Parliament

Parliament

This term we have been learning about Parliament. We have looked at the difference between government and parliament, NZ parliament, who is in government, how our government works and we compared democracy to dictatorship.

Three things that I learned are NZ parliament are:

• There are 120 seats in the parliament house
• John Key sits on the fourth seat on the right
• National has the most seats in parliament

Here is the link to my compare and contrast map explaining the difference between democracy and dictatorship.

Treaty of Waitangi

Water Cycle Information Report

For the past few weeks we have been learning about the water cycle and the steps; Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, Groundwater and Accumulation. In my writing I highlighted punctuation and sentence structure like; brackets ( )  commas , semi-colons ; hyphens -

The Water Cycle

Introduction

The water cycle (hydrologic) is a process that the water goes through between land, ocean and atmosphere. Throughout this process the water goes through different stages and states, like: evaporation, where the liquid turns into water vapour, condensation, still water vapour, precipitation, where the water vapour turns into liquid or solid

Evaporation

Evaporation is when the sun’s energy separates the liquid bonds to make water vapour. When the heat from the sun is shining on the water in lakes and pools, the sun’s energy will break the bonds that hold the water in molecules together. Humidity is when there is water vapour in the air. If there is humidity in cold atmospheres, not only can the water droplets be condensed but can also form fog. Plants and trees that contain water, can also evaporate, this process is known as transpiration. After the process of evaporation or transpiration the next stage is condensation, where the water vapour joins.

Condensation/Precipitation

Condensation is when all the water vapour turns into big clouds, then all the water vapour condenses into liquids or solid, when it rains it's called precipitation. Condensation happens from temperature changes. Warmer air can contain more water vapour than cold-air. Once the clouds are ready, the next stage is precipitation. Precipitation is when  the water vapour turns into a solid or a liquid. The states changes depending on the weather temperature. If the air if cold then the clouds in the air that contain water droplets will turn into a solid or partly into a solid like snow, hail or even sleet.  After condensation and precipitation, comes runoff and groundwater where the liquid water runs down into lakes, rivers or into the ground, and that's how we get our top water.

Run off/GroundWater

Run off is when the precipitated water runs down from mountains into lakes, ponds or gets sucked into the ground by to the soil. All the water that has rained down runs down into oceans , ponds and other sources of water so it can keep the water cycle going. Some of the water doesn’t make it all the way down because it gets suced into the soil. All the water that goes into the soil goes down to the aquifer, where all the water get filtered so we can drink it from our taps

Conclusion

Finally , to conclude, the key stages to remember are that the hydrologic cycle never stops, the water goes through different stages like, vapour, solid and liquid and the different steps of the process are, evaporation, condensation, precipitation,runoff and accumulation.

Te Reo, Term 4 2016.

This term we have been learning all about the Marae. We have learned that…….

• The Marae is an important focal point for the community.
• The Marea is a place where tradition and customs can be carried out.
• The Marae is a place where people can express their values with dignity.
• There are many kawa ( protocols) that prevail on the marae.
• Marae kawa (protocols) can differ between maraes and iwi.

We have focussed on some key concepts when doing this learning.

These are listed and explained in the table below.

Concept	Definition - give the meaning of these concepts in your own words.
Tikanga	Customs and traditions
Pōwhiri	Traditional welcoming ceremony
Tangata whenua	People who are connected to the local marae through some kind of connection eg. Ancestors
Manuhiri	The visitors at a marae
Tūrangawaewae	Where you stand
Whanaungatanga	Belonging to a family
Manaakitanga	Care for someones well being
Aroha	Concerned about someone's health, love

See this video for an explanation of the roles and responsibilities of people on a marae.

