Cemetery blues

'' Sniff Sniff ". We had arrived at the Graveyard. I could feel tears forming in my eyes. The sky was in dark, grey clouds , it had been spitting. The gloomy weather had made me feel really depressed. My stomach was lurching , contributing to the feeling I had about being at a Graveyard.

" Squelch Squelch ". I could feel and hear the mud squelching in between my toes , as I looked at the graves. Some were covered in flowers and toys and some had huge tombstones. I looked across the cemetery towards my Nana' s grave , and realised I wasn't the only one that was feeling emotions like sadness and loneliness.

As I was fixing the flowers on her grave , I could hear my Mum whispering a little prayer and crying at the same time. In my mind memories of my grandmother kept repeating over and over again. Then tears began rolling down my cheeks ,like a rushing waterfall. It felt like my heart was going to stop, that is how painful it was. It was hard having someone in your family pass away.

After a while we had to leave. Then later on something strange happened. The dark, grey clouds parted and revealed some sunshine, but the weird thing was that it was spitting as well. My Mum said that my Nana might be looking down on us and smiling and crying at the same time.

As we drove away from the cemetery, her Grave was growing distant. I felt pain on the outside , , but in my heart I know she is happy and out of pain.

Cross Country

“Boom ....Boom” My heart skipped a beat when I heard the shocking announcement. It was Cross - Country. Butterflies started fluttering in my stomach because I didn’t want to run. Then I knew that Mr Burt had set up an Ambush, I assumed that the teachers knew , but some teachers hesitated. “ Oh no, here we go again.

I forced myself to sit behind my fellow competitors,It was a freezing day, which didn’t help at all. Then there was another horrible report from Mr Burt : “ Today, Cross - Country isn’ t going to be as long as usual so the oldest are going first”. My heart dropped that means me. “How am I going to survive the race” I moaned.

I reluctantly dragged my legs to the start line , I felt something fluttering in my stomach and I knew that they were butterflies. The butterflies started flapping like crazy.”Take your mark “ shouted Mr Burt. I was doomed. “ Get set”. “Oh no”. “BANG”. All of my competitors zoomed past me.

My heart was pounding wildly , while my legs were going through excruciating pain. My throat was so sore that I had to swallow saliva every 3 seconds. I could feel and hear the mud squelching, in between my toes. I kept saying to myself “ Keep jogging, you can make it”. The pain was growing tense, I thought I was going to collapse right on the ground.

Mid-way through the course I was already wheezing. I saw 4 people in front of me. 2 were boys and 2 were girls. I tried to do a little spurt, but that made no difference. As I passed the teachers they all said positive things to me like “keep going” or “finish this”. That really helped a lot ( I think ).

The finish line was a few steps away, I was desperate to finish. Everyone on the sideline was cheering especially Miss King cause she wanted Tainui to win. She shouted “ Sprint Selena Sprint” . So I listened to her and ... BAM. I finished the race , I was proud because I came 3rd.

After that horrible experience was over, I ran straight to the tap and drank all of the water I could. My throat was filled with glorious water, and now it was soothed. I went and sat down slowly since my legs were aching. The most fun part of the day was when I crossed the finish line and came third. I was surprised because I thought I would have never survived this race.

Polynesian settlers

Polynesians were the first people to populate New Zealand

over 1000 years ago.These people came by canoe from

East Polynesia. Their canoes that they brought to Aotearoa were made

from Wooden Planks.

Some of these wooden waka had an

outrigger or it was double hulled.

In the canoes these were trained Navigators who steered the

boat in the right direction

using:

1. The stars at night.

2. The Swells in the sea.

They also kept a lookout for signs

that land was near, for example, they

looked for birds that were feeding in the sea.

Not all of these brave sailors

made it to New Zealand.

Tarawera Expedition

On a beautiful morning, tourists were making there way to see the Pink and White terraces. Then out of the fog came a omen waka ( boat ) with 8 warriors in it. Some Maori people thought it was a sign of bad luck.

