Sherbet Science Experiment

Today for science we did a sherbet experiment. We were given the four ingredients that make sherbet, icing sugar, baking soda, citrus acid and tartaric acid. In my group was Gina, Nathaniel, Riley, Molly H and me. We made about five recipes but in the end we got the perfect one. Our one almost tasted like store bought sherbet! Overall I think this experience was really good and I would love to do science involving sugar again.   

Candy Rush

Today in maths we did an place value activity called Candy Rush. We all got a sheet and a candy bag with lollies in it ( pictures of them not actual lollies). Each bag had a value and an amount, the amount in my bag was 26 lollies and the value was 58,350.41.  Then after that we got put into groups to do some activities like making a table for all our names, values and amounts. I had fun doing this maths activity because it used teamwork and a lot of thinking.

Graduation Mass

Yesterday we had Graduation Mass. I was not graduating but me and the other year 5 students got leadership candles which was cool. We sung some lovely songs and a new one called Light a Candle in the Darkness. This was also Mrs Gleeson's last mass which was very sad. Frankie did a very good speech and it inspired me to treasure my memories of Good Shepherd. I really liked this mass and guess what, it will be MY graduation next year! I can't wait!

A to Z of NZ artists

For my inquiry passport I did this list of NZ artists starting from Aaradhna all the way to Ivan Zagini. I had lots of fun learning about some NZ artists that I didn't even know existed! I got 20 points for doing this activity. Overall I really liked doing this project and would recomend it for other people to do.

Spud Gun Experiment

Today we did a continued experiment. It was a continued experiment because last week when we tried it and we failed and needed to try again so today we did.The experiment we did was a spud gun experiment. How it worked was that we got a straw stabbed it through the potato and twisted it so the potato came out with it and then we did this to the other side then stuck the blunt end of a skewer in slowly and it was meant to fly out. But it wasn't that easy, I had a green straight straw and it was really hard to get the straw through to the other side of the potato so what I did was I stabbed the straw in as much as I could then did it to the other. It worked... barely, the furthest I could get mine was 15 cm and I am not kidding. I liked doing this even if it didn't work, maybe in the future I will try it again and it will work really well. But that is just science.

Why we NEED to STOP Child Abuse

What if I told you that kids just like you and me hide from their parents because they are so terrified of what their parents will do to them for just a simple thing like forgetting to unload the dishwasher or coming home from school a few minutes late. Imagine if you were walking home from school and all you could think about was what awaited you, and you were so terrified that as soon as you opened the door when you saw your mum or dad you bolted to your room and locked your door so they could not get to you.


Child abuse is when adults take advantage of their children and do really mean things to them. Normally these children don’t have anyone to comfort them. We need to stop this big frightening problem.



Firstly, No one gets any thing from child abuse,arguments or feuds, whatever you want to call them they are horrible and no child deserves to be treated this way. Child abuse is like bullying but worse. The bully or parent might feel good when they are making the person hurt both physically and mentally, but are they actually happy? Do they really feel good about making someone feel bad?
Secondly, it is really bad that some children are forced to keep it a secret and if they tell someone they will be threatened that something really horrible will be done to them so they keep quiet. Sometimes when they are around teachers, friends, relatives etc the parents are nice to their children but when alone are super unpleasant.

Last of all, you might actually know someone who is going through this and it can be really hard for them, remember that quiet girl in the corner who never talks to anyone and always looks scared? Yes, the one you and your friends laugh at, maybe go over to her see if she’s okay, ask her if she would like help and just be kind about it.

In conclusion no one gets anything from child abuse, some children are forced to keep quiet about their problems and children are teased for having no friends because of their problems. This is a big problem and we need to help these children to stand up to their parents and speak out. WE NEED TO STOP CHILD ABUSE!!!!!

St Peters Orchestra

On Wednesday the St Peters College Orchestra came to our school. They were absolutely amazing. There was the strings and also the orchestra. First the strings performed and they were really good, after that the orchestra played and they played some really entertaining songs. Two of my favourite instruments were the drums and the saxophone. Overall I was really glad that they could come and perform for us and I hope I might get to here them perform again.

