Sunday 10 June 2012

Collaborative Story

I started to laugh as I rocked in my rocking chair, my grandchildren crawling around on the floor at my feet. They reminded me of little lambs, playing with each other and giggling. I loved my grand kids, they were so full of life just as much as I was when I was at that age. I picked up my grand daughter and grandson, and gave them both a huge bear hug, and kissed them on their foreheads. "Grandpa, grandpa look what I made at school",my grandson burst through the screen door, just as I was having a nap. " You gave me a fright George, wow look at the mate that's a cool looking wooden car, where did you make it" I asked," I made it today in woodwork, pretty cool huh". 


It was my 70th birthday, and I received a call from my daughter inviting me over to her house. So I walked down to her house and knocked on the door, no one answered. That's funny I thought I just got a call from my daughter, and she's not opening the door. It never entered  my mind that they would throw me a surprise party. So I opened the door, Surprise, everyone yelled and laughed. I remember my face lighting up with joy and i was just feeling so happy, there was a banner saying happy 70th birthday, balloons and confetti covered the floor, like carpet. My whole family was their, along  with some childhood friends, and other people I had kept in touch with over the years. All these dear memories, were going so quick through my head like a short film that lasted 10 seconds, but they kept replaying over and over again. A tear made its way down my cheek, as I lay unconscious on the ambulance bed. Wishing that I could stay here forever. . .








Part 4:carried on http://breannasenglishblog.blogspot.co.nz/

Tuesday 29 May 2012

Creative Writing: Term 2


(An alien from outer space at a swimming pool late at night and a secret needs to be confessed to someone)


SPLASH! I have crashed onto planet earth, it’s late at night and i'm soaked. I’ve crash landed into a pool.


I got out of the pool and look for a way out, the only way out is up and over the fence. Over the fence I go, across the grass and off into the night. I walk for what feels like ages and then I come across these two men. They are taking photos of each other; it seems that they are travelling in a RV. I come out of the shadows trying not to make a sound, “Hi my name is Peter, take it easy, I’ve come from planet Zergos and I need your help”. One laughs and passes out, he hits the ground with an almighty thud and the other laughs and then starts to go mental. “What is your name” I asked, he whimpered “um my name is Dale, please don’t hurt me”. “I’m not going to hurt you, you idiot, please can you help me”. He said “do you want to come with us” with a whimpery look on his face? I accepted his kind offer and I helped him carry the unconscious man onto the RV. After we had got the fat man onto the RV we started heading down the road and me and my new friend Dale talked, and he was asking all these different questions like what’s my planet like, and how long do I live for and all the other questions a human would want to know about an alien life form.


Somehow Clyde, the man that passed out, had awoken and he lunged at me, strangling me with his hands tightly around my neck, “STOP, I come in peace” I frantically yelled, Dale was also yelling at Clyde telling him to stop. He let go, and I was panting for air, he was scared and started to ask question like where had I came from and practically all the same questions as Dale. He even asked me if I was here to harvest people’s farts, I was so insulted! We had been travelling for a few hours, and now that Clyde was driving he wanted to pull over for the night. So we stopped in at an RV park, in the middle of no where and parked in bay 26. Us and a few other RV’s had decided to stop in at the park, but all you could hair were the cicadas and a light wind rustling the trees overhead. There was an outdoor BBQ, ground fire and a couple logs for us to sit on just behind bay 26. As Clyde cooked up some steaks on the BBQ, Dale and I got the fire started. After eating all we could, with our hunger fulfilled we lay down looking up at the sky. Dreaming of our fantasies. Early the next morning, “Bang, bang, bang on the RV door, “Clyde get the door” I said to him still half asleep. It was Wendy the RV park owner, she had come to collect the overnight stay payment. We payed her and hit the road pretty quick, we stopped at the next town to fill up with gas and get a few snacks for our long trip that was still to come. As Clyde was filling up the RV with gas a policeman rolled up and parked in the gas stations car park. He was questioning about an incident at a school pool in the last town, after he was done talking to the shop keeper, about any funny coincidences he came outside and was talking to Clyde. He asked Clyde if he had seen anything unusual. Clyde just stared at the ground making no eye contact shaking his head and turned back to the RV and so did Dale, they both hurried back without being to obvious. All you could hear was our tires squealing as we pulled out of the gas station and sped off down the highway.


