Santas Coming!!!!

This coming christmas is going to be my second christmas in New Zealand. Last years christmas didn't go that well as we didn't know the shops and what we wanted. Well my christmas wish was a ticket back to Singapore, but I didn't get that. Instead I got beach towels and heaps of clothes to keep me warm. 

In Singapore we use to wait till our whole family was up and then the youngest would pick the first present. The only thing that was annoying about it was knowing that you couldn't choose your own present. At least every christmas there would be a giant present with my name on it and I wasn't allowed to open it until someone choose it for me. I usually ended up getting it last. 

My mum use to cook breakfast for us until two years ago she made the most awful eggs benedict. Even my dad didn't like it and so instead we had toast. From that day on my mum has never made breakfast on christmas. 

This year for christmas I think we are spending the day with my mum's family and then boxing day with my dads family. I really like christmas because then I can catch up with family members and to have a massive holiday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE AND HOPE YOU HAVE A NICE HOLIDAY!!!!!!!!

P.S has your mum ever made breakfast for you and it tasted so bad that you didn't eat it?

College

Next year I will be attending Wellington Girls College(WGC) 2014. I'm defiantly looking forward to a bigger school with heaps of options for sport as well as academic.  I think it will be a great opportunity to meet new friends that could possibly be your long lasting friend in the future.

The thing I'm most looking forward to is playing different types of sport and getting into teams that have the same abilities as me My goal for collage sport is to try and get in to the top teams which will be hard as there are over thousands of girls attending WGC.

The thing i'm not looking forwards to is having a locker on the top floor.  I've heard that it is one of the awful places to have a locker as for each subject you need to change over your books from your locker. Now imagine after every lesson running up the stairs to get your books and go back down. Such fun.

I can't wait till I go to collage but will defiantly miss friends who aren't going to the same collage as me. I will also miss the only teacher I've ever had in New Zealand Mrs.R. Bolger as well as other teachers and students.

What is your worst nightmare that you have about collage?

NICOLE EVERDEEN

Today I styled my hair in the way that Katniss Everdeen did while she was in the Hunger Games. I will  be carrying out this hairstyle for the next two days as well as Book Character Day.  This year I will be going as Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire. 

Who is your favourite Hunger Games person? 

If you haven't noticed my favourite character is Katniss Everdeen. 

Jacqueline Wilson Mini Bibliography

Mini Bibliography 

Jacqueline Wilson was born on the 17th of December 1945 in Bath,  England but grew up in Kingston. When she was seven years old she was an imaginative child who enjoyed both reading and inventing stories.  She was never a fan of mathematics and always stared out the window thinking of ideas for new stories.  Her imagination has helped her to sell over 30 million of her books. Four of her books have made the top 100 most popular books in Britain. She is also famous for her series of Tracy Beaker.  She writes novels for all ages and has a excellent humour in her writing.

The best part of her books are always the ending. She would always make sure you can find a way out of everything. "I try to have reasonably happy endings because I would hate any child to be cast down in gloom and despair; I want to show them you can find a way out of it"“

My favourite book that I have read by Jacqueline Wilson is called Cliff Hanger. Its about a boy who hates sports but his parents force him to go on a adventure camp. He is terrible at sports and everybody teases him but in the end he become a hero. If you want to find out more then she should read the book. This is my favourite author and I hope one day she'll be yours as well.

Hunger Games Book Review

The Hunger Games

North America has been destroyed and is now run by the powerful Capital and is divided into 12 districts (district 13 has been destroyed due to a rebellion). In district 12 is the main character Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl, who lives with her younger sister Prim and their widowed mother. In order to keep the 12 districts aware of who runs the county, the Capital arranges a game to the death each year in an arena. Each district holds a drawing of one boy and one girl to go as tributes. When Prim Rose Everdeen gets picked, Katniss her sister volunteer as tribute which means ro take her spot in the games. Along with Katniss comes also Peeta, the baker’s son, who grew up with her.

Katniss and Peeta must fend for themselves against natural elements, the Gamemakers and the other contestants whose only option is to kill or be killed.  The mystery lies behind the games and there can only be one winner. Who will it be?

