My Mihi

 

This is a photo of my mihi. It has my name, my river, my mountain. The stars stand for my family. The words above it is my pepeha.

Chinese New Year

This is the poster I did about the Chinese New Year that I did with Emma. We have been learning about different holidays, festivals and celebrations around the world.

Aoraki Pūrakau

Once upon a time, in the land of old, four brothers, their sister and their mother lived in the heavens above, or the sky. Rakinui, their father was constantly away from home. The children missed their father but he said he was on important business. Every time he returned their mother rejoiced but when he left not long after she would cry herself to sleep. The children all knew that she knew something that was making her so sad. However, one day their father told them ‘Children, I am marrying Papa-tüä-nuku, the earth mother.’. The children were speechless. How could their father leave their mother? ‘But father,’ Aoraki protested. ‘No. I love you, children of mine. I shall try and visit.’ The children knew that they would be lucky to ever see him again. With tears in their eyes, broken hearts and feeling as though their normally happy little worlds had turned into a dark pool of emptiness and sadness, they bid their father goodbye.

After two years of living in the heavens without seeing their father once, the boys decided to visit their father. ‘NO!’ their sister cried angrily, ‘You can’t go! Mother will be furious!’. But the boys were desperate to see their father so in secret they built a waka. The night before they left their mother was even more angry with Rakinui than usual. Ever since he had left her for the kind and gentle Papa-tüä-nuku, she had cursed him. She resented him more and more but tonight was different. This wasn’t a raging uncontrolled fury. This was the cool, calm work of a physco plotting death. Panicking the brothers left without even saying goodnight to their mother. Normally she would notice something like this but luckily she was too distracted. But their sister noticed. The boys were chatting excitedly ‘I hope mother doesn’t hurt father before we can warn him!’ said Raki-roa. As their sister chased after them she realised she could not stop them, the best she could do was distract their mother, so with a heavy heart and the feeling she would never see them again she turned around to go back to their mother. 

Once the boys reached the earth they could not find their father and his new wife. Desperate and worried their mother had beat them to it, they jumped frantically into their waka and left the island they had thought he was on. Unfortunately, they hadn’t looked properly and would have found their father if not for their frantic panic. But as the day turned to night on the heartless ocean they began to fear their lives. A vicious storm was everywhere, surrounding them, they could not find their way out of it. They tried the karakia to restore them to the heavens but it wouldn’t work. Eventually, the waka was tipped over by a giant wave the colour of greenstone. Crying, the young brothers climbed on top of the waka but the cold air turned them to stone. There sister saw them and blind with sadness left the sky to be reunited with them. She stayed their, day and night until finally she joined the brothers in their stony fate. Over the years the waka turned into a country and children turned to five mountains.

I made up this story using inspiration from the story of Aoraki. It isn't correct according to the ancient myth. 

                                                                  My artwork of Aoraki.

Arthur's Pass Camp Site Link

This is a link to my Arthur's Pass Camp Site which has ALL the work I did around camp on it.

 

Hypothermia & Heat Exhaustion Writing

We have been learning about hypothermia and heat exhaustion as my class is going to Arthur's Pass for our camp in Week 4. Hypothermia is when the body loses heat faster than it can produce it. Heat exhaustion is when the body gets too hot. One of the most interesting things I have learned is that when you have hypothermia you feel hot and when you have heatstroke you feel cold. The following links are (of course) links to my writing. I did the writing on hypothermia with my friend Atawhai.

Hypothermia

Heat Exhaustion

Running Wild Ch 9-10

We only did two activities this week and I've published one of them so this Show Don't Tell gets it own post all to its self. Like I said on my writing for this week Running Wild is a great book and I'm REALLY glad that my teachers chose this to be our book to read.

Running Wild Ch 7-8

Running Wild Ch 5-6

Dear Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, 

I’m writing to you to express my concern about the declining orangutan population. As the president of Indonesia you are responsible for the species that live in your country. They’re numbers are dwindling right before you eyes and I fear that you are not doing enough. The orangutan is just one of the animals that is dying out in Indonesia. Need I list the others? 

The orangutan is an incredibly smart species. Their name literally means ‘people of the forest’. They are one of our closest relatives. Would you let the human race die out? I’m guessing the answer is no. But letting the orangutans die out is practically the same thing.

Orangutans are dying out for many different reasons. Orangutans have lost an estimate of well over 80% of their habitat in the last 20 years. This is absolutely horrible news. And I am disgusted by it. Another huge habitat loss came from the 1997-1998 fires. As you can see they hardly have any place to make their homes. All the forest cut down to make room for trees that produce palm oil and other products are being put where their homes should be. 

However its not just natural disasters that are killing the orangutans, sadly humans are too. Humans have many reasons for killing animals. For some it is the only food they can get, for others it is greed. People are greedy. They want orangutan pets and orangutan fur. It is cruel, horrible and unnecessary. At the moment there are between 50,000-65,0000 left in the wild. An estimate of around 2,000-3,000 orangutans killed every year coming to around 5-8 orangutans a day. At the rate we’re going there will be no orangutans left in the wild in fifty years time. 

Another huge orangutan killer affects other animals to, including humans. This is caused by both Mother Nature and humans. What is this? Climate change. Climate change is everywhere. The ozone layer is growing weaker and thinner everyday. Our air is polluted, our seas are full of rubbish, our jungles are dying. While people are doing as much as they can to stop this, there are people who don’t try. They just keep killing orangutans and throwing trash wherever they fell like it. 

We know of three orangutan species. But how many do you think have died out unnoticed by us? 

From, Harper, New Zealand

Don't Do Nothing!

 DON'T DO NOTHING!

