Hedgehogs in your garden

The X-Men used the information in "Hedgehogs in your garden' by Victoria Purdie to create their own acrostic poems.

Caine's Arcade

We just love Caine's Arcade in Room 5. So much so we are creating our very own cardboard arcade.

In the meantime the Justice League created these designs for Caine if he wants an upgrade on his current shirt.

Tea's Made

The Justice League created these advertisements for the teasmaid found in 'Tea's Made' by Margaret Cahill

Monster Trucks Vs Formula One Cars

The X-Men worked on a comparison between Monster Trucks and Formula One Cars after reading 'Monster Truck Battle' by John Medcalf

Monster Trucks Vs Formula One Cars

“Vroom, vroom, crash, bang” You may hear these sounds at a certain type of car race - A monster truck race. Monster trucks are enormous, powerful vehicles that smash and crash into cars. Another famous car race is Formula One, these cars are sleek, low and fast. These two cars have many similarities and differences.

Entering the Vehicle - Kishan and Hemish  

Both drivers need to enter the vehicle before the race. However monster trucks are huge so the driver has to climb high to enter the monster truck. A Formula one car is low to the ground so the driver climbs in. In our opinion a Formula one car is much easier to enter than a monster truck.

Powerful - Sativa and Aaliya

A monster truck and a formula one car are both powerful vehicles. A formula one car can go as fast as 250 miles per hour and a monster truck is 10 times more powerful than a normal car. We think that a monster truck is more powerful than a Formula One car because they are larger and heavier,  although a formula one car is faster.  

Compete around the world - Seb and Eli Both

Both vehicles compete around the world however the monster truck competes mostly in America and sometimes New Zealand. Where as Formula One races take place in many countries such as Australia, England, USA, Japan and more. We would prefer to watch a monster truck show over a Formula One race because they do massive jumps, sometimes fail and crush cars.

Compete against other drivers - Amelia

Both drivers compete against other drivers when racing. In a monster truck race two cars compete. However Formula One races have 24 cars competing in the race. In my opinion it would be more exciting to watch Formula One because their are more cars racing really fast

Track - Jolui and Espen

drivers race on different tracks. The monster truck tracks are muddy with ramps and cars to crush. The Formula One track is smooth because of how fast the cars travel. We believe the easier track to race around is the Formula One track.

Overall we think that monster trucks are better than Formula One cars because they are powerful, have more interesting tracks and are more exciting to watch. Crushing big cars and doing flips is better than cars going around and around the same track.

We believe our comparison is extended abstract because we had several similarities and differences and made an overall statement.

Tea's Made

The Justice League created these book trailers for 'Tea’s Made' by Margaret Cahill

Crossing Safety

The Justice League created these acrostic poems in response to reading 'Cross Now' by Roly Hermans.

How To Toast Marshmallows

The X-Men after reading 'School Camp Fun' created these guides to toasting marshmallows.

Te Ra and Te Marama

The Avengers created their own glossary for the Maori vocabulary found in 'A Wife for Te Rā'

A Wife for Te Rā

Here is Samarah's amazing retelling of 'A Wife for Te Rā'

Traffic Lights Vs School Crossing

The Justice League after reading 'Cross Now' considered whether it is best for our school crossing to have traffic lights or children operating signs. What do you think?

We believe traffic lights should be used on school crossings instead of children operating signs. Firstly the children operating the signs have to stand out in the rain and stormy winds. The children who do this often catch colds and end up missing days of school. However even though children wear bright jackets and it is easier to see them rather than traffic lights, they still get wet, cold and sick.

It is not only the children who have to stand on the crossing teachers and parents do too. Teachers have to leave the class early when on road duty. They could use their time better. For example they could be planning, marking or teaching the children. Some people may argue that operating the signs teaches children responsibility. However spending time in the classroom learning is much more important than learning how to operate traffic signs.

Another reason why traffic lights should be used is that children finish patrols at 3.10pm and any children who are late may miss them. The traffic continues after 3.10pm as some parents pick up their children from SKIDS in the afternoon. Having traffic lights would mean children can cross safely at any time of the day. On the other hand people may say that drivers may miss seeing the traffic lights and that it is much harder to miss the long signs. However drivers must follow the reduced speed limit in school zones and use their instincts to look for traffic lights as well as zebra crossings.

Overall traffic lights are much safer, quicker and more efficient than crossing patrols and we would like to see our crossing replaced with traffic lights. We took a poll in our class and 16 out of 22 people agreed that we should have traffic lights.

Even Superheroes need to be safe when crossing!

After reading 'Cross Now' by Roly Hermans the Justice League created this video to showcase the message in the story.

The Steam Powered Car

After reading 'The Steam Powered Car' by Pat Quinn the Justice League collaborated on a compare and contrast between the Stanley Steamer and the Model T Ford.

The Stanley Steamer Vs The Model T Ford

What transportation did you use to get to school today? It was probably a car. The cars we have today have complicated engine parts, run on expensive petrol and are started with a key or button. However about a hundred years ago you may have got around in a Stanley Steamer or a Model T Ford. These cars were very different to what we have today.

Inventors - Priscilla and Skye

Often cars are named after their inventors. For example the Stanley Steamer was named after  Francis Edgar Stanley and Freelan Oscar Stanley.  You would call them the Stanley brothers. The Stanley brothers loved making cars, it was their passion.  Then in 1924 Henry Ford started making cars cheaper on assembly lines. He named these cars the Model T Ford.

