Mystery Story Writing

In class for writing this term, we have been creating our very own mystery stories step by step. We started off with a theme to the story and then work on the characters. After that we moved onto our clues that would help solve the mystery, then the solution at the end. Here is my story.

Marco Escapes

By Bonnie Maidens

Part One

Running, Marco escapes from the horrid, ancient orphanage where the crazy old ladies have been keeping him hostage. His heart beats faster than a sprinting cheetah as he races around the busy streets of London. Every step he takes was another nerve throbbing moment which made him anxious. Jumping over hotdog carts and dodging wild cats, he finally reached the outskirts of Epping Forest.

Tip-toeing through the tall overgrown trees that let no sun in at all, Marco comes across a little, narrow pathway scattered with shredded leaves and broken branches. Marco always thought taking risks will work out for the best, so he quickly went for a stroll down this creepy, dark path. “Hello, anyone there?” Marco whispers, swallowing away his fear. He kept following the path until he saw a small patch of grass in the distance. As Marco got closer and closer, butterflies and pretty little ladybugs started appearing more and more. “This place is awesome!” Marco exclaimed shoving away all that fear and replacing it with joy. Marco took a look around and found a little treehouse covered in flowers and vines.

It was light brown and sat halfway up an oak tree. There were little wood planks nailed into the tree trunk leading up to the doorstep. When he stepped inside, it was completely empty except for a little note carved into the wall which read; Henni and Harriet forever. Marco thought to himself that it was obviously abandoned, so he pulled some wood planks off the tree trunk and built a chair, that he used as a bed. That night he got ready to go out fishing down at the nearest creek. Picking up the bait and putting it on the hook, Marco accidently poked his finger and it burst out with blood. He went fishing quickly to wash his wound in the water.

Part Two

“OMG, OMG, we're finally here,” screeched the students of Elizabeth Academy. They had been stuck in a cramped bus for several hours and arrived at their destination, the beautiful patch of grass. They all set up their tents and had roast marshmallows to settle in. At night they played tag, the three house leaders Henni, Harriet and Greer sprinted to their annual hiding spot. The abandoned treehouse.

After about 10 minutes of hiding in the treehouse it got cold so they went back down. Greer gasped spotting a blood trail going all the way down the stairs. “Eww, gross,” they all said in disgust. “Let’s follow it,” they agreed. Walking through the dark forest they shivered in fear. Every step they took they were following the blood trail until they approached the creek. “Stop!” Henni shouted. “Look, there’s red splodges floating away in the water, whoever or whatever this thing is, it needed a wash.” They kept walking along the sand hoping to spot a clue. Then, they found small deep footprints scattered along the side of the bank. “Come on guys, don’t be scared,” Greer says trying to be a leader. “If we follow them we might find this person!”

After about an hour of following footprints they eventually stopped right before the end of the creek where a palm tree sat alone. “It’s getting dark, shouldn’t we go back?” Harriet whispered.

“No! This is the coolest adventure I’ve ever been on.” Greer hissed. They walked up to the palm tree and all of the sudden saw a dark, human shaped silhouette on the ground, then they looked up. “AAHH!” they all screamed.

“What is that little boy doing up in a tree in the middle of nowhere at night time?” Henni asked. The scream shocked him and he fell off the tree right down beside their feet.

“Who are you?” Henni asked the boy.

“I-I-I’m-m Marc-co, what do you want from me?”

“We want to know what the heck you are doing.” She replied. Marco explained his whole life story to them and said that he had to get away. They took him back to the campsite so he could freshen up a bit.

“Miss Lavender, look what we found,” Greer said shoving Marco towards their teacher. “And who may you be little boy?” Miss Lavender spoke in her poshest voice. “Marco, Marco… actually I don’t know what my last name is.”

