Happy early birthday mum! By Alessandra

On a sunny, warm Saturday afternoon, my family and I decided to take my mum to a restaurant because it was almost her birthday and we wanted to give her an early birthday surprise. We went to a restaurant in Panmure called Indian Pepper. Indian Pepper is a buffet where you can eat as much as you wanted to.

When we got to the restaurant, my dad told the owner that we had already made a booking. Before long, a waiter approached us and led us to our table.

After we sat down at our tables, my dad said a little prayer to bless the food and he said, "Dear Lord, thank you for this beautiful day and for the lovely food that we were about to eat and bless our mum because it was almost her birthday. Amen." After my dad said the prayer, we went to go and fill our plate with the yummy food from the buffet.

I also had hot chips, crispy chicken and some chilly chicken. When I eat the chicken, it melted in my mouth. As soon as I had finished with the savoury food, I had  some dessert. I had cold mango ice cream and some cookies and cream cheesecake. When I ate the cookies and cream cheesecake, it melted in my mouth and it was so yum. After that, we decided to go home because we were all so full.

I had an amazing time with my family and I hope next time we are able to take our grandparents with us because they also really wanted to try the food there.

Learning intention: We are learning to write a recount using the correct structure.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write the orientation, followed by the events and then a conclusion of celebrating my mum's early birthday.

Wow, I haven't seen such amazing dance moves before! By Punipuao

On Friday 10th of June,  my family and I went to my mum's work to help her to fundraise money to buy new books and new shelves for the pre-schoolers  so that they had a place their bags when they arrive to school.

My mum and I decided that we could have a disco ball as our fundraising event. The teachers liked the idea so my mum and I went to the shops to buy some decorations. We bought colourful stripes, plastic cups and plates, glow in the dark bracelets, a roll of wrapping paper and some prizes for the guests and children.

Soon, we arrived back at school to set up the table for the priest, his wife and my dad. I put a white cloth on top of the table and my mum helped me. After that, one of the teachers called Lana wrapped up 3 bottles of wine to be give out as an award to the best dressed mum, dad and for the person who received the most amount of money during the dance. She also wrapped up the children's prizes for best in dancing.

While Lana was wrapping up the presents, I was in the kitchen helping my mum to cook some of the food for supper. I added some herbs into the chicken and placed the cooked chicken onto  plastic plates. My mum had made a delicious potato salad and my mum's friend cooked some chop suey. When people are starting to arrive, I washed my hands and went upstairs to where the Early childhood centre is.

Then the priest prayed before the children could have their dance. After that, my dad called out the little children who danced their best, while I passed around lollies to the little children who were dancing. I saw some very interesting dance moves from two little girls named Ashleigh and her cousin Immy.   

Later on, my dad announced the best dressed mum and best dressed dad award. Their names were Lorayne and Daniel. My dad chose Immy for the best dancer because she got the most amount of money. Lastly we had one last song of the running man challenge. The little children, my brother, my sister, friends and I danced so hard that we nearly broke the floor.

My favourite part of the night was when I went around to give some lollies to two little girls because I liked how they danced to the music and used actions that people did not know.

Learning intention: We are learning to understand and use descriptive language in a recount.

Success criteria:  I know I can do this when I use adjectives to describe my weekend helping my mum to fundraise some money for the Early childhood centre.

Have you watched the movie 'Independence day'?

On Saturday 26th of June, We went to the movie at Sylvia park.

Early in the morning I woke up and the time was 7:18. I checked to see it my brother was still sleeping in bed but he wasn't there. He was already in the living room watching movies with my dad.

When the movie had finished, I went to the kitchen to list what we needed from the refrigerator and the cupboard. After that I went around the house to check what we needed.

I went to the living room to wake up my mum and then she said to my brother and I, "Go and get ready because when I'm done we are going to pick Lei up".

When we got there we stayed at my cousin's house until 11:00. I was playing rugby with my cousin and my brother upstairs. I had a great try because my brother came to tackle me but I jumped over him and scored a try. It was a high jump and I nearly landed on my head but I landed on my back and it was a painful landing.

After playing rugby with my cousin and brother I went down stairs to check to see if we were going to the movies. My mum said, "We can go now!" I called out to my cousin and my brother to come and wear their shoes.

My mum said that she is not coming to the movies with us. First we went to go and some food from Mcdonalds and some butter chicken. We all got two burgers each. However I had too much butter chicken so I only had a burger.

Soon we went to the movies and first we went to the game area to play some games. The game that I played was called key locker. The game has a key and the challenge is to put the key through the keyhole.

Before long, we went into the theatre to watch an alien movie. It was a bit scary because it had giant alien that was destroying the moon and the earth core for fuel for the aliens ship.

My favourite part was when I jumped over my cousin to score a try.

Learning intention: We are learning to understand and use the language feature of a recount.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I group the events  from my weekend in order.

What a delicious chopped pork! By Tristan

On a cold breezy Sunday night, my family and I went to a restaurant to celebrate my mother's 38th birthday. Our first choice was a Mongolian Restaurant called Genghis Khan but ended up at another restaurant called, ' Momo Tea'.

First, we went to Genghis Khan but when we got there, my parents saw that there were too many people inside so we decided to go to Momo Tea instead. We drove there as fast as we possibly can. Luckily, we found a parking straight away because we were already starving.

We were given a table for three and as soon as we were seated, we ordered our food and drinks without delay. I ordered, 'Mango Shake' for my drink and my mother ordered a 'Mocha Shake'. Not long after, our food was served.  My family was amazed at how fast they prepare their food there.

My family and I said a short prayer then we started eating our delicious food. I had chopped pork with a special dark sauce. It tasted so yummy that each bite was savoured.  After eating, we all leaned back and reflected about the food we all just ate. Later on, we paid and slowly left the restaurant with our full stomachs. On the way back I sang my mother a Happy Birthday song.

Sunday night was one of the most important nights because I got to celebrate my mother's 38th birthday. Next year when we celebrate my mother's birthday I want to celebrate it at Genghis Khan. My favourite part of that freezing Sunday night was eating delicious food and celebrating my mother's birthday.

Learning Intention: We are learning to understand and use descriptive language in my writing.

Success Criteria: I know I can do this when I add 15 appropriate adjectives to describe my weekend celebration at Momo Tea.

I can teach you how to make an ice cream sandwich as a summer treat! By Lupe

Learning Intention: We are learning to follow the structure of a procedure.

Success Criteria: I know I can do this when I write the ingredients and the five steps for making an ice cream sandwich in order.

Ingredients:

• Any ice cream flavour
• Wafers
• Whipped cream
• Sprinkles (if you want)

Materials:

• Spoon
• Butter knife
• Plate

Safety:

• Adult supervision

Method:

• Grab two wafers of any flavour and a plate.
• Place one wafer on the plate and scoop your flavoured ice cream using a spoon onto the wafer.
• Using the butter knife, smooth out the ice cream so the second wafer can stand up straight.
• Once the ice cream is smooth, shake the whipped cream and pour it nicely on the ice cream. Smooth it out so that it is flat on top.
• If you want, sprinkle some sprinkles onto the whipped cream. Then place the second wafer on top of the whipped cream. (You can add more ice cream if you like)

Now you have a better way of eating an ice cream!

Make as many as you like and share this recipe with your friends, ENJOY!