Pick A Path

At school for writing one of our focuses has been Pick a Path writing. This is when we wrote a story and the reader can pick the path of the storyline. I have focused on making it visually appealing so the page looks exciting.

My Travel Guide To Christchurch

By Anna

Want a trip to a fun packed and diverse city? Well then get reading because whether your interests lie in history or playing on a fun filled playground you will always have a great time in Christchurch.
Here are my top things to do if you are heading there and if you aren’t I can guarantee you will want to after you have read this.

Transport

London has double decker buses but Christchurch has Trams. Trams are an excellent way to get around the city,with 17 stops around the centre of Christchurch you can get on and off whenever you please. Sick of waiting for your bus to arrive? Christchurch tramways guarantee a maximum of 15 minutes waiting time so you can count on being punctual. Don’t worry about a slow tedious journey because you also get a free commentary of Christchurch City as you get from A to B. All of this comes under a price of $25 for adults and it’s free for kids.

Entertainment

Every city has a museum,but Christchurch’s is second to none. The museum has things to do for all ages. For the younger ones the museum has a discovery centre and with just $2 entree fee you can enjoy lots of interactive activities. Discovery is based on the wonders of our animals and as well as heaps of fun it also poses a learning side. For the older years Christchurch museum has a range of exhibits such as the Paua house and the indoor Christchurch streets. This is where you can walk around the Christchurch streets that they have built in the museum. This gives you a great idea of what Christchurch would have been like. The museum also has lots of special exhibits that come and go. This offers a variety of options to interest all ages.

Kids Entertainment

In my experience with playgrounds Christchurch's Margaret Mahy playground is my NO.1. The playground is a new addition to Christchurch and it definitely has all the mod cons of the playground world! Such as a eight metre long spiraling slide with an awesome spider web climb to the top. Don't forget the three metre wide slide,so you can race all your friends…. and parents forget the long wait for your kids as the play because along the side of the playground there is pop up cafes,smoothie bars and ice cream stands.

Food and Shopping

People use recycled bottles to make boats but Christchurch has taken recycling to another level. The Re:Start city mall is made out of vibrantly coloured shipping containers! The Re:Start mall has a range of shops from wood fired pizzas to designer clothes shopping. The Re:Start city mall has things for all ages and has things for all people's interests. The Re:Start mall is easy walking distance from the tram stop so don't worry about parking.

Now you know all the top spots in Christchurch and there still is plenty more!

Anna’s Quick Guide to a Successful Camp Cook

By Anna

If you want to become an expert in camp food cooking,pay attention because by the time you have finished reading this your mind will be so bursting with information that it will be spilling out your ears(not literally).

So imagine, you are going on camp for 4 days and 3 nights and in your groups of 4-5 you had to come up with a menu for that period of time. This means that you have to cook 3 breakfasts,3 lunches and 3 dinners with a budget of $30 per person. This is the situation that we found ourselves in when we went on our camp to Omakau. I was in a group of 5 people which meant we had a budget of $150.

Looking back we probably were a little too serious about saving money and cutting costs. Now at this you might ask,why? Why didn’t we spend all of our budget? Now this is where our logic came in! We were allowed on one day to buy our lunch in town,this meant that we had to save enough money for 5 of us to buy lunch in the most expensive part of Christchurch!

Steps For Planning:

1. Talk with your group and discuss what food you like or dislike. Also discuss any allergies that might affect your menu.
2. Create a graph that shows what you will be eating and who will be cooking it. (Make sure your graph is easy to read)
3. Source any recipes(if you need) so that you can work out the quantities
4. Create a list of the ingredients that you are going to buy and price them out.
5. Add up the money you will be spending and compare it to your budget. You might find that you have to change some of the things you are buying so you are not overspending

My Top 3 Tips:

1. When you are deciding what to eat make sure that you keep in the back of your mind that you are not going on a 10 day tramp and need to pack lightly. Mrs Hannah kindly reminded us that we can eat like kings as long as it is within our budget.
2. It depends how confident your cooks are but we found it helpful when we had a assistant to help us out. This is helpful for things like setting the table for eating later on.
3. Have some basic kitchen rules for all groups to follow. Sometimes it can get a bit hectic in the kitchen so it is important to clean up after yourself.