“Why not, that seems very odd.” Harriet said. Once again Marco explained himself while  crystal clear tears starting dribbling down Miss L’s face. “Oh you poor boy, I’m sure you would love a great family. It’s funny your eyes kind of remind me of my chocolate labrador back home.” She says wiping away her tears.

“Wow, I've seen a picture of one of those but never met one. I always wanted a…. what do you call them, that’s right, a dog.” Marco exclaimed.

After a long long chat, the girls of Elizabeth Academy and Marco went back to Miss Lavender's mansion. “This place is the bomb!” Marco yelled at the top of his lungs. “I’m glad you like it. Because you know how you said that you have nowhere to go, well I was thinking you could stay here with my dog and I.”

“Really! That would be the best.” He said, fulling up his eyes with joy.

“Ok then it’s settled.” Everybody danced with excitement for the rest of the night.

In the morning Marco woke up to Bessy the dog lying beside him. He ran into Miss L’s bedroom and woke her up. “I have one question before you can go back to sleep,” he started saying, “does this mean my full name is Marco Lavender?” She smiled and laughed.

Monster pillow

For our art project this term we have been looking into monster pillows and creating our own design.

Book review

Title: Four children and IT.

Author: Jacqueline Wilson

Opinion: I liked this story because you just get captured in the book and don't want to put it down, you just want to find out what will happen next.

Recommendation: I would recommend it to people who like adventure and magic. Well, you might have to like fantasy, which I don't really like, but I still liked this book.

Blurb: This book starts off with the main character, Rosalind, reading a book called Five Children and It. But her really annoying step-sister, Smash, hates reading and teases Rosalind about it. One day, though, when the family (Step-mum, Dad, Smash, Rosalind, Maudie and Robbie) take a picnic in Oxshott woods, they find something much unexpected …

The 'It' from Five Children and It! ‘It’ is actually a sand fairy. A sand fairy doesn't have wings like normal fairies. ‘It’ is plump, golden brown, a bit moody and has two stalks coming out of his head with eyes on top, and he can grant wishes.

Rosalind's family and It go on amazing adventures together, and manage to actually become more a family than they were before!

Ghosts- Inquiry

For inquiry this term we have been looking at a phenomenon. For mine, I chose to look further into ghosts and chose a theory that I believe is the truth.

Book review

Title: Running Wild

Author: Michael Morpurgo

Opinion: I really like this author and his books, but this book I didn’t enjoy as much because there was a lot of information that wasn’t needed and it got a little boring. It was still quite interesting because I like reading about people in the bush all by themselves and they have to try and survive.

Recommendation: I recommend this book to everyone, especially people who like animals because this book is all about animals and how they live in the jungle.

Blurb: This book is about a boy called Will, who is 9 years old. Will's father, who was a soldier died at war. Will and his mother were very sad and they decided to go on holiday in Indonesia to get away from everything like school and work. When the went down to the beach one morning Will was lucky enough to go on an elephant ride. Oona, the elephant was acting a bit crazy around the beach, when Will looked out at all the swimmers to find his mum and wave she was not there. Before Will knew it Oona raced off towards the jungle. As Oona was sprinting through the tall trees, Will looked back and spotted a huge tsunami rush through the sand and at that moment he knew his mum was gone. After a few nights in the jungle, Oona and Will became great friends, especially because they found a gigantic vege patch in the middle of nowhere where they could eat as much as they wanted together. Will learns to live in the jungle so he survives, but then one day a nasty evil man named Mr Anthony decides to burns down the jungle and plant palm oil trees so he can make a lot of money. Will gets captured but he makes a human friend on the way. His peculiar friend helps him hide up in the trees. Will also starts to use the way orangutans move and never touch the forest floor in case of danger.

If you want to know what happens to Will, Oona and the jungle read the book and find out!

Inquiry Reflection

Laughter because sometimes things in class are funny. Boredom because most things we learnt about I didn't enjoy. Fear, because we learn about stuff that I don't want to happen to me in the future.

