Mini Christmas Puddings

Yesterday our class made miniature Christmas puddings. We used Mallowpuffs, jaffas, spearmint leaves and melted white chocolate. The jaffas and the spearmint leaves on top resemble holly leaves and berries. The white chocolate looks like custard and holds the decoration in place. After making our own, some of us wrapped them up in cellophane to take home or give as a present. Today, we helped a junior class make their own Christmas puddings. We worked with our reading buddies and they also read from their poetry books to us.

Here's how to make your own mini puddings:

You will need:

Mallowpuffs
jaffas
spearmint lolly leaves
white chocolate

Method:

1. Melt the white chocolate in a jug until smooth and spreadable.
2. Slice the spearmint lollies into small strips.
3. Take a Mallowpuff and spoon a dollop of the white chocolate on top and let it run down the sides.
4. Place a jaffa in the centre and press down to make sure it stays in place.
5. Place two spearmint strips on the white chocolate to resemble leaves.
6. Leave on a flat surface until the chocolate has set.
7. Package if desired with cellophane and ribbon, or otherwise enjoy!

Have a go at making these at home. They make great Christmas presents, or make a nice treat for the festive season.

Here are some photos:





By Katelyn & Gulnoza

Our Froglets

As you know, our class has got tadpoles. We have been observing them every day, and now they are almost frogs. There is now a brick inside the tank so when the froglets become adult frogs they can come up to the surface to breathe. All the tadpoles have developed their back legs and some have all four legs. There are two tadpoles that have all their legs and now their tails are becoming shorter. Instead of only using their tails to swim, the froglets are using their back legs to manoeuvre through the water. Today, one of the more developed froglets came fully out of the water and stuck to the side of the tank. We noticed that as they became froglets, their body shape changed, they changed to a green colour and their faces have become more frog-like. Sadly, today is the last day we have the tadpoles in our class. Devon will be taking them home and looking after them. We all enjoyed watching the tadpoles slowly turn into frogs.

Here are some photos of the froglets now:

The brick in the tank

The back legs

A developed froglet

A froglet

The froglet on the tank

By Gulnoza, Katelyn & Ameleigh.

Intermediate Swimming Day

On Monday the 29th of November, the Intermediates went to Papakura Massey Park Swimstation. We went there to learn all sorts of water safety skills including getting out of a tipped kayak, flotation skills, diving and what to do in a survival situation.

After assembly in the morning, we gathered our gear and hopped on the buses. Everyone was buzzing with excitement and wondering what the day ahead would be like. When we got to the pools, we quickly got changed then met by the pool where we put our gear away and got into groups of around 15 people. Then we started rotating around the 6 activities.

They were flotation, diving, rescuing others, getting out of a tipped kayak, life jackets and survival scenarios. Each activity was half an hour long and was run by one of the swimstation instructors. We got to work with flutterboards, pool noodles, life jackets and the small kayaks.

We did four activities before having a break for lunch, outside in the sunshine. We had a surprise of getting hot chips, which was organised by our teachers. After eating and talking with our friends, we did a quick tidy up before completing the last 2 activities.

When we had finished, we changed back into our uniform, gathered our gear and assembled outside. The teachers did a head count to make sure no one was missing and then we got onto the bus. Once back at school we gathered in the hall for a quick talk. After thanking the helpers and organisers and listening to some quick messages we went home.

This day was fun and everyone enjoyed having a day out. We learned a lot of water safety skills and working as a team.

Here are some comments by a few people who went and enjoyed the swim day:

Gagan: It was fun. I really enjoyed the kayak and life jacket activities.

Ameleigh: I really enjoyed the swim day. It was a great experience and we learned a lot.

Gulnoza: I thought the swim day was really fun. My favourite activity was working with the life jackets. I would've preferred the pools to be a bit warmer though.

Here are some photos of the fun day:

By Gulnoza & Katelyn

Our New Tadpoles

Yesterday, our teacher brought in some tadpoles. We have eight of them and they are quite big. They are kept in a large, transparent tank which is supported by a plastic bowl in our classroom. There are oxygen weeds also and some bugs in the tank too. We feed them with a small amount of fish food now but when they become frogs they will start eating insects. We will enjoy seeing the tadpoles slowly transforming into adult frogs.

Here are a few photos of the tadpoles:

Looking down on the tank.