Order Up Maths Activity

Today we did a maths activity called order up. What we had to do was answer the question and the tab that started with the answer was the next question. This activity was all around decimals. I had lots of fun doing this and learnt some things I did not know. I hope we do something like this again. 

Beaks Science Project

Today we did a science project about working out which kind of bird beaks can pick up different things better. We also did it in a group. My group was Jemima, Seihara, Bella, Eli and Riley.  The tweezers were named after numbers. Jemima had type 01, Riley had 02, Bella had 03, I had 05, Seihara had 06 and Eli had 08. The types of things we were picking up was ripped up pieces of paper, gummy worms and skittles. 01 was the best for paper, 06 for the gummy worms and 08 for the skittles.  I had lots of fun doing this project and hope I get to do another. 

Headless Chickens Old Band Ticket

In inquiry we are doing a passport. The topic is New Zealand music, this is one of the activities I did. The activity was to make a band ticket for a band\singer from the past. I did mine for the Headless Chickens. I ripped it a bit and coloured it a bit to make it look like it was old. I had lots of fun doing this and it was interesting to learn about the band Headless Chickens. And I think they have a cool name.

Comics

In class we all did comics. This is my comic 'Vegetables', it is about a girl called Emily who won't eat her veges but when she is told she will never grow she eats all the veg she can and then at the end turned into a giant. We learnt that comics can be funny but they have to make sense. We also learnt that a comics need to have a beginning, middle and end. I had tons of fun learning about comics and how to write them, I hope I will get to do this again.

St Joan of Arc

In R.E we did research on a saint. I did mine on St Joan of Arc. She was fun to do because I learnt a lot of stuff that I didn't know about her, for example that her birthday was on May the 30th. St Joan of Arc's parents were Isabelle Romee and Jacques d'Arc. She is the patron saint of France and her French name is Jeanne d'Arc.  I had lots of fun learning about her and I hope you do too.

Bat-Eared Fox Poster

In reading we have been doing posters on animals that move during the night. As you can see my poster is on bat-eared foxes. Bat-eared foxes are interesting animals because of their enormous ears. Their ears are good for two reasons, 1. To let them hear the slightest sound from many metres away and 2. For helping the heat from their body to get out and cool them down. Bat-eared foxes live in desert and are one of the biggest animals there!! I really liked doing this poster because I found it really fun.

Kia Kaha Bookmarks

In Kia Kaha we made bookmarks about why you shouldn't bully, things to do when you are being bullied and what to do if you are a bystander. On one side I did why you shouldn't bully and on the other I did things to do when you are being bullied. I felt good making these because one day my bookmark might help someone choose the right choices and make the right decision in a situation of bullying.

My Diorama

Last term in inquiry we all made dioramas, this is mine, it is a coral reef. A coral reef is a place where there is probably every colour fish you can imagine!  It is a very colourful place and I would love to go diving and see a coral reef it would be a dream come true! Every thing is made out of paper, washi tape and string. I had lots of fun making this diorama and learnt some facts about coral reefs that I didn't know.

Bonus: In the middle is Ollie the Octopus with seven legs ( this was because I lost one before sticking them on and didn't realise) and he is the king of his coral reef. All the fish are his friends and he is very kind to them.

Big Foot Cycle Course

Today we did a bike safety course with a company called Big Foot Adventures. We did it on the netball courts and we did lots of fun safety games. We learnt how to do a four point check. A four point check is a thing you do before you get on your bike, you check your that  1. your tires are pumped up, 2. both your brakes are working, 3. your levers (or bolts) are tightened and 4. your red reflector is pointing backwards. I had lots of fun learning different skills such as indicating, looking back, the four point check, braking gently and checking my helmet for cracks. Overall I had lots of fun and I'm glad I got to experience this. 

My Maths Pedes

In maths we made math pedes. Math pedes are when you follow a pattern to make creatures or as we called them math pedes. We also had to say the rules for some of them. I had a lot of fun doing this and it was great learning about some new patterns. 

