Languages Assessment.... Hints:-)

Hi team,

So this Friday is your end of year assessment for languages.
I hope that you have been revising over the past two weeks and made some notes after our warm up test the other day. Anyway I thought I would give you a few hints....

Maori, Japanese and French:

Greetings, numbers, self introduction, brief customs, flags, general knowledge.

Good luck with the study!!

Matt

It's All About Me!!!

Hi team,

This week we are going to continue our poetry focus and write a Bio Poem about ourselves, someone we know really well. The goal is to challenge the reader so that they have to try to guess who the poem is about based on the information you share. Try to think of interesting, thoughtful statements about yourself. Perhaps things from when you were really young up until now. The more creative, the better!

Below are the sentence starters. You must follow them in exactly this order and complete sentences for each starter.
I am …
My life is …
I believe …
I have touched …
I have heard …
I have smelt …
I have seen …
I don’t understand …
I detest …
I used to …
I love …
I used to love …
I have lost …
I am looking forward to …
I am a …
My name is…

Here is an example of some ideas:

I am … an educator.
My life is … wonderful!!

I believe … that you can do anything you put your mind to.

I have touched … the pristine white sands of an Okinawa beach.

I have heard … my favourite band, The Foo Fighters - live!

I have smelt … some of NZ's purest air in Milford Sound.

I have seen … the sun reflect off the Golden Pavillion in Kyoto, Japan.

I don’t understand … why people go to war...

I detest … lazy people!!

I used to … be shy.

I love … watching my students succeed:-)

I used to love … making fortresses and pretending I was in the army when I was a child

I have lost … touch with some of my old friends

I am looking forward to … my friend's wedding in Tokyo in 2013!

I am a … hard worker

My name is… Matthew Chong

Learning Languages

This year we have looked at the languages of Maori, Japanese and French. It is important to begin learning languages at Intermediate School so that when you get to high school you have some idea about what language you want to learn.

As part of being a New Zealander you need to embrace the Maori language and culture and as part of being a Balmoral student you need to learn the school Karakia.

You will be assessed for your report during this week and next week so make sure you do plenty of revision.

May the force be with you!

Haiku Poems From Hiroshima

Hi team,

As I said today we need more Haiku's for our awesome book!! Keep them coming and first in first served. It might be nice to write some poems about the beauty of Hiroshima before the bomb and also after the bomb when the city was rebuilt.

Happy writing:-)

Water Water Everywhere!!

What an awesome day today at our first Waterwise Session!
Here are a few photos from the action....

Spelling Check

Round round round we go!!!!

Hello master rounders!!!

Complete the following... remember where to chop:-)

1. 1 decimal place

a. 3.45
b. 4.65
c. 7.62
d. 1.47
e. 6.95
f. 3.34

2. 2 decimal places

a. 4.765
b. 7.456
c. 8.418
d. 2.223
e. 7.999
f. 0.368

3. OMG 3 decimal places

a. 7.2347
b. 9.1734
c. 8.9912
d. 1.9876
e. 9.2319
f. 3.9728

Once you can do all these then you have mastered "rounding"
Copy and paste into the comment section to save time:-)

Poetry In Term 4

Hi team,

I hope that you enjoyed and learnt a bit about the events that happened in Hiroshima during World War 2. This term we will look at poetry so as an introduction I thought we would write a Haiku Poem (Japanese style poetry) about Hiroshima and the dropping of the atomic bomb.

Continuing with our writing goal of "painting a picture in the reader's mind" begin to brainstorm some ideas for your haiku poem. We will finish crafting them tomorrow and then use our wonderful creative skills to publish them.

Finally we will put all of our poems together and make a book of poetry.

Use ideas from the book I read you today to generate some feelings and emotions to help with your draft.

Term 4 - Week 2

Hello awesome people!
This week is a short week but we have lots to do before we go to athletics on Friday! Make sure you have your togs with you every day for our regular swimming plus any other spots that we might sneak in to!
Also you have all had a weeks grace with homework so I expect 100% effort from everyone otherwise you will miss out on fun activities.
Also make sure you have something to read every day! No more random drawing and writing our names:-P
Ok enjoy your labour day!
Matt

One Size Does Not Fit All...

Today we read an article about a student from Christchurch who has a learning difference call Dyspraxia that affects the planning of his movements and coordination. 
As a result of this he finds it difficult working within the National Standards Testing System which labels him as Below even though in his words he is "not dumb."

Address a letter to - The Minister of Education - expressing your feelings on this issue with links to your own learning. Sign it at the bottom (first name only).

We will discuss this further in Philosophy this week.

Here is the link to the article
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/7818865/National-standards-belittle-people-like-me

Term 4 - Swimming

Hi team!

Tomorrow is the first day of Term 4 and also the first day we have swimming!!!
So bring your togs, towel and goggles and let's enjoy the sun:-)

See you tomorrow,
Matt

The Chonginator Is Back!!

Hey team,

Thanks for the nice messages on the whiteboard! I see we have 5 new class members... Sounds exciting:-P

From what Jules has said it sounds like you were all awesome last week... All of you huh??!! Hmmmm

Well, have a great holiday and I look forward to catching up next term. Be prepared for a great last term of 2012!

Matt:-)