If you follow all of those steps you will be able to have a successful camp cook! It is also helpful to check out your camp's facilities because who wants to get to camp and discover they don’t have an oven! Good luck and happy cooking,you will be creating masterchef dishes in no time!

Speeches

In term 3 we had our speeches and this year the teachers decided to add a presentation. This meant that we had to create a presentation that we could talk to,we could chose any topic and we only had five weeks. This meant that we had to do some serious self managing! I choose the subject of dreams and after the continuous stages of planning and editing I moved on to my presentation. I did this on Google slides and because of the short time frame it was a bit of a rushed job.

Next time I would probably have a different topic and work on making my speech funny and entertaining. i would also have more images on my presentation because it is more entertaining than words. 

I have recorded my speech on screencastify and here it is:

Book Review

The Suitcase Kid

This book by Jacqueline Wilson is a book that I have just started reading. I first picked the book because I have read the start before and really liked it. So far Andy(the main character) is feeling angry and left out because her pearents have split up. They are currently living in separate houses with different partners that all have children. Andy doesn't like the children or the Step-parents. All she wants is to live back in there cottage as one big family. 

Quote of the week

This week Brooklyn and I have been on team time. Team time is were we do some activities and sing a song at the start of school. We had to chose a quote and this is what we choose:

Matariki

At school we have been focusing on Matariki. I have been particularly interested in the myths and legends. This is one of the Maori myths:At school we have been focusing on Matariki. I have been particularly interested in the myths and legends. This is one of the Maori myths:

The Power of Positivity

Our focus in Team East is The Power Of Positivity. So far we have done a series of dramas and looked at how your body language affects people differently.

When I thought of positivity before we looked at the topic I thought that being positive was tied in with being nice. For example, giving someone a lollipop but as we have created scenes on how people can feel uncomfortable or unhappy I have changed my theory.

I know that for a fact everyone has shown bad body language or done something to offend somebody. They may have not meant to do it on purpose or done it just to hurt a person's feelings. It can be done discretely or it can be blatantly obvious. However you do it and whenever you do this it hurts another person's feelings and can make their life miserable.

After we had focused on this this topic for a week I have a new theory on being positive. If someone asked what it is to be positive I would say that being positive goes from smiling and having no negative thoughts. If you do have negative thoughts don't voice it,I mean why do people say negative things? After thinking about this the only answer I can come up with is,to make people feel bad which is horrible.

What I sometimes think to myself is:

-If you be positive to other people they will be positive back.

Clubs

On Fridays at school we have started club day afternoons. This is where we chose a club run by the teachers or parents to do for the afternoon. I chose scrapbooking because I like doing it in my own time and if I did it as a club I would be able to give and receive constructive feedback. I would also be able to expand on other people's ideas to make it your own and have more great resources to use.

When I turned up I was amazed to see how many people had chose this club. We all filed into the classroom like a mouse to cheese and sat down on the mat in front of Mrs Kennedy(the teacher that was running the club). She explained how to put a photo onto coloured paper making sure that you were colour coding and choosing some set colours so you are not over crowding your page. Then she sent us off to make either a card or a photo book.

Holly,Piper,Kate,Phoebe and I wanted to do a best friends photo book, so we got Mrs Kennedy's fancy camera and went outside to take photos. We focused on doing creative and good quality photos. Because I am definitely not photogenic I made sure I was taking most of the photos. After we had taken 70 photos we loaded them all onto Mrs Kennedy's computer and went through the process of deleting the ones we don’t like. 

As I was looking at the photos I decided to do a photo book one separately so I could keep it. Soon we were packing up everyone's mess. I am really looking forward to the next club day because we will be photoshopping our photos!!!!!!!!

