Week 2 - Term 4

This week we have been doing our end of year PATs so they can see what we have learnt. We have also started art this week as our tech arts. I'm happy about this because I am quite good at art.

This week on Friday we had our Grandparents day. This is when everyone's grandparents come and we show them round the school and they have morning tea and then them as well as the rest of the school watch a concert. I was in the concert for three things: Jump Jam, Rock Band and Guitar. For Jump Jam we did A Little Party Never Killed Nobody. For Rock Band we did Ship To Wreck and for Guitar we played Stressed Out. There were lots of other groups performing like Kapa Haka and the Drama group.

Week 1 - Term 4

This week is the first week of term four! The year has gone so fast and I can't believe it is nearly over.

This week on Tuesday we had ag day. Me and my goat Holly placed second with reserve champion in calling or most obvious pet, First in leading with champion and first and champion in rearing. It was a fun day and I can't wait till next week and group day.

Here is a video of holly during most obvious pet.

Week 9 - Term 3

This week is the last week of term three! The year has gone so fast and I can't believe it's almost term four! This week has been quite compared to last week as sports camp was on as well as ski trip, but on Tuesday and Wednesday T.A.I. played host to the Murrays bay school band. In week six our school band went to Murrays bay for a night and now they have come here for a night. On Wednesday the two bands put on a concert to show what they have learnt.

We also had the year seven speech finals on Wednesday with Alice placing 1st, Brylee-Ella placing 2nd and Ethan placing 3rd. The year eight speech finals were on Thursday 1st went to Sophie, Thomas placed 2nd and Sam cam 3rd.

Week 8 - Term 3

This week was ski trip! I had so much fun and hope I can go again next year. On Sunday at lunch time we met at school to drive the three hours to the Whakapapa side of the mountain we went in cars and I had to go in the school van but that was okay because Keisha was in the van to. When we arrived at the mountain we had to carry our bags up to the lodge from the car park, it wasn't that far but it took awhile because of our heavy bags. When we got to the lodge the custodians told us the rules and we put our bags in our rooms and unpacked a bit. Since I had three friends with me on the trip but was only in a room with one, Keisha and I asked if we can move rooms to be with Delaney and Sam. Mrs Germann said it was okay and we choose our room and bunks and unpacked. After we had got settled in we dressed up in our warm clothes and went outside to have a snowball fight and slide down the mountain. We all had to come inside a have dinner, after dinner we all stayed in the lounge for a while but then had to go to our rooms before bed. We were allowed to leave our lights on and talk for awhile but at around 9:30 Mrs Germann came and told us to go to bed.

The next day was our first day skiing. It took awhile for all of us to hire skis, poles, boots and helmets and everyone got a little impatient as we were eager to learn to ski. When we had got our gear we took the chairlift down to happy valley. For the eight people that could ski this was just do Mrs Germann could see if they were good enough to go on the higher slopes. The other eight that couldn't ski [including me] had a chance to try to get to our feet before the lesson. Our lesson was around 11:00 so most of us beginners could ski down the valley. At our lesson we learnt how to go side to side and ski without poles. We spent the rest of the day in happy valley and when it was time to go back to the lodge we couldn't walk up the steep slope with our skis so we took the chairlift up to rock garden to ski down through rock garden to the lodge. Rock garden was harder then we thought it was and we crashed into each other as well as other people lots of times. We fell asleep quicker that night because we were all tired from a long day skiing.

Our second day skiing wasn't as clear so most of us wore extra scarfs over our mouth and nose. Today we had all mountain passes but Grace, and me were put in Mrs Germann's group who was looking after the less capable skiers. Even though Grace and me could ski well we had to spend the morning in happy valley because we were short a parent for the morning. After lunch I joined groups with one of my friends and we went up to the top of the mountain to the waterfall t-bar so we could ski in the valley there. This was challenging but I think I did well for only my second day skiing. On the way back down to the lodge we took quite a steep route and Etsko had to help Lolkje and me ski down it.

The next day we only got rock garden passes because it was very foggy and we couldn't see, our scarves got wet in minutes! Lolkje and me skied together again and there were some funny moments like when I took the wrong path and fell over because my skis got caught on some rocks. Since the visibility was poor and there were moments we couldn't see, when we went back to the lodge for a early lunch we all decided not to go skiing that afternoon but to stay at the lodge and get to know each other better.

Our last day was a little bit better than Wednesday but it still wasn't very good. We skied down from the lodge with our bags to put them in the van so we didn't have to go back to the lodge then spent the morning skiing at the waterfall t-bar. At morning tea time we went to the cafe to get hot chocolate and energy drinks to keep us going. We spent quite a while up there as there was a whiteout so there was no point trying to ski. We decided to take the chairlift back down to rock garden and ski there for awhile before giving back our gear. The last time I skied down rock garden I was with Keisha and Delaney. Keisha was videoing Delaney and me skiing from behind when Delaney lost control on a hill and fell of her skis! This was definitely one of the funniest moments of the trip but there were a couple others that would give Delaney a run for her money! We then handed our gear back in and got back in our vehicles to go home.

