Monday, August 26, 2013

Snow White And The Beanstalk!

Snow White , was living happy and contented . She was living with Seven Dwarfs, in their small cottage. One morning, Snow White went to go buy some tissues for Sneezy Dwarf. " These tissues would be the perfect tissues for Sneezy " She suggested.

She handed the money  to the cashier. Suddenly she heard a little boy crying out, " Magical beans, buy your magical beans " " Beans? Magical Beans?" Snow White thought.  She walked to the little boy, selling the beans. " Hello, how much are those beans?" She questioned nervously . " They happen to be for free, majesty" The boy replied. 

" Well , why not? I'll have some magic beans please" She offered. Snow White went off , back to the small cottage. "Did you get my tissues? Achoo!" said Sneezy . " No, sorry, but I got these magical beans, from a little boy" She replied , staring at the magical beans , wonderfully!

" A boy, what boy? Don't ever buy anything from a little boy , their really naughty most of the time!" said  Grumpy Dwarf.  " So? we're like little boys " said Dopey. "Yeah, except we're little 'Men' "  
"Well I am so sorry, I didn't mean to get them but it was for free, I couldn't help it" explained Snow White.

Snow White was worried. " Don't be sad,  Snow White, maybe we should go plant these beans, they do look sweet! " Offered Happy Dwarf. "LET'S GIVE IT A TRY!" Said the Dwarfs. Snow White and the Dwarfs scurried to the yard. 

"Now, we need to be careful with these beans or else we will be in trouble and hurt" Warned Snow White.  Happy Dwarf carefully digged through the ground , while Snow White carefully placed them. They covered it and poured some water with a water can.

The next morning, Snow White woke up in excitement hoping to see a full grown plant. " Wake up, wake up , let's go check out the plant, let's go!" She chuckled. The Dwarfs and Snow White went outside, and saw a Huge Candy Beanstalk. " Let's go for a hike! " Suggested Bashful Dwarf. " A hike? we're still in our pyjamas's, what a great idea. " Agreed Dopey Dwarf. " Haha, we need to get out of our pyjama's though, hehe" Snow White chuckled. 

They got out of their sleepy pyjama's , and on they went out the door! "Okay who's going first?" Bashful Dwarf asked. To be continued . . . .

Cross Country!

" I have some serious butterflies in my stomach "  One of my friends said.  " I don't , and that's a fact " I lied , with shivers running up my spine. I wiped away  bits of hair from my face and saw a clear view of children crossing the finish line. I looked around, but to see only the 11 yr old's left on the court.  " Arrrggghhh, I knew I shouldn't have come to school!" I thought to myself. The sun started getting hotter and hotter . One drip of sweat streamed down my forehead. 

I was really sure that people went to the toilet on purpose,  just to miss out their cross country run.  I tried that, but the smell had just shooed me away! Looking outside , I 'still' saw the 11 year old's sitting outside , enjoying their time. While I was trying to get rid of all the butterflies in my tummy. Walking back to the courts , I was punching my stomach on the way.

A few minutes later . . . . . 

" Phine, we have to go run now" One of my friends said as she prodded me with her shoulder. " I think I'd rather throw up on my shoes than rather go for a run! " I claimed in my thoughts.  We walked across the field to get to the start line. Mr. Burt instructed us with all the rules that was needed to know.  

" On your marks . . . " I'm so not ready  "Get Set" Please let it rain . .  " Go!" Oh here we go again. I sprinted as fast as I could to catch up with the others. Oh no! I could feel the mud on  while running on the farm , it was squishy and yucky! I jogged past some people passing out and some walking on purpose. Finally , I was running through the reserve! I ran past Miss King , past Mr. Marks and past a Tamaki College student. They were really caring, the helped us not to stop and helped us to keep all the running up!! 

I was then coming second place and obviously Asena was coming first!  I tried to lower down my breath, I couldn't help it but stop for a while, and that is  what I regret! Turning around  I saw Keis and a few other catching up. So, I went for a little baby-step sprint .  I was almost at the finish line, until suddenly I ended up coming 6th.

Overall , cross country was superb! It was really cool almost watching myself run and not stop. It was a great opportunity getting to see others reach their goal! 

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs Retelling


Once upon a time there lived a prince’s daughter, with hair black as night and her skin as white and delicate as snow. She grew up happy and contented. Excluding her jealous stepmother .  Her hair was very long and her eyes were sea blue, and so they named her ‘ Snow white ‘ .  Everybody was really sure that she might become more beautiful looking.  All though her stepmother was very nefarious, she was beautiful as well , and the magic mirror often told her this daily , whenever she asked it.



