Mistletoe Press

Guess what guys?! I have just made my FIRST ever site for Christmas. Hope you check it out!

https://sites.google.com/a/ptengland.school.nz/mistletoe-press/   

Thinking Hats: Reflection on Netbooks

Pt England School, the home of digital learning. Netbooks are very helpful learning tools with much to provide for us. I think it would be much harder to learn at school without them.

Learning with Netbooks makes sharing, editing and information much more easier. Even though school finishes, our learning hasn't, when we can still learn maths, writing and reading at HOME. I couldn't imagine school without Netbooks.

Collecting and sharing information is much more easier and important now. Unlike writing with a pencil and paper, it is much more faster and neater with our laptops.

Unfortunately, our netbooks don’t have enough or ANY animation or movie making studios for us to use. Pt England is very creative. Animating and movie are a big part of our learning.

Sharing internet with T.C. (Tamaki College) is a real pain. Managing to connect to Maths Whizz was a real pain..
My solution to ALL this nonsense is for the school to get each student from Year 5 & up, their own  mouse which will help us with animating. As for movie making, I reckon that we should upgrade to Apple Software instead of Ubuntu.

My Camp Highlights

Hine

This painting is called Hine, by Robyn Kahukiwa. If you look closely, you will see that the color changes from light to darker on the forehead going. Also that the painting is dyed on the forehead from the noticeable blotches. 

My favorite bit about this painting is the details, like feathers and moko. I like them because of the colors and how semetrical they are.

The Kawau Experience

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......... I guess it's over. Yeah, Camp Bentzon was AMAZING!! Kayaking, bombing, SAILING, (Well that's a first timer) and abseiling.

My overall favourite activity was bombing off the wharf with my friends. I'm not bragging too, but I was pretty good for a first timer on Tuesday. I was really scared at first because I really sucked, but then I starting getting use to it. "TASI, LUA, TOLU, FA. JUMP!", I shouted to Tyla-Marie before jumping. Splashing into the water, feet first, a gulp of sea water went into my mouth.

Hiking into the bush was my LEAST favourite activity. Not just because I'm not athletic, but also because it took us about two or so hours just to go to a "beach", well not really a beach. It took about two hours to get half way, when Isara said a speech with a stone picked from the beach. But it was still great exercise:))

MY OVERALL EXPERIENCE THOUGH THE ANNUAL YEAR 6 CAMP BENTZON IS A 10/10. IT WAS REALLY FUN, AND I TOTALLY WANT TO GO AGAIN:D

Thanks to Erin, Peter and all the teachers and helpers who came and helped us at Kawau!

My Camp Facts

YEEEEEEYYY!!! In just ONE more day, it’s going to be the Yr 6 Annual Camp at Kawau Island. It’s called Camp Bentzon and I'M going! I can’t wait!!

On the way to the island, it takes and hour and a half, JUST TO GET TO THE SAND SPIT. And then 30 minutes to get to the island on the ferry.

There is also a variety of activities, from a Burma trail, to kayaking in stingray bay. There is also LOTS of bunks, inside the cabins. There are usually five people in one cabin:)

The thing that I’m MOSTLY looking forward to is spending huge amounts of time with my friends. I’d like to do that because not only I'm leaving nek year, but in our cabins, that’s the only REAL time we spend with our friends. Well, I was told that by one of our teachers.

The biggest challenge at Camp for me would have to be the raft making. I think because I'm not really good with making essentials with just random piece of wood. So that’s about it!

Wish me good luck on CAMP!! Expect more interesting and fascinating stories nek week!

Thanks to the Camp Bentzon site for this photo of the activity map!

My Couplet Poem about Summer

Summer

In Summer,
It gets even funner,
When we eat ice-cream,
And shout and scream,
But when the end comes to Summer,
It’s a real bummer

 

My Couplet Poem about Camp

Camp

At our Year 6 Camp,
I would like to tramp,
And also eat marshmallows,
And swim in the water that isn’t shallow
And having fun
While running in the sun

Operation Flax

Mrs Harper, Freya and her mother's next door neighbour wants to cut down the flax bush along their path. Unfortunately, that is the bush that Freya’s mum plates her kete with, and the bush that Freya feeds the tui’s syrup with.