I really enjoyed this experience and I hope I can go again next year even though it won't be the same without the year eights of this year. I made many new friends as well as learning how to ski, and I would definitely recommend this to people.

Week 7 - Term 3

This whole week there have been a lot of people away at Tauranga because of the AIMS games. This is probably the biggest sporting event in New Zealand for Intermediate and middle schools.

I'm really excited for next week because on Sunday I am leaving for Mount Ruapehu with Mrs Germann, Estko, some parents and 15 other students to go skiing for the week. I can't wait because I have snowboarded before but never skied and it will be fun to learn how. Only half of the people who are going can ski so there will be lots of people learning.

Week 6 - Term 3

This week we started something called Newsela. You have to read a story and afterward you have to answers questions about it. So I've got them all right.

On Tuesday this week I competed in the WIMS netball tournament in the year seven team. We came fourth overall while the year eight team came second. After our finals we went to Mcdonalds to get a ice cream. I was a fun day and even though we didn't get in the top three I was happy to be in the team.

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week the Symphonic and Jazz bands went to Murrays bay Intermediate to play with their school band. In week nine the Murrays bay band is going to come to our school and play. Next week is AIMS games so lots of people are going to Tauranga for this.

Week 5 - Term 3

This Friday we had inter house cross country. We didn't get to watch the other races because the weather wasn't very good so we waited in the hall and watched a movie. The year seven girls got to go first which is good because the track would not have got muddy from other people running on it. I came 27 which is pretty good but I think that maybe I could of done better. After the year seven girls the year seven boys ran, then the year eight girls and last the year eight boys. After my race I went home so I didn't see who won the other races.

Week 4 - Term 3

Next week is interhouse cross country and we have been going out for runs almost every day. We have the option to wear shoes but I don't think I will since I run faster without them.

In maths we are learning about converting measurements I have learnt how to convert between measurements such as:

1km = 1L
1mm = 1ml

Week 3 - Term 3

This week we started running on the streets for cross country. There are only two big hills that we have to run up on the course and only one is on the practise course so we don't know what the biggest hill is like. Inter house cross country is on the Friday of week four or five I'm not sure which.

This week in maths we learnt about Pi. Pi is 3.14 there are lots more decimal places after this but not very many people can remember them. We use Pi to find the circumference or the perimeter of circles. You need to multiply the diameter of the circle by Pi, the answer is the circumference. We also use Pi to find the area of circles. Instead of using the diameter to find the area we use the radius, you then need to multiply the radius by Pi the answer is the area.

Week 2 - Term 3

This week we had ICAS English this was fun because we only do it once a year and I think I did well.

At Extension art I finished drawing faces onto my canvas and started painting one of the faces in my picture. On Friday we had inter house Jump Jam where the whole school did Jump Jam in their houses for the afternoon. We had the option the dress up in our house colours but I didn't as I am in Waikato and have no yellow t-shirts.

After school I went to activate church because both school Rock bands were performing. Although no one from my band won anything, Anita from the Flaming cheese burgers falling from the sky [the other school band] got second best vocals and Richard from the same band got second best bassist.

Week 1 - Term 3

This week is the first week of Term 3! Today we started cross country training and I ran 2.2 kms.

I'm really excited for some of the events that I'm involved in this term including: two Rock band competitions, Wai maths, Gymnastics, WIMS netball and Ski trip

For Tech Arts we are still doing music and we had our first Tech lesson of the term on Tuesday morning at lunchtime on Tuesday the Jump Jam competition team had a practise because we are filming our video to send away this term.

I'm still finishing my portrait in Extension art hopefully I'll get it finished this term. We also have student led conferences that we have to write reports for.

Week 10 - Term 2

This week was Maori language week. On Tuesday I went to the Marae with Room 16 because I had Gymsports when my class was going. We learnt how to make fried bread and lots of other different things.

On Wednesday I had Gymsports. I was in the Twisters and I didn't get any places.

On Thursday I had extension art for half the morning and then I went to guitar. In the middle block I had rock band for the whole block. After lunch I was in class for half the block and had rock band again.

On Friday the other rock band had a concert at the last student assembly of the term.

Week 9 - Term 2

On Monday the first thing we had was assembly. After this was maths. After morning tea we went to the A.L.C. instead of volleyball we played indoor soccer. I found this fun because I had never played it before.

On Tuesday we had Tech Arts we started Music. We learnt how to use the Keyboards and play C, F and Am on the Ukulele.

On Wednesday at 10 the students going to Belmont left. At 2 the students from Belmont arrived and we had a Powhiri for them. It was different to our usual Powhiris because we set it out like Belmont does. My Belmont student is called Georgie and she plays WA in netball.

In the Morning I had Art. At morning tea I got my uniform for the sports. And after lunch we went to the netball courts to play against Belmont. Halfway through the game we moved to the A.L.C. because it was to wet. Te Awamutu won out of he games held here but we find out the results on Friday.

