Pages

Friday, September 3, 2021

Our Amazing Oceans

 Hi readers!

Before we went into lockdown, we were learning about our oceans and pollution. Now that we have gone into lockdown, our teachers have given us many different tasks about our oceans. One of them being to create a presentation on why we should care for our oceans.

I used canva to create my presentation. It answers three main questions. What do our oceans do for us, what is happening to our oceans, and how how we can save our oceans. 

Here is my presentation!


Our Ocean by Riley Gray


What do you do think? How can you help save our oceans? Do you do any activities in the ocean?

Until Next time!

Friday, August 20, 2021

Creative colouring!

 Hi readers!

Because we have gone back into lockdown (much to my disgust), we have had to start our online learning once again. I don't mind online learning, and I tend to get my work done much faster without the distraction of my friends or the noise, but the reason I'm not enjoying lockdown is all the activities I'm missing out on and that I don't get to see my friends. I'm going to take this lockdown as an opportunity to take a break from the amount of after school activities I'm doing and instead focusing a bit more on my school work.

For Friday's work, instead of doing more literacy or numeracy, we do some set work from the summer learning journey. I choose to do one called art colouring book. I went onto a site and choose a famous artwork. I then coloured it in the same way as the original (or tried my best to) then once I had finished I changed a few things too add my own pop of colour.

Here is the original.


And here is mine:

I only changed the colour of the background (too make things pop) and a couple of the flowers for some colour. How do you feel about lockdown? Which art work do you like better?

Until next time!






Friday, August 13, 2021

Amazing Aladdin Production

 Hi readers!

We have finally finished our school production. After 12 weeks of practice, lunchtimes, mornings, even weekends. We had to learn dances, lines, remember to "stay at the front of the stage". I played one of the princesses, jasmines friends. We had to have our hair and makeup done, and my hair took quite a while because of how long it is, but it looked nice in the finish. 

They took some photos of the performance, so here are some of them.





I performed for 1 night and 1 afternoon. 

Have you ever been to a school production before? Have you been in one before? Have you watched Aladdin before?

Until next time!


Friday, July 9, 2021

Mystical Matariki Kites

 Hi readers!

Happy Matariki everyone! 

On the 2 July, we celebrated the Māori New Year, a time to consider the year ahead. The days are starting to lengthen and spring will soon be here, we just need to get through this cold winter first! 

Matariki and the Pleiades star cluster, have got many stories attached to them. We looked at two; one about how Ranginui and Papatuanuku were separated by Tāne Mahuta, and how Tāwhirimatea was so angry he ripped out his eyes and threw thunderbolts to the sky, creating the cluster, and another story about 7 sisters making kites, and them going to the sky. Ururangi’s kite was different from the rest, it was rainbow coloured. We have mixed these two stories to create the design of our kites.

My kite has Tawhirimatea and the wind represented with the clouds. I then coloured it in as a rainbow.



What stories have you heard about Matariki?

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

S.T.E.A.M Paper Table!

Hi readers!

This week we were given a task to make a 15cm tall table made from only newspaper and tape. It had to be able to hold at least one book. Our team decided to make 5 legs, put 4 of each corner, and then 1 in the middle. On the top, we put 2 pieces of newspaper. 

Our table managed to hold one book, and after putting the 2nd book on, it snapped and fell, after that, the table could barely stand on its own. This is the slide we made about the experiment.



There it is.

Have you ever made a table out of newspapers? How would you have done it?  

Until next time!


Wednesday, June 9, 2021

My Matariki Artwork

Hi readers!

For this term, we have been working on Matariki stars and the Maori new year! For our artwork, we did foam printmaking. It looked really difficult at the start buts it's actually really easy! First, you have to draw your plan on a scrap piece of paper, we had to draw the Matariki stars as swirls at the top and mountains down the bottom. It was also important that you did in reverse, so that when you print it, and it gets flipped, the stars in the right place.

Next you were given a piece of A4 foam. You had to get a ball point pen and draw what you had drawn on your plan onto the piece of foam, you had to make sure you put a bit of dent in so that the lines would show up in the finished print. Then you rolled out some ink and started rolling it onto you piece of foam, making sure it covered everything, and using multiple colours. Once it was all rolled on, you put a piece of A3 paper on top and use a clean, dry roller to transfer the ink onto the paper. 

