Senior School Poetry Recital Finals

Te Kawehau and Shar, Room 8's 1st & 2nd place winners of our Annual Senior School Poetry Finals. What a tough decision as all the finalists were amazing. Well done you two for living up to our class-name of COOLKIDS! We are so proud of you!

Poems by Kaiya

FORGIVENESS

Forgivenness is as blue as any star shining in the dark sky

Forgiveness is all over the world

You can hear "I forgive You" in New Zealand, Asia and Africa

Forgiveness is always in my heart

When I forgive, I feel myself bursting into a strong flame of friendship

Forgiveness is the sound of clapping for joy

Poem by Kaiya

FORGIVING

I am forgiving of others and myself

I am willing to give and receive amends

I learn from my mistakes

I have the power to keep changing for the better

Adapted by Kaiya from an SPCA-poster

MY RECOUNT ABOUT MY TRIP TO THE S.P.C.A on Friday 19th June

For the Look at Me Now Programme we had a trip to the R.S.P.C.A in Mangere last week Friday.

Firstly we met a girl named Hailey. Then we went into a huge room and there were lots of flip up chairs .

We flipped them up then we all sat on them. She told us about the animals. What she first said to us was about us not putting our fingers in the cages.

Thirdly we went outside. When we went outside there was a little farm house where there were farm animals.

The farm animals that were held  in the farm house were Guinea pigs, Rabbits, Goats, sheep, Rats and 1 big pig.

We got to touch all of the farm animals. I liked the Rabbits. They are so cute and cuddly I wish I could have one when I  grow up.

Then we went into the place where you get your adopted pets. There were lots of dogs and cats. I liked the animals at the S.P.C.A.

I cant wait to visit the SPCA again.

Recount by KAIYA

Tribute to Michael Jackson (1958 - 2009)

It was with great sadness on Friday the 26th June, in my school staffroom, that I learned of the passing away of my beloved pop-star, Michael Jackson. Michael passed away on June 25th at the age of 50 years, from an unexpected cardiac-related death.


Michael, you're gone too soon! There was and will be NO OTHER like YOU. You were superhuman, my angel, my GOD. You transcend death - you are IMMORTAL. Only the blessed ones of this lifetime were able to know you, love you and believe in you. What a loss to the rest of the world. Who cares about what people say or think? They did the same with Jesus Christ, Sathya Sai Baba and many Avatars of our world. I hope you never doubted the love of your true fans.


Michael, your death has left a hole in my heart, but I know that your music and your unselfish love for humanity will fill that hole and will heal me and all who mourn for you. I must admit, now that you have transcended into Spirit and Soul, I feel SO CLOSE to you.


Michael, please watch over our Earth...let your death cleanse the world of all hate, greed, wars, racism, poverty, crime, etc. May your love Heal the World and save our beautiful Earth. I am sure Heaven is now complete with you there Michael.

Michael, I shall love you for always, my SuperHero.

Your loyal fan,
Kree Raman Vandayar

Class-trip Friday 19th June 2009

Shar's recount emailed to Mrs. Raman

Hey Shar,
Thank you for emailing me your recount. You have written an interesting and well-sequenced recount about our class-trip. I like your use of time-connectives. Try to work on your punctuation, like capitals and also use a dictionary to correct spelling. Hope you will take the time to proofread and edit your writing next time. Nevermind all the mistakes, I will edit it this time and publish this recount to our blog. Well done Shar :-)

 

Class-trip to the Library and Art Gallery

Last Friday our class, Room 8, went on a trip to the Sir Edmund Hillary Library and the Papakura Art Gallery. Firstly we had to pin on our name-tags just in case we got lost. Secondly we had to walk all the way to town and to the library. On the way there Ariana and I were taking photos while chatting with Mrs Raman. At first it was freezing cold and we were all shivering. However as the sun rose everyone began to get hot. When we got to the library it was very quiet. The librarian, Sarah, showed us all the cool books, PlayAways and DVDs. We were all excited when we got our very own library cards. It is so cool having one. After we left the library we had our lunch. After lunch we walked to the Art Gallery and Emma, the manager, showed us the amazing exhibition. There was even a dress made out of the leather heels of shoes. At the end I had to say a Thank You to Emma. Finally Mrs Raman said we were so good that she had to buy us an ice-cream.