My Shield

This week we started a program called Kia Kaha program. It is a program all about feeling good about yourself and others. We also did shields showing how unique and special we all are. I am unique because I am the only person in the class that has moved from Ireland to New Zealand. And our class is special because we are very positive and we have Mrs Drummond as a teacher. I wrote them in light blue and purple because they are my favourite colours. I enjoyed making this shield because it was lots of fun.

Code Club

Today we did our last code club session for the term. My favourite session was the one where we did games mine is called paintbox and you can draw. You will see it down bellow. We learnt two coding languages, Scratch and HTML. I had lots of fun learning new things and doing it with different people. I really enjoyed doing code club and hope I get to do it next term.

My Cross

This term we have been painting crosses. This is my cross above, my design represents echoing love. I chose these colours for two reasons: one, because I love how these colours go together and two, because they all represent things, eg. pink=love, care   yellow=happiness, freshness  blue= calmness, respect. I really enjoyed doing my cross along with everyone else in the class. We made them to put around the school and I think they are all going to look really good.

Fact and Opinion

In class we did work on if something is a fact or an opinion. A fact is something that is true no matter what, for example when everyone in the world thought the world was flat it was still round no matter what. An opinion is when someone thinks it but it is not true, for example if I told you dogs are better than cats you may think I am right or you may think I am utterly wrong so it is just my opinion. Sometimes it can get very confusing trying to tell the difference from a fact or an opinion. I like learning about facts and opinions because it gets my mind thinking.

Code Club Ransom Note

This week at code club we made a non violence ransom notes. A ransom note is something sent to you saying that if you do not give an unidentified person a certain amount of money they will do something bad. Mine was that if that if you did not give me the money I would erase the mind of your super-smart puppy that you have been training forever. I had fun learning some cool new html signs and making this code. 

Social Justice Week Feathers

On Monday it was the start of Social Justice Week so we all made beautiful feathers that said a word that was related to social justice, the word on my feather was INCLUDED. It was fun decorating them and it was cool to see them made into a cloak.

Author Visit from Raymond Huber

Today we got paid a visit from author Raymond Huber. Raymond showed us some of his books and why he wrote them that way. It was cool to see that you don't just write a book and it gets published, it takes a lot of time and a lot of editing. It was fun seeing some of the books he brought in to show us to. It was great to learn who helped him and what and who inspired to write a book about that. I liked Raymond Huber coming to our school because it was interesting. 

Turtles

In writing we all made reptile slides, as you can see mine was on turtles. It was interesting learning about the deeper facts of turtles and see some incredibly adorable baby turtles pictures! Who knew turtles could be such fascinating creatures?! Did you know turtles could be sooo small that you have to hold them between your thumb and index finger! Well I hope you enjoy my slide as much as I do!

Dramatization of Abraham and Sarah

Today we did a dramatization of Abraham and Sarah. I was Sarah, and my friend Molly was my thoughts and voice. This picture is at the end when Abraham and Sarah have a child called Issac. My friend Jemima was Issac as you can see in the picture. It was very fun to do this and I would gladly do it again.

Katy

I have been reading a book called Katy. It is written by Jacqueline Wilson and illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Katy is an adventurous girl with big dreams and ambitions but sometimes that can lead her into big trouble she is the eldest of six and has a stepmother called Izzy. She is also a daredevil. After a terrible accident she can't walk but she still wants to be able to fly. It is a great book and I would definitely recomend it.

Tigers

Tigers. What amazing and wonderful creatures. They are so interesting!! You may have seen one in the zoo but you probably don’t know anything about them other than, they are big cats, they have orange fur and black stripes and maybe some other facts here and there but I bet you don’t know the deeper secrets…


Tigers are carnivores, which means they only eat meat if you didn’t know. They are not that fussy with their prey but would prefer the bigger animals on the menu, maybe gourmet buffalo or a strong stag for a main and maybe a few baby rabbits for some light dessert. Wild tigers have to work for their food but being a tiger in a zoo is like being at a restaurant, it just gets served to you.


