Writing: 5 - 7 - 10 Animation

For the last two weeks in writing, we have been granted a challenge by our teacher Miss Kirkpatrick. The challenge was straight forward, and everyone knew how they would execute the outcome. Our challenge was to use one of the stories that we had written for our 5 - 7 - 10 tasks, and animate it. If you have not seen one of our 5 - 7 - 10's, then allow me to explain how they work. Once everyone has completed the task for the week, we are shown an image with a heading based on our image. Next we would time 5 minutes to write as much as we could for this story. Once time ran out, we would then spend 7 minutes reading and explaining our stories to a partner. Now the 10 minutes would begin, and we would have to continue of from where we left the story off, and have it completed in time. That is basically it. It was the animation side of it that made this a big challenge. So we all got working. The 5 - 7 - 10 story that I had chosen to re-create with pictures was The Eye. The image was a snakes eye, and a short description including a story starter that we would later use. I chose this story, as I immediately came up with an idea to display through animation. I started with a dark swamp, along with an eerie vibe to it. Later, making my description more lively. I had a lot of fun doing this activity, and I hope that we can do it again at some point of time.

Film Study: Willow | Shot Types

On Wednesday this week, we had a film study day. If you do not know what a film study is, then allow me to explain. A film study is where you watch through a film, and take notes of what is happening, along with analysing everything involved. You focus on the different shot types, the different angles, and understand exactly what is happening in the film. The film that our teacher Miss Kirkpatrick selected was an old movie titled Willow. A movie from 1988 that sets up a whole story about saving a princess that is bound to become the new queen. Throughout the study, we ended up with 5 different tasks to complete based on the movie itself, and movies in general. In this activity, our task was to find out what different shot types can be involved with movies. Our challenge was to find an image that showed what the shot type may look like in a film, along with an example from our Willow movie. This was a fun and simple challenge, that taught us all a little something.

Willow

Opening Sequence -

Shot types

L. I. - To know some film terminology (shot types etc.)

This is a close viewing of the opening sequence

Look at this list of shot types:

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/

At the bottom are the camera movements.  

Look at the following:

Zoom, Pan, Tilt, Tracking

Look for examples in the movie -

SHOT / MOVEMENT	EXAMPLE	Example from Willow
Long shot
Close Up
Medium shot
High angle
Low angle
Eye level
Reverse angle
ZOOM	A zoom is technically not a camera move as it does not require the camera itself to move at all. Zooming means altering the focal length of the lens to give the illusion of moving closer to or further away from the action. The effect is not quite the same though. Zooming is effectively magnifying a part of the image, while moving the camera creates a difference in perspective — background objects appear to change in relation to foreground objects. This is sometimes used for creative effect in the dolly zoom.
PANNING	A pan is a horizontal camera movement in which the camera moves left and right about a central axis. This is a swiveling movement, i.e. mounted in a fixed location on a tripod or shoulder, rather than a dolly-like movement in which the entire mounting system moves.	In this shot, the dogs are seen running while the camera is following.
TILTING	A tilt is a vertical camera movement in which the camera points up or down from a stationary location. For example, if you mount a camera on your shoulder and nod it up and down, you are tilting the camera. Tilting is less common than panning because that's the way humans work — we look left and right more often than we look up and down. The tilt should not be confused with the Dutch Tilt which means a deliberately slanted camera angle. A variation of the tilt is the pedestal shot, in which the whole camera moves up or down.	No images available.
TRACKING	The term tracking shot is widely considered to be synonymous with dolly shot; that is, a shot in which the camera is mounted on a cart which travels along tracks. However there are a few variations of both definitions. Tracking is often more narrowly defined as movement parallel to the action, or at least at a constant distance (e.g. the camera which travels alongside the race track in track & field events). Dollying is often defined as moving closer to or further away from the action. Some definitions specify that tracking shots use physical tracks, others consider tracking to include hand-held walking shots, Steadicam shots, etc.	No image available.

Maths: BEDMAS Problems

This week for maths, we continued to learn about BEDMAS maths. BEDMAS is an acronym. It stands for the order that you solve BEDMAS problems in. Brackets, Exponents, Division, Multiplication, Addition, and Subtraction. Our task today, we to in pairs, solve all 20 BEDMAS problems that we were given by our teacher Ms Kirkpatrick. For this task I worked with Sanujan, and we had a lot of fun working together, and managed to solve all questions with little to no issues. Next we created a DLO that showed how to solve three questions. I hope that next term, we can keep this focus, as it is very fun and entertaining to solve.

