A First Time Experience

Walht:  write an interesting and enjoyable narrative.

After school, Kaneki would often go to the library reading books until sunset. He enjoyed reading fantasy books about dragon-slaying, princes and princesses and his favourite, giants. Everytime he read those books, he’d often wondered what it was like to be a dragon, or a prince, or most of all, a giant.

There was a sales going on at the library one day. It was a gold and purple book, similar to a witch's dark spell book. He questioned himself whether it was a fantasy book or not. He didn’t take any chances so Kaneki went ahead and purchased it. At first touch, he felt a sudden thrill flow through his body. The cover was solid and had a picture of a giant sitting in a chair and giving an evil smirk at the townspeople. Kaneki took immediate interest.

Kaneki went home and sat on the sofa. He grabbed the book and on the cover, in big bold words it had, “PLEASE STOP.”  With a flip of the front cover, everything just went black.

Kaneki opened his eyes, he thought he’d fallen asleep. Blinking his eyes every five and a half seconds, he turned his head slowly. He felt bigger than usual. He looked at his hands, then his feet and then he stood up. Everything looked 2D. When he finally realized what happened to his body, he fell silent, like when someone pushes the mute button on a tv screen. Shock, fear, happiness and confusion were all the emotions that covered Kaneki’s face. He’s the giant inside the book!

Kaneki always dreamed about being a fantasy character but never once did he think he’d become one. In his dreams, when he was a giant, he would play joyfully with the townspeople and have heaps of feasts. Everyone was happy and thought of Kaneki to be unique because he was different to everyone else.

Kaneki went to the nearest town to meet the townspeople, like in his dreams. He got there and the town was empty and dried out. Like it was abandoned. He tried looking for any moving tiny figure but nothing. Then he spotted a crying little girl at the far end of the town. The child looked back at him and her eyes widened with tears running down her face. She ran as fast as she could and Kaneki probably already knew the reason why.

Obviously, the towns were ‘abandoned’ because of his kind, because he’s a giant. Maybe there were other giants around the area causing big trouble.

Kaneki was upset and sad to see that the townspeople were living in fear of the giants. He tightly clenched his fists.

The child was still in sight. She was dirty, her shirt and pants were tatty and her hair was knotty and dry. Kaneki took a few big but gentle steps towards her and picked her up from her shirt with his thumb and index finger. He asked her where the giants lived and she pointed past the far hills.

Kaneki journeyed through bushes and trees. Towns, villages and open spaces. He finally made to a tall, green figure. It looked something like the bean stalk that Jack accidentally grew. Kaneki climbed the stalk and as he’d expected, the giants castle was there.

He nervously entered the giant's castle. It was humungus! Kaneki was expecting giants eating huge drumsticks and thrown bones on the grounds but no, he saw fancy chandeliers and paintings. The cobbled floor and walls made the air feel extremely tight. Kaneki made it to their so called ‘loyal and humble’ leader. He was about ten inches taller than Kaneki.

Kaneki began to speak, “Uhhh, sir? Can you please stop causing the townspeople trouble? I mean, they’re really starving and they are fearful of us. I want to be able to enjoy being with them instead of being feared by them.”

There was silence, then the leader spoke in a deep voice, “Who are you? I’ve never seen you around here before. Where are you from?”

“Actually, that’s a long story, sir. But I can tell you that at the bottom of that stalk out there, the people need food, water and clothes. I came here to ask if you could please change that.”

“Why should I? They’re the ones who invited us down there by planting the bean.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to make them perish. That stalk isn’t a threat to you. It’s not doing any damage to you, is it!?. Please, please, please! provide the people with what they need to survive. Put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel?”

The leader looked like he was going into deep thinking. “Fine, we’ll give them what they need. So long as they do not ever!, bother us again. I’ll send the other giants with clothes and food and they’ll leave them at the edge of each town. Does that sound good enough for you..uhh”

“Kaneki sir. My name is Kaneki.”

