Merry Christmas!!!

Hello fellow readers,
Merry Christmas!! I hope you guys are having an exciting, and safe holiday. May god bless you all.

Yours Sincerely,
Renitta :)
(Henderson North School)

Water Fun !!!!!

Water fun!!

On Monday 9th of Monday, Mr Walker had a surprise lying in wait for us. I recall that on Friday last week, Mr Walker urged us to bring our togs. He said, in a mysterious voice, that he had a surprise in store for us. We pleaded along with him to tell us, but he wouldn't breathe a word. And, now I know why.

So on Monday, I saw Carys, Roselilo, and Nathan filling up water balloons by the tap. I was a little bit suspicious at to what was going on. I trotted uptown them and asked them myself. "We are having a water balloon fight today!", was their reply. I jumped up with a shout, pumping my fist in the air. Things were finally falling into place. Boy, was this going to be fun. "We are also going to have a water slide to play on!", they continued. I was soooo excited! I couldn't wait 'till 1:45pm.

When the clock finally struck 1:45pm, I rushed to my classroom. I flopped down on my seat with a smile and waited. I glanced outside and saw Mr Rudd and Mr Walker getting the boxes of water balloons and the hose. I also saw them getting what appears to be a black mat. When Mr Walker walked in the classroom, he instructed everybody to change into their togs. I changed as fast as I could.

When we were all ready, we lined up outside and sat on the bench. Mr Walker came round with a box full of iceblocks and distributed them. When everybody got their ice blocks, we sat down and gobbled them. The big round ball of sunshine was blazing hot. It was a perfect day for a perfect water balloon fight and a perfect water slide. I was jumping up and down in my seat so much!!! I looked up and saw people carrying some boxes of water balloons to the field. I decided to help them out. The box was excruciatingly painful. I could barely hold on. When everybody arrived to the field, it was time to party!

Everybody started flinging water balloons at each other. It was hysterical! I couldn't believe what was going on. I kept chasing my friends with the water balloons. I must have looked very eager, because one of my friends looked at me and said, "Don't murder me with the balloon!"

After all the balloons ran out, it was time for the water slide! Mr Rudd drizzled dish washing liquid to the black mat. Then, with the hose, he sprayed water on the black mat. Now, it was ready to be used! Everybody had more than two turns. When it was my turn, I ran and flopped on my belly and slid. I looked like a penguin when I did it. I reached until the end. When I got up, I was smothered with foam and grass. It was an awesome experience. I am definitely doing it next time!!

Page hits

Hello Everybody,
Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting on it. I have finally reached my goal for 2000 page hits, and it is all thanks to you guys. It is highly appreciated!
I recommend Sara's blog, Peter's blog, Grace's blog, Pare's blog, Tajae's blog, and our class blog. They are posting wonderful things as well, so it would be nice to visit their blogs and comment.

You guys rock!

Yours truly,
Renitta
Henderson North School :D

Rip Currents- Questions

Our class started learning about Rip currents. Here is some of the questions I want to research about

Q1. What is a Rip Currents?
Q2. Why do Rip Currents form?
Q3. Why are Rip Currents Dangerous?
Q4. When do Rip Currents form?
Q5.  Where do Rip Currents form?
Q6. How do you identify Rip Currents?

Favourite Songs

This is a list of my top 10 favourite songs. 

1. Counting Stars - OneRepublic

2. Back to December - Taylor Swift

3. Red - Taylor Swift

4. Cheer me up - Victoria Justice

5. Dancing Crazy - Miranda Cosgrove

6. Someone Like you - Adele

7. Give your heart a  break - Demi Lovato

8. Come and get it - Selena Gomez

9. You think you know me - Elizabeth Gillies

10. Party in the USA - Miley Cyres

What is/are your favourite song(s)?

Science- Water

On Monday 18th November, our classroom had started to learn about Water Pressure. Water Pressure is about the weight of the water . The water pressure is pushing you down because you body cannot react to the sudden change. It is the same with resistance. Resistance is when you are swimming towards a direction and when you swim to the opposite direction, the resistance pulls you back. Resistance also works with air. Our classroom went swimming on the peticular day and learnt so much. We also learnt what Nitrogen and a Hyperbaric Chamber is. Here is our answers:

What is Nitrogen?
The Chemical element of Atomic number 7, a colourless, odourless, unreactive gas that forms about 78% of the earth's atmosphere.