One point perspective

In room 12 we are learning to create a piece of art using one point perspective techniques. Here is my art piece.

New School Values

The new school values are respect, integrity, kindness and resilience. We have been exploring these concepts in class- here is the quote I chose because I believe that you learn from your mistakes and you should never give up.
 

Timbernook Field Trip

On Wednesday room 12 had the pleasure of going to tibernook. My favourite part of the fun trip was getting all muddy swinging over the dirty creek. I would definitely go again.

Pizza Wheel Book Review

Title: Kensuke’s Kingdom,  Author: Michael Morpurgo

Opinion: I really enjoyed this book and it is my favourite book so far written by this author, I found this effective because whenever there was a problem they would always come up with a solution together. I also like this book because it can make other people believe, that’s the message I think they are trying to get across, that if you believe, it won’t come as a miracle, it’s just faith.

Recommendation: I recommend this to boys and girls 10+ as it has mature language but it is still quite clear what is happening. If you like stories about people stranded on a island and living like on survivor then this is the book for you.

Blurb: This is a story about a 12 year old boy named Michael who goes with his family and live on a boat called ‘The Peggy Sue.’ They go on a great adventure around the world seeing many different things. One day their dog, Stella, was hanging out far on a dangerous part of the bow on the boat, and when Michael goes to fetch her they both go overboard, at the time Michael’s mum was ill and his dad was looking after her down with the beds so they didn’t see a thing.

The next day they wake up washed up on a island with water surrounding it. After he calmed down a little he found a cave where he fell asleep.

In the morning they found a bowl of water and food beside them, at that moment he knew he was not alone. Soon he went for a walk and started to build a fire to attract the attention of any roaming boats. After a while, the smoke was really cranking and he came across a very old man named Kensuke, who happened to be Japanese and not happy with fires. Kensuke told him ‘No FIRE’ in his very bad english, he also draw a line where Michael could not cross.

After a few days Michael didn’t care what Kensuke said and he built a beacon on the hilltop. When he spotted a ship he lit the beacon but it was not powerful enough for the ship to see, plus Kensuke had crushed some of it.

Later that day when he was swimming in the ocean Kensuke came running out yelling at him to get out, but he ignored so Kensuke walked away. Not listening to Kensuke, Michael swam and swam and swam until he nearly got killed by humongous jellyfish.

He woke up in a even bigger cave that smelt like vinegar, surprisingly it was Kensuke’s cave, and he had save him and given him vinegar to help him heal. Since Kensuke had to look after Michael they became very good friends, they would fish together, eat together and they even lived together.

Michael was really starting to miss his family so he put a letter in a bottle and threw it into the sea. When the two were talking Stella came running in with the bottle, Kensuke was not sad as he understood because one of his orangutans had lost his mother.

Everyday now they would go on the hilltop with binoculars and search for a ship, and one day one came but they had to hide because it was killer men that come and shoot the orangutans and take their babies. But Kensuke managed to save most of them by hiding deep in the cave.

When they had left they went to back to the hilltop and spotted another ship heading towards the island. It took a while before Michael could make out ‘Peggy Sue’ on the ship. In the end Michael got reunited with his family but never spoke of Kensuke, but they still remembered each other.

Hauora Art

In class we have been working on some Hauora art, we cut out pictures from a magazine that represent social well-being, physical well-being, mental well-being and spiritual well-being. This is mine.

Stereotyping task

Earlier in class this week, we have learnt that stereotyping can be constructive or it could really hurt someone's feelings. This task is really good for the future and shows that you really have to think before attempting making judgements about someone.

