We have been learning about Sir Ernest Shackleton and his trips to Antarctica, especially the trip when Endurance got crushed by pack ice.
Today we shared some of our first pieces of writing about this amazing voyage. We were imagining that we were a crew member and we were heading towards Antarctica, filled with excitement and nervousness and maybe feeling a bit seasick too in the big waves of the Southern Ocean.
We'll write a few more pieces about Shackleton, choose one each to publish, then post some of them for you to read.
In these photos are outside our classroom in the courtyard enjoying the afternoon sunshine, listening to each others stories and giving feedback.
Room 4 students love writing time!
We are a class of 26 Year 3 and 4 students at Twizel Area School. Twizel is a small town surrounded by tussocks and mountains. We are the closest town to Aoraki Mount Cook.
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Maths Time
For maths times today one of the things we did was construct block towers to help us understand ways of counting the blocks in diagrams on Mathletics. It was fun!
Friday, 18 May 2012
Room 9's Visit
This afternoon Room 9 came to talk to us about our timing devices because they had seen them at assembly and their teacher Mrs LM had a question.
Her question was: How was time kept in the old days before clocks and watches were invented?
Room 4 people are going to be thinking about Mrs LM's question over the weekend while they are busy playing rugby and netball and doing lots of other fun things. If you have any ideas please tell us by adding a comment.
After we talked about time, Room 9 students who are mostly 6 year olds had a look around our room and at our some of our book work.
Here are some photos of that lovely sharing time.
Her question was: How was time kept in the old days before clocks and watches were invented?
Room 4 people are going to be thinking about Mrs LM's question over the weekend while they are busy playing rugby and netball and doing lots of other fun things. If you have any ideas please tell us by adding a comment.
After we talked about time, Room 9 students who are mostly 6 year olds had a look around our room and at our some of our book work.
Here are some photos of that lovely sharing time.
Super Sentences
Read our Super Sentences!
Please tell us which ones you like the most.
We used pictures to get ideas for nouns to write about. We tried to include adjectives in our sentences.
Something went wrong with the vacumn cleaner plug because it caught fire. (Tom)
The star is twinkling in the dark space. (Jack)
The slimy frog jumped into my new slack jeans. (Lachie)
The annoying alarm clock goes BUZZ!! every morning. (Zak)
There are a lot of crosses in a memorial. Some have brothers on the memorial too. (Bailey)
The smiling man beats the drum as hard as he can. (Laelani)
The fierce-looking spider is making a web. (Jilun)
The big green frog is jumping into the slimy pond (Ryan)
The shiny yellow star sits in the dull black sky. (Kian)
The stars twinkle beyond the bright moon (Kyle)
The creepy clown gave me a balloon. (Joseph)
The ugly black fly went splat. (Mackenzie)
The ugly frog is bouncing everywhere. (Ellen)
The star is glowing like gold in the sky (A.J.)
The slimy, scaly frog is in the stinky swamp. (Jaimee)
The frog is an amazing animal. (Josh)
The gleaming star shone as bright as ever (Shanelle)
The sparkly star shoots across the sky (Jacob)
Ryan pulled the heavy brown cross quickly. (Caleb)
The clever little frog jumps over the big hedge. (Iain)
The tree is standing in the big green field. (India)
The fly flies over the filthy green sea. (Christine)
I have a circle clock beside my bed and at 6.00 in the morning it wakes me up with its bring bring sound. (Taine)
Please tell us which ones you like the most.
We used pictures to get ideas for nouns to write about. We tried to include adjectives in our sentences.
Something went wrong with the vacumn cleaner plug because it caught fire. (Tom)
The star is twinkling in the dark space. (Jack)
The slimy frog jumped into my new slack jeans. (Lachie)
The annoying alarm clock goes BUZZ!! every morning. (Zak)
There are a lot of crosses in a memorial. Some have brothers on the memorial too. (Bailey)
The smiling man beats the drum as hard as he can. (Laelani)
The fierce-looking spider is making a web. (Jilun)
The big green frog is jumping into the slimy pond (Ryan)
The shiny yellow star sits in the dull black sky. (Kian)
The stars twinkle beyond the bright moon (Kyle)
The creepy clown gave me a balloon. (Joseph)
The ugly black fly went splat. (Mackenzie)
The ugly frog is bouncing everywhere. (Ellen)
The star is glowing like gold in the sky (A.J.)