“So what are you actually doing here Peter” Dale and Clyde asked. “I’m here because I have to tell you guys something” I exclaimed. “Well what is it?” Dale asked,” this may seem a bit absurd but I have been summoned here to take Dale McCarthy and Clyde Harris back to my planet, So we need to head for The Grand Canyon and that’s where the mother ship will pick us up.” “Oooooh no that’s not good, so you’re taking us back with you, what do they want with us”. “Yes and I’m not sure” so we need to hurry up and get to the Grand Canyon quick smart. Dale started to speed up and we still had an hour and a bit to go. We had travelled many miles through desert and long straight highways so far and we still had 50 or so miles to go. We arrived at the Grand Canyon, 1 hour and a half later and we went through the gates. We parked up in the parking lot and we then stepped outside into the glaring sun. We ran to the observation deck and I then started to meditate. This meditation alerts my planet that I am ready to be picked up. We were there for about ten minutes when we heard a huge loud rumbling sound coming from the sky. “That’s the mother ship I said to Dale and Clyde”, they were both speechless. We looked up and it was HUGE, with bright lights shining, lighting up the whole canyon, it let down a huge tunnel that sucked us up in an instant.


We were standing at the window when Clyde asked “What about our clothes and belongings” Mate where were going you don’t need clothes or belongings mate”. 
3 DAY Episode:

My 3 day episode that I would create is charter fishing. It would be a day out on a fishing charter vessel catching fish for a whole day. We would cover health and safety regulations on one day, what our expectations are in behaviour and keeping each other and ourselves safe. Wearing life jackets and dealing with hooks and bait knives and anything else that is on the fishing boat that could potentially wound or hurt us. On the last day we would put our cooking skills to the test and cook the fish we caught, having possibly a competition between groups to see who's cooked fish is the best.

I would call it charter fishing.

DAY 1: On the first day we would cover health and safety regulations on one day, what our expectations are in behaviour and keeping each other and ourselves safe. Wearing life jackets and dealing with hooks and bait knives and anything else that is on the fishing boat that could potentially wound or hurt us.

DAY 2: On the second day we would go out on the fishing charter vessel making sure we uphold the rules, regulations and other things we discussed from day 1. Put life jackets on and fish the whole day from 8 in the morning to 7 at night. 
 
DAY 3: On the third day we would cook the fish, building a fire by digging a hole in the ground,use tinder to start the fire with a flint & steel and kindling with bigger bits of wood to build the fire up. Prepare the fish your own way and cook it over the fire. Have a few competitions running like best cooked fish etc. 

Have certificates for Independent Learning Qualities, Creative, Wisdom and so on.

Cost: It would cost around $70-$80, but there is only a limited amount of spaces (35-40 max).

Yes there is a trip involved, to and from the fishing charter venue and out on the sea.

They would improve on all the Independent Learning Qualities because they would be working together and people with experience should take a leadership role in their group. But everyone will be using all the ILQ's in some way at some point in time.

This is the 3 day episode I have created.

Saturday 26 May 2012

 Blog 1- http://www.bakingmakesthingsbetter.com/ 
This blog is run by my English teacher Miss Kelly and her friend Courtenay, in which they meet at Auckland University. They bot share a passion for baking and have created this site to show their baking efforts and recipes with all those who love to cook. :)


Hang time is a blog based on the NBA. It keeps NBA fans up to date with all the latest news, teams, info and results. It keeps you informed about changes and injuries throughout the whole NBA season. I like this blog because I enjoy watching the NBA and I support the Miami Heat, so if your a NBA or b-ball fan check out this blog.


