Friday, 31 July 2015

Celebrating Maori Achievement by Tim

This was Room 5's homework. We had to write about Maori achievements or a Maori person who has achieved something in their lives. I chose Stephen Kearney, a former rugby player and coach for the Parramatta NRL. I have made a explanation about how he achieved records, trophies and how the team he was coaching had achieved something. 

Maths Strategy by Yvette

This is my google poster on how I solved this maths strategy. I have written how I solved it and showed the strategy. I also laid out seven circle's that represent the cakes to show exactly how I solved it. 

Celebrating Maori Achievement by Saruja

Celebrating Maori Achievement by Sajiha and Yvette

This is a short biography based on "Hone Heke". A famous chief who was the first person ever to sign The Treaty Of Waitangi". I have created this collaboratively with Yvette. I have also included pictures to show more detail in my work.

Friday, 24 July 2015

Visit from our SPARK 'buddy'


Today Room 5 had a visit from our SPARK 'buddy' Greg. Greg has been following our blogs this year so we shared how we learn in our digital 1:1 learning environment, and talked with him about setting goals and making wise choices. Thank you for visiting us Greg!

Congratulations Saruja!

Congratulations Saruja! A certificate for a great start to the term. Well done for all your hard work and excellent collaboration skills.

A snapshot of our learning with Miss D

Room 5 want to say a HUGE congratulations to Miss Donaldson our AMAZING student teacher! This week was her first week of full control. We think she has done a great job taking responsibility for our learning. We're all looking forward to learning with her next week.

Complex Sentences

Here are a few examples of the DLO's we created with Miss D to show our understanding of complex sentences, dependent clauses, independent clauses and AAWWUBBIS.


San Tat


Wednesday, 22 July 2015

Personal Connections to Hauora

To help us understand the concept of Hauora we looked at the personal connections we had by thinking about our families, ourselves and our communities.


This week Room 5 have been working with Miss Donaldson to explore the concept of Hauora. The DLO's below reflect their understanding. After doing a reading jigsaw to learn about one 'wall' each group worked collaboratively to build each other's knowledge.

Tim, Tiare, June and Saruja

Manu, Zahn, Latham and John

Jasmine, Paige, Courtney and Fine

Ducati, Juanita and Samantha

Sebastian, San Tat, Raymond and Oh S'Mar

Sajiha, Yvette, Shantay and Halatoa

Friday, 3 July 2015

Persuasive Writing: Ducati

Should New Zealand change its official flag?

In my opinion, I don’t really know what to choose. Have you made a decision? Well I haven’t, and I don’t want to be cruel, but I don’t want to choose the wrong side. So I don’t know what to do.

1834, 1840, and 1903 are all the times New Zealand has changed the flag. But, the flag is still similar, so we have still kept the honour that our soldiers have fought for our freedom, it’s making my decision hard. Yet about 5% of the world’s flags have not been changed, so the rest of the countries have changed their flag.

I am unsure, and apprehensive about my decision. The flag is a symbol of honour so it would be hard to give up, and  it’s making my decision hard for me. If you're unsure about a decision, then you know how I feel. Everyone is trying to make me “Think like them” and choose their side to be on. Thinking about my decision is so hard, considering that I am very picky(I have a hard time making a decision).

Would you choose changing the flag? Or Would you choose not changing the flag? Well I just don’t know. Neither side is wrong, yet neither side is right. My decision will come in time, not now, tomorrow, the next, or the next, but it will come.

I just don’t have a decision to make, because the idea of the flag changing is alright, but what about not changing the flag? Well could I ask you one thing?  “Do you think I’m right?”

Mindmup: Manu

This is a Mindmup about interface that we did at Digital Tech at Tamaki College. 

Persuasive Writing: Oh S'Mar and Harry

Here is a presentation that I did with my partner Harry. Our task was to make a presentation or a information poster on what a persuasive writing is. We have included all the features and the structure to make a Persuasive writing.

Sentence Structure: Samantha

This is a presentation based around sentences. The main sentences we focused on was Simple and Compound. We have explained what a simple and a compound sentence is in 2 separate slides. It also has a example to show you what they both mean. 

Persuasive Writing: Fine

Should New Zealand change their flag?

We grow up in a generation where a flag defines a country’s importance, stereotyped label, past and future. New Zealand already has a flag that shows our importance and what kind of a multicultural country we are. It acknowledges our past and will contain our futures memories. So I ask you this question, how does changing the flag respect our countries milestones and hardships? I feel that if we changed our flag, we would be being disrespectful to many. If we redesigned our flag, will our coming generation be able to respect the soldiers that have died for it? Will they be able to see through the stars and appreciate our ancestors that navigated all day and night to find our homeland? Will they be able to see the small amount of red that resembles the blood of our tiny nation? Will they be able to appreciate the navy blue that surrounds and protects our shores? No. They won’t, because the most important representations of our country won't be acknowledged.