This book has an amazing story line and is recommend for young readers as well as adults. It has a hint of romance and has a big adventure awaiting for you. This is by far my favourite book I have read and I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I did. May the Hunger Games be ever in your favour. 

BOOK WEEK CHALLENGES

During this week and next week the teachers have given us challenges as its book week. Over the next few days I will be posting different challenges that relate to what the teachers have given us. It will be exciting and funny to see what others have come up with. So I hope you enjoy!!!!

Fireworks!!!!!!

  

GUY FAWKES DAY

Why have fireworks on the day where someone was going to blow up a building and kill thousands of people. Why do we need to remember this memory every year when we can just save the fireworks for my birthday. This might sound greedy having fireworks on my birthday but wouldn’t you rather celebrate a day that’s special to someone then celebrating a day that a man almost killed people.  Think about it. Every year maybe if you have done something significance to your county you could have fireworks on your birthday. Even the soldiers that have fought in the wars for us. We can remember them by fireworks.  

Imagine you have got a gold medal for doing extremely well or you’re the student of the year. They ask for your birthday and you celebrate with fireworks. How cool would that be. Obviously there are heaps of people in New Zealand but then you can achieve a goal by getting your name printed in the sky.   

If you got your name printed in the sky what do you think you would we recognized for. What would you have done?

When I Grow Up

When I grow up I want to represent New Zealand in Netball. The other day I went to watch the Silver Ferns play against Malawi and then it suddenly came to me, I would like to be in the Silver Ferns. Netball is a sport that I admire and enjoy, I never think I could ever get bored with playing games of netball for the rest of my life. My favourite position in netball is Centre, Wing Attack and Wing Defence but I don't mind other positions.

If my netball dream fails my backup plan would to study to become a lawyer. So the subjects that I would take in collage is maths, english, liturgy, finance and subjects that would help me with this journey. I think I could be a great lawyer as I never give up and I tend to argue a lot.

If your dream job fails what's your backup plan?

School's Started....!

The holidays are over and it is now the second week of school. Winter has gone by and the sun is starting to appear. Our new topic for this term is Evolution, so pretty much how the earth evolved. 

One thing that I did during the holidays was visiting my cousins. My family and I drove up to Taupo and stayed at my cousins house for a week. We caught up with each other and did splendid activities such as prawn fishing, outdoor maze, mini putt putt, fake duck shooting, hot pools, rock climbing e.t.c. My favourite activity was prawn fishing because i've never done it before and it was different for other activities. We got given a bamboo stick with a thread of string and a hook tied to the end. We then got given bait to tie onto our hooks. In 2 hours I caught 1 prawn but it was the best feeling ever. Something finally got attracted to my bait and wouldn't let go.

This term has only begun but we have already started new things, such as our new topic, softball, new song in choir and the beginning of athletics. The most enjoyable thing that I've done so far is learning the new song in choir. It is called "HO, HEY by the Lemineers. It's a really cool song and I really like the different harmonies they we get given. I cant wait to get into this term and may all the speeches go well.

Have You Ever Gone Prawn Fishing?

Self-portrait in a Velvet Dress

Frida Wilson

For the last two weeks our whole school has been preparing for an art exhibition which is going to be held this coming Tuesday. Each class has chosen an artist which they will use their ideas and incorporate it into their own artwork at school.
 

 My teacher chose an artist who is unusual and has a sense of humor from her artwork. In her paintings she would draw animals such as parrots and monkeys and has a thing for mono brows and facial hair. Her name is is Frida Kahlo.

One of my favorite painting by Frida Kahlo is called Self-portrait in a Velvet Dress. It is a portrait of her with a background that is set like an ocean. I love the feel of how the waves just flow, with one cloud sitting by itself. I decided to copy the photo but changed it into my on style. It is a portrait of me using pastilles instead of paint. I hope you like it.

HOBBIES

NETBALL AND BASKETBALL

Hi, my name is Nicole and my current hobbies are Netball and Basketball . As you can see they are both sports thats what I love. 

Every Saturday in Winter I would get up at 7:00 and get dressed to play Netball. Every time I would step outside a cold shiver would run up my spine as our netball dresses were quite short and the wind was blowing heavily. My netball team is called the TunderBolts, we are a mixed year 7 and 8 team and we try our best in every game we play. We were in the second highest grade and had challenging opponents, we lost one game and won all of our other games. In the end we came second in our grade but the most thing I loved the most was playing different teams.