This blog has famous rappers and has lyrics to songs. It has different song artists I like to listen to like Nicki Minaj etc. You guys should check it out.

Reflection

Positive:
This term in English I have enjoyed class, reading the short poems and stories. I have also liked the classwork because I am actually learning things and doing it unlike last year. I like Miss Kelly because she keeps me on the task at hand and I find that the work we do in class is actually suitable for me. The home learning we have to complete is quite a hard challenge but a week is long enough to do it. Some things I find difficult like the Kony 2012, and choosing which option I would like to write about. But overall English class this term has been very enjoyable as well as the homework that comes with it.




Negative:
I dont have anything negative to say about English, or home learning, ha ha.




Interesting:
To be honest I actually thought I would despise being in the 10IL class but I have actually liked being in it. They are all a cool bunch of people and they are easy to get on with.











Saturday 24 March 2012

KONY 2012: My opinion

Kony 2012 is all about making a man named Joseph Kony known throughout the whole world. They aren't trying to make him famous but they are trying to get him recognised so that the US government will take action in capturing Joseph Kony. Although in a letter sent to Invisible Children, the US government will pull out troops if not many people knew about having him captured for the crimes he has committed over the years. This is why Invisible Children have been trying to make KONY 2012 as recognised as possible.


I think that Invisible Children have succeeded in their goal of making Joseph Kony famous, because now everyone is talking about it and almost 100 million people have viewed the video clip on youtube. Joseph Kony if you haven't heard of him is a horrible man. He is the leader of a rebel army called the LRA. He takes children and turns them into child soldiers, sex slaves and also kills and rapes innocent people.


I think Joseph Kony needs to be captured for the things he has done to the Ugandan Nation. He should spend the rest of his life in jail or sentenced to death by lethal injection. Invisible Children are behind the Kony 2012 campaign and on April 20th they are going to 'Cover The Night'. Putting up hundreds and thousands of posters of 'KONY 2012'. They are going to blanket every major city in the whole world with these posters.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

Book review:'CLASS A'

For my book review I did it on a book from a series called Cherub, The book is called "Class A".


Class A is about a drug lord called Keith Moore and he has evaded jail for a long time. He runs the biggest drug ring in London and his crew are called KMG (Keith Moore's Gang). He took over a man called JT Martin's criminal empire. Operation Snort is in progress and it is the case that the police are working on to try and bring down Keith Moore.The police have been trying to arrest Keith Moore in relation to importing drugs and illegal money laundering.  


They call Cherub to help them out with operation Snort. James Adams, Kerry Chang, Kyle Blueman and Nicole Eddison have been called  in to work along MI5 and the police. Cherub is a top secret organisation and only the people at the top of MI5 and the government know of its existence. They are all highly trained teenagers that  can deal with all types of situations and not even adults suspect that children are spying on them. They are on this mission to befriend Keith Moore's children and get information from them and what they know about their fathers business. James makes friends with Keiths son Junior, Kyle with Ringo, Nicole with April and Kerry gets friendly with an indian boy called Dinesh. Throughout their journey they find new evidence of illegal drug dealings and Dinesh's father is in on the drug act. Keith Moore bailed Dinesh's father out a few years back because he went bankrupt but it came at a price, Keith stored his drugs their along with his packaging machine. The police put Dinesh's dads storage unit under cirvelliance and got peoples names numbers and dates.


The police then arrested over 80 KMG members which then put Keith Moore on alert. But half term break was coming up and every year Keith and his sons go away to Miami for a couple of weeks. This time Ringo didn't want to go and so Keith and Junior invited James. A couple of days into the trip in Miami, 5 masked Lambeyeke Cartel members forced there way into Keith Moore's beach side villa. James escapes while Keith and Junior are being beaten viciously, and meets with John Jones a senior MI5 agent. John alerts the Miami state police and they make arrests at Keiths home. Keith Moore was arrested and was brought in to custody and made a deal with John Jones to never set foot in the United States of America and to be imprisoned for 20-25 years in a Britain prison, but he could be out in 15 years for good behaviour.