“Kaneki, is that okay with you?

“Yessir.”

Kaneki helped the other giants give the people food. At first, they were still afraid but as soon as they realized the giants were giving them food and clothes, they rushed out to get it. By the time the stars were in the sky, the townspeople were very happy. They danced around, laughed and had a good time. It was definitely a first time experience for Kaneki. He fell tired so he asked one of his new giant friends for a bed. He said, “What’s a bed?”

Kaneki remembered that giants aren’t as intelligent as humans so he said “Never mind.” Kaneki lay down on the grass. It wasn’t comfortable but it was good enough. He slowly shut his eyes and slept.

“ERR ERR ERR!” Kaneki’s alarm went off. He woke up in shock turned it off. The book! It had fallen off his when he woke woke up. He picked up the opened book and a picture was there. Everyone, including himself, was seen celebrating. Even the little girl. He gave a bright smile. Almost as wide and as beautiful as the horizon.

Kaneki felt sensation run down his body. He was happy, and the townspeople were happy. Now, instead of Kaneki going to the library after school, he’d go home and read his favourite book.

Malala Yousafzai

I believe Malala is an extremely inspirational person. Ever since the taliban stopped  the girls of Nigeria, Syria and Pakistan from going to school, Malala still fought for the right to be educated. She is  an honest person too. Whenever she feels that something needs to be done, she’ll speak up. From reading her book, “I am Malala,” I think it is clear that she is a really hopeful person and does whatever needs to be done so it works out for everyone. On the way to school, she was shot in the bus but she wasn’t angry at the person who shot her, instead she chose to move on and forget about what happened that day and not much people would be able to turn away from that kind of situation. If she believes something can be done, she stays firm in that. One day I would like to be like Malala and change the world for the greater good.

Improving my recounts

WALT: improve my recount writing.

This is a powtoon on how to improve my recounts. Click here to check it out!

Letter to Mrs Parkes

Room 11

Glen Innes School

25 September 2015

Dear Mrs Parkes

This is a thank you letter to you for giving suggestions to us to improve in our story writing.  I have been excelling in my writing since the beginning of Term 1 and it’s all thanks to you.

What I enjoyed about writing was when we had to use pictures to create our own stories. This was sort of difficult for me because when I was first introduced to this style of writing, I didn’t understand what to do. Then my teacher lended a helping hand and I got used to this type of writing.

I also liked doing collaborative story writing. I enjoyed working in a group for our writing a I reckon we should do more of it. I liked that we all did our own paragraphs and then we put it together and edited our story together. My favourite collaborative writing was when we picked our own attribute as a wish and my attribute was candid.

Another interest that I had in one of your suggestions was watching the videos to help with our descriptive writing.The first video we watched was the one with the Python and the Springbok. We started writing the descriptive words that were used in the video, and wrote it down in our writing books for ideas to create our own story about the Python and the Springbok. Then when we watched the next one about the Black Piranha and we did the same thing! But we also used the Black Piranha to write our diamante poems and we created our own Black Piranhas for art.

In saying this, I am thankful that you have been teaching us new styles of writing to make it more interesting and because our teachers says that writing is our weakest subject, thank you for helping us improve our writing skills.

Yours Sincerely;

Andrea

My Role Models

WALT: Write a topic sentence and related facts.

Role Models

A role model is someone you aspire to or are interested in what they do. They would be the person I would like to be. In other words, a role model is a person who inspires me to follow my dreams and set good goals for my future.

The person I look up to in my family is my dad. Although we’re not a rich family, I enjoy good  food, clothes on my back and shoes on my feet. My dad is committed to hard work and enjoys providing for our family. He works five days a week and spends time with us during the weekends. He’s a fun loving dad, who would help anyone, provided he can do so safely.