Like most people, I’m assuming you know about the orangutans. By that I don’t mean the amazing monkeys who are one of our closest relatives. No, what I mean when I say that is about all their habitat loss, the endangered species who are thought to be extinct in the wild by 2050. But that's horrible! We share around 97% of our DNA with them. So why are we letting them die out? How could we be so cruel?

Like most animals, the orangutan has emotions. Animals aren’t cold hearted like we think. They have feelings, bonds and friendship. But we try to take that all away from them. We’re stripping them of who they are. So it will not surprise you when I tell you that the main reason of habitat loss is because of us. That’s right. Doesn’t matter how kind you think you are, you’re just sitting there letting it happen. Palm oil. Huh, what's palm oil? Well, we use it everyday, you can find it in soap, biscuits, shampoo, crisps and even lipstick! But how does palm oil relate to deforestation? We, us, the humans burn down the forest. We burn it down, destroy it, kill it. All so we can plant palm oil. And it's killing everything. We’re killing everything. We’re getting rid of the forests to satisfy our own greedy needs.

The orangutan has never hurt us. We’re hurting them. Hunters are killing them or selling the babies as pets. How horrible is that?! The orangutan isn’t the only animal being affected by this, tigers, elephants and more are all suffering from the same thing. Animals can die out. But we don’t seem to realise that. We don’t do anything. Take the vaquita. They are the most endangered marine animal in the WORLD. And do you know how many are left in the wild? 20. Only 20 are left. Or the saola, being one of the world's rarest mammals. And do you know how many of them are left in the wild? Under 750. This is just appalling. But for those of you who think ‘Ah well, that's too bad. Well, it doesn't affect me.’ it does affect you. Every time an animal dies out it leaves behind a scar. Take the dodo. The dodo is frequently known as one of the most known examples of human induced extinction. Yip, we got rid of the dodo. They were extinct by 1681. 

Have you ever heard of kōkako? If you live in New Zealand you probably have. The North Island kōkako is endangered. The South Island kōkako is extinct. Rewards of $10,000 are being offered for anyone who provides information that leads to the confirmation that the species is still alive. But the chances are that the kōkako is gone. And we’re just desperately trying to tell ourselves ‘No, its not gone. We’ll find it. It’s just hiding. We’ve done nothing wrong.’ but reflecting on the past won’t save the world. We destroyed it. So we have to save it.

Wow, this is the last activity for Running Wild. We've finished the book and I can DEFINITELY say that the ending was more than a bit unexpected. It was a really good book and I 100% recommend it. I've done lots of other activities around Running Wild, I just haven't posted them! I will try and post some of them though, just maybe not all of them.

Running Wild Ch 3-4: Oona's Story and Tsunami!

 CHAPTER 3

I don’t get these humans. They like to ride on me. Pat me. And feed me. I’m not one of their young. So why do they treat me like this? I don’t look like them. I’m grey, and wrinkly with huge ears and a long trunk. Maybe they are blind. That sounds about right. But the young in any species is always smaller the the elders. And I’m way bigger than their elders. 

This morning started off normal for me. The young human who looks after me came and got me. We went to go have our daily morning swim but I couldn’t. The Sea is my friend. It has always been my friend. But today it was not being friendly. There was a dark, angry mood about her. She is normally calm and happy. She cares for her young, the fish. But today she was wild and evil. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to be near her. I knew something bad was going to happen. I had to get as far away from her as possible. ‘Oona! Calm down, Oona!’ the human says to me. His kind voice calms me down, takes me back to reality. But my fear remains, deep inside of me, waiting for the moment to jump out and flee.

Some days, the humans that go for rides on me are cruel. They say harsh words and yell at me. Other times they are to loud, to quiet or to annoying. I’ve met good ones before. But not often. The human youngling who got on me today was different. He was quiet, but not to quiet and he wasn’t loud. He wasn’t annoying or angry. He was sad, he had been sad for a long time. I could tell. But when he was riding me he let go of his sadness that hung over him. And that made me feel good. I liked this boy. He reminded me of my young. That I left long ago. I miss them. But I was taken by cruel hunters. Then people saved me and within the year I was with my kind human, that has become a second family for me. But this boy felt more like family than the human ever had. But then the fear rooted deep inside my heart jumped out. I panicked, the Sea was retreating fast and leaving its dead young gasping for air (well, more like water), the young she loved with all her heart. And she was just… killing them. It was not right, this wasn’t her. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t hurt me and the boy. So I fled.

‘Oona! Come back! Oona, please!’ the human yelled urgently. But I couldn’t. Maybe he would follow me. I hoped he would. He didn’t deserve to die. The boy was screaming. But he was hurting my friend, the Wind. He was taking great bites out of her. So I went faster. So it hurt to scream. So he stopped. The Wind was sore, but she was worried about the Sea. She went to investigate. Her children, the birds wouldn’t come. They have the same survival instinct as me. 

The youngling was calming down now. He had gotten used to the way I moved up and down through the Jungle. He knew to cling on to me, so he wouldn’t fall. The youngling was smart. But after a while he started moaning, ‘Oona, water, please’. We passed creaks and streams and little gullies. But I couldn’t stop to drink. In my home I had watched a member of my herd get bitten by a crocodile. He died of his wounds two days later.  Now, I only drink water when absolutely necessary. 

Eventually the moans became louder and more urgent. His grip slackend and I knew I would have to take the risk. The next time I saw water it was in the form of a big river, leading into an even bigger pond. The water was murky with big boulders, the perfect hiding place for crocodiles. But he needed water. Carefully I trotted down to the pool. I was anxious and ready to bolt away at the sign of any movement. Once we were near the water I got down on my knees to let the youngling off. He smiled regretfully at me then ran towards the water. Taking big sips of it, as if it were the purest Rain. He was gulping it down urgently, like his life depended on it. But he didn’t see the crocodile.