Reading: Current Events | National and International Articles

This week for reading, our task has been based around current events. We would have to look through different New Zealand news sites to find both one National article, and one international. Next we would read through them from top to bottom, and use a given template to fill out a heap of questions. This includes the 5 W's and the H (Who, what, when, where, why, and how), two different sides of the issue with your opinion, and a few author and I questions. The national article that I chose to read was about needles found in strawberries. The reason as to why I chose this story was because I already had a bit of knowledge about this topic, and wanted to learn more. My international article that I chose to read was about the near extinction of koala's, as it is said that they could be extinct by 2050. I chose to read this story, because it was really surprising once I had read the title, and I wanted to get more information about the topic. This wasn't to challenging of an activity, although there were a few things that would put me on a hold. I had a lot of fun doing this, and I hope that next time, we can use this information to write an article of our own.

Inquiry: Testing Our Spaghetti Bridges

Last week for inquiry, we finally got to testing our spaghetti bridges that we had spent the last few weeks constructing. This task was to be done in a group of four, so everyone got into pairs, and were assigned our remaining two teammates. Sanujan and I almost immediately got into pairs, and were given our teammates Jericho and Te Ponamu. We worked really well together, and managed to construct a 25.5 cm long bridge made of nothing but spaghetti, rubber bands, and tape. The specific type of bridge that we had chosen to do was a truss bridge. Not too hard, although not too simple. We knew that the strongest shape was a triangle, so a truss bridge was a perfect selection as it includes many triangles in the structure. So we went ahead starting construction, and had a lot of fun throughout the journey. Then came testing day. In this test, we would have a bag that we would fill with bricks. After each brick, we would record our data and move on. Your objective was to hold all eight bricks without the structure of your bridge collapsing. After many bricks, my group managed to come up to six bricks. We then placed our seventh brick, and unfortunately, our bridge broke. Our bridge manages to hold six whole bricks without the structure breaking, I was truly blown away by how well it managed to be. This was such a great challenge for all of us.

Duffy Assembly

Today, we had an unusual day. That's because we had our term 3 Duffy Assembly. Like normal, we had our special guests. Although today's guest was none other than comic book legend, Michel Mulipola. You may not of heard of this artist, although you should most defiantly see what he does. He came here to tell his life story, and what he does as a career. He explained about his personal life, and what he likes doing outside of illustrating. We even found that he is a professional wrestler that is a semi-professional gamer in the gaming franchise Tekken. Although that was not the main reason as to why he was here. He was here to tell his story of reading, and give us our Duffy Books. We all thank him for what he had done today, and we hope he'll return

Reading: Presenting Our DLO's

Today for reading, we in our READ groups presented the DLO's we had created about our book that we had chosen for our reviews. In my READ group (The E in READ) I presented to Tiava and Joseph. They had a lot to say about my work, although everything they had said was on a positive note. They enjoyed the comics I drew, and loved my game that I had coded. I had a lot of fun showing my work, and having them see what I had been working on for the last 3 weeks. If you would like to see my work in general, then you can look through my blog to check it out.

Writing: Explanations | Why Are Bridges Built?

Last week for writing, our task was to write an explanation explaining why bridges are built. Everyone had an idea why they are built due to our inquiry topic of structures, so this piece of writing was almost a piece of cake to complete. In my explanation, you can read 3 different sections relating to why these massive structures are built. 1. What we would do without them? 2. What are they used for? 3. What are some negatives about them. I hope that you enjoy my writing.

Why Are Bridges Built?

Bridges, big and brilliant structures that started the modern era of transport. Thousands,
upon millions of people cross bridges daily to get to their new found destinations.
Although not many people think, why we need them. A question that would leave you at
the edge of your seat, requesting an answer. Bridges are built so that you can get from
point A to point B. So that transport is a lot faster, and a lot safer.

To start us off, what would we do without bridges? This is quite a complex question to
answer, as bridges go over many different things. Some bridges cross bodies of water,
some cross caverns and pits, and others go over construction. An example would be;
around in 1857, people had to cross the Tamaki using a punt. This small platform leaked
constantly, and had to be repaired a lot. In a few years time, the local community were
getting furious at the government for doing nothing over the actions people took. So it
inspired them to write a petition asking for a bridge to be built over this river. Then thus
the first ever Panmure Bridge had been made. Although this text is not about the history
of bridges, so we must move on.

Secondly, what are bridges used for? These structures may just look like they are for
transportation to get from one point to another. Although bridges are used for quite a few
things in life. The most obvious and notable reason would be to cross from point A, to
point B. To go over obstacles, rather than going around them. Although this is not it,
some bridges have sidewalks that allow you to walk across, rather than using modern day
vehicles. So some people use these sidewalks to their advantage to get a good view on
scenery, and all of the nearby nature. Although this is not the main intention of a bridge,
but there are still people that enjoy doing it.

Finally, what are some negatives about bridges? As amazing and as mesmerising these
structures are, they are not always the most beneficial things in our world. A big problem
with bridges is that if they go over water, they could potentially block off the path of
boats. So this is where architects have to improvise. Some bridges have cogs that turn
and will divide the bridge so that it creates an opening for boats.

