Culture club

This term our inquiry focus has been to learn about different cultures around the world. Each person had to create a presentation about their chosen country and then share it to our whanau on Friday. Everybody brought in a national dish from their country so that we could all try something new! Here is the presentation and video that my friend Perle and I made about Greece:

LINK TO CULTURE CLUB PRESENTATION

Our video: LINK TO CULTURE CLUB VIDEO

Cool Kapa Haka!

Last week on Wednesday Wainui Beach School participated in the Turanganui Kapa Haka festival. Our syndicate learnt 6 songs including the girls Poi and the boys Haka. Then some girls created the poi actions and we then performed to our community. Lots of families came to watch and it was a very exciting day! My favorite songs are He Honore and E Minaka. Here are a couple of photos taken on the day:

Culture Club!

This term instead of the usual friday music lessons, the teachers are testing a new program which includes the whole school including the juniors - who didn't participate in school music in previous years. This term is a trial run to see if they want to continue doing school music this way for next year. Every student is assigned to a teacher and activity. For example every Friday I go to room 11 and do drama with Koka Claire. Other kids go to room 4 to dance. The year 6s who surf on Friday go to room 5 and watch a movie when they come back. I enjoy the new scheme because it gives me the opportunity to participate in things like drama and dance. I also appreciate that Koka Sue our music teacher is still running the year 5 & 6 Ukulele lessons.

Spectacular Shakespeare!

This week I got moved up to the reading group Huia. Huia is an independent reading group and this week we had to learn about William Shakespeare. We all had to make a slideshow about Shakespeare but most importantly why Shakespeare's writing is still important approximately 400 years later. Here is my slideshow:

Spectacular Skydiving...

This week I completed another word work activity which was to complete Recall and Thinking about a Kiwi Kids News article. We also had to complete an extra activity to fully complete the task. For my activity I created a slideshow about what I know about the topic (skydiving), what I would like to learn about the topic and what I learnt about the topic. Here it is...

Awesome Argentina

Last week once I had completed all my work I created an alphabet project about Argentina. An alphabet project is when you learn things about a country and then create a presentation about that country. I hope you learn a lot...

Hareb Wins Japanese Surfing Comp...

In Moana every week we have to do something called word work. For word work this week we had to choose an article from kiwi kids news and answer some questions about it. In this task we are learning to use the 5 Ws and the H and to find clues in the text to answer the questions.

Kiwi kids news -

New Zealand’s top woman surfer Paige Hareb has won the White Buffalo Hyuga Pro in Japan.

Hareb, 28, beat Australian Isabella Nichols in the final of the World Surf League qualifying series event.

It was Kiwi surfer Hareb’s first win on the qualifying series in 10 years. Her last victory was at Margaret River in Western Australia in 2008.

The win was crucial for her chances of continuing in the top bracket on the Championship Tour. The result see her move up to third on the qualifying series standings behind Americans Caroline Marks and Coco Ho.

The top-six in the qualifying series book their places on the Championship Tour, with just one major event remaining for the year at Birubi Beach in New South Wales next month.

Recall

1. The main person in this news article is Paige Hareb.

2. The key event in this news article is that Paige Hareb has won the White Buffalo Hyuga Pro in Japan.

3. This event took place in Japan.

4. This event started on the 19th of October 2018.

Thinking

1. "I love sports and have a go at everything so watch out!" Is a quote from the main person in this news article Paige Hareb. 

2. What happened in this news article is that Paige Hareb won the White Buffalo Hyuga Pro.

3. This event took place in Japan. Japan's population is 126.8 million as of 2017 and current prime minister is Shinzo Abe.

4. This event happened on the 19th of October 2018. In the future another surfer will win the White Buffalo Hyunga Pro Competition.

5. This event took place to determine the winner of the White Buffalo Hyunga Pro Competition.

6. Qualify - qualifying - be entitled to a particular benefit or privilege by fulfilling a necessary condition. Crucial - Decisive or critical, especially in the success or failure of something. Remaining - Still existing present, or in use; surviving.

And the winner is...

