Coming Back From Camp

 We were learning about writing about a moment in time. I chose to write about coming back from camp Kaitawa because it happened recently and it was also quite emotional. The learning intention for this lesson was to include powerful adjectives, verbs, adverbs and emotive words about a moment in time.  

I found it easy to make my writing really emotive. I also found it easy to publish my draft onto a slide because all I had to do was copy and paste my draft onto a slide, give it fancy font and change the background.   

I found it challenging to not overwrite because there were so many cool things that happened at camp, I was surprised that I only had 294 words! Although that is quite a bit. The only other thing that I found difficult was choosing what part of camp to write about. I chose what I did because it was the most recent memory I had.

Next time I plan to write about a time that has a bit more of a positive vibe, such as kayaking, like I said in the writing below I found out that I love kayaking! So that would be a very positive piece of writing, especially if I chose to write about jumping off! That was a fun time.

Horouta Animation

 We were learning about the voyager Paoa and his journey to Aotearoa on the waka Horata. The kumara was their prized cargo that they were transporting to a person on the North Island. Many other people came with him, they included, Kiwa, the navigator, who came with his son Kahutuanui. Paoas sister Hinehakirirangi also came along as protector and carer of the kumara.        

I found it easy to decide on part of the story that I wanted to create an animation about. The part that I chose was when they were traveling across the sea to New Zealand from Hawiki. That part and the one with Kanawa and how she brought fern roots with her even though it was strictly forbidden.

I found it challenging to find a character from google search that could be used as Hinehakirirangi. In the end I settled with a silhouette of a lady. I was going to create a piupiu for her but it just took too much time. But I think it looks alright all the same.   

Next time I will add more detail into my waka and try to use a larger variety of tools, not just polyline and google search. I also think that my background could have a lot more detail, so it is not just a gradient one. There is only one more thing that I could change and that is using less images from google.

PB4L Logo

I was learning about how to use and insert mote to explain my PB4L logo. We had to Independently create a logo that represents PB4L at Awapuni School, using tools such as; polyline, shapes, colours, explore and Word Art. The other aims for this session was to add audio to your mahi using the 'mote' extension, to explain what your logo represents. Afterwards we had to post onto our blogs using quality stems.

I found it hard to decide on a logo that represented me showing positive behavior for learning at school, I started off with a heart that had someone high fiving another person, but I hadn't even got to inserting the high five when I decided that I wanted something else. That happened over three times before I was satisfied with the end product.  

I found it easy to set up Mote and pin it to my computer. All I had to do was click some buttons that said, Next, Allow and one that said No. There was a part where it asked me whether I was eighteen, that was where I clicked the No option.

I really enjoyed creating and talking about my logo. Although my voice came out much more high pitched than it really is. My logo is all about being positive and thoughtful, like I said in the Mote added in the slide below. I also enjoyed the thrill of posting it to my blog and acknowledging that it was finally done. 

Next time I will think more about what I want my logo to be about and look like before I actually set up my chromebook and opened a slide. If I did this than it would save a lot of time and I would be able to finish and put the end product on my blog.

Sunflower Poem

We were learning about writing a environmental poem about sunflowers. Our poem should personalise the sunflower, talk about it like it has human traits and powers. In my poem the sunflower I'm writing about ages with each line. At the beginning it is happy and young, then at the end it sad and old.

I found it easy to make my published writing look spectacular by adding pictures and word art. Filling in the text box black against the gold, gradient background also made the slide look very grand if I do say so myself.

I found it challenging to find a decent start and then continue decently. This was so hard that I ended up spending a whole lesson devoted to changing and fixing up my draft copy. At the beginning I wanted all of the words at the end of each sentence to rhyme so that made things even trickier! Near the end I dumped the idea of rhymes and just went with whatever I came up with in the last ten minutes of the lesson.

Next time if I notice that it is getting really hard and I have tried persevering I should try a different method or style so I can make that change faster.

Awapuni School Triathlon

 We were learning about writing a informative recount about our school triathlon. We had to use descriptive, rich words to paint a picture in the reader's mind. Mrs Bavas exact words that she had written on the Team Toroa were: I want you to  include powerful adjectives, verbs, adverbs and emotive words about the School Triathlon at Churchill Park. The success criteria for this lesson was to include a range of descriptive words, adverbs, verbs and use the correct tense.  

I found it easy to use heaps of emotive words in my writing as there was a lot of emotion included in the school triathlon for me. Another thing that was easy for me was publishing, all I had to do was copy and paste my draft writing into a google slide, make it look interesting then post it to my blog. 

I found it challenging to to finish my writing in the time we were given, so I only ended up publishing and blogging about my writing in this finishing up session. The other challenging thing was to find some amazing rich words to replace the boring ones. I did it eventually but it was still hard.    

Next time I will do some of the writing at home since I have my own chromebook. If I do that then I might be able to finish the writing and post it to my blog sooner.

Follow Up Activities

 I was learning about solar energy, the sun and how it is kinder to the environment and to your electricity bill if you use solar panels as a source of energy. The other thing we learnt about was the world solar challenge, it takes place every three years in Australia. 

I found it hard to answer all of the follow up questions to a standard that I approve of and am willing to post to my blog. I kept on changing the answers to something that I thought was better. Then changing it back to what it was originally only to change it yet again. 

I found it easy to read all of the books in just one reading session! It was helpful to have read them all so I could answer all of the questions with ease. All the same I read them five times each. But the video I only watched once or twice.

I really enjoyed learning all about solar energy and the sun. The other thing I really enjoyed was experimenting with the solar car, seeing how far it went, finding out which surface it worked best on and just having fun fiddling with the car in general.   

Next time I will make sure that we have our whole group before we started experimenting. Mrs Bava (my reading teacher) is going to buy some chalk so we could chart how far the car goes exactly. I love reading, it is my favorite subject. 

Optical Illusions Google Drawing

 Today I finished my google drawing about Optical Illusions, the one I chose was a pattern made of rectangles/squares that looked like it had been badly folded in half. To make it look even more vivid I polylined over the pattern.

  I found it difficult to get in time to do my SLJ work because my brothers kept on asking me to put on Disney plus for them so they could have a wider selection of movies to watch rather than watching the same DVDS over and over again.

Once I had got the hang of the first few shapes and colors I created a strategy by doing just the white ones then doing just the black ones. This strategy made it much easier to do the polylining and I was done much quicker because of it.

If I was to do this activity again the thing I'd do differently would be to choose either a more exciting pattern or design my own one.