“Mirror, Mirror on the wall who’s the most loveliest lady of them all?” she would always ask . The reply was always , “You are, your majesty “ But this time it was very different, the mirror replied “ Snow white is the loveliest of them all” The nefarious mother was straight-away in uncontrollable anger! She was in rage. She began secretly planning something to get rid of Snow White.


Calling one of her trusty servants, she persuaded him with a reward of rich money  to get rid of Snow White in the forest far away from the castle so that she could never find her way back!  The servant led the ingenious little girl  into the forest . They came to a mortal spot, the servant murmured an excuse and then took off, Snow White was all alone in the forest , by herself.


When dawn fell , there was no sign of any servant  Snow White began to cry. She thought that there were wicked people watching over her, she heard weird sounds that made her heart thump. She became very exhausted and tired and curled herself up and slept under a shady tree.


Snow White lied down with lack of sleep, she kept on opening her eyes every minute. At last, dawn woke up the forest to the sound of birds and Snow White woke up too. However, the thick tree around her were like a trap so she tried to find her way out and where she was.


She saw a path and walked along it. On she walked till she came to a spot , where she saw a strange small cottage. Every feature in the house was tiny. Snow White opened the door.


“ I wonder who lives here ?” she said to herself. Looking around the kitchen. “ What small utensils and what small plates “ She said . Upstairs was 7 tiny beds so she was thinking that there were seven of them.  She came up with an idea, “ I’ll make them something to munch on , so when they get home they’ll be glad to see a meal all ready for them “  She said. At last, the seven dwarfs marched in singing their chants homewards. They opened the door , and to their great surprise they found a bowl of yummy hot soup on the table and the whole house was more clean than ever!


Snow White was fast asleep upstairs , on one of the beds. The chief dwarf poked her gently. “Who are you ?” He questioned. Snow White told them her sad story and tears were streaming down their eye . And one of the dwarfs said as he loudly blew his nose, “YOU CAN STAY HERE WITH US”


“Yaaayy” they cheered, dancing joyfully around Snow White. “You can live here with us , while we are down the mine, don’t worry about your stepmother , we will take care of you” One of the dwarfs said. Snow White thanked them for their help and support. The next morning the dwarfs were off to work, but they warned Snow White to NOT open the doors to strangers.


Meanwhile, the servant had returned to the castle with a heart of a roe deer. Lying to her saying that it belonged to Snow White so that he could claim the reward. She turned to the mirror and said “Mirror , Mirror on the wall who’s the loveliest of them all now?” “The loveliest in the land is still Snow White, she is in the seven dwarfs house” the mirror replied.


The stepmother was in uncontrollable anger. “ SHE MUST DIE, SHE MUST DIE!” She shouted. She applied makeup and dressed up as an old peasant lady, she put a poisoned apple in the basket. She took a shortcut through the forest and behind the dwarfs tree house unseen as Snow White waved goodbye to the dwarfs on their way to work.


Snow White was busy in the kitchen , suddenly she heard a knock on the door. “Who’s there?” she called suspiciously , remembering what the dwarfs said. “I am an old lady who wants to give out apples”  she replied. “I do not need any apples, thank you” Snow White declared.


“But they are very beautiful and juicy” The evil stepmother said. “I’m not supposed to open the door to anyone” Snow White replied, not wanting to disobey the dwarfs order. “Such a lovely girl, since you have been listening to your friends you deserve a reward. Snow White opened the door just a little bit, to take the apple.


“Now isn’t that a nice apple?” The evil stepmother said. Snow White took one bite, and then fainted and fell to the ground. The stepmother laughed in an evil way. But as she ran back across the swamp, unfortunately as she ran she fell into quicksand. No one heard her cries , so she disappeared fast.   


The dwarfs had finished working, the sky was getting dark and thunder was coming towards them . They were worried about Snow White. So they ran all the way home as fast as they can.


They saw Snow White lying down still , pale and lifeless along with the poisoned apple by her side. They tried their best to let her breath, but there was no use.
They cried and cried for a long time. Then they laid her on a bed of rose petals, carried her into the forest and put her in a crystal coffin.


Each day they laid a flower there. Until one evening, they discovered a strange man admiring Snow White’s lovely face through glass. After the dwarfs told the story , the “Prince” had an idea.


“ If you let me take her to the castle , I will call amazing doctors to awaken her from this peculiar sleep, she looks so lovely to kiss.” he did, and as by magic , the prince’ s kiss broke  the spell. To great surprise Snow White woke. She had amazingly come back to life. Now in love, the prince asked Snow White to marry him. And they lived happily ever after!