A big ugly thing, with hard spikes and scales covering its long lean body. I panicked and nearly bolted. But something was stopping me. A mothers instinct. So I stood my ground. I trumpeted, loud and shrill. The boy heard and looked around. His eyes stopped on the crocodiles. They had a staring contest. Then he retreated very carefully. Never turning his back to the crocodile. But then the crocodile ran for him. 

The youngling screamed, ‘HELP!’. I barged forward, and scooped him up with my trunk. He crawled up my trunk, onto my head then got back into the seat strapped on top of me. Before my cousin suffered from that fatal attack, I would have charged any crocodile head on, but I was wiser now. And besides, I had my young charge to look after. I ran into the Jungle, being careful not to run at the rushing waves. The same waves that belonged to the Sea. That belong to my friend, who has been taken over by evil forces.

CHAPTER 4

The Jungle is a fascinating place. Full of flowers and hundreds of different shades of green. It looks kind and inviting. A place where you would book a holiday. But its not like that. All the bright colours are just there to hide the fact that the Jungle is lethal. All the rulers have children. The Sky has birds. The Sea has fish. The Plains have lions. And so on. But the Jungle has no children. For a time I thought the elephants were the children of the Jungle. But no living creature can rule the Jungle. The Jungle is wild, untamable and lethal. 

After the encounter with the crocodile the youngling was shaken. Scared. Like me. When I was only a youngling myself I was scared of the Jungle. As I grew older it became a place of refuge. But after a couple of years I learnt how to be scared of the Jungle. Be scared, without letting that fear control you was the bravest and wisest anyone could be.

All the annoying monkeys were heading up the Trees. Monkeys never face their fear head on, they just hide in their forefather. But for once I was grateful for their cowardice. The last thing I needed was for them to get up to their monkey antics. Ugh, I shudder at the thought to think of some of my more wild encounters with them. 

The tigers were running too. But they had no forefather so they could be excused from this. Any animal without one was allowed to run during times of crisis. Those with a forefather were expected to help. At times I was grateful for this and other times I wanted a forefather more than anything. To be the king of something was an honour. Some of the animals, most of the animals had just a certain type of flower or bush. But they weren’t part of the great ones. The powerful ones. The elephants had ivory, but you couldn’t hide in ivory could you. So like the few animals without a forefather I had the same rules. Tigers had lilies. But like ivory, you couldn’t hide in a lilly. It is strange to think that an animal such as a tiger would come from a flower. But flowers are beautiful, delicate and some can be deadly. It is even weirder to think that cats can be allergic to a lilly. But the tigers are like that.

Butterflies have hibiscus. A beautiful, sweet smelling flower. That one makes sense to me. The butterflies are frantically gathering nectar before flying off to safety.  I follow them as they know the best places to find safety. I trudge up a hill where I can see the beach, amidst the other panicked animals. Once a calm, peaceful place for getting sun tans had turned into a graveyard. We all stand there together, united as one. I don’t think the youngling notices all the different animals together. Without attacking each other or even snarling.

The boy is sleepy, and I suspect he has just woken up. He gazes down at the beach for a few seconds. Then he looks away. He doesn’t seem to understand what is going on. Then he realizes. All the gears inside of him are whirring and flicking around until they find their answer. He began to cry. ‘My m-m-mum was s-s-swimming down there. B-b-by the h-h-hotel. W-w-where the w-w-water is n-now.’. I trumpet softly, trying to cheer him up. The other animals join in and soon we are the Jungle chorus. Tigers roaring, snakes hissing, toucans and parrots squawking along to my trumpeting. Even the monkeys joined in, as we could hear their screeches from the Jungle.

The tragedy had brought us together. Hummingbirds and butterflies were flying all around us, diving and dipping.  The surging tidal waves had been awful, and none of us wanted it to happen. But it did happen and we can’t change that.  ‘My n-n-name is W-will.’ the youngling stutters. Well, now he has a name. Will.

Then the chaos starts. A snake sneaks up on a parrot. The bird dies, a terrible death, a painful horrible death. The birds get spooked so they all fly up. The monkeys who were begining to crawl towards us race back into the Jungle. Tigers attack the snake. For tigers are noble creatures, who can’t abide rule breakers. Especially when it ends with ones life ended. The snake is killed quickly. A swift death, one that it did not deserve. It deserved something crueler. But the tigers are merciful. However the snakes don’t see eye to eye with the tigers. Soon there is an all out fight with death everywhere. Death, death, death, an endless cycle.

I have to get Will out of here. He is to young to know death like this. His mother is gone, a victim of the Sea. His father is not mentioned but I have a feeling he is dead. But this death is not like the death he knows. This death is from greed. And no one, no matter their age should know of this. So I flee.

Run. I crash back into the Jungle. Racing past flowers and fruits and creeks. Will is screaming again. But then he stops as quickly as he started. He realised I saved him. If we had stayed I would have been next, and without me Will cannot last in the Jungle. He needs me. But what he doesn’t know is I need him.

Animals are bursting from the clearing on hill. Trying to get away from the chaos. The whole time I know the water is getting closer and the only way to run is around the hill and away from the Sea.  Shrieks and cries of pain are everywhere. If we animals knew the secret of Fire, there would be fire everywhere. The song of the mosquitos is our soundtrack as flee. Buzzz, buzzzz, buzzz. This new world is different from the peaceful choir from minutesa go. Will is clutching on to me tight. I would say the rush of adrenaline thrilled me but it doesn’t. Not when animals are dying. Not when betrayal, heart ache and pain is the new way of the Jungle. 