This is what mine turned out like


We were allowed to make a couple prints with different colours, I made 4 different prints. When my prints dry, I'm going to make a frame out of paper to stick around the edge. I think that if I did it again I would put more ink on so there are no white specks, and use some different colours.

Have you done printmaking before? What do you know about the matariki stars?

Until next time!








 

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Production Story Board!

 Hi readers!

The school production is moving along fast, we only have about 8 weeks left and we are starting to learn dances. I'm only in one dance at the moment so when I've been watching the other dances, I've been making a storyboard based on one of the scenes I'm in.











There it is.

The character that says my line is in the blonde one. After this scene, I sing a song.

Have you been in a production before? If you have, what was it and who did you play?

Until next time!






Friday, May 21, 2021

Practice for production!

Hi readers!

We are doing Aladdin for our production this year. This means a lot of practice, which we do instead of inquiry. Therefore if you aren't practicing your lines, you need activities to do while waiting. So we were giving a whole bunch of tasks to do, with a theme of Aladdin.

I had to do a pixel art on my favorite character. I chose to do Jasmine and Rajah. Ironically I'm playing Rajah in the school production, which I am happy about.

Here is my pixel art.



This took a few days to finish but I'm happy about the end result.

Who is your favorite character? Have you done pixel art before?

Until next time!



S.T.E.A.M

Hi readers!

On a Wednesday, we did an activity where we were given an egg and some materials. We were tasked to protect the egg with all the materials we were given. It had to be protected enough so that when we dropped it from a really high height, it wouldn't crack. 

Here is my slide that I did on the project.


There are also some photos on there.

Our egg almost survived, we only have a tiny crack on it. I think it worked well, but 

Until next time!






Friday, March 26, 2021

Wonderful Weather in Maori

 Hi readers!

We have been learning a little bit about Maori in class these past weeks. To be exact we have been learning about weather in Maori 

We had to write a scratch about two characters talking about the weather in Maori. They had to have a conversation and talk about two different Maori weather names.

Here is the scratch



They are saying 
"How's the weather today"
then one responds with 
"It is hot"

It then cuts to the next scene where they speak the same conversation again but with different weather'

They are saying 
"How's the weather today"
then one responds with 
"It is snowy"

This took a while because it would make the people speak at the exact same time, and I couldn't figure how to fix it but I got it after a while.

Have you made a scratch before? Can you speak about the weather in Maori?

Until next time

Thursday, March 4, 2021

Wonderful Waitangi Voki

Hi Readers!

Recently we have been learning about Waitangi day for inquiry. In a previous blog post, I shared a poster I made about the boat ride there, and a little bit of info about the issues that came with settlers. But we did learn a lot more about the issues from both sides.

We were tasked to make a Voki video, which is a website that makes a person speak for you. We had to pick what side to speak for, the English or Maori. Then you had to write a pov on docs about how your side felt.  Then you copy and paste it into Voki. I choose to do it from the Maori POV.

Click the link to watch the video! My Voki!

Here is what the Maori Cheif in my Voki looks like!


What do you know about Waitangi Day? Who would you do your POV from?

Until next time!





Wednesday, March 3, 2021

The Wonders of Waitangi day

 Hi readers!

With Waitangi day recently, and our inquiry is based around our Maori culture,  so it obvious we would do some work around it. In our past years, we learned about Waitangi Day and the basic information around it. This time, we learned a bit more about the boat ride there, and about the different sides, and how each side felt. 

We had to make a poster which answered four questions.

  • The journey they took
  • Issues that happened on the boat
  • What they observed when they arrived in NZ
  • The issues that arose when they arrived in NZ (both sides)
It was hard to fit it all on one thing, so Mr. G suggested making an Infographic.

Here is my infographic of Waitangi day



There it is!

How much did you know about Waitangi day? What do you think about it?

Until next time!






My Distorted Drawing for Keeping Ourselves Safe

 Hi readers!

On tech days we have taken an interest in how to keep ourselves safe. Today we were talking about other people's safety. We talked about physical examples of when we are responsible for others' safety, like babysitting, driving, cooking, etc... Then we talked about other people's mental safety. Which is making sure people are comfortable and happy mentally. We were shown two situations that showed when someone is mentally unsafe, and when someone is physically unsafe. At the end of each scenario, is an empty box, in which we had to draw what we think should happen next to make the person feels safe.

