Gap Fillers

Since the Christchurch earthquakes, Gap Fillers has been filling gaps from fallen buildings with fun, family friendly areas including multiple golf courses, beautiful paintings and murals and a whole heap more!

Later in the term we will be planning, in groups, how we can improve a small area of our school. We will then spend three weeks actually putting our plans into action. As a part of this, we are lucky enough to be able to take a day trip into town, this Friday, to visit many of the Gap Fillers sites for inspiration. I can't wait to see what colourful creativity the local community has used to improve our city!

If you are interested in finding out more about Gap Fillers, you can check out their website here!

Breakfast Poem

Here is a little poem I wrote about my breakfast and my morning routine (for the weekends). I don't eat porridge all the time but I do eat it a lot. I hope you like my poem!

Breakfast time! Says my brain

I think it might be slightly insane

I boil the jug and search for oats

I like my porridge, yes I do! 

That creamy substance, that ain't hard to chew

I'm sure you would quite like it too

Sprinkling brown sugar over top

Milk and fruit just finishes it up

I eat it all before the toaster pops

Cos' I'll butter that toast for Mum in bed

Once the dishwasher is all loaded

It's time to relax, perhaps a game on my iPad?

Term 2 Science - Energy

Spark! Bam! Whizz! Smack! This term we did science expiriments based around energy. First we had to do some research followed by expirimenting, planning our final product and then finally creating electrical circuits in groups of three. Through lots of expirimenting and hard work my group ended up with a really cool torch which shines green light. I created a comic life explaining the process we went through.

Loom Bands - Barrel Loom Bracelet

Haven't heard of loom bands? Well now you have! Loom bands are the latest craze and they are being worn by people all around the world, young and old. You can make many different designs on a loom as well as without a loom. I have created my own loom band which I have called the 'barrel' loom bracelet. It is quite simple and I used two pegs on my loom although you could just use a couple of pencils or your fingers instead. The barrel was inspired by the illusion bracelet. It is actually really similar except for it has two bands in the middle instead of one and I have used just a single loop rather than a fishtail.

If this is the first time you've come across loom bands then you probably have no idea what I'm talking about so I would suggest trying out one of the easier designs such as a fishtail before making this bracelet. In saying that, if you're like me, you'll get straight into the more complicated designs before looking back at the simpler ones!

So what are you waiting for? Check out the video below for instructions on how to make a barrel loom bracelet!

P.S. Sorry, I have had technical difficulties with the video. I will add it to my post ASAP!

Creative Fairytale Writing

Sapphire, a Crystal Ball and One Evil Dragon

        -By Sophie F

A long time ago in a faraway village lived a little girl named Sapphire. Sapphire was an ordinary girl who belonged to a poor family. One day she was walking home from school when she saw a glittering sparkle on the path. Bending down to take a closer look she was delighted by her find of a beautiful crystal ball. After examining it carefully, Sapphire slipped the precious crystal ball into her pocket, being sure not to drop it and ran the rest of the way home. 

As soon as she stepped inside the door to her small family cottage she screamed as loud as she could with excitement. Just as she had wished her Mother and Father came rushing to see what the matter was. "Oh Sapphire!" cried Mother, "What is it now sweet heart?" Sapphire was quick to reply. "Mother! Father! I found a crystal ball on the way home from school. Do you think it could have magic powers?" Sapphire cried, holding out her sparkling treasure. "Why darling, you do have a big imagination," Father said, slightly sympathetically, "sometimes we hope for too much. I'm sorry to disappoint you but it is highly unlikely that just a small crystal ball like this would have magical powers." Mother and Father left the room.

