Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Romeo and Juliet

We have been reading several different versions of the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. 
We have spent some time learning about the characters and how they affect what happens in the story. 

Here's a summary of  the first part of the play - by Jackie. 

          Once in Italy, in a place called Verona, lived two disgraceful families, the Montagues and the Capulets. They fought each other almost every single day.
          Then Prince Escalus said angrily, "Don't make your lives more miserable than they already are. Put your weapons down, or your lives will be lost!"
         " Where's Romeo?" asked Lord Montague. "He's always coming home late, weeping and locking himself away in his room."
         "I promise I will solve the problem," said Benvolio.

           Romeo sighed.
          "What's wrong?" asked Benvolio. 
          "I love Rosaline, but she doesn't love me," said Romeo.
          "You know what?" said Benvolio. "Let's gate crash the Capulets' party. I bet there's even prettier ladies there that you might want to meet."

Here are some of our ideas on our favourite characters and scenes in the play: 

My favourite character is: 

Juliet - because she stops to think about what she is doing and stands up for what she thinks is right. (Caitlin)

Juliet - because she  drinks the potion to be with Romeo, and then stabs herself and gives up everything for him. It's really sweet, and she's pretty. (Tegan) 

Juliet - because she is pretty and she's smart and she thinks about what she  is going to do before she does it, and that is smart. And she's really nice. (Jessica)

Tybalt- because he is not afraid to have a fight. (Trent) 

Mercutio - because he stood his ground and fought for his friends until he went down.(Rudadiso) 

Tybalt - because he is fiery, active and hot-blooded. (DC) 

Romeo - because he is a good sword fighter. (Akjot) 

Romeo - because he killed Tybalt. Tybalt deserved to die because he was an unkind soul. Also, Romeo would do anything to see Juliet.  (Lauren)

Benvolio - because he likes peace better than fighting. (Bridget) 

Benvolio - becasue he never caused a fight or killed anyone. (Jupman.) 

Mercutio - because he's different and likes to fight. He was also a friend of Romeo. (Flynn)

Romeo - because he's like me, and does not think before he does things. (Shayla)

Benvolio - because he doesn't do much and he is kind. (Kyran)

Mercutio - because he is not afraid to stand up to people for his friends. (Latrey)

Benvolio - because he's kind-hearted and noble and he likes peace. He's not afraid to tell the truth and threaten some people every now and then. (Cameron W)

My favourite character is Tybalt because I like the people who fight. For me, without Tybalt, you would never see how good a friend Mercutio was. Whenever there is a scene with Tybalt, I think, "Yes! This is going to be a fighting scene!"  I was very disappointed when he died. I  think he played a major bit in Romeo and Juliet because, when Mercutio comes in, you think he is just a funny joker and playing-type guy. But when Tybalt comes in, you see another side of Mercutio - he is a good friend of Romeo as well as a good fighter. (Tonu)

My favourite scene is:

- the Romeo and Juliet death scene because it shows how much they cared for one another, and they couldn't be apart. (Caitlin) 

- when Juliet is on her balcony and Romeo is underneath listening. It's really funny, and I love all of the sayings they say. (Tegan)
- when Tybalt kills Mercutio because there was a lot of action in that scene. (DC)

- when Romeo and Tybalt have a fight, because it's action, and I love action. It's thrilling to see who will die. (Trent) 

- the balcony scene because it's really meaningful and deep. I wish they did not die because they were in love. (Lauren) 

- when Romeo and Juliet die because it's interesting how Romeo kills himself then two seconds later Juliet awakes to  find him dead beside her. (Shayla) 

- where Mercutio is saying, "Borrow Cupid's wings and fly" because  it's a really good metaphor.  (Bridget) 

- when Romeo slew Tybalt. Tybalt gets what he deserves because he killed Mercutio. (Kyran)

 - when Mercutio and Tybalt have a fight because it shows that Mercutio is not afraid to have a fight, and because it is exciting to see who will win. (Latrey)

- when Tybalt fights with Mercutio and then Romeo because it shows Tybalt's determination. He always sticks with his word, and he is always looking for a battle with either swords or daggers. (Tonu) 

- when the Montagues and the Capulets made up. (Jupman) 

- when Mercutio stood up for Romeo and showed integrity and courage, even in a situation of life and death. It makes you see in life that friends can be there for you. (Rudadiso)

 Romeo and Juliet - The Balcony Scene by Text Message.