Another role model would be Yazmin because she is intelligent, kind, she is always on task and is devoted to hardwork. She has a few talents like drawing, being a team player and helping me out when I ask for help. She behaves well in class and is easy to start a conversation with.

My role model in the community is Manu Bennett. He is a famous NZ actor who I look up to because I enjoyed watching “The Arrow” in which he stars in and I’ve always dreamt of being an actress since I was a little girl. Manu Bennett acts as a villain on the TV series and his acting skills made the programme very exciting.

I believe I have chosen a group of strong willed people as my role models and would like to think that I will one day meet Manu Bennett.

Maraea and Tino Kahurangi

Maraea and Tino Kahurangi

WALT: create a Maori myth. (narrative)

            write an impactful introduction to our Maori Myths.

"KNOCK  KNOCK, KNOCK!" as Maraea banged her fist on the chiefs door. Marea is the daughter of the chief. She’d ask for all sorts of ideas but Tino (Chief) Kahurangi would always refuse. “This is your fifth visit today....WHAT DO YOU WANT!” barked the chief in annoyance. The Kainga (Village) was so peaceful that all they heard was the wind and the birds singing. “Well....I come back with another whakaaro (idea).” “Since there’s barely any people in our kainga, I thought  it’d be dazzling if we bring some outsiders in to fill the area.” Maraea continued.

Huge stomps were heard from his front exit. Tino Kahurangi viciously swung open his gold-silver door and out squawked a whooping voice. “What kind of ridiculous idea is that Marea? As the tamahine (daughter) of the chief, you should know that we are not allowed to bring outsiders into our kainga. It’s too dangerous.”

This made Maraea extremely e pouri ana (sorrowful). So sad that she decided to abandon her village and scamper away. She then lost her footing on the ground and paheke (slipped) in a pile of brown, slimy paru (mud). As the slimy goo spread over her tanned body, she began to sob. The paru rubbed on her eyes.

        Tino Kahurangi was so harsh to Maraea that he felt the need to give an whakapāha (apology) to her. Thinking she was still outside his door, he said, “ I’m sorry Marea.......” but in the middle of opening his rich-looking door, Maraea was long gone. It was dark. The sky was covered in a black blanket.

         Tino Kahurangi began to worry. He sent out troops on a quest to look for his tamahine. Hours later, they found Marea laying by the edge of Mataura River all covered in mud and grass. Looking almost camouflaged. They picked her up and carried her back to their homeland.

Knowing that Maraea was safe and sound, was all that really mattered to him. When Maraea awoke, there was a note next to her that said:

“I’m sorry for being so harsh on you earlier today. I really had a thought about your idea and I was actually okay with it. Just please don’t run away like that.” This made Maraea upbeat as tears of joy dripped from her clear blue eyes. So from this day forward, Chief Kahurangi had always agreed with Maraea’s ideas.

Procedural Writing: Jam Biscuits

Walt: write a procedure for making………….

Success Criteria: use a verb to begin every  step in the method.

Ingredients

• 125g butter (half a cup)
• half a cup of sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tbsp of milk
• Jam

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC
2. Put butter and sugar in a bowl.
3. Cream it together.
4. Add the egg and stir it with the butter and sugar.
5. Pour in 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tbsp of milk.
6. Cream it together until it’s fine.
7. Mix it with your hands.
8. Create small dough balls.
9. Press thumb through the middle of the dough balls to make a dent.
10. Place them in the tray.
11. Scoop up a small amount of jam and place it in the dent.
12. Heat in the oven for 15 - 18 minutes.
13. Enjoy it when it’s finished.

Writing E-Asttle

This is the results for my e-asttle writing. I got a 4P. I'm proud of my mark because I am above the national standard and I have a higher mark than the previous test. Hopefully, I can go even higher.

Letty takes a walk with Lee

WALT: write descriptive text.

