Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Come to our Production!

Our syndicate is performing a production on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons at 1:30pm. The production is called "Over the Rainbow" and will be held at the School of Music in Nelson.

Check us out in our costumes below, see if you can spot some of the characters from The Wizard of Oz!


Monday, December 7, 2009

Our Edublog Nomination


Today we decided which class blog was a really good one that we wanted to nominate for the Edublog awards.

Our vote for BEST CLASS BLOG goes to Room 10 Grey Lynn School in Auckland.

We hope you win narrative writing buddies!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Collaborative Writing - Day 3

Today was our 3rd day of collaborative narrative writing with Year 3 students in Room 10 from Grey Lynn School in Auckland.

3 more groups were online using Google Docs to write a story together at the same time. Take a look at the completed narrative stories:


Indiana Jones in Space

Names of story authors:
Nelson Central: Ellie and Ella
Grey Lynn: Jeru and Salote

Once upon a time, Indiana Jones had been sent on a mission to travel to the moon. He needed to locate some special rocks that might have oxygen in them. But evil monsters were protecting the rocks because they needed the rocks to help them breathe.

When Indiana Jones arrived on the moon, the first thing he did was put on his space suit so that he could breathe. His space suit also had a high tech whip in it which would help him later. He located the rocks with a special rock locater that the President had given him. He held it out and it beeped when it was near the special rocks. He was in the right place, but he had no idea how to get the rocks out. The rocks were way too heavy for him to carry.

He saw a space dog and asked if the dog could help him. "Of course," said the dog. "What would you like me to do?" "I need you to distract the evil mosters so that I can get to the rocks and pick them up with my special electrical whip." "Ok," said the dog, "but you'll have to give a good reward afterwards." "It's a deal," said Indiana.

The dog got a red flag and waved it in the monsters faces and ran away. The monsters followed the dog. Indiana used his electrical whip to lift the rocks all the way back to the ship. The dog met him there and got a bone as his reward. He was very happy. Indiana got what he wanted too, the rocks to take back to the scientists lab on Earth. It was a great deal that had helped them both!


A magical holiday

Names of story authors:
Nelson Central: Charlotte
Grey Lynn: Maia

A long time ago, there were two friends called Madeline and Jack who were going on a holiday. They were going to a magical place in England. They flew there on a jet and went straight to the house that they had rented for the week with their parents.

When they got there they immediately ran out into the snow. The snow felt soft and wet like a towel that has been accidentally dipped in the bath. They threw snowballs at each other and made snow people. They loved being in the snow, but soon it was getting dark and they needed to find a place to stay for the night. They went up to the house, but they found that it was locked! "Oh no," said Madeline "where are we going to sleep?" "There's a cave over there," said Jack. then Madeline turned around and saw it.

When they went inside the cave, they saw that some creatures pick ing up objects that looked like glitter . "What do you think that stuff is?" said Jack. "It looks like fairy dust to me," said Madeline. "I think we should get out of here!"

Suddenly, a tiny voice said, "can you help us?" Madeline and Jack jumped because they had never heared such a small heard such a small voice. When Madeline looked down, she saw a pair of wings and a little face. "The goblins are stealing all our fairy dust and using it to fly," said the fairy Sparkles. "But we need it to help the corn grow next spring." "What would you like us to do?" said Madeline. "We've got snowmen," said Jack. "Would that help?"

"Perfect," said Sparkles. "I'll just tap them with my wand and that will make them come to life!" Sparkles went outside and came back with an army of snowmen. "Fellow snowmen," said Sparkles, "follow me!" The snowmen started to throw very bright snowballs at the goblins. When a snowball hit a goblin, the goblin dided soblin dissolved instantly.

"It's working!" yelled Madeline. "Keep going!" The snowmen continued throwing snowballs until all the goblins had dissolved. "Thank you snowmen," said Madeline. "See you tomorrow." "And thank you, Madeline and Jack," said Sparkles. "Is there anything I can do to help you?" "Yes!" said Jack. "We need to get into our house!" "Of course," said Sparkles, as she unlocked the front door with her wand.