After hours of endless running I stop. Will hasn’t eaten in ages and needs food. He also sould have some water. Above us are multicolured fruit beckoning us forward, begging us to eat them. Normally I would be suspicious of such fruit but I have had this type before and know it is safe. I pull big branches loaded with the stuff down so Will can grab at them. He does and every moment I watch him eat, juice dribbling down his pale cheeks, I realise that Night is coming. The Night is coming. I don’t want to ruin this moment. But he needs shelter. And the last place I saw with shelter was the...clearing.

I have no choice. I walk slowly, cautiously back to the clearing. Bodies are everywhere. Will is scared, he doesn’t understand. But below the clearing, in side of the hill, is a little cave. Nights children, the bats stay there. But the bats help lost souls. I am sure Will and I count. The cave is dark, with jagged rocks everywhere. Will seems to understand now. I crouch down, and Will climbs off. After much struggling he pulls the seat off and rest it on the cave floor before curling up it inside it. I can’t go to bed yet. I must see the bats. 

Trudging through the cave, sleep beckons me. Come on Oona. It’s nice and warm in here. Just curl up and go to bed. But if I don’t see the bats they will attack us. When I finally get to them, they are kind and considerate about the situation. When they fly in the night they will tell all the other bats that we have safe passage through all the caves and that the bats must protect us. I am grateful and happy. 

Curling up next to Will, the world feels right again. I wish i could tell him how much I needed him. How much I loved him. But Will does it for me. He heard me leaving and saw me come back and curl up next to him. ‘I need you Oona, don’t leave me. I love you. You’re my family now.’

My reading has started reading Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo. So far we've read the first three chapters. I won't say much in case I spoil the book, but its REALLY GOOD! The writing we had to rewrite what happened in Chapter 3-4 from Oona's point of view. I added a few things in that didn't happen in the story. The tsunami was about the big tsunami in 2004. We had to write what it would be like if WE were there when it happened. (You may need to zoom in to read the words properly)

Kitchen Creations: Lockdown

 

During lockdown I did a bit of cooking. The above recipes are two of them. One of them is a dinner and the other one is a treat. The naan bread was absolutely delicious and my brother loved the muffins! (You may need to zoom in to read the words properly)

Olympic Athletes

For the past couple of weeks at school we've been doing a lot of work around the Olympics. For this slide we got to choose four athletes and find out more about them (I added in a fifth slide as I really wanted to do Lisa Carrington). These are all athletes that I either knew about or got to watch in the Olympics. I learnt a lot about these incredible athletes. All I can say is that I'm REALLY looking forward to the Paralympics!

Week 3

This week when we have read Alone on a Wide Wide Sea, Marty and Arthur escaped the evil Piggy Bacon, found a home with Aunty Megs, grew up, got a job and SPOILER ALERT, Marty dies. For this activity we chose a quote from Aunty Megs and wrote about it.

Week 2

   

My reading group has been reading Alone on a Wide Wide Sea this term. This first piece of work is an advert written by Piggy Bacon advertising Coopers Station and trying to get kids to come. Piggy Bacon is a small minded EVIL man and I do NOT share his views. Click on the links for registration form and the the submitted form. Note: you can't actually write in the registration form. Apologies if the link doesn't work. I'll add in the registration form and submitted screen below this writing so if you can't use the link you'll still be able to view it.  

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The second piece of work is a story I made up about Ida's past. Ida is Piggy Bacon's wife. She is a lovely but slightly damaged woman who is a hero to the orphans at Coopers Station. (I'm not Christian, but Coopers Station is a farm in Australia, just after the second world war).

Ida was normal. She was Christian, smart, pretty and friendly. But her life would not be normal. In the years to come she would be branded as an irresponsible, mad woman. But she didn’t know that. So I’ll take you back to where it all began…

‘Ida, slow down!’

‘Come on Jane, hurry up!’ Ida Barrington laughed.

‘We’re not all as fast as you.’ her best friend puffed. Grudgingly Ida stopped running and walked next to Jane. Instantly they both burst into uncontrollable laughter. You see, Ida was not made of sugar and spice as the popular rhyme suggests. But I don’t think she was slugs and snails either. The heat of the outback was overwhelming and the only thing the girls could think about was the special treat waiting for them at Jane’s house. They never went to Ida’s house. That was an unspoken rule. With her father away serving time in prison, her partially mad mother and her chaotic brothers it was just the sort place both of them never wanted to step foot in. Jane was the only person who knew this and she guarded Ida’s secret well. 

They burst into the house, still laughing, but quieter as Jane’s little sister, Mary, was asleep. Her lovely mother came over and gave them both a giant hug. Martha, Jane’s mother knew as well. And she always made sure that Ida got heaps of love when she came over as she knew she received close to zero at her own place.

‘Okay girls, let’s try them now, eh?’ she said enthusiastically.

‘Yes please!’ the girls squealed!

‘Shhh! Or you’ll wake Mary.’ but Martha wasn’t really cross. And the girls knew that. They watched in anticipation as Martha went outside to the cool shady creek and pulled out ICE LOLLIES! They eagerly snatched them off her, then remembered their manners! ‘Oops!’ they all laughed. As Ida sucked on this new delicious treat,, she wished she would never have to go home. But she did. It was the same everyday. When Bill, Jane’s father came home from work she knew it was time to go. So she thanked them and set off home with a spring in her step and a smile on her face.

When she arrived home her happiness disappeared. Mother was yelling at Harry and Bert who responded by smashing the only window that they hadn’t smashed. Once they noticed her they yelled at her, trying to get her on their side. She sighed and ignored them. Sadly trudging up the stairs to her little bedroom she talked to herself. Comforting herself. Pretending that she had a lovely family like Jane.

