Grandparents' Day

My Poppa's name is Ash and the biggest accomplishment in his life was having four awesome children and so far, four very special grandchildren. My Poppa was also a primary school teacher for forty-five years, and shaped the lives of thousands of children.

My Poppa's biggest adversity was facing a battle against cancer. He overcame this with surgery and treatment and went on to live a full and happy life. The main thing Poppa learned from this was to live life to the fullest.

The biggest thing that Poppa wants for his grandchildren is to study hard, aim high, be a good person and live life to the fullest.

I learnt that times are different to when my Poppa was young and I have a lot more opportunities available to me and I need to make the most of these opportunities.   

I think that my Poppa is very special to me because he has taught me lots and has supported me through my life.

My Poppa lives in the South Island and couldn't be at Grandparent's day so my aunty came instead of Poppa.

The Magic of Three

                           

This technique involves the convention in which series of three sensory hits (involving any of the three senses) are provided in a way the builds tension-the third hint leading directly to a revelation.

1. You hear a sound.You look nothing. You dismiss it.
2. You see a fleeting shadow. Again you try to figure it out what it was, but you don’t notice anything unusual. Still you start to worry.
3. You feel something brush past you. You turn. There it is! (revelation)

       

When using the magic of three, authors use red flag words or phrases to grab the reader’s attention, to build suspense and to let the reader know that something important will happen. For example, All of a sudden.

Here is my example:

In the blink of an eye I heard something on the side of the boat. I had a look but I still had no idea what it was so I decided I must have been imagining things and went back to bed.

Just then I could feel something scraping the side of the boat so I went over to the side of the boat again but I still didn’t know what it was. So I went back to bed again but I couldn’t go back to sleep because I was too anxious.

To my surprise I saw a shadow so I got up again and realised that we had broken away from our anchor and were up against the rocks. The scratching was the boat crashing into the rocks.

Term 1 Inquiry - Refugees

Write a definition of a refugee?

A refugee is someone who is forced from their home because of war or a natural disaster and they flee to another country.

What challenges do refugees face when leaving their homeland?

Leaving their friends that they have lived with for most of their lives. Plus finding water, food, a home and a place where they won’t necessarily be killed.

What challenges do refugees face when arriving in a new country?

Finding a home that they can live in and they can stay alive in and won’t get killed. Fitting into the community of Refugees and making good friends.

Can you spot a refugee in a crowd? Explain your answer.

No you would not know a refugee in a crowd because it could just be an innocent person.

Write a definition of what it means to belong.

Belonging is like a family because if you are in a family you belong to that family. It’s like Southwell school. All the children who come to Southwell are a part of the Southwell family.

How can you and others help to create a sense of belonging within New Zealand for refugees?

We should let more refugees into the country and they will have more of a sense of belonging because all the New Zealanders will be used to all the refugees coming into New Zealand.

Should New Zealand always accept 750 refugees a year as per quota? More or less? Explain your view.

We should increase the number of refugees coming into New Zealand because if you were a refugee you would want to get out of that situation and get to another country.