Welcome to Room 10 2011

Term 4 Highlights

Term 4 was filled with many highlights. The Term started with the camp to Rotorua for the Intermediate team.
Below is a Recount written by Taine Wilcox.

Rotorua Experience

Day 1:

A hot summer’s day. Sitting in the boiling spew infested bus. Hungry and tired we all just wanted to get to Rotorua. After a few hours we finally reached Rotorua, we all scrambled out of the bus for fresh air. But there was more smell to come. The smell of Rotorua lingered through the air. We all raced to our cabins to grabbed the bed that we wanted. We all got to explore camp Keswick. Mark (the camp owner) told us all the boundaries and rules of Keswick. We then unpacked all of our gear and got settled into Rotorua. at about 5 o’clock, Mr Lobban called everyone who wanted to got for a swim in and then we all went to Lake Rotorua, it was just across the road. it was warm because there were natural springs coming from underneath the sand. Everyone who was game enough went out a long way because the lake was real shallow. After a while boundaries were called because people were going out and out and out. Mr Lobban then called us in to go back to the camp. We had showers and got ready for dinner. Dinner was delicious. We then had to do our camp diaries so that we could look back at them when we’re doing our camp recounts. We then had supper and went to bed

Day 2:

We all woke up from a night’s sleep, had a wash and had a scrumptious brekky. We had the normal breakfast cereals, toast, porridge and milo. We had time to make a hand picked roll. We then got ready to go into Rotorua’s town. We split into two groups, the big bus and the small bus. The big bus went on the duck tour which is a tour of Rotorua’s most famous lakes in an amphibious vehicle. We were all given quakers which, are like Kazoo’s. We first went to the Blue Lake it was interesting because it was really naturalistic. We bobbed around the blue lake for a while before heading to the green lake. The driver told us a myth about the lake and how it got it’s name Taputiki. We then drove back to the city and our group went shopping while the other group went for their adventure on the duck.
We ended the day by going to the Aquatic center where we were all in need of a swim after the sweltering sun had been beating down on us.

Day 3:
We woke up to the sun streaming in the cabins and to find that we were going to one of Rotorua’s most visited places the Luge and Gondola’s. Full of anticipation and anxiety we headed up the Gondola. We all had to start on the beginners track. We picked it up straight away but Mrs Gotz was too fast and she caught us and passed us. She had been their before! I had done my first ever luge and my brain was buzzing. We went again and again until we were out of rides.
Next on the agenda for the day was the Rainbow Springs Wildlife Park. At the park their were Kiwi’s that we could not see and other native animals, like ugly but colourful trout. I felt like getting a fishing rod and dropping in a line but of course I couldn’t because they are protected and there for the tourists to see.
We had time to kill before heading back to camp so we made a detour down to the lake front where their was an opportunity to go on the paddle boats but most just played on the playground.

Day 4:

Today was the day we had our cultural experience. We had a few hiccups getting their because our bus had broken down and we were cramped into a small bus but, like all good fairytales their was a happy ending. Another bus came to our rescue half way down the road. At Te Puia we experienced a Powhiri and a performance that was marketed towards the tourists. I think we could have done a better job but of course we didn’t get a chance!. We were shown around the geysers, carving house and we got to see some real life Kiwi’s.
Our next activity for the day was the Museum the highlight there was a simulation of the volcanic eruption of Mt Tarawera.

Day 5:
Today was the day we headed for home! We packed and cleaned the cabins and then back on the humid bus for our long ride home. My highlights of the trip was the luge and my awesome group that knew how to hunt for a bargain. Thank you to all the parents and teachers for allowing us this awesome experience.

Term 3 Highlights

Arts festival

Excitement in the air and the hall begins to fill. The Kapa Haka group stands in the darkness signalling the fantastic night to come.

Music, dance and instruments, lit up by dazzling lights. The smell of lollies making my senses tingle, the flashes of glow sticks sparkling in the darkness. Wave after wave of performances buffet the crowd with spectacular
images that would be set in there mind forever.

With rapping dancing and singing the teachers were a sight to see. Arts festival 2010 was the place to be.

Be sure to see the photos on the website.
Jacob Keen & Jurnee Kihi

Out door Academy

It was Tuesday 14th and it was about 5:30 in the morning and I was preparing for the trip I had been preparing for this day a week ahead. I was beaming with excitement when my mum drove me into the car park outside the school. Kia Ora / Talofa Hello my name is Lani and I have been asked to tell you all about the recent Outdoor Academy that I was extremely lucky to attend. We meaning Sarah, Jurnee, Charlotte, Hannah, Samantha, Ethan, Chino, Bradley, Connor B, Taine, Kane A, Mrs Gotz, Tommie, Karen (Bradleyʼs mum) and myself, had to be outside school about 6:15 because we had to leave 6:30 sharp. Everybody turned up eager to hit the road. Most of the girls went in Karenʼs car. Mrs Gotz and Tommie had the pleasure of driving all the boys and Jurnee up in the van.

