Our novel study slides for the Book Thief!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. This week for reading we had to do the last task of our novel study slides. This week we had to do the synthesising task. We had to write down about three of the different characters and then what they have in common. I have also done all the other task and had to put them on a slide. Here is the slide. 

Have you ever read this book before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Trying out for cantamath! Part 5!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. In week 8 of term 3 in maths, we had to do another cantamath session. We went into the hall and had to be in teams to compete. But I couldn't go with my friends because I had to be in the cantamath team because I made it into the team. We came first out of all the year 8's. Some of the questions were easy and some were hard. 

Have you ever done cantamath before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Writing info-graphic about quality education!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. In week 8 of term 3 for writing, we had to create an info-graphic about one of the four topics for our PBL. We had to have five points and at least one graph. Here is the final project. 

Have you made an info-graphic like this before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Our work on the Book Thief!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. In week 8 of term 3 for reading, We had to do three different tasks for our book. We had our first task which was about Predicting. Then it was Summarising twice then Synthesising. Here are the first three tasks. 

Have you ever had to read and then do something like this before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Trying out for Cantamath! Part 4!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. This week for maths we did another try out for cantamath. Well it wasn't really a try out it was more a workshop about what cantamath is. This week for it we had to do another round of normal cantamath. It was a bit harder this time though. But that was fine. 

Have you ever done cantamath before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Markus Zusak's The Book Thief!

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. For the rest of the term we have been told to read a novel. The novel that I am reading is called: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It is about a girl called Liesel Meminger moving to Nazi Germany and finding a book called: The Gravediggers Handbook. Once she starts to read it she gets attached to books. She then goes round stealing books from book burnings and other places. Here is a picture of the book: 

Have you read this book before? If so tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Writing Speech Rubric.The criteria of our speeches!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. In week seven for writing we had to do our rubric of our speeches. We saw all of the criteria of our speeches. This is my rubric. 

Persuasive Writing Self Assessment

Assess your persuasive writing against each nonfiction shape below. 

Provide both a comment and some evidence from your speech to show how you have met the specified criteria. 

If you don’t believe you have met this criteria, provide a comment for how you could do this better next time. 

Non-Fiction Shape	Areas for improvement	Criteria	Evidence of meeting and/or exceeding the Criteria
Hard Hitting Statistics	Next time I think I could add a couple more rhetorical questions.	I have included rhetorical questions, facts and  hard hitting statistics in the introduction of my writing.	I think that I did well including facts and rhetorical questions because my first paragraph is got a bit of both. Here is an example:  “How would you feel if you didn’t have a good education and ended up living in poverty for the rest of your life? Well, did you know that around 103 million children worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 per cent of them are women. This is terrible.”
Damage Caused	Next time I will include more different language features.	I have used negative intent in my sentences to appeal to the emotions of the audience.   I have incorporated statistics to highlight the damage caused by this issue in my writing.   I have used a range of language features to emphasize the severity of the issue.	I think I did well in this because I have included negative intent and incorporated statistics to show the damage caused. Here is an example:  “If you don’t have a good education then you probably won’t get a good job. And not have a good job could cause poverty. Would you like to live in poverty and end up getting around a dollar a day? I don’t think so. “
Challenge	Next time I need to include more superlatives into the text.  If Statement - I could’ve included more statements about that it could get worse.	I have stated the official view of the problem. I have used superlatives to emphasize the severity of this issue.    I have used a conditional ‘If ’or an imagining statement to emphasize how this could be a bigger problem in the future.	I think I did a good job with this because I have stated the official view of the problem. Here is an example: “We have enough schools everywhere to teach everyone. So why are people, in places like Africa, still living with terrible education. And its not just in Africa. It is also all around the world.”
Specify Problem	Next time I am going to add in more about how I feel about the problem.  Viewpoint - I could’ve included more different viewpoints from other countries and how they feel about the problem.	Through my vocabulary choice, I have stated how the problem makes me feel and how it may seem to the listener.  I have provided a counteracting existing viewpoint if it is appropriate.	I think this part was good because I have added in how I feel about the problem and the enormity of it. Here is an example:  “People around the world do this every day of every month of every year. And we just walk past.”
Solution	Next time I can add some more strong words to persuade the audience more.	I have stated possible solutions to the problem.  I have used effective vocabulary to persuade the audience to get on board to make a difference . I have used strong words and phrases that relate to how we can fix/improve this issue.	I think this paragraph is well written because I have included some solutions to the problem and used vocabulary to try and persuade the audience. Here is an example: “We can help fix this by giving young children the quality education that they need. If you would want to fix poverty, hunger and wellbeing, what would you do?”
Change	Next time I will add in more positive things about  how the problem can be solved.	I have used an imagine/noticing sentence to persuade the audience of how things could be if we make a change. I have used positive vocabulary and phrases to inspire positive thoughts into the minds of the audience if we make a change.	I think I did well with this paragraph because I have used some imagining sentences to tell the audience what it will be like if the problem stopped. Here is an example:  “It will make a big difference in society if everyone got along and people could get what they needed to survive.”
Call to Action	Next time I will add in rhetorical questions in this part of the speech.	I have used language features such as rhetorical questions to appeal to the emotions of the audience to act now.	I think I did well because I added in some emotions about the problem. Here is an example:  “We need to let people go to school because otherwise they will get terrible jobs. And if we help others get good educations then they won’t have to ask you for money.”
Aims	Next time I will include more aims of the goal that we should achieve.	I have stated the 3 aims that I would like to see in order  to achieve our overarching goal.	I think this paragraph is good because I have included some aims of the goal. Here is an example:  “The aims of this goal is to get everyone that isn’t in school to get them in school. Or the people that don’t get that good of an education to get them the things that they need for a good education.”
Act Together	Next time I think I should add in more about how we need to fix it together rather than just saying it.	I have stated how we can work together to achieve this goal.  I have emphasized that we can't do this alone.	I think this is good because I have included that we should all work together to fix the problem. Here is an example:  “We must work together to help all others that have bad educations get the education that they need.”
Big Finish	I think I could’ve added in a bit more positive intent about how the problem will end if we work together.	My final chunk of writing ends on a positive note that inspires the audience to get on board and make a difference. I have incorporated a quote, slogan or a metaphor into my final chunk to empower people to make a difference.	I think this is good because i have stated a positive note about the problem ending and that we must work together to end the problem. Here is an example:  “Others should be given the opportunity to learn what they need to get jobs and survive. How would you like it if you were living in places that don’t give you good education and you have to live very poorly for the rest of your life?”