Freya and her mum try to think of other solutions, but none of them ended with good results. Luckily, Mr Harper (MRS HARPER’S HUSBAND) enjoys watching the tui’s drinking the syrup that Freya makes and then they take the plants down, but then plant another flax bush at the Harper’s backyard:)

Triathlon

Walking in the cold morning air, Room 17 walked to the field for the first day of our triathlon. With my heart racing, I fully opened eyes ANNNNDDDD.............................. This was it:(


I was hoping for something more challenging, but that was good enough.

Suddenly, I spot two old men, one of them running towards us. Noticing that he was more energetic than I thought, he explained to us about the rules and facts of triathlons. Then we finally got to work.

RANDOM TRIATHLON FACTS:
Did you know that the longest triathlon is the Iron Man. It has a 3.86 km swim, 180.25 km bike ride, and a 42.2 km run.

In Triathlon, Tri means three, and athlon means contest or event

The Iron Man is a test of skill, mental achievement and spirit.

Running to the water slide, I couldn’t wait to start. Getting sprayed by the water, I was getting ready to run before the other. NEK MINNIT. Ready, set GO! I. WENT. last:(   That didn’t put me down though. After five laps of that, I moved onto biking.

Quickly putting my helmet on, I ran out with my bike and raced with my friends. Fortunately, I didn’t come last, but close to that area anyway. After 2 laps with the bike, I ran as fast as I could and then finished.

My Acrostic about Lisia:)

Loyal
Inventive with stuff
Sweet and a sensational singer (REQUESTED BY LISIA)
Invincible
Awesome












Be sure to visit Lisia's blog too! :peslisiam.blogspot.co.nz

My Subject Poem- SAMOA

This is a tapa cloth designed and drawn by myself. I hope you enjoy it!! :D

SAMOA

Swaying palm trees

Hard brown coconuts

Beautiful tapa clothes

Old traditional fales

Hard beating drums

Crawling coconut crabs

Friendly people

Sweet breadfruit

Shiny blue water

Sunny humid weather

My Autobiography Poem

Jonita

Tall, Funny, Musical, Samoan

Sibling of Johnny, Crusader and Tyla-Marie

Lover of music, my family, friends and QLD!!!

Who feels depressed when school ends

Who relies on my family, friends, music and technology

Who gives happiness and laughter

Who fears my siblings and leaving P.E.S!

Who would like to see BRAZIL:)

Resident of Auckland

My Story

Jonita Faletagoai         Writing Sample
October 2012
Narrative


On a cold Wednesday morning when I was on my way to school, something caught my eye. Strolling past, I noticed a suspicious sight with a dozen police investigators in front of the dairy. A body bag was seen too. I was trying to see what was going on, but a police woman blocked me from the view.

I then remembered that when I went to get breakfast earlier on in the morning, there was no investigation sight there. I asked the lady what happened, and she said that a girl was run over. Looking around to see if anyone was coming, I saw the body bag and opened it. I couldn’t believe who was in there.

It was Sydney Robinson, my best friend. Staring at her face, I noticed there weren’t any marks, besides her scar that she had all her life. With only one huge bruise on her back, there were no serious injuries done. Then a thought crossed my mind, was this done on purpose? I was sure to find out.

Eager to know who did the awful execution, I asked everyone if they were the last ones to see her when she was alive. With no results, I forgot about her brother, Cato, then hurried to speak with him. Unwilling to talk to me, I was getting pretty annoyed with him. Until he admitted he’d done something unbelievably horrible. “I did it”, he said with pain in his voice. “Did what?”, I replied. “I killed her.”

Becoming furious, I grabbed him, and dragged him all the way to police station. “He did it! Take him, take him! He even taped himself killing her.”, I shouted. “Thank-you”, he then said. But what for, I kept on asking myself. Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw him, but I never forgot about Sydney.

Jonita- The Bush

It was a hot Summer afternoon when Jessie, Robyn and myself were off to our annual camping trip at the Bushwalk in Otahuhu.