After McDonalds, we walked all the way back to school and we really enjoyed our class trip. I hope we go there again.

By Shar

 

Taylah's Recount emailed to Mrs. Raman

Hi Taylah,
Wow! Thank you for emailing me your recount on our class-trip Taylah. Good to see you doing your homework over the weekend and for using Gmail.
Your recount was interesting and you have made some good attempts at spelling difficult words. Remember to use Wikipedia to check your spelling - the link is on our blog. I found it hard to read your recount because you left out many full-stops. Use a full-stop to end a sentence and then a capital letter to start a new sentence. But all in all, a lovely recount Taylah, which I shall edit and publish on our blog. Well done.

 

Room 8 Class-trip - 19th June

Today our cool class Room 8 went for a trip to the Sir Edmund Hillary Library. We learnt how to use library cards. Sarah the librarian was the one who showed us how to use the library and the cards properly. Later on we got to read some books.  I did not read a book instead I sketched some dinosaur pictures from a book.

After lunch, we went to the Art Gallery. It was fun there because we got to look at a very cool exhibition. We got to take some photos but really you're not allowed to. In another room we looked at an exhibition called "Trash n2 Fashion". The outfits were so pretty even though they were made out of recycled materials. I would actually like to wear one of the garments. Lastly we took a photo with Emma, the manager of the Library who showed us around. Then we left to McDonald's where we all got an ice cream..... mmmm nice!

Finally, we all headed back to school which took a very long time because we had to walk. What a enjoyable day of learning. I can't wait to do it again.

By Taylah

 

Ariana's Recount emailed to Mrs. Raman

Ariana,
Thank you for emailing your recount about the class-trip on Friday night. It was interesting to read and you wrote in good sequence.
You have not proofread and edited this recount, but I will help you this time. Next time use a dictionary to help with the spelling of words. Also think about your punctuation (full-stops and capitals). Lastly ask yourself 'does this make sense?"
Use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page or ask your parents to download this online dictionary:
http://try.alot.com/tb/dictionary/dictionary_magnify_en_gb.php?aff_id=googUK&camp_id=735
I will chat online to you sometime this weekend.

Here is your edited Recount:
Recount: Class-Trip
On Friday 19th June Room 8 walked to Sir Edmund Hillary Library and to the Art Gallery. Before we left, our teacher Mrs. Raman, gave every one a name-tag just incase we got lost. Mrs. Raman chose two kids to take photos. The kids were Shar and I. On our way there Shar and I were talking to Mrs Raman.

When we got to the library, a librarian talked to us about the rules for the library. There was another librarian and her name was Sarah too. We got to read some books there. Later the children who brought their library application forms got their new library cards. There were about ten kids who got one. Most of those children borrowed the PlayAways which is like an MP3 storybook.

After that we had our lunch. While we were having our lunch Mrs. Raman walked around and gave every one 2 cookies each. After lunch we walked all the way to the Art Gallery. The art-exhibition was about Matariki and Trash n2 Fashion. When we got there we all sat down on the floor while Emma talked about the rules. There were lots of cool arts from local artists. In the next room they made dresses out of trash. All of them were really cool. I liked one of the dresses that was made out of feathers. We got some cool ideas for our art.

After that we walked to McDonalds to get an ice-cream because Mrs Raman said that we were being really good and deserved a treat. Lastly we walked all the way back to school. Some children listened to their PlayAways while others wrote their recount on Gmail. Mrs. Raman gave everyone another cookie and a gel-pen for our perfect behaviour on the class-trip. Going to Sir Edmund Hillary and to the Art Gallery was really fun. I really enjoyed that trip and I hope we do that again.

By Ariana

 

Taha Maori – Waiata: Rona

Tu ana  au

i te Moenga uriuri

Tu ake au

titiro ki te awha ra

Kei hea ra

te marama e whiti ana,

Kei hea Rona

kei Runga ra,

piri ki te taha

Piri ki te ngaio

Aue ra e Rona e

Aue Rona e

Acrostic Poem on SPACE

Space has no air for sound to travel through 

Pluto might actually be a planet after-all

A dwarf planet is smaller than mercury    

Craters on Mars have frozen water in them

Earth is the only known planet with life

By Shar

(Emailed to Our Teacher)

Ariana’s weekend homework on Gmail

Mrs. Raman,

Here is my Acrostic Poem about SPACE:

