Pukeko Summary

Summary On Pukeko

The pukeko is a territorial bird. It does not like other birds going on it’s  area of land/nest. They have a diet that consists of seeds, berries, nuts, grasses, aquatic vegetation and they also eat worms, eels, frogs and sometimes they eat small bird eggs. Pukeko breed for 12 months, July to July the next year. They can lay 4 - 10 eggs per season but sadly only 8 of them survive. They also have a lifespan of 3 - 6 years, the oldest pukeko lived up to 9 years. Their habitat is in the wetlands where you can see them on the side of the road, because of that there are only 225 left in the world!!

Homework is Silly - letter to Mr G

Mr G

Principal

Parkvale School

Howard Street

Hastings

4122

Dear Mr G,

Homework should be banned from the world!! It’s a big waste of time, waste teachers time and also it wastes money!

Firstly, homework should be banned because it is the biggest waste of time ever! Kids could be having fun in the clean fresh air they really need instead of being stuck inside! They could be inventing wonderful things that could be needed in the future. Or they could be out and about trying new things that you could never imagine!

Secondly, it’s a waste of paper, ink. Worst of all, teachers time. The teachers print a lot of sheets, (that means cutting down a lot of trees) for the kids and a the majority of them don’t bother to do it so that wastes paper and ink! The teachers could be at home with their family instead of being stuck in one place marking homework! Their head might blow up with all the marking and information they gather!

Lastly, homework wastes a lot of  money!  Homework wastes money because the teachers print loads of sheets with ink on it and then some of the kids don’t even bother to do their homework! So that wastes ink and money that the school had to pay for. Over the year, the school pays a lot of money for all the paper and ink! That money could go towards camps, trips etc;.

All the kids would agree with me that homework should be banned! It is a big waste of time, waste of paper and money! I can’t wait for your reply!

Kind Regards,

Janine.

My Emotive Poem

This is my emotive poem. I did this poem with Astella in Room 20. We did this poem about Loneliness. 

Loneliness

Loneliness is dark blue like the night sky.

It taste like a burnt toast.

It smells like the damp and cold mornings.

It looks like the rain falling from the sky.

It sounds like somebody weeping.

It feels like being abandoned in a maze.

Chapter 2 of Mystery of Parkvale

Here is Chapter 2. Come back next week to read Chapter 3.

Chapter 2, The Scariness Begins

My head is so confused right now. I think to myself, “This must be a joke!” The computer goes black! Suddenly The computer turned back on. Still confused I go and see what it has to say now. It said ‘This is not ever a joke! Go look around and see who's right.” I listen to what the computer has to say. So off I went to go see if anyone is here! “Umm, hello anyone here?!” No one answers. O.K now I’m freaked! What is happening? I run back to my class. The computer shuts down and at the same time a huge flash of lightning flashes behind me! The light from the computer turns back on and has the words ‘ Have a scary day!!’ “ Oh thanks! I’m gonna need it!”

The Mystery of Parkvale School.

This is my creative writing that I did in writing time! If you enjoy, ( Which I hope you do) come back every week and enjoy the other chapters.

The mystery of Parkvale School.

Chapter 1 The School

In 2001, I woke up on a normal school day just waiting to go to school! I finish all my usual truck load of chores and get my fully packed school bag and go. I arrive at school with an unusual dark, silent classroom. All there is to see is a light from a computer. I go over to see whose it is. It has some sort of strange writing on it. I go ahead and read it even though my head is saying “Don’t read it! Don’t read it!” It says ‘ No ones here! And they never will be!’

Nga Rakau Nui Water Sports!

  Nga Rakau Nui Swimming Sports

“Go!!” Mr G says. Off I go in the freezing water. I run as fast as I can. It is Friday the 13th of February, Nga Rakau swimming sports. It was so much fun. The only rule was to have fun! I was a leader for my team and we were Pukeko 3!  I felt cold at the start out of the water but I was nice in the water! It was the best water day ever!

Triathlon

                                     

 Triathlon Reflection

I felt really scared and nervous because seeing everyone else do it and then coming on the grass breathing hard out makes me scared. The race before me looked really hard and when I was thinking about doing it made me super tired. The hardest thing for me was the running because when you come out of the pool and after the bike, it was super tiring and your legs felt like they were going to collapse but I never gave up! The swimming was the easiest because I swim a lot. I think I did really well. I completed my mission and my mission was to push myself before the end of the year! I loved it!