The tadpoles.

The life-cycle of a frog.

By Gulnoza, Ameleigh and Katelyn.

As you know, the intermediates have been writing and presenting persuasive speeches. In Kea 1, our base topic was Planet Earth. People chose a range of topics - from animal cruelty to tourism.

Everyone in our class has presented their speech and Mrs Whitehead then chose the nine best speakers. These 9 students then had to present their speech again in front of the class. Afterwards, the five semi-finalists were chosen. The people who will be representing our class are: Ezra - Evolution; Tracey - Dog Abuse; Connor - Tourism in Antarctica; Jenna - Whaling and Ameleigh - Recycling. The semi-finalists will present their speeches to Ms Gifford and Mrs McCarty next Monday. Then ten people from the intermediates will present their speeches to the whole team. We wish all the semi-finalists good luck for the finals.

Also this week our decorated blocks of wood were put onto a metal pole, which is now in our garden. They all look colourful and this has made our garden look more eye-catching. We would like to thank Mr Fowler for drilling a hole in the blocks of wood and for assembling the pole in the Kea garden.


Here are some photos:

By Ameleigh and Gulnoza

Calendar Art

As you know, our class has been doing koru calendar art. We used pastels to colour the designs and used permanent marker to outline them. All of our finished artwork looks great!

These are some of the best artwork completed in our class:

Top left: Bobbie
Top right: Gagan
Bottom left: Tracey
Bottom right: Gulnoza

Top left: Ezra
Top right: Sheena
Bottom left: Ameleigh
Bottom right: Jenna

Top left: Rene
Top right: Johnnie
Bottom left: Nishanth
Bottom right: Lauren

Our finished artwork can be printed on calendars, diaries or packs of greeting cards . These cost between $10 - $15 if parents wish to buy them.

By Gulnoza, Katelyn and Ameleigh.

The Busy Start to Term 4

We are now back at school after a two week holiday. This term has had a busy start, with maths, reading and spelling tests to see how much we have improved since the start of the year.

To test our public speaking abilities, we will be doing speeches in week 3. The speeches need to be persuasive and around 3 minutes long. In Kea 1, our topic is 'Planet Earth'. Some people have been writing theirs on recycling, deforestation, animal cruelty and pollution. We have had some experience in persuasive writing already; we wrote on whether schools should have uniforms or not. We had to write our speeches as homework for the first and second week of the term. Our speeches are due this Friday, when Mrs Whitehead will read our drafts. To practice reading in front of the class, everyone chose a passage to read from their novel that they are using for novel study. We had to read for about two minutes and be fluent and clear.

As part of our literacy, we are doing a novel study about a novel of our choice. After reading it, we need to answer comprehension questions and do some research about the author. This will help us understand the plot and characters better.

We have also started our calendar art. Our artwork has to incorporate korus and we are using pastels to colour them. We are blending the colours together to create a better effect and our artwork is also outlined in black vivid to make the design stand out more. Our finished artwork will be made into calendars, greeting cards and diaries for our parents to buy if they wish.

The term ahead will be full of even more hard work and excitement as the year concludes.

The Year 7 and 8 Social

At 6:30pm on Thursday 16th September, the Maungakiekie team had a Hollywood themed social. It was organised by the school council along with Ms Gifford and there were a few helpers on the night. It was held in the school hall which was decorated to fit the theme. Everybody was expected to dress formally. Girls wore fancy dresses and boys wore tidy shirts, ties or suits.


When people arrived, there were camera flashes everywhere and everyone was excited for the night ahead. We started with some formal dances. These included the Snowball Waltz, Circle Waltz, Cotton Eye Joe, the Gaye Gordons and Saturday Night Fever. We had been practising these dances so that we would get used to dancing with a partner and not look like fools on the night. After finishing the dances, we had a 'Statues Waltz' competition. We had to waltz with our partners and when the music stopped, we had to come up with a pose related to the topic Mrs Vincent would call out. If you moved, then you would be out and go to the other side of the hall. It came down to four finalists, and in the end Tracey and Stanley won.





After the dances, the DJ played some music and we had some time to hang around with friends, or grab a bite to eat and some punch. The music seemed to be getting louder by the minute, and before we knew it, everybody was jumping around and singing along with the tunes. People were also lining up to get photos with friends against a back drop of fairy lights and two huge Oscars.