Three days later, after a visit to Jane’s house it happened. The day her life would change forever. Well, that wouldn’t happen for two more years, but today was the day she met him. Her mother had hit her. Hard. She walked outside, sobbing and nursing her sore body. ‘I wish my life would change.’ she murmured to herself between sobs. In the years to come she would regret these words. But she had said them and there was no going back.

‘Don’t be so dramatic.’ a coarse voice said.

‘Eeeeee!’ Ida squealed.

‘I’m not that bad, am I?’ the voice replied, sounding hurt.

‘Sorry,’ Ida squeaked ‘but WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?’ 

‘Sheesh, calm down.’ the voice now had a face. A boy had stepped out of a bush and was grinning at her. He had bright red hair and eyes full of life. He was…

‘Okay, what's your name, creep?’ Ida asked sarcastically.

‘Martin Bacon. And ya?’ 

‘Ida Barrington.’ she said shyly. She was never shy! Why was she acting all weird?

‘I have a feeling we’re gonna be friends.’ Martin said cockily.

‘Ha ha.’ and Ida walked off, unable to stop the grin appearing on her flushed face.

Martin was right of course. But she didn’t see him again for another two years. When she was thirteen. She walked into her new school, excited. Only a few more years until she was an adult and she and Jane could travel to England! But she wouldn’t. And she and Jane wouldn’t be friends for much longer. The shrill DRING DRING of the bell rang out threw the field and instantly a storm of kids raced towards the classes. I fell over in the whirling storm of children and hurt my wrist, as well as scraping my knees. The blood soaked through the fabric of my dress and made me feel dizzy. 

‘Sheesh, you’ve done a real number on yaself, haven’t ya?’ a familiar voice said.

‘Martin?’ Ida gasped and tried to stand up, but quickly regretted it. Tears covered her cheeks.

‘Don’t try that, ya’ll hurt yaself even more.’ he instructed. He raced off, leaving poor Ida alone. But he came back with a kind looking teacher and Martin and the teacher helped her up to her feet and carefully walked inside. It was obvious her wrist had gotten hurt the most.

After school had finished Jane raced up to Ida ‘You want to come over?’

‘No thanks, I’m going to visit Martin.’ 

‘What are you doing with Martin? Hes weird.’

‘Oi, don’t call him that.’ Ida retorted, suddenly angry with her best friend.

‘I’ll call him whatever I like.’ Jane said stubbornly.

‘Fine.’ Ida said, and she stalked off.

‘Wait!’ Jane called after her. But Ida didn’t look back, even though she should’ve. She really should’ve.

Coopers Station Survival Kit (Week 1)

 COOPERS STATION SURVIVAL KIT (only $9.99)

Welcome to Coopers Station! Prepare yourselves to be beaten, worked like slaves, starved and maybe even killed! You don’t want that? Why? Oh, okay. I understand. Well, good luck, I can’t help ya. ‘Cause that place is NOT the paradise you thought it would be. Don’t look at me like that, ya making me feel bad. Fine. I’ll help, but I can’t say my advice will be the key to your survival, ya might not even survive with these instructions! But they might give you a chance.

Equipment:

1. Resilience, trust me ya gonna need a ‘hole bucket load of this stuff.

2. Silence, if ya talk all the time, ya gonna get the strap all the time.

3. Strength, ya gonna need dis a LOT

4. Friends, it's bad enough with ‘em, imagine what it ‘ill be like without ‘em. They also make great shields.

5. Hope, ya need ta think it will get better. Otherwise ya don’t stand a chance.

6. Also lots of metal. Like if ya a robot that would be awesome. (Ya know, in case ‘e tries to shoot ya)

7. But ya best weapon will be NERF GUNS! Try and travel to da future so ya can stock up on this vital equipment.

Method:

1. Don’t talk back to Piggy. That is one of the WORST things you can do. Why? Well, ya get beaten if ya do. SO BE POLITE!

2. Don’t call ‘im Piggy, ‘e is Mr Bacon, though feel free to taunt ‘im all your want behind ‘is back. BUT ONLY WHEN ‘ES NOT THERE!

3. Don’t go around looking. Ya will see stuff and ya will regret it, especially if ya get caught. SO DON’T GET SEEN IF YA DO!

4. One of the worst things you could possibly do is slack off work. Ya will be strapped. AND JEEZ LOUIS DOES IT HURT!

5. Eat as much food and drink as served to ya. Ya will need it. Ya don’t wanna get dehydrated or collapse of exhaustion out on the farm. EAT YA GREENS!

6. Make sure ya obey him. ‘E will not tolerate it an’ ya will regret it later. BE NICE!

7. Always pray and be all holy. ‘E likes God, so ya do to. AMEN!

8. At Sunday, always sing the songs and pretend to be listening. LA LA LA LA!

9. One of the great things about Sunday is the food. Eat as much as ya can an’ don’t be afraid to save some for later. FOOD! GLORIOUS FOOD!

10. An’ one of the most important things is to do what ‘e says. This will be crucial to ya survival. CRUCIAL!

Well, that's it from me. I hope ya make it, I really do. But try and follow my instructions. Also make sure ya bring lots of presents for ol’ Piggy. Aim and Fire! (Silent and violent works best).

In school this term my reading group has been reading Alone on a Wide Wide Sea. It is by Michael Morpurgo. I didn't have the time to post it until now but once I'm up to date I'll be posting once a week. This is when we first started the book. Miss Leigh and Miss Panther said to write it like joke instructions, so this is why it isn't very serious.

