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.

Tree Planting in Totara Park

On Tuesday 15th June, our class went tree planting in Totara Park. We walked to the planting area from school with our gumboots or sneakers, lunch and a drink. Ms Gifford walked us there... and ended up getting us lost. She phoned our teacher, Mrs Whitehead, and we worked out where to go. When we got there we had a quick bite to eat and then got ready.

Wayne, who was in charge, gave us a demonstration and talked to us about safety issues. Kate told us why we were planting the flax, cabbage trees and sedges. She said that they would filter the stream and hold the soil. It would also create homes for the fish and shade the stream.Then, we finally got started.

We worked in pairs, with one spade for digging holes. The soil was hard and it had a lot of gravel, which made digging even more difficult. We had to dig a hole deep enough for the plants to sit in, with a few centimetres spare. We then filled it with the dug-out mud and we stepped firmly around it to pack the plant in pretty tight. It was a long, hard process but before we knew it, we had planted all our trees. Then came the hard process of getting mud off our hands. Afterwards we each had an apple and a bottle of water. We loudly picked up our bags and walked back to school.

Tree planting was a fun way of helping the community and we all had a good time.

Wayne talking to us

A team photo

Everybody at workDarci and Jenna with muddy hands

Caitlin and Bobbie putting a plant in the ground

There were worms everywhere!

Gulnoza & Katelyn

Dancing With Mythology

On 10 June, our class and Huia 1 went on a trip to The Telstra Clear Pacific Centre for a programme called Dancing with Mythology. There we had three different sessions; dancing, kapa haka and drama.

Before we did any of the workshops, we were told about Pou Kapau, the totem pole outside. It had different Maori gods which were carved into it. Two other schools joined us in our experience and we were grouped with different students. In dancing, we worked in groups to create a short dance about the beach. We also learnt that there are four different elements in dance which were; energy, movement, space and time. After half an hour we moved to the next session, which was kapa haka. We learned three songs, all in Maori. The boys did the haka (after learning the song and actions) and the girls had to join in too.

We had morning tea and then we went to our last session which was drama. We got in a big circle and we had to introduce ourselves with a movement. After introducing ourselves we got into four groups and created frames of different objects like a motorcycle, Pou Kapau, lost in the forest and a day at the beach. Then we had to come up with a one minute performance and the other groups came by to watch. There were a few more performances and then we left the theatre to go back to school.

We enjoyed our visit there, and we would like to go back there again.

Telstra Clear Pacific Centre

Pou Kapau the Totem Pole

Kapa Haka

Drama