It's time to celebrate the Lord's day on Sunday! By Gabby

WALT recognise that every Sunday is the day when the Church celebrates that God raised Jesus from the dead. I can do this when I write one sentence about why the Church celebrates the Eucharist every Sunday.

Why do we have school? By Gabby

WALT - write an explanation with details.

I know this when I use 'because' to explain parts of a school.

A school is an organization for educating children.

There are many students who go and study in school. The principal runs the school and facilitates meetings with the teachers and staff. Teachers are adults who help the students to learn to read, write and think. A staff member is a person who helps the school with things. One staff is in charge of the attendance of the students and the other makes the lunch orders from the lunch orders box. When a school day ends, a cleaner comes in the classrooms and picks up the rubbish that are ignored or hidden by children.

There are many other programmes like 'Trash to fashion' and ‘Touch rugby’. In the trash to fashion activity, students have to use recyclable materials to turn into a fashionable outfit. Students have to plan the outfits by putting in a good sketch of how our designs are going to look like. In the end when the children have finished creating the dress, one of the members has to take a photo of the final look of the dress. The teacher who helps the students make the outfit has to send the picture to the trash to fashion judges and they will pick if the group could participate in the cat walk (Walking on the stage to show the outfit).

The purpose of attending school is to learn and to be educated so that the knowledge they gained, will help them get a good job and a better life in the future. There is also R.E where students learn about how to live as pilgrim people and the history of Jesus with his disciples. In writing, there are different genres like procedure, recount and explanation writings. Explanation is a writing where kids have to explain how something works, how to use it or what it is. Procedures is a writing where we have to include ingredients and how to make it. In each sentence, people have to start with an action word (verb). Students also have to make friends in school so that when kids don’t have anyone to play with, they don’t have to feel lonely.

There are facilities that teachers and students use. Classrooms are where students learn and each teacher has a room of her own and with her own children to teach. The sports shed is where people get the balls and equipment to borrow and use them at Morning Tea or Lunch. The library is where people can issue or borrow books to get information from something or do researching for their topics.

It is fun at school because there are lots of events that happens, like Cultural Festival or Te Mani Ahi (A performance by APOPS). Before Cultural Festival, students have to practice the dance moves every week on Thursdays for 8 weeks. Another event is 'St.Patrick's day'. This is when the school celebrates by attending Mass at Church first and then the students are split into teams to play activities and games run by the teachers in their classrooms. At the end of the day, everyone gets a Popsicle and they get to choose a flavour: lemon and wild berry. Mission day is a time where people have to think of fun activities or sell things to raise money for the Holy Angels Orphanage. On Daffodil Day, people have to wear yellow and donate a gold coin and it goes to the people who has cancer.

St. Patrick’s School  is a great place to play and learn new things. It is a fair and good place where you can make lots of new friends.

Whoa! Check out the tugboat I found at sea! By Gabby

WALT - understand and extract information from the book "A Diver's Dream".

I know this when I complete a book review using the information from the story in my own words.

Introduce the book

This book is about a man who got a tugboat for free.

Written by Angie Belcher.

Tell about the book, but don’t give away the ending!

This book is about a diver who wanted to have the old Taioma tugboat to be sunk for other divers to see and for fish to live in, but some people were complaining that the tugboat would be polluting the sea.

Give a recommendation (e.g., If you like…, you will love this book or I would recommend this book for anyone who likes…).

I would recommend this book for people who likes boats or diving.

What kind of swimming tricks can you do? By Gabby

WALT - write a recount using similies and metaphors.
I know this when I use 'like...' to describe something or someone correctly in my writing.
One fine Sunday afternoon, the heat was high and it was a great time to go..... swimming! The sky was blue as my blue berry flavoured Gatorade in the fridge. My eyes were so heavy, that it felt as if they were weight lifting with my eyelashes. My arms and legs were weak and I felt really lazy to even walk a step. I decided to fill my stomach with nutella sandwich and a cup of milk with 3 ice cubes to get some energy. I went to my bedroom and found Panda. 

   Panada was taking a nap on the bed, purring and had his fur all over the place. I went into my parent's room and asked my mum, "When are we going to go swimming?" 

"In the afternoon", she responded. I sped up time by playing, Don't tap the spikes and Geometry dash on my iPad. I was feeling lonely since my older sibling doesn't like playing with me so I went into the hallway to go to Panda. I went to the bedroom and went up the bunk bed ladder. I sometimes made unexplainable sounds when I was tickling and petting Panda. 

