Podcast #13

Book Parade

To celebrate ten years of our school library we had a book character parade. Can you guess who we are?

Clever Lever

We have been experimenting with levers. Our first challenge was to get the ping pong ball into the cup using a spoon and a fulcrum of our choice. Our next challenge was to see who could get their ping pong ball the highest. We discovered that 

• Levers are able to help us lift heavy objects. 
• Levers consist of a stick and a fulcrum. 
• The fulcrum is the point on which the lever moves. 
• By changing the position of the fulcrum you will either gain or lose power - the closer the fulcrum is to the object the easier it is to lift

Guess Who?

In shared writing we worked on describing characters. Our aim was to 'show not tell' who the characters are. Can you guess what the following characters do for a profession?

Character 1

He enters the room in the morning with his cup of tea. He sits at his messy desk filled with tests and papers. Whiteboard markers tucked into his pockets. Six hours of signing, testing and also marking ahead. He drinks his tea to soothe his sore throat from yelling. His patience strained as he hears kids yelling in the playground. Patches of his greying hair missing from him pulling it out. “Only 8 more weeks till Christmas!”

Character 2

She patrols the streets, working hard day and night. The crackle of the walkie talkie alerts her to danger. The sound of sirens wailing, her colleagues in fast pursuit. Her fierce, snarling canine sniffing tracks ahead. The light shines above from the helicopter. She is getting close...

Character 3

I sit in the chair and wait in terror. He is feared by many. He makes bridges and crowns. The drilling sound haunts my nights. He hates treats and sweets. His waiting room is very busy after Halloween and Easter. His strong coffee breath overwhelms me as he tells me to “open wide”. He wears a mask and shines a light on my quivering chompers. Sharp silver tools scrape the inside of my mouth, causing my tongue to shudder.  “Oh why did I eat all that chocolate?”

Full of Beans Book Trailer

Here is Kalani and Sherlyn's book trailer for 'Full of Beans' by Patricia Grace

Mud Flavoured Toothpaste!

After reading the story 'Jeremiah's toothpaste' by Peter Friend the Avengers created these advertisements for the Mud flavoured toothpaste as mentioned in the story.

Ants!

The X-Men have been working on retelling in their own words. Here is Jolui, Amelia and Eli retelling 'Ants' by Ingrid Horrocks

Here is Sativa and Aaliya's retelling of Ants.

Full of Beans

After reading 'Beans' by Patricia Grace the Justice League completed a SOLO hot map to describe the main character. The Justice League focussed on using quotes from the text to justify their ideas.

Beans by Chantelle

Beans is a boy that is very determined, loves rugby, embraces life and thinks positively about everything. The reason we know 'Beans' loves rugby is that he is still keen to get on the field even after riding his bike for five kilometres! We also know 'Beans' embraces life becauses he looks on the positive side of everything from smelling pig poo to getting muddy on the rugby field. 

Awesome Alliteration

In writing we discussed how we can use alliteration as a way to describe characters. Enjoy our attempts at awesome alliteration.

WALT – Use alliteration to describe characters

Arav – Metal monkeys are mental on Monday mornings.

Kishan – Stubborn slugs slither slowly in September.

Ansh – A Lovely, little lonely leprechaun loved luscious lilies.

Dev – Mischievous monkeys munch on Moro and Mars bars. 

Priscilla – Loyal Larry likes to lick luscious lollipops.

Amelia – The mischievous mummy makes a mess in the museum.

Chantelle – Grouchy, greedy goats catch chubby Chihuahua’s in Chile.

Sherlyn – The stubborn starfish stared strangely at the sea serpeant.

Risa – Adventurous Andy ate angry apes

Kalani – The bouncy blowfish blows bubbles in his bathtub

Eli – Clever crocodiles catch canaries and carry the carcasses to the contest.

Israel – Clever and confident Caleb climbs cliffs for cash

Sebastian – Evil Eli the elephant eats eagle’s eggs at Easter.

Jolui – A rusty robot raced to the river without reversing.

Espen – Cautious Chris carried his cookies carefully

Torres – The puffy pigeon pooped pulverised pears

Kevin – Common Californian cobras are clever at catching cats.