ANZAC

At school we have been focusing on ANZAC. We got to chose a topic to work on and create a digital presentation on it. I chose to do The Frontline as a topic and I decided to do an explain everything and a Kahoot on it. I can't put the Kahoot on here because you need my password, but here is my explain everything(You have to watch it on a computer because it will not show up on a Ipad)):

Quote of the week

This quote made me laugh!!!!!!
Here is the link if you can't see it-Click This If You Want To See The quote

Cross Country

As I climbed into Rhianna's car on a cold,cloudy Wednesday I had two things on my mind:

1. I have approximately one and a half hours to break my leg.

2.Mother Nature please,please RAIN!!!!!

I was heading to the Domain to do Cross Country. As you can probably tell I am not very fond of it. 

By the time we had got to the domain I hadn't managed to break my leg and it almost looked like it was going to be a warm day!!! We got seated by the signs but that didn't last long because the juniors had started to race. We all raced to the finish line like bees to honey to cheer them on. Time was disappearing but the nervous brick in my stomach was not disappearing any time soon. 

After I had stuffed down a sausage the very organised Mrs Sutherland hearded us like sheep to where we were supposed to sit. I tried to calm my nerves but the fact it was boiling hot and we had to run 3km in a race wasn't really helping. Before I new it we were lining up, doing stretches and we were off.

We started with a lap of the rugby field. I was running with Derrin because she has the same pace as me. After a lap or so we were puffing ten to a second. We jogged into the forest and I was relieved to find that it was shady. We came out of the forest and we were hit by searing heat. We ran another 500m and then we sprinted like kids coming out of school to the finish line.

Even though I was exhausted I looked around for Haylley. She was just starting to do the last lap of the field so Holly P and I started to run with her(it probably wasn't a good thing to do on my part because I didn't have a drink). 

Overall I am very proud of myself and I am so glad I don't have to do it again.  

Mt Richardson

It had started out as a pretty warm day. We had just started to climb Mt Richardson with the school and apart from a few ups it had been really easy. Brooklyn,Haylley and I had been chatting away. Soon we were up to a steep part and we stopped talking. Unlucky this steep part went on and on and on. It was the kind of grinding steep part,when you almost have to pull your legs up. This went on for what seemed like an hour,but I probably was shorter than that. 

Once we had got to the top of that hill we stopped for morning tea. Happily we flopped down and decided how much we were going to eat. The hardest part for me was trying not to eat all my food. Soon we had recharged our batteries and we were raring to go. I started to walk with Emma which was good because we talked a bit and we didn't really notice how fast time was passing by. 

Soon I got to a part that I knew was close to the top. We grunted up the last bit and then before we knew it we were at a the very windy top of Mt Richardson. It was cold. The wind was howling around us and it almost seemed like it was going to pick us up and carry us down the mountain. 

We found a spot out of the wind and put lots of clothes on. I ate everything,but I left some food for afterwards. After a long wait we were put in a line and we numbered off. I was in the back so when we set of I started to run to the front. It was quite a long way from the back to the front,but I did make it. I loved going down,because we had a good pace and we were all chatting away(and I didn't fall over). 

Soon we were sprinting out of the track and rolling down the hill!!!!!

Book Review

The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley

By Colin Thompson & Amy Lissiat

This book had the same author has Norman and Brenda,so that is why we decided to read it.

The front cover had a picture of a slightly dirty,purple mouse holding a piece of cheese and a human doll. My prediction was that Riley(which I assumed was the mouse) found a doll and had a happy life because he had company.

The book started by explaining how humans want to live forever and nothing pleases them. Whenever they have blonde hair they want it to be brown and vise versa. I found the sentences really  humorous and cleaver. Then it explained how Riley(the mouse) lived a happy life and didn't need much to make him happy. That was basically the storyline the whole way through,but it never got boring. The author always had a great way to make it entertaining and funny. 

At the end of the book like the last one it said,

"Release your inner Riley"

I would highly recommend this book  

Quote of the week

When I saw this quote it cracked me up,so I have made it the quote of the week.
Here is the link to the quote is you can't see it-Click On This If You Want To See The Quote

St Margaret's College

MmOn Monday 9th Mum and I went to the opening of St Margaret's College in Mums attempt to find me a high school. As you can probably to tell I wasn't to keen about going to St Margaret's,but I went anyway. 

