Building Hope

LI: To use creative expression to explore the hopes and dreams of people in a text.

After reading The Diary of Anne Frank and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, we talked about what people must have felt like having their whole world turned upside down. I can’t imagine what it felt like to be separated from family and friends and have your freedom taken away. We discussed the hopes and dreams that Anne Frank and Bruno may have had, such as being with loved ones, having hope for the future, and living a normal life again.

Yesterday, we discussed how we could put their Cloth of Dreams back together again. There were no strict rules for this activity, which allowed us to express our ideas creatively and share different perspectives. Working collaboratively in groups, we combined our ideas and created drawings that represented dreams of Whanau, friendship, hope, and freedom.

This activity was inspired by the book Teaspoon of Light. I enjoyed having the freedom to be creative and seeing how everyone interpreted the dreams differently. It helped me understand that even during difficult times, people can still hold onto hope and dream about a better future.

Mood, Atmosphere and Characteristaion

LI: To understand how characters, mood, and atmosphere help shape a story.

In reading, my group created a DLO about different types of characters and how mood and atmosphere are used in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. We explained the difference between protagonists and antagonists, as well as round and flat characters. We also explored how mood and atmosphere affect the way readers feel during important parts of the story.

While working on this task, we used examples from the text to explain our ideas more clearly. It was interesting learning how different characters have different roles in a story and how the atmosphere can make scenes feel tense, emotional, or uncomfortable.

This activity helped me understand how authors use characters and setting to shape the mood of a story and create stronger emotions for the reader

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

We listened to the audiobook of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. After each chapter, we explored the mood and atmosphere. The mood is the emotions and feelings created in the story, while the atmosphere is the feeling or tone that the setting and events create for the reader.

We worked collaboratively to summarise each chapter in 10 sentences. This helped us practise using a range of sentence structures, including simple, compound, and complex sentences, to show characters’ emotions and important events. It also helped us improve our vocabulary and think more deeply about the mood and atmosphere in each chapter. I found it interesting how changing the length and structure of sentences could make a scene feel more tense, emotional, or dramatic

Mood-o-Metre C19

For reading, my partner and I made a “Mood-O-Meter” for Chapters 19 and 20 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. We tracked how the story’s feeling changed by connecting emotions like hope, nervousness, sadness, and anger to important events. As the story got more intense, we talked about how Bruno and Shmuel’s feelings changed, adding clear explanations and pictures to show the mood.

This activity helped me understand how authors build tension and emotion in a book. It also made me think more deeply about the characters’ feelings and the big changes that happen at the end of the story.

Nano Banana C16


LI: to use AI to create an image that shows the contrast between events or characters

For today’s reading activity, we used Banana Nano to visually explore the contrast between Bruno and Shmuel, the main characters in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. By definition, a contrast highlights the differences between two elements. Our project specifically focuses on how Bruno and Shmuel represent completely opposite worlds.

Square Roots

LI: How to calculate square roots of numbers.

In Group 4B we are on a new topic called Square Roots, we can identify and find a square root of a number by adding some of its factors then getting the last one to find it, or we can find it by using our multiplication tables we can use it by the second skip counting methods, which can be 7×7 which is 49 which means 7 is the square root of 49. While doing this we all had some different answers but in the end we all get how we can find the square root. It was also very fun at the end because we all got the right answers which helped us learn together.

 

Tech at Tamaki College

Today was our very first day of technology class, where our focus for this term is sewing. Our new teacher, Miss Roy, is incredibly kind. She started the day by taking the roll and introducing us to the health and safety rules. For our first lesson, we learned about different sewing tools, including the crucial rule that fabric scissors should never be used on paper because it blunts the blades.

Next, we learned how to operate a sewing machine. Miss Roy showed us important parts like the needle, the presser foot, and the balance wheel, which controls the needle’s movement. Because there were many Year 7 students and a limited number of machines, I partnered up with Micaela. For our first practice run, we had to stitch over straight lines printed on paper. Micaela went first, and it looked like so much fun! We both had a good laugh because our lines started off a bit crooked before we managed to get them straight. Finally, it was time to head back to school. We packed away our gear, made sure the room was completely tidy, and lined up to say goodbye to Miss Roy.

Panmure Basin Drawing

For our basin walk, my group created digital artwork of the Panmure Bridge. I had a fantastic time working on this because it allowed us to use our creative skills for a fun activity. We decided to recreate the modern bridge that currently connects both sides of the road to the basin. The walk itself was also a highlight, especially when we learned about the legendary taniwha that used to live under the old bridge. The entire area was bright and colorful, filled with amazing scenery that really caught your eye. Overall, I loved learning about the basin’s rich history and the story of the taniwha.

Pacific Nothwest Tree Octopus

LI: To carry out a guided research process

For this task, our objective was to research the elusive Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. Throughout the process, we investigated intriguing questions like, “How do they show their emotions?” and uncovered some fascinating details about this unique creature.

However, our investigation took an unexpected turn! We discovered that the tree octopus is actually completely fake. It turns out the creature is a famous internet hoax created in 1998 by humor writer Lyle Zapato.

The Big Lesson

This research taught us a vital lesson about digital literacy:

  • Verify your sources: Always use trustworthy, credible websites.

  • Cross-examine information: Double-check facts across multiple independent sites if you are confused.

  • Stay skeptical: Never believe everything you read on the internet!

Check out our Digital Learning Object (DLO) below to see our full research journey!

Why these changes help:

  • “Founded out” corrected: Changed to “found out” (or “discovered”) to fix the tense.

  • Better flow: Breaking the “Big Lesson” into bullet points makes it much easier and punchier for an audience to read.

  • Stronger vocabulary: Words like objective, investigated, and digital literacy sound a bit more academic while keeping your voice.

Prime numbers

LI: How to identify prime numbers.

Group 4b has been learning about prime numbers and how to identify them. We created a DLO (Digital Learning Object) to explain our findings.

The main difference between a prime and a composite number is the number of factors they have. For example, 9 is a composite number because you can multiply $3 \times 3$ and $1 \times 9$ to get 9. Because it has more than two factors, it is composite.

On the other hand, 7 is a prime number. Notice how 7 cannot be multiplied by any other numbers except 1 and itself? That is what makes 7 a prime number. All prime numbers have exactly two factors: 1 and the number itself.