It was a quiet drive up in Karenʼs car but I bet it was the complete opposite in Tommieʼs van. When we reached Taumaranui we headed for National Park then straight to the mountain. It was pouring down with rain so we had to get dressed under the icy cold rain. But little did I know we were about to find out what icy cold actually is. We were all suited up feeling like Sumo Wrestlers as we waddled up to the rental shop. Our gear was fitted and away we went. Tommy and Mrs Gotz were both experienced skiers and were our ski and snowboard instructors. We got used to the skis, snowboards and the snow down in Happy Valley. Then we were ready to hit the higher slopes. A group of us caught a chairlift up to Rock Garden. We didnʼt spend too long there and we again mounted the lifts to go up to the Waterfall T on the 2nd chair.

This was the most challenging experience and with fear and trembling I conquered the Tbar. We all felt like human icicles so to defrost we went to the Tokannu Hot pools where we put down a hangi and soaked while we waited for it to cook. On Friday the mountain was closed due to bad weather. Mrs Gotz had booked us into the climbing wall in National Park. The rock-climbing instructors strapped us into our harness and thinking that we were monkeys we raced each other to the top of the walls. We all loved this experience. We were so fortunate to be given this opportunity and I enjoyed every moment of it.
Lani Moorhouse.

Term 3

Term 3 will be a busy term in Room 10 with many students being involved in the up coming BP Challenge and Arts Festival. We also have our Year 7 & 8 Interschool competition. We will be updating our BLOG with photos of the events. This Friday we have Stratford coming to our school to challenge us in Rugby, Netball and Soccer and the induction of the new student council.It will be a busy day.

Report Writing

A Desert

A desert is a hot place where there is no rain. Very few plants can grow. It is so hot that you can't bear to stay out for long or it is so cold you need warm clothes to survive. A place that receives very little rain or snow during the year is called a desert climate. No matter how cold or hot it will always stay dry.

A desert has many hills of dry sand banks and very few rivers or ponds for drinking water. Very few animals live in the desert. One animal that does is a camel. A camel can last for at least three weeks with out water or food.

There are many types of deserts across the world. There are the hot deserts, which are found in Africa, Asia, Australia and North ad South America. There are also Cold deserts these deserts are found in the Antarctica, Asia and South America and places near the Arctic.

The desert is described as a hard place to live because there is no water and hardly any food. The sand storms make it worse by covering people and their cities and towns up and killing the animals because of the extreme conditions.

The desert is a hard place to live because it has hardly any food or water.

Written by Samantha Boyder




Writing in Room 10

In Room 10 we are continuing with Showing not Telling in our writing. Below are some examples from the students.

AUTUMN

Leaves crunching beneath my feet
The crisp cool air turns to steam as I breathe
Red-orange helicopters float around me
Birds talk of the coming cold
Dewy grass soaking my feet
Spindly fingers branch across the cold grey sky
The fiery red ball sinking towards the horizon, lighting the sky with a pinkish glow
The dirt crunching with frost as I walk
Critters talking of the long white nights ahead
Chimney smoke darkens the sky and the smell of cooking drifts to me on the cool breeze

By Jacob Keen


Autumn

Red, yellow, brown sometimes green coat the trees, making them colourful. Floating down like torpedoes.

Brown leaves spread under the trees and on table tops, sometimes falling on your slippery wet brown leaves making you slip over. Wet sodden ground feels muddy and slippery while the Brown crunchy dried leaves go crackle, crackle, crunch underneath my feet.

A soft breeze trickles through a bush of trees. Autumn rainbows highlight the sky. Days and nights getting colder sends a shiver down my spine as I realise that the freezing cold winter is not to far away.

Grey smoke rises from the chimneys as fires are lit and ovens are turned on to cook a roast. My hot warm stinky breath enters the world like steam.

Hannah Adlam

Literacy

Over the past 3 weeks for Literacy Room 10 students have been Researching Topics of their choice.
Their task was to choose a topic in which they were interested, find out enough about the topic to become an "expert" so that they could lead a mini-seminar in which to share their expertise with the rest of the class.
Last week students presented their topics to the class. We learnt about The Super Continent, Planets, Animal Cruelty, Pigs in Cages, BMX Freestyling, Samoa, Egypt, The Eiffel Tower,Guns and the Maori Battalion. Below are a sample of the visual presentations that were shared.

LIT Quiz

Last Friday Jacob Keen, Charlotte Bone, Hannah Adlam and Jaz Nathan went to the kids lit quiz
at Devon Intermediate where they competed in 10 categories, and won a round called Mythical
Creatures.... Overall we came 15th out of 23 schools.

The Taranaki Land Wars

For our current Inquiry topic we are learning about the Taranaki Land Wars. We have visited local sites in Waitara to learn about the events that took place in 1860. We have also been to Puke Ariki to look at the Taranaki Land War exbition.