How does Nitrogen effect your body?
The air you breathe is around 78% nitrogen, so nitrogen enters the body with every breath. Since nitrogen is an important part of human health, it is unfortunate that the nitrogen we inhale get's immediately exhaled. Animals (includeing humans) cannot absorb nitrogen in it's gaseous form.

What is a Hyperbaric Chamber?
hyperbaric chamber, also called decompression chamber or recompression chamber,  sealed chamber in which a high-pressure environment is used primarily to treat decompression sickness, gas embolism,carbon monoxide poisoning, gas gangrene resulting from infection by anaerobic bacteria, tissue injury arising from radiation therapy for cancer (see cancer: Radiation therapy), and wounds that are difficult to heal.

What is your personality?

Take this quiz to find out what kind of personality you are.

1. What is your favourite hobby?

A. Singing

B. Playing Sports 

C. Playing video games

D. Painting

2. Do you like to:

A. Write songs

B. Invent a new sport

C. Buy all the latest video games

D. Look at pictures to get an idea for your next artwork

3. Do you like to:

A. Sing in front of a huge crowd

B. Have a fun basketball game with your friends

C. Practise martial arts

D. Show your family your latest masterpiece

Mostly A:

Musical

You like to perform in front of huge crowds and wow people with your amazing talent. 

Mostly B:

Sporty

You are all about sports and nothing else! Someday, you would like to be a successful person in the sports business.

Mostly C

You love playing video games. You are always stuck with an electronic machine. 

Mostly D

You love creating artwork and masterpieces. You are a true artist. I am sure that you will be famous for your creativity.

Dog Tucker

"I hate horses!"


Devlin Hunter is not a normal teenager. He does not lead a typical, peaceful existence, like all the other thirteen-year-old boys in his classroom. Devlin had moved to several foster homes and schools. Some of the families are extremely fastidious, while others are unspeakably cruel. His current home is a lovely household. They treat Devlin like any other ordinary kid. But somehow, they make him feel out of place. But, it's not his mother's fault that she was poor and gave birth to so many children. It's not her mistake that she can only care for one child at a time. But, the pressure was too much for him to handle. And, then he makes the appalling decision. He's run's away.

But, then he was found by his foster home agent and returned to his present home. Not to continue living there, but to say goodbye. Thankfully, his agent has finally found someone who can truly care for him. Someone who really understands him and can teach him the basics of life. So, what is he going to do? Is he going to run away, again? Or, is he going to stay at is long-lost uncle's farm and grow up with the love of his horses?

This story is about making choices, dealing with the toughest challenges in life, and of discovering how hope can lie in unlikely places.

My Narrative- The Gateway To Hell- Chapter 1

"Where am I ?", I wondered aloud when I woke to. I opened my eyes with a flutter and glanced around. I couldn't see a thing. I stood up from what seemed like nothing, and started to walk around, trying to find a switch that could illuminate the darkness, but to no avail. All of a sudden,  I heard a sound. I strained my ears to listen. I tried to track down the noise by walking towards it. But now, it was gone. All I could hear were my footsteps bouncing from the walls of nothing. 

"There it is again!", I exclaimed, " That noise!."
It sounds like soft weeping. It was so close, yet so far. It seems to be sprinting away from me.

" You have to escape.",  an anonymous voice spoke. 
I was shocked when I turned around. To my surprise, I found a girl who looked like she was twelve.

" Excuse me," I responded to her, " What did you say?"

" You have to escape from here.", she replied in a soft, scared tone.

"Why? ", I asked her.
"You just have to," , she said in an ominous voice, " It's not safe here."

