Blooming Wonderful Homework

Here are some of the homework projects Huia 1 made. The brief was to make a plant container (including a plant) entirely out of recycled materials. The plant could be real or artificial.

Anton has already sold his strawberry planter (and another matching one) to Mrs Vincent, and Bailey's bench seat is used outside our classroom for lunchtime seating.

Some of these might eventually find their way into our class's cuttings garden which we are trying to establish in time for summer. (Expect another blog about this soon).

Ben and Mark interviewed some of the class about their constructions, and others described their masterpieces to Mrs Vincent. (More interviews will be added soon.)

Mighael and Richard:This is an outdoor planter. We used Pacific designs because we live in South Auckland which has the majority of Pacific Islanders in the world. We used a yucca cutting and pebbles from Mighael's garden.

Mark: I used 3 plastic cups, one plastic tray, 3 kebab sticks, 3 corks and compost from my garden. The plants I used were succulents. I decided this was an interesting way to make a plant holder because you can water the plants, lift the cups off the tray and put them back.
Hunter: My plant holder is durable because it is tin cans and it has been welded plus roveted together. my plant holder is original because there is bamboo stuck around the tins with double-sided tape. My plant holder is practical because you can carry it around easily and it is attractive because the bamboo makes it more effective than just cans.
Rebekah: I made this pot plant out of all recycled materials which I found in the recycling bin at home. I used bits of plastic bags tied to stems made a plastic orange juice jug. For the soil I cut up bits of cardboard, wet them and mashed them up to look like dirt. I put the bits of cardboard and flowers in a used fruit tin. I didn't use any cellotape or glue.

Roneel: I got help from my grandfather to cut the coconut and drill the holes. To join the two pieces together I had to use a screw (and tin as a bracket) to bind it together. After completing the plant holder, I used compost and potting mix. Then I planted unique colours of pelagonium flowers (white, purple and pink). I also planted two colours of impatiens flowers (orange and red). My plant is attractive because of the cocnut shell and the tropical look. My plant is ready for sale so, make an offer!



Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Maria: Because I like it.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Maria: Succulents.
Ben and Mark: What type of pot did you use?
Maria: A plastic cup.

Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Ricki-Jean: Because it's awesome.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Ricki-Jean: A lavender.
Ben and Mark: What type of pot did you use?
Ricki-Jean: Wood and plastic.

Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Sarah: It is attractive and brightly coloured and it is a good plant holder. You can just take the mini plant holders out and empty the bottom of the container.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Sarah: Seedlings.
Ben and Mark: What type of pot did you use?
Sarah: A plastic bottle. I display all the elements as it is waterproof and it uses recycled materials.

Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Rosie: Because it looks like recycled stuff.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Rosie: Eucalyptus and grass.
Ben and Mark: What type of pot did you use?
Rosie: A palm leaf.

Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Garrick: Because fire represents the sun.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Garrick: I'm not sure.
Ben and Mark: What type of pot did you use?
Garrick: A plastic cup.


Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Nikhil: I got it off a movie.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Nikhil: A cabbage and a mint plant.
Ben and Mark: What type of pot did you use?
Nikhil: A plastic bottle.

Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Hemant: My t-shirt I was wearing at the time inspired me.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Hemant: Artificial roses.
Ben and Mark: What type of pot did you use?
Hemant: A plastic bottle

Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Sambit: Because it looks like a honey pot.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Sambit: Succulents (no longer in pot).
Ben and Mark: What type of pot did you use?
Hemant: A plastic bottle



Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Anton: Because it is simple.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Anton: Strawberry plants
Ben and Mark: What type of wood did you use?
Anton: Timber from pallets.


Madison: I used spare wood from our garage at home and Coke cans from my aunty's recycling bin. We have chalk boards in our kitchen at home so I used paint from those. The plants are out of my Dad's garden. My stepdad helped me make it. I learned to keep my fingers away from the hammer while I was hammering.
Ben and Mark: Why did you choose this style of presentation?
Bailey: Because you can sit on it outside.
Ben and Mark: What plant did you use?
Bailey: A yucca
Ben and Mark: What type of wood did you use?
Bailey: Timber


Juliana: My container is made out of a Sprite lemonade bottle. I used a succulent plant because Rebekah's Dad ran over it and broke it and I wanted to save it. I have now taken it home and am going to replant it.