On Friday in the morning we did maths. We then we to the hall for a farewell assembly for Belmont. We also found out the results and Te Awamutu won! I think the exchange was fun and hope that I'll get in the netball team next year. After morning tea we had Tech Arts. We learnt about the different periods and keys of music.

Week 8 - Term 2

On Monday we had assembly. Some people from our got SHINE bands. After this we had maths but I can't remember what learning intention I was doing.

After morning tea we had volley ball. I was surprised because last week I could serve and this week I can't. We didn't practise we just played some games.

After this I started my persuasive writing. I'm doing mine about the number of refugees let into New Zealand.  I also carried on with this after lunch.

On Tuesday the first thing we had was Tech Arts we did a test and then cleaned our shoes and polished them with beeswax. Halfway through Tech Arts I went to the college production of Grease. Halfway through one of the songs a sign that was hanging over the stage fell down!

We got back from Grease it was lunch time after lunch we worked on our Science Fair. I did my data and conclusion.

On Wednesday morning we did Science Fair I printed all my information. After morning tea we did maths I had to go onto the floor to do multiplying and dividing fractions because I got them wrong in the test.

At lunch I had Rock Band. We finished writing our original.

After lunch we didn't have French or Jump Jam so we just did some more Science Fair. I cut out all my information ready to stick onto my board.

As it is my sister's birthday we went to the pet shop after school and she chose a pet bunny because she has been asking for one for the last nine months.

On Thursday I was late to school so I didn't go to Extension Art. Instead I did my Science Fair, I backed all of my information and photos with orange paper and stuck it on my board.

After morning tea I went to art since I didn't go in the morning. I was still practising drawing faces. I didn't have guitar today so I stayed for the whole session.

After lunch we went to a band concert because they have been having a band day with other schools. After this was R.I.  assembly. We learnt about charity.

On Friday morning I had a jump jam work shop we learnt how to do move properly and to give verbal cue and cues using your hands.

After morning tea was Tech Arts. This was our last Science lesson. We had to build a metre high octagonal prism. Emily and me were in a group, our construction didn't work.

After lunch we had Friday sport. I went to Belmont Netball as I haven't been to a practise yet. We warmed up and then played a game against the year eight team. After school I got a introductory letter form the Belmont student i'm hosting.

Week 7 - Term 2

Monday started with assembly. A couple of people from our class got bands. After assembly we did maths I was doing adding and subtracting fractions.

After morning tea we did volley ball. I learnt how to serve properly! We just got into teams and played some games. Mrs Crowe was choosing the team for the next game. After volley ball I did some more maths I finished adding a subtracting fractions.

After lunch we stuck some thing into our reference books. It was about arguments as we we are doing them tomorrow.

On Tuesday the first thing we did was Tech arts. We are making balloon cars because we are forces and mass. My group is Emily and me.

After morning tea was maths. I was practising multiplying and dividing fractions. I learnt that this is way easier than adding and subtracting them.

After lunch we wrote our arguments. We were writing them about school uniforms and were writing them by hand. I finished mine because we had already brainstormed lots of ideas so I could just write them down and give some reasons.

On Wednesday I proofread and handed in my argument. I also learnt about the main idea in a paragraph.

After morning tea I started and finished. I also did some maths. The learning intention I was doing was to solve problems involving fractional numbers.

At lunch I had rock band. We have written all of our original expect the bridge.

After lunch was french. We were learning how to count from 11 to 20.After this was jump jam.

On Thursday the first thing I had art. I was still practising drawing faces.

After morning tea was SSR. After this I had guitar. We were just going over everything that we had.

At lunch I had jump jam. We were practising our new routine for a competition. It is quite hard because it has lots of different moves.

After lunch was student assembly. Mr Graham's daughter came to talk about child abuse. After this I went to rock band. We were practising the chorus of our original.

On Friday we had maths. I did to find to square root of fractional number this is really easy as you just have to find the square root of the numerator and the square root of the denominator.

After morning tea was Tech arts. We were finishing our balloon cars. The science fairs boards came today so we were helping Mrs Tyson issue them to classes.

After lunch was maori. We learnt about battles around Te Awamutu. After this was Friday sport. I went to the ALC to trial for the Gymsports festival. I am in the Twisters.

Week 6 - Term 2

On Tuesday the first thing we had was Tech arts. Emily and me finished our marble run. When we were building it we timed it and it was over 20 seconds but after we had put some tape on to keep it together it got stuck and our time was 12.89 seconds. Julia and Te Wehi got the closest time so they have to race against winners from other classes.

After morning tea we had maths. The learning intention I was doing was: to use ratio to divide quantities, this is the second to last learning intention for ratio. To use ratio to divide quantities you need to divide the first number by the first number in the ration and the rest of the numbers in order like this.

After lunch we had maths again The learning intention I did was to solve problems involving ratio. The questions in this were just the same as all the other ratio work so this was pretty easy for me.

On Wednesday the first thing we had was indoor bowls. I learnt how to bowl the ball properly. My team was: Jess, Bobby and me. We did quite well and got quite close to the white ball for our first time trying.