Hana

Letter to Mrs Hatchet  

Dear Mrs Hatchet, 

Before you read this story I want to tell you about Hana. She is a very imaginative little girl. I know she has been through a rough patch, but this is almost certainly a trick to try and annoy me. She is a very disobedient child who deserves to be punished. As you are the principal of this school, the responsibility falls to you. As her teacher I cannot do anything. This is a good piece of writing but hardly the sort of thing an eleven year old would write for a memoir (the memoir is for a school assignment. You will obviously understand my anguish once you have read it). 

Yours truly, 

Miss Milady 

The Memoir 

I don’t remember any of it. My real mother, the brother who had saved my life, or if I had any other siblings. I don’t know my father, or my grandparents. I don’t know what religion my family were. I don’t know what it is like to be a kid. Ever since I was little my life has been... not great. It started when I was a baby and my brother gave me to a stranger on a lifeboat in the hope it would save my life. And it did. What followed was a long journey to Greece. It wasn’t that far away, but the boat was steered off course. Eventually lifeguards found us and brought us in. I was raised in a beautiful country and had a lovely home. My mother was kind, if distant, so I had a happy childhood. 

 Well, not really. Shortly before I turned six, my mother died. I don’t know what it was, but I think it may have been intentional. She wasn’t very well. After that mishap, a policeman and his wife adopted me. That was TERRIBLE. It was like been raised by the devil, himself. I spent three miserable years there. They were cruel and didn’t care whether I lived or died. I was so miserable, but I didn’t dare turn them in. I was a kid with a bad track record. Chances were I would spend the rest of my life there. As I got older it got worse, the beatings increased and the verbal abuse was really bad. I got so scared that I turned them in. By then I was nine. 

 Finally a kind old woman adopted me after three months in a home. The home was nice but loud and crowded. It was a great relief for my ears. Her name was Lillieth Herring. She was the closest thing to a grandmother I ever had. However I was not so lucky with school. I spent two years being bullied and treated like dirt, 2028 was a different story altogether. I was sick of it all and stood up for myself. So you really understand how it is like for me, I have included some of my diary entries. 

 23.2.2028 

My life sucks. I want to meet my family. I want this bullying to stop. Oh, I HATE Miss Milady. She is pure EVIL! Two weeks ago she set us a family tree assignment. As she told the class, I SWEAR ON MY LIFE that she was giving me the evil eye. She thinks she can fool everyone. A sweet blonde lady with bright blue eyes and a sing song voice. She's EVIL. LIKE REALLY EVIL!!! I was so embarrassed today when everyone was talking about their interesting family and all I had was a page with two people on it. TWO! And then Miss Milady said that I couldn’t include myself. The laughter just went on and on. 

24.2.2028 

I’m in trouble. BIG TROUBLE. I’m so worried. I’m going to wait a little before I go home and let Ms Herring cool down. I don’t care if Miss Milady hates me, but if Ms Herring is disappointed in me... I can’t cope with that. Mwa ha ha ha!! Ms Herring thinks that I’m awesome and all I was doing was standing up for myself. She even let me choose tea! Take that, Miss Milady!! 

25.2.2028

Wow, I was so caught up in all my glory yesterday that I forgot to write what happened. Everyone was being particularly horrible to me, so at lunch I climbed on to the playground and started a protest against the school. Then when the teachers tried to get me down... I attacked them. Yeah, I bet nobody was expecting that. 

26.2.2028 

I started another protest today. This time two girls called Calliope and Zoe joined in. 

12.7.2028 

 I’m sorry I haven’t written for so long. Normally I write everyday. Calli, Zo and I have started a schoolyard revolution against the evil Miss Milady. Ha ha, you evil old witch. WE have wiped her simpering smile off her face. Ms Herring thinks I’ve gone too far this time. I can’t stand her to be disappointed me. I have to stop. 

21.7.2028 

We’ve been doing Greek Mythology in school. I already know heaps so I’m doing pretty well. 

28.7.2028 

Miss Milady has gone too far this time. She is going to pay. I just don’t know how yet.

31.7.2028

Miss Milady says that we have to do a memoir. Well, mine is going to be interesting. 

(This is the end of the diary entries)

Well, there you have it. The extremely topsy turvy life of Hana Herring. Oh, and I’ve figured out my revenge. It just hasn’t happened yet.

Letter to Miss Milady

Miss Milady, 

If what I am reading is true, you are in BIG trouble. You are behaving horribly and I am going to do an interview with Hana and her guardian. Count yourself lucky if I don’t fire you! One thing is for sure; you are going to have to APOLOGIZE to this poor little girl.

Angrily,

Mrs Hatchet

The Final Diary Entry 

1.8.2028

The memoir writing is over and I have my revenge. The memoir WAS my revenge. I knew that it would infuriate Miss Milady, and that she would show Mrs Hatchet. Well, Mrs Hatchet lives up to her name and I know that. I also know that can’t stand the thought of her school’s reputation being tarnished. 

I haven’t found my family. I doubt that I ever will. But I have Ms Herring, Calli and Zo, and of course my revenge! MWA HA HA!!

In class we've been reading the book refugee, and we have finally finished it! It was REALLY good! It ended kind of sad but happy at the same time. Hana was nevere reunited with her family and for this activity I wrote what HER ending would look like. I hope you enjoy.

Geometry D.L.O.

We've been doing geometry for the last couple of weeks. I made a D.L.O. on geometry, as that is the work I was set. I spent a couple days on it.

Matariki around the World

Matariki is upon us, so we've been doing a lot of work around it at school. For this activity I worked with Atawhai. We got all the information form Wikipedia but we wrote our own version of the story.