Have you ever had to write a rubric about your own speech? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Trying out for Cantamath! Part 3!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. This week for maths we were doing cantamath again. For the first session we had to do cantamath questions. Except this time we were by ourselves. The new questions did get really hard but I eventually got them all done. In the second session we had to do a lot of way harder maths questions. I only got 3/10 of the questions correct. I am not sure if I will make it into the cantamath team but we will just have to wait and see. 

Have you trialled for cantamath yet? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

We finally started and finished our speeches!

Kia Ora everyone and welcome back to my blog. This week for writing we had to create our speeches. We had to pick out of one of the four of the seventeen Sustainable Development goals. The four we had to pick from were: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being and Quality Education. I chose Quality Education because having Quality Education then you can get a good job which pays you good money so then you can pay for a house, food and water and health. So having a good education can stop poverty, hunger and terrible well-being. We had to present one paragraph on our blog. Here is my paragraph. 

How would you feel if you didn’t have a good education and ended up living in poverty for the rest of your life? Well, did you know that around 103 million children worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 per cent of them are women. This is terrible. Also, more than half of children that have not enrolled in school live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Just think about the poor people not having a good education and living in poverty for the rest of their lives. Then think about us. We have a great school, with great teachers and have access to other things that help us learn, such as (point to anyone's chromebook) chromebooks and (point to tv) tvs and (point to whiteboards) whiteboards like these.

Have you ever wrote a speech before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye.

Trying out for Cantamath! Part 2!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. In week four for maths we had to have a session about trying out cantamath. I was put into the group without really wanting to. But it doesn't seem that bad anymore. The questions got quite tricky though. All we really did was answer questions in a group. Basically like cantamath. 

Have you ever tried out for cantamath before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Writing parts of our speechs!

 Hello and welcome back to my blog. In week four for reading we did something similar to last week. Except we had to do a different paragraph. The types of paragraphs we had to do were damage caused and challenge. These are the order we should put our speech in. Here is what we had to do. 

Writing Week 4 Term 3

The sentences: 

• Did you know that, in 2018, around 773 million adults, of which two thirds of them are women, remained illiterate in terms of reading and writing skills.

• The goal here is to ensure that everyone around the world gets inclusive and quality education for everyone and have lifelong learning. 

• Here and now we face one of our greatest challenges yet because with quality education you can get a good job and pay for food and for a home. 

• If more and more people are getting bad education then people will not have the jobs to pay for their house or food and then will decrease the population of the world. 

My feelings about the enormity of the problem: 

I feel sad about this happening around the world. If you get a good education then you will most likely end up with a good job that can pay you good money. We should all be getting a good education otherwise society will become havoc. If you don’t have a good education then you won’t get that good of a job, which could lead to you living in poverty, which could lead to you robbing things so you can live and eventually you will die or get arrested and put in jail. So a good education can stop all that. We are lucky that people with bad educations haven't done any of this yet. So people need to be given as good of a education as everyone else. 

Have you ever wrote a speech with this format type? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye.

Talking about Dogs at beaches! The debate between me and Nico!

 Hello and welcome back to my blog. In week four for reading we had to screencastify ourselves having a conversation about dogs being aloud at the beaches. I worked together with Nicolaas. Go check out his blog if you like. Nico's Blog. Anyway this is the recording. 