In Moana 2 we have been voting for bird of the year. Bird of the year is when people vote for which bird they think deserves to be crowned bird of the year! The reason for bird of the year is to raise awareness for birds that are in trouble so that they don't become extinct. This year the bird that was crowned Bird Of The Year was the Kereru. Personally I voted for the Takahe because they are in serious trouble where as the Kereru is only in some trouble and are reasonably popular.

How to do algorithms!

Hello again,
In my screencastify I will be teaching you how to do algorithms. It is a good idea to line up your working into place value columns so that you don't get confused when adding the bigger numbers. I hope that you learn how!

Finding the least common multiple!

Hi again,

I have made a screencastify teaching you how to find the least common multiple. I hope you learn a lot! 

Wonderful Word Work!

For word work this week in Moana Learning Hub we had to find the meanings for different words, here are some definitions:

Access - A way of entering or leaving.

Jubilation - A feeling or expression of great joy.

Portable - Capable of being easily carried.

Solitary - Being alone and lacking the company of others.

Summit - The top point of a mountain or hill.

Immense - More important, bigger or more serious than others of the same type.

Seldom - Not often.

Banquet - A ceremonial dinner party for many people.

Course - A line or route along which something travels or moves.

Convert - To change from one form to another.

They're there with their...

They're, there and their

In Moana this week we have been learning about the different types of theres (they're their) and when and how to use them. This is the work that we did:

In Moana this week we have been learning about the different types of theres (their, they're) and when and how to use them. This is the work that we did:

Write the meaning for each homophone:

There - When something is in, at or going to a place or position.

Their - When something belongs to someone.

They’re - When more than one person or object is doing something at the present moment.

Write in the correct homophone: there, their, they’re

1. _____There___________ were many people at the party.

2. I left my backpack over _____there__________ by the door.

3. When I arrived at school, many of my friends were already ______there_________.

4. ______They’re_________ going to do homework after school.

5. _______There________ is a hole in my pocket!

6. Pete and Jenny are on _______their________ way here.

7. I can’t wait to see ________their_______ new puppy!

8. I’m not sure if ________they’re_______ planning on going to the park with us.

9. _____There__________ is a gas station on the corner.

10. _____They’re__________ not going to come on the trip with us.

11. ______They’re_________ still waiting for the teacher to pass out reports.

12. Was _____their__________ first pet a dog or a cat?

13. ____There___________ was not enough room at the table, so I sat by myself.

14. ________Their_______ hamster’s name was Snickers.

15. When we finished our tests, we sat ________there_______ quietly.

Quick Write

Quick Write

Sunlight filtered down through the canopy of trees...
My private helicopter soared above like a bright spark. It was only a dot in the sky as the radiant blue continued for centuries. I was kitted to jump, and savoured what would probably be the last moments of my life. "It's time to go!" Junior, my jumping companion said. My toes hung off the edge of the helicopter as he ran me through the safety briefing. He attached his suit to mine and told me to "JUUUMMP!"  I decided if this was going to be the last moment of my life I might as well make the most of it so... I turned around (so that my ankles were now hanging off the edge) and jumped doing a backwards somersault in the air. The cold, fresh air whipped my face. Junior told me to press the green button on my suit. I felt the parachute catch the air as we slowly drifted down like a feather more than 500 ft from the ground. Slowly I felt my feet touch the soft ground. I collapsed onto my knees as I kissed the ground. I had survived!

Actions speak louder than words!

On Tuesday, Moana Learning Hub went down to the beach for Action Stations Day. On Action Stations Day every class in the school buddied up with their buddy classes and did and action to help our school and the community. For Action Stations Day, MLH did a beach clean up to clear the beach of rubbish! Did you know that over 100 million marine animals are killed each year due to plastic debris in the ocean!!! Here is a slideshow to show you what awesome things we were up to:

Day at the beach

Quick Write

By Kya Solomon

Her soft brown fur buffeted in the wind…

She tilted her head and her sky blue eyes glistened in the bright

sun.

My dog stood radiantly making vague patterns in the sand.