 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Haiku Poems 2

After writing group and class haiku poems, each student had to write a haiku independently. We used our class garden for inspiration. Some wrote a haiku  based on a photo of one of our monarch butterflies which hatched in our garden earlier this year, others looked elsewhere around the garden. We learned how to get maximum impact from only 17 syllables. We also learned how to hyphenate adjectives to help make our descriptions more precise. Here are some of the results:


Hanging by a thread
A butterfly clinging on
Not wanting to fall
Flynn 

Intelligent bug
White snow dots on flaming wings
Bring out the beauty
Hoani

Gentle and tranquil
Sweet exquisite-winged angel
Flap your wings and fly
DC

Spotty stripy heart
Pretty-patterned butterfly
Elegantly formed
 Jessica

A heart-shaped beauty
Exquisite appealing beast
Delicate round eyes
Tonu

Impressive flyer
Slim, hopeful, intelligent
Silent creature dies
Jackie

White-spotted outline
Exquisitely spreading wings
Slurping in nectar
Alisha


Delicate creature
Orange, black, white spots and stripes
Butterfly, roam free
Trent O’S

Heart-shaped butterfly
White-spotted wings fluttering
Landing on the leaf
Danny

Heart-shaped butterfly
White, black and orange wonder
Perch’d in the  garden.
 Cameron W


Gliding in the sky
Setting off to live its life 
Fluttering black wings
Glenton

Spotted, soaring, small
Mingling amongst leaves and twigs 
A glamorous sight 
Rudadiso 

Gentle orange wings
Crawling with insect-like legs 
Go and fly away
Bridget  
Clouds
Big, white fluffy clouds
Silky-soft cotton candy
Hydrated and stormy
 Kylah 
Flowers
Different colours
Lavender, daisy and rose
In gardens they grow
Kylah


Water
Fast current flowing
Puddle river waterfall
Worldwide hydrating

Renae


Sun
Yellow red burning 
Blazing bright big blinding sun
Gigantic shiny                         
                         
Ramandeep  
                                 

Friday, August 10, 2012

Acrostic Poems

 Part 3 of our acrostic writing. These are acrostic poems made    from students' names - using only adjectives.

 Loyal
 Athletic
 Thoughtful
 Reliable
 Youthful


 Talented
 Entertaining 
 Gregarious  
 Affable
 Netball-loving  

 Thunderstruck
 Relaxed
 Energetic
 Noisy
 Tall 

 Opportunistic
'Sensitive 


 Destructive
 Ablaze
 Natural
 Nerdy
 Young

Original  

Joyful, jumpy
Ecstatic, energetic
Sympathetic
Short, shouty
Impulsive
Creative
Acrobatic, active 

Loyal
Athletic
Thoughtful
Reliable
Energetic
Youthful

Careful
Artistic
Mindful
Energetic
Respectful
Obedient
Nice
 

Faithful
Acceptable
Accountable
Triumphant
Obedient
Noble
Undemonstrative
 
 
 



Reliable
Annoying
Mindful
Arty
Nervous
Dramatic
Educated
Entertaining
Punjabi

Bright, Brilliant
Rapid
Intelligent, Interesting
Determined
Gracious, Generous
Energetic
Thoughtful, Thinkable 



Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Acrostic Poems 2

Everyone had to write an acrostic poem based on their name, using only adjectives.  We discovered that there is not a wide range of relevant adjectives beginning with Y.
Here are some of the results:

Kind-hearted
Youthful
Radiant
Artistic
Noble 

Necessary


Creative
Artistic
Mindful
Engaging
Remarkable
Original
Noble

Wise  


Superhuman
Happy
Abstracted
Youthful
Lucky 
Affable  

Reliable
Energetic
Normal
Artistic
Enthusiastic 

Patient
Overjoyed
Useful 



Devoted
Expeditious
Warlike
Altruistic
Laborious
Dignified  


Artistic
Kindly
Joyful
Obedient
Thoughtful 

Social  


Loyal, lighthearted
Amiable, aesthetic
Unique
Reliable, random
Enthusiastic, efficient
Nervous 
  
