Winter Learning Journey - Assembly

During the holidays I participated in the Winter Learning Journey. It was a lot of enjoyment because we got explore more things about New Zealand. My best part about the Winter Learning Journey Activities was learning about the native animals in New Zealand. Students who participated was awarded certificates in assembly. There were a lot of people that took part of the Winter Learning Journey. There were students from year 5,6,7, and 8. Rachel told us there was over 5,000 blog post and blog commenting during the Winter Learning Journey. We couldn't believe it. The fun part was the prizes. The prizes went to 6 people who got the most blog posts and blog commenting. In first place was Daniel and Oh Hsen, second place was AJ and Alex and third place was Eric and I. Daniel and Ohsen (first prize winners) had over 500 blog comments. Thank you to Rachel for all the hard work she has put into the Winter Learning Journey. 

Winter Learning Journey - Bonus Activity

On your blog, post a video or write a description about your week. What have you learned? What did you like about the trip? What didn’t you like? Was there anything that surprised you?

To earn full points for this activity, you must talk about what you learned, what you liked and what you about your great kiwi road trip.

During this week of doing the Winter Learning Journey I have learnt a lot about New Zealand then before. I have enjoyed researching about famous people and researching about the native animals in New Zealand. My favourite activity was doing something relaxing which my one was reading. I have learnt that the New Zealand flag was first built in 1902 which means is is 155 years old. I have also learnt that More pork's (The animal I adopted) females weigh more than male More pork's. Female More pork's weighs 175g. I have learnt a lot of new facts. Did you know that Hectors Dolphin is a native animal in New Zealand. Are you aware that Howard Hughes (The person I choose to do for the famous person activity) was born in Houston, Texas in December 24, 1905 and died on April 5, 1976. I really enjoy participating in the Winter Learning Journey blogging programs.

Winter Learning Journey - Otago Central Rail Trail

You and your tour group have enjoyed your day in the mountains but you’re ready for a change of scenery. You ask Curious Kiwi to take you to Central Otago, a region of the south island with lots of rolling hills and flat, brown grasslands. While in Central Otago, you decide to join the Otago Central Rail Trail – a 150 km long cycle trail. Curious Kiwi and I (Rachel) cycled the Rail Trail in April and we loved it!

On your blog, tell us whether you would like to cycle the Otago Rail Trail one day. Does it sound like fun? Why or why not?

Yes I would like to cycle the Otago Central Rail Trail and ride 150 km one day because it sound fun and I like riding bikes. I would like to do this amazing event to loose some weight and to also be fit for my rugby training sessions. If I went cycling the Otago Central Rail Trail I will take a couple of friends so it can be a lot of enjoyment.

Winter Learning Journey - Poem

Let’s imagine that you were on the first waka to arrive at Shag Point. You had never been to New Zealand before and you had no idea what to expect. Write a poem describing how you would have felt when you arrived in New Zealand. Would you have been excited or scared? I would have felt pretty nervous, I reckon…

Feeling afraid and scared

All the mens surrounding me had a beard

I didn't know what to do but walk

I could hear whispering and talk

I walked step by step slowly

I had no friends I was lonely

All I said to the people was Hi

And then when we had to go I said Bye

Winter Learning Journey - Matariki Festival

After visiting Shag Point, you hop back in the van and drive all the way up the east coast of the south island until you reach the town of Picton. You get out of the van and onto the Interislander ferry. It travels back across the Cook Strait to Wellington. Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand and every winter the city hosts a huge Matariki festival to celebrate the Maori New Year. This year part of the festival is being held at Te Papa, a big museum in Wellington.

Read about the Matariki festival at Te Papa.  There are so many different things to see and do at the festival this year. On your blog, tell us about three of the events. You can choose any three events that you wish.

The places I would go to is the Matariki festival which is on July 8. The amazing thing is you could watch the fireworks shows. I would also go to the Matariki light trail behind Te Oro and the diffrent dances that happens.

Winter Learning Journey - Short Story

For this activity in the winter learning journey, I have to pretend that I got lost in a forest all by myself. I have to write a short story (8-10 sentences) about what might happen next. I had to make sure I had to include about what you might be feeling, seeing and doing after you realise that you are all alone in the forest.

It was sunny day with a beautiful sun and beautiful clouds. As my friends and walked through the forest I dawdled slowly to check out this amazing native tree. It looked very attractive. Suddenly, I couldn't hear laughter and noises as I always hear from my friends. I looked back and non of my friends were there. I was alone! I was very frightened and nervous. I shouted and shouted but had no signal of my friends. I was very exhausted from this long day so I sat down at went to sleep. I said to myself that they will come back. As I woke up the other day I heard noise. I thought it was my friends. I jumped up with excitement, but it was not my friends. It was a helicopter. I was thrilling. I waved my flag and shouted help. Lucky the man in helicopter heard me. The man let down a rope ladder and I grabbed it and went into the helicopter.

Winter Learning Journey - Rating Haka

As part of the Matariki festival, there is a two day Kapa Haka competition. The haka is a traditional war dance that Maori performed before going into battle. The haka is now performed by children/adults in the community and by professional sporting teams, including our national rugby team, the ‘All Blacks.’  The All Blacks have performed various haka over the years. Watch the following three haka videos (1 – 3) and, on your blog, list the haka videos in order from best (#1) to worst (#3). There are no right or wrong answers ☺

#1. World Cup 2015 – All Blacks vs Argentina

#2. All Blacks vs South Africa 2016

#3. Rugby World Cup 2011- All Blacks vs France

World Cup 2015 - All Blacks vs Argentina - Rate - (#1) because they look very tough, strong and serious.

All Blacks vs South Africa 2016 - Rate - (#1) because they are focused and doing it at the same time.