“Jess, you got everything? We seriously have to get going ”, I asked with excitement. “Oh. Of course! Yes, got all our things”, she replied. Driving off, I heard a slight sound of something unpleasant under the car. “Guys, did you hear that?”, I said with curiosity. As always, they ignored me, but halfway there, something terrible happened.

Looking behind the steering wheel, I saw that the red light was on for the gas. Suddenly, nothing was on. Opening the hood of the car, I noticed there wasn’t any gas in the tank. “Everything fine there Nita?”, said Jessie. “NO! Please, come quick.”, I exclaimed. I told them what happened. Unfortunately, the conclusion wasn’t good.

It must have leaked. Trying to figure out where the leakage started, there was no result. “Do you guys know what happened?”, I said. “Nope.”, both of them muttered. Suddenly I remember something. Before driving off, I accidently took out some oil for my fathers car. “Ummmmm. Sorry guys. I guess it was me. I’ll go find help.”

Luckily, Jess had enough bars to call her parents, which got there at around eleven o’clock. I guess I learnt a lesson today.

My Subject Poem About NZ

Pohutakawa
Rugby
All Blacks
Multicultural
Bone Carvings
Rangitoto
Kiwi
Marae
Skytower
Piha Beach

My Season Haikus

Summer

On a sunny day
I love going to the beach
With my closest friends

Winter

I watch the snow fall
Down on a cold winter day
Making me feel sick

Me and Jorjas Paragraph About White Tailed Spiders

White-Tailed spiders came from Australia to New Zealand, and now they are very common. Grooming and tasting are what the two palps at the front of its body are used for. “Aaaaaaahhh!!!”, I screamed when I saw the spider.

Thai Fish Cakes

 Guess what? Last Tuesday, the Extension group made irresistible Thai Fish Cakes for the Lets Cook with Parmco weekly challenge. We were in groups, and made fish cakes for Week 1, which was pretty awesome. It's a very simple dish, full of spices, veggies and FISH!! Did I forget to mention that we had a delicious salad on the side?

I think that it was really easy because even though our presentation looked AMAZING, it was bang on perfect and simple. Although we didn't win last week, I was still proud of all of us.

My favorite part of the process was of course, not  only eating it, but also frying the fish cakes. Just because the cakes were perfectly.

I would really love to cook this dish again for my family because I think that they will enjoy it a lot! Be sure to look out for my blog post about this weeks Marrakech Chicken meal!! And also PLEASE be sure to vote for our school in the comp! :)

 

How to Make a Paper Box

This is how you make a paper box.

Step 1: Get a piece of paper

Step 2: Then fold it from side to side and unfold it:)

Step 3: Keeping the paper on the table, you must fold each of the long edges into the middle, and then unfold it.

Step 4: You must then fold both of the SHORT edges onto the crease in the middle and then leave them there.

Step 5: Then, fold in all of the corners so they meet the closest crease.

Step 6: After that, fold the edges in the centre so that they cover the corners.

Step 7: Now it's the LAST step, put a finger inside each of the corners an gently pull outwards!

YEYYYY!!!

Our Duffy Assembly Eh

Have you ever heard of Jo Holley? Well, she came over to our school to talk to us about the importance of reading at our Duffy Assembly. She is an actress, and a T.V. presenter.

Walking into the school hall, I was waiting for our special guests to come. Surprisingly, the members of the Bucklands Beach Rotary Club, Ron and Austin, were already there! The only person that was left was Jo. Waiting for her, Mr Jacobson (BIG ONE) kept us company by singing lots of songs.

When she FINALLY arrived, she introduced herself with a traditional Maori mihi and told us about her career and life. She inspired me a lot because, a small town girl from Gisborne, to our televisions is pretty amazing.

I really liked the Duffy Assembly because it inspires me to read more and become more smarter

Meeting Uncle Anzac

Last friday, the Year 5,6,7 and 8 Extension groups got to work with Tommy Wilson, or better known as Uncle Anzac, the author of some of our favourite books, such as Kapai Kiwi. We got to have a workshop on that day with the amazing author.