After about two hours of excitement and LOUD music, we did a few more formal dances before the social was over. While we were dancing, the teachers were picking winners for some of the prizes given out at the end. There were prizes for best dressed, best dancers, best ball spirit and the winners of the Statues Waltz competition.

The social was fun and enjoyable for everyone that attended. Here are some comments from people who went to this fun night.

Rene- 'I thought the social was fun and the decorations were pretty. The only thing I didn't like about the ball was how the hall was split half way through the night.'

Baldeep- 'I thought that the ball was really fun, I also liked making the punch and being a helper.'

Jenna- 'I really enjoyed the ball. My favourite part was the dancing and seeing all my friends in dresses.'

Nishanth- 'I really enjoyed it. I never thought dancing would be fun, but it was.'

By Ameleigh, Gulnoza & Katelyn

This Term's Homework Projects

Earlier this term, the intermediate team got a homework assignment in which we had to create a plant pot using only recycled materials. Our finished product had to be weatherproof, colourful, creative, original, of any size and marketable. Kea 1 had to also use recycled soil and have a real plant planted inside. We had to include a written description of how we made it, what materials were used, and why we thought it had all the key requirements. We also had to say how we would sell them, who we would sell them to and how much we expected someone to pay for it and why.

On Tuesday 17th of August, our homework was due. They were brought in and placed in our classroom. There were a range of different styles and designs and our hard work paid off. We each had to present our plant pot to the class and talk briefly about it. The 28 plant pots are now sitting on a bench by the window so they get plenty of sunlight. A lot of people have been admiring at our marvelous products. The assignment was a great idea because our topic this term is conservation. Most people enjoyed this fun, arty project and look forward to our next art assignment.

Here are some of the best pot plants:


In week eight we received a project involving earthquakes. We had to write an explanation about earthquakes, we also had to include labelled diagrams. On a map we had to locate various New Zealand earthquakes and write a paragraph about each one. We had two weeks to finish the assignment, but also did some research in class about the Christchurch earthquake.
Go on this website to get more information about it.

We learnt that earthquakes occur when tectonic plates rub, collide or separate. Earthquakes only happen on fault lines, the place where two tectonic plates meet. The movement of these plates create seismic waves which are measured using the Richter scale. The magnitude for the earthquakes are expressed in whole numbers and decimals ranging from zero upwards. Earthquakes can cause major damage and result in falling buildings, cracked water and sewage pipes and power cuts. They can also cause ground rupture, floods, tsunamis, landslides and avalanches. It is best to be prepared just in case one strikes in your area.

The Kea Garden

Just before the end of Term 2 Kea 1 found out we would be getting plant boxes for our garden area. On the last day of term we all took home a piece of wood to decorate using paint, pebbles, poker art, carving or nearly anything else we wanted. These pieces of wood would be put onto metal poles and made into decorations. This was the start of the many things we are going to do for our new garden.

Some of the finished blocks of wood.

While our class was on holiday the first two boxes were made. They were beside the pathway and were both fairly large.

The larger boxes.

By our classroom there was a large lidded box that we were growing seeds in. It had 4 trays of seeds that grew very quickly. When they grow big enough we planned to put them in the garden along side our other plants.

The seedlings in the lidded box.

On the Wednesday 21st of August during second block, we started to move 4 cubic meters of soil from behind the Poutama Centre into the planter boxes in front and beside our classroom. This took a block for about half our class to do, as well as our teacher and some students helping out during the wet break. With this were able to fill our first two large planter boxes which were the only ones there at the time.

The truck delivering the dirt.
The pile of dirt.
Students moving the dirt.
Pouring dirt into the plant boxes.Moving dirt with a wheelbarrow.

A few days later Mrs Whitehead brought some plants to school so we could plant them. A team of about 8 went and planted them during second block and it added some colour to the dark soil.

A plant in the gardenSome plants for the garden.

About a week later some builders came and moved some benches around the other side of the path. Mrs Fowler also spoke to them about getting some more small plant boxes in between the benches and so they built another 4 small boxes for us to use. Some students who live close by brought some wheelbarrows to move more soil into them. The next week in break time we moved another lot of soil from beside the junior playground up to the small boxes.

The smaller plant boxes.