Kumiko: It's made from an umbrella which I found in our garage. I used leaves and flowers from my Mum's birthday party. My Mum was getting rid of microwave bowls and I found one which had a hole in the middle so I used it to stick the end of the umbrella in to keep it standing. There are three ways of storing it. One is leaving it on an angle without the stand, two is leaving on the stand and the third one is to use the curly handle to hook it up and hang it on something. I've seen smaller umbrellas you could do this with for smaller spaces.

We learn to give reasons for our opinions

We used the article written about language learning in our school to learn how to write a letter to the editor. See also our previous blog.

The skills we are learning include, how to keep to the point and argue the specific issue with evidence or valid reasons, i.e. we had to think about advantages of learning a language specifically at primary school level, not just advantages of learning languages. This is because, according to the article, Professor Ellis recommends that learning a second language should be compulsory at high school but believes there is little evidence to show that learning a second language is of value before then.



We disagree.

Here is our response:

Our school appeared in the August 12 edition of The Aucklander magazine in an article by Joanna Davies about learning languages.

We were surprised by the comments of Professor Rod Ellis and would like to respond to his comment regarding the value of learning a language at primary school:

Rod Ellis, a professor in the Department of Applied Language Studies and Linguistics at the University of Auckland, says offering languages provides a good balance in high school curricula, but believes the case for starting foreign languages in schools is weak.

"The studies that have been done have shown no advantage in starting the teaching of foreign languages early. In New Zealand, the majority of foreign language courses at primary school level are the 'taster' variety. Frankly, these are a waste of time, especially as they are often taught by teachers with no training or expertise in teaching a language.]

From our point of view, he is underestimating the kids. We enjoy learning Spanish and we feel we will have an advantage starting high school with an experience of learning another language. Some of us feel that it might be an advantage to help us get into the high school of our choice.

We know how to make different sounds which are unlike English sounds. If we start earlier we can also master the accent better. Learning about one culture (while learning its language) can help us learn more and we can learn differences and similarities between cultures.

Learning one language at primary school can inspire us to learn another language, especially if our primary school language isn’t available at high school. Most of us know already that we want to take a language for NCEA (or Cambridge exams) and some of us feel that we could get higher marks and will have more time to study other topics because we are already ahead. Some of us would like to become AFS students and live in a Spanish-speaking country

At primary school we can decorate our classroom with Spanish language and culture; we can sing songs in Spanish (not just in Spanish lessons) and use Spanish language at any time of the school day - including in assemblies. We don’t have to have exams but our teachers do give tests. We have talked to other people around the world on Skype and we have had Spanish-speaking visitors to our school through AFS. We have spoken in Spanish to people from other countries and we spoke Spanish at camp, especially to ask for our meals. If we were eating at camp, we had used Spanish successfully! (Note from Mrs Vincent: I do not think this is what Professor Ellis meant by 'taster course'...)

We wonder what exactly Professor Ellis means by ‘advantage’ and how it is measured. Maybe he thinks it is not an advantage because everyone else will be learning the basics which we already know. This could give us a short term advantage at the start of high school. The teacher could give us extra work or we could help other students.

You never know when you would find out that learning a language at primary school could be an advantage. You might find out tomorrow, in two years time, or even twenty years. Some of us have learned English at primary school as our second language and this has been an advantage.

We will get back to Professor Ellis in five to six years, at the end of our high schooling, to continue our debate.

