Tamaki College Recount

On a Tuesday the 20th September  the year 8’s had the opportunity to go down to Tamaki College for a whole day to experience what college was like. We attended classes such as Social Studies, English, Maths and P.E (Physical Education).

We would usually walk down for Technology at Tamaki College on Tuesdays after morning tea but we were walking in the morning so it felt a little weird. I chatted to my Partner Taunese the whole way.

We made our way into there school hall known as the Auditorium. There we were greeted by a lady named Mrs Moore. The day before we had been given a brief summary of who she was. She was a kind and generous lady who organized this day for us. She organized things such as the classes we were in and the morning tea and lunch. We had former ex Pt England students who now attend Tamaki College show us around.  First was Social studies.

I had never before heard of a subject called Social studies so I didn’t know what to expect. Mrs Apelu was our social studies teacher. She introduced us to Social studies. We got to learn about the current issues. We saw pictures of how children got to school. Most were shocking. Some had climbed on cliffs without any safety equipment, some would have to go through rough rivers and more dangerous things... We then were given an assignment to create a pair of shoes that would help these children get to school better or if we were the Prime minister with all the money in the world what would we do to help the children get to school. What I did was I would build closer schools in remote villages.

We then had maths to follow up. We had Mr Sharma. He had visited our school before with Gabriel and Saia. So he was familiar to the Year 8’s. We had play kahoot which was a quiz site. We took a quiz about shapes.  We then went outside and we played Shapeshifter. This game requires the teacher to say a shape and the students have to get into that shape.

Interval had come quickly and we soon then were in the Auditorium for morning tea. We had a water bottle, an apple and many more snacks provided for us.

We then did have other subjects to attend such as English and P.E (Physical Education) .  In English there were ten words on the screen that we had to remember. Then we had to write them down in a document and get pictures of what first came to our head when we read the word. Then there was a poem that we were given to add pictures to. For PE we played games and had a lot of fun.

It was an awesome college experience. I look forward to college in 2017!

Cross Country

It was Cross Country. One of the most scariest days ever. My heart was beating rapidly. I could feel a strong feeling of nervousness creeping through my blood.

I was confused to as why I was scared as I have done this many times before. I walked in line next to my friend Lucy and we made our way to the starting line. Mr Burt had the starting block in his hands. “ On your marks” he said. “Get set.... GO” he exclaimed. Before the race Lucy and I had already decided to save our energy till we get closer to the finishing line so we jogged lightly. The light jog lead us to be in the middle of the small group of Year 8 girls.

As we jogged lightly I could feel a burning sensation upon my chest. I was already told that if we could feel that it was a message from our bodies to tell us to keep going. I was pleased as I knew I was trying hard. I was going to give this cross country my all.  I kept jogging all the way to the reserve when I came to a stop. As I walked I huffed and puffed non stop. I decided to jog some more. Until I stopped again at the Gate which led us back to our school. It was now time for our second lap.

As I ran past the crowd for the second time I heard words of encouragement being chanted loudly. That gave me the strength to keep on running. This time the burning sensation was heavier than before. I had to complete this run I thought to myself. I kept jogging till I couldn’t feel my legs no more. I then walked slowly as it felt like my carve muscles were stuck together and wouldn’t let me move. I let Lucy keep on running as I wanted her to do her best. I finally reached the gate and jogged this time through the playground and passed the finishing line. A wave of joy rushed through me as I knew I completed this to my best ability.

NZ Silver Medalists

This week in Literacy my group the Louis Sachars have been given an article to read and have had to make the presentation ourselves. This has lead us to understand more about the questions as we come up with the questions. Take a look!

Sleep?

When people hear they word sleep the would probably think that it's a time of rest and quiet but actually there's a lot more to it.

Sleep is what we do to regenerate our energy. We have followed the ancient way of sleeping while the moon is out and being active while the sky is blue. Sleep would be in the top 10 for the most important thing in our life as without it we are more likely to lose memory easily and exclude ourselves from our normal daily activities and also become less aware of things which is very dangerous.

For everyone we all have a certain amount of sleep we need to gain.Babies need at least 10 - 12 hours of sleep with a nap for 3 - 5 hours. Why you may ask. Well as a newborn sleep actually helps them grow. It is also known to make us grow as well. For kids aged to 6 - 13 we need 9 to 11 hours of sleep as we are more active and need more energy. For Adults they need a shorter amount of time which is 7 to 9 hours.

We can sleep in different ways. For example we can have a light sleep also known as a nap and also a deep sleep which is what we do at night. The differences between a light sleep and a deep sleep is very easy to find out. In a light sleep we sometimes are still able to hear things while sleeping and also wake up faster than a deep sleep. A deep sleep is a longer sleep and a bit more important than the light sleep. A deep sleep is when we can’t feel or hear anything and has to be pushed a few times to be awaken.