Now we have 6 plant boxes and also a frame for growing sweet peas in one of the gardens.

The Sweet Pea frame.

We all enjoy planting and working on our garden. It makes the Kea area more colourful and interesting. We hope we can do more of this sort of work in our own gardens and also at school.
It is a fun way of learning basic skills and helping the school look better. It also ties in with our 'conservation and growing' topics this term.

By Gulnoza, Ameleigh and Katelyn.

Pre-Holiday Work

This is our last week of Term 2. Although we are all excited about the holidays, we have had to do some last minute work.

In class we have been doing some one minute readings in front of the class. We had the choice of reading a poem, story, or an extract from a book. Everyone got their own marking sheet, and we had to adjudicate each others readings. We had to focus on our volume, our stance, expression, pace and pronunciation. Each category was out of five and the highest possible score was forty.

Adjudicators Sheet

This term for topic, water has been something that our class has been learning about. We have been studying The Water Cycle and how Earth recycles it over and over again. We had to do a homework assignment about The Waikato River, science-experimenting with water and a lot of bookwork.

We have also been writing explanations. Before we could actually start writing, we had to learn about the body of an explanation. The first paragraph defines the topic and the others explain more about it. We had to include words like therefore (because of that), moreover (as well as), consequently (as a result) and however (but). We also had to include a diagram which needed to be labelled. First we wrote about eggbeaters. This is one example of a real one :


Here are some examples of our work:

Monday 28th June 2010
Explanation: What is an Egg Beater

An egg beater is a metal device which mixes mixtures, therefore you don’t have to use a wooden spoon or use a fork.

It has a handle to hold, a wheel which is connected to beaters down the bottom and a handle connected to the wheel. When the handle connected to the wheel is spun around it rotates the wheel therefore spinning the beaters.

An egg beater can mix eggs, cake mixtures, batters and much more. They are aimed at making things lump free and smooth.

Egg beaters are an easy fun way of mixing things. They also work very well.

By: Anthony

What is an Eggbeater?

An eggbeater is a cooking utensil used to blend things together. It is made out out of metal and is hand-operated by turning a handle, which spins two rotating beaters.

An eggbeater works by turning a handle. The handle is connected to a cog and when the cog turns it spins two beaters, which mixes the ingredients together. There is also a metal frame around the beaters, which stops it from scraping the bottom of the bowl.

Eggbeaters can be used to mix a range of liquids. Egg whites become soft peaks, cream becomes thickened, and pancake mix becomes lump free. However, mix egg whites, cream, or pancake mix too much, and consequently, you’ll end up with stiff peaks, butter, or watery pancake mix.

In general, eggbeaters are a very useful kitchen mechanism, that every household should have. The world would never be the same without eggbeaters.

By: Gulnoza


An Eggbeater

An eggbeater is a hand held kitchen appliance. It is used to mix or whisk things together. It is about thirty centimeters high and is made from metal or plastic.

The eggbeater is made up of a handle at the top, a large cog, a turning handle attached to that, two beaters and a metal support to stop it scraping the bottom of the bowl.
Eggbeaters work by turning a handle attached to a cog. This cog spins another two smaller cogs connected to the tops of the beater, consequently, the beaters turn and mix the ingredients.

To make something using an eggbeater, place the ingredients into a bowl, put the beaters into the mixture and start turning the handle. If the beaters spin too fast the mixture will flick out of the bowl so it is better to spin the handle slower and for a longer time. However, if you mix it for too long the mixture will become too thick and may be sticky. Many things can be mixed with an eggbeater including cream, cake mix, eggs and anything else that requires whipping.

An eggbeater is useful because it gets lumps out of things and makes it smooth. They are a need-to-have cooking appliance in the kitchen.

by: Katelyn

Today we wrote an explanation on gumboots to see our progress from Term 1. We had about forty-five minutes to write it and it had to include other gumboot-related words like vulcanisation, abattoir, hygiene and essential. It had to include the same key points as our eggbeater explanation.

Last week on Friday, Devon came to school with an electric eggbeater he made with connector pieces. He added a motor to his design which spun the beaters. He said that it took a few hours to make and we were all really impressed.

Devon and his Eggbeater

This Term has been full of hard work and achievements. We are looking forward to the holidays, and coming back to school next term?

Gulnoza, Katelyn and Ameleigh.