The reason I chose this book is because I enjoy the story line and the action in the book. The author is extremely descriptive and to me it feels like as if I am the character in the book itself. The cherub series is an amazing series because there all different scenarios and experiences. I would recommend this book to people from the ages of 12 and upwards. 



Monday 27 February 2012

how well do you follow instructions.

Quiche

I made a quiche for my family. I chose to make this because I had never made it before. I also made it because it was something easy for me to make for the first time. I got the instructions on how to make it from my aunty, who had got it from her sister in the holidays. 

Recipe:

10 eggs                                         4 streaks of bacon
1/2 cup of self raising flour          
1/2 cup of cream                           and any vegetables of your choice 
1/2 cup of milk

Crack 10 eggs into a large bowl, use a whisk to mix all of the eggs together. Then add flour, mix it in and then add the cream and milk. Get 4 streaks of bacon and cut off the bacon rind. Then finely slice the bacon into square pieces, then add. Choose any vegetables of your choice and chop finely then also add to the mix. Mix everything together for a couple of minutes then pour into an oven dish, (Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius). Put oven dish into the oven for 180degrees for 45 minutes.

I found everything with the help of my aunty. I found the instructions pretty easy because I had my aunty telling me what to do and giving me tips on how to chop the vegetables and how to accurately measure the 1/2 a cups. But overall it came out the way it was supposed to and the way I had hoped for it to come out. My aunty said it was one of the best quiche's she had tasted, and so I was quite proud of that.

Sorry I didn't take a photo of it Miss Kelly it got eaten so quickly I couldn't even grab the camera in time.


Tuesday 21 February 2012

Home Learning: Creative writing Term 1



(An alien from outer space at a swimming pool late at night and a secret needs to be confessed to someone)


SPLASH! I have crashed onto planet earth, it’s late at night and i'm soaked. I’ve crash landed into a pool.


I got out of the pool and look for a way out, the only way out is up and over the fence. Over the fence I go, across the grass and off into the night. I walk for what feels like ages and then I come across these two men. They are taking photos of each other; it seems that they are travelling in a RV. I come out of the shadows trying not to make a sound, “Hi my name is Peter, take it easy, I’ve come from planet Zergos and I need your help”. One laughs and passes out, he hits the ground with an almighty thud and the other laughs and then starts to go mental. “What is your name” I asked, he whimpered “um my name is Dale, please don’t hurt me”. “I’m not going to hurt you, you idiot, please can you help me”. He said “do you want to come with us” with a whimpery look on his face? I accepted his kind offer and I helped him carry the unconscious man onto the RV. After we had got the fat man onto the RV we started heading down the road and me and my new friend Dale talked, and he was asking all these different questions like what’s my planet like, and how long do I live for and all the other questions a human would want to know about an alien life form.


Somehow Clyde, the man that passed out, had awoken and he lunged at me, strangling me with his hands tightly around my neck, “STOP, I come in peace” I frantically yelled, Dale was also yelling at Clyde telling him to stop. He let go, and I was panting for air, he was scared and started to ask question like where had I came from and practically all the same questions as Dale. He even asked me if I was here to harvest people’s farts, I was so insulted! We had been travelling for a few hours, and now that Clyde was driving he wanted to pull over for the night. So we stopped in at an RV park, in the middle of no where and parked in bay 26. Us and a few other RV’s had decided to stop in at the park, but all you could hair were the cicadas and a light wind rustling the trees overhead. There was an outdoor BBQ, ground fire and a couple logs for us to sit on just behind bay 26. As Clyde cooked up some steaks on the BBQ, Dale and I got the fire started. After eating all we could, with our hunger fulfilled we lay down looking up at the sky. Dreaming of our fantasies. Early the next morning, “Bang, bang, bang on the RV door, “Clyde get the door” I said to him still half asleep. It was Wendy the RV park owner, she had come to collect the overnight stay payment. We payed her and hit the road pretty quick, we stopped at the next town to fill up with gas and get a few snacks for our long trip that was still to come. As Clyde was filling up the RV with gas a policeman rolled up and parked in the gas stations car park. He was questioning about an incident at a school pool in the last town, after he was done talking to the shop keeper, about any funny coincidences he came outside and was talking to Clyde. He asked Clyde if he had seen anything unusual. Clyde just stared at the ground making no eye contact shaking his head and turned back to the RV and so did Dale, they both hurried back without being to obvious. All you could hear was our tires squealing as we pulled out of the gas station and sped off down the highway.