After indoor bowls we went to the library. I got out two books. One is The Fugitive by John Grisham and the other is Lord of the flies.

After morning tea we had maths again. I learnt how to add and subtract fractions with different denominators. All you need to do to make them the same is multiply the denominators some that they are the same and then multiply one of the numerators with the opposite denominator, you need to do this on both sides.

After lunch we had the Inter House Winter Games. I played netball, the positions I played were GK and GD. My house won all three of our games.

On Thursday at art I Gessoed my canvas and did a light pink wash on it. I then practised drawing faces as we are painting portraits.

I had no guitar today so I went to school singing instead. It was lucky I did because Mr Ellis was doing shine bands and I had earned two. The ones I got were Never Giving Up and Seeking Excellence. Today Te Wehi was the first year 7 this year to get her Bronze Badge.

After lunch I had rock band. We worked on our original a bit more. I have learnt the chords for it. We now have a verse, a pre chorus and a chorus.

On Friday I had the Tough guy and gal challenge. Before it started we all painted our faces in bright colours like: red, gold, blue and black. I ran with my friends Keisha and Ashlee. We got very muddy from all the obstacles. They included: tunnels, swamps, fences and wire that you had to crawl under. The run was over soon but the hard part was getting all of the mud off.

Week 5 - Term 2

This week on Monday and Tuesday we had Mr McCabe teaching us because Mrs Crowe was away on a course.

Monday started with assembly. Mr McCabe wasn't here for assembly, so it didn't go on as long as usual. It was exciting because several people from our class were receiving their silver badges. After assembly we had writing. So far i'm onto my conclusion. It will be quite easy to finish because in a conclusion you just have to summarise your report in your own words.

I decided to be in a event called the EPro8 challenge. The EPro8 challenge is a science challenge that includes: engineering and construction, inventions, vehicles, electronics, problem solving and experimentation. You do the challenge in groups of four. My team is Emily, Bobby, Jess and me. Our name is the Little Einsteins.

After interval we all got dressed into our PE gear, ready to go to the ALC to practise volley ball. We didn't end up going though because Mr McCabe decided to tell us about how there would be no poverty and animals wouldn't be facing extinction if humen weren't so greedy. We learnt several facts during this talk including the fact that the Rio Olympics will probably not be cancelled due to the fact the directors are more interested in making money and not in the athlete's safety. The important message in all this is that if humans weren't so greedy and gave thought to others instead of just ourselves, we wouldn't be facing the problems we have now.

After this we had maths. I only did one learning intention because I am pretty up to date with my maths and needed to spent time on some other things. The learning intention I did was To find a whole from a given fraction. I learnt that if you wanted to find a whole out of 2/8 the easiest way to do it is to divide to amount that is 2/8 by two and then times it by eight to get your answer.

After lunch was SSR I had finished my book and hadn't had a chance to get another so I just read some of my old book to understand it better. After SSR I did some more mathst. I didn't want to start another learning intention so I just did the learning reflection for it.

I also typed up some of my science fair stuff. I typed up my Question, Hypothesis and some of my research. Tonight I will type the rest of my research, my introduction and do my first experiment.

On Tuesday the first thing we had was Tech arts. Emily and me started sticking the strips round the sides of our marble run. So far we have eight seconds worth. The marble is supposed to go for 20 seconds so we still need to add a bit more. Today if Mrs Tyson heard someone using scientific language she gave them and headband to wear for the rest of the class that said:Mrs Tyson caught me using correct scientific language.

After morning tea we were supposed to have SSR but we didn't end up doing it. I finished my character analysis and I just need to edit it. I also finished my writing and have edited half of it.

Next I had maths. I was working on understanding ratios. I like ratios and find the easy so this was not hard for me. Most of the ratios I needed to write were only single ones and they couldn't be divided so I just had to write them as they were.

At lunch we had a competition jump jam practise. We stopped watching the screen and started using the mirrors so we could see what we were doing. A part I found hard was when we were using our arms. We were supposed to keep them tight but mine kept flapping and going out of place.

After lunch some work on write ratios in their simplest form. All you need to do is to keep on dividing the numbers in the ratio by the same number until you can't divide them any more. If you can't divide any of the number by the same number then you just leave it. An example of this is 20:28:35 = 20:28:35 because they don't all divide by the same number. Next I worked on finding equivalent ratios. Finding equivalent ratios is like finding fractions that are the same. All you need to do is times them both by the same number to find a equivalent ratio. You need to kept your answers in order or it will be wrong: 6:4, 12:8, 18:12.

Last night when I did one of my science fair experiments I was surprised because the opposite of my Hypothesis happened. My research said that the water would freeze leaving behind the salt, but the salt froze leaving the water on top unfrozen.

On Wednesday the first thing we did was the ICAS science test. I was disappointed because when time was up I still had three more to go and when I read them afterwards I realised I knew the answers.

After the science test we went to the library. I got out a book called All the bright places. Some people in my class have read it and they think it was a good read, so I decided to read it.