Hitler and his Nazis

After I finished my reading work I had to start some extra work related to the book. I chose to do about Hitler as one of the main characters is a Jewish boy in Nazi Germany.

Chapters 36-40

This week for literacy all our work was put into one slide. We had some work on vocabulary and then some questions to answer. The books getting REALLY good now. Ivan died during a shark attack, Mahmoud and his family are being held at gunpoint and Josef and his family can't get into Cuba and they must leave their father behind!

Zooplankton: Habitat/Enviroment

For the last two terms we've been doing our topic on water. This paticular activity we had to write about a marine animal and explain how they are suited to their paticular habitat/enviroment.

NZ Refugee Letter

Dear Whanau and Friends, At school this term my reading group has been reading the book Refugee. It focuses on three children in different times. 1938, Nazi Germany, Cuba in 1994 and Syria, 2015. Josef (Jewish), Isabel (Cuban), Mahmoud (Muslim). It is a very good book but there are some really sad bits. We’ve been reading it five chapters at a time, which is kind of annoying as I’m a fast reader. So I read it all in one day and then I have to wait another week, even though I really want to find out what happens next. In this writing activity I’m going to tell you about refugees, most of you will probably know more than me because I’m only eleven years old, but you may learn a thing or two about refugees. 

 In New Zealand we are really lucky, why? Well let me tell you. Unlike other countries there is no war (apart from politics, though that doesn’t really count because its all words. Oh, and the fight against plastic, but that’s different because millions of people don’t get blown up). It is all love, peace, flowers, sunshine, rainbows, etc. But in other countries they are not so lucky. People become refugees for lots of reasons, political or religious beliefs, ethnicity, nationality or membership of a particular social group. The reason they leave to become refugees is nearly always war (or political coup). People’s opinions change and sometimes people get hurt. 

 Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia make up 54% of the worlds refugees source. During the war it might have been other countries (like I don’t know, Hitler and the Nazis, Stalin? Just taking a wild guess). 

 How can we help refugees? Well that is a very good question, but before I answer I want to tell you why we should help them. People may say“This is our country, it is for us.” that is what a truly horrible person would say. Others say “If people get hurt we should help. If people need help we should help.” that is what someone truly awesome would say. We are in New Zealand, we have awesome lives, lots of food, clean water, no political coups. Other countries aren’t so lucky, other people aren’t so lucky. Everyone has feelings, everyone has rights. And we are violating their rights if we do nothing. Besides refugees can also be really helpful. They are smart, clever, hardworking, honest people. We should be honoured to have them in our country, refugees have job skills that we may not have and that helps us and our economy. 

 Alright, back to the question: How can we help them? Well, first of all we need to treat like humans with feelings (because they are humans with feelings). Being mean is a terrible way to start, if we are mean and horrible we have failed our mission without even starting. Once we’ve got that covered we need to help them get jobs, homes, furnitures, educations, you know, all the stuff we are lucky enough to have. There are some great charities and government schemes that cover this, but kindness still goes a long way. 

 Whether you just chat to them (only talk about being refugees if they bring it up, as this can be offensive and we don’t want them being sad) or invite them over for a barbecue, this helps, this kindness we give to them, they appreciate being treated normally, just like we do. They may have lived far away, and may lead very different lives to us, but we’re all in this together. 

 Thank you for reading. And to anyone reading this who may be a refugee I just want to say thank you for being here, thank you for being your awesome self.

Week 8, Chapters 31-35

 Emotive Language    Think & Respond

As most of you know my reading group is reading the book Refugee this term. These are the activities I did this week (not including Extra for Experts). The first one we were given some sentences to make more interesting. The second activity we were given some questions relating to the text which we had to answer. 

Refugee is a really good story with twists and turns around every corner. Josef's father jumps off a boat. Isabel's mother goes into labour on their raft in the MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN! And Mahmoud's little sister, Hana has to be given away so she will live.

Refugee Vocabulary

This term my reading group has been reading the book Refugee, by Alan Gratz. This particular activity was all about vocabulary. (This was an activity I did a few weeks ago but I forgot to publish it until now.)

Polish Child Refugee Camp Story

As we sail into the harbour I cry. I miss my big sister Aurelia who disappeared one day. I miss Matka who died giving birth to my little brother Robert, who died soon after. But most of all I miss Beatcyrze, my little sister who died of pneumonia. If only one of us made it, I thought it would be her. She was brave and loving. I was the joker, the oldest, I was supposed to look after the others. It should have been me. 

The sound of laughter is everywhere. I hate it. They are all orphans, yet they can be happy, but I can’t. It’s not fair. I want to laugh and sing and be joyful. But ever since Beatrycze, my last family member died, I have been stripped of all happiness. No eleven year old girl should go through this. No one should go through this. 

Finally we dock in the harbour and Prime Minister Peter Fraser came aboard and gave an incredibly long speech. How he managed to write something that boring, I don’t know. Eventually I fell asleep. 

“Minnie, Minnie wake up!” an irritated voice yelled in my ear. “Matka?” I ask. She was the only person I knew that could be that grumpy. “No stupid, its time to go.” I recognised that voice instantly; it was that grumpy man in charge of me and the ten others in my group. I grudgingly push my brown hair out of my face and glare at him. He’s bald and has a big saggy nose, like a sack that was sewn onto his face. I poke my tongue out at him. “Minnie’s in trouble. Ohhhh '' the rest of my group chanted. I swore at them in German. Luckily Mr Nowak, or Kazimierz, destroyer of peace, as I like to call him, didn't understand me. So I did it again. I am half German but Matka was born in Poland as were Aurelia, Beatrycze and I. 