Letty had a lovely family who’ve adorned her for a lifetime. She had the perfect family. She was playful and she was always held in warm, cuddly arms. Letty would go out for power walks around the house until she felt exhausted. Until she did something she regretted. She felt so guilty, Letty ran away.  Lee was a smart little crow. He was always noticed everywhere he went. But Lee got separated from his family and he had not idea where to go.

As Letty the cat was sobbing, she felt more lonely the more she ran away from home. She stumbled upon Lee washed up on the beach and asked him what happened to him. Lee told her everything and they were both touched by each others stories. Not so long afterwards, they longed for some food. They saw a Hot Dog stand across the road with a long queue of people. They were crossing the road but the cars made it more of a struggle. Luckily, they crossed safely. They snuck around the back of the stand and ate all the sausages while the man wasn’t looking. Quickly, they ran out. After eating so much, they were drained.

A few days afterwards, they became best friends. They traveled everywhere together. Over mountains, riding on boats and stealing food. Letty and Lee eventually ended up back in their old lives. Letty went back to her family and she was back in those warm, cuddly arms. Lee found his family and he told them all about his adventure with Letty. Although Letty and Lee were so far apart, they had their ways of communicating. Every Saturday, Letty and Lee would always go to the beach where Lee was washed up, in remembrance of when they met.  

The Mystery of a Beast

WALT: write a descriptive text.

Just like any ordinary day, my parents and I were packing as we were moving to another home. It was a long way from Los Angeles. To me, it was like moving to a place in the middle of nowhere. As I was searching the place, I saw a creepy door. I opened it and there was another door. So I thought this was the basement. I heard growls and whooo's coming from the opposite side. I slowly creeped to the handle.

I opened the door and this beast looked straight through me and saw fear in my eyes. It’s mouth was wide open. Wider than the horizon. With exceptionally, razor-sharp teeth. The screams of lost souls filled the room. “DINK!” I quickly shut the door. Perspiration running down my face. I dashed out of the basement quickly. I hurriedly hauled the home phone and called my parents. They didn’t care because the house fascinated them. I grabbed them by their arms and dragged them to the basement. I opened the door again, but nothing was there.

Nothing but an old piano, broken chairs and deflated balls.

“What” I gasped. “B....But”  “Maybe you just need some time to get used to the new house.”

Those were the exact words I heard from my father's mouth.

“You don’t understand, there was this giant beast-like thing....a...and..there were souls surrounding it.”

“Come on. Lets go.” said my father.

That night, I was way too scared to fall asleep. I got out of bed, went downstairs and turned on the t.v. As soon as it  turned on, it was going all static.

I felt something tingling at the back of my neck. It was furry, almost like it was going to tickle me to death. I heard the whooos once again. I turned immediately to get the beast off me. I giggled for a moment. I giggled because all this time, the beast was an abandoned dog. It was so cute. It turns out what I thought were lost souls, were actually just the outfit he was wearing. I went back to the basement to see how it came in. There was a huge hole at the back of the broken chairs. I kept the dog and I began to like the house.

Cebrennus Rechenbergi

According to the NZ newspaper, just recently, scientists have discovered ten new weird and wondrous life forms. We were given a task to research one of these animals and gather information. One of the species caught my eye so I decided to research it.

Cebrennus Rechenbergi

(Cartwheeling Spider)

The Cebrennus Rechenbergi was discovered in the deserts of Morocco. Ingo Rechenberg is a scientist from Berlin who discovered this species on a trip to Morocco five years ago. It is native to the Erg Chebbi desert of southeastern Morocco. It spends most of it time hidden beneath rocks or inside its tubular sandhouse.

The arachnid was nicknamed the “flic-flac spider” for its gymnastic dexterity. The flic-flac is a gymnastic move. It inspired a group of scientists to create a creepy crawly robot. They named it “Tabbot.” They named tabbot after tabacha which means spider in the Berber language. Researchers officially named the flic-flac Cebrennus rechenbergi after Ingo Rechenberg. The founder of the cartwheeling spider.