Something I would like to learn more about the marae is

How long it takes to make a marae and how a powhiri works

Compare and Contrast map for ANZAC Day

I can take action to improve the water cycle in Canterbury

I can take action to improve the water cycle in Canterbury

In this project I was working with Lauren and we decided to create a childrens picture book

In this project we decided that our success criteria was:

A good Children’s Story needs...	Why is this important?
Eye catching covers	Because then it will look interesting and the kids will want to read it
An interesting title	If the title is good then they will want to read it and find out what the story is about
Colourful illustrations	Because then it will look nice and they will want to read it. It surprises the reader when they turn the page and will want to keep reading
Jokes spread around the book	So it makes the book funny and interesting
Rhyme if you can	It will sound interesting and if you're trying to get a point through to the reader then they will understand easier with the rhyme

Overall our project met meet this criteria because it had eye catching illustrations and an interesting title. I also think the cover really will make kids want to read the book

Our final completed project

Read this free book made on StoryJumper

Koru Games

Koru Games

The activity I did was Volleyball

Two highlights were:

1) That our school won a medal and a new volleyball because Volleyball is a new sport to our school and after 2 years we finally came back with a medal

2) Meeting other people and making new friends because you don't get to do it that often and it's nice to meet new people

I am proud of the hard work and effort that I put into Volleyball because at the start I didn't even know the rules or anything but I was willing to give it a go on my last year at primary and it turned out to be so fun and I am actually pretty good for a beginner 

Some advice that I would give to future year 7 and 8's is that you should focus at your practices and practice in your own time because it helps a lot

My care progress so far

CARE: My progress so far

The CARE award that I am working towards is:  Silver

The one area of CARE that I am doing best in is: Playground and field because: I got heaps of ticks and highlights in it

The one area of CARE that I need to work harder in is: cloakrooms because: I don't have as many ticks as the other areas

To show my leadership qualities I am a role model to others in the CARE values by doing/showing these leadership traits: Resilience, by never giving up and helping people until they are happy with the outcome, Empathy, I think about how other people are feeling and help them out, Integrity, I stay biased and listen to both parties

On the CARE SOLO matrix below I am at this SOLO level: Extended Abstract because: I can understand and use the care values independently and can role model them to other students

Prestructural	Unistructural	Multistructural	Relational	Extended Abstract
I am not aware of the CARE values yet.	I know what the CARE values mean. I need help to use them.	I can use the CARE values. I need reminding to use them.	I can use the CARE values independently.	I can use the CARE values independently. I can role model to others how to use the CARE values.

I can apply my knowledge of adverbial clauses and connectives to seehow ideas are linked in texts.

I can apply my knowledge of adverbial clauses and connectives to see how ideas are linked in texts.

For reading I have been learning about adverbial clauses. I have found this learning easy because its really easy to understand and I already knew a small amount about adverbial clauses

In this activity (link to adverbial clause activity), I had to Identify the adverbial clause in each sentence by highlighting it, then I had to compare them with the answers.

I can recognise and understand a variety of grammatical constructions and some rhetorical patterns

I can recognise and understand a variety of grammatical constructions and some rhetorical patterns

In this unit I have been learning about:
The parts of speech.
The types of nouns.
The types of sentences.

In this unit, I found challenging the different types of nouns

Something new I learnt was the different parts of speech and different types of nouns

WALT: Use side or edge lengths to find the perimeters and areas of rectangles, parallelograms, and triangles and the volumes of cuboids.

Rich Assessment Task: WALT:  Use side or edge lengths to find the perimeters and areas of rectangles, parallelograms, and triangles and the volumes of cuboids.

Complete the 3 problems below on a blog post and then press submit on Google classroom.

The best possible outcome

Answer to problem 1:

#36 Is the perimeter that is the lowest so the rectangle has a length of 9 and a width of 4.

Answer to problem 2:

#48 Is the perimeter that is the lowest a length of 8 and the width of 6

Problem 3:

Problem 3;
3 bags

My CARE Progress

I have done a check of my CARE progress so far this year.

I am proud of my progress because...

I have a lot of highlighted text in the boxes

I am very close to my bronze award

How far away are you from reaching your bronze award? I am 10 highlights away

The area of CARE that I need to try harder in C / A / R / E

because I only have 4 highlights compared to the other values which have 7-8 highlights.