From Huia 1

The Gardens School

Some individual comments:

I disagree with Professor Ellis because when you’re young your brain is more open to different things. I also think that I will have an advantage next year when I do Spanish because I will already know so much about the Spanish language and culture. (Maria Year 8)

I disagree with Rod Ellis because when you are younger you pick up stuff faster and you don’t think about anything else, but, when you’re older you would be like, “Nah! This is boring. I don’t want to do this and I don’t want to do that!” And, the more you practise the better you get. (Erica Year 8)

I disagree with Rod Ellis. It could help you to learn it all the way to high school without stopping. You could have a little advantage or even a big advantage. It is also good fun when you learn another language. (Chris Year 7)

Well, Professor Ellis, I think you are very wrong because once we have learnt a different language we will get a little push at any language in high school. But, you are also a little bit right. If you learn a language at a young age, you might forget it, but, if you learn it at Intermediate stage you will not forget. (Nikhil Year 7)

I disagree with Rod Ellis. I think we should have the right to learn languages in primary school. I think starting to learn languages at a younger age will take you the extra mile later on in life, and when you get to high school you’ll have that extra knowledge. (Mighael Year 8)

I disagree with Professor Ellis. I think kids should be able to learn other languages and other cultures. We should be able to have the fun and enjoyment of other languages. (Bailey Year 7)

I disagree with Rod Ellis because if you learn Spanish at primary school you will know a fair amount of Spanish for high school. If you were in a Year 9 class and no one else learned Spanish before, you will have the advantage. (Richard Year 7)

I think he is wrong because if I started later than I have now, I wouldn’t have learned as much, and it would take me longer. Also, I had no idea I was good at languages until I learnt Spanish. I would never have discovered this talent unless I learnt Spanish at primary school. Also, now I want to take other languages when I go to high school so I can teach languages when I’m older. (Rebekah Year 8)

I disagree with Professor Rod Ellis because if a child wants to grow up into an AFS student and travel around the world, learning different languages is necessary. Plus, if a child is young and is learning different languages it is easy for them because the child can pick it up quickly and store it in their head. (Nikeeta Year 8)

I disagree with Professor Ellis because I think if you learn earlier than everyone else, you already know. I knew nothing about Spanish at the start of the year but now I can have a conversation, ask for food and count to 150 in Spanish. (Ben Year 7)

And, check out here for another response to the article from Adèle Scott, President, NZ Association of Language Teachers

¡Asemblea!

On Friday 27th August the Intermediate Team were responsible for organising The Gardens School monthly assembly. Each team takes responsibility for an assembly on the last Friday of each month- this time it was our turn.

We were ready a few minutes early so while parents and other classes were arriving, we quietly sang some of the songs we had learned in Spanish, accompanied on guitar by Mrs Lee.


Because the previous week had been International Languages Week in New Zealand and because we have many different languages spoken by the students or families at our school, we decided to have a multi-lingual introduction to our assembly. Check out the video below to see some of this introduction, plus the National Anthem sung in Maori and English (accompanied by Mrs Lee, Rebekah and Mark on guitar). Kumiko began the introductions in Spanish and Japanese and the video starts just as she finished her part.... (please note - we are having technical difficulties uploading this video.... we will keep trying)


Kea 1 and Huia 2 read aloud some of the sonnets they had written and showed some of their art work. Then we watched a slide show about our Team camps at Awhitu prepared by Nikeeta, Brittany, So Yeon and Alexis.

"High Five" certificates were given out by Ms Gifford (for people with any five certificates received this year) and then Tracey from Kea 2 gave an account of their class activities so far this year, including an explanation and demonstration of the hobo stove which had been so much fun at camp. (Check out Kea 1's blog to find out about their new gardens.)

Our item was next, and Ben introduced it by saying, "What's special about Huia 1?"

Kumiko answered, "We do roll call en español! " and then we all called out our numbers in order from wherever we were sitting in the assembly, finishing with a very clear "veintiocho" from Hunter.

Kumiko continued,"We talk in Spanish every day!" and Rebekah called out each of the questions we go through in class at the beginning of every day, while Ben held up charts with the subtitles in English, and the class replied in Spanish :

Rebekah: ¿Qué día es hoy? (What day is it today?)

Todos: Hoy es vienes. (Today is Friday.)

Rebekah: ¿Qué fecha es hoy? (What is the date today?)

Todos: Hoy es el veintisiete de agosto, dos mil diez. (Today is the 28th of August 2010)

Rebekah: ¿En qué estación estamos? (What season are we in? )

Todos: Estamos en el invierno. (We are in winter.)

Rebekah: ¿Qué tiempo hace? (What is the weather like?)

Todos: Esta lloviendo. (It's raining.)

Rebekah: ¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?)