Here is the first one


This one shows when someone feels mentally unsafe. This picture shows two girls walking together, one with a lazy eye. They walk up to two other girls and they decide to block out and ignore the girl with the lazy eye. They then try to take the other girl away. Then the next square was empty and we had to draw what we think the girl being taken away should do. I choose to make the girl go back to her friend and tell the others that she was going to hang out with her instead of them.

Here is the next one.


This one shows two boys playing basketball together until these thugs turn up and tell them to leave the court. When the two boys say no, one of the thugs pushes a boy over. Then there is an empty box. I decided to fill it up with the two boys saying to stop being mean and walking off.

What would you fill these boxes up with? Are you a good drawer? I know I'm not.

Until next time!




History of the Tamoko

 Hi readers!

For inquiry this term we have been learning about our Maori culture, specifically, a certain Maori tradition called a Tamoko. A Tamoko is a sort of tattoo the Maori chiefs got back in the day. The Tamoko tells a story, about your history and achievements, and your family's history. Men are allowed to get Tamokos wherever on their face, as women are only allowed to get it on their chin and lips. 

We watched a video explaining what the tamoko was, and its history. Then we were sent off to make a poster on canva about what pieces of information stood out the most to you. Although I did think a lot of information was important, I could only fit so many on there, so I choose the most interesting and important.

Here it is


Tamokos are becoming less and less popular, but are such a beautiful tradition.

What fact did you find most interesting? Did you know what a Tamoko was? What are your opinions on them?

Until next time!



Keeping Yourself Safe Online

 Hi Readers!

On Wednesdays before tech, we have been working on keeping ourselves safe. We had to make a poster on canvas in which we had to write a scenario, and then give three options to what we could do in the situation. I choose to do mine on a situation where you were walking home and someone you have never seen before says they are a family friend and say they are going to take you home. Then I list options and their consequence. 

Here is the poster!


What option would you choose? If I had to choose, I would choose to run home because if I have never seen them before then there is a high chance they could just be trying to kidnap me, and it doesn't hurt to just decline and walk home yourself, even if they are a family friend, it isn't gonna matter cause you have to walk every other day so it would be nothing new.

Has this ever happened to you before? If it has, what did you do? If you had to make a poster what would you do about it?

Until next time!


Thursday, February 18, 2021

Absolutely Everything About Me

 Hi Readers!

Because it's the start of the year we have been doing a lot of stuff about ourselves. Including a canva presentation about me! We used canvas this time, as the majority of the time we used slides. I think it worked well and it was much easier to use. 

Here is the presentation about me!



There it is!

It has some info about me on it including my favourite food, colours, hobbies etc..

If you made some like this what would be in it? Have you made something like this before?

Until next time!

Lovely Lego Man!

 Hi readers!

How are you!

Recently we have been working on a self-portrait. Self-portraits are an annual thing at marshlands. At the start of every year in Toroa, we do a self-portrait in different ways. Last year, if you scroll to the start of my blog, you might see my last one. This year we had to do a self-portrait in which you had to make yourself a lego man! (Or woman) We were given a template and sent off to draw ourselves as a lego man.

Here is what I did!


I tried to do a bit of shading on the arms, it turned out ok. I'm wearing a green shirt with grey pants, which is an outfit I wear often, with some white shoes. My hair color is difficult to make so I had to mix some colors but I think I got pretty close. I added a very simple background to finish it off. All  the portraits are now hung up on the wall 

Overall I think I did pretty well.

Have you ever drawn yourself as a lego person before?

Until Next time!




My Perfect Pepeha

Hi readers!

How are you?

These past 3 days we have been learning our Pepeha! We started by using a website and answering some questions and it made us a Pepeha. This is what it made


Then we made our more advanced Pepeha, with our parents and sibling included. We then made a video for our Pepeha, where we had to read our Pepeha on the video. My Pepeha includes my mountain, my lake, my parents, my sister, my city, where my ancestors were from, where I was born, etc...

This is the video that I created 



There it is.

Do you know your Pepeha? Would you be interested to learn it if you haven't already?

Until next time!




 

Kayaking at Camp!

Hi Readers!

This is my first blog post of the year! I'm excited for 2021 and starting as a year 8. 

We had one day at school and then we were off to camp. We left on Tuesday and came back on Friday. That's 3 nights and 4 days. We did a total of 5 activities.

We were given a task to make a presentation of your favorite activity at camp. I choose Kayaking. The video below explains why.

 on Biteable.


The camp was fun and I had a great time with my friends. I think that all the activities were fun but challenging as well.

Where did you go camping? What is your favorite activity?

Until next time!