To achieve my BRONZE award quicker I need to

• Get involved more
• Stay on task
• And try to contribute more in class discussions

The one thing that I can do to improve my progress in CARE is

• Stay on task so I can contribute more in class discussions

Excellence Can Do - Peer Mediation #3

Today I had Peer Mediation. Right after the bell rung at 11:00 for morning tea I grabbed, a green vest, and a lanyard. Today the iPad wasn't at school because it was sent for repairs so we just did without the iPad and used a clipboard and pen. First we went to the Junior area of the school. We didn't have any problems there so we headed off to the field. Same with the Junior area there weren't any problems which was good. We just noticed a few small things happening which wasn't right so we just reminded them the right thing to do.

Overall I think I showed the active thinking when we found an alternative option for noting down problems instead of the ipad.
Also I think I got involved by doing my job instead of just sitting round with my friends doing nothing
And lastly I think I showed leadership by reminding kids to do the right thing and what is expected.

Term 2 Te Reo Reflection

Unistructural	Multistructural	Relational	Extended Abstract
I can say 1-5 words about celebrations in te Reo Maori.	With help, I can ask and answer several questions about celebrations, using te Reo Maori.	I can ask and answer several questions about celebrations,using Te Reo Maori.	I can ask and answer a range of questions about celebrations,using Te Reo Maori. I can teach others these questions and answers.

In Te Reo this term I have been learning about using vocabulary around food (Kai) and celebrations (Ngā hākari)

Here are some sentences, with english translation in brackets, that I can say confidently

• Kai - Food

• He pai ki a koe ngā/te aporo?- Do you like apples?
  
• He pai ki ahau ngā/te āporo. - I like apples/apple
  
• Kaore He pai ki ahau ngā/te āporo - I don’t like apples

• Ngā hākari - Celebrations

• Question:
  
• He aha te mea pai, ki a koe kei to pāti?
  (What do you like about your party?)
  
• Answer:
  He mea pai ki ahau te/nga__________
  (insert what you like here.)

• I like ______(objects from your kupu list)

Student Led Conference Reflection

The things I enjoyed most about my SLC were:

That I could show my art work that I am very proud of 

What went well and why?

My results and improvements were good and my mum and I were really proud 

My mum was very proud of my art work

What were the challenges you faced when preparing and presenting your SLC?

That we finished early and I had to find something quickly to show

That the Internet wasn't working for a few minutes when I was setting up

What changes would you make for next time and why?

I think I might get my box before I sit down so then I can be prepared to share extra work 

Excellence Can Do - Peer Mediation #3

On Monday the 27th of June, I had a duty for peer mediation. Me and my friend Charlotte had to get our things and go. We went round the whole school, first we went round the field, then the junior area and then lastly we finished off with the senoir area just in time so we could go back to class in time.

Today, while we were in the junior area, we had a problem about a little girl kept that kept asking to play with some other little girls, but those little girls didn't want to include that girl. She was feeling down and came to us. We tried to help her by finding the group of girls and asking if they would let her, but unfortunately they didn't let her and ran off, and we couldn't find them again. So we decided to find some new friends for her. After a while we found some different little kids and they invited her to play with them. I felt like a hero. I felt happy that I helped someone to get involved and find some new friends. 

I think today I showed resilience because I never gave up and I helped the little girl find new friends and I didn't just leave her alone. 

I think today I showed leadership by helping the little girl and doing my duty so I can be there to help. 

Visual Arts

Visual Art: WALT: Apply knowledge about shapes and patterns derived from nature into an original artwork

For Visual Art the SOLO level I achieved was: Extended Abstract because I used most of the techniques, e.g: I glazed the coral with blue and pink to make a purple, blue and pink coral look, and I also used moving colours for the water and the grass. Also I used a range of different shapes from nature from different places like under water and in the sky.

The techniques I used in my art work to achieve this level were: Glazing and Moving colours

Here is a photo of my artwork:

My next step in visual art is:

• To try incorporate the techniques a bit more
• Stay on task so I can finish my work quicker