Today we learnt how to do animations on Canva. My animation was about animals in a forest. We made a slide with our animations on it. Here is my work.

On Friday we went to Orana Park. We had to get on the bus at 9:30. When we got there we sat down to have something to eat then we went to see the animals. We had two instructors Michael and Elizabeth. The first animals we saw were the gorillas and the gibbons. We stayed at the Gorillas then we went to see if we could find a cheetah. We couldn’t find the cheetah so we went to the rhinos. When we were at the rhinos we got to watch them for a bit then we got to ask questions. We also got to feel a rhino horn. After that we went back to the cheetahs and saw one but it was very far away. After that we went to the giraffes and got to feed them. It was very fun. After that we went to have lunch. After lunch we went to see the boulder  copper butterfly habitat. After the butterflies we went to see the spider monkeys. The spider monkeys were on an island so they couldn’t escape. After that we went to see the kiwis. We saw both of the kiwis. It was very fun. Then we went to the keas. The keas were ripping up rotten wood trying to find bugs. It was very cool. Then we went to the reptiles and saw some bearded dragons. After that we went to see the lions. They were so big. After that we went to see the otters. The otters were so cute. Then we had to go back to school. Here are some photos of Orana Park:

What is your favourite animal?

This week we started learning about alliteration. Alliteration is a sentence where you use the same sound more than once. My example was: The cranky cat climbed the cold cracked wall. Do you like alliteration? What´s a favourite sentence?

This week for extended discussion we talked about adults on the sideline. We talked about how adults shout instructions and also how sometimes adults are a bit mean. Our group read a text and then discussed it. We said the children playing could feel sad or annoyed. Here is the text we read from:

Let’s Be Kind on the Sidelines!

What’s going on?
In New Zealand, lots of coaches and referees who help with kids’ sports have noticed something worrying: sometimes, people watching from the sidelines say mean things. More than 6 out of 10 have seen someone being unkind at least once or twice each season. 

Why is that a problem?
Referees and volunteers—people giving up their time to help—can feel hurt when they’re yelled at or talked down to. Even young players can feel sad and pressured. That can take the fun right out of playing sports. 

What are they doing about it?
A group called Aktive has started a campaign named “Love Their Game.” It’s all about reminding spectators that the game belongs to the players, coaches, referees, and helpers—not the people watching from the side. 

Lots of big local sports groups are on board, like rugby unions, netball zones, soccer clubs, basketball, water polo, and tennis. Together, they reach over 100,000 players.

Why is fun and kindness important?
Ben O’Keeffe, a famous rugby referee, says sports should be fun, make you excited, and be a time to play with your friends. When adults at games get too serious, kids can feel upset and even quit playing sports.

Do you like playing sports?

This week we have been learning about personification and similes. Personification is when you give an animal or an object the qualities of a human, for example, The wind whispers through the trees, the wind doesn’t whisper. A simile is when you use like or as, for example, he was as hungry as a lion. I think personification is interesting. What is your favourite simile and personification?

For maths we had to make word problems. We had to do them Multiplication. We had to put the word problems on slideshows. Here is my work.

Earlier this week we have been learning about how to make writing more interesting using sensory details. We had to write part of a story and add lots of sensory details. Sensory details are like senses for example:I had a Sweet, Chruchy Chocolate. Here is my work:

I looked out the window to see the cold wet snow all along the footpath. I pressed my hand on the cold window. Snow! I smelt the fresh wet smell of the snow. It looked like tiny white dots falling from the sky. I opened the window and stuck my hand out to catch it. It felt soft and melted as soon as my warm hand touched it. I stuck my mouth out to catch some. It was just like water! Cold, wet and fresh. Yay!

This week and last week we have been learning about the Boulder Copper Butterfly. The Boulder Copper Butterfly is a Butterfly native to New Zealand Canterbury. It only lives in Canterbury and it is very tiny. It has a wingspan of 17-27. The Female is orange and brown and the male is purple. Round 4 years ago a school helped bring it back to Christchurch. They made the habitat which is mostly stones and rocks with a plant called Creeping Pohuehue. Then the school went to McLeans Island where the butterflies live. We are going to help bring the butterflies back too. Here is a photo of the butterfly:

What is your favourite butterfly?

This week and last week we have been doing extended discussions about different things. This week we did it about space: Should we explore space or use the money to help Earth? What do you think. Me and my whole group thought that we should use the money to help Earth. We thought that if we used all the money to build rockets we would have to go to a different planet and we can’t do that because how can we send all the people on earth to a different planet? What do you think? Should we explore space or help the Earth, our own home.

Today is the last day of the term and I am very happy because we get Duffy books! I’m very happy with my new Duffy books and I want to read right now. I already started reading one of them. I have been excited about them because I remembered that I picked the second book for one of them. I really like getting my Duffy books! The two books that I got were called Dragons vs wolves, and I Survived the great Molasses flood. I got them because I like exciting stuff. Do you like reading? What books do you like?