9 days later, the ground began to shake and rumble, then suddenly BOOM!!!. Mount Tarawera erupted leaving behind it's mark which was a crack as long as 17 kilometres. The most terrible thing was that it destroyed the world-wide famous Pink and White Terraces. It was really important because it was one of the Great Wonders of the world.

The year 5 and 6 extension group have finished Their spectacular project. Over here you can see that this is my mini animation. It gives you a bit of information about the devastating disaster. So sit back and enjoy.

If you want to see the next part of this movie , click on this hyperlink:

http://www.pesalat.blogspot.com/

Ala has made the next part of our story.

Criminal Massacre Part 1

25th August 11:00 am

" What happened" said Jimmy. He was panting heavily. He was trying to remember what happened in the last few minutes. The dream he just had was horrifying.

26th August 7:30 pm

28th of August keeps rushing through my mind. I rushed to the calender and wrote on the 28th of August:

Possible death date- 9:00 pm.

Suddenly the T.V turned off. Then I realised that the power died out, so I rushed to the phone. Dang, the mainline was dead. It was pitch black in my house. Just then I remembered about the strange dream that I had. I knew that my possible death date was creeping closer.

27th August 8:15pm

" Breaking news" roared the T.V. "A criminal is on the loose". As soon as I heard that I stuck my eyes to the T.V. I couldn't take my eyes off it. " The criminals name is Mad Sammy. He is a phsyco who recently got released from the mental hospital"." Why is this happening to me" I moaned.

28th August 7:00am

I woke up with a startle. I have had the same dream over and over again. My eyes were hanging out of their eye sockets. I was thinking about what would happen if I ran away. Would my dream still come true or is someone just trying to scare me.

28th August 9:00 pm

I gotta get home. It was growing darker and darker as I ran. "Thump Thump". I froze in fright. "Thump". Please this is not happening to me. My heart was pumping with fright. " Thump Thump .... "AAAAAA" screamed Jimmy. " Bingo " said Mad Sammy. " I wished for 1 person to kill and I get my wish". His scissors were dripping with blood. He proudly strode off into the darkness with a chuckle.

To Be continued ......

Another round of ROW completed!!!

Another round of ROW* has been finished off with a celebration and it was AWESOME!!! We were learning about the three steps in life and how we could have a better future. So I have written a reflection of what I had done and what I could have improved on.

* ROW was an online celebration. This is when people all around the world talk to each other about life. This round was about the three steps in life. We met the head NIKE shoe designer.






Reflection

1. What did I do well?
I think I did well on the ad because it was tricky but, we made it and from my point of view I think we did very well.



2. How could I have improved on what I did?
I could have taken some bits and I could have recorded longer so it would have been better.


Brick wall

3. What held you back from doing a better job?
I think that the boys on my team kept on mucking around a bit.



4. List down some ways that you could have solved it:
1. I think I could have taken charge since I was the group leader, and told them to stop mucking around so we could have gotten the movie finished.
2. I could have told the teacher to see if I could have changed my group.

Purpose

1. To talk to people all around the world about their problems and inquires.
2. To show how you feel and how you express your feelings by drawing the shoe.
3. To explain problems about how the world has changed.
4. To learn about how to succeed in life.
5. To share with the world what you think about ROW.

Podcasting "Black Water"

"Black Water" by Eve Bunting

This is what the publishers say about the book:
"Thirteen-year-old Brodie Lynch was ready for the perfect summer of adventure along the awesome Blackwater River. That was before everything changed forever. When a harmless prank goes too far, the unthinkable happens. Brodie's lies make him a hero, but inside, his guilt tears at him like the treacherous current of the Blackwater itself, which has become a horrifying reminder of his part in the tragedy. In this gripping new coming-of-age novel, a young boy is faced with a choice between right and wrong and ultimately learns that truth can offer hope in even the darkest moments."