Hemish – Angry American apes attack Auckland

Anthony – Silly Sherlyn spoiled Santa’s sleigh

Samarah – Clever Clara fixes cuckoo clocks

Nuha – The perfectly polite pirate had the potential to be president of Peru

Sativa - Mean Mrs Marshall made me make a mistake

Aaliya – The wicked witch whipped her wand at the wizard

Podcast #12

Maths Strategy - Place Value Partitioning

Here is Jolui and Espen explaining the strategy of place value partitioning

Terrific time at Tip Top

After studying the importance of dairy to New Zealand in inquiry last term we were invited to see how ice cream is made. We went to Tip Top ice cream factory to see how this delicious treat is made.

Simple Machines

Room 5 created these posters to show where we can find simple machines.

My Mechanical Creation by Israel

Here is Israel's narrative inspired by the animation 'Girl and Robot'

My Mechanical Creation by Israel

“Clunk, Clunk” I put some screws and bolts in place. Then I stared at the bulky mechanical creation. It stood in the middle of the laboratory staring blankly at me with its eyes flickering on and off. The ten ft high mechanical oval had short stumpy legs. The hatch in it let me operate and fix him.

My father's plans were scattered all over his wooden tool box. I asked myself “what could have gone wrong?” All those hours spent in the laboratory wasted. I threw the plans across the lab. The plans just bounced off the giant's face. “AARRGGHH” I screeched in frustration.

I twisted the wheel to release steam from the steam tank then went to push the lever again on full pressure. Everything was on full throttle. I thought it was a bit too chaotic so I tried to pull the lever down a rank but the lever snapped. I fell back and hit my head really hard on the steam tank and passed out.

I woke up. A look of terror and confusion formed on my face. I was in the gigantic robot’s hand. The robot's eyes were on but then flickered off. I reached out to touch his face. Its face was as cold as ice. A girder had penetrated the robots back. It struggled to hold the weight of the girder. He had sacrificed his life for me. My mechanical creation was lifeless again.

The First Robot by Kevin

Here is Kevin's narrative inspired by the animation 'Girl and Robot'

The First Robot

“Bang bang” I just finished tightening the compartments of my newest creation. Viewing my creation I thought “stupendous!”

Limb to limb bulky titanium patches were attached and tightened chain pulleys were placed inside of the iron patches. The plans were placed on my father's work table. The basement was filled with dirt and sand.

Hopefully all these rough months of loneliness and working late nights would pay off. I longed to have created the first man made robot that would change the human race. “It all comes down to this” I thought. “This is for you dad”.

“Shreech” I loosened the wheel to release steam. I pushed the lever to full blast. The cold lifeless eyes flickered on. Suddenly a cold chill ran down my spine. The light bulb eyes stared blankly at me just as before. “No, no, no, no this can’t be”, all the months just for a piece of rubbish.  “There must be an issue somewhere” I thought. I hesitated “here goes again but this time a bit more pressure might just do the trick”.

“Click, click, click, click”, “bang”, “what was that?” I exclaimed. “Turn it off, turn it off!” I thought. A huge screw barely missed me as it burst from the pipe. The last thing I remember was collapsing.

I opened my eyes. I was devastated to see that the robot had sacrificed himself to save me. “But why?” I thought. “Pfff” a huge patch of titanium fell on the ground and created a dust storm. I was looking directly into his flickering lightbulb eyes. “Sorry dad, I failed you”.

Girl and Robot by Kalani

Here is Kalani's narrative inspired by the animation 'Girl and Robot'

Girl and Robot By Kalani.

“Clink, clink, clink!” I put on the finishing touches onto my grandpa’s latest invention. The circular light bulb eye’s stared blankly as I test drove it. His enormous square strong arms stood relaxed without moving. The short steady legs stood silently, stable as I looked at how perfect it was. But my grandpa’s latest invention was not working. I looked back at the plan’s I didn’t see anything wrong” “What could be missing?” I asked.

I carefully looked at the plan’s one more time, but I couldn’t understand the plan’s now, “AHHH, I’ve done EVERYTHING!” I shouted in frustration. I didn’t want to look at the plan’s anymore so I carelessly crumpled up the plan’s and across the laboratory it went.