My Narrative- Creating a setting

Setting:
A deserted town

Zoom In                                               Zoom Out

Broken Glass on the sidewalk              Deserted-looking buildings
Traffic lights blinking                           Dying Trees and bushes
Vandalism on walls                              Damaged traffic signals
Rubbish everywhere                             Stray dogs and cats
Cigarette butts                                       Bright Graffiti
Empty Cans and Bottles                       Smoke
Damaged cars                                       Dreary Atmosphere
Cars beeping                                         People Dropping DEAD!
Few people walking                             Houses on fire

Setting:
Hell

Zoom In                                                Zoom Out

Flaming rocks                                       Fire everywhere                 Demons guarding the gates
Different coloured rocks                       Souls in trouble
Smoke                                                  Devil sitting on his 'throne'
Lost-looking souls                                Pools of blood              
Patches of pitch black here and there   River of LAVA

Setting:
Mountain Side

Zoom In                                                 Zoom Out

Patches of grass here and there              Snow-topped Mountains
Frost                                                       Snow Wolves 
Icicles                                                     Frozen pools of water
Feel the chill in the air                            Sad-looking children everywhere

Setting:
Deserted house

Zoom In                                                 Zoom Out

Vandalism                                              Vandilism
Broken Furniture                                    Rubbish
Ripped Clothing                                     Inappropriate carvings on trees
Twitching lightbulbs                              Broken roof
Turned-over furniture                             Holes in the moist ground

Stay tuned to find out how the story is going! :)

My Narrative- Planning

My class is working on a narrative. I am doing a story called 'The Gateway to Hell'. It is gonna be an awesome story. But first, I got to do my planning. Here it is:

                                                      THE GATEWAY TO HELL

Introduction
Place: Dark night
Weather: Freezing cold
Time: Midnight

Body 1
A boy wakes up to find that he is stranded in the middle of a very heavy snowstorm.

Body 2
The boy wanders about, and suddenly, a girl steps out of the darkness and explains.

Body 3
She explains that he is one step closer to selling away his soul to the devil. She urges him to escape as fast as he can, before something bad happens.

Body 4
They embark together on a journey which could change their lives........... forever.

Conclusion
In the end, the boy figures out who he is and how he got separated from his family.

Characters
Micheal Holland
Veronica Blackmore
Jonathan Sanders
Bethany Ranger
Sparks (Dog)
Mum and dad- Micheal
Kristen- Sister of Micheal
Devil and demons
Ghosts

Book type: Horror/ Depression

It is gonna be a fantastic book, so stay tuned to read about how it is going!

Sports Frenzy

Have you ever thought about what sports actually does to you? Since I am not really that fit, I would like to organise some sports games. It would be really awesome, because we could play it inside when it is raining, or outside, when the scorching ball of sunshine is blazing brightly. Here are the list of some games we could play:
Outside:
Indian Chairs
Ball Tiggy
Dodge ball
Hit the chair...
Outlets

Inside:
Pass the ball to..
Experimenting with...
Hopscotch

10 favourite sports of my liking:
Netball
Basketball
Handball
Golf
Soccer
T-Ball
Samoan Baseball
Badminton
Tennis
Ping Pong

Ice-Skating Adventure

Today, I had a blast! It was awe-inspiring. Oh, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me explain my adventure.

My mum took my brother and me to Paradise Ice-Skaters. We had to hire our own skates, since we did not own any. I am telling you now, I never rollerbladed. I was too frightened to try. So, since ice-skating is similar to rollerblading, my mum had to hire a frame for me to balance on. My brother rollerbladed before,so you can say, he is kind of an expert in this peticular activity. This event was painful, but it was worth it.

After sometime, I started to get the hang of it. It took me a while to get used to it. I kept on slipping on the ice. One time, I was skating a bit faster than usual, concentrating on the public, that I accidently fell ankle-first  hardcore on the plate-like frost. It was a couple of minutes before I could stand up. But, it felt like hours. My knees kept giving way, which DID NOT make it easier for me to get up. I had to hold on to the frame to regain my balance. 

I kept on skating, and eventually forgot about the mistake. Time flew by,and before I knew it, It was time to return home.

I will never forgot this incident. The first time I skated. The first few rounds were excruciating, but then it got really entertaining. I am DEFINITELY going Ice-Skating again. :)

What are black holes?

For a while now, I have gathered a sudden interest in space. One of my questions are:                                 What are black holes?

 In this article which I have found, it explains everything you need to know about this certain subject. 