   Finally it was 12:00 p.m! I dashed to get my clothes in the garage. I got my things and especially, my swim suit! When I was finished packing, I stuffed them into a plastic bag that I  took out from the pantry. We went into the car and drove to the swimming center. When I looked at a sign, it said that children 16 and under can go for free! It cost an adult $3.30 to go on the pool. My mum didn't choose to go to the pool but she chose to go to the sauna. She got a pink strip of paper around her wrist to prove that she could go into the sauna.

   Next, my mum wanted us to eat so that we could have enough energy to swim. We went into the cafeteria near the entrance and picked the table outside. When she opened the bag, it was pancit. I didn't like that kind of pancit because it was hard to chew so I took the meatballs and a piece of squid tentacle. I tried the squid tentacle, but it was hard to chew as well, just like the pancit. I opened up my can of Pepsi and took a few gulps of it. I mostly drank the Pepsi because there were only 2 pieces of meatballs. We all got full and packed up the food. It was finally time to change and go back into the swimming pool.   

   When I went into the changing rooms, I put the plastic bag on the sink counter so the plastic bag wouldn't be stepped on or get wet. I told my auntie that she had to take a little shower before coming into the pool. She didn't know how to so I had to show her how. I went inside the shower with my swimming suit and shut the door so it won't open. I took off my clothes and quickly put on my swimming togs. My clothes were wet but at least I got another set! I walked to the pool shaking and quivering from the cold. 

   My auntie said she would only go into the pool if it's warm. I went in the pool and the temperature was just right for relaxing. It felt as if I was in a paradise island. I swam around and put my head in the water. I tried opening my eyes underwater but it felt as if something has stung my eyes. I rubbed my eyes and closed them for a few seconds to make sure that the soreness was gone.

Then, I tried floating on my back while paddling. I tried it tons of times but water kept going into my nose or mouth. Sometimes when I tried to catch my breath, I accidentally swallowed the pool water which made me burp 2 times. I folded my legs and my arms. I was feeling quite lonely so I kept calling my auntie to come down to the pool every time but she replied the same answer in every one of my questions, "Not yet." I tried practicing every thing I saw in the late Olympics. I tried the backstroke but I kept going down the water and my hands wouldn't turn the right way. 

   After that, my auntie came out from the changing rooms and I was already bored so I just stood there like a statue but the water current kept pushing my arms and legs away. I just couldn't stand the water, it was really annoying. I didn't want to be pushed by the water anymore so I crossed my legs and my arms. I was sinking down the water and when my legs touched the ground, I felt an impact on my ear. I got up from the water and felt as if my eardrums were going to explode. "I better not do that again", I said to myself. I tried many experiments on the water like rolling under water and letting my body go on the water. I floated when my legs and arms were out, but when I took in one arm to my chest, I sunk. I finally knew that you float when you have equal weight on your arms and legs.

   After that, my fingers were turning white, wrinkly and old just like an elderly lady's fingers. My auntie was already changed and my mum was too. I was about to get out of the water but my mum thought I was still swimming, so she shouted at me, "It's time to change!" I got up the pool stairs and my body was really heavy. I went to the changing room and looked in the plastic bag. My clothes weren't there! I tried double-checking, but they disappeared like magic! The only thing we could only do now was to wrap the towel around me and go back into the car. I walked out of the changing room and to the entrance. A few people were staring at me and I felt embarrassed. 

We got into the car and put the towel on the seat so I wouldn't make the car seat wet. The pool water that I accidentally gulped before quite made my stomach felt  empty so when I got home, I gobbled another piece of nutella sandwich.

How grateful are you towards your teacher? By Gabby

WALT show appreciation for those around us.

I know this when I write more than 10 wonderful things that my teacher does.

Do you know the easier way to work out your 6, 7 and 8 times tables? By Gabby

WALT - work out 6, 7 and 8 times table using my 5 times table.
I know this when I solving problem involving 6,7 and 8 times tables correctly.

A crazy yet fun day with my cat Panda! By Gabby

WALT - write a recount using adjectives and adverbs to make my writing more interesting.

I know this when I use action words and describing words appropriately and correctly in my writing.

In the weekend, I stayed at home on a cold Sunday morning…...

When I woke up, I got up and stretched. I checked the bunk bed to see if my brother and sister were still sleeping. I went to my sister's bed and saw her quietly snoring. I shook her and said "Hey, hey Patsy! Wake up!" I stopped shaking her and tried to see how she reacted. A while later, she just groaned and moved. I knew just the trick to wake her up, so I got my cat Panda and put him beside her. He went inside the blanket to get warm and cozy.

