Maori Art

With Maori language week last week, we looked at a wharenui meeting house. We had a look at the different aspects of the meeting house and what they represent. In particular we focused on the tekoteko or the head of the house. From this we created these pastel and dye drawings which look amazing! Everyone produced a great piece and we were able to see how Maori use lines, shapes, symmetry and patterns to create drawings and impact.

Our Great Southern Land.

Here is the youtube clip we used in morning prayer last week thanking God for his wonderful creation of the South Island. An Otago University student took time lapse photos during Winter and put together in the remarkable short film. More information can be found on stuff- south-island-like-you've-never-seen-it

Here is a prayer that families can prayer together thanking God for the gift of the wondrous creation of our Earth :-

God of the universe,

We thank You for Your many good gifts -

For the beauty of Creation and its rich and varied fruits,

For clean water and fresh air, for food and shelter, animals and plants.

Forgive us for the times we have taken the earth's resources

for granted

And wasted what You have given us.

Transform our hearts and minds

So that we would learn to care and share,

To touch the earth with gentleness and with love,

Respecting all living things.

We pray for all those who suffer as a result of our waste,

greed and indifference,

And we pray that the day would come when everyone has enough

food and clean water.

Help us to respect the rights of all people and all species 

And help us to willingly share your gifts

Today and always. Amen.

Persuasive Writing

"Our world is moving into using more technology- we don't need to learn how to write anymore"
"We should get rid of break times at school and teach straight through. That way we finish early"
"Children should be allowed to decide when/if they want to go to school. There should be no rules saying Monday-Friday 9-3pm"
"Homework is a waste of time. We don't need homework at school."
"Regardless of what job you do... We should all be paid equal amounts"
"Maths is not that important and can be hard- we shouldn't have to learn maths"

We have been discovering what it is to think about statements both positively and negatively. We are learning to create an opinion about topics given and back this up with good reasons. We will be writing persuasive pieces where we will choose if we are for or against these ideas. Students will then get to make their own persuasive argument and argue this in class. It has been a lot of fun and has really gotten us thinking deeply about why we do what we do and standing up for what we beleieve in respectfully.

Quick Writes

PROMPT:
“She almost didn’t recognise the city she had once called home. Who knew so much could change in 200 years.”

Zara:

The girl took a deep breath. She stared into the purple sheet of the light as waves of colour flashed through the portal. As she looked into it, she could almost see what was on the other side. The future. 2217 January 1st was set on a mico screen on the edge of the portal. PLucking together all her courage, she stepped into the time portal.

All Malory could see was flashing lights. Swirls of colours danced in her eyes, she was absolutely terrified. Boom! The noise of an explosion went off as she appeared in the future. She was at her house. Shock splashed over her like a wave. Her house had never looked so different and as she glanced around her town, she realised everything was different- even the people.

Hana:

A young elf Tavial loved her home in middle earth. She would play in the dark woods with tall trees and hang out with her good friend Legoless. For her 30th birthday her father gave her an Elvish bow for when Tavial needed it. The arrows from the bow whizzed past like horses galloping by. Tavial was a normal age for an elf- the oldest elf died at the age of 5000. On Tavial’s 600th birthday she went adventuring and came across a group of 13 dwarves, a wizard and one hobbit. Tavial had deep compassion for one dwarf but knew it would be wrong to marry. 100 years later she went back to her home, (with a missing arm) and was overjoyed to see her rather, but the place she once called home had changed a lot.

Cassidy:
Those freezing cold nights turned into years and they then changed into decades. Finally it all came to a stop. It had been forever since she had breathed fresh air. She hobbled to a building and she didn’t know where she was. Who knew so much could change?

Charlotte was as scared as a possum being carried away by an eagle in the sky.

Liam:
Waking up at 9:30am in the morning and I feel as dead as a door nail. I sprint over to my time machine and dial these exact numbers 2217. I could not imagine how gruesome it could be. My bones maybe ripped out of my body. Who knows? It’s like when you walk into a room that’s dark and then turn on the lights so you know what to expect.

Morgan:

The dirt gathered around her body, as she got closer to the cold, fluffy, almost transparent clouds. As she went further away to the ground, the air got thinner. Flashes of memories came and left like scenes in movies, until all control was lost. She disappeared into thin air like a movie.

Magnus:

As the plane dropped down, I unbuckled myself and creeped down the plane. The lights were flickering on and off. I reached the door and I wrenched it open with my bare hands and fell out off the plane. Walking down the tarmac I saw the city was in smoke. All you could hear were bombs going off like a fusillade of missiles bombing you.

Cody:

She almost didn’t recognise the city she had once called home. Who knew so much could change in 200 years? It was the end of the world, a zombie apocalypse. These things actually  happened. I’ll start from the beginning, when everything went wrong.

It all started when Savea and Nonu was paying a one on one basketball game. Izy ate all the shapes and Nonu lost his biscuit. He got angry and decided to bite a hole in the game which caused a huge glitch in the system. It lead to a zombie apocalypse as an over reaction. This set us off for the end of the world.

Jada:

I said “wow” as I hopped out of the time traveller. After we had gotten out, the time traveller walked away. I never knew this would change so much. Phoebe jump behind me, in no surprise she didn’t say anything. She was standing there like her normal self. Later Phoebe and I went for a walk, the trees had grown and the shops had been rebuilt. We walked to the middle of the city and it looked like a giant syringe

Mia C:
Would this be my new home? She thought. Last time I was here it was just flat land and small wood houses. Now there are skyscrapers touching the clouds and roads for miles. I never knew it would become more ‘upgraded’ with at least 100,000 people. It was lunch time, so i parked in a park that was a billion metres long. As I stepped into the mall I began to have flashbacks.

Mya:

“Who knew so much could change in 200 years?” She said as she poked her head out the window of the time traveller. Out of the corner of my eye I was gazing at Monica and she looked amaze as well. There were tall buildings and small buildings. The one in the middle was higher than ever. There was a giant bump as we landed back in the middle of the grass. Surrounded by humongous buildings- what were we going to explore next?

Ofa:

Everything changed apart from her hideous self but she felt like she was a different person. Her mum use to tell her that if everything changes but you, just say hello different world. So she just stood there and said “bye different world.” Soon she felt something inside, it was death.

Bridie:

Servants bustled everywhere as she wandered through the maze of rooms. Isabelle couldn’t believe how much the palace had changed over the years. A long red and gold rug led right to the thrones. Chandeliers hung from the brisk roof.

The castle wasn’t the only thing that changed, clothing had too. Where we had once seen dazzling ball gowns and suits of armour, there were skirts and long coats.

Slowly making her way up the stairs. Isabelle tried to grab the rail like she used to. However, this wasn’t 1817 anymore. Her ghost hand slipped through the wooden railing.

A young girl rushed down the stairs, a young baby i her arms. Isabelle reached out to touch her replacement, but it was like there was a wall around the child.

Bursting into tears, she ran back to the attic where she belonged.

Minutes later, a servant entered the room trying to find the cause of the sound. There was no one there. The 200 year old princess had been forgotten.

Henry:

The city was a desolated wasteland. In over 200 years mother nature had taken back what was rightfully her. Jaiden hesitated to venture into the crumbling ruins but her mind was clouded with question. “Why am I here?” she mumbered as she crept around the fallen walls of what she had called home 200 years ago. The more she ventured the more indistinguishable it was.