"That was a truly magical holiday," said Madeline. "I agree," said Jack, "and it's only just beginning!



The Parrot and the Dog

Names of story authors:
Nelson Central: Nopera and Dom
Grey Lynn: Jordan and Briar

Once upon a time there was a Dog called Jazz and Parrot called Squawky. They lived next door to each other, but they hated each other. Jazz was always chasing Squawky and trying to catch and eat her.

One day there was an earthquake. Jazz was busy chasing Squawky up a steep hill and he was getting closer and closer. Squawky called out, "please stop chasing me. I'm getting tired and it's not fun!" Jazz didn't care, he thought that was a great game.

Suddenly, BANG! Rumble, rumble, rumble. The ground began to shake. "It's an earthquake!" yelled Squawky. "This is fun!' It's like a massage on my wings!" Jazz wasn't so excited. "Help!" he wept. "The ground is breaking under my weight.; I don't know what to do."

Squawky was having the time of her life. She was having a roller coaster ride in the sky. But down below, she could see Jazz trembl.ing it looked liked he was in a sand He looked very scared. "I will save and help you only if you promise not storm to chase me anymore," said Squawky. Jazz agreed.

Squawky swooped down and scooped Jazz up in her sharp talons and took him to safety. Jazz wriggled like a wiggly worm in Squawkys talons, but Squawky didn't drop him. When they finally reached the safety of Squawky's home, Jazz was really relieved. He had escaped from the terrible shaking earth.

From that day on, Jazz and Squawky became best friends and visited each other every day. Sometimes, Squawky would let Jazz chase her, but only for fun.

Well done Groups 7, 8 & 9, very imaginative stories.
Our final day of narrative writing is tomorrow!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Our Stream Digi Art

We have been learning about healthy streams for our Inquiry topic this term and have made some brand new digi art to go with it!

We had to make an artwork that showed ways that people can care for and look after streams. We also took all the digital photos by ourselves.

Can you notice what we are doing to keep the stream clean and healthy?

Leave us a comment with any of your guesses!

Collaborative Writing - Day 2

Today was our 2nd day of collaborative narrative writing with Year 3 students in Room 10 from Grey Lynn School in Auckland.

3 more groups were online using Google Docs to write a story together at the same time. Take a look at the completed narrative stories:

The Dog that couldn't bark

Names of story authors:
Nelson Central: Aria & Aulay
Grey Lynn: Amy and Anton

Once there was a big dog called Spot. He couldn't bark because he had a bad disease in his throat. He lived with his owners called Jack and Jazmine.

One day, when Jack and Jazmine were out shopping, Spot saw some strangers snooping around the house. Spot watched as they smashed the toilet window and went inside. Spot knew that they were being robbed! "What shall I do?" He thought. "I can't even bark to get help! I'll have to deal with this all by myself."

There was a trampoline standing next to the bathroom window. Spot jumped onto the trampoline, bounced really high and did a somersault through the bathroom window. He landed on the toilet seat, which luckily was shut.

Spot charged at the robbers and cornered them. Then he leaped as high as a kite and scratched them on the face really hard. He grabbed them by the pants and pulled them out the front door.

Just then, Jack and Jazmine came back.''Oh No!'' said Jazmine sadly. ''We have been robbed. I think we should call the Police." But Spot jumped up and showed them the robbers lying on the front step.

''Well done Spot!'' said Jazmine and Jack. Then Jazmine said "You are an amazing dog."

Jazmine quickly went inside and discovered that nothing was stolen even though the toilet window was smashed. They called the Police and got the robbers taken away to jail. Then Jack got Spot a big, big bone. "Here you go," he said. "Good job. We can trust you to guard the house even though you can't bark. You're the best!" Spot felt very proud of himself and happy to have such nice owners.


The Robot Cat Adventures

Names of story authors:
Nelson Central: Sheridan and Jacob
Grey Lynn: Jennifer and Cameron

Once there were two robots who were best friends. Their names were Flyer and Braike. They lived in a space ship with their cat called Max.