After morning tea we had SSR. After SSR we had a chance to finish things off. For most people this was maths, but I am up to date with my maths and don't need to do anymore so I chose to finish my reading and writing. I finished both of these and handed them in. We could either do science fair or SSR for the rest of the block. I chose to do SSR because I  am pretty up to date with my science fair.

After lunch we had french. We did a quiz about buildings in Paris in paris and took turns having a conversation that included what your name is: je m'applle Emma, how to spell your name, and how we are feeling: ca va tres bien. Your partner had to ask the questions What is your name: Tu t'applles comment, How do you spell that: Comment ca s'ecrit and how are you: comment ca va.

The year sevens in my class only got to do half of Jump Jam today because french went on to long because lots of people wanted to show that they could have a conversation in french. We got to do about five song though and still had fun. We did some of my favourite songs. One the songs that we did was Freaks, I found it hard to move the right way because I am used to going left, because that was how we taught it to the classes, instead of going right, which is how the classes do it.

On Thursday I had art. I almost finished my painting in the first block. I only had to do the details on the rocks on the island. I did lots on my painting including the details on the sand, the water and the wet sand.

After morning tea Mrs Dickson asked me if I could come back to art so I could finish my painting. I completed the island, painted round the sides and signed my name. My painting is finally finished!

After I finished my painting I had to go quickly to guitar because it starts halfway through the middle block. At guitar we didn't learn anything new but just practised the songs we already have. One of the songs we are learning is in TAB, TAB is a bit harder to read than chord charts so I find this song a little bit harder than the others. This song also has power chords. Power chords are chords that only use a couple of strings.

After lunch I had SSR. At 2:10 I went to Rock band. We have completely restarted on our original. So far we have  a verse and a chorus for everything. Our original doesn't have bar chords in it and is mainly easy chords.

Week 4 - Term 2

At Maths on Monday we revised Multiplying and dividing decimal numbers. I learnt that to multiply decimals by 10, 100 or even 1000 all you have to do is move the decimal point forward a couple of places. The number of place the decimal point is moved forward is determined by the number of zeros in the number that you are multiplying it by. To multiply decimals all you have to do is use an algorithm normally. I learnt that in every second row of working you have to put a placeholder. I knew this but I thought it was when you multiplied it by the number in the tens column and you didn't have to put it if you were multiplying decimals. A place holder is a zero that you  put on the end of your row of work, the first row has none, the second row has one and the third one has two and so on. To divide decimals you need to multiply both your numbers by ten, you can then carry on and do a normal division algorithm. This was important for me because in the fractions test that we did I forgot to do this. It was frustrating because when we were revising multiplication I kept on getting the answer to the second question wrong. Only when I moved on from this I realised that instead of putting a five for 51 up the top I accidentally put a four, therefore putting off my whole first row of working!

I added some extensions to my screen to make it easier to look up words and find pages. The first one is called Google Dictionary. I can double click on a word anywhere in google and a box will pop up and tell me the definition. The other one is called Save to Google. I can click on the icon up the top of my screen and it immediately save the page i'm on. I can also add tags to the page, I just click add tags and choose one of my already existing tags or create a new one, I can add more than one tag if I want to. To view my saves I just have to type' my saves' into google or right click the icon, click on the tag I want and open one of the pages by clicking on it.

In the middle block I worked on my Character analysis for Mrs Flowers by Maya Angelou. I learnt while googling the author, that Mrs Flowers is actually an extract from I know why the caged birds sing. The main character in the story Marguerite Johnson shares Maya Angelou's birth name, and I know why the the caged birds sing is an autobiography of her life up until she was 17. I added this to my Summary and wrote a bit more about the setting and the Characters of the story.

In the Afternoon we were supposed to work on our report writing, but we didn't get the chance. Next time we work on it I will add more to it. I learned on Sunday news that people have created a sealife edible 6 pack holder. Hopefully this will stop the Hectors dolphin and other  sea life choking on the old plastic rings.

Before we went home we watched a Volleyball video that taught the different types of hits and some drills to practise them. I learnt that the three different types of hits are called the Volley, the Bump and the Serve. I also learnt that when you Bump the ball you bend your knees and come up under the ball, this is helpful because when I Bump the ball I didn't bend my knees and the ball went in the wrong direction!

On Tuesday we started with science. The object of the lesson was to transport a straw to the other side of the classroom and back. I was in a group with Emily, Bobby and Jess. It took us a couple of tries, a lot of effort and four balloons but we finally did it. We put string through the straw and taped a blown up balloon to it. We put tape on the end of the balloon so it didn't go flat and took it up to the higher end of the string, then we let it go and it slide down to the other side of the classroom. When it hit the wall we took the tape off the end and it shot back to the other wall.