Space is a place of silence

Pluto is now a dwarf planet

Asteroid belt is in between Mars and Jupiter

Comet-Halley comes around every 76 years

Everything is called the Universe

PS: Ariana - hope you have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow (15th June). Reach for the moon, even if you miss, you will land among the stars!!
Lots of love from,
Mrs Raman & Room 8 Coolkids

Latest Space Shuttle News STS-127

STS-127 Launch Countdown to Begin Wednesday

Wed, 10 Jun 2009

Preparations to begin the STS-127 launch countdown are proceeding on schedule as NASA prepares for liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour on Saturday, June 13.
The countdown will begin Wednesday at 9 a.m. Space shuttle Endeavour is in place at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, undergoing final preparations for its upcoming 16-day mission to the International Space Station. Mission STS-127 is the 32nd flight dedicated to station construction.

NASA astronaut Mark Polansky, commander of this mission invites followers to submit questions that he will answer from orbit during his mission. Questions should be submitted in the form of a video not longer than 30 seconds, posted to YouTube, and a link to the video sent to Polansky's twitter account. Questions will be selected each week for Astronaut Polansky to answer from space, live on NASA Television.

Room 8 children submitted video questions to YouTube and Joseph and Shar were lucky to have their question picked. Their question was: Can you describe what an astronaut might hear in space?

 

Image above: The STS-127 crew poses for a group portrait following their arrival at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left are Mission Specialists Tim Kopra, Tom Marshburn, Christopher Cassidy, and Julie Payette of the Canadian Space Agency; Commander Mark Polansky; Pilot Doug Hurley; and Mission Specialist Dave Wolf. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

E.S.O.L. – Explanation on Whiteboard Duster by Karnvir

What does it look like?
It is a rectangle shape. It is blue and black. At the bottom it has two
deep long holes where you can put the white board markers. There are two different materials.
What does it feel like?
It feels soft on one side and hard on the other side. You can put your fingers in the holes. It has letters and numbers on it. You can see how much it costs. It does not smell nice. It smells like dust.
What can you do with it ?
You can clean a white or black board with it. This one has a magnet
and you can attach it to the board. You put two different coloured markers
at the bottom in the holes.
Why is it important to describe things?
It  is important because you can tell what the materials are
made of, how much it costs and how to describe it to other people.

Explanation by Karnvir with E.S.O.L. teacher Mrs. Robertson

E.S.O.L - Explanation on THE BALL-GLOBE by Phyllis

What does it look like?
It is round, like a circle and it has green and blue colours.
The green shows all the countries of the world and the blue shows all the seas around the land. It looks like a globe.
What does it feel like?
It feels soft and you can squeeze it. It smells
nice like a rubber.When you touch it ,you can
feel the different shapes on the outside of
the ball.
What can you do with it ?
You can play with it. You can roll it to another
person.They can catch it .You can bounce it on the
wall. You can hit it with a bat, a tennis
racket, a hockey stick or a base ball stick.
I THINK IT IS A BALL!
Why is it important to describe things?
It is important to describe things because
you can share it with other people and
tell them how to use it.

Explanation by Phyllis with E.S.O.L. teacher Mrs. Robertson

Read more about Dwarf Planets

Dwarf Planets

Dwarf Planets

 

Why is Pluto not a Planet anymore by Robert Hurt

Astronaut Mark Polansky to answer Room 8’s question in Space

Click on this link NASA link ...scroll to the bottom of the page, under the heading "Polansky Question Picks" click on question number 6 to view Joseph & Shar's question, which will be answered from space, live on NASA Television. Wow! :-)

Space Question for Astronaut Mark Polansky from Kimball & Brooklyn

Taha Maori – learning Rona and the Moon Song 09 June ‘09

Rona and the moon

Rona i haere ki te tiki wai,

Ka hinga atu a Rona

Tu ake kei whea ra te marama ka hinga atu a Rona.

Kei hea Rona, kei runga rawa,

Piri ki te taha piri ki te ngaio.

Aue Rona

English Translation:

Rona went to go get water,

then she tripped, Rona

She stands to find the moon that made her trip over.

Where is Rona she’s way up there,

Holding the calabash, holding the Ngaio Tree

My dear Rona

Taha Maori – Learning to do the Matariki Haka