Wild tigers are commonly known to be near evergreen forests, mangrove swamps, tropical rainforests, savannahs, luscious grasslands and rocky mountains. Did you know that unlike most big cats tigers love water!? They are also good swimmers and often cool off in natural pools or streams.


A baby tiger usually stays inside a mother tiger’s womb for about 3 to 4 months, just 3 months!! A mother usually gives birth to 3 to 4 cubs but some tigers have been known to give birth to up to 8 cubs at one time!!! When a tiger is an adult ( just 18 months!! ) they leave their mother and go find a mate and start the whole life cycle again.


Tigers can camouflage in their natural environment, tall grass, bushes and trees. Tigers are the biggest species in the cat family. Did you know that there is only 3,890 tigers left in the whole world!!! Tigers can reach up to 3.3 metres long and 300kg!



I hoped I have helped you learn a bit more than the simple facts, so you can go and help some people if they need some help on their tiger project or just simply tell your friends all the cool tiger facts you know, cause now you’re the expert on tigers.

Grandparents Day

Today we had Grandparents Day!! My grandparents unfortunately couldn't make it but my auntie came instead. We had our grandparents mass first, lots of grandparents were there. I did a prayer of the faithful and was the first one. We sang lots of lovely songs and did a blessing for the grandparents. After I mass I met my auntie outside and we went to the bake sale.


I bought a cupcake and a cookie my sister bought a cupcake and a sausage sizzle. I thought about my dad and decided to get him some lolly cake and brownie. Then my auntie, sister and I went into my classroom and I showed them everything I had done then we went down to Emma's class room and looked at her stuff then she read us this super boring story about some pop stars trying to lift a castle or something and it went on for like ever and ever.


After that there was some lovely performances, Sheridan kupa haka, Choir, Ukelele group, Samoan dancers Irish dancing and folk dancing. After that we all said goodbye to our family and friends and we all went back to class. I had a great Grandparents Day because it was great to see my auntie and my friends grandparents and share my work with them.

Maths Posters

Yesterday we made maths posters. We were in pairs. I was pairs with Maggie. We did a subtraction poster. We needed to have some word problems  and subtraction vocabulary. We also went into room 8 and shared them with them because they were having a bit of trouble understanding maths vocabulary. It was fun to make up word problems, think of maths words and share them to room 8.

Colours Experiment

In Science on Tuesday we did an experiment. The first thing we did was get four containers of water and eight paper towels, then we wet four of them and left four of them dry. We then put a different colour in each container, green, blue, red, yellow. Then we made an esstimet. Half the class said that the wet ones would carry the water better and the other half said the dry ones would carry the water better (I was one of the dry people). We then placed the paper towels carefully in the water and left them for a little while. When came back everyone agreed that the dry ones carried the water quicker but in the end they both pretty much were the same. I had lots of fun doing this experiment because it was interesting. 

Speech

I came into school on Tuesday 14th of August knowing that today I would do the speech semi-finals. Was my speech good enough? I wouldn't know until after the semis. My speech was on Does Practice Really Make Perfect.

 The people I would be competing against would be Mia and Jemima for room 5, Lucy, Kayano and Soeun for room 6 and Alana, Viola and Mathew for room 9.

The order for the speeches was, Jemima, Kayano, Alana, Mia, Lucy, Viola, Me, Souen and Mathew. In actual fact I went last but that was because I had to do mine twice due to interruptions. I did not get into the speech finals but Mia, Lucy and Souen did.

I learnt a lot by my peer assessments and Mrs Drummond's assessment. I had fun writing, preparing and presenting my speech.

Mary Mackillop Poem

Magnificent
Amazing
Respectful
Young

Mirthful
Awesome
Caring
Kind
Incredible
Loving
Lovely
Outstanding
Positive

For Saint Mary Mackillop's feast day we did lots of fun activities and an acrostic poem was one of them. I really liked doing this it got me thinking on what words to use.

St Mary Mackillop

Today was St Mary Mackillop's feast day and we celebrated it by going to mass and doing fun activities and art. Some of the activities we did were word searches and acrostic poems about Mary Mackillop. We also did dot art.  First we got a picture of Mary Mackillop and cut it out and glued it in. Then we chose our colours, I chose blue, pink and yellow. Then we got cotton buds and dipped them in the paint started dotting. I really enjoyed doing this because it was interesting and soothing. Today was very fun.