Remember to get your sleep!

Russia banned from the Olympics (Our Opinion)

This week in Reading we have read 3 articles based upon the drug use of Russia in the Olympics. My group Louis Sachars have used a Padlet to express their own opinions on what they think about this situation. Take a look!

Created with Padlet

How our Muscles Work

This is an explanation about how our muscles function and why they do what they do. We have a total of 640 muscles in our body. Each muscle belongs to one of the three kinds.  The Skeletal, Cardiac and smooth muscles. Each all have a special job in our bodies that you might not even know they do.

The skeletal muscles are also called voluntary muscles. They are voluntary because we decide when to move them and how to move them. They are attached to our bones by what we call tendons. Bones, tendons and muscles all give our body strength. The are all part of the skeletal system which is controlled by our nervous system.

The Cardiac muscle is also called the heart. The Cardiac muscle has the special job of contracting and relaxing to pump blood throughout the whole body. The heart muscle is also known as the myocardium.

The last type of muscle is the smooth muscles which also have another name called the involuntary muscles. That means they work without you even telling them to or even trying.  They are found inside the walls of the stomach, the intestine and the bladder. The very hollow organs. They sit in between the outer covering and the inner lining. These walls help the food be processed through the stomach... Another way the could work is for example if you vomit they work by pushing the food from the stomach back through the esophagus and out the mouth. Next time when you eat you now know what happens to your food!

How the Olympics came to be

The Olympics is known to be the one of the best sporting event that has ever happened. They bring the best athletes from 206 countries together every four years to compete in competitions to win medals for their countries. This explanation will tell you how the Olympics came to be and the changes it’s been through over time.

It started as a religious way to honor the Olympian God Zeus. He was a 13 meter tall statue that lived in the temple of Zeus in Olympia Greece. The first ever Olympic games started in 776 BC (before Christ). Only one event happened in the first 13 Olympics. It was the 200 meter run. Only men participated as women were prohibited for religious reasons. It took them a long 60 years to finally add 2 more events to the Olympics. It consisted of the pentathlon and a longer race. The pentathlon consisted of the long jump, the discus throw, the javelin throw, and a wrestling match between the two athletes who won the previous four events. Soon after the Roman emperor Theodosius strictly banned the Olympics to be in the honor of Zeus as he was a christian. This rule occurred after the death of Christ in the year 393.

So that was the end of the Olympics. Until 2 thousand years later it was brought back to life by Baron Pierre De Coubertin. In 1892 he attended a sporting conference and suggested to revive the Olympic games and that it may still happen every four years. They declined his request. They met up again in 1896 and he then tried to pursue his request and 79 delegates from 9 countries approved his request. This is Olympics are now called the Modern Olympics because it relates to the past Olympics.

On the 15th of April 1896 the first ever modern Olympics were held. Some of the ancient sports were no longer in the Olympics such as nude running, chariot races and more. They added new sports such as basketball, swimming and many more modern games. Today Olympians train hard for four years. Today the Olympics is held in honor of their countries and the themselves. It is a fun event that everyone looks forward to. It has had over 8,200,000 spectators and will still have the title of the best sporting event in the world.

Why do our muscles get tired?

In reading we are learning about muscle fatigue. Muscle fatigue is the pain
you feel after excising or sports that require lots of body movement.
We learnt lots of facts about muscle fatigue and how to avoid muscle fatigue.
Take a look!

Hakaria Warrior Peacemaker

In reading we are learning how to evaluate the text. We are evaluating
a story called Hakaria the Warrior Peacemaker. It is a remarkable story.
Check out the presantation to find out why.

The Gestapo's most wanted

This week in Reading we are looking at a book called the Gestapo's most wanted. This story was set about 100 years back. War and violence can change and affect many people in different ways. It could force others to fight harder and force others to help those in need. To find out what happens to a lady by the name of Nancy Wake you will need to look further into this presentation!  

Giving the Ocean a Voice

This week in Literacy we are learning about a book called Giving
the Ocean a Voice. It is based on our main focus this term for team
5 which is the four main wakas Hikianalia, Hokulea, Hine moana and
Te Aurere. Take a look to find out more!

The Watermelon Theives.

This is a presantation that explains a story about peer pressure and
what to do to avoid and also has religious meanings in it. We also
made inferences that they were under a lot of Peer pressure and why
they were. Take a look to find out !

Oakley Creek - Reading Wk 6

This week we are reading a book called Oakley Creek. We are learning to connect
our prior knowledge to make infers. That just simply means to use what we already know
to help us understand the book more. This story is all about trust and humility. Take a look!