“Cling!” As I pulled the lever forward, “Boom, boom” went the pumps. The robot’s eye’s flickered on and off. “ZZZZZ, roo” went the eye’s. No matter how much I tried, The robot kept on shutting down. After all my tries, I pushed the lever as far as it could go. The pumps went faster than my heartbeat, and the steam escaped like  from a broken down car. I felt happier at this point because the eye’s started turning on faster. But what I didn’t recognise was that the steam inside the pipes was filling up. The dial went up to the highest level 500, so I tried to yank the lever back but the lever slipped out of my hand and I fell. The last thing I remember was passing out.

I could feel the warmth that came from the robot’s eye’s. I slowly woke up, and I realised that I was lying in his hand. The first thing I saw was his metal face. I carefully reached out and touched his warm face. I felt very upset because I had broken my grandpa and mine’s invention. After, I looked at the lab, it looked like a tornado had struck it. As soon as I saw the girder on the robot’s back, I felt so sorry for him, because I knew he was struggling to hold on. My robot was now lifeless. “What can I do now?” I cried.

My Robot by Ansh

Here is Ansh's narrative inspired by the animation 'Girl and Robot'.

My Robot by Ansh

“Crrr, crrr, clunk, clunk” I tightened the bolts on my creation.  His lightbulb eyes stared at me blankly.  He was a ten feet tall metal giant.  His enormous metal body was held together by bolts and screws.  His stumpy legs held up this one tonne monster.  When I touched his cold, powerless body a shiver ran down my spine.

I walked over to my plans thinking “what have I done wrong?” I sat down, looking at my great-grandfather's unfinished invention.  I crumpled up the plans and threw them onto my ancestors creation.  I started kicking cogs and wrenches in frustration as I slowly walked over to my great-grandfather’s old steam powered car.  “He could make this car but not this stupid robot”. I turned the wheel to power the steam engines and pulled the lever to make the robot start.  However the eyes just flickered on and off.

I didn’t waste any time, I turned the wheel to full power and pulled the lever.  My machine turned on, the steam came out like steam from a geyser.  I started smiling and laughing, but then I noticed that the power I had unleashed was breaking everything apart.  I tried to pull back the lever but it came off and flew out of my hand.  I ran for cover but my machine exploded before I could get to cover, the last thing I remember before passing out was smelling steam from the pipes, and falling headfirst onto a giant cog.

When I came to I saw my robot cradling me in his cracked, shattered hands.  I could feel the heat of his bulbs on my face.  My heart felt like it had been hit with a hammer and then ripped apart.  I started to slowly rub his face in tears, as I did I saw his eyes flicker off and his body fall apart. I looked around in misery looking at my demolished laboratory. I looked up,  I realised that the robot had sacrificed his life for my own.  He had stopped a giant girder from squashing me like a bug.  Depression conquered every other feeling in my body.  My creation now again lay in his cold, powerless form.

Girl and Robot by Chantelle

Here is Chantelle's narrative inspired by the animation 'Girl and Robot'

Girl and Robot by Chantelle

“Crr, crr, crr, clunk, clunk”, I tightened the bolts on my creation. I walked over to the control panel. I looked over at my grey, two toed creation once more time from top to bottom. Layer after layer of metal covered the circuit of my creation. The lightbulb eyes flickered on and off.

I looked around the floor of my lab scattered all over the metal floor were cogs and unused screws. Slowly I walked over to the plans. The scattered cogs made a ‘clank’ when I kicked them. I checked the plans “grr” I scrumpled the paper up in sheer frustration and threw it at the invention.

I had enough. I pushed the lever for maximum power “screech, pump, pump” I felt my heartbeat in time to the pistons. “My marvelous invention” I thought as the eyes came on at last. But there was too much pressure the pipes burst open. I tried to turn the steam off with the lever but it snapped in half. I felt myself falling - that was the last thing I remembered.

As I slowly opened my eyes I saw light coming from in front of me. Once my eyes were fully open I saw where the light was coming from. It came from a large rectangular shape that was connected to an egg shaped body. I firmly but gently grasped the cold metal hand. I reached up to touch his face. His eyes stayed on briefly before the light faded. His body was lifeless once more.

The Iron Giant by Sativa

Here is Sativa's narrative inspired by the animation "Girl and Robot".

The Iron Giant by Sativa

“Crr, Crrr” the light bulb eyes stared at me blankly. Strong, massive, square arms hung lifeless. I pulled the handle to release the steam needed to power my iron giant. His cold, metal, grey oval body was powerless.