“So what are you actually doing here Peter” Dale and Clyde asked. “I’m here because I have to tell you guys something” I exclaimed. “Well what is it?” Dale asked,” this may seem a bit absurd but I have been summoned here to take Dale McCarthy and Clyde Harris back to my planet, So we need to head for The Grand Canyon and that’s where the mother ship will pick us up.” “Oooooh no that’s not good, so you’re taking us back with you, what do they want with us”. “Yes and I’m not sure” so we need to hurry up and get to the Grand Canyon quick smart. Dale started to speed up and we still had an hour and a bit to go. We had travelled many miles through desert and long straight highways so far and we still had 50 or so miles to go. We arrived at the Grand Canyon, 1 hour and a half later and we went through the gates. We parked up in the parking lot and we then stepped outside into the glaring sun. We ran to the observation deck and I then started to meditate. This meditation alerts my planet that I am ready to be picked up. We were there for about ten minutes when we heard a huge loud rumbling sound coming from the sky. “That’s the mother ship I said to Dale and Clyde”, they were both speechless. We looked up and it was HUGE, with bright lights shining, lighting up the whole canyon, it let down a huge tunnel that sucked us up in an instant.


We were standing at the window when Clyde asked “What about our clothes and belon” Mate where were going you don’t need clothes or belongings mate”. 

Monday 13 February 2012

My Holiday

Hunting, fishing and being outdoors is where I feel most comfortable. They are some of my favourite hobbies and they are really enjoyable. I like being in amongst nature and all its beauty.

Every holiday I spend at my grandparents farm is enjoyable. We go hunting for pigs and deer mostly. Being outdoors and in the bush is peaceful to me because I listen to the birds chirping and the tree's swaying in the wind. My dad and I were walking back to the motorbike one day in the holidays when we heard pigs in some long grass. We could hear them grunting and we could smell the stench of 2 billy goats that they were feasting on. So I whispered to my dad " I'll try and catch one aye ". I got down on all fours and slowly started to crawl through the long grass. They were all surrounding the goats that my uncle had shot earlier on in the week, I lay still watching them through a hole I made in the grass. I counted 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 black pigs, that were all about knee height, then I spotted the runt which was significantly smaller than his 10 brothers and sisters. He had a unique colour, he was ginger with black spots all over. I started slowly crawling through this swampy grass trying not to make any sound and stopped behind a bush. I lay completely still as I saw a pig coming towards me, he came about arms length away before he smelt me and turned around to join up with his friends again. I crawled around behind them, I could've grabbed a couple by their hind legs and dragged them out, but then I jumped up, after that all you could see was all these black pigs running in all different directions. Then I started to sprint for any pig that came into arms length, but they were all to quick for me. Then I focused on the little runt that wasnt quite as fast as the others. He ran straight over a small bank and face first into the mud. he got stuck for a couple of seconds which let me catch up and just grab him by the legs before he took off running again. My whole body was pumping with adrenaline, I carried him back up to the top of the bank while my dad tied his legs up with some string. He wasnt very happy about being man handled and tried to bite my dad. We tied him down to the motorbike and then we were off home. I showed everyone my pig and had a photo with him, then I took him back up the hill near where I caught him and cut him free.

This was one of my highlights of the holidays. Being out and about all day in the bush is exciting because you never know what could be hiding in the long grass. =)