Todos: Son las dos y cuarto (It's quarter past two.)

Rebekah: ¿Qué pasa? (What's happening?)

Todos: ¡Asemblea! (Assembly!)

and Ben continued...

"We have a blog, we enjoy learning about poetry and illustrating our Anthology books; we have learned about Shakespeare and Wordsworth; we can use big words like shadenfreude, posthumous, sanctimonious, draconian and lieutenant; we love reading Michael Morpurgo books; we use our dictionaries every day; we have taken over one of the Poutama gardens to make a cuttings garden; and… we have made a class movie about gumboots which has already had over 500 hits on you tube….

Mrs Lee's Year 7 Spanish class performed a Spanish alphabet rap and a group of Year 8s did a short play with two girls (Rebekah and Shae) discussing, in Spanish, what they would wear to a party.

R: Buenas tardes (Good afternoon)

S: Hola, ¿Qué pasa? (Hi, What's up? )

R: ¿Vas a ir a la fiesta de Alexis, esta noche? (Are you going to Alexis’ party tonight?)

S: Sí, ¿y tu? (Yes, are you?)

R: Sí, por supuesto. (Yes, of course.)

S: ¿Qué vas a llevar? (What are you going to wear?)

R: Compre una camisa roja. ¿Te gusta? (I bought a red shirt. Do you like it?)

S; Qué guapa! He ido a comprar también. Compré una bufanda negra.

(It’s great. I have been shopping too. I bought a black scarf.)

R: ¡Que sorpresa! Yo también. Tengo una bufanda crema. (What a surprise! Me too. I have a cream scarf.)

S: Tengo un vestido verde y las sandalias cremas. (I have a green dress and cream sandals.)

R. Me gustan tus sandalias. Tengo unas botas blancas. (I like your sandals. I have white boots.)

S: Excelente. Hasta noche (Excellent. See you tonight).

R: Bueno. Hasta pronto. (Ok, see you soon.)

After that, all the Intermediates sang "Blue Suede Shoes" accompanied by about 15 ukulele players and a group of back up singers. Our assembly finished with a mass Jump Jam performance of "Kiss Me, Honey Honey" led by Claudia, which was repeated as an encore as the guests left.

For many of the participants, it was their first experience in public speaking. Most were nervous and all did a good job. It was a very successful assembly and everyone was pleased it went smoothly after all our practices and preparation.

Move over William Shakespeare - here comes William Wordsworth

This week we have been learning about Daffodil Day in New Zealand, which is happening this Friday 27th August.

We learned about the Cancer Society which helps people by:

- encouraging the government to change laws to help people stay healthier and avoid cancer such as making it illegal to smoke in some public places

- funding research into better treatments for cancer.

- giving support to people who are ill with cancer (and their families) through providing great information, nurses, counsellors, volunteer driving and meal service.

- providing free accommodation to ensure that people have somewhere nice to stay while they have treatment for cancer.

The daffodil is the symbol used by cancer societies all around the world as a symbol of hope, representing new life and possibilities.





So.... it was a good time to learn about one of the most well-known English poems, The Daffodils by William Wordsworth.

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Things we noticed about the poem:

• Every line starts with a capital letter
• It has iambic something but it is not like Sonnet 18, by William Shakespeare, which is iambic pentameter because that has five feet (beats). This has four feet and we researched to discover that it is called iambic tetrameter: I wandered lonely as a cloud
• Every stanza has a quatrain and a couplet (quatrain is four lines and a couplet is 2 lines)
  
• Each stanza has 6 lines
  
• A stanza is another name for a verse
  
• Every second line rhymes except for the last two of each stanza which rhyme with each other
  
• The rhyme scheme is abab cc
• It's about a person walking
  
• It's got some old-fashioned English in it such as o'er, gay, jocund, oft
• He uses metaphors e.g. a crowd (of daffodils)
  
• He uses personification (giving human qualities to something which isn't human) e.g. (daffodils) dancing, tossing their heads, waves dancing, his heart dancing
  