Simply put, a black hole is a region of space that is so incredibly dense that not even light can escape from the surface. However, it is this fact that often leads to miss-understanding. Black holes, strictly speaking, don't have any greater gravitational reach than any other star of the same mass. If our Sun suddenly became a black hole of the same mass the rest of the objects, including Earth, would be unaffected gravitationally. The Earth would remain in its current orbit, as would the rest of the planets. (Of course other things would be affected, such as the amount of light and heat that Earth received. So we would still be in trouble, but we wouldn't get sucked into the black hole.)

There is a region of space surrounding the black hole from where light can not escape, hence the name. The boundary of this region is known as the event horizon, and it is defined as the point where the escape velocity from the gravitational field is equal to the speed of light. The calculation of the radial distance to this boundary can become quite complicated when the black hole is rotating and/or is charged.

For the simplest case (a non-rotating, charge neutral black hole), the entire mass of the black hole would be contained within the event horizon (a necessary requirement for all black holes). The event horizon radius (Rs) would then be defined as Rs = 2GM/c2.

Personality Names

Me and my best friend have been working on something called 'Personality Names'. It is all about filling the letters of your name about what people think of you. Here is an example of one:

Responsible
Encouraging
Nice
Interactive {and intelligent}
Terrific classmate and student
Talkative
A great friend

What do people think of you?

Show, don't tell!

For a while now, Mr Walker has been teaching us a new skill we could use in our writing. It is called 'Show, don't tell'. You may be wondering what it means. 'Show, don't tell' is all about showing people what you are thinking, not telling them. At first, I was really puzzled. How can you show something to your audience through a book? I thought. Well, here are some of the examples. Try to differ them. You can write in the 'comment's' section one of your OWN examples:

1. It was raining outside.
1. The rain was pounding heavily on the concrete, producing a monstrous sound, while the wind howled wildly.

2. He was so cold outside.
2. There he stood, shaking like a little leaf. His face started turning blue, his lips where replaced with white, thin lines, and his knees started to shake as if he was cornered by a big bully. Man, I wish he would just come out of the rain, but it seems that his feet have been glued to the concrete.......

Birthday Bash

Today, it was my birthday. I was sooo excited! When I reached school, everyone kept on screaming ''Happy Birthday, Renitta!''. From that moment on, I knew this day could get better and better.
I was supposed to give out chocolates for everybody, but then a mistake occurred, so now I have to deliver all the chocolates tomorrow. I got lots of presents,though. After lunchtime, my principal, Mrs Ogden, told me she had to talk to me. And when I followed her into her office, she started taking out my presents! I was absolutely flabbergasted! She gave me a box of calenders with cute puppy pictures, and requested me to take one. After that, she started taking High School Musical books out. I suddenly realised that they were for me! I was so surprised, I did not know what to say! She gave me High School Musical books. I was so astonished. I kept on muttering,
" Thank you, Mrs Ogden."
At the end, when she gave me all the presents, I said to her, "Thank you, Mrs Ogden,for such wonderful presents. That was soo sweet of you."
And when I went out the door, I shouted my last 'Thank you'.
When I returned to class, everybody started packing up, and in the end, Mr Walker chose one wacky, but sweet birthday song on youtube. I was really laughing, and my stomach stills aches.

When I reached home, I cut the birthday cake and shared it around. I am going to get my birthday presents tomorrow. So, this birthday may be the best birthday ever!

 Thank you to:
Mr Walker
Mr Cartwright
Mrs Ogden
for making this a special birthday. :)

Buttercake Galore!

Today, Mr Walker surprised us all by giving us Vanilla Buttercake. It was soooo delicious! He baked it with Mrs Walker. I think he is a FANTASTIC baker.
We each got a reasonably large slice. I realised at that moment it was because we had achieved in getting 10,000 hits for our class blog. I was so happy because I put a great effort into commenting and visiting the blog everyday. So, I think a delicious buttercake is a great reward. We ALL put in a fairly large amount of work and effort into it, and it has finally paid off.