Bridges, big and brilliant sources of transportation. We use them to: get to destinations
easier, to go over obstacles rather than going around them, and to even observe our
surroundings. We need bridges in our world. Without them, the world simply wouldn’t be
the same.

Reading: ShoutyKid | Write A Paragraph About Why The Author Wrote The Story

For the last two weeks, Mrs Anderson's reading group has been focusing on a specific chapter of our choice to do a series of challenges on based on the topic of our stories. These activities could've been done either alone, or with a partner (As long as we both had our own copies of the same book, or we set up a time to read it together. I chose to do this challenge alone, as I prefer to do activities like this one by myself. Although it was fun to see what partners had created together. For this activity, I wrote a few paragraphs that explained why the author wrote the story, and who they wrote it for. This activity was fairly simple, although it was an interesting activity to complete.

Why Did The Author Write This Story?

The author wrote this story to entertain people with an average child never giving up,
and succeeding in what he struggles with. There is no persuasive side of the text, as the
story is based on a fictional character who does not intend on changing someone's mind
on a certain topic.

Who is the story written for?

The story is written for children aged from 8 - 13. The reason being that our main

character (Harry Riddles) has a lot of common interests with a lot of children around the world.

Such as playing video games.

Reading: ShoutyKid | Drawing A Comic Based On My Main Theme

For the last two weeks, Mrs Anderson's reading group has been focusing on a specific chapter of our choice to do a series of challenges on based on the topic of our stories. These activities could've been done either alone, or with a partner (As long as we both had our own copies of the same book, or we set up a time to read it together. I chose to do this challenge alone, as I prefer to do activities like this one by myself. Although it was fun to see what partners had created together. For this activity, I drew a comic that shows a scenario including the main idea and theme of the story. After reading my story, I found that the main idea of my story was to never give up, no matter the cause as there is always a way around things. What I had come up with as a comic idea was that my main character (Harry Riddles) was in a test, and he didn't know how to figure out a specific question. He thinks long and hard, until he finally figures it out. This relates to my theme because if Harry gave up at that moment, then he would have never found the answer. I had a lot of fun doing this activity, writing and drawing. I hope that you too enjoy the outcome.

Reading: ShoutyKid | Drawing A Map Showing My Books Locations

For the last two weeks, Mrs Anderson's reading group has been focusing on a specific chapter of our choice to do a series of challenges on based on the topic of our stories. These activities could've been done either alone, or with a partner (As long as we both had our own copies of the same book, or we set up a time to read it together. I chose to do this challenge alone, as I prefer to do activities like this one by myself. Although it was fun to see what partners had created together. For this activity, I drew a map that showed all of the different locations in my story's world. On this map, you can see such places as Harry's (Main character) house, his school, and even the Area 51 Skatepark. I had a lot of fun drawing this map, and I am very happy with the outcome. I do hope that you enjoy what I have created, and if you have any feedback, please comment what you have to say.

Reading: ShoutyKid | Drawing A Comic Including Key Characters

For the last two weeks, Mrs Anderson's reading group has been focusing on a specific chapter of our choice to do a series of challenges on based on the topic of our stories. These activities could've been done either alone, or with a partner (As long as we both had our own copies of the same book, or we set up a time to read it together. I chose to do this challenge alone, as I prefer to do activities like this one by myself. Although it was fun to see what partners had created together. For this activity, I drew a comic that included two of the main characters to my book, Harry Riddles, and Jessica (Harry's crush). Jessica enjoys doing things outside like riding horses. Although Harry prefers things like video games. So what I chose to make the comic about was showing Jessica riding horses and having fun, while Harry will also be riding a horse. Although the twist is that Harry is actually playing a horse riding game, with him as a character. I had a lot of fun drawing this comic, and I hope that you also enjoy it.

Reading: ShoutyKid | Creating A Game

For the last two weeks, Mrs Anderson's reading group has been focusing on a specific chapter of our choice to do a series of challenges on based on the topic of our stories. These activities could've been done either alone, or with a partner (As long as we both had our own copies of the same book, or we set up a time to read it together. I chose to do this challenge alone, as I prefer to do activities like this one by myself. Although it was fun to see what partners had created together. For this activity I could have done many different challenges such as create a trailer for a movie version of your book. Although what I chose to do was create a game that was based around a part of our book. My game that I created was basically a zombie game based on my main characters favourite game (World Of Zombies). In this game, you will have to last as long as you can against the zombies that are after one thing. YOU! The main point of this game is to beat your time and kill record. It was fun for me to create, and I hope that you enjoy playing it.

