Thursday update

Awesome effort again, Huia 1.

Our Sarah I was 62nd in New Zealand last night. She was actually 44th for a while but this was the earliest we could get a screen shot of her name. Click on the image to get a clearer view)


Our Bhaban is tenth in New Zealand this morning.

At 11:00 a.m. today Huia 1 was 12th in the world for Mathletics points. Click on image to see clearer.

By 2:00 p.m. we were 8th in the world

After temporarily losing our place as first in New Zealand, we retake the lead by 2:00 p.m.


3:00 p.m. and Krizelle is up to 53rd in the world for Thursday.

The new commitment made by Huia1, early yesterday morning, to achieve the top spot on Mathletics, has died down by a considerable amount - mainly because we have achieved this goal and are maintaining as you are reading this (along with a 9th place in the World Top 50.)
By Ricki Jean

Goal Setting in Huia 1

Walking into Huia 1 early this morning, numerous ears were bombarded by triumphant cries. Everyone was yelling in delight, for us making the New Zealand Top 50 on Mathletics. This had become a goal for the students of Huia1, and was quickly achieved, followed by goals to get closer and closer to the top spot - the Number One Class in New Zealand.

Throughout the day a small, persevering group of students remained, working on our teacher's goal. It was Mrs Vincent's "dream" of having her name on the Mathletics Wall of Fame (and the promise of a hot chip lunch for us) that persuaded many to commit themselves to achieving this goal.

Later in the morning, we were reunited with a 1/4 our first spelling test, a repeat-spelling test of a kind. Not many got 90 or more on the first go, so Mrs Vincent, who is the persistent type, suggested we repeat the test so we had a second chance at getting the perfect 100% score.

Today we continued our story writing . Mrs Vincent started our second paragraph for us because we are still needing improvement in our writing . After that, we read it out aloud to our partners. We all agree that everyone's stories were good but still needed improvement. A special mention has been requested by Sarah J. She says, "Ricki-Jean's work was good and interesting but not up to her usual standards."

Overall the day's exciting moments were more academic than normal, but still the same awesome Huia 1 we have all come to know.

by Ricki - Jean

Click on the images to get a better picture

News flash:
Inspired by watching Mrs Whitehead's DVD of Sir Peter Blake talking about teamwork, and the winners of previous Sir Peter Blake Awards for leadership talking about their goals and values, Huia 1 have achieved amazing Mathletics results already.

Fantastic work and effort by Krizelle who is currently (Wednesday evening 29.06.11) TOP OF THE WORLD in Mathletics points - which also puts her at the top of New Zealand students also.

Sarah I is currently 44th in New Zealand for points. That's a terrific effort!

Huia 1 currently has the fourth highest points in New Zealand, and the 44th highest points IN THE WORLD.

It looks as if the hot chip lunch is assured. Great team work and goal setting, Huia 1. (Don't forget there's a basic facts test tomorrow....)
Mrs Vincent

Late News Flash. You did it!!!!! Huia 1 are top in New Zealand for Mathletics - for this moment in time. Thanks to everyone who helped.
Click on image to view clearly

--oOo---

We were discussing Queenstown airport yesterday, and why planes can only land during daylight hours because of the difficulty flying around the mountain ranges. Today, in the New Zealand Herald, it was written that Queenstown Airport is on of the ten most thrilling airports in the world to fly into.

Here are some videos to show you what it's like.
This is landing in a small plane.

This is what an aeroplane looks like as it's flying into Queenstown in summer. Turn the sound off, it's only irritating background noise.

This is the view from an aeroplane taking off in winter. It gives a really good idea of how "thrilling" it is.

---oOo---

Term 2 Week 9:Tuesday (martes)

Last Monday, Mrs Vincent announced that we were to be learning about Sir Peter Blake.
After that, she said that our newest homework would be a poster on Sir Peter Blake. We need correct facts and we are not allowed to use computer-generated work.

Today we watched a leadership movie and an interview with Sir Peter Blake. Mrs Whitehead's DVD included a short documentary on leadership, which featured Ray Avery, who quoted: "You can't change the cards you were dealt, but you can certainly can change the way you play them."


Don't forget to bring $3.00 for a pair of red socks to wear for red socks day.

---oOo---

While reading Private Peaceful, we came across the sweet, magical word, humbugs. Hardly any of us knew what it was, then the ever-surprising Mrs Vincent pulled out a bag of humbugs from her cupboard. Mrs Whitehead brought some from the South Island, especially for Mrs Vincent, who was saving them for us until we reached the word humbug in the story. She passed them around and everyone had one each.

"It tasted like a candy cane," said Tegan.
"One side tasted like peppermint," said Ben.

---oOo---

by Ricki-Jean

Learning to Make Key Note Presentations, Based on Life Education Lessons

Term 2 Week 9 (Monday)

Did you know, The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the Earth's surface at 10,924 metres below sea level?That is one of the things we learned today.

We also learned that the Arctic is just ice, floating on water. We all found that quite interesting and pretty freaky.