We did maths again today. This time we were practising converting fractions to decimals to percentages and vice versa. I learnt that when converting decimals to fractions whatever column the last number in the decimal is in, will be the denominator in a fraction. I also learnt that for 0.33 and 0.66 you have to put a recurring symbol otherwise it will be wrong. Another thing that I learnt was that if you wanted to convert 0.386 to a fraction with the 100 as the denominator you need to look for the hundredths column and and move the decimal point after it. The same goes for fractions with 100 or 10 as the denominator. To convert fractions to decimals to percentages all you need to do is find which the last number is in and write that number as the denominator. You then just need to write your number as the numerator. To convert it to a percentage you need to looking at that decimal and writing that number but without the decimal point. If there is a whole number in the decimal the percentage will be over 100 and there will be a whole in the fraction. The last thing I learnt was that 1/8 = 0.125 3/8 = 0.375 5/8 = 0.625 and 7/8 = 0.875.

We did some work on sentence errors today, it was just revision. I learnt that there are three types of sentence errors: a sentence fragment, a run on sentence and a comma splice. A sentence fragment is sentence that is not complete, normally you can fix it by adding a FANBOY. A run on sentence is two sentences that have been joined together with no punctuation. A comma splice is two sentences that have been joined together with a comma instead of a full stop.

I the afternoon we started with SSR. After this my reading group went on to the floor to learn about different points of view. I learnt that there are five different points of view, they are: first person point of view, third person objective, third person limited, third person omniscient and second person point of view. First person point of view is when the narrator is part of the story. You can usually tell if a story is written in first person because there is normally words like I and me. Third person objective is when the narrator is not part of the story and can only tell what people say and do. It is harder to tell if a story is written in third person objective but there is usually words like he and she and there is nothing about the characters thoughts. Third person limited is when the narrator is not part of the story but sees from the vantage point of a character. They only know what the character thinks, says, does and witnesses. You can tell if a story is told in third person limited because there is words like he and she. Third person omniscient is when the narrator is all- knowing and can see into all the characters minds. You can tell if a story is in third person omniscient because it will have the same words as the other third person points of view. Second person point of view is mostly only used in letters because the narrator is talking directly to the reader. You can tell if a story is written in second person point of view because there will be words like you quite a lot.

On Wednesday the first thing we did was a Otage problem solving test. Some of the questions were easy and some of them were harder. I think I got three out of five because I am not sure about some of my answers. After this was maths. I learnt that to add fractions all you have to do is multiply or divide on of the fractions so that they both have the same denominator. But if I multiply or divide the denominator, I have to do the same with the numerator. You can then easily add the fractions together. After I practised adding fractions I worked on converting fraction and measurements to decimals. This was pretty easy so I don't know why I got it wrong in the test. To convert fractions and measurements to decimals is mostly the same as convert between fractions, percentages an decimals so I won't explain.

After maths I went to the library because I had nothing to read. I got out to books because I found out today that we are allowed to get up to four. The books I got out are called Catching fire and Mockingjay, These are the last two books in the Hunger game trilogy. I got these books out because I have read the first book in the series and enjoyed it so I decided to read more.

The middle block started with SRR where I started reading my books. After this was writing I almost finished my report on the Hectors dolphin, I only need to do half a paragraph and a conclusion. I had to miss out some of the information I wrote on my note taking sheet because otherwise it would be to long a hard to read.

At lunch time I went to the dance and drama studio to learn more of our competition routine with the other competition jump jam leaders. We are working on Uptown funk. It is very hard to remember because it has lots of different moves. We learnt the second half today because on Friday last week we learnt the first half. We are training fro WIMS jump jam. The competition is being held at our school.

After lunch was French. We learnt how to say how we are, for example: ca va tres bien - I am very good. Other ways to say I am good are: oui ca va and ca va bien. We also learnt to say I am bad, sick and tired and a couple other phrases like bof - i'm not sure.

After French we had jump jam. I was excited about this because we were teaching a new routine. The routine was called Freaks. This routine is quite easy to remember because it is quite repetitive and has a few main parts. I enjoyed teaching this routine and I hope we have a chance to teach another routine soon.

On Thursday I went to extension art. This week I painted the sand. In the picture that I'm painting the sand is purply grey so it was quite easy to get the right colour. I have to mix lots of white and a little bit of black into red and blue. Once I had painted this over the sand area, I added more black and more purple to make it darker. I then chalked in the patterns on the sand and painted them with the darker mixture.

After morning tea was maths. I worked on fractions and decimals. I had to practise multiplying decimals again because I got it wrong the first time. After this I finished my work on converting fractions and decimals when I finished this I tried to write a long learning reflection so that if I get stuck on converting fractions and decimals in the future I can easily look back and see how to do it.

In guitar Mr Ellis handed out a new song. It has five pages! We didn't get a chance to practice anything new because the bell rang and we had to go to a house meeting about Inter house Winter Games tomorrow.

At the house meeting I decided to play netball. I was lucky to get a place on the team because there was only ten places and a lot of girls wanted to play. We then practised our house chant and I learnt it properly because I didn't really know it before.

After lunch we went to a student assembly. Student assemblies are very different to Monday morning assemblies because student assemblies involve games and videos while Monday mornings are about the coming week and what's going to happen. The game for this week was called chocolate biscuit. We all watched as Will tried to eat chocolate fish of a rod that Emily was holding in the air.

