I had fun singing with my grandparents in the Philippines!

I went back to the Philippines!

The morning of our flight, I woke up early, ate my breakfast, showered, got changed and then my parents and I left our house to go to the airport.

My family and I were going on a vacation for one month. We travelled there in a plane.

    

When we got to the Philippines, we booked a condo for us to stay at while we were there.

My mother borrowed her relative's car so we could explore Manila. We also went to our grandmother and grandfather's house.

My father gave them a Xbox 360 and a controller for it. While we were there, we sang karaoke with them. Eventually the sun came down and I felt really tired so we went back to our condo.

It was a really long flight home. My cousin in New Zealand picked us up from the airport.

My favorite part of the trip was when we explored Manila because we saw a lot of shops, buildings and people.

Learning intention: We are learning to write a recount.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I follow the structure of a recount:introduction, events, conclusion to describe my trip back to the Phillipines.

I cannot wait for my Holy Communion!

Wow! I just got my Confirmation Certificate! Did you know where I had my confirmation ceremony?I had at the St. Patrick's Cathedral in the city.

It all started when I was in the car, waiting to be dropped off at St. Patrick's Cathedral. We parked near the sidewalk and then walked towards the church. My mother accompanied me inside a building opposite the cathedral for church lessons. A doorway was open with some stairs that led down to a small corridor then a second doorway let you into the venue.

My mom signed in to let them know that I was there, then I sat on the carpet quietly. My mother sat on a metal chair nearby, watching. She gave me my pens and pencils and my file book when I needed them. Lots of other kids were there too but we only had one teacher. There was supposed to be two, but the other one was sick. The lesson took an hour. After that, my mother and I went up the steps again into the parking lot and then walked into the Cathedral.

Inside, there were few people already. I took a seat and tried to reserve the whole pew until my whole family arrived. When they came, the pew was full and we couldn't fit anymore. One had to stay standing while we were sitting. Before long our teacher announced the people that were getting their certificates by saying our names on the microphone. I was one of them! I felt very happy to receive it! The certificate was covered in plastic and has my name on it and the symbols of the Holy Spirit.

When the ceremony was over, my family and I left the cathedral.  We drove home and we put my certificate on the table. I felt honoured to have been confirmed in my faith to be a son of God and a Christian.

Learning intention: We are learning to follow the structure of a recount.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write a title, followed by the events and then a conclusion of my Confirmation ceremony.

Now my sculpture can stand better!

 A week ago, Room 7 had our tenth art lesson! It all started when half of us were already back in class, sitting down on the mat with our teacher, when Salome came with Siliga through the door.

They had came back to help us to improve our sculptures so that they would look much better and be more stable. I decided to throw away the old sculpture because it was very heavy and it was difficult to put the legs on because the surface was so uneven.

This time round, I decided to make a bigger, much improved sculpture so that the legs would fit in properly. My previous sculpture was too heavy so I

dismantled the parts of the old one and used it to create a brand new sculpture. I used plastic plates for the body, but most people thought they were made out of paper.

I found four plastic plates and stuck them together to make the body. After that, I started cutting some straws with the scissors to make them shorter so they can be the legs. I needed to put two legs on each side of the plates. Salome brought more materials like spray paint, more recyclable materials and more glue tubes for the glue gun. I decided to use the blue styrofoam nearby.  I cut it into circles and painted it red and glued it in front of the plastic plates as the eyes.

Since I couldn't find the styrofoam scraps that I needed, I started scavenging around the classroom for sharp pieces to use as fangs. I only needed two fangs, but they were relatively hard to find. Eventually I found two pieces that I could use, one looked dull while the other looked sharp.

Before long, Salome and Siliga were leaving. The whole class and I waved and said goodbye to them. I loved making my sculptures and I hope there will be more sessions to come.

Learning Intention: We are learning to follow the structure of a recount.

Success Criteria: I know I can do this when I write a title, events and a conclusion about Room 7's tenth art lesson with Salome and Siliga.

        

We had a short assembly this morning!

On Monday the 20th of June on a freezing winter morning, I ran to assembly in a hurry because I thought I was running late. I walked on the deck in a hurry and hooked my bag on the bag rack in the cloak bay.

After that, I quickly sat down on the cold, smooth rock-like surface next to my classmates because that was where our school assembly was taking place. Room 5L was running assembly. It was very cold and I was shivering as if I was in Antarctica. However, if I was really there, then I would be frozen.

Their teacher Miss Twomey, read the Gospel of Jesus working on the Sabbath Day. After the end, every class said, "Praise be to you Lord, Jesus Christ." Then Mrs Twomey picked up a black folder and she displayed the words to the Waiata that they were singing. They sang a song that sounded very familiar to me and by this time, my legs were freezing from sitting so long on the cold ground outside.

After that everyone was asked to say the Our Father. We followed obediently without any disruptions. When we finished our Karakia, Mrs Twomey announced the Student of the week and the School Spirit Awards. Unfortunately, there were no Caught Being Good certificates.

There were two people from Room 7, two from Room 8, two from Room 5L and two from Room 2. Most classes had a person chosen for the School Spirit Award.

Soon, assembly was over. We went back to our rooms slowly in a crooked line. It was very cold and I felt like I was in a freezer.

Learning intention: We are learning to follow the structure of a recount.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write a title, events and a conclusion to my recount.

Every part of my sculpture is recyclable!

Learning intention: We are learning to follow the structure of a recount.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write a recount of how I made my recycled spider sculpture in order. 

I think we can sing very well this Sunday!

On Friday the 27th of May, it was a chilly day, my whole class and I went to the church near our school to have our singing practice to prepare for the Mass occurring on Sunday.

We were working on our chromebooks when the time hit 10:00, our teacher told us to close our chromebooks and head to church in a straight line.

We walked faster than usual because we were all feeling the cold from the winter season. Before we entered the church, we used the holy water and marked the sign of the cross on our heads. Then we walked inside and genuflected towards the tabernacle before we entered our seats. Some of the other classes were already there.

We sang around eight songs with high pitched voices and medium pitched ones as well. I sang a lot but I felt I was a little too loud because I could only hear myself.

Finally after an hour, our practice ended. We left our seats, genuflected looking at the tabernacle and left the church silently.

I think we will sing very well on Sunday.

Learning intention: We are learning to write a recount.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I follow the structure of a recount starting with an orientation, followed by the events and then a conclusion of our singing practice at church.

Do you know that compost takes a lot of effort?

On Monday the 23rd, my class and I made compost. Our teacher split us into four groups.

Two of the groups went outside looking for leaves and twigs while the other two groups had to cut banana peels and rip up old newspaper. The leaves and twigs are the greens for the compost and the paper and the banana peels are the browns for the compost. I was in the group that had to cut banana peels and we used scissors to cut them into very small pieces.  

We took a long time because there were a lot of banana peels. The groups that had to collect twigs and leaves came back while we were still cutting. They had completed their part before us. The newspaper group soon finished ripping up the pieces of clean newspaper.

We used a garden fork and a small trowel to flip and move everything that we had added. We all had a turn in twos but we only had ten seconds to mix and turn the compost.

Finally we were complete. We decided to put our compost in an area with low light. It was a lot of fun and we washed our hands and scissors so that we would not attract ants into our class.

Learning intention: We are learning how to write a recount.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I follow the structure of a recount to write about my class making compost.