Every Friday since the beginning of term 2 I have been playing basketball for school. We are a mixed team of year 7's and 8's and play from the times 3:30pm to 6:30pm. We verse schools like Raroa, Crofton Downs school, St Bridges and schools around the area. The thing I love about basketball is how I can run into people and they get called for the fouls. I especially love playing against girls as they think I'm just like them except I might have more aggression then them. 

What is your favourite sport and do you have any special moves/tricks?


- If you do I would love to see your tricks and hopefully use them in a game. :)

Mine Craft

Over the last few weeks we have been working on our mine craft village. We got into small groups and had a task to create what you were given. I was in a group with Caitlin and Anna and we were working on the cottages. We made at least 8 cottages which to us is a lot.

 After a while Anna and I got bored and decided to create an underground tunnel. We made heaps of bed and chest in case of an emergency.  In the end I had so much fun and hopefully one day we could do something like this all over again.

 

 

Reflection

During this term our main topic was medieval times, from the time period 500 AD. We have watched videos, had class/group discussions, individual reading, researching, building villages in Minecraft and creating many PowerPoints. During all these activities we have learnt what a normal life for a pheasant is and what place they come in the rankings. We also learnt about the crusades and the viscous disease the plague.

The last few weeks we have been working on our newspaper which involves information about what we have learnt. We have to make it look like a newspaper and have articles that would suite the times back in those days.

The activity that I have enjoyed the most was building the village in Minecraf. I was working on the cottages with Caitlin and Anna and at the moment they look really cool. We have put a lot of effort into them trying to suite the olden days and trying not to use the equipment that they didn't have.

Electives Reflection

Electives

Over the last two terms we have been doing electives as the whole school. It is where you can learn new things and experience different tecniques you have never done before. Most of it is fun which is what your ment to do while learning. Some of the topics are: Cooking, Sport, Science, Art and many fun activities.

The subjects I chose were Cooking and Sport. I've acomplished cooking and making my way through sport. In cooking we made dishes from different countries and many differnt tradistions. So far in sport we have acheived turbo touch witch is a really fun game is you love touch rugby.

I think the electives for this year is way better from last year as there are more options and electives is held over two terms.

If you could come up with ideas for electives what would you do? 

Technology Reflection

Technology

Every Monday the whole senior syndicate goes into town to a school called Mt.Cook school. We learn many different skills and learn how to sew, craft equipment, cook, electronics and basic technology usage.Theses subjects will probably help in future classes and the basics of being independent.

Earlier this year I was placed in a group with about 8 girls. I have completed electronics, woodwork and sewing. In electronics I made a controllable car which can move forwards and backwards. In woodwork I made a box which contains many drawers and involved a lot of hard work. I have just recently finished sewing and I made a messenger bag. It is revisable and the pattern is a pink and blue army pattern.

The next subject I will be doing is cooking which I'm really looking forward to. I can't wait to cook and eat some delicious food.

Book Group

During this term we were set to have our reading groups. I was put in a group with Sophia and we were reading Among The Hidden by Margaret Haddix. This book was really interesting and grabbed my attention all around. It made me feel as if I were in the main characters place, hiding from others.

This year I think the reading groups have gone well as everyone wanted to try their best to unlock the food. It took my group 3 reading lessons to unlock food but were the first ones in my class. I'm defiantly excited to have another book group next term as it was fun but I liked how we discussed the book.

Next time I would like to read the book Hatchet as I've heard lots of good reviews.

Term 2 Goals

At the start of Term 2 we had to write goals on what we want to get out of this term. So far I think I'm doing alright but could still work harder. 

My personal goal was to do my best at rep trails for netball, but that didn't go as I thought it would be. There were a lot of good players but most of them played together before so it was hard to receive the ball. I tried my best and that's what counts. My other goals were to acheive subjects and to practice and read more. As a fact if you read more you will have a wide range of vocabulary. 

So far I have read 5 books and it is now week 6 which to me is a big improvement. I would usually be reading a book in two weeks if I was really interested. 