Plant and Animal Adaptations

Yesterday we did work on plant and animal adaptations.  In groups of three we got a animal and had to describe what it had that helped it survive in their environment. My group got a polar bear as you can see. We did lots of examples and most of them were right. I had fun during this lesson because we got to learn about different environments and what the animals who live their have to survive. 

Animal Classification

Today we learned about how animals are classified into groups. Animals are either vertebrates (which means they a spine) or invertebrates ( which means they don't have spines). Invertebrates are animals like jellyfish, crabs, insects and octopus.

Vertebrates are put into five groups. There are mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. Mammals have fur or hair and give birth to live young. Birds have feathers and lay hard eggs. Fish breathe through gills and have fins. Reptiles are cold blooded and lay soft eggs. Amphibians breathe through their skin and need to keep their skin moist.

Five examples of each type:

Mammals: Elephants, Monkeys, bears, dogs and cats.

Birds: Robins, bluebirds, tuis, hummingbirds and sparrows.

Fish: Angel fish, gold fish, sea horses, parrot fish and x-ray fish.

Reptiles: Crocodiles, snakes, turtles, lizards and tuataras.

Amphibians: Frogs, salamanders, newts, caecilians and toads.

Evolution

We have been learning about evolution. Everyone did a title page and a page listing the vertebrates and invertebrates, so this is mine. Some the categories in vertebrates are fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. Some of the categories in invertebrates are insects, spiders, octopuses, squid and snails/slugs.

Hansel, Gretel and the Witch

In drama this term we have been doing performances of bits of the Hansel and Gretel story. I had fun being the witch in this performance. In this scene the witch is wanting to eat Hansel and Gretel is trying her best to make the witch change her mind but it's not going to happen. She goes to fetch a pot of water for the witch when the witch tells her to see if it is hot enough when she has an idea. She asks the witch to check herself and pushes her in. She takes the key unlocks Hansel grabs some of the witch's money and runs back to their house. Doing this performance was really fun because we got to do funny voices and actions. I learned how to act with other people who are not my friends.

Jesus' Saving Work

This week we were looking at Jesus' saving work. We did a page on what saving work is and how we can do saving work ourselves in our daily lives. We also drew comics of someone doing saving work. Mine was about a girl who's pants were split open while she was doing cross country and a girl who helped her by giving her the jumper. The saving work here was the girl helping the other girl to not be embarrassed.

Book Reveiw

This week I made a book review. The book I did my book review on was The Princess and the Foal. It is a great book with lots of humor and adventures. Stacey Gregg is a great writer, she really interests me when I read. Her books engage me to read more of her books. The Princess and the Foal is about a princess called Haya and her foal Bint-al-reeh going through hard times of being apart and going to the King's Cup. The Princess and the Foal is a true story. I loved reading The Princess and the Foal.

Book Week

This week was book week . Chris Gurney came to our school and she showed us how a book goes from scribbles to books and we acted out her book Cindy and the Lost Jandal. On Friday I dressed up as Julie from a Dance Class (what I am dressed as in the picture). My team won the Lit Quiz and I got a ten dollar voucher for the book fair. I had a great book week.

Life Cycle of a Red Panda

W.A.L.T: write explanations.

Red pandas, You know those cute little red furballs? If you didn’t know what red panda is I will tell you. Red pandas are little creatures with big bushy tails and a cute button nose. But wait a second, how are they born? What is their life cycle?

Firstly the mother red panda will make a nest. She will usually build her nest out of leaves and plants. She will build her nest in a hollow log or somewhere cosy.

When it comes to birth a mother red panda can have up to four cubs but usually has twins. Cubs are usually born around summer or spring after mating season.

For about three weeks after they are born the cubs are blind. A cub is weaned from its mother for three to four months. In order to provide milk for her cubs she needs to eat three times the amount she normally eats!!!! A cub stays in the nest for roughly about ninety days until they learn to survive the environment around them. After around a year a cub not a cub anymore but is fully grown adult and lives independently. The average lifespan for a red panda is about 10 years.