The moment Sapphire's parents left an amazing thing happened. A silver swirl lifted and twirled a mysterious tornado around the room, causing a dark, scaly dragon to appear. Without thought Sapphire clutched the crystal tight. It was easily seen that this dragon was not friendly as he spitted out an evil laugh. "Hahaha! Don't think you get away with stealing that crystal ball from me. I lost that thing years ago and have been looking for it ever since. You don't realise how powerful it is do you? I'd been meaning to destroy the world with that crystal ball the day I lost it but obviously I couldn't without its power. So give it to me now or I will follow you wherever you go and just so you know, no one messes with me." It wasn't hard answer to answer the evil dragon's question. Sapphire knew that if she gave him the crystal ball he would instantly destroy the world. "No!" she said confidently, "N-O stands for no way!". 

She soon saw her Mother standing in the doorway looking rather puzzled. "Who were you talking to Sapphire?" Sapphire looked around the room but to her surprise the dragon was gone. She knew Mother wouldn't believe her but she was only going to tell the truth. "I was talking to a dragon." "A dragon? What makes you think there are dragons in our home? You have been acting a little strangely this afternoon. What is the matter with you?" Sapphire spoke slowly, "It's the crystal ball. It's magic I tell you. It has powers. It could really help us!" Once again Sapphire was disbelieved. 

In the end Sapphire turned out to be the unfortunate little girl who spent the rest of her life protecting the crystal ball from an evil dragon but not only that, she always had that beastly pest right by her side.

THE END

Homeless - My Story

Rain, rain, rain! What a pain! Hagley Winter Sports was postponed last week again due to weather (grrrr!). We didn't spend the afternoon doing nothing though, we had to present a story about a dog! A choice was given to whether we wanted to make a Puppet Pals presentation or just write a story. I chose to write a story. Before you read it I would like to let you know that the story is coming from a dog's point of view. What are you waiting for? Dig in and have a read!

Honk! Crash! Smash! The world is falling to pieces around me. I almost got killed by that car. It's like I've become invisible. Do humans ever look out for innocent creatures like me? I'm Homeless. Yeah, my name says it all. Since my owner's car accident last year I've spent my days out on the city streets, looking for an owner who will actually accept me as a part of their family. I know it sounds a bit crazy for a dog to be saying all this but I actually feel lonely, not having anyone to play with, no one to take me on my daily walk, no one to feed me, no one to stick by my side, I'm starting to wish I never existed in the first place. So here I am at Doppy Park. It seems like there's a lot more people here than usual. Maybe someone might see me for a change. I'm wandering around. Being cute. Barking. Making as much noise as I can but as normal, no one is paying any attention to me, even the girl who dreams of having a dog as a pet. Oh, I forgot to tell you. Her name is Maggie. She's been pleading her parents to get a dog for over a year now but they say a dog would be too expensive. Well I wouldn't be. I feed myself with scraps from public rubbish bins. I hang around her all the time but she doesn't notice me. So maybe, just maybe I am a ghost. Maybe I'm just imagining this. It's funny I should only just realise this but something in my spirit is telling me it's true. I'm just a ghost wishing for a new life and here's the proof. I'm fading away, back into the thin air from the way I came.

Just to explain my story for those of you who are feeling slightly confused Homeless re-named himself with that name because he felt as though he didn't have a home after his owner left him. He hadn't realised yet though that he was a ghost. He died in the car crash with his owner therefore theoThe reason the story had to be about a dog is because we are reading 'A Dog Called Homeless' as a class at the moment. We didn't have to take that exact dog, we could use a totally different dog but I liked the name 'Homeless' so I interpreted that into the story.

How I Would Feel If I Was Cally

Overwhelmed. Stressed. This is how I would feel if I was Cally from the book 'A Dog Called Homeless'. Overwhelmed. I would feel overwhelmed at the thought of our sold house and moving to a new house that Friday. I would feel especially overwhelmed because my Dad didn't even tell me before he sold the house. Stressed. I would feel stressed with so much going on in my life. Only one parent to go to for help, my friends being nasty and teasing me, a stray dog always hanging around me and most of all moving house with such short notice. There would be so much to keep track of. If I could I would change the story. Make it so Dad talks to me before selling the house and have my friends not tease me. These would be my wishes if I were Cally.