We got there half an hour earlier so we went into the on school cafe(maybe this wasn't so bad after all) and looked at their uniform. I thought the uniform looked quite good because it wasn't a set uniform,but they had a formal uniform as well. 

Once we got out of the cafe and walked in the gates we were meet by some friendly children from the    junior school and they directed us to the senior school. I was given a bag with the information about the school. Then we meet our tour guide,her name was Abigail and she was very nice.

We started of in one of the newest buildings. She showed us the dance flours which were massive and the speech and drama rooms. I found this very interesting because I didn't know that St Margaret's had all these great facilities. Next she showed us the science rooms. Something I noticed about the rooms is how they were modern and new,but they weren't big modern learning classes. I meet one of the general science teachers Mr Atkins,which happened to be Miss Hannas(my teacher) science teacher when she was at high school!

Next we went and saw the technology rooms which had all the gadgets,but were a good size. I loved looking at what the students had made because it was all so creative and you could tell that they put a lot of effort into it. From there Abigail showed us the gym,the basketball courts,the pool and the outdoor netball,tennis and hockey courts.

She briefly showed us the art and music rooms,because we had to go and see the principle talk. I found it really interesting. The head girl spoke really well for the size she was(I mean I was taller than her and that's something). 

Afterwards we went to the boarding school and I was impressed with the facilities. They had different houses for different year groups. After all this we went and got a hot chocolate from the cafe. I really want to go,but it costs to much!!!!!

Reading Review

At school in literacy time I am working on writing a review(along with some other people) on a picture book. Here is my first one:

Norman and Brenda

By Colin Thompson and Amy Lissiat

When I first looked at the cover the first thing I noticed were how dirty they were. At the top of the book it said ‘The anti-heroes,anti-heroes’. My interpretation of this was they both accidentally became heroes.

When we looked at the title page there was a picture of them both holding hands and Norman wearing a wedding veil! So then I thought that they were going to get married.

The first pages were of how depressing there lives were and how they always felt like they were left behind and there lives hadn’t started yet. They went through stages where they had animals or went on blind dates. I was waiting for the time were they would meet and like each other.

The author was very good at writing funny and clever sentences. The pictures were kind of cartoons and a bit odd,but when you looked closely you could see little clues that could generate a lot of discussion. Finally Brenda climbed up a ladder to see if the world looked better from above and fell on Norman. They ended up getting married,but at the end of the book the author wrote this:

It goes to show that even if you spend a lot of your life washing up at parties or talking to goldfish,somewhere in the world there is someone just for you.

You simply have to be in the right place at the right time.

For me this was my favourite part because it summed up the story and gave it a moral.

To sum this book up I would say it is a great read for someone who takes there time to read and think about what the author is saying. I really enjoyed how clever the author was with the sentences,making it engaging and funny. At the end of the book It had a sentence saying "The Normans and Brenda's never start wars". After a lot of discussion we couldn't come up with a good reason. Your just gonna have to read it and interpret it yourself.

Maths

For maths in term one we became experts in one area in measurement. Then we shared our learning with others in a explain-everything. I became an expert in mass and here is my explain everything:

Quote of the week

Sorry I haven't been posting quotes as much as I would like to(because it is the holidays),but here is one that I had to think about to get it. I would like to see how you interpret this quote so please comment.(:

Rotary BBQ

It was looking out to be a warm and sunny day. "Great for a BBQ" I thought as Brooklyn and I drove into Rangiora.

We were both doing the Rotary BBQ in front of New World for our community service as it is part of the William Pike challenge. We got there at 9:50am as we were going to start at 10:15. No one was there so Brooklyn and I sat down and waited and waited and waited,until it was 10:20. So far no one had shown up and we were staring to get suspicious so I went into New World and asked. I was met by a nice lady that said the Rotary Club was supposed to come,but they were not here.

So we had a lovely time driving back home!!!!!

The End