Hauora Task

1. Spiritual well-being (taha wairua) .......   religious beliefs appreciating nature searching for meaning in life telling someone your problems	2. Physical well-being (taha tinana) ........ confidence to try new things improving fitness growing taller helping someone carry their things brushing teeth learning how to play hockey
3. Mental and Emotional well-being (taha hinegaro) ....... receiving a compliment thinking positively feeling good about yourself walking away from conflict when angry	4. Social well-being (taha whanau) ....... going to visit a sick family member encouraging someone giving someone our opinion texting a friend

Roomstyler

Pizza Wheel Book Review

Title: The World’s Worst Children 2

Author: David Walliams

Opinion: The one thing that made this book stand out is how every child didn’t have a happy ending, and that shows that when you misbehave, there is also consequences you have to face, so if you obey your parents and teachers then there will not be any consequences and you will live happily ever after.

Recommendation: I recommend this book to all, as it does have pictures, but some of the vocabulary used is quite mature. I really recommend this book to people who love David Walliams because this is my favourite book  of his. The story about  every child hooks you straight away, something exciting always happens and you just want to read more and more.

Blurb: This book is about 10 children that are HORRIBLE! I like how every chapter is a new child.

One of the children is called Competitive Colin. Colin was so determined to win everything he had to cheat. Like when he would be sack racing at the school fair, he would put a mini motorcycle at the bottom of the sack, and when the start whistle would go he would zoom past everyone else. Also when him and his friends would be playing musical statues and right before the start he would dip himself in cement, the only bad thing about this was he would have to get himself out of it afterwards with a sledgehammer.

One day Colin was lucky enough to get on Tv for all his fake amazing wins. Soon the head of the British Olympic team phoned Colin and asked him to join the 100m sprint for Britain. Of course Colin said ‘yes!’ He just needed to come up with an amazing plan to beat everyone else.

Rocket sneakers, this was the perfect idea in Colin’s mind. When it came to the racing day Colin was ready.

‘On your marks’ said the race starter. Colin switch on one rocket, ‘get set’, Colin switched on the other rocket as soon as he said…….’GOOOOO’, but it was going everywhere, suddenly he had already hit all the racers except for Ike from Jamaica, who was winning. Unexpectedly Colin started shooting upwards. But what goes up has to come down, ‘crash!’ Colin knocked Ike right of his feet and past the finish line first. Of course Colin won the race, he actually got gold, silver and bronze because no-one else finished the race.

Colin lived the rest of his life in his room as he could not leave the house without getting something, or someone thrown at him in anger.

Make it-Flax Flower

Today we had our weekly 'Make it' session, as I was waiting for my soap carving gear, I decided to do some weaving. This is a picture of my flax flower, this was very fun to make, and I suggest you try it!

Statistical Investigation

Reading outside the box- Lost in translation

Title: Anne Frank: A diary of a young girl

Author: Written by Anne Frank, edited by Otto H. Frank

Opinion: I like this book because it tells people that just because people may be a different colour or religion, that doesn’t mean that they should be treated differently. This is very useful and for people you do feel like this it could change their lives.

Recommendation: I recommend this to older age groups because the language would be a big, big challenge to younger kids, I also recommend this to people that like reading about war and historical things because this is what this story is about.

Blurb: This is a real diary about a young girl, this story starts on Anne’s 13th birthday (12 June 1942) when she receives a  diary from her parents.

To start the story Anne talks about her personal life, and mentions her friends and all about them, still talking about her personal life she explains information about her school, she also writes all the ups and downs she goes through in her youth.

Soon this diary gives information about the life of her family who live in Frankfurt, Germany and have to go hide because of Hitler and the Nazi Party’s treatment of Jews in Europe during the second world war.

Later on in the story they escape and head to Amsterdam where they go hide along with another family, the Van Daans, they stay unseen avoid being captured.

Unfortunately, the story ends suddenly on 1 August 1944.

By Bonnie

Report Writing

Who invented the first curved hockey stick?

Have you ever wondered how the curved hockey stick became a big thing? Well, this how. The curved hockey stick was in fact not invented, it was discovered accidentally by Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks back in the 1960's. It was Stan, who accidentally caught his stick blade in one of the doors in the boards, cracking and bending it, but not breaking it all the way off, this created the perfect curve to hit a ball!!