                                                      THANK YOU MR WALKER!!! :)

Netball Article

I am in the netball team, and my coach gave me the opportunity to write a little article for my school newsletter, so this is the article I wrote:

On Saturday, Henderson North Diamonds played an excellent game.But it seemed strange, we had played Gladstone All Stars before, yet their team played really good. They must have improved by some kind of method. Maybe, they had decided to use a different technique. The reason is not really clear. Well, when we played them, I was very surprised and impressed! They were awesome! By the third quarter, they were WAY ahead of us. It turns out, they won. It was unbelievable! I was so sure we would win. After the game, when we all did our cheers, my coach announced that we were all players of the day! I was soooo exhilarated! At the end of the day, I went home with a pleasant feeling in my heart.

Cameron Rota

Today, Mrs Ogden surprised us all by calling Cameron Rota. I was so keyed up! I felt like every muscle in my body suddenly came alive. Do you know who Cameron is? Cameron Rota is one of the contestants in The X-factor New Zealand. He came up to the Judges Retreats and got eliminated there. But, his career is not over yet. He is now going to Jamaica with Daniel Beddingfield to record some songs. Anyway, today, he sang to us five, amazing songs. His voice was awesome! I think he deserved to go to the finals. But, that was the judges decision. Back to reality, some kids in my class video-taped him. I wish I could see it. At the end of his performance, some kids wanted to get his autograph. My friend and I got the permission from Mr Walker to get Cameron's autograph as well. Sadly, he wasn't giving out autographs. The reason lays unknown. But, at the bright side, one girl says she got his autograph. My friend talked to her teacher personally, and she said she would photocopy the autograph for us. So, that made me pleased. Interesting as it may be, a girl in my class is actually related to him! So, that is great as well. And the best part is, he really made my day :)

Adventure Learning

This year, Mr Walker got introduced about Adventure Learning. Everyone of us in class is doing Adventure Learning. Adventure Learning is about choosing a specific subject and trying to go deeper into it. 

Here are the steps:
1. Choose a subject to work on
2. Write down some questions you would like to find out
3. Try to get the answers. You could:
Surf the internet
Skim and scan in books
Ask your friends/family
4. Make it into something interesting, like a powerpoint, speech, poster, etc

I am doing my on Music. I have written down some questions like:
1. What was the first instrument ever created?
2. What is an instrument?
3. Who created singing?

I have found a lot of answers. Mr Walker gave me an idea of making my own instrument. I am thinking of making a Fitness Instrument. It is sort of like the game, Twister. It includes singing, dancing, and playing an instrument.  The problem is, I have to do some wire connecting and that is too hard for me. I will take my time to make the 'real deal'. I am just going to make a miniature clay sculpture and show it in class. Now I am wondering, what kind of clay should I use......

You should have locked all your doors and windows

You may be wondering why the heading was called ' You should have locked your doors and windows'. Let me guess, the label caught your attention. Well, let me warn you now, this narrative is NOT for younger audiences. And, if you get petrified straight away, you better not read this. But enough of me blabbering, let us just begin the story.

" Annabelle, I am leaving chicken with potato salad and coleslaw for dinner." Annabelle's mom yelled up the stairs, " Your dad and I have to got to an important business meeting. We will be back approximately around half-past eleven. Do not open the doors for anyone. We have a key, so we will come in by ourselves. Eat you dinner and watch some television", Annabelle's mom stopped, hesitated, and then spoke firmly, " And remember, before you go to sleep, lock ALL the doors and windows."

Annabelle came sprinting down the staircase.
She took a deep breath and spoke in a very grown-up manner, "Mom, how many times do I have to tell you to call me 'Ann'? You know I hate that name. It is too girly."
Her mom just ignored her. She just said, in a very concerned way, "Okay honey, be safe."

After her parents left her, she made a mad dash to the kitchen, grabbed her some dinner, and sat herself down to wacth her desired paranormal program, The Supernatrural Suspects.

Annabelle woke up in a cold sweat. I must have fallen asleep, she thought. Annabelle snatched a glance towards the clock in the hallway. Half -past twelve. Way past my bedtime; but then again, I slept all this while, Annabelle talked to herself. She brushed past her unfinished dinner and flickering television and wandered towards the hallway. " Where is Mom and Dad?", Annabelle wondered aloud, " They said they would be here about an hour ago. Where could they be?"