The slimy, scaly frog is in the stinky swamp. (Jaimee)
The frog is an amazing animal. (Josh)
The gleaming star shone as bright as ever (Shanelle)
The sparkly star shoots across the sky (Jacob)
Ryan pulled the heavy brown cross quickly. (Caleb)
The clever little frog jumps over the big hedge. (Iain)
The tree is standing in the big green field. (India)
The fly flies over the filthy green sea. (Christine)
I have a circle clock beside my bed and at 6.00 in the morning it wakes me up with its bring bring sound. (Taine)
Thursday, 17 May 2012
We Made Clocks
We have been studying time. For homework people have been making all kinds of timing devices. Here are photos of some of them. We think this is maths and science! Thanks to parents for your help with this task and for everything else you do to support your child's learning.
Here we go ready to share the timing devices that students bought to school today. We will have more tomorrow! |
Kian - My timing device was a marble run and it takes about 2 seconds to go down. |
Kyle - Mine is a water timing device. 200mls of water takes one minute and fifty seconds to go through the 2.5mm holes. |
Laelani - My timing device is about which bottle has the best way of getting water to the other bottle. The clear bottle is fastest. |
Mackenzie - For this project I used a fondue stand and a funnel and a piece of a drinking straw. Water takes 12-14 seconds to go through. |
Bailey - It takes about 2 minutes for 150mls of water to go to another cup through a little hole. |
Tom - My clock is a sand clock but I used salt instead. One way up takes 14 minutes and the other way up takes 13 minutes. My Grandad helped me with the plan and my Dad and I built it. |
Christine - My clock is a water clock. I put 200mls of water in it. It took a long time because in the end the water needed pressure to push it. |
A.J. - Me and my Dad made a candle clock. We made two. We cut off the top and we put one to show the time and the other one we put the minutes and hours. |
India -- I put 250mls in and it took 51 seconds to go through the hole . |
Jaimee - My Grandad helped me make a device where you put a cardboard man on pegs and he is supposed to fall down so you can time him. But it didn't really work. |
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
ANZAC STORIES
We are nearly finished our ANZAC study. We all wrote four short stories in our draft writing books, then chose one each to publish. They are displayed for reading in our school hallway. Here is a photo of 21 of them.
The four pieces that we wrote about were:
1. A photo of a grave at a war cemetery in Belgium.
2. A young soldier going to war (we wrote letters pretending he was our big brother).
3. Simpson and his donkey at Gallipoli.
4. A photo of soldiers in a river.
Here are our stories. We hope you enjoy reading them. Some of them are sad but that's how we feel about war.
Life in the War
The four pieces that we wrote about were:
1. A photo of a grave at a war cemetery in Belgium.
2. A young soldier going to war (we wrote letters pretending he was our big brother).
3. Simpson and his donkey at Gallipoli.
4. A photo of soldiers in a river.
Here are our stories. We hope you enjoy reading them. Some of them are sad but that's how we feel about war.
Letter to Alec
Dear Alec,
I’ve been missing you lots and lots.
How was your trip? Was it hot going over the equator?
Have you made any friends? What’s the weather like over there?
I’ve been riding your horse Lightning. I hope that’s
okay. Your best friend Michael says hi.
There has been an enormous flood. Lots of the animals
have died.
I’ve had to
help Mum because Dad has joined the New Zealand Defence.
My 8th birthday is coming up and I think I
am getting a puppy.
Last night we had mutton with mashed spud and
cauliflower for tea and ambrosia for pudding.
Please come back in one piece.
From Ellen
P.S. can I have your bedroom?
A Sad Day
A sad day for New Zealand . More poppies come and go.
Tears falling onto the grave stones one by one and thousands more to
come.
The men who died for us with
guns in hand, wanting to go back home to their kids and wives, but the men kept
strong.
It was the most deadly
place of all.
By Mackenzie Frost
World War One
I can see
some soldiers in a trench about to fire at me. I dodge and they miss. I can see
explosions. The smoke from them is covering the air. The air is black.
My back is
really sore from carrying my gun, my ammunition, my kit bag and my water
bottle.
I have
already won a Victoria Cross and some other medals which make me happy but I am
still scared. I feel like I’m going to die any second.