Maths: Learning How To Solve Exponent Problems

Today for maths, we all learnt about how to solve exponent (Powers) problems. Our challenge for today was to

solve 18 problems based on our topic of exponents. This task had its ups and downs, although we all managed to
find the answers and solutions. Next came creating a DLO that showed how to solve three different problems of
the 18. To create this DLO I worked with Fraidon, and we had a lot of fun working, and creating together. In the
end, we chose to make our DLO out of these problems. 73 (7 to the power of 3), 142 (14 to the power of 2),
and 83 (8 to the power of 3).

                     

Receiving My Kiwi Competitions Certificates

Earlier in the year, groups from classes were selected to compete in the Kiwi Competitions. This was a test to test our knowledge in Mathematics, and English. I was luckily selected in the LS2 group, and took part in both tests. Numerous schools competed against each other to gain the best score, and just last week in assembly, Panmure Bridge school received, and gave us our scores via certificates. In English, I managed to get above 80% of the questions correct, along with a few of my peers. Although, in Mathematics, along with everyone else, I received a participation award (Under 50%). The mathematics test was very difficult, and above our average questions. The questions we received were all difficult in their own way, and there was no way that I would have chance to get an excellence, or even a merit. It was just that hard. Although I am happy with what I managed to score, and hope that if I ever take part in it again, that I can score better results.

Seeing the Kiwi Capers Orchestra

Today, a large majority of LS2 was given one of the greatest opportunities. Our class was given the chance to listen to the Kiwi Capers Orchestra in the Auckland town hall. This was an amazing opportunity that was given to us, and I'm sure that everyone enjoyed taking part in it. While everything was going on, we ended up hearing three different pieces of music, and four different sections of instruments. There were many different instruments that were played here, too many to keep track of. There were many different musicians, and at least 2 people playing each instrument. It came to the point where we had a Opera singer, and two different dance performances. The show lasted for 1 and a half hours - 2 hours long, and it was a very soothing, and evaluated performance. I did have a lot of fun there, seeing the performance, and listening to the great orchestra. I hope that I will have this opportunity in the future, and that there will be even more instruments, and more music.

Inquiry: Using Virtual Reality To Learn

Today, a group of researchers from the Augmented human lab at the University of Auckland, visited our classroom to use virtual reality to teach us about the history of our local Panmure Bridge. Yvonne, and her team brought with them numerous VR Cardboard's, and a few Magic Windows. Although sadly not everyone got to experience everything, but before any of us got to jump into the wonders of virtual reality we all had to do a few tests. These tests involved tests for our eyesight, our balance, and more. One of the tests in particular was based around our knowledge. We had to (Without researching) answer a few questions based around our Panmure Bridge. Although we did not work alone. Everyone had been put into table groups, and we would work together to solve problems, and dive into the depths of Virtual learning. Right after we finished our tests, we finally got into the land of virtual reality. My group started off by using a few iPads to learn about both how the construction of the bridge went, and how letters were sent before the bridge existed. This activity lasted for at least 10 minutes, and involved a whole lot of entertainment. Once completed, we would then revisit the tests that we had done before, and would redo it now that our brains had been refreshed with knowledge. We all had a lot of fun doing these exercises based around the technology of virtual reality. I give a big thanks to Yvonne and her team for the effort they had put into this. They have all done a good job, and I hope that one day they will return.

Writing: Sentences Using Colons

Today for writing, we had a challenge to complete. The challenge was to place colons into sentences that were missing them. Your job was to place them into the correct spots. Although a lot of people do not know how to correctly use these pieces of punctuation. So what Miss Kirkpatrick kindly did was link a video that described how they work. An example would be: I love watching superhero movies: Spider man is the best. Once we had completed this challenge, we had a follow up task. Our follow up task was to illustrate one of the many sentences we had to fill in. We all had half an hour to draw any image that resembled the sentence we chose. Along with this image, we also had to come up with an explanation explaining why the colon was where is was. This was a fun challenge to complete. Although there were some parts that stumped me, I worked my way through it. I do hope that we can get another exciting task next week for writing. 

Sentences using colons

L.I. - using colons correctly

The colons are missing from these sentences. Please add them in.

There are two choices at this time: run away or fight.

We knew who would win the game: The Eagles

He wanted to see three cities in Italy: Rome, Florence and Venice

Remember: Two can play at that game.

She kept repeating: “I really want that car!”

Barry wanted to know why I didn’t respond to his text: I hadn’t received it.

Here are three states that begin with M: Michigan, Mississippi and Maine.

You can come pick me up now: I am feeling much better.

Never forget this point: Think before you speak.

This house has everything I need: two bedrooms, a backyard and a garage.

The town reminded me of my childhood vacations: both were on the beach.

I have several favourite genres of movies: drama, science fiction and mystery.

This was first said by Shakespeare: “To thine own self be true.”

I bought a lot of meat at the store: bacon, turkey, chicken and tuna.

The world's a stage: play your role well.

The new boss has many nice traits: friendly, outgoing and fair.

These are my favourite colours: purple, turquoise, pink and yellow.