Monday, August 19, 2013

Cinderella Moral


Once upon a time a girl named CInderella  lived with her mean stepmother and stepsisters. Her step sisters names were Drizella and Anastasia and they were very awful to Cinderella. Cinderella mostly did all the housework in the ouse , while the sisters pounced around the house and gave orders. One day a mysterious note came that the prince will be having a ball. Cinderella found the perfect dress ,  until her stepsisters and stepmother ruined it. Her fairy godmother found her crying. She put a spell on CInderella making her look very beautiful , but she warned her that it didn’t last till midnight. While dancing with the prince at the ball, the clock almost hit twelve. So she ran away , leaving her glass slipper behind. One morning the prince's servants came with the lost glass slipper seeing if it could fit the two sisters, it was too big. Then Cinderella came down and it made a perfect fit.  A few days later Cinderella got married to the prince.



The morale of the story is when you want something , you need to work hard and finish it off properly if you want it. Meaning that , for example, you wanted a new  game console, but your parents said no. You need to be nice to your family , do the chores and mostly be patient in your thinking.


Usually when I want to go somewhere with my friends for the week, I need to do my following chores, cook dinner help the family and then ask for it. This made my parents think about it, and so on I got to go. At school we need to show respect when we are in class, like if we want to take off our names from the bad list , we need to earn it by working hard in and outside class.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Going To Haypark School @ Mt. Roskill

Having early dinner, speaking , having tea , singing in the car, what more can I ask for? A few days ago we were invited to speak to a few teachers and Boards of Trustees at Mt. Roskill to tell them about our learning. They were part of a cluster. It was very funny times and serious at times. Thanks to Mr. Burt for the transport and Mrs Burt too. Thanks to everybody who was there :)  Overall it was a very cool experience!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Hansel And Gretel



Once upon a time, there lived a woodcutter with two children named Hansel and Gretel along with their Evil Stepmother! They were very poor and they lived in a small cottage. “ Look at what we’re living in now! We hardly have any food to feed all of us! I entrust you to get rid of the two brats “ The evil stepmother declared. And she kept on nagging to her husband.


With no notice, Hansel overheard what his stepmother was saying. He tried to comfort his sister. “ No need to worry, if they do abandon us in the forest  we will find a way home “ Hansel claimed. He went out of the house and filled his pocket with whit pebbles , then went back to bed.


All night long, she was forever persuading her husband to get rid of the kids in the forest. But as they went into the depths in the forest Hansel left a trail of pebbles so that they could find their way back home.  Their father murmured an excuse and then took off, obscurely.


Twilight fell , but no sign of their father had come. Gretel began to cry with her face buried in her hands. Hansel was frightened as well but he hid his emotions and consoled his sister.


“Don’t cry, believe me I will get us home even if father doesn’t come back to us “ Hansel claimed. Fortunately the tiny white pebbles glistened in the moonlight, and the children found their way home.


They sneaked through a half-open window , without waking up anybody. They were cold and exhausted but was grateful to be home and they went to bed. When the the evil stepmother discovered them in the house she was in uncontrollable anger! She was jaded of doing this.


She had locked their bedroom door and she upbraided her husband for failing her orders. The evil stepmother left Hansel and Gretel starving throughout the day, but only a small amount of water and hard bread.


All night the mother and father disputed for a very long time. And when dawn came the woodcutter led the children into the dark forest. Hansel, had not eaten his bread and while walking down the forest he left a trail of hard bread crumbs on the ground. He didn’t know that the birds would come and vestige the bread crumbs and trail no longer existed.


They were really frightened in the dark. They went under a tree trying to keep warmth in them , they held on to each other Gretel began to sob bitterly. They were lost , very lost. So on they walked quietly.  Until they was a very yummy cottage.


“This is chocolate “ said Hansel as he nibbled on the block of chocolate. “And this is icing “ Gretel said licking the plasters of the wall. The children had never tasted anything more yummy in a long time.


Hansel was about to eat the biscuit door until suddenly an ill-fated witch appeared.
“Well, well  , well isn’t it two kids that taste very yummy and have a sweet tooth? “ she declared. She locked Hansel in a cage. “I am going to scrump you up for my dinner “ she said. “ and you will be my kitchen maid, cleaning up for me! “ she continued.


She put Hansel in the oven! “Ta-Ta! it’s time for your goodbyes! “ she lit up the oven , and checked the temperature. Gretel , with one big push , she did a powerful thrust to the witch and pulled him out of the oven.


They locked the oven for safety. “The witch is now burnt “ Hansel claimed. “Let’s go home , and take this treasure with us” he continued. The children took all the food home , and while packaging all the stuff they found a pile of gold. So on they went home until they bumped into their father . “Children , your mother had passed. “ The father claimed  . “Promise you won’t get rid of us again?” they asked. “Promise” and they lived happily ever after



Thursday, August 1, 2013

Survey for teachers!


survey from SchoolTV on Vimeo.

Here is a movie of how I  gathered my information about how well students are doing in their learning. In this video I will tell you about the results and more. As part of the extension group we were investigating the qualities of our school!