Do you think dogs should be aloud at the beaches? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Trying out for Cantamaths!

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. In week 3 of term 3 we had a cantamath taster where we would basically just try it out and think about if we wanted to do it or not. On the first day we tried it out by doing the running and working on the maths problems. The hardest one probably was where we had to find out the sum of the first fifty numbers of fifty. So that is basically 1+2+3+4 and so on. What I did was add all the first ten together which equals 55 and then added on 100 for each set of ten. Eventually my team reached the answer which was 1275. 

Have you ever had to answer something like this? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Writing for our speeches! Writing in week 3!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. This week for writing we were practising things for our speeches. We had to write some hard hitting statistics about on of the four goals: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being and Quality Education. I choose to do Quality Education statistics. Here is what I did: 

Hard Hitting Statistics: 

• An estimated 50 per cent of out-of-school children of primary school age live in conflict-affected areas. 

• Enrolment in primary education in developing countries has reached 91 per cent but 57 million children remain out of school. 

• More than half of children that have not enrolled in school live in sub-Saharan Africa. 

• 103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60 per cent of them are women. 

Rhetorical Questions: 

• Would you want your children to not go to school and not have a good education? I thought not. 

• How would you feel if you didn’t have a good education at school? 

• Would you like to have a good education? 

Have you read about this before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye.

Screencastify of Humans an Endangered species!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. This week for reading we had to screencastify ourselves doing a debate about robots taking over the world and humans being enslaved. This is the screencastify: 

Have you ever read this book before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Maths problem solving! Maths in week 2!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. In week 2 of term 3 we had to do problem solving again. But the questions were different and harder. This is the answers to the questions: 

Have you ever had to do something like this before? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Problem Solving! Maths for week 1!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. In week 1 of term 3 we had to do two different problem solving questions. We worked in pairs to answer them and then we had to share our answers to the class. Here is the answers to the questions: 

Have you ever had to share with a partner in front of the entire class? 

Reading with the fantastics about positive and negative intent!

Hello and welcome back to my blog. This week for reading we were again reading about the fantastics. We then had to write in boxes negative and positive intent of the fantastics. Its hard to explain so you can see for yourself. 

Have you ever used the fantastics before in writing? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye. 

Writing with the fantastics! Part 2! Writing in week 2!

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. This week for writing we were writing with the fantastics again. We had to write different parts from Hansel and Gretel. The parts we wrote this week were: The witch and growing fatter and tricking the witch. Here is what I did: 

Adjectives

Looks Like	Moves Like	Sounds Like
Wrinkly	Slow	Old
Dried out	Stumbly	Growly
Dusty	Limp	Ladylike
Ancient	Waddles	Caring
Frail	Tumbles	Harsh
Plump	Tippy Toes	Helpful

Adverbial phrases	1-The old lady wobbled towards us.  2-She stumbled towards us.  3-She slowly walked down the brick path.
Dialogue	1- 2- 3-
Complex Sentences	1- 2- 3-

Sentences: 

An old lady wobbled out of the house whilst carrying a basket of egg shaped chocolates. She carried a walking stick in one hand and the chocolate in the other. She slowly walked across the hard brick stone pathway and into the woods. 

“Let’s go in the house eh Gretal,” said Hansel. The two walked up the pathway, onto the front doorstep. 

“Hello there young children,” the old lady said from behind us. 

“Hello, how are you?” Gretal turned around to reply. 

She opened the door and stepped inside. Hansel and Gretal followed her in, looking at the entire house. 

“Is this made out of candy?” Hansel asked. 

“Yes it very well is. Do you want to try some?” 

“Yes please,” Gretal replied. Hansel and Gretal walked outside a started to eat the candy on the top of the house. 

Growing Fatter and Tricking the Witch

Ginormous gingerbread	Cheesy chips	Crunchy candy
Creamy custard	Aromatic apples	Melting marshmallows

Alliteration	1- 2- 3-
Repetition	1-Every second, every minute, every hour she fed him;  2- 3-
Comparatives and Superlatives	1-Biggest 2-Fattest 3-Fastest

Every second of every minute of every hour of every day she fed him and fed him and fed him. Hansel became fatter and fatter, bigger and bigger, wider and wider. Hansel had become the fattest, biggest and widest he could ever be. Gretel just waited and waited for an opportunity to free Hansel. She watched as he ate melting marshmallows and buttery biscuits and crunchy candy over and over again. Hansel enjoyed eating the creamy custard and ginormous gingerbread. Gretel watched him become the fattest he had ever been and her the skinniest she had ever been. Hansels cunning plan that he just thought of had came to life. Fooling the witch with the skinny bone and not his fat finger was deceiving enough to fool the witch good. 

Have you ever read or wrote about Hansel and Gretel? Tell me in the comments. Goodbye.