We need to know that the designer of our new flag will be able to include essential icons of our nation. We need to know that he/she will produce a flag that is instantly recognized as ours, and our current flag has accomplished that quite well already. How can we put so much trust into one person? Although many people feed off pressure and use it as a fuel to drive them towards their goals, we can’t expect the designer to produce a flag as good and honourable as the current flag.

The cost for changing the flag, is an estimated 25.7 million dollars! Money the wrecked homes in Canterbury have been overlooked for 3-4 years could well use. How can New Zealand be able to use all this money on the changing of a flag, when we have citizens who have no homes. The money should be going to the families who are struggling and the people who actually need help. This is a waste of money, that New Zealand can’t afford!

The soldiers who have fought for us in wars, used the flag as a motivation to fight and bear through the heartache, loss and pain. They used the flag to represent themselves whether an individual or crowd. They used the flag as a symbol of hope to return home. They used it as a promise, to fight for the freedom of their families. Why do the people who have probably never even held a gun in the defence of their country, get to decide whether their connections with the flag are taken away?

We can not change the flag of New Zealand! We can not take away history and memories! We can not take away the opportunity of the coming generations to grow up with the proud flag we all have grown up with! We have to make a stand and remain with the same flag that our ancestors have fought for, our athletes have been represented with, and the same flag that has brought our country pride. New Zealand’s history needs to remain intact!

Sharing Our Learning


Thursday, 2 July 2015

Sentence Structure: Evelyn

As you can see above is a poster that reflects what I know about telling the difference between a simple sentence and a compound sentence.

Sentence Structure: Yvette and Sajiha

This is my Simple & Compound Sentence Digital Learning Object. My partner (Sajiha) and I created this after learning about the different sentences. The blue boxes are based around the Simple sentence. The first box says what a simple sentence is and the second box shows an exemplar. The red boxes are based around Compound sentences. The first box tell you what a compound sentences is and gives examples of FANBOYS. The second box includes and exemplar. 

Persuasive Writing: Tim

Should New Zealand Change their Flag?

Most people are happy with our national flag, but some want to have more traditional icons in our flag, like the silver fern, maori designs, etc. If I stated my opinion I would say no. 

First of all, why waste the money? New Zealand is spending a lot of money towards this flag. 25.7 million dollars! Why waste it on a new flag when our current flag has been up since the early 1900s. We should think about all the people with poverty and remember without food, water and a roof on top of their heads, they can’t survive. Without the nutrition they need in their bodies, these people can become unhealthy which can lead to serious illness.

Secondly, we should think about the soldiers, that took a risk fighting for our country under the Union Jack and the four red stars. They had to sacrifice their lives so we could be free. New Zealand wouldn’t be a free country if the soldiers hadn't fought for us.

Thirdly, what’s wrong with our current flag? It honours the past and has been and will be around for decades. If New Zealand changed their flag, yes it may be remembered but the current flag was very important to people back in the 1900s.

In conclusion, I say no! New Zealand should keep their icons, keep the union jack and to  keep the 4 red stars. What do you think? Should New Zealand change their flag?

Wednesday, 1 July 2015

Persuasive Writing: Sajiha

Should NZ change its Flag?

Have you ever thought about New Zealand changing it’s official flag? In my opinion, I disagree with changing the flag! The current flag has history and has been flying in the air for more than one hundred years.

First of all, cast your mind back to when WW1 occurred, to all those brave soldiers who fought for our country under the flag that we have today. Imagine how they would feel if we changed it? Our flag has history and memories that our ancestors want to keep forever. It has meaning that no other country in the world has. Just think about that for a moment.

Secondly, do you know how much money it will cost just to change the flag? It will cost approximately 25.7 million dollars as we would need to change everything that has our current flag on it. Remember the earthquake in Christchurch and the recent floods in Wanganui? Don’t you think this money should be used to rebuild the destroyed homes? I believe helping cities in NZ is more important than just changing a flag!

Hundreds of countries have changed their flag and yet have not been recognized. If we change our flag too, many countries won’t be able to identify where we are from and who we are instantly. Plus, the NZ flag has already been changed in 1834, 1840, and 1903. It’s probably going to be changed again so why should we put in so much effort? It would also just be a huge argument over which flag to choose as we are approximately 4.471 million. I think we should just keep our flag the way it is!

I’m sure I have persuaded you to think like me! Remember to acknowledge the confidence our NZ soldiers had when they fought under our flag, the amount of other important things we can spend the money on and how countries won’t be able to recognize our country because of all the changes that have been changed in our flag. What’s your opinion?