The last thing I had today was rock band. We didn't actually play anything together because we were working on our original. So far we have written one verse and the chorus with guitar and bass to match. Next week hopefully we will get another verse done.

On Friday the first thing we did was a decimals test on the computer. I'm happy with the answers that I gave and I think I did well. Next we did maths. I learnt that to write fractions in simplest form you need to keep dividing them until you can't divide them any more. I finished lots of learning intentions today so I am no longer behind on maths.

After interval was science. We learnt about forces and friction. I learnt that to make a object move you need to either weaken or strengthen a force or add or take away a force. We then had to construct a marble run that goes for exactly 20 seconds. I was in a pair with Emily, we are making a square shaped marble run because if it was round it is harder to stick strips on card to the sides. No one finished theirs today so we are going to work on it next week.

At lunch Sophie, Raiha and me worked on the words for our original. We came up with a bit more for the chorus and on Wednesday next week we will write some more.

The Interhouse Winter games got canceled because it was raining, so instead we had Maori. We were writing more of our story and putting it onto Google Slides. We have almost finished and just need to edit it as we already have five pages with pictures. We will get a chance to do this next week because Mrs Crowe is away and if we run out of work then we can work of our stories. We will be presenting them not the coming Friday but the Friday after that because next Friday is a teachers only day.

 

Week 3 - Term 2

On Monday we started our report writing, I'm doing mine on Hectors Dolphin. After interval we did Volleyball in the ALC,  we learnt how to serve and pass properly. We also did some reading. I have almost finished my report on Mrs Flowers, the story I have been reading. After lunch we did a fractions test so Mrs Crowe could see what group to put us in. On Tuesday we had our first Science lesson at Tech Arts, we learnt about Predict, Observe, Explain and What if and we had to do one on a UFO ball. We didn't have French or Jump Jam  on Wednesday because many of our class are on band camp and they are using the Hall, ALC, Dance and Drama studio and Music room and of course Mrs Shaw was helping. We did get to go to the wood room to finish our trucks, I finished mine and am happy with final product. On Thursday I only had art, so I went for two session and finished quite a lot of my painting. I only need to finish doing the island and then the water and sand. On Friday we had science. We had to tie our hair back and wear covered shoes because we were using fire in a experiment. Were actually emptied the tea out of a Tea bag, unfolded it, stood it up and lit it on fire. It turns out when it's almost burned down it flies up into the air. We POEWed it in groups of four and Emily, Bobby, Jess and me tried lighting it's on it's side, from the bottom, lighting it when it's opened out and when it's folded over. We figured that you need to light it from the top for it to be effective. After lunch I went to a Jump Jam competition group meeting, we were learning a new song for competitions. It is up town funk. At Maori we got into groups and wrote a story about the Waikato river. It had to included three place names, three river uses, two Maori vocab words and five pictures. Emily, Bobby, Jess and me wrote about a trout named Trotty, a eel named Elizabeth and a flounder named Floggle.

Week 2 - Term 2

On Monday we had Lacrosse for the whole middle block. We learnt how to catch, throw and pass using sticks. We also learnt about how the native Americans started Lacrosse and the French named it the stick. Tuesday was our second to last session in wood I learnt how to use filler to fill in the holes on my truck. At French on Wednesday we choose a French name for the session and practised having a conversation that included what our name was and how to spell it, my French name was Ariane.  You ask what is your name like Tu t'appelles comment? and you answer like Je m'appelles ......, we also did a geometry test covering the work that we have done so Mrs Crowe can see what we have learned. On Thursday I finished painting the  trees on my island and Mrs Dickson gave us some information on protraits and how to draw them. I learnt that you can easily get the feature of the face in the right places by drawing an oval for the face with a grid over it. At Rock Band we warmed up with our cover and practised our original, we have started to right the words for it. On Friday at wood I assembles my truck but when it rolled it was wobbly so I have to take the wheels of and sand them so my truck goes straight I also need to oil my truck with Linseed oil to give it colour. In the afternoon I had a call back trial for the Belmont Netball team. This week I started to research on my science fair project to find information to base my Hypothesis on.

Week 1 - Term 2

On the last week of term 1 our class went on camp with room 7. We went to the Narrows and stayed for two nights. During this camp we participated in activities such as Trolleys, a Waterslide, Air rifles, Go karts, Archery, a Burma trail, Fire challenge, a Bonfire and Paintball. Paint ball was my favourite thing even though it was hard because we had to use sling shots instead of guns.