The First Hockey Stick                                                                                                         The very first curved hockey stick was made out traditional wood, now some hockey sticks are made out of fibreglass. Some sticks even have a bit of both, those sticks have the head (the curved part) wood so that the expensive fibreglass wouldn't get chipped and scratched, and then the rest above the head and all the way to the top of the grip is fibreglass, which makes it lighter for the player. Most hockey players like fibreglass, like myself.

The innovation of the curved hockey sticks                                                                          These are just some of the different shapes and sizes the curved hockey sticks have, the head itself comes in many different and amazing shapes.  Stan Mikita and others have worked hard the carve different shapes they have designed to create useful shapes that will make it lighter and better for the players to shoot, tackle, pass and many other things. The ‘Toe Curve’ is the best shape and has the most advantages for skills and strength.

Hockey Sticks we have now

Fortunately, present hockey sticks now have brands on them that represent who designed the hockey stick, brands usually sit midway through the stick and the rest of the stick is painted to suit the brand,  and instead of just wood people have fibreglass that has been painted to suit gender as well. This makes it look way more effective and makes a  hard decision for kids.

My Opinion

Personally, I think that it is absolutely extraordinary that they curved hockey stick was discovered because that means that new sports equipment could still be yet discovered. I can’t wait to see what happens in the future!!!

By Bonnie Maidens

Electronics

Today was my last day in Electronics, this is the presentation of my work and my final design for my emergency light, I had a really great time at electronics.
 

Passion Writing

This is my passion writing, I chose to write about hockey because it's what I love to do, I was going to do field hockey but I didn't get any information so I chose ice hockey.

Homework- Thinkers Keys

This is the homework that I have been doing for the last three weeks, we got given this task because this term we are learning about innovation and invention. On the top is the tasks and on the bottom is the work.

The Reverse Name five things that have have not been invented.	The Alphabet Make an A-Z list of inventions	The Disadvantages What would be the disadvantages of inventing a cure for all diseases?	The Combination Combine a bicycle and a light bulb. Draw or describe the result.
The Different uses List some different uses for a toilet roll.	The Variations How manys ways can you use a coat hanger? (a wire coat hanger)	The Picture What inventions have affected this animal?	The Forced Relationship You are on a desert island with an ironing board , a mirror and a pocket knife.Devise a way of escaping the island using these three objects.
The Bar Use BAR (Bigger,Add Replace) to improve the design of your desk or chair.	The Ridiculous No-one is allowed to think creatively and make new inventions.Justify this statement.	The Commonality What are the common features of a bungy and zorb.	The Question. The answer is The Britten Motorbike. What could the five questions be?
The Brainstorming Brainstorm 4-5 solutions to the nutrient run-off into the Tuki tuki River.	The Inventions Design a robot that can do a job that most people do not want to do.	The Interpretation There is a camera floating below a Helium Balloon give some reasons why this is happening.	The Brick Wall A robot is the only way to destroy a bomb. Break down this wall with other ways of destroying a bomb.
The Construction Construct a bridge using 1 metre of sticky tape, 20 straws and 1 A4 piece of Cardboard.	The Prediction What will be the iphone features in five years from now?	The Alternative Work out three ways to clean your teeth without using a toothbrush.	.The What If What if you invented a time machine that could move forward or back. What would you choose and why?

 

Furnware- innovation in action

Today we took the amazing photos from our trip to Furnware and turned it into a collage, I really enjoyed the trip and experiencing what the workers do every day to make our classrooms look fabulous. Sheppard house had a really great time.

Innovation, invention and discovery

Today we were given the task to create a presentation that showed the meanings of invention, innovation and discovery, we had to find a person that has invented, innovated or discovered something that connected with us.

Electronics

Starting Construction of my emergency light:
Today in electronics we designed our cover for our emergency lights. I am so excited to see the finished product.