I walked over to my uncle’s dusty work bench. I pulled the lever “sss, sss,sss”. The iron giant’s light bulb eyes flickered on then off. “What did I do wrong?”

I looked back at the plans but nothing was missing. I scrunched the plans and threw them with anger. I couldn’t explain how furious I was. I pulled the lever harder this time, and this time it actually worked. The steam burst out from the pipes like a train leaving the station. The pistons went faster and faster, steam covered the room like a thick fog. The pipes began to rattle and rumble. I tried to pull the lever but it got stuck and snapped. I fell backwards onto the floor. The last thing I remember was passing out.

I opened my eyes. I felt a giant steel hand under me. His eyes shone on my face. I touched his hard, metal face. The laboratory was covered in debris. A heavy girder lay in the robot’s back. He was my hero.

The Iron Giant by Priscilla

Here is Priscilla's narrative inspired by the animation 'Girl and Robot'

The Iron Giant by Priscilla

“Crrr, crrr, clink, clank” My excitement bubbled inside me as I tightened the last bolts. I sighed as my creation stared blankly back at me with its light bulb eyes. Looking at this enormous metal giant, with a rectangular head and a round body made me think “will my creation help the city, country or even the whole world?” I thought it really could. The large strong arms hung lifeless on its sides. The short but sturdy legs were still, powerless. I pulled the lever and the steam came out. The bulky giant’s eyes flickered on then off.

I went back to my grandfather’s plans. Even the plans seemed useless. I scrunched the plans and threw them towards the lifeless steel giant. I kicked a cog as I went to my toolbox, finally I found my welding torch. I went and got my ladder to fix the iron giant. After I fixed the massive iron creation I went back to the control panel. I pushed the lever to make the colossal giant move.

“Sttt, stttt, pssst” steam left the pipes. The giant’s light bulb eyes flickered on then off. “I’m not giving up!” I told myself. “I’m going to try again!” So once again I turned the wheel to release the steam, the sound reminded me of my grandfather leaving the train station for the last time.

I pushed the lever harder than before. The invention’s eyes flickered and stayed on. The excitement bubbled inside of me! But then came the disaster. The dial’s arrow rose to maximum, the pistons ran up and down faster than before. The steam rushed out as if from a pressure cooker. The dial’s popped open, the pipes started to loosen. I tried yanking the lever back but it was jammed. My head knocked on something hard and then that was it. Blackness.

As I woke up I felt something cold and hard on my back. I opened my eyes and I suddenly felt shocked to see the same lightbulb eyes staring back at me. I realised that it was my steel robot. I couldn’t believe the robot had sacrificed himself his life for mine. I reached out my hand and touched his warm face. I looked beyond my robot and I saw my laboratory covered with debris. Suddenly I saw a girder in the giant’s back. Slowly his twinkling yellow eyes faded away. He couldn’t hold it anymore, he collapsed. My iron giant was once again lifeless.

Girl and Robot

In writing this term we are focussing on narratives. We watched the animation below and used it as inspiration for writing our own narrative.

First we used a SOLO hot map to describe the robot. We also discussed the features of a narrative such as setting, problem and solution.

Maths Strategy - Rounding and Compensating

Here is Ansh explaining the strategy rounding and compensating.

Maths Strategy - Reversibility

Here is Arav and Priscilla explaining the strategy of reversibility.

Stressed Out!

In Health we discussed stress, namely how it makes us feel and the causes. We also talked about strategies we can use to cope with stressful situations. We created these comics as a guide to coping with stress. Now remember breathe.....

And the Winner is...!

After reading "And the winner is....!" by Kathleen O'Sullivan the Justice League created these wanted posters to show the 'crimes' committed by the character Chris.

Postcard Exchange #4

Here is our latest postcard and letter all the way from New York!

Stepping Out

The Avengers created these posters to advertise the inventors fair in the story "Stepping Out' by David Hill

Trapped by an Octopus

In the story 'Trapped by an Octopus' by Janet Slater Bottin Mum makes a fancy dress costume out of household items. Using this idea the X-Men created their own guides to creating costumes from household items.