 I got up and started towards the exit, the others all pushed ahead of me shrieking with excitement and scrambling off the boat. Dragging my feet behind me I looked a sorry sight. A purple splotch around a foggy blue eye, hands and legs covered in scratches, walking with a limp. I was the original sob story. As bad as I felt, I was still amazed by this little country. There are fluffy white clouds in a clear blue sky. There are bushy green trees everywhere. The sea smells salty but in a nice way. I haven’t seen anywhere this beautiful in, well, I never have. A lady walks up to me. “Hello?” she said in an uncertain voice. Luckily Kazimierz made us learn basic English on the way. The only good thing he has ever done I reckon. 

“Hello, how are you?” I said as this was the politest thing I could think of. “Oh, hello dearie, how are you, weathers nice isn’t it, what's your name, I thought you couldn’t speak English…” she garbled on. I can’t understand that much English! “I can not understand you. I only know the basic basics.” I answered robotically. “Oh I’m so sorry.” she said practically bursting into tears. Why is she crying? The question I needed to ask her was not in my small list of vocabulary. This is a small list of what I understand. 

Hello 

Goodbye 

Thank you

How are you? 

I am good 

Right 

Left- In case we get lost 

I am lost. I am Polish refugee- so the locals know where to send us if we have to ask for directions

My name is Minnie 

I am very grateful to be in your wonderful country- I will NEVER say that. 

I can not understand you. I only know the basic basics- Kazimierz prepared us for this sort of situation.

 “How are you?” I repeat hoping she will stop her bawling. “I am fine, thank you sweetheart” she sniffs “Take these” she says as she thrust brightly wrapped sweets at me. I may not understand her but I know gifts when I see them. Besides, I haven’t had a lolly in years now. Beatrycze loved the pink ones, Aurelia loved the blue, but my favourite was always the yellow ones. “Thank you.” I say, then I grab them and run to catch up with my group. “Good luck” she calls after me. Hmm, I hope she wasn’t insulting me. 

 “What were you doing, Minnie?” Kazimierz growls at me. 

“Nothing” I mutter, glad to be able to speak in Polish again. 

“Open your hands.” 

“Why?” I reply hoping my cockiness will throw him off. No such luck. 

“NOW!!” he yells at me. I can’t lose these lollies. So I change tactic. 

“P-please, I haven’t had one in years, oh please Mr Nowak” I cry (I’m very good at acting). 

“NOW!!!” and he slaps me. Hard. 

“Oi, leave that little girl alone!” a lady in a black dress says fiercely. 

“Yeah, she hasn’t done nothing bad to you”!” says another, this time one in blue. The women swarm around him, yelling abuse and clouting him with their handbags. I haven’t been in New Zealand long but I’m enjoying it a lot so far. 

 Then the lady who gave me the lollies came over and said 

“I gave those to her. The rest of your group got lollies but you didn’t take the lollies of them, did you, hmm” she said sarcastically. 

“Who are you?” he asks, I’m scared he will hurt her. 

“My name is Janet, Janet Fraser. And who the dickens are you?” she replies. Kazimierz goes pale. 

“I’m s-so sorry, Mrs Fraser.” I’m very happy about this unexpected turn of events. You see Janet Fraser is… the prime minister's wife. “Scoot.” Janet Fraser says and Kazimierz fast walks off and the rest of my group follow him, like dogs going to bait. Pathetic. 

 “Thank you, my name is Minnie,” I say. Wait a minute. “German” I say pointing to my mouth. 

 “Ohh good!” she says suddenly speaking in German. On the boat one of our lessons was about her. Apparently she could speak German. And I guess that was true. 

“My name is Minnie, I speak German and Polish. Thank you for the sweets Mrs Fraser, I’m very grateful, I haven’t had one since my Matka died.” 

“Oh, that's sad.” 

“She died giving birth to Robert. Robert died soon after. My big sister Aurelia disappeared, she was probably murdered. And my little sister Beatrycze died of pneumonia.” I say sadly, opening my eyes as wide as possible. 

“Ohh.” I’ve shocked her. I always have that effect on people. 

 “And Papa ran away with a woman half his age.” I say to seal the deal. 

“Oh you poor thing, well, good luck.” she says briskly, shoves something in my pocket and hurries off. Finally, I was beginning to worry my plan wouldn’t work...

 You may be wondering why Kazimierz hates me. Is it because I am super awesome. Nope, Kazimierz does hate me for a reason though. You want to know why? His daughter was my best friend in the camp. Agata died of an unknown disease. Ever since then he has hated me as I remind him of her. 

I run to catch up with them and they board the train. Just before I hop on I check my pockets. Great, it's her purse! I check and it's stuffed with money! Yes. Phase 1 of my plan has succeeded. What’s that sound? “Meww?” It’s soft and sweet and pitiful. I look around, it's an adorable little kitten. She's a tabby with mossy green eyes. I was going to wait before I ran away but now I have a companion. I will call her Willow as she's unhealthily skinny and her eyes seem so forest-like. Rain starts to come down. At first a delicate mist that turns into raindrops pounding on the shelter above where I stand. Yet the birds are still singing their sweet song, if they can keep going even when times are tough, I know I can. So I scoop Willow up and jump on a different train. I’m not being a refugee.

In class we've been reading the book Refugee. For this weeks activity we wrote a story describing the experience the Polish children coming to New Zealand as refugees, in 1994. I based my story on my triple great grandmother. But she was not a refugee and she came over in the 1800s. But the Minnie in my story and real Minnie share the same determination, courage, sad beginning and survival instinct that is shown in my story.

Interest

In school we have been doing Financial Literacy. I worked in a group with my friends Lucy & Atawhai to create a slide on interest.