Telling us about his life and career was really inspiring for me. At assembly, he told us about his butler career and getting the opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela. I was pretty surprised when he said that he had met him.

It was a really great because he taught us a lot of good techniques in writing, which I now use:) He helped us create a story about an ancient touchstone that had been stolen from our school and we had to go find it. Getting our story line in a short amount of time was a pretty amazing achievement.

My Daily Run PMI

My Interview with Valerie Adams

For one of our tasks this week, we had to choose a style of reading used to write about shot put. I chose an interview. I pictured me having an interview with Valerie Adams and here it is. This is for kids that don't know much about Valerie and her career.

Jonita: Today with me I have the AMAZING two time gold medalist, Olympic Champion, New Zealand’s FAVOURITE athlete, Valerie Adams!

Valerie: Thank-you, thank-you

We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us!

Ahaha.. Anytime

So, how does it feel to AGAIN, win your gold medal  in the Olympic games this year?

Well, I feel GREAT! But I sure would have loved to hear the NZ National Anthem and see our flag get risen onto flag pole. It was really sad that Nadzeya Ostapchuk robbed that from me. She’s stole a moment that I can never get back.

Of course, we are all still really proud of you. We knew that you were going to get your gold from your smashing world  record at the shot put Diamond League in Europe last year. Plus it’s good that you’re living and training in Switzerland right?

Yes. But I’d like to thank my coach Jean-Pierre for my achievement. He was a really good replacement from my old trainer.

Yes! We are all absolutely shocked that your Belarusian opponent Nadzeya Ostapchuk was cheating in the Olympics.... I reckon IOC should have found out sooner though

I know right. I thought that she was a clean athlete, but some things aren’t as they seem are they ?

True that. So your brother, Steven Adams, the basketballer. Tell us about him

Sure! He’s currently studying at the University of Pittsburgh which is awesome. He’s 19 and he has done so much already!

Ahaha.. You obviously show A LOT of support for your brother!

Yes. We are really close. I’m also proud of him a lot though. We have supported each other throughout our careers too.

Really? That’s good. WAY better than the relationship that me and my brothers have with each other. Just kidding!

Wow! (Chuckling)  You're really funny. I’m sorry Jonita, I’d love to stay and chat with you a little bit longer, but I have to go and train some more with JP

Ahaha... That’s fine. Thanks for coming though. We really appreciate it. A LOT. This has been Jonita, interviewing the world champion, Valerie Adams. Hope you enjoyed!

Thanks to New Zealand's Woman's Weekly for this photo!



















I have assessed this piece of writing. The score I gave it was a 14 out of 18. I hope you agree or give me a better score.

Go for Gold - Modern Pentathlon

For Go for Gold, our task this term was to make an animation based on an Olympic sport that Ms Garden gave us. My sport was the Modern Pentathlon. I hope you like my animation!

My Very Own Olympic Medal

For our Extension task, we had to design our own olympic medal, as if the 2016 olympics going to be help in New Zealand. Here is my design and I hope you enjoy it!

Foster the People

Foster the People is one of the new talented bands of the 21st century which contains the members of Mark Foster, Mark Pontius and Cubbie Fink. Their hit singles Pumped Up Kicks, Houdini and Helena Beat made them a world favourite fast in just a few weeks.

Their genre of music is indie-pop and the year that the band was formed was in 2009. Mark Foster is the main person of the group, and has an AMAZING voice that inspires me ALOT!! The founder of Foster the People was born on 1984. Before the group started, Mark was struggling through his music career. Luckily, the band was formed and his career started to become a breeze.

Winning song of the year, Pumped Up Kicks won a WEQX award in 2011. Also winning a SharkOne award, Foster the People received it for New Artist of the Year. As a new favourite, Pumped Up Kicks also won ANOTHER award this year for Best Rock Song.

Houdini was also a favourite, with a nominee for Best Video of the Year. I haven’t seen the video yet, but I’m sure it’s just as good as the song. It definitely has the sound of indie-pop in it.

