our hair. We continued to do this until we were sick of it. The next thing we went on was the hug flying fox. We had a lot of fun with this but it got quite boring.

We then decided to get some ice cream. So we sat down and ate it. By this point we are getting really bored and extra tired so we both agreed on walking to the bus stop and catching the bus home.

I thought overall this experience was really fun and cool. It is way better than going by yourself.

The ANZAC Puppy

Freda

Based on ‘The ANZAC Puppy’ By Peter Millett and Trish Bowels

WALT: Write a flashback from a different perspective and use show not tell

I was proudly walking down the street in my uniform when I came across a young petite looking girl with a puppy in a box. The girl explained that the puppy didn't have a home because her family couldn't afford an extra mouth to feed.  So I took the puppy and told the girl I will take care of the dog and return her safely. I decided to name the dog ‘Freda’.

I got to the war front and the crashing and banging was almost too much, every time there was an explosion it rang in my ears for a while. But I had Freda to comfort me. She was always there for me on the scorching hot days and on the brisk bitter nights. I shared everything with Freda, she was the only thing keeping me alive. Freda was, and still is, my best friend.

We had to write a flashback with the perspective of either the dog that soilder or the girl the owned the dog first. I chose the soilder (Sam) . This is how I saw the story and if I was Sam I would write it like this. I hope you enjoy

Pigeon: Impossible

This week we were asked to write a newspaper atricle and plan out a video that we saw called Pigeon: Impossible. Next time i will make it nicer to look at by adding colour. I really like the way my newspaper came out.

Recycling Madness!

Plastic to Polyester?

How it’s made

Did you know that plastic bottles can be made into clothing? It is a very time consuming process but the outcome is worth it!

At a big factory the plastic bottles go into a large shredder. Shredding helps get all the excess liquid out of the bottles so it doesn't affect the condition of the plastic. After that the shredded bottles are wrapped up and are ready to be shipped around the world.

After the plastic has been on a big trip is is now at a factory and is sorted into piles. The two piles contain clear plastic (which is used to make white clothing and can be dyed) and the coloured plastic.

Usually the clear plastic has colourful lids and stickers on them, and they (the caps and stickers) can't be made into clothing. First of all the plastic goes into a tub to remove the caps, the lids of a bottle are made out of a plastic that floats. So what workers have to do is scoop out the floating plastic from the top. To remove the stickers there is a separate container full of a chemical compound that is bad for skin, so workers have to be careful.  They then scoop out all the stickers from the top.

After the plastic has been soaked, the clear shreds are a little wet, so they are placed in a oven, that is mixed with some white coloured plastic. To develop white cloth you need some light material in the oven mix. The plastic spends around ten hours in pivoting drums getting dry. Workers have to move around large containers to catch the plastic as it falls out of the drums.

After the plastic is dry and mixed to make the right colours, it goes into a rotating pipe where it is heated up and melted. It is very hard to weave plastic when it is in big clumps, so it is forced through a sieve. Now there is tiny little strings that are gathered in a big container underneath.

Now they have thread but it is not strong enough to make fabric yet. It has to be stretched while getting heated so the fibres will mould together. Now that it has taken a long time to get to this stage it is time to rip the materiel. The fluff that appears is the substance you need to make polyester.

The fabric is ripped to shreds, the next procedure takes place in a whole different factory. When it is at the factory a machine scraps the cotton wool like fabric onto a rough cloth. It is rubbing against the rough cloth because the bonded fibres rush together in the same direction to create “polyester felt”.

The amount of "polyester felt" that emerges is now ready to be turned into thread. Machines tease out the materiel and it spins, mile after mile, and now it is thread on a bobbin. Now it has reached the point where old plastic turns into real cloth, a big machine spins all of the cloth together to create one big sheet of polyester fabric.

If you want a smooth cloth, there is still 2 more procedures left. The first one is very delicate, it creates tiny loops on the surface. The second stage is the complete opposite, it goes through a series of tough steel brushes. The brushes catch and tear all the loops. The shredded surface helps make the materiel have a soft fluffy feel. Now that the polyester is done, it is time to make clothes.

That is how plastic turns into polyester!  

Writing

The superpower

I show Ella where she is going to sleep and she says she loves it. I remember when I used to love this house, now it is just a building with no special meaning to me. This is the biggest thing money can buy, a mansion. I hear a knock on the door as faint as the cries of help echoing inside my head. I walk to the door taking one’s time and I hear another knock. I open the door, It is Nyla.

She asks me what took so long, I ignore her and I ask what she wants. Duplicating me she walks in the door and heads straight to my office. She is ruffling through my papers and turn around as she hears my footsteps become louder and louder. She explains there has been mysterious happenings, kind of like superpowers and then she shows me ‘The Daily Day’ newspaper. In the paper it has different occurrences one of which is teleportation. ‘How fake’ I murmur.

Ella is unpacking her stuff and I walk into the room she will be  staying in for a while. She asks if she can put up her posters, and if she could use the cork board at the back of the room for all her studies. I agree that she can do all these thing and I also ask her if she wants a desk and she politely says ‘yes please’. I leave the room calling my moving guy to move the desk from a different room into her room. I start walking into my office to see that Nyla is still there on my computer. I turn around and ignore her, I can’t be bothered dealing with her silly news so I let her be.

Ella calls me into her room and asks me if I have heard about the strange things that have been going on. She said that she has been studying about it. She opens up a drawer on her dutchess and pulls out a purple folder, papers were perfectly placed in the folder. I wish my office was as neat as your folder’ I say. She shows me all the weird supernatural stuff. She explains that all the people that this has been happening too are either presidents, mayors or prime-ministers. She states that maybe all the things that have been happening to the other people might happen to me sooner or later.

I walk back to my office super confused and I see Nyla is still there. I tell her to leave,and I have important work to do but all she does is turn around and squint at me. I tap her shoulder and she turn around and taps my nose,then my elbow and then my knee and lastly my ear. I feel a tingly feeling in my fingers and ice shoots out of my finger tips. I hear a scream and there is Ella with her phone recording the whole thing. I’m a superhero now.

Writing

                             Does Music Help People Learn, or distract them? Does it depend on the music or the person?

In my own personal judgement, I entirely believe that we should be able to listen to music freely, and I am completely convinced that music is only a distraction if you let it be.

My first reason is that music help relax and relieves stress. Students at the University of Wales are known to listen to background music while studying and doing homework. Music is calming and most people prefer to listen to music instead of work. If you had no choice to but do your work and listen to music at the same time it would most likely encourage you to do the task? Music can help people learn effectively, one example is if you listen to music while listening to a teacher and then later when you are doing a test the music will remind you what the answer is. While listening to music and doing a writing task, being as creative as possible can help your creative juices flow.

Secondly music can help block out other noises. Music is a great idea,if people are being noisy, grant them the privilege to listen to music and the noise will most likely die down. If there is music in the air then you are probably going to get into a good mood so the work is more thoughtful and innovative,but quiet at the same time. Furthermore if you are listening to music you are probably going to express what you are hearing.

Continuing the end of the last paragraph, if you set out certain music it will most likely not distract us. Eg: Task: Writing Music Genre: Music with a soft beat, Task: Maths Music Genre: Classical Music. I highly think that if you don’t like the idea of us listening to music with no big boundaries, setting music out like this.

My final reason is that people use music to do daily tasks like cleaning their room, and i’m sure that you know cleaning your room is a chore and for some people doing work at school can feel like a chore too. This can definitely help people finish their work on time (referring back to my second paragraph) and help block out noise.

In conclusion I strongly think that we should be able to listen to music during class time and not be distracted. I hope that this has convinced you to change your mind.