Cross Country

“ OK everyone lining up in your ages levels please!” Mr Jacobsen was standing on the side of the field. The house captains were lined up next to him, holding the coloured flags in the air. One by one they said their team chants. The houses were Takitimu (yellow) TE Arawa (red) Matatua (green) and Tainui (blue.) My stomach was turning as I thought about the 3.5 km cross country we were just about to run.

Each age group were lead off, one after the other. Every time the hooter went, we cheered for our house colours. I was in Takitimu, cheering for each of my other house mates. TIme seemed to fly past really fast and before I knew it, I was on the starting line ready to go.

Jasmine and I stuck together the whole way, encouraging each other to keep on going. The mud reached all the way up my legs and in between my toes. I looked ahead and went up the playground, through the gold posts and started on our second lap.

I went down onto the reserve, puffing and panting. My throat was dry but it didn't matter. I was determined to finish the race. I kept my pace and then the bell rang. “ Come on Shoal we’re nearly finished!” Jasmine ran ahead until I caught up. We then crossed the finish line together and we were done. Rita grabbed a cup of water and threw it onto me. The race was done and dusted.

SER (Self Explaining Roads)

Our extension class held an investigation about Self Explaining Roads last term. Self Explaining roads are streets like Anderson Ave, Holland Ave and Maybury Rd with islands put on them. We had to choose out of 4 questions to base our research on. My partner, Vivienne, and I then did a bit more research about the SER and what they were. Then we came up with a few questions that we thought we could put into our forms that we later used to interview kids with.

Short Investigation-John Farrell

Courtesy of http://www.hoperivermusic.com/about

Our extension class have been asked to do a short project about 4 people in pairs. Gavin Bishop, Darryn Joseph, Apirana Taylor and John Farrell. For our separate independent task, we had to choose 1 out of the 4 to research more on.  My choice is John Farrell.

John Farrell is an American singer, songwriter, author and peace educator. He has written and recorded lots of kids songs and books like “All Around Us,” which is a CD about science and nature for kids. Farrell also wrote songs for “The great Earth Singalong,” which he also starred in and received Parents Choice Silver Honour Award and a Dove Foundation Award.

John lives in Hillsdale, New York with his wife and 5 kids. John is very enthusiastic about cycling, reading and writing. He stopped watching t.v long ago and is encouraging families to spend more quality time together and doing things that doesn't involve any sort of technology. He would like families to read and sing more together as a family bond.

John is the founder of an international network called “Bridges of Peace and Hope.” It is an organisation that helps teachers, students and other collaborate on the arts in education projects that promotes respect and communication. I’m very excited to meet these wonderful people at the Vodafone events centre on Thursday for the Storyline's Festivals.

Creative Strand Reflection

YELLOW HAT- I really enjoyed carving out my pattern on my piece of wood. It was a great experience to have went through.

BLACK HAT- I found it difficult to carve the curved lines and that some people were mucking around when it was time to clean.

GREEN HAT- The thing I found most interesting was the name of the designs. They were Samoan name that I had never heard.

WHITE HAT- I learnt how to carve out lines and patterns. Also that it is important to make your lines deep so they show on your paper.