On Monday we had a Powhiri to welcome the new Japanese teacher, it was a bit smaller than the other Powhiris we have had this year because we weren't welcoming as many people. On Tuesday I did quite a lot of my truck at Tech Arts so I think I might get it finished. We also talked about the science fair. I want to do my project on different liquids freezing. At 12.30 to 2.30 we heard Mike King speak about depression and addiction and how to deal with it. At 6.30 I attended the Kid lit quiz in a group of four with Sophie J, Max and Ben. We came eleventh which is very good as there were 45 teams. At French on Wednesday we learned how to say My name is in French, afterwards we had Jump Jam. On Thursday I finished painting the sky in my picture and started painting the island. At lunch time I trialled for the Jump Jam competition team. Emily and I did the same routine. On Friday I did lots at Tech Arts. I have almost finished the box of my truck, I just need to cut out and glue the back wall on. I also need to attach my wheels. I found out that I got a call back for Jump Jam, so did Emily. At lunch I trialled for the Belmont Exchange Year 7 Netball team.

Week 8 and 9 - Term 1

Week 8 - This week in Extension Art I almost finished practising my painting on paper. At Tech Arts we are making trucks, so far I have cut out the cab and drew some parts onto wood ready to cut out. I finished my water cycle explanation a handed it in, it was a day late though. I also worked on my brain inquiry, i'm doing mine on Chimpanzees.
Week - 9 This week in Extension Art I started drawing on my Canvas I didn't start painting though because I didn't have enough time. In Tech Arts I used the bench drill to cut out ten wheels for my truck, I then filed them so that the edges weren't spiky. I finished my slide in brain inquiry, my group is almost finished. We also started another piece of writing on a favourite place.

Week 7 - Term 1

This week we finished fabric and we are moving onto wood next week. On Friday we had a farewell assembly for the Makuhari students because the are leaving on Tuesday. This week we started a explanation about the water cycle its due in on wednesday next week, i'm up to editing it. I finished my student led conference and its ready to share next week. At Extension art I haven't started painting on my canvas yet because i'm still practising on paper. At Guitar we have started learning a new song it's written in TAB so it's a bit harder then normal music. At Rock band we have been practising our song lots this week we were deciding on a name for our band. We had to change what sport we are doing for Friday sports I changed to Jump Jam. In Math we are learning how to use some of the buttons on our scientific calculators we are using them to do index numbers and square roots. We are also learning how to use the order of operations [BEDMAS].  

Week 6 - Term 1

This week the Makuhari students arrived, it was exciting because it was different having new people in our classes and around the school. At Tech arts we were cutting out our design at sewing them onto our bags it was hard to get everything straight and to not go over the edges of our design.  This week we were writing our reports for the student led conferences, we had to include what we were good at, what we need to improve on and what our goals are. I finished my Waitangi report on Friday, it was going to be an explanation but it sounded more like a report and we were allowed to change our learning intention. At extension art we are practising our painting on paper, we did a wash on our canvas on thursday, I did mine light blue, and now we need to find out how to make the colours in our pictures. We had our first long Rock band practise on thursday, we had it for the whole afternoon block, Mr Ellis taught me a new strum to play in our song it's hard to remember because it's different to the one I was doing.

Week 5 - Term 1

This week we had swimming sports, it was fun I went in all the non competition races and I was fast enough to get into the 50 meters freestyle competition and the Waikato House Year 7 girls relay team. We had our first student assembly this week with the new student council, it was very different to Monday morning assembles. At Tech Arts we have started making our bags so far we have designed and cut out shapes to go on it. We also did a fun quiz about books, it was the Lit quiz I did it at lunch time to see if I was good enough to be in a competition, I got 22 out of 50.

Week 4 - Term 1

This week I really enjoyed Tech Arts, Guitar, Rock band, Extension art and our trip to the museum. At tech we finished making our hand painted pillows. In Guitar we are still practicing the songs we have been playing. We had our first Rock band practice on Thursday since there are two bands my band was using the electric drum kit so we had to all plug our instruments or microphones into a pod and wear headphones so we could all hear each other. In Extension art we were working on aerial perspective we were practicing painting things as they got lighter in the distance. As a class we visited Te Awamutu museum to learn about the Treaty of Waitangi, we got to dress up in costumes and have props,  and pretend we were the people who played a important role in the signing of the Treaty.

Week 3 - Term 1

This week I really enjoyed Tech arts, extension art, Friday sport and guitar. Today in Tech arts we were designing what we were going to paint on our pillows, first we had decide what to draw, next we had to draw it on paper and then we had to trace it onto the fabric and then draw vivid over top. At extension art we draw pictures so Mrs Dickson could see what we could do then we painted the colour wheel using only the primary colours, we could either use warm or cool primary colours. At Friday sport I played netball it was fun but I forgot my shoes so I had to play in bare feet. At guitar we are learning some songs with the F bar chord in them. This week I finished my vision board and we did some PAT tests, we did maths, reading comprehension, reading vocab, punctuation and grammar, basic facts and computation. 

Week 2 - Term 1

This week we were still doing our vision boards but now we are sticking everything onto a backing. I enjoyed doing Tech Arts this week because we finished making tennis balls and are now making pencil cases. I also enjoyed minor sports on Friday because we got to play lots of different games and work as a team.

Week 1 - Term 1

This week we have been writing letters about ourselves and doing vision boards that contain pictures or words with our hopes, goals and dreams for the future.

Welcome

Hi my name is Emma, I am a year 7 at Te Awamutu Intermediate.