One of my friends has died so I buried him. I
felt sad for him.
I can hear
cries of people dying and calling help me out of this river. I am soaked from crossing
a river at my waist. I am helping some soldiers get out of a deep river. I just
crossed. My mates have got their guns out in case some Turkish soldiers try to
shoot us. I am nearly out of ammunition. I have only got six bullets left.
By Ryan
My Sad Life
Bang! Bang!
is all I can hear.
“Help I’m
stuck!” someone is saying. It is my friend John. I pull and pull. After two
minutes he is out and shooting again.
The bombs
are going off. I am dodging the bullets like I’m still in training. Suddenly a
bullet hits my leg. I am down, thinking will I survive?
After about
10 seconds I make myself get up. It is bleeding really badly. I get the bandage
out of my pocket and bandage it up.
I start running
again. I stumble. It is no use. I start yelling for help. Duffy the donkey and his handler come after 10
minutes. Duffy carries me to the
hospital. He smells of old blood. I feel sick but I am happy to be rescued.
Duffy
Today
was not fun, not at all. That’s because I had to carry a wounded soldier that
weighs a tonne, well maybe not a tonne but he was extremely heavy.
I
have good food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but sometimes I’m too busy to have
lunch.
The
guy who owns me is John. He works so hard that he sometimes misses tea.
I
carry wounded soldiers and water and sometimes food up and down the hill.
I
look cute in the photo don’t I?
My
feet sometimes hurt, but the best thing is that I’ve got nothing to worry
about.
Jilun
Duffy The War Donkey
I wish I was
a human, all safe in my house. Instead I have to carry injured men to safety.
My ears are
hurting from the blasting of the guns. My fluffy back is so sore I can’t carry
one more person. I can smell a strong scent of blood coming from behind me.
Then I remind myself I am carrying an injured man.
I am
thankful for all of the other donkeys that take my place when I am too tired. I
think that I have carried a dead man. The man that I think was dead had like 20
bullet holes in him. Don’t worry I have made friends with the other donkeys.
Duffy
I wish I
wasn’t a donkey because I have to carry people to safety. Every day I also have
to transport food around all day, but what I really hate is blood running down
on me.
Sometimes I
like being a donkey because I get fed every day and also because I’m a hero for
my owner. I’m just a good donkey.
By Jack
The Big Battle
I am worried
about everything. I see explosions. I can see the Turkish people. I can hear
people screaming for help. My friend is a doctor. Every day he rescues up to 25
people an hour.
I can hear
and see the Sergeant. He is saying “Push forward – don’t be scared.”
I see the
sea. It is not blue. It is not turquoise. It is red.
I can see
the poppies getting squashed.
By Jacob
The Famous Donkey
My name is
Duffy. John Simpson found me in the battlefield. When I go downhill I bring
injured people to safety. I bring water when I go uphill.
I think I
bought 500 men down to the hospital tent. I also took 1000 gallons of water to
the soldiers.
I am John’s
favourite donkey. He doesn’t always bring me because I get tired after that
walking.
John Simpson got shot
when he was bringing water to the soldiers.
By Josh
Dear Alec
I hope you are all right
there. We miss you. Your dog is sad now
you have gone.
How is the food there? We had
chicken for tea last night.
Can I have your bedroom
please? But we miss you and I also miss you too. Did you shoot anyone yet?
Goodbye Alec.
From your little brother A.J.
TO
THE WAR
I was in the
Gallipoli war. I’m even lucky to be alive. It all started in 1914. I was 19
years old and they were asking for men to go to war. I thought
that it would be cool.
Then I went to practice being a soldier. There I met a guy
named Alec and we became friends. I was 20 now and it was time
to set off for Gallipoli. I had my camera, but when we got there it wasn’t
cool, at all. Alec and I ran to beach.
I was as
scared as ever. We were getting closer and closer to the enemy. We jumped into
the trench. I thought it was going to be the end. We had to move out of the
trench. I could hear the Commander shouting “Move out! Move out!”
We ran. We
came to another trench. It was empty. We jumped into it. But just as we jumped
into it, the water started to rise. I made it out and helped Alec out. Then I
heard a bullet fly past my head. I looked at Alec. He had blood on him. He fell
into the trench. There was no hope of getting him out now. He sank to the
bottom.