I think I would like to improve on my running. A suggestion for teachers would be not as long bike. The same as running.  

Dogs are the best pet to have!

Every family has a pet and I reckon the amazing dog is the best pet to have. They are cheap to look after, they make great helpers to people and they work well with kids. They are super loyal and cute. Read more to find out about dogs and I bet, you’ll be sprinting off to your nearest pet shop today!

           

Dogs are very fun, especially with kids. If you have an extra dog they can keep another dog company or your child. They make a great companion to kids. You can go and relax while your dog goes and plays with your kids. When you start playing with your dog, you won’t want to stop!

Dogs are very cheap unlike rabbits and guinea pigs that need a cage to clean out every day. They only need a adults handful of food and a bowl of water. They need a water bowl and a food bowl. You can find those on trademe for $2, food is very cheap and water is free.

Dogs can be great helpers. With a little bit of training, dogs can be a read dog and that will help kids at school to read and be interested in reading or they can make good guide dogs for older people or even kids. They don’t even need to be helpful at work, they can be good watch dogs and great indoor pets.

Some people think dogs are stinky, messy and dirty. However they are only messy because they want to have fun and play. If you give them a bath at least 3-5 times a month you will have a fresh clean dog.

So now you know why dogs are the best pet. Don’t run to the shop yet! Just a few more sentences!  You see how dogs are very fun, cheap to look after and they make great helpers. O.K Now you can go sprint off!    

Figure Of 8 Knot.

                  How to make a figure eight knot.

This is how to make a figure of eight knot. It is very useful for boating and it is one of the easiest knot to untie when it is wet.   

          INSTRUCTIONS:

1: Firstly form a loop in your rope.

2: Next you twist your rope a ½ turn to the left.

3: Put the left end of the rope through the big loop. As shown in the photo.

4: Lastly pull both ends of the rope.

If you have done this knot right it should look like this!

Now you know how easy it is to do this knot. After a few tries you should be able to make this knot behind your back with your eyes closed!  

By Janine.  

Story Bird

This is my Myth. How hedgehogs Got spikes. If you would like to read it click on the link below.
Enjoy!
http://storybird.com/books/why-do-hedgehogs-have-spikes/?token=9uv73x7hcq

Why Hedgehogs Have Spikes?

         

       Why Hedgehogs have spikes?

Many many moons ago, hedgehogs had no spikes. They just looked like plain old rats. One day the rats were scurrying into the garden, while searching for grubs. The one rat called Natasha, was sick and so tired of grubs that she went searching for something else. She was a shy but  a good, enthusiastic rat. She came across something that looked needle like. They looked tasty so she ate some, then she ran straight back so no one could see her!    

The next day all the other rats laughed at her the whole day because she had spikes all over her body! She was so confused. The pine needles that she had secretly eaten the day before, had grown through her skin!

“What are you laughing at?,” She asked.

“You! You've got spikes all over you!,” They replied.

Natasha ran off in embarrassment. She was so sad that she wanted revenge so she thought of a plan, an evil plan. She was going to stuff all the grubs with pine needles that she could find while the other rats were sleeping. So when they ate the grubs they would look like her.

Next Morning all the other rats gobbled down all  the grubs.

“Where did you find these delicious grubs?”

“I can’t remember!! Ha ha ha!,” She replied.

“What are you laughing about?,” The other rats answered back.

“You obviously!,” Natasha responded.

“What are you talking about?,” The other rats said.

“ Well look in the mirror!,” She said in a soft evil voice.

“Ahhh! We look just like you! So ugly!,” They said.

“Ha ha ha ha!,” Natasha said evilly, “Now you know how I felt!”

So from now on rats are hedgehogs. Next time you see a hedgehog think of the story, “How hedgehogs got their spikes.” Now be careful how you treat your friends, not like Natasha's friends.

By Janine

Winter Poem

Winter  Poem

Trees are sparkling in the sunshine with their icy cold snow

The fresh new frost on the frosty stream

The sound of crackling snow and ice under my warm feet

The cold feeling growing up my sleeve   

The hot chocolate slowly drip by drip down my throat

I miss the warmth of the summer.

Haunted House!!!!!

Haunted house!!

“Well this is the only house for us so ,glug!” I say in a horrified voice “I am not scared so I’ll be the first to go in!  so goodbye” I say in a brave voice! But in the back of my mind I say “Why did i just say that!"