Rugby World Cup 2011 - All Blacks vs France - Rate - (#1) Same reasons as one and two. 

Winter Learning Journey - Wild Eyes - More pork

Curious Kiwi, a native New Zealand bird, is your tour guide for today. He is going to take you to visit the Otorohanga Kiwi House and Native Bird Park where many of his aunties and uncles currently live. The bird park is a five hour drive from Dargaville so you hit the road right after breakfast and arrive in Otorohanga at lunch time. As you walk through the birdhouse you learn about the work being done to conserve and protect the native birds of New Zealand. You decide to help out by ‘adopting’ a native animal. Visit the ‘Adopt a Critter page’ on the Otorohanga bird house website to choose one animal to adopt. On your blog, tell us the name of the animal that you chose and a little bit about them. What kind of animal are they? What do they eat? Where do they normally live? You can use Google to help you with your research.

The animal I have choose to adopt is the More pork. More pork which is also called Tasmanian spotted owl, is a small brown owl discovered throughout in New Zealand and Tasmanian. Did you know that female More pork's are bigger than the males. Female More pork weights about 175 g. Not many people know that More pork's Maori name is called ruru. Are you aware that More pork's mostly eat a variety of food but are mainly eating large insects like weta, huhu beetles, moths and cicadas.

Winter Learning Journey -Bonus Activity

When you finish your interview with Laura, you decide to keep on interviewing people. For this activity, your task is to conduct a real interview with an actual member of your family. Please ask them to think about their five (5) favourite things to do in the out-of-doors. They can be things that they enjoy doing on land or in the water. Post the list of outdoor activities on your blog.

I asked my brother what is his favourite outdoor activities and he said......

1. Exercising - Run at the Basin

2.  Playing Rugby

3. Clean the backyard

4. Mow the lawn

5. Volleyball at the beach

Winter Learning Journey - Design Your Own Flag

For this winter learning journey activity we had to design our own flag. Rachel (Winter Learning Journey Manager) recommended us to use Flag Designer website. I using this website because it allows us to create our flag in three diffrent ways which is the Division, Overlay, and the Symbol. I have learnt that New Zealand's flag was created in 1902. The picture below shows my own created flag. The black and white symbolises the All Blacks and the green trees symbolises our environment.

Winter Learning Journey - Top 5 Activities To Do In Auckland

For this summer learning journey task I had to watch a the Tourist video for Auckland so we can learn about all the amazing places and stuff to do in the city. Once I have finished I had to name my top 5 places activities from the video that I would go to. I learnt that in Auckland there are 1.5 million peolple living there. I have also learnt that Auckland is New Zealands most populous city.

1. Rangitoto

2. The Modern Malls

3. The big urban parks

4. Beach - Mission Beach

5. The Main Public Park - Auckland Domain

Winter Learning Journey - 3 Facts About New Zealand People

This term for the Winter Learning Journey the theme is about New Zealand. Rachel said we were allowed to do the activities it in any order. I decided to do it in order. The first activity was to go on Tourism New Zealand Website and click on the Facts - New Zealand People. We had to read information about New Zealand and write down 3 facts about New Zealand People. As you can see I have included photos.

Winter Learning Journey Commenting

Today for the Winter Learning Journey I have done something different. I have comment on other people who have done the Winter Learning Journey Challenge.

Winter Learning Journey - Tom and Vilnius - Episode #1

Activity:Watch one episode of the Tom and Vinicius show. After you have finished watching the video, post a summary of the episode on your blog. What do you think is happening in the video? Please make sure to include a title that tells us which episode you are summarising!

Short Summary About What The  Video Was About:

This short video was about two random cartoon characters named Tom and Vilnius who has just meet. They got along well with each other. They high five each other and made a hand shake.

Today for the Winter Learning Journey Challenge I did one of the following activities. For this activity I had to watch the last Tom and Vilnius video which was Episode#1. After watching the video I had to summarise what happened in the film. I really liked this video because it shows confident and friendships leadership.

Winter Learning Journey - Rio Olympics Ending Story

Today I have did one of the Winter Learning Journey Activities. For this activity I write down the ending of the opening ceremony Rio Olympics Story.

Winter Learning Journey - New Zealand Olympic Team Uniform

Today for the Winter Learning Journey I have done one of the activities. My task for this activity was to rank the New Zealand's Olympic Teams Uniform best (#1) to worst (#3). As you can see on my DLO (Digital Learning Object/Google Drawing) It has the year of when the uniform was wore and where.

Winter Learning Jounrey - Made Up Sport

Today for the Winter Learning Journey Challenge I did a activity that was pretty fun. For this activity I had  to imagine that I was on the Paralympic Commite and I have been asked to create a New Sport to add to the competition for this year. So this DLO shows a made  up sport I have created. I had to write down the name of the sport, how to play  it and three rules.

Winter Learning Journey - Eddie the Eagle

Today I did one of the Winter Learning Journey Challenge Activities. For this activity I had to watch a video called Eddie the Eagle. After watching it I had to summarise what happened in the video.

Winter Learning Journey - Be The Inspiration

Today I did one of the Winter Learning Journey Challenge activities. For this activity I had to watch a video called Be The Inspiration which the New Zealand Olympic Team has created. After watching the video I had to rate the video very bad movie, bad movie, okay movie, good, movie, and very good movie. As you can see I had highlighted good movie red. After rating the video I had to write down what I like about the video and what I didn't like about the video.

Winter Learning Journey - Olympic Athelets

Today I did the Winter Learning Journey Challenge. For this activity I had to pick one of three athelets which included: Andrea Kilday (Taekawado), Stuart Farquhar (Javelin throwing), and Lauren Boyle (Swimmer) who I had choosen. After choosing one of these three athelets I had to write down why I would meet them.