Now you know all about red pandas so go out and tell everyone what you know about red pandas.

Cross Country

I walked into class yesterday morning knowing that in only a few hours I would be racing. It felt like the morning zoomed by and before I knew it we walking over to the starting line. On your marks... Get set... GO!! 

I started jogging, my heart pounding big breaths, in and out, in and out. Then just as I had started I had finished, I had come 8th!! I congratulated my friends and went off to get my water bottle. What a good day. And I just have to wait till next year to do it all over again.  

Ireland

For Reading we have been practicing our research skills. I chose to study Ireland. Here is my research.

Roll and Answer

Today in maths we played a game called Roll and Answer.It tests the skills we have learned this year like rounding, place value, addition and subtraction. My group did a board about rounding.

The Ascension

In R.E we have been learning about the Ascension. We made two pages about the Ascension. Here are mine.

Bully Free NZ Week

During Bully Free NZ Week we got a chance to wear pink and raise money to stop bullying. We all had fun being Peaceful, Inclusive, Noble and Kind.

How does a phone call work?

We have been doing explanation writing, I did mine on phone calls.
We published it on a slide so this is my slide.

Storm

Room Five wrote sense poems about the storm in Auckland last night. So here is mine...

I could see the green sparks bouncing off our power lines.

I could taste the hot Milo pouring down my throat.

I could feel the blankets tucked around me like a sausage.

I could hear the thunder drumming on my roof.

I could smell the pizza cooking in the oven.

Storms make me feel warm and safe inside my house.

Superpowers!!!

CRASH!!!! “What was that?!?!” (In my dream I was demolishing a building) I screamed. I looked at the clock beside my bed 3:34am. After my eyes woke up I realised I was floating about 30 centimeters above my bed. What has happened to me? I asked myself.

Then the only thing that made a tiny bit of sense was that I was FLYING!!!! Then I thought if I could go any higher then I started going higher,lower and sideways!!!. I could control my flying superpowers!!!!!! I thought I was going to be the coolest girl at school!!!! Then I realised one slight problem, I couldn’t get down!!!!

“MUM,DAD!!!!” I screamed down the stairs then something weird happened, I had the sensation I was starting to go down, down, down. Then my feet touched the ground thank goodness, I thought relieved. So now I know that when I think about flying I fly and when I don’t think about flying I stay on the ground.

The City

The City was usual enough: 

It had lots of hills, great restaurants, lots of people, tons of cars zooming down the street and awesome museums. My sister my parents and I did the things that families do, looking in all the museums, tasting all the amazing food, buying some souvenirs, walking along the busy streets and looking in all the big department stores.

Doing Nothing Important.

Statistics

In Room 6 math class we have been doing statistical investigations. First we learnt about Stem and Leaf graphs and did fun investigations on sports. We also learnt how to make graphs on Excel. We learnt how to make Pie graphs and different types of Bar graphs. Below are some of the graphs I have made on Excel.

Good Friday

Today in Religious Education we learned about the Good Friday liturgy. Here are some symbols of a Good Friday Mass and their reasons they are used.

  

Pepeha

Kia Ora!!!

Ko Aotearoa tōku whenua 

Ko Tāmaki Makaurau tōku tāone

Ko Owairaka tōku maunga

Ko Muir Éireann tōku moana

Ko Irish tōku waka

Ko Forbes tōku iwi

Ko Trevor tōku papa

Ko Martina tōku mama

Ko Emma tōku hēhita

Ko Sarah tōku ingoa

All About Me

Hi everyone, my name is Sarah. I am 9 years old and am turning 10 in April and I am a year 5. My favourite food is lasagne. My favourite colour is teal. I love books, they are one of my favourite things in the whole world. I moved to New Zealand at the end of 2016 so this is my second year at Good Shepherd. I am originally from Ireland and I do Irish dancing. I do Irish dancing two days a week. I am super excited to start working on this blog.