After discovering this great spider, Ingo Rechenberg decided to take the spider with him to Germany and showed it to an arachnologist Peter Jager, who determined that the animal was a new species.

The Cebrennus Rechenbergi travel around sand at 6.5 feet per second. That’s two meters per second. It’s twice as fast as it’s walking speed.

St Patrick

My Best Weekend

WALT: write a recount with focus on “expensive” words.

WAITANGI DAY

Earlier this month, my family was fussing about getting ready to go somewhere. It was a Friday morning and there was no school. My sister and I stayed home to look after my baby brother because the others were gone shopping for clothes. They came back and they bought my sister and I polkadotted dresses. We put them on and it fitted perfectly. Finally we were all ready and took both of our cars.

We appeared at my nans place and waited for them to get ready. I was bored during the wait. Then my mum spoke, “Hop in the car, we’re going now.” Not everyone could fit so we had to take 3 cars. A few moments later, we came to a place called the Alfriston Botanic Gardens. The car that I was in arrived first, so we had to wait patiently in the car for the rest to come. I asked why we were there and my mum said “we’re just going to take photos. Time went by and the rest of the family showed up. In the front of the building, there was an immense sculpture.

Next to the sculpture was a bewildering waterfront. We took a photo there. We had a proper camera but my brother left it back at home so my aunty used her phone. On the right side, there were 2 boats filled with dazzling flowers. All the boys took photos there. Then we went exploring to the back of the building. There were Sunflowers, Cactuses and plenty more. There was also a tree called a dragon tree. I was astonished because I learned something new. It clicked to me why it was called a dragon tree. It’s because their leaves are as sharp as a dragons teeth.

We came to a bridge where there were ducks in the background, we thought it would be an spectacular place to take a few photos. After a few snaps, we kept on moving.

Soon afterwards, we came to an area called the childrens garden. I took photos with my brother in an egg-shell. We came to a place where there was a towering, straw house. We also took photos there. Beside the straw house, there was a pocket sized pond full of tadpoles. We went to a desert-like place and took photos near plenty of cactuses. There was a maze in the childrens area as well.

There were 2 huge maori statues and there was a maori book written only in maori. We took photos there too. On our way back to the cars, it was pouring. But luckily, it wasn't heavy. We scurried to the cars. As the cars were leaving, a lady asked us if we could help her start her car. So my mum used her jumper leads to start their car. She thanked us and then we were on our way back to my nans house. Stayed there till sundown and we went back home. As a first timer, it was an extraordinary experience.  

The life of Crime

WALT: write narrative with a focus on a powerful introduction.

“WHISH.” The sound of the heavy wind blowing through the night sky. 3 children in the back seat and Mum and dad in the front.

  “We're here!” yelled the kids. They hopped out and raced to the shopping mall door. As they entered, they noticed something strange...

3 men masked in black were pulling guns at peoples heads. They had tattoos and they were all coloured.  “GET DOWN!”  they shouted as they dragged the guns to their foreheads. “HHHHH” they inhaled deeply. The children were terrorised by the dead bodies they saw.

    “Guys, don’t panic. Just do as they say and you won’t get hurt.” dad chatted without confidence.

He reached his phone and tried to call 111 but there was no signal. He tried and tried but it never worked. Just as they thought it wasn’t going to get worse, the power went off and the sprinklers turned on.

  “AHHHHHH! SOMEONE HELP US!” people were praying for god to save them. Their hands were tied to their backs and blood was flowing everywhere.

When suddenly.....

    “WEEYOO WEEYOO WEEYOO!” the sound of police car sirens.

“Lower your weapons and let the hostages go.” ordered the policemen. “And why would we do that?”  “Because we know that you have no intent to shoot a whole squad that is surrounding you completely.” the policemen responded.

The hijackers came out unarmed and were arrested. They were sent to jail. Everybody went back home and spent the rest of their days with their families. The criminals were never seen again.