By Hunter and Sarah J

Mathletics Awards of the Week:
Week 7:
Most points - Callum M

Week 8:
Most points - Fa'afili F(9495 points)
Most correct answers: Danny O (144)

Estamos haciendo hamburguesas
We are making hamburgers...

Estamos comiendo hamburguesas...
We are eating hamburgers.

Our Class Choir Sings at the Manurewa RSA

We were invited to sing at the Manurewa RSA after some of their members attended our ANZAC Assembly last month.

We arrived at the Manurewa R.S.A to discover that we would be singing in front of not 20 people, but around 100 RSA members. As we entered, we noticed another school performing a simple yet intricate Irish dance, followed by a solo song by a young girl.When our cue presented itself (in the form of President Graham) we walked in a single-file line, wondering whether to stay or to rush in front of all those people.

Hunter announced who we were and what songs we were going to sing. Subtly, everyone was shaking with fear and anticipation. Mrs Vincent turned from her back-to-audience position and added a few words to Hunter's, though slightly louder.

When we finished our performance, a voice out of nowhere was telling us to stay. We were wondering who it was - then we saw a woman walking along the side of the make-shift stage with a microphone. It was Lyn, the lady who invited us. We got asked to do an encore and that is when we realised they really liked us. We each got a packet of chips and a Coca Cola or Sprite as a thank-you reward.

' When we went through the second round of singing, I noticed that hardly anyone wasn't singing along.' Ricki-Jean

'I was really nervous because I thought there wouldn't be many people, but when we went in to the R.S.A there were about 100 people there. I started feeling confident after singing the first few songs.' Caitlin

'I was really nervous at first, but when we got up there and started singing, I didn't feel nervous any more. It was very fun after a while. I think the R.S.A members really liked it. I did too.' Tegan

'When we got in to the R.S.A, I felt like going back to school, after I saw how many people were there. But when we went up and started singing, I was only nervous for the first few songs, then I started getting in to it. ' Shayla

'At first I was really really nervous, then once we were out there singing, I didn't feel that scared any more. When I walked in I was shaking.' Bhaban

' When we were arriving, I had butterflies and felt excited. After the performance, I felt really good, happy and proud that I had the guts to get up there and sing. On the way back to school, I was really happy they gave us a thank-you treat. ' Sarah

' When we were in the car, we were talking so that our butterflies did not show. Walking in, we were very nervous. Then unexpectedly, Mrs Vincent asked me to introduce the Huia1 Choir, so Mrs Vincent and I went in to the corridor so that I could practice. By accepting this, it made me 50 times more nervous.' Hunter

Karnjeet was away sick when we wrote this so we do not have a comment from him.

We would like to thank Mr McLean and Mrs Kesby for helping with transport to and from the RSA.

by Ricki-Jean, Sarah and Hunter

What's Huia 1 doing?

Today is the start of a new week, Huia 1 started their day by doing their daily Spanish roll. Then, they went down to the hall for assembly. Mrs. Vincent asked a few questions about the New Zealand's National Anthem, such as: "Who wrote the lyrics of the national anthem?" and "Where was the composer of the music from?" and "What does Guard Pacific's triple star mean?"

---oOo---

This week we are starting to read Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo.Mrs Vincent read it to her class last year and a group of Year 8s who were Year 7s in Huia 1 last year, petitioned her to read it again. So she is. Check out our spelling and vocabulary words based on the first chapter.

---oOo---

In current events today, we learned that there have been several natural natural disasters in New Zealand last week:
- another 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch
- a tornado in New Plymouth
- a landslide in Ohope
- flights cancelled because of ash cloud from the volcano in Chile

We also learned that:
- there has been flooding in China (after a long drought)
- the N.Z. army will be patrolling the Red Zone area in Christchurch for another 6 months
- a 150kg bell has been stolen from a church in Otorohanga
- there has been a riot in Vancouver, Canada because the local local team lost to the Boston Bruins in an ice hockey final
- a South Korean commercial plane was shot at by its own army because it was thought to be an enemy jet
- women from Saudi Arabia have been using Twitter and Facebook to protest about not being allowed to drive

---oOo---

When the class was discussing the new debating club at our school, one student said he went there expecting to hear arguing and all he heard was discussion. Mrs Vincent showed us this Monty Python You Tube clip to help explain the meanings of argument.

Quiz:
1. When could it be dangerous to buy a pitch fork? (And where?)
2. What is Michael Morpurgo planning to do with his story Private Peaceful?
3. What do you think the pink stuff on the wires is in this video? What simile does the speaker use to describe the sound of the tornado?
4. How much did the Hamilton scrap metal year dealer pay for the stolen Pembroke Bell? (Bonus question: Do you think the dealer should have suspected it was stolen?)
5. What side of the road do cars use in Saudi Arabia - left, or right? (Bonus questions: What are the reasons given for allowing women to drive in Saudi Arabia? What are the reasons given against women being allowed to drive?

Possible Crunchy Bar for the first Huia 1 student to bring me all the answers.

Cute animal video of the week.