Hopefully by the end of Term 2 I would have my mind focus but coming up is Science Fair. At the moment it is going well and we have got 5 weeks left.

Good-Luck to everyone!!!!!!

This is not an Apple

During art we are learning how to blend colors that match and how to make thick and thin lines with a paint brush. At the start of art this term blending colors was the hardest of them all. In the middle of the color joining it would turn out to be a giant blob of darkness and not really I color I was hoping for. Since I've had practice blending is probably now my strength then other things.

This week I'm hoping to paint an apple. With different shades, colors and use my blending skills. Hopefully by the end of the week my apple will be accomplished. I still need to work on writting clear lines and letters as last painting was a struggle. "focus is the key and if you believe, you can do it."

Wish me the best of luck and how do you think your painting is going??

This is not a pipe?

This week we tried to copy Renee Margritte's painting of the pipe. It was really fun and I think that I have now improved my blending skills.  I like the shape I made with the bowl and the color of the background. It was really fun making and experimenting different colors and learning their names. The most difficult part was at the end. Writing "this is not a pipe" in Spanish(I think). It was hard because painting words is not that easy. In the end I managed. YAAAAAY!

In my class I was the second to finish but during the process I was too scared to start. If you messed up there was no time of turning back. Tasks were due in the next day so the clock was ticking.

The next object I've chosen to paint is an red apple. If I place it in the light shadows will appear and it will give me light and dark shades. The shape of an apple is not a normal shape so the outline might be challenging, but this is why were at school. Bring It On !!!!

Multipulcation

During the last couple of weeks our class has been focusing on our timetable. My main focus is achieving my time and practicing more of the 3, 4, 6,8 timetable. At the moment I have accomplished 1,2,5,10,11 and a bit of 12. Hopefully by the end of term two I would be managed to answer all questions in a fast time. I also need to work on Problem Solving. I need to take my time and read the question carefully, but also problem solving usually uses multiplying and division. So as long as I remember my multiplication I'll be sweet as.

Achievable

Today we went to St. Bridges. It was really fun and I enjoyed every part of it. I made heaps of new friends and learnt new games that we could play inside the classroom. The thing that I wanted to get out of today was to try my best and to have fun. I think I achieved my goals.

Transport there and back was fun. We enjoyed a nice 10 minute ride on the train and we all excited. When we reached our destination we went into their chapel. During their chapel service we had to go to the front and write our names down on a piece of paper. When I went up I saw my name already written down. NICOLE. It was cool to know someone at their school had the same name as me.

After chapel it was morning tea. I ran around a lot and that was where everyone met each other. During break I was the first one that sprinted towards the playground as it looked really cool. Soon it was time for us to get into our groups. Achievable

I was in a group called "St.Paul," Our first activity was classroom hockey. It was really fun but at times I couldn't stop laughing. All the year 7's and 8's then met in a classroom up stairs. We sang a song and then said our farewells. As we were about to leave we were given lollipops then we were headed back to school.

As I said before I had a really good time. The students their were really helpful and felt like I already new them. So good luck St. Bridges and see you soon!

St Bridgeds

Tomorrow we will be going to St. Bridges for a normal school day.

 I'm most looking forward to see what they do during school time but most of all their playground. I want to get the most out of the sports and see what challenges await us. There will also be a free sausage sizzle which is a double bonus. I also can't wait for tomorrow as I would like to make new friends because you never no they could end up being in your class in the future.

 

What equipment do you think they have at the playground?

ASB Follow Up

Today we had a visitor form the ASB Bank. He told us how to make the right choices and the difference between needs and wants. He also told us no matter what job you've chosen it all comes with a price.  "Spend some on you, but save some too!"

I could relate that using money is hard to keep track of. Usually when I see something that catches my attention.  In the end it comes down to spending your money on something you want. If I had $10 I would buy something during the time I have the money and the rest would go straight into my wallet for next time. This is hard at times as there are so many things to buy but in the end as I was told today it depends on you.

My own money management is not that great as I mentioned before. Although if you had money in your pocket and you see something appealing would you buy it or just walk past it?

After the lesson with the ASB talker remember "Spend some on you but save some too!"

Longest Day

During the holidays I spent time with my family and friends. I did different activities each day and was very active as this term sport appears.