Waves crashed, booming loudly against the sharp rocks.

Grains of sand made her fur shine in the lit up atmosphere.

I tapped down the wooden stairs making my footsteps as quiet

as an owl. Her petite paws dug into the sand like the smallest

russian doll. She hauled herself out of the water as heavy as a

200 pound weight. She bolted along the sand faster than her fur.

I wondered if I would ever catch her! The aroma of fresh

salt and saplings filled the air. Plants scraped roughly

against my skin as I raced my dog towards the stream.

Another beautiful day at the beach!

Vultures and plastic

In a reading program that we do called chapter chat, we have to complete activities. For one of mine I wrote a report about vultures. I then posted it on my blog. My whanau has been commenting loads on my blog and my mum commented on this post. She asked me if I could find out if vultures consume plastic and that is one of the reasons some species are very endangered. I found a website (http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1676/14-107.1) that had some very important information. I took some information from that website:

Plastic material in the Diet of the Turkey Vulture in the Atacama Desert, Chile

 "Turkey Vultures are one of the most distributed feeders throughout the the Americas."  People that have investigated the Turkey Vultures diet have found that natural foods such as dogs, sea lions, and feathers showed in 17% of there diet. They also found that 78% of pellets from coastal sights and 83% of the pellets from inland sites contained plastic material. They supposed that plastic was probably ingested because vultures scavenge in plastic bags disposed as garbage along beaches and roads. The availability of food from garbage bags could partly explain the widespread distribution of these vultures in the desert. Turkey Vultures patrol roads in search of animals hit by vehicles, which results in finding carrion and garbage. Garbage in plastic bags has increased as more roads have been built in these areas. In the future, it will be important to study the effects of ingested plastics on these birds. I do not think that plastic is one of the reason that he Turkey Vulture is becoming extinct. One reason I found is they are poisoned by a toxic veterinary drug that is fed to livestock, then the vultures eat animals that have been drugged.   

Valiant Vultures!

In Moana 2 we do a reading program called Chapter Chat. We have to answer some questions and complete activities. Here is my report about Vultures:

Vultures

Are Vultures endangered?

There are 23 vulture species and 16 are considered vulnerable to extinction.

Where is a vultures habitat?

The Turkey Vulture likes to live in Subtropical Forests, Shrublands, Deserts, and
Foothills. It is also found in Pastures Grasslands and Wetlands.

What is the lifespan of a vulture?

Different species of vultures have different lengths of lifespans. The king vulture
can live up to 30 years! With the Black vultures lifespan up to 10.

What Do Vultures Eat?

Turkey Vultures feed almost entirely on carrion and human garbage. Although on
rare occasions Turkey Vultures catch live prey, including young or sick birds and
mammals, Black Vultures kill live prey more often, sometimes Turkey Vultures
eating live prey often involve them mistakenly eating Black Vultures.

Pump up your sentence!

The Level 3 writers in Moana have been learning to PUMP UP OUR SENTENCES! We had to use different sentences structures to make our writing more interesting. Here are my examples:

Pump up your sentence!

WALT: use different sentence structures for effect.

Short sentences: (3-4 words only)

I adore football.

Perle adores football.

We adore football.

Compound sentences: ( a comma is used, then a conjunction)

I adore football, so I play football.

Perle adores football, so she plays football.

We adore football, so we play football.

Subject first:

Football is the best sport in the whole entire world.

Football can involve lots of strategy.

Football needs lots of energy and strength.

Adjectives first: (describe the subject)

Beautiful sunsets rise, while playing football.

Dirty mud on our skin as we play football.

Amazing sound when we score a goal playing football.

Adverbs first: (how is the doing happening? Comma after adverb)

Quickly, we chase players when playing football.

Slowly, we skill the players while playing football

Menacingly, we slide and tackle to get the ball off the other team as we play football.

Speedy, Spectacular, Quick Writes

In Moana pretty much every day we have to do a Quick Write, which is when our teacher gives us a sentence starter (which is highlighted in yellow below) and we have to write a short story beginning with that sentence starter. Here is my story:



Water swirled around my feet as I stood, my feet sinking into the golden sand. The tides continue to wash in and out. I stand there and gaze out at the horizon. Out there waves are crashing loudly, but where i'm standing the ocean is as calm as the bright blue sky up above.