I charged to
the enemy. Bombs went off around my ears. Bullets went flying everywhere. Then
a bomb went off too close to me. It hit me in the leg. I went down with a thud.
In a second
the stretcher bearers were there. They took me as fast as they could. I was
sent back to New Zealand and I didn’t go back to Gallipoli.
By Lachie
Duffy
I am Duffy, John Simpson’s donkey.
My legs are very sore because I have been walking
up and down about 15 times already.
My ears are hurting because the sound of guns is
filling my head.
Now all I can hear is dead people lying whining, all
dead screaming on the ground in a deep dark puddle of blood.
By Iain
I Hope I See You
Again
Dear Alec,
How are you?
I hope you are good.
Thank you
for the birthday card. I got lots of presents from my friends. We had a big
party.
Yesterday
Sam and I went outside for a picnic and we picked up some rocks and made a rock
pile for you.
Can I have your
room? I like your bed.
For tea last
night we had fish ‘n’ chips and my best friend Ellen came over for the night. We
drew pictures. Here is a picture of Sophie our new pet rabbit.
From your
little sister Jaimee
Be Brave
I feel so
emotional and frightened. It almost feels like as soon as I get out of the
ditch I will die. But I won’t! I will
try to keep going for my family, for my town, for New Zealand. I will come back
to my family.
I can hear
crying. Wounded people are screaming. Somebody yells “Fight for victory!”
Then all of
us soldiers jump out of the ditch and fight and fight and fight.
A Life in the Army
It is a tough life in the
army. Our trench is filled with water. I am pulling a G.I. out of the trench. I
left him as soon as a canon shot at me. I ran for my life. I shot and stabbed
the enemy.
Woosh - a bullet went
right over my head. I heard a scream as some people got
blown up by a canon.
We called for reinforcement.
We are getting blown to pieces.
Just then the radio man
got blown up just as I said that a plane dropped more people off.
By
Samuel
In the Trenches
Hi, I am
David. I am a soldier. I have to have a bayonet at the end of my gun and so do
my friends Bob, Billy and Sam. We are
with the Maori Battalion.
Oh no, my enemy
just pushed me into a trench full of blood “HELP! HELP!” I scream at the top of my lungs, I feel like
I am going to drown with all the heavy equipment on my back it feels like it
weighs 20 tonne.
Finally
somebody is coming to help pull me out. But I am slipping. I get back up again
and we try again and again. The solider has to give up. He gets another solider
and then they both pull me up.
By Kian
DUFFY
My name is
Duffy. I am a donkey.
I carry
water and food to the battle site and I will bring an injured soldier back with
me. They use me because they have no more stretchers.
I will do that about 15 times a day. My ears
are really sore after the day.
I feel a bit
sad but ok. I love John Simpson. He is my best friend. He is my best friend
because he loves me. He helped get injured men to safety by using my back.
I miss the
sound of birds singing.
By Laelani
On the Battlefield
The poppies
are swaying side to side in between the gravestones. The gravestones have
carvings on them, very special carvings to remember the soldiers that died in
the war.
I feel sad
and brave. The poppies are red because it shows the colour of the soldier’s
blood. The poppies stand straight up like a soldier. On the grave stones there
are special symbols.
By Joseph
Navigated
Hi, I am
running at the speeds of 20 kms an hour in Dardanelles, Turkey.
I call
Dardanelles Death Town because I’ve seen trails of people who have got shot.
I have won a
Victoria Cross already.
Every dead
body that is not being buried, I bury.
The dead
bodies are in all sorts of positions. Once I saw a dead body with a gun and
bullet beside it.
We just made
a trench under the water of a river in Dardanelles. One of my Anzac mates
called Dave looked to see if anyone was attacking us. There was. The Turkish
were seeking trenches and once they located us they started shooting, but they
will get stuck because we have smashed glass on the trench and we also put some
special needles and nails on it so they will capsize.
By Tom
The
Tall Poppies
The poppies are standing up tall beside some gravestones at the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Belgium. All the gravestones
are nice and hard so they won’t break in half. The grass is green in the back
ground. The gravestones make me feel sad because to see all the soldiers how
have died in the war.
By
Lewis
World War 2
People are helping
people out of the trenches.
The
Australians and New Zealanders are attacking the Germans.