Arty and angry
Lazy
Indian and independent
Shy
Happy and humorous
Awesome


Constructive
Assiduous
Industrious
Timorous
Literate
Intelligent 
Numerate    
  
Gorgeous
Loving
Exuberant
Noble
Truthful
Obedient
Notorious


Kind
Youthful
Lowly
Athletic
Happy

Mischievous
Crazy
Creative
Annoying
Liable
Lucky 
 




 

Friday, August 3, 2012

Haiku Poems 1

 Link to our Term 3 team newsletter

We have been learning to write haiku poems. 

A haiku poem is usually inspired by some aspect of nature. 
It has three lines; the first has five syllables,
the second has 7 syllables 
and the third line has 5 syllables. 

Here are our first efforts. We looked at some photos of our class garden (taken in summer) for inspiration. We worked in groups, then shared ideas, making suggestions on how each haiku could be improved. So, these are all a combined effort from Huia 1. 


Praying mantis kills
native caterpillar death
long legs, spider-like.

Look! Lurking around
praying mantis quick and green
vicious and sneaky.

Praying mantis, look,
insects beware, be careful
killer on the loose.

A cold green killer
munching on caterpillars
hiding in secret.

Voracious mantis
preying on caterpillars
slow food eaten fast. 

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Maori Language Week

This  past week was Maori Language Week.   In Huia 1, we practised saying this Maori saying from the NZ English Curriculum document.
 
Ko te reo te tuakiri
Ko te reo tōku ahurei

Ko te reo te ora.

 

(Language is my identity.
Language is my uniqueness.
Language is life.)


We had a competition to see who could say it the best. Shayla and Hoani were easily the best so they were the judges for the rest of the class. After several rounds and eliminations, Jessica and Danny were the eventual winners. (They won a chocolate bar each - and the judges got one each, too.)

We also did the New Zealand  Herald quiz for Maori Language Week.
Quiz on Maori greetings
Quiz on body parts 
Quiz on food and drink 

In art options, we looked at images of koru and fern fronds and sketched them - or designed our own koru symbols. Then we wrote Maori proverbs around the outline of the koru.
Trent G
Bhaban

Jackie

Samantha

Annella

Flynn


Te Amo

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Bits and Pieces

 It's been a while since we posted any blogs so here's some photos of things that have been happening in our team and class over the past few weeks.

Anyone have any idea what kid of spider this could be? Mrs Dobson found it on the wall outside the library. We didn't think to put something alongside to show the comparative size - but Mrs Dobson assures us it was big. 



Trolley Derby - with trolleys modified from the last trolley derby two years ago.

Karnjeet and Kylah.

Rudadiso and Glenton.


We lost the olive tress over the holidays. They had to be taken out because they were dropping too many leaves on the asphalt and were getting too big for the space they were in. It's time to weed the garden now that all the caterpillars have gone.


Research for science fair.

Working on the science fair boards.


 
 
 
Danny is really enjoying reading.

DC loves reading.



Jackie, Flynn and Tonu enjoying their reading.
Trent and Hoani working on Mathletics.




Thursday, July 26, 2012

Acrostic Poems 1

 This term, we are learning about poetry, plays and performing.(Did you spot the alliteration there?) We  have started with acrostic poems. An acrostic poem uses the consecutive letters of a word as the first letters of words to describe the chosen word.

To make it a poem (and not a shopping list) words should be  selected  and sequenced for the sound and rhythm they make when read aloud.

In the following poem, we chose our class's name - Huia 1 - and everyone suggested words to use for each letter. To make it more specific, we used only nouns which had some relevance to us. Some words were discarded is the editing process.  If you know us well, you will understand why we chose these words.

Happiness, history, homework, help
Unity, ukulele, unanimity, unique
Identity, Ireland, iPad,  integrity, Intermediate, Internet
Awhitu,  anthology, ability, acknowledgement, achievement, ANZAC

Opportunities, organisation, orchestra, onomatopoeia, opinion, ourselves,
Narratives,  nature, novel, nationalities, neatness, notebook,
Español, etiquette, education, environment, excellence, effort 
                                      ~oO000Oo~