I trudge up the glistening sand and place my towel up on a nice dry spot. The sun starts to rise and the sky turns pink. The calm ocean numbs my toes as I bravely dive into the deep blue liquid. I feel my hair sweep behind me, and the water rush down my neck, through my arms, down my stomach and my legs, then tickle the tips of my toes. An icy blast of air whips my neck as I slowly arise out of the water. I race to shore, grab my towel and quickly run home. I wash the sand that covers my small feet off under the hose. Then I jump into the warm bath that speedily warms my limbs. What a great lifestyle!

Tantalizing timetables!

In Moana 2 we have been working very hard
on our timetables so that we get to know all of
them. This is my DLO about timetables.

Dashing Diplomas

In Moana 2 we have been working on our timetables. We have been using this website:
www.timestables.co.nz. We have also been trying to get our diplomas. Today I achieved my little diploma:

Big Bold Diplomas!

In Moana 2 we have been focusing on nailing our times tables. We have been using a website called
timestables.co.nz. On this website we were also aiming to get our times table diplomas. Today I achieved my Big diploma:

The Chase!

In Moana we have been writing loads of amazing storybirds, here is my poem called The Chase!

MESSY ROOM!!!

In Moana we have been continuing to write phenomenal storybird poems. This is my Messy Room poem!

There's a monster in my...

We have been learning to write a poem on storybird. Here is my poem:

Graphs

In Moana 2 we have been learning
all about graphs. Me and my
friend Perle made this slideshow all about graphs.

Kya's DLO

In Moana learning hub we have been
 learning about prefixes and suffixes,
this is my DLO about suffixes.

Awesome Attributing!

We are learning to attribute images.
I found this easy because I got given
clear instructions and understood the task well.














https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/united-states-remains-atop-latest
-fifa-womens-rankings/

Kawa of Care is AWESOME!

Hi again,

Moana 2 and 3 have been working on Kawa of Care posters for our class. Our Kawa of Care informs us how to be Cybersafe, and Cybersmart on the internet! Always keep private information like passwords and personal details to yourself. Never share your last name to strangers or on internet sites you are not familiar with. Our Kawa of Care also tells you how to look after your chromebook correctly so that is doesn't get damaged! Hold your chromebook with TWO HANDS, always sign out, close all your tabs, shut down and charge your chromebook, whether you have a school one or your own one, every school day. If you have your own chromebook and have a case for it then at the end of the day store it safely in your case. Here is my Kawa of Care poster:

Great Start To Our Wonderful Timetables!

Hello again,

For the last few weeks we have been learning how to fill in our timetables and choose the appropriate workshops for our learning. Our teachers, Matua Fergus and Koka Ngaire, send us an email that has a link to a form to fill in what workshops suit us. We choose workshops that are teaching us something we don't know about yet or something we need a bit of help with. Then we fill in a google sheet and put in all the workshops we will be doing for the week so we know where to go and when!

We also have Reading groups that we have to put into our timetable as well. We only have so many workshops so we have lots of gaps in our timetable. To find other activities to fill it in we go to Moana Learning Hub our learning website, and scroll down to links to learning. There are activities there like Quick Write, Basic Facts, Read to self and many more. We have to do each one at least once a week. We fill in our timetable for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is our homeroom day. Timetables are very efficient, they help you manage your own learning and make you feel like you are at intermediate already! When you finish a task you know exactly what to do and don't have to ask the teacher!

Welcome to my blog!

Hi I'm Kya, I'm year 5 at Wainui Beach School in Gisborne, New Zealand. My Dad is Canadian and my mum was born in Auckland, New Zealand. I have 1 sister who was born in Palmerston North, New Zealand and I was born in Gisborne, New Zealand. So that means I am half Canadian! The purpose of this blog is to share my learning and get feedback so I can continue to improve, please leave me some positive comments and feedback.