• He uses similes e.g. I wandered lonely as a cloud; (the daffodils were) continuous as the stars that shine
• Words which some of us didn't know: vale - valley (not a veil, which goes over your head!); o'er - over; oft - often; glee - happiness; gay - happy; jocund- cheerful, light-hearted; vacant- empty head, day-dreaming; pensive- thoughtful, thinking deeply; solitude - being alone
  
• He has changed the order of some of the words such as" Ten thousand saw I at a glance" and "For oft, when on my couch I lie", "And then my heart with pleasure fills"
  
• This is called anastrophe i.e. when words of a sentence are changed in order for effect - to make it sound interesting and to fit the rhythm
  

We discussed each stanza and noted that in:

Stanza 1:

• it is written in the past tense
• he was walking when he saw daffodils by a lake
  

Stanza 2:

• he describes the masses of daffodils using a simile and personification
  

Stanza 3:

• he says that the daffodils outdid the waves in dancing
• he could not be anything but happy there
• he didn't realise how much happiness (wealth) they brought him
  

Stanza 4:

• it is in the present tense
• the inward eye and the bliss of solitude means his mind, when he is alone and could be his "happy place"
• he feels happy and enlightened when he remembers the daffodils in the field
  

Here is a cartoon satire of The Daffodils.

Here is an animated version of The Daffodils with some music you may recognise... and a very modern example of someone lying on the couch in a vacant mood...

And, (be warned!) a rap version of Daffodils . Some of Wordsworth's original words were harmed in the making of this video...

Here is a short video about the Lake District where Wordsworth visited and was inspired by the daffodils.

Visitors in our class...

Huia 1 reporters, So Yeon and Nikeeta, report on reporters reporting on us and take photos of the photographer taking photos of us!

Kelly is taking a photo of us and Joanna is talking to Mrs Vincent.

Click here to see The Aucklander report about our class.

A couple of weeks ago Joanna, Kelly and Hannah from The Aucklander magazine came to our school because they were working on a feature story about languages and language teaching, and after speaking with the national language teachers' association, they found about our school (The Gardens School) which had a very cool language programme and they wanted to add it to their story.

Kelly, Joanna and Hannah watch what happens in our Spanish lesson. (Note Rosie's latest edition of The Maungakiekie Times Intermediate Newspaper is in the front of the picture, all ready for distribution)

We asked them about other places they had been to and discovered that they have been to a variety of different countries like Europe, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Lithuania, Italy, Israel, USA, Germany, Wales, UK, Welsh, Australia, Greece, South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, Scotland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, and Switzerland. We were in a shock when we heard that they had been to so many places.

After a little while it was time for Options and Spanish. Some of the students had a short time to talk to Joanna, Kelly and Hannah. We learned that the message Hannah wanted to pass on was "Learning different languages is great!" She loves to travel and being able to talk to the locals, in their own tongue, and is very interested to learn about different cultures and this is such a big part of learning a new language.


Joanna wanted to pass on that learning different languages is a really important school subject and she personally would like to see learning a second language made compulsory in all schools. In Wales, where she is from, you have to learn both Welsh and English at school until you are 16, and if you want, you can learn another language too. Joanna thinks it's good to keep other languages alive, because more people can learn and see things from a different perspective. If only Joanna could find a Welsh class here, then she could try and remember it all. Kelly wanted to pass on that learning a new language is great, keep up the good work at The Gardens. (Yay us!)

Joanna interviews some of the year 8 students.

Since they are such good news reporters now, we wondered what they personally wanted to grow up and become when they were little. Kelly answered that she didn't want to be a news reporter because she wanted to be a marine biologist and train dolphins. Kelly got interested because she took photography as a subject at school and loved it, and now she is lucky to be working as a photographer.

However Hannah had something different in mind and she actually dreamed of becoming a (famous) author when she was little, because she always liked reading newspapers and magazines. Hannah got interested because she liked the idea of working with many different topics, meeting lots of interesting people every day and to be always 'up to date' with the latest news. And, she also thinks that reporters are doing a very important job informing the public about 'what's going on' in the world.

Joanna wanted to be a writer and decided on becoming a reporter when she was 14 she enjoyed reading magazines and newspapers. She got interested in becoming a news reporter because (like Hannah) she loved meeting lots of different people and doing different things everyday. She likes the challenge of finding stories and trying to write them before a deadline, and she thinks newspapers are important for people to know what's happening in the places they live.