 Wednesday 1 May

 "Nicole, wake up it's 8:00 get ready for netball!" yelled my mum as she pulled the covers off me. The coldness woke me up instantly and in a minute I was all ready. To be honest I was just exaggerating it to me forever to get changed and to make my bed. Although at the same

time I was excited because everyone was going.

  "Alright is everyone here? We will now start with 2 laps around the courts and do sprints afterwards," said my mum. To start off my mum was our coach for that day. It was annoying at the start but then she turned out to be a great coach. We worked on learning new drills to develop new skills. I learnt how to do close defense and open defense and new set play moves. After a good hour of fitness and drills we finished off with a game of netball. My favorite positions are Center and Wing-Attack but if needed I can play anywhere.

After everybody left Sophia then asked me if I wanted to go and see Scary Movie 5 with others.  Of course I said yes and later that day Caitlin, Christine, Anna, Alyssa, Sophia and I went to the movies. The movie was quiet hilarious if you were watching it with Anna and Christine as they couldn’t stop laughing throughout the whole movie. At one point of the movie Alyssa and I had our eyes closed as funny but disturbing things were being shown.

At the end of the day I said good-bye to everyone and then was headed off to soccer practice. I saw Anna and Caitlin again ad we kept on laughing throughout practice. We then did more drills and all of a sudden I became tired. Soccer practice then ended and I couldn’t wait for the holidays to begin.

What was the most tiring thing you did throughout your holiday?

Statistics

Statistics

Last week we did our statistics math test. I did well as I got 97% and made a silly mistake on the histogram graph. What I did was I left an evenly space gap between each bar where that is for a bar graph. I've learnt my mistake and next time I will remember to look at my studies so that I don't get confused. So far I have improved on my maths skills especially mean, median,mode and range. 

 For me to remember math was to complete the worksheets and if I couldn't understand something I would ask a friend or the teacher. Statistics was fun and an interesting topic to start the year.

Camp

Last week the year 8's went to camp. We all had a fantastic time and wished that we could stay for another week but then again none of the girls liked the 3 minutes showers. Along the way we learnt new rhmys such as " If it's yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down" and "Lefty loosely, rightly tightly" We used these rhmys daily especially if we had to go to the toilet.

The activities that we did were challenging especially the 1st cave. It looked so small that I thought I would get stuck. It took me a while to get over it but once I was confident I just went. The first few parts of the cave was when I was shaking but once we reached an open space I felt fine. I saw heaps of glow worms and was following the water current because that was the way out.

The activity that I found easy was the flying fox because I knew that there was no possible way of falling off. It was a long wait till I got my turn but the wait was worth it. I let my arms go and the wind was pushing me from behind. I felt as if I was flying. Once I reached the end I looked beneath me and I saw a river it was beautiful. I then was slowly taken up and was pleased with the ride and that was the first activity we did.

My favorite moment of camp was having the party cabin. Everyone wanted to come in. We shared stories and gossiped a lot. No one in our cabin wanted to go to sleep so we stayed up pretty late until the teachers told us to go to bed but we still were whispering.

The night that I enjoyed was when we all got together and sat outside in our sleeping bags. We tried to do the Harlem Shake but it was to dark so you could only see Jacob in his sleeping bag doing a worm dance.(It was funny)

On Camp I got to no my classmates/teachers more and I also met our very cool instructor Helen the leader of  "Pink Fluffy Unicorns"

Comic Drawings

Comic                 

For this terms topic were doing Super heroes and Villains. So far it's been a good start and I can't wait till we get more in to it. For the last 2 weeks we had to draw a three panel comic page showing our super hero that we created. It seems to be quite difficult as I'm not that good at drawing although it is still fun to give your super hero really cool costumes and gadgets. 

For the art I have done my first panel which is a full body pose and still working on my seconded and third. I'm still trying to find a good mid shot of my character in action and for an extreme close up on a really detailed eye. So far I have improved my sketching skills and learning to draw different poses while looking at them upside down.(So you see the lines and not the shape) 

Hopefully by the end of this week I will have completed my task and make sure that it is up to a high standard.

Is anyone struggling on the drawing and colouring in?

Well for me I'm struggling but I'm getting there.