Flyer and Braike were trying to fly their space ship to Mars, but they kept getting stopped by big green aliens who wanted to take their beautiful cat, Max. The aliens had never seen a cat and thought it looked delicious!

Flyer had an idea. He said, "we should transform our space ship into a shield space ship so that we can get past the aliens." Braike thought that was a good idea, and Max was just glad that he wasn't going to be eaten! Flyer found some recycled material like metal junk that they couldn't use any more, and they made a strong protective shield.

Finally they landed on Mars , but the aliens were already there. "Oh no," said Braike. "What should we d

o now?" "Maybe we should talk to them" said Flyer. "They might not be as terrible as we think. Maybe they just want to pat the cat." "Ok," said Braike. "But we are NOT giving them Max."

''Greetings Aliens," said Flyer. ''What do you want from us?" exclaimed Max trembling. ''We just want your space ship and to take a photo of your beautiful cat so that we can make one like it back on our planet," said the big green alien.

"Well," said Flyer, "you can only have our ship if you give us one of your cool space ships. And we will let you have a photo, but you can't have Max. He's ours."

Braike was very proud of how Flyer stood up to the scary aliens. She thought that he was very cool. The aliens were also impressed with how Flyer talked, and they agreed to everything that he said.

So Flyer and Braike stood beside Max the cat and the Aliens took a picture of the three. Then Flyer and Braike zoomed off like a motorbike and said ''goodbye." Max said ''meeeow!" They thought it was a good day after all.


Where is Santa?

Names of story authors:
Nelson Central: Luke & Ethan
Grey Lynn: Stella and Ethan

Once there was a girl called Bella who lived with her very mean parents called Joe and Kim. It was December and Christmas was coming. Her parents were so mean that they weren't going to give her any presents for Christmas.

In her bedroom she decided to write a letter to Santa but he didn't respond, so she decided to go to him. She didn't know how to get there though, so Bella called out, "Santa, Santa, where are you?" But there was no reply.

Bella decided to call Santa's hotline to see if she could get him to come and see her. She picked up the phone and dialed the number but all she heard was his answering message. She thought she better leave a message, just in case.

"Hi Santa, it's Bella here. My parents are being very mean to me and I was wondering if you could come to my house and help me."

Bella knew one place that she could find Santa. It was the shops! She decided to look in the shop and to her suprise he wasn't there, so she walked sadly to her house. When she arrived, she called again "Santa, I need you," and suddenly he was there.

She said, "oh Santa, you're here!" Then he said " I got your message and I came as soon as I could. Here is a little toy for you. I need your help as well. Can you be a helper in my workshop? One of the elves has had to move away and I need another helper." Bella felt really excited about getting to live with Santa and also getting to move away from her mean parents. She went to tell her parents, but they didn't care anyway. So she went back to Santa's workshop in his sleigh.

The first thing she did when she got there was make a toy truck made out of metal. She was so happy to be with Santa and his reindeer at the North Pole. She was as lucky as a cookie, the luckiest person in the whole world.


Well done to the 3 groups who wrote their stories today!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Collaborative Narrative Writing - Day 1

This week Room 9 are writing some narrative stories collaboratively with another class!

The class is in Grey Lynn, Auckland. They are year 3s and are from Room 10. We have been reading, looking at and commenting on their class blog for two terms.

We are using Google Docs, the Internet, a computer and a mouse to work together with them. Each morning this week at 9:30am we will be online and working with them.

Today 3 groups got to have their turn. They wrote amazing stories. Take a look at the fabulous writing they produced together with Room 10 in an hour:

The Bus Ride

Names of story authors
:
Nelson Central: George N & Denver
Grey Lynn: Celia and Anisah

One day Tim was walking to the bus to go to school. But he was too late for the bus because it left at 8.30am and he got there at 8.35am! The bus had already left and he was stuck there with nowhere to go like a little bird lost. He felt left out. His mum had gone to work and his dad lived in Wanaka.

