Monday, August 21, 2017

Mandarin Lesson - Family Tree

In today's Mandarin lesson we learnt all about family and how to say people in our family. We also had to create our own family tree with the new Mandarin words we learnt. Here are some of the new words that we learnt today:

Nainai - Grandmother
Yeye - Grandad
Baba - Papa (Dad)
Mama - Mother (Mum)
Gege - Big Brother
Didi - Little Brother
Meimei - Little Sister
Jiejie - Big Sister

Here is my family tree. The Mandarin names are underneath the boxes, while their actual names are inside the boxes.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Persuasive Writing - Number 1 Pet

Room 20 were assigned with an uncommon animal. Either Skunk, Snake, Starfish, Grizzly Bear, Piranha or Fly. With our team, we had to write a persuasive piece to say why we think our pet was the best pet to have. I worked with Zoe, Caitlin and Bridget, and we did the Snake. Here is what we wrote :)

The Number 1 Pet




Intro: Snakes are evil, wild beasts. No one wants one of them. They are poisonous and deadly! Well what if I told you that most snakes aren't deadly or poisonous and that snakes are actually a common pet to have? Hear us out and you will like snakes after all.

Reason 1: Did you know if you go to special places overseas you can hold snakes? When they are tamed of course! Once they are tamed you could play with them and even dress up your snake. (If your snake likes being dressed up.) Heaps of people hold snakes all the time without having the snake's mouth taped or strapped incase of it biting. Believe it or not people even try teaching snakes tricks. So snakes aren't actually as vicious as you think they are.

Reason 2: Small snakes like the Thread Snake eats the eggs of ants and centipedes. A medium snake like the Tree Boa, eats mostly all insects. Yellow Rat snakes eat rats and mice. All snakes swallow their food whole so forget seeing half a rat left in your house by cat or dog, and say hello to a snake.

 Reason 3: Surely you understand the slight annoyance of having chew toys around the place, animal fur over clothing or furniture, but Snakes don't make messes. Snakes are really neat. All you need to do is leave them in their cages or tanks.

Reason 4: Sure snakes need special heating and other things to keep them alive and all, but after you have those things you don't need to worry about them. Just make sure they have water and food - and the cage door shut - and then you're fine.

Conclusion:  You don’t want to spend heaps of money on food, or clean up after your pets when they are finished eating. You want a nice animal that you can dress up and pat, if you don’t wanna mess around your house you need a snake. There is no other animal like a snake on earth so go buy a snake now!!!

By Catherine, Zoe, Caitlin & Bridget

Monday, August 7, 2017

Mandarin - Names

Today we had another Mandarin lesson. Here are some new sentences that are put in a conversation that we can use:

Jiāmíng: Nǐ hǎo! (Hello!)
Bǐdé/Peter:Nǐ hǎo! Nǐ jiào shén me. (Hello! What is your name?)
Jiāmíng: Wǒ jiào Wáng Jiāming. Nǐ ne? (My name is)
Bǐdé/Peter:Wǒ jiào Bǐdé. Wǒ shì xīn xī lán rén.

I also know how to say and spell my name in 2 ways in Chinese.
Catherine 凯特琳 (Kǎi tè lín)


Catherine 凯瑟琳 (Kǎi sè lín)

Also, to say New Zealand in Chinese is:
xīn xī lan.

Monday, July 24, 2017

Mandarin - Fun Facts

Today, room 20 were lucky enough to have our first Mandarin session. We have learned simple greetings, and about China. Here are some things that Molly and I have learned:

Population: 1.379 Billion (2016)
Area: 9.597 Million Km2
Food: Chinese cabbage, Cooked rice, Pork belly, Bok Choy, Chinese Noodles, Sweet Potato, Lomo saltado. (Etc, etc)

China's Top Tourist Cities:

-Beijing
-Xi'an
-Shanghai
-Gulin
-Huangshan
-Hangzhou
-Chengdu
-Hong Kong
-Lijiang
-Suzhou
-Guangzhou

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

My Passion Project - Art

The whole classroom for our 3 part Inquiry had to write an information report about their passion. If it's hockey, puppies. Anything. I chose to do Art. I love art, and I find it very entertaining. Here is my Passion project report.

My Passion - Art

Art is a very popular skill all over the world. With many techniques and styles. Used to express emotions and creativity. With population expanding, and art being created everywhere.

There are many types of art styles artists use for many things. Cartoon. Cartoon is a commonly used types of style. Cartoon is commonly used for Animations, Comics, Kids Books and so on. Realistic. Realistic is really different from cartoon. Realistic is hard to draw. It's when you draw something very life like. Every feature is precise, proportion is perfect, and it looked like a photo sometimes. Realistic is used for portraits, paintings, and sometimes used for merch stores for adverts or something. Apomorphic and normal animal. Apomorphic is commonly used for “Furry” Artists. They like to draw Animals, that are human like, and/or have human features. Normal animal, is just normal animal. Some artists draw animals that are on all fours too.

There are 2 types of art. Traditional and Digital. Traditional is normally on paper. Not on any devices, or any technology. Created by hand, with basic tools such as Pencils and Rubbers. Digital however, is on technology. Such as computers, tablets, IPads and many more devices. Used normally with a touch screen pen, or a mouse. 