Fuel - Israel and Arav

The Stanley Steamer used any fuel that burned such as coal or Kerosene. The Model T Ford used petrol that created fumes which polluted the air. The cars we have today are run on petrol also known as gas. The Stanley Steamer did not pollute the air like the Model T Ford because it only let out steam. The Stanley Steamer would have been easier and cheaper to run compared to the Model T Ford.

Engines with moving parts - Kalani and Sherlyn

Both cars had engines with moving parts. The Stanley Steamer had only fifteen moving parts while the Model T Ford had many complicated parts. The Stanley Steamer’s fewer parts meant that it was easier to fix. Whereas the Model T Ford was harder to fix because it had more parts, it also was more expensive to buy all the parts for the car. In our opinion the Stanley Steamer was better because it was easier to fix and had less parts than the Model T Ford.

Key - Dev

You all know that our modern cars have keys or buttons that start the engine. However a hundred years ago the Stanley Steamer and the Model T Ford had a different system to start the engine without a key. The Stanley Steamer was started by a match. The match would light the boiler which then heated up the water causing steam.  The Model T Ford was started with a crank which the driver had to wind up. This would mean that the driver would have to get out of the car and use a lot of energy. The Stanley Steamer was easier to start as it took less effort.

Fumes - Chantelle

One positive thing about the Stanley Steamer is it made very little exhaust fumes because it could run on water. Water makes steam, steam is not a harmful gas because it can turn back into water when it touches something. Whereas the Model T Ford ran on petrol. Petrol is a harmful gas because it is a form of pollution. In my opinion the Stanley Steamer was more effective because it was not a polluting gas.

Conclusion 

In the future people might start using steam powered cars again as an alternative to petrol powered cars. The advantages of a steam powered car are that they have an affordable source of fuel, make less pollution and have fewer expensive parts.

We think that our comparison is extended abstract because we have predicted what might happen in the future once petrol runs out.

Give Us A Job!

After reading 'Phil's Machines' by Lindy Kelly the Avengers collaborated on writing a job application to Phil. They used evidence from the text to form the ideas in their letter.

Dear Phil,

I am writing to apply for a position within your company. I have done research about your work on your website and am very interested in what you do. I am passionate about machinery because as a child I played with toy trucks, bulldozers, and cranes. Ever since, I knew I wanted to work in construction. I am hard working, dedicated, and willIng to work long shifts and numerous days a week. If you need help with completing paperwork, I am organized and able to help. Also, I am experienced and always ready to learn more from your expertise. In the past, I have worked in other construction companies and know how to work these machines. I’m conscious of safety and understand that it is important to follow protocol. I already own steel-capped boots, hard hats and bright coloured vests. I enjoy being outdoors and working hard with a team.

Sincerely Yours,

Bob Bill Der

Olly's New Bike

After reading 'Olly's New Bike' by Melissa Leighton the X-Men collaborated on a Cause and Effect to see why Olly acted the way he did. 

WALT - Give opinions about characters’ actions.

In the story ‘Olly’s new bike” Olly received an old bike from a garage sale. He hated the bike and kicked it in anger against the fence causing a pedal to fall off.  However the reasons why Olly did this went further than just not liking the bike.

Olly’s mum and dad had recently split up. This meant that Olly would have felt upset and confused. This is maybe why he overreacted to seeing the bike. However because Olly kicked the bike his mum was upset that she didn’t have enough money to buy the silver bike he wanted

Another reason why Olly kicked the bike may have been that he missed his friends. Having no friends would have meant that Olly was bored, sad and lonely. Having met Mohamed and his son Korfa Olly realised he had to meet new people and try new things in order to make new friends.

Lastly another reason Olly kicked the bike may have been that he had just moved to a new house that didn’t feel the same. Luckily Olly met his nice new neighbour who fixed his bike so it looked like new.

Overall we believe Olly overreacted to seeing the bike.  We now understand why Olly reacted the way he did however he should have understood that a lot had happened and his mum was doing her best.

Phil's Machines

The Avengers used the information in the text 'Phil's Machines' to create these posters showing the parts and functions of the different machines used by Phil and his team.

Tom and Frankie

In the story 'Tom and Frankie' by Unn West Tom's pet fish passes away because he does not know how to look after it properly. The X-Men created these guides to how he should have taken care of his pet.

Bits in a Jar

After reading 'Bits in a Jar' by Brian Douglas the Justice League described two of the main characters.

The main character in the story ‘Bits in a Jar’ is a small boy who suffered from swelling and sore throats for months. He was really frustrated with his symptoms. He looked forward to going into hospital to finally be pain free. He wasn’t worried about his operation because he got to have delicious ice cream afterwards. When we have been in hospital for allergic reactions or broken bones we never got to have ice cream afterwards. He loved getting attention from his mum when he finally came home. When he was in hospital he forgot to ask for his tonsils for the science corner at school. He told his dad who said he would grab some from the hospital.

The dad in the story is a cheeky, trickster and a practical joker. Instead of going to the hospital for tonsils he actually went to the butchers for ox hearts. He put them in an eight-litre pickle jar and took them to school. He went to school early to hide the jar from his son. What a sneak! The Dad has a wicked sense of humour.

The poor boy got laughed at when the teacher and his classmates pointed out his ‘tonsils’ were actually ox hearts. He burned with shame and planned revenge on his dad.

Overall we agree that we would not like to have a dad like the one in “Bits in a Jar” because it would be so embarrassing to be shamed out at school in front of a crowd. Although it would be bad to be embarrassed we like the idea of plotting jokes for revenge.