Tim had chased the bus but the bus was too fast! He saw another bus coming and put his hand out to make it stop like magic. But this bus was going to the beach. He said to the old bus driver, "I need a ride to school, where can I get one?" The bus driver said, "hop on and I will take you there." Tim hopped on and sat down, but then he realised that he had forgotten to tell the driver what school he went to and the bus had already started moving. He wondered if he should say something, but he was feeling shy and scared of being growled at by the driver. Tim knew he needed to be brave, so he said "Stop!" "Ok," said the driver "I go to Richmond Street school" said Tim. "Ok" said the bus driver and he took him there.

The bus stopped Tim said "thanks," and went into his class but he realised the class was empty. Then he said "aha! My class is at assembly and so is the rest of the school." So he ran down the bumpy hill to assembly and went to his teacher. His teacher said "Where have you been, Tim?" He told her all about the bus ride. She said, "Well done for being brave" and he joined his class.

Tim felt really proud of himself for being brave and finding a way to school even though he missed his real bus. Now he knew exactly what to do if he missed his school bus again.


The Scared Cat

Names of story authors:
Nelson Central: Eden & Jayden
Grey Lynn: Sasha and Xavier


Once upon a time a cat named Ginger and a giant Bigfoot were walking through the woods. Ginger was on his way to the bank and was taking a short cut through the woods. Ginger didn't know that Bigfoot was next to him because Bigfoot had invisible powers. Ginger was scared as she thought she was all alone in the woods.

Ginger could feel the ground rumbling near him. He turned around in a circle to see if he could see anything near him that could make the rumbling, but there was nothing to see. Ginger slinked further into the woods, along the curvy path which was as curvy as a wriggly snake. Bigfoot was following her.

Suddenly Bigfoot appeared right in front of her! Ginger was very very scared. "Do you have any money?" asked Bigfoot. Ginger knew he was going to rob her, so he quickly ran up the tree behind him. Bigfoot couldn't climb the tree since he had no claws, so he stood at the bottom of the tree and shook it. Ginger climbed up to the very top of the tree and then leaped to the next tree that he could see.

Bigfoot raced to the bottom of the next tree and shook that too. Ginger
quickly jumped to the next tree, and the next, and the next. He was using the trees like trampolines. The trees were his own little cat path. Bigfoot got dizzy trying to follow him and he fell down and that was the end of Bigfoot. Ginger was not scared any more.

Ginger made it to the end of the cat path, jumped down and hurried to the bank. He had made it! He was cleverer than Bigfoot. He found all his friends at the bank and told them about his big adventure. He had learned his lesson, and on his way home he was NOT going to take a short cut ever again.


Lost and Seeking

Names of story authors:
Nelson Central: Katrina & Pete
Grey Lynn: Phoenix and Jaime


On Saturday, Nadia and John went to their friend Jack and Julie's house after soccer practice. They played cricket, but John hit the ball over the fence and they didn't know how to get it back. Over the fence lived an old, angry man who hated it when people went into his property.

They decided to risk it and go over anyway. They used a ladder to get over the huge fence and went over to look for it. When they finally climbed down the other side of the fence, they realised that they were standing in the middle of a spooky maze and there was a ghost.

The ghost had hid the ball at the top of the hedge. He would not give it back to them.

The kids knew that they needed to get out quick, but the ladder had fallen backwards to their house. They would have to go through the maze to get out the other side. The old man was guarding the end of the maze which would make it even harder to get out, but they knew if they waited until night he would be asleep because he was so old.

They started getting very tired but they knew they needed to leave. They raced out the paths to find the way out. Jack said, "This way, I've found the exit!" The others followed him out of the maze. They were exhausted and very tired so they went to sleep.

When they woke up it was night time. The ball had fallen back into the garden. "Perfect," said Nadia. "Now we can get past the wicked old man since he is asleep." Soon they were safely back at Jack and Julie's house. They would make sure to be more careful with the ball next time and would never forget the exciting maze next door.