Panda is a 2-month old kitten and his mother is an adult cat named Molly. Panda is small like a medium sized rock. He is black and white and loves to chew and fight the blue mat that says "WELCOME." He usually goes out when the weather is warm but stays inside our bedroom when it's cold. My cat Pooh is very fluffy, she sleeps on the bottom corners of the bed and she is the only cat who plays with Panda. Molly growls when Panda is near her, so that's why Panda loves the bedroom.

First, Panda went wriggling inside the blanket which made my sister to open her eyes and grabbed him. She snuggled next to him but Panda tried shaking off from her hands. He slid into a tight spot on the left end of the bed. My sister said " Go get Panda!"I quickly stood up,went on the ground and went under the bed. It was a very tight squeeze to move in, I felt like a sponge being squeezed by a hand. I slowly crept up to him and grabbed him as fast as a speeding car, but I missed and he got away. I crawled and crawled to where Panda was but he was no longer there.  I went out of the bedroom door and I chased after him.

I walked into the garage and saw that no one was there so I went outside to check for Panda again. Then, I saw him up the fence but I couldn't reach him. I said to him "I..... Give..... UP!" Because I was so tired, I decided to taste one of the green, small and hairy strawberries from our plants. I washed it with the tap water inside the house and ate it. It was sour, sweet, but mostly bitter. When I walked back into the garage, I looked at the cat flap on the window  to see if any cats were outside ready to come inside to eat their biscuits.

Then, the floor shone like the shining sun and I saw foot prints of my muddy socks. "Uh oh" I whispered. I was kind of lucky because my brother wasn't playing in the computer and he would tell me off. I quickly grabbed the mop as fast as a hungry lion chasing a gazelle. I dipped the mop into a bucket of clean water and I was clumsy and unsteady because I still had my muddy and wet socks on. I kept cleaning the floor and I was confused when it felt like the footprints were infinitely appearing. I finally figured out what was happening so I took my socks off. I went to the bathroom and put my socks into the laundry basket. I went back to the garage and continued what I was doing until it was squeaky clean. The floor was still wet but luckily, the sun was finally out and the floor dried quickly.

After working so hard cleaning the floor, I felt hungry so I grabbed 3 pieces of cookie bear chocolate chip cookies, toast with nutella and milk with ice. After I ate the toast and the cookies, I drank all of the milk in the cup until there was only ice left in the glass. Before I put the ice in the bin and put the cup in the sink, I looked inside the cup. There, I saw some white, wet powder on the ice. I scooped a little bit of of it and put only some of it on my tongue. I swallowed it, and it was really disgusting because it tasted like salt water and slug slime mixed together. I took another cup from the cupboard and I got some cold water from the fridge. I took 3 cups of water and drank it to make sure the taste was gone.

Finally, I went into the living room feeling sick and tired. The sliding door was open so I proceeded to close it. I slowly slid the door close because my arms were shaking. Panda zoomed into the open space and went on the couch. I rested my head on the pillow and went next to him. Panda started playing and chewing my hair and it tickled me but  I didn't mind. Eventually,Panda stopped and started to purr. I closed my eyes for a moment and before I knew it, I was fast asleep……..

WALT - understand and interpret information on a graph.
I know this when I can write 2 statements about the chart.
1. What was the favourite fruit? Orange was the favourite fruit because they are sweeter than all the other fruits.
2. What was the least favourite fruit and why? Pear because it is not as sweet or juicy.

Know about plants today! By Gabby

Created with Padlet

WALT make an inquiry about a topic of choice.

I know this when I answer 5 questions that I have about plants.

Find out about clay pot vases today! By Gabby Rasalan

WALT - make an inquiry.

I know I can make an inquiry by asking questions about a topic of my choice and search the web using Google for the answers.

'When I Grow Up' by Gabby

'When I grow up', a clip made by Tamaki Primary School was featured in the Manaiakalani Film Festival.

When I grow up' features a kid who wonders about his future after his teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up.

This clip have a variety of songs including:  Party Rock Anthem, Lmfao,  T- Pain, Turn all the lights off, Black or White, Michael Jackson, Lazy Song , Bruno Mars and more. The songs only  do not entertain but also fit in perfectly with its topic.

I also like this clip because most kids also go through the same thing wondering if they should join the army or be a hairdresser. It is very mind capturing to see kids like me pulling off awesome clips and could possibly have a future in acting.

I highly recommend this clip as past experiences on wondering what I wanted to 'When I Grow Up'

When I grow up from Tamaki Primary on Vimeo.