She wandered aimlessly around her residence. " Oh my Gosh!" Annabelle stopped with a screech and exclaimed, " I forgot to lock all the doors and windows!"

Annabelle started running around the house like a maniac, closing everything. When she came to the last window, she heard a devillish laugh. She stopped, and strained her ears to listen. Suddenly, a note came floating in through the window. 
It said:
You better run, I am coming for you!

Annabelle started running. She ran like never before. She ran towards her bedroom and hid in the closet. All of a sudden, she heard heavy footsteps. It thudded into her room and stopped by her closet. The last thing she remembered was a blurred person opening her closet door and in a deep voice, whispered in her ears:
" You know, you really should have locked all your doors and windows."

                                                                                                                                            By Renitta

Didymo

Didymo, or Rock Snot, is a disease known to affect humans and underwater creatures.

Didymo was first found in Europe. It was then passed down to Asia, then North America, and it is now found in New Zealand.

Didymo clings to rocks and riverbanks. It is a dangerous pest because:
1. It spreads diseases

1. If eaten, can cause serious illness
2. It is deadly to sea creatures everywhere

Didymo can clog up spaces in rocks and holes in riverbanks. It forms like a thick mat over them, blocking important sources.

Through the rocks, there could be:

1. Freshwater
2. Small fishes and food

If fishes cannot get their food, they would either starve and die, or they would have to abandon their homes and move somewhere else.

This sort of pest can only be destroyed if dried up. Didymo multiplies, because it has a lot of cells. Next thing you know, it will be all over creation! If it is dried, that piece of Didymo will no longer multiply and spread anymore.

Did you know?

1. If one cell of Didymo is still alive, it will multiply
2. It can spread by just one drop of water
3. It sticks to equipment and boats, but not human hands
4. Didymo is often call ‘Rock Snot’
5. Didmo is really called Didymosphenia Geminata

If you have Didymo attached to some of your cherished belongings, you need to:

1. Check: Check your belongings
2. Clean: Clean it appropriately
3. Dry: Dry it properly

It will take about a week to do all this.

So next time you see Didymo, you know what to do.

                                                                                    By Renitta 

                                                                                   

My Favourite Song

Hello everybody! This is my favourite song for the time-being. It is her first song. And it is a huge hit. This song is from the person who won X-factor New Zealand! Yes, you're right. It's....... Jackie Thomas! It is called It's Worth It. This amazing  piece of work is now on I-tunes. I hope you like it!

Red-Vented Bulbul

The Red- Vented Bulbul is identified to be one of the most aggressive birds in the world. It is known to only attack birds.

 The Ministry of Primary Industries( MPI ) has found out that this species of bird is living in Auckland. They are trying to protect Auckland and it's agriculture by holding out posters. These posters contain the information to try to help them capture these birds. It is a great threat to the native birds and the environment. And, if they are too late, some of the native species could become extinct.  

They are a threat because:
1. They are taking away all the food sources
2. They are causing extinction to many native birds and trees
3. They are very deadly to birds all around

Fortunately, they are not a threat to humans. They do not attack humans unnecessarily, unless you disturb them.

They are effortless to identify. They have a lot of bright features, which causes them to be easily spotted.

Their description:

1. The are about the same size as a starling ( 20 cms )
2. White abdomen
3. Black head
4. Clear red spot under the tail
5. Tip of beak curved
6. Light brown chest
7. Dark brown wings

So, keep a sharp eye for this immature bird. Who knows, you might just find it on your lawn.....

                                                                                                                               

Eleven Days

Eleven days is a thriller book written by Michael Manuell. It is about a girl who boards an airplane to London. On the flight, she meets Leo, a boy who is really out of the ordinary. He communicates to her in a very bizarre manner . And he seems to be hiding something. But, little did she know that she was heading into danger. International danger.

Leo is on the run. And so is his stunning Aunt Helena.

Within hours of touching down in London, Isabella is face to face with ruthless kidnappers. Within days, she has been taken hostage herself.

Isabella finds out what Leo has done. And tries to help him. And then, something extraordinary happens at the end. 

Now, it’s your turn.

Do you want to find out?