Joanna, Hannah and Kelly talked about what made them interested in visiting The Gardens School. Joanna said that she was working on a feature story about languages and language teaching, and after speaking with the national language teachers' association (NZALT), she found out that The Gardens School had a very cool language programme, and she wanted to add it into her story.

Kelly said that Joanna, (their reporter) heard about our Spanish class, and they thought it would be interesting to come and find out more. Joanna, Kelly and Hannah did go to other schools and wanted to find out what languages the students are learning now days. They went to an international language school, to see what they offered to students.

Often, when you're writing a story to deadline you don't always have time to visit lots of schools. Joanna didn't go to any other primary schools, but she did visit Euroasia, which is a language school that does evening classes for adults.

We learned a lot from Joanna, Hannah and Kelly and probably some of the students in Huia 1 have already got an idea of what they want to do in the future.

By So Yeon & Nikeeta

We compare where we are in New Zealand and where Senora Lee is in Granada... and discover that it is as far as you can go from New Zealand before you start to come back.

Senora Lee sent us an email telling us about what she was doing and the meals she had eaten in Granada. We could work out what most of it meant by starting with what what we already knew, and using Senora Lee's photos and writing from her blog to help work out the rest.

Getting to Know Shakespeare in Huia 1

Our Intermediate Team are learning about sonnets as part of a competition for New Zealand school children to write their own sonnets.

In Huia 1, we started by looking at one of the most well known of William Shakespeare's sonnets, called Sonnet 18, but better known as "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

Monday: First, all we had to do was look at it for five minutes and make any comments about anything we thought was interesting.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee


Things we noticed about Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare:

• He starts with a question
• "thee" in the middle of the first line rhymes with "lovely" in the middle of the second line
• In the last two lines "can" and "and" rhyme in the middle of their lines
• He does not say who "thee" is
• He refers to the seasons and weather
• It is really hard to understand
• It is more complicated than any other poem we have studied
• He talks about changing
• He is obviously in love with a woman because you would not compare a guy to summer's day
• He starts with a question in the first line and then answers it in the second line
• Every second line rhymes except the last two which rhyme with each other
• Every line starts with a capital letter
• There is punctuation at the end of every line except one
• It's olden day English from the 1600s
• Isn't Shakespeare a famous poet?

This is a facsimile of the original printing of Sonnet 18.

Tuesday: We looked at a You Tube video of David Gilmour (of Pink Floyd) sing a version of

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day. Then we looked at some of the numbers involved in the sonnet.

We discovered - and found examples in Sonnet 18 - that Shakespeare's sonnets:

• have fourteen lines
• have three quatrains plus a couplet - and we discovered that there's a bit of Maths in this because (3 x 3 quatrains)+(1 x 1 couplet) = (3 x 4)+(1 x 2)=14
• have a rhyme scheme of abab, cdcd, efef, gg
• are written in iambic pentameter which means each line has five beats (or feet)
  eg.Shall I compare thee to a summer's day

Here's another version of the poem on You Tube.

And another one, this time animated....

and this one which is a modern day version of the poem which helps make it a bit easier to understand, but.... do you think it maintains the sonnet form?

Huia 1 Gumboot Movie

A couple of weeks ago Brittany, Nikeeta and So Yeon started to make a video called 'Huia 1 Gumboot Movie' which is a comedy movie. Take a look at it above:
Be sure to vote how the movie was on our Huia 1 poll.

Check out our previous post to discover why we decided to make a movie about gumboots.


NEWS FLASH!
The Reviews are Pouring in:

Well done Huia 1. I really enjoyed watching your gumboot movie, it was so funny- I’m not sure if you intended it to be funny but it was. I was actually laughing so loud that a few parents came to my classroom door to see what I was laughing at. (Mrs C)


Wow – what talent!
Can’t wait to show the class on Monday. (Mrs W)

That was great, my kids loved it and sang along with the song....the kids wanted to watch it again, so we played it and the parents waiting outside saw it and loved it too. Well done your class!! (Mrs G)

Fabulous!!! (Mrs M)