Month: March 2026

SLJ Certificate

LI: To celebrate our success

Last week, PBS held a special event called the Summer Learning Journey celebration assembly. During this event, Mrs. Grant came and handed out certificates and prizes to everyone who took part. My certificate was just for showing up and participating in the activities. The Summer Learning Journey was really fun because it kept me busy and entertained during the holidays. I didn’t spend all my time feeling bored, and I still learned new things while I was out of school.

My favorite activity was called “Legs Legs Legs – Step It Up.” For this challenge, I made 2 pretend legs for a dog named Turbo. Turbo was born without two of his front legs, so I designed the 2 fake legs to help him move better. It was a fun project because I got to think about how to help an animal that needs some extra help.

In addition to the 2 fake legs, I also created some other ideas to help Turbo live a better life. One of these was the “Snack Dispenser 5000.” It’s a machine I designed that automatically gives Turbo treats whenever he wants one. That way, Turbo can stay happy and well-fed without someone having to remember to give him snacks all the time.

I also thought about making an “Auto-Cooling System.” This was a device I imagined that would keep Turbo cool and comfortable, especially on hot days. It would help him not to get too warm or tired when the weather is hot.

Another idea I had was called the “Turbo Booster.” It’s a gadget that gives Turbo a quick push or a boost, helping him move faster or get from one place to another more easily.

Overall, the activities I did during the Summer Learning Journey were really interesting. I learned how to come up with creative solutions to help animals like Turbo, and I had a lot of fun building and imagining new devices. It was a great way to spend the holidays, combining learning with fun hands on projects.

Letter to Ah Sum

LI: To understand we make judgements based on stereotyping, assumptions and prejudices

Today we went over a story called “Bok Choy for Reading.” The story talked about how Chinese immigrants, like Ah Sum, were treated badly and unfairly judged in New Zealand a long time ago. It showed that many people didn’t see Chinese immigrants as equals and often had negative ideas about them just because they looked different or came from a different culture. The story also taught us that it’s important to understand and care about people who are different from us, even if we don’t fully understand their situation. Showing kindness and empathy is the right thing to do.

After reading the story, our task was to write a letter to Ah Sum to thank him properly. When we visited him in his hut, we didn’t have the right words to express how grateful we were, so now we need to take the time to say it the right way. This exercise made us think about how important it is to be respectful and thoughtful when talking to others, especially those who might have helped us or who are going through tough times.

What I found most interesting about the story is how it revealed that even though a long time has passed, there are still challenges and unfair treatment faced by people who are different, especially because of their race or background. It shows that racism and prejudice are still problems today, not just in the past. The story made me think about how important it is to treat everyone equally and to stand up against unfairness whenever we see it. It reminded me that kindness, understanding, and empathy are needed now just as much as they were back then.

First Flight Recording

 

Today, we were challenged to create a recording of the story we created. My story was about a little owl on his first flight and the story was called Fly by Night. To help us add more details and make the story more interesting, I used a special tool my teacher made and it was called Gemini Gem. This tool asked me questions that made me think about different ways to describe things and add more depth to my story.

Once I finished recording my story, I used another feature called the Storybook to make an illustrated version, which means I added pictures to go along with the story. This part was a bit tricky because I had to change the prompts that is, the instructions I was giving to the tool to get the pictures and details to match my original story as closely as possible.

My partner and I found it pretty interesting that the Gemini Gem helped us improve our story. It guided us to add better details, and now we see how we can use it in the future to help create better stories or projects. Overall, it was a mix of challenging and fun, and the tool turned out to be useful in making our story more detailed and engaging.

AI Reverse Challenge

Today in LS2, we used our previous experience with AI to create images. Our goal was to make pictures similar to a specific photo of a leopard lying on a tree branch, looking out. My partner and I each used different techniques and styles to make our images look unique. To do this, we had to give the AI a detailed description of what we wanted, including three main parts: the subject (what’s in the picture), the description (more details about the scene), and the style (how the picture should look artistically).

For example, I gave a prompt that explained the scene like this: “A leopard is resting peacefully on a tree branch in the jungle. The image should look like it was painted with watercolors, which gives it a soft, flowing, and artistic appearance, similar to watercolor paintings. The overall mood combines the calmness of the leopard with the gentle, artistic feel of watercolor art, making the picture look peaceful and beautiful.”

This helps the AI understand exactly what kind of image I want, including the scene itself and how it should look. We practice this process to get better at making creative and realistic images with AI.

Lowest Common Multiples

This week in math, my Group called Group 1 learned about something called the lowest common multiple. To explain it simply, when you have two numbers, you want to find the smallest number that both of these numbers can be multiplied into.

First, you list out some multiples of each number. Multiples are the results of multiplying the number by 1, 2, 3, and so on. For example, if your numbers are 3 and 4:

– Multiples of 3: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, …
– Multiples of 4: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, …

Then, you look for the first number that appears in both lists. In this case, the first common multiple for 3 and 4 is 12. Because 12 is the smallest number that both 3 and 4 can multiply into, it’s called the lowest common multiple (LCM).

So, finding the lowest common multiple involves making lists of multiples for each number and then finding the first number they both share. This helps with things like adding fractions with different denominators or solving certain types of math problems.

Highest Common Multiple DLO

This week in math, Group 1 is learning about something called the highest common factor. Basically, the highest common factor is the biggest number that can divide into two or more numbers exactly, without leaving anything left over.

To understand this better, think about what factors are. Factors are numbers that you can multiply together to make a bigger number. For example, if you multiply 6 by 8, you get 48. So, 6 and 8 are factors of 48.