FTP is DEFINITELY one of my favourite bands, and will always be. I think that they have a style that no one else does!

STRESS BUSTERS

The Swimming Medley Relay

Have you ever heard of an Olympic swimming event with FOUR different techniques in this order: Backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle? Well, there is an event called..... The medley swimming relay.

In the medley relay, four competitors in turn must swim 2 laps using 4 different strokes. The strokes must be in this order backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle. There are strict rules in this event, and if you break them, immediate disqualification will be received.

The clothes that are used in this sport must be the most, lightest and tightest spandex togs. It is used is the Aquatic Centre, with a 50m pool in of course, London. Athletes also need goggles to protect their eyes from the stinging chlorine.

Talents and skills needed for this sport are strength, stamina and agility. For training, some athletes swim 2-3 km a day. They train very hard in order to be an AMAZING athlete for this event. Dedication and perseverance will definitely get you a gold medal for your country.

I think that this event is a challenging and exciting event that is worth watching. Be sure to watch it!

Some Marathon Facts

How many drinks are they allowed in a marathon? Most marathons have about water stops every 2-3 km


How long does a marathon take? For an average person, about 6 or more hours

How many stops are they allowed? About 11-13 every 2-3 km

The Olympic Creed

The Olympic Creed: " The most important thing in the the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not to triumph but to struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well."

A Bee's Sting

It is rare when a bee stings. The time it is most likely to sting is when it is being provoked. They are then alarmed if either being driven away or murdered. Using self defence, the bee uses its sting that nature has given to them.

A bee’s sting can be pretty painful when injected into the skin. After being stung, the worker bee’s fine barbed stinger it stuck into the skin, injecting poison.

A bee often dies after stinging a person. Usually, after a person flicks the bee off after being stung, makes it badly injured. Generally, it’s stinger is teared out, causing it to die.

We now know that a bee can sting as often it wants, as long as we do NOT pull the stinger away from its body.

Artistic Gymnastics

Artistic Gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics was first introduced to the Olympics in the 19th century. This year, there are about 196 competitors for the London Olympics. Some of the equipment used for this category in gymnastics are the uneven bars, the pommel horse, the rings and the vault. The rules for the rings, (which you can see on the images above) is that the gymnasts are not allowed to bend their arms or spin too much, or else their points will be deducted. I hope you like my photo that I have produced for you.

The Flame

Thanks to London24.com for this image.

Used for the Olympic Games, the motto for the competition is “Swifter, higher, stronger.” The point of this saying is to try and boost up the athletes confidence for the games that can help them to victory. This is compared to another well-known motto “ The most important thing is not to win, but to take part.”


The flame is lit up by the sun’s rays in Olympia Greece, MONTHS before the games. This is a tradition to remember the ancient Olympics. It is then carried by relay from Greece, all the way to the host city of the competition.


On the opening day of the Olympics, the torch is brought into the stadium. The flame is then transferred from the torch to the cauldron. It is then extinguished on the closing day of the games.

The Olympic Flag

Thanks to Votebits.com for the photo :-)

The connected rings used for the Olympic symbol, have the colours of red, blue, yellow, green, and black with a white surrounding. All the colours are on every flag of the world's nations.  Baron Pierre de Coubertin was the man who created both the ring symbol, and the flag.

With the ring symbol on it, the Olympic flag is taken into the stadium for the opening ceremony. It is then raised up to the flag pole for the rest of the games. During the olympics, the flag will still be flying until the closing ceremony.

Ancient Chariot Racing

Thanks to WIkipedia.org.nz for the photo :-)




 




Ancient greek chariot racing was a sport that was from the Olympics about 20,000 years ago. You had to have lots strength to play this sport, which is now not apart of our olympics that we know now. Strength would help you with control over the horse that pulled your chariot.

The origin chariot racing began, as I said, in ancient times. Although no one know who created this dangerous sport. Competitors race in a hippodrome, which is an oval shaped arena for the horses to race in. Chariot racing is a REALLY dangerous, yet exciting sport. I think that we are very lucky to not have this in our olympics this year.