There are many tools used for art. There are common used tools such as, Pencils or Pens, Eraser, Coloured Pencils, Paintbrushes, so on. Pencils can be many shades. Some can be dark, for outlining. Or light, for shading. Pens can be for outlining too. Eraser can be used for rubbing out slight mistakes, or lightly making your masterpiece not so dark. Coloured pencils are for colouring in traditional art. Last of all, paintbrushes are for painting things. Some paintbrushes are thin, for small spaces. Some of them are big, for making backgrounds, or filling huge spaces.

There are very many famous Artists who are well known all over the world. Let me list these talented people. Leonardo Da Vinci. A man who has created the popular, “Mona Lisa.” A famous painting, that has got a lot of questions. The painting is very well known for the smile. No one knows what type of smile it is. If it's a happy smile, a anxious smile, or a nervous smile. That's what makes it so amazing. The Mona Lisa is a portrait, and was painted. Also, Piet Mondrian, for creating the “Mondrian.” The Mondrian is a Painting made out of many squares with multiple colours. Such as Red, Blue, Yellow, White, and Black. Can't forget Vincent Van Gogh, a talented man who created beautiful paintings such as, The Starry Night, Irises, and Café Terrace at night. 

You might think Artists are all easy, fine and dandy, but sometimes Artists can have struggles like art blocks. An annoying problem in the community. An art block is where an artist had trouble being motivated to draw. No matter how many times Artists try, they can't get past art blocks. They happen regularly and are really annoying. Sometimes Artists may be inspired, but when they get home, they can't draw because they have an art block. Also, thinking of what to draw. Really simple. Sometimes it can be very hard to make a piece of art when you can't think of something to draw. It's easy to lose motivation when you don't know what to draw as well.

Art is free to do, and very fun. Anyone can learn how to draw, and it's free. All you need is a pencil and paper. Who knows? Maybe you could be a famous artist like Leonardo Da Vinci...

Monday, May 1, 2017

My Smart Goals

Last term my goals were to:

-Get a solo part on the year 7 choir.
-To learn my 6, 7, 8, and 9s times tables by the Easter holidays.

So far I have:

-Tried to write down the times tables and repeat them again and get a friend to give me some questions of that tabel. To be honest, haven't done much practise. But now I am fully determined to try and get in the habit of learning them.
-Got into the choir and have done a little part with other soloists for some songs. I have been singing more often now that I've been got into the choir.

This Term my smart goals are:

-To try and get a solo part in the choir.
-To learn my 6-9 times tables by the end of the year.

I am going to achieve this by:

-To get my Parents to help me recall my times tables whenever possible.
-To practise them after school before going on any devices.
-Go onto Maths buddy more often and try and find Maths buddy multiplication Tasks.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Movie Catastrophe Recount

Movie Catastrophe

It was earlier that day when I was invited to go with Marissa to Cinema Gold to see Pete’s Dragon. A Disney film with lots of Feels, (Thankfully I didn't cry… I almost did...) Though, here is how the silly movie Catastrophe went down.

Shivers sent down my spine, as the cold afternoon’s breeze blew on my back. Marissa and I pushed open the door as we strolled inside. The wind stopping, but the smell striking me right in the face, as Buttered Popcorn, Sweets, and many other types of Foods floated underneath my nose. My Stomach growled, and rumbled with starvation, as I strolled closer to the counter, gripping tightly onto the money in my right hand.

By now we were sitting on the comfortable seats, watching the beginning of the movie. A wide smile spread across my face as I watched with wide eyes. I was currently stuffing my face with the buttery, sunflower yellow treats, as the movie continued to play. Marissa was watching and eating aswell by now, as we had a competition of whoever would eat their popcorn first would lose the bet until the movie started. Before, Me and Marissa were starving, so when the movie started, we weren't hesitating to eat the popcorn at all. Anyway, the movie was getting interesting and I was about to take a handful of popcorn, when suddenly my grip loosened, the packet slowly tipping towards the floor, as the Popcorn rolled around on the carpet. Spreading around my legs and under the seats. Then Thump, the packet dropped on the floor. My jaw dropped with annoyance, my eyes widening at the same time. Marissa glanced over and began to chuckle. I couldn't but chuckle at myself too. I was always so clumsy. It's just me, and always will be me.

Marissa had let me have most of her Popcorn, as she knew that she couldn't finish it by herself and that I was starving. After a while, the movie was getting close to the end. It was up to a “Feely” part. (I won't spoil it for you.) Marissa was finishing her last handful, when she tried to re-grab the packet of Popcorn, suddenly tipping it all over the floor and under her seats. I looked down, and up again. Laughing ever so quietly to myself. Marissa was laughing too, doing little snorts here and there. Soon we were both Red in the face from laughing over the Accident. It was just perfect timing, and just the right moment too.

‘Coincidence?’ I giggled, trying to contain myself but failing miserably.

After the whole movie ended, With my hands stuffed in my pockets, I slouched my way back to the Car. Marissa’s Mother was waiting for us.

‘How was the Movie?’ She asked.

‘Great.’ Marissa and I coincidently responded together. Continuing to smile...

It's funny how something so simple, like tipping your popcorn first, and then your friend tipping her/his popcorn later, is so funny. It may not seem funny if you don't imagine it, or think it isn't funny, but trust me. In real life, it's quite hilarious if you experience it yourself. But in the end I learned that accidents happen, and it's important to hold onto your Popcorn boxes more tighter so they don't fall out of your hands, and spill over the floor spreading popcorn everywhere.