Podcast #11

Postcard Exchange #3

Here is our latest postcard from South Africa

Carlos Comes To Stay Trailer

Here is a book trailer created by Samarah for 'Carlos comes to stay".

Postcard from the Bahamas

After reading 'Postcard from the Bahamas' by Jeena Murphy the X-Men collaborated on a description of Susie.

WALT - Describe Characters

Susie is a young girl with a good imagination who dreams of being a pirate. She wishes to have a parrot called Jacob, a shiny cutlass and a brand new pirate hat with a bright blue peacock feather. Susie has a mean brother called Dan who thinks she is ‘nuts’. Susie wants to get away from her brother and have adventures with her Aunty Bernice and her ferocious crew. Susie suspects that her Aunty Bernice is a pirate and wants to rub in Dan’s face that she is right. The real reason Susie wants to be a pirate is so that she can stay up late all summer. However even pirates need to go to school and do homework so Susie would have to stop being a pirate in February.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place!

If you had to choose between supporting the All Blacks or the Springboks who would you choose? This is the decision facing Bothie from V.M Jones' 'A rock and a hard place'. The Justice League wrote letters to Bothie giving their opinions.

Dear Bothie,

I see you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. This is your Uncle Zayden Ruckus. I’m half New Zealand and half South African. I had the same experience as you a few years ago. A Great man once told me to “Stick with your country no matter what.” So my advice to you is to stick with your country. Even though when people ask you who's your favourite rugby player you think of Richie McCaw still go for the Springboks. It runs in the family's blood. But remember it is your choice nephew, pick wisely.

Love,

Uncle Zayden Ruckus (Skye)

Dear Bothie,

I heard that you have been having a hard time choosing which team to support in the Rugby World Cup. The Springboks is the team that you supported in South Africa. But all your friends support the All Blacks. What you are is ‘’stuck between a rock and a hard place’’. Even though your dad supports the Springboks you live in New Zealand now and should support the All Blacks. Besides the All Blacks are the best team in the world! The last reason why you should support the All Blacks is because when anyone asks you who's your favorite rugby player you say Richie McCaw. So my advice to you is to support the All Blacks. I hope you follow my advice.

Sincerely Sherlyn

Global Postcard Exchange #2

Bonjour from Draguignan. Here is our latest postcards from the Global Postcard Exchange 2015

Carlos Description

The Avengers collaborated on a description of Carlos the dog from Maryan Moss' 'Carlos Comes to Stay'.

WALT - Describe Characters

Carlos is the Pointon’s pet dog. Carlos is huge he is the size of a small bear! He has long black hair that hangs in his eyes making it difficult for him to see. His hair is as black as charcoal and is soft as a thick carpet. He has a large floppy tongue that hangs out of his mouth past his sharp teeth. Carlos has a pointy beard and a large square head that makes him look like a wizard. He has a crooked nose and big padded paws that help him stomp around his kennel. Carlos is big and friendly and very energetic! He is so strong he can drag his kennel behind him. Even though Carlos is a big softy he can also be mischievous. When he has been naughty he lets out terrible howls and can sometimes be found covered in mud in your mum and dad’s bed!

Would you like Carlos as your pet dog?

A Rock and a Hard Place

After reading 'A rock and a hard place' by V.M Jones the Justice League used the information in the text to create their very own tickets for a rugby game between the All Blacks and Springboks. 

Machine Definition

For Inquiry we defined what a machine is and the roles they play in our lives.

WALT - Define a Machine

A machine is something we use to make life easier. We are surrounded by machines that do all sorts of jobs for us like wash our clothes, transport us places and help us build shelters. Even basic tools like scissors, screwdrivers and tweezers are machines. These types of machines are called simple machines. A simple machine has one or no moving parts and can often make up parts of complicated machines.

There are six types of simple machines these are wedge, wheel and axle, inclined plane, lever, screw and pulley. Simple machines are found in every home and school. In our classroom we have scissors that are wedges and levers, hinges on our doors that are levers and screws to hold together our bookshelves. Simple machines make work faster and easier imagine trying to cut paper with just your fingers!

Overall we believe life without machines would be very difficult for example there would be no cars to help us travel, knives to help cut our food, cranes to lift building materials or axes to cut wood for fire or shelter.

By Chantelle, Sherlyn, Samarah, Priscilla, Nuha and Skye