When we talk about the highest common factor of two numbers, we are looking for the biggest number that can fit evenly into both of those numbers. For example, if you look at 12 and 18: the factors of 12 are 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12; and the factors of 18 are 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18. The biggest number that appears in both lists is 6. So, the highest common factor of 12 and 18 is 6. This means 6 is the largest number that divides evenly into both 12 and 18.

One interesting fact I learnt was if I taught students and learnt st getting good at finding the highest common factor it helps them to understand how numbers relate to each other and can be useful in many math problems, like simplifying fractions or dividing things into equal parts.

Significant Figures DLO

This week, Group 1 got to make a DLO to explain how to work with significant figures in numbers on the DLO. Significant figures are the important digits in a number that show its precision. The resource helps you understand how to keep track of these digits when solving math problems.

The idea is that sometimes you need to show all the significant figures in a number, whether it has one, two, three, four, or five. Doing this makes it easier to work with the number correctly. For example, if you have the number 886,652, and you want to round it to different significant figures:

– To have only 1 significant figure, you look at the first digit and round the number to the nearest hundred thousand, so it becomes 900,000.
– To have 2 significant figures, you keep the first two digits, which are 88, and then round, making it 890,000.
– To have 3 significant figures, keep 888, and the number becomes 887,000.

One interesting fact I learnt was that if I shows these steps clearly, it is making it easier for students to understand how to identify and work with significant figures. Whilst also understanding how to do this is useful because it helps make measurements and calculations more accurate and consistent, especially in math.

Class Culture

This year for art we got to an a assignment in LS2 where we had to draw pictures of notable people who achieved a lot in their lives. To make the task easier and quicker, we divided into groups of six students each. Our group was assigned to do Nelson Mandela, the famous South African leader who fought against apartheid and became the country’s first Black president. Other groups got to work on different influential figures like Edmun Hillary, the mountaineer who first climbed Mount Everest, Malala Yousafzai, the activist for education and women’s rights, Kate Sheppard who was a key leader in women’s suffrage in New Zealand, also along with other types of leaders like Dane Whina Cooper, Jonah Lonu, and Will Lolahia. The purpose of this project was not just to practice drawing but also to encourage us to work together as a team, sharing ideas and helping each other out. Our goal was to learn about these important people while practicing our artistic skills and teamwork at the same time. Overall, the assignment was about collaboration, communicating with teammates, and understanding the impact of these remarkable individuals.

 

Prime and Composite DLO

Today for this task we learned about two types of numbers prime numbers and composite numbers. Prime numbers are special because they only have two factors: 1 and the number itself. For example, 3 is a prime number because only 1 and 3 can be multiplied together to make 3. Another example is 5. These numbers can’t be divided evenly by any other numbers except 1 and themselves.

On the other hand, composite numbers are numbers that can be divided evenly by more than just 1 and themselves. This means they have more factors. For example, 6 is a composite number because it can be divided evenly by 1, 2, 3, and 6. Because of this, most even numbers like 4, 6, 8, and 10 are composite numbers. The only even number that is prime is 2, because it only has two factors: 1 and 2. All the other even numbers have more factors, making them composite. Basically, prime numbers are like numbers with only two factors, and composite numbers are like numbers with a bigger group of friends they can be divided by.

First Flight

LI: To write a narrative from the point of view of a baby owl on its fist flight

Today for this task Mrs. Anderson read us a book called ‘First Flight’ by June Crebbin. After that, we discussed how the story is told from the narrator’s perspective, or point of view. We also used a tool called a Gemini Gem to help us think more about what the story would be like if it was told from the first person point of view, meaning the narrator is talking about their own experiences. I liked using the Gemini Gem because it gave me ideas to add more detail and make my writing longer. Here is the story

The sun was going down and disappeared behind the uneven line of the horizon, leaving the sky to be filled with the soft light of the moon. That night was a big moment for me because it was the first time I was going to try flying. I felt very nervous, and a tight feeling in my chest made me feel anxious. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew and almost made me fall off my spot. I grabbed onto the rough piece of wood with my talons, holding on as tight as I could, feeling like I might break from all the fear inside me. I looked at my friends, who were already flying smoothly under the bright, white moon. That made me start to question myself, what if I can’t fly like they do? What if I never learn how to fly at all?

As I looked down at the dark woods far below. High above, my friends were beautiful. They glided and soared under the glow of the giant moon, looking so free. I wanted to join them, but a strange, shaky feeling started deep in my stomach. It was not a good feeling. It grew and grew until my whole body began to tremble. My knees knocked together, and my feet slipped on the rough wood. I gripped the bark tightly, terrified that I was about to fall off the branch. As I was just sitting there shaking, dark thoughts started to creep in. I began to doubt everything to myself, it felt like there was something wrong with me. I just wanted to be like everyone else, I only just wanted to be normal.
As I was alone gripping onto the wood, my mother glared at me as I was sad sitting alone on the branch. She flew right to me and asked what was wrong? I responded why and she said believe in yourself and also said it is just a leap of faith.

After a while I decided I cant be scared anymore, soon after I decided that I am going to jump and then “I did” I jumped spreaded my wings and glided in the night sky just like my friends I was having so much fun while soaring around all night until morning I had fun that night, that night I learnt lots of things something big I learnt was I can finally rely on myself and trust my ability to figure something out as I go, also I discovered my true authentic self without what anxiety expects of me and one last thing I overcame my fear and also brings a new chapter in my life with a new me.