As I crept inside there were 15  hallways so I took the 5th hallway. I saw that there were spiders on cobwebs hungrily looking at me and even peanut sized cockroaches slowly dying! “are you alright?” A voice echoed through the hallway,  I jumped scared out of my skin. “yes!” I finally answered back realising that it was my brother! I started to walk  like a scaredy cat again. when I got out of the hallway I screamed an echoed scream! There was a mummy hanging off the roof!! Next second the mummy jumped off the roof and chased me through this maze of hallways. While I was running I thought that taking the 5th hallway was a bad idea but never mind that, I’m being chased by a mummy!! I took the 2nd hallway thinking that this would be the way out but I was wrong, it was a dead end! Now I knew I was going to die!!! I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed back against the wall “Ahhh” I shrieked as the wall  gave away on me and I landed in a secret passage way! the secret passageway led to a secret room where I heard voices talking about some random thing that I could not quite understand. The mummy that had chased me, lifted me and brought me into the room and when I was on the table, this voice said “ the toilet needs fixing!” I cracked up laughing! 2 minutes later the room was silent. Then the ghosts showed them self with light that slowly appeared inside them! They slowly crept closer and it looked to me that the were trying the hug me! But I was wrong they were blocking my eye sight so all I could see was...

BLACK!

When I finally woke up I was outside and my family was there, talking loudly. They didn’t even notice that I was there because I was a ghost. I was yelling out as loud as I could, but no one heard me. I had no idea what was going on. Days were getting longer with no one to play with so, I joined the ghost family in the haunted house until, well I can’t die so for my life!

Why is Gravity Important to Earth?

   Why is Gravity Important to earth?

Introduction

Have you ever wondered why gravity is so important to earth? We all take gravity for granted but you should be happy to have gravity! Here are the reasons why….  

Gravity makes blood go all over your body……….

You know how you have to have blood all over your body not just in one place? Well gravity helps your blood going down into your feet and legs! Otherwise you will have pins and needles in your legs and feet for a long time! Your heart works really hard when you stand up because gravity is pulling your blood down. This happens because gravity pulls anything down even blood that is watery.    

Gravity keeps the oxygen in place………

If we didn't have gravity we would have no oxygen because gravity keeps the oxygen in place. For example, imagine oxygen as tiny bouncing balls. Now the bouncy balls bounce off the ground and fly off into space with our oxygen. (that's with zero gravity) But if we bounced a ball it would come back up and go back down!( that’s with gravity).

Gravity is an invisible force……….

Gravity is an invisible force that pulls us down to the earth's ground. Gravity prevents us from floating into space. Imagine going on a roller coaster with zero gravity! You would float around and go upside down.

 

Conclusion   

Now you know why gravity is so important so every time you jump don’t take gravity the wrong way or right now you will be space with not alot of oxygen!

The Water Cycle

THE WATER CYCLE!!!

Have you ever gone outside and wondered how the rain falls? Water is all over the earth and it covers ⅔  of the earth! All the living things need water! This cycle is really important.  There are 1, 2, 3, 4 steps in this cycle. Water can be a gas, solid and liquid.  



EVAPORATION

Evaporation is when the water heats up from the sun then it evaporates up into the air! For example say you spilt a drink outside then you come back and it’s gone. That is because the heat from the sun evaporated the water into invisible water vapours that travel high into the air, and join together to make clouds.

CONDENSATION         

When all the water vapours come together and form little clouds,  the small clouds magnet together and make big clouds. This process goes on and on until the clouds get too heavy then gravity pulls the rain down.   

PRECIPITATION

When the gravity pulls down the heavy cloud water, then it rains. Rain is another word for precipitation. It can hail snow or sleet. It hail or snows because the higher the water vapours go the colder it gets. That's how it hails and snows.

RUN OFF

The water runs off into a stream or river then into the sea. Then the water cycle starts all over again and again over and over!

Conclusion 

Now you see how important the water cycle is to us and other living things! If we didn't have a sun we would not have a water cycle which would equal no living plants or even us human beings! See now you can amaze your friends or even mum and dad of how much you know about the water cycle!

By Janine

Room 20 Assembly Item

On the 6th of June 2014, Room 20 had a assembly item and it was about a science show. It was freaky on stage because you had 500 pairs of eyes looking up at you from the people down below.  We had a few hiccups with the sound system but we got it fixed. We had to come to school early so we could practice once but we didn't have enough time!!   Some people had 2 parts and some only had 1. We had a visitor today which was a fantail that was flapping around crazily in the school hall while we where doing our thing.