People are getting
shot back into the trenches. I can hear the guns going off and the grenades
exploding.
People have
to carry people that have been shot. They are going to the beach to go to the
medical centre. It is very slippery because it is raining.
By Bailey
Surviving
I am a
soldier from the war. I fight in France and Gallipoli. Whenever I’m there I
hear guns shooting and bombs exploding in the air. I see men shooting and
bombing our enemy. I see soldiers hiding in trenches and men helping men out of
deep rivers and streams and deep ditches too.
Sometimes I
feel brave, but other times I am scared and I want to be back with my family.
At night
when we stay at the camps in our tents, I am scared that our enemy is going to
bomb us in the middle of the night.
Today when I
got back I was told that Simpson and his donkey Duffy brought back about 29
injured or dead men, back to the camp.
Sadly my
best friend was killed. I try to dodge all the guns shooting and the bombs
coming towards me. I’m going to be brave
and survive and hope to get back to my family.
By Sarah
IN WORLD WAR ONE
I feel scared that we are running
down the river so I have to ask my friends for help. I can hear gun shots.
I run and start to dig the trenches
so we can hide in them and people can use the machine gun to help the team shoot.
I can see soldiers from my battalion dead
on the ground and I can see people in the trenches wearing gas masks.
I sleep in my tent for the night. In
the morning I go and help out.
BY TAINE
My name is Duffy
the donkey. I carry injured people to the hospital tents on my back as quickly
as I can. That is why John Simpson
always says “Hurry up!”
I get very
tired, because I’m going up the hill and back at least ten times a day. I smell
blood when I walk across the battlefield.
John Simpson
found me at the top of the hill. He thought this is a good way to carry injured
people to hospital because there were bombs bombing, and grenades exploding.
By Kyle
Here we are in the trenches pulling
out men that are almost sinking into the water.
I feel worried that I’m going to die
but I have to keep fighting for my country.
I hear gun shots and screaming and I
feel unsafe because when I look at this place it’s horrible and frightening. There’s
blood all over the place that makes me feel sick.
Shanelle
The Scared Soldiers
I can feel mud
slopping down my boots.
Shrapnel is
blasting into my skin.
My sadness for
home is painful.
Pain is in my left
shoulder from the gun shock.
I can see blood in
the water.
Grenades are flying
in the air.
Wounded soldiers are
lying on the ground.
Mud and dead trees
are scattered as far as the eye can see.
Muzzle flashes
everywhere.
Men are retreating
into trenches.
I can hear screams
of horror.
Explosions are crushing
the dirt.
Guns are firing
bullets past our heads and helmets.
By Caleb
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
ANZAC Reading Work
We are reading Journal stories about war and then writing about them.
One of the stories was The ANZAC button. It is about a soldier who went to war and he had a button his khaki jacket. It saved his life when he was hit by shrapnel on his neck. After the war he threw the jacket in his wardrobe. On April 25th he got it out again and wore it to the ANZAC parade.
After he died his great-grand-daughter tied the buttons from the coat onto a red ribbon to wear on ANZAC days - summary by Ellen.
We also read a journal story called Boy Soldiers. It was about 2 boys that were under the age of 20 who went to the war because they thought it was going to be an adventure. Stan's gas mask came off and he had breathing problems for the rest of his life - summary by Caleb.
Aileen and me is a story about a girl that is afraid of bombs and thunderstorms and about her friend who is the story-teller. Their Dads went to war. One of the Dads came back and the other one didn't - summary by Jacob.
One of the stories was The ANZAC button. It is about a soldier who went to war and he had a button his khaki jacket. It saved his life when he was hit by shrapnel on his neck. After the war he threw the jacket in his wardrobe. On April 25th he got it out again and wore it to the ANZAC parade.
After he died his great-grand-daughter tied the buttons from the coat onto a red ribbon to wear on ANZAC days - summary by Ellen.
We also read a journal story called Boy Soldiers. It was about 2 boys that were under the age of 20 who went to the war because they thought it was going to be an adventure. Stan's gas mask came off and he had breathing problems for the rest of his life - summary by Caleb.
Aileen and me is a story about a girl that is afraid of bombs and thunderstorms and about her friend who is the story-teller. Their Dads went to war. One of the Dads came back and the other one didn't - summary by Jacob.
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