I was very scared before we started so my heart was pounding but when we  practised I was so relieved! My part was to be contestant! I had a sort of big part! I was quite happy with my performance because I didn't muck up like I sometimes did with the practices! I just about mucked up! I was so close!!!!!  I felt relieved after the show that it was over and done with.

Flax Rock!

FLAX ROCK!

As the rope tightened, I put my foot on the first rock. Next minute I was shaking like a cold dog! I started to climb and about a metre and a half up, I accidently looked down to far and all the people looked liked ants. I was just about to scream but I bit my lip instead! ( I always do when I am scared)  I wanted to come down. I said to myself “You can do this” I tried to carry on but I couldn’t.  My mum encouraged me on but my hands were wet and soggy.

Finally as I slowly floated down to the ground, I started to cry because I was scared and also it was my first  time. I was quite disappointed  in myself I thought I would tumble  down quickly and hurt myself. It looked like 10 metres off the ground even though I only heaved myself  1 metre up. I climbed as high as I could but I couldn’t climb any higher, I was too scared! I think I just need to rock climb a bit more so I get use to it and I get stronger! Maybe next time I’ll have a better time.  I set myself a goal and it was to at least climb 1-2 metres up and I achieved it! So I feel proud of myself for at least climbing a little bit!

By Janine De Wit.

My Holiday

THE COOl  EXPERIENCE!

My head is spinning as I stare straight ahead,  my mum is almost  standing upside down! I  keep my eyes shut for a little bit, then I open them and in front of me is an upside down world! Even I was upside down!  I was  as close to fainting like a cheetah chasing  a deer but losing it. Eventually I got out!  That was the white out!!

As I  slowly strolled along, admiring the scene, I saw my bedroom! (Not) It just looked like my  messy bedroom! It was Scott's hut! It was an example of what was built in Antarctica. It had 5 bunks. I would always like 5 bunks!! Did you know that in Antarctica it can get under -50o !?! Thats too cold for me!!

After that, I slowly walked  into a room with pink and blue jellyfish.  The jellyfish were dancing up and down like they were bobbing for apples! Some looked like they were dead! All the jellyfish were spread in 3 tanks like butter on a piece of bread!

The following room had a rainbow of blue, green and pink seahorses! The walls were sprayed with facts. Did you know that the mother seahorse lays the eggs then the father carries them around until they are big enough to swim by themselves?

                                                                                     

While I sipped my drink, I had such a cool trip that I did not want to leave!!!!!! My brother Connor said that we should go in again but mum and dad said no at the same time!!!!! This was an amazing time at Auckland’s Sea Life aquarium!!

By Janine

Sea Creature

Sea Creature.

One day as I was walking slowly along the seaweed covered rocks, ready for my dive, this rotten smell hit me like a ball that just hit me on the nose! I had to hold my breath while I moved closer to this statue like creature. A sickly feeling came into my stomach. This random creature stunk like a skunk! As I moved closer I felt sicker! As I peered over the rock that was in front of me, I almost fainted! 
                                                                                                                        

It’s hideous mouth opened so wide you could see it’s tonsils. They looked like stained, brown horse teeth! The ugly mouth looked like my brother when he is angry! (I would  not want to fight with it!)  Monster like black sunken eyes looked at me like this strange creature wanted to tear me apart! This monster had leathery, brown, scaly skin. On top of its back were three pale brown, slimy fins. The ends of the fins looked like sharp fish hooks! One of the Fins looked more like a human bone than a fin! This fishy monster was very skinny and it’s mouth was really bony, you could even see it’s lip bone. Yuck!!! It’s head looked like a skull from a dead human body. It even smelled like one!

Were the teeth strong? Probably. This weird thing it must have trouble slithering and swimming with such small disgusting fins! He probably even smells his own stink! It must not have a big diet because he is so skinny! I thought someone had hypnotized me because I thought I was in a dream or in wonderland!!! Finally he slithered off into the blue ocean back were he belonged!

That thing was so creepy! If I ever see that weird creature again I will faint or even die!!! I went towards the car and I took one last look at the wonderful ocean. Then I turned and looked where the ugly creature had sat. And I said to myself” I think it's too cold for a swim!" Actually it was fine I just did not want to have a leg or arm chomped off! At least I have proof of this ugly creature because my brother took a photo!!