Matiriki

Duffy Visitor

We are learning to:

• Use correct punctuation at the beginning and end of sentences.
• Write using surface features and using a mix of simple, compound and complex sentences.
• Use correct tense: past, present or future.

Duffy Visitor

On the Wednesday 5th of April, Diana Queenin came to Blaketown School to present our Duffy Books and tell us some interesting experiences she has had in her life.

First she told us about dinosaurs and how they hunted. She also showed us a stingray barb and how they were designed to slide in easily and rip out painfully. The barbs have little spikes diagonally sticking out so when it sticks into something it slides in, and because of the way the spikes are positioned the barb gets stuck and rips out.

Next she showed us a geode. Geodes are crystals that grow inside of hollow rocks over a long period of time in the right conditions and minerals the crystals keep growing. The most common geode crystal is quartz, Diana had purple crystals in her geode. A lot of people would mistake it for amethyst from the purple color, but it is just plain quartz. People dye quartz geodes different colors so they appear as valuable crystals, then they will be able to be sold for more than usual.

Finally when Diana had finished showing us her possessions and telling us about them, she handed out the Duffy Books. It was very interesting having Diana come in I learned many new things, and I hope to learn more in the future.

Faith's Word Cloud Mihi

How To Blow Your Nose

The Cyclone

Faith’s Memoir

 The Cyclone

On the 17th April 2014 the was the cyclone Ita hit Greymouth, the South Island of New Zealand.

It was a cold and windy morning, I got ready and Dad dropped me off at school.

Later on at school it was getting windier by the minute, we had morning tea inside because it was so windy. About 20 minutes later Dad came to pick me up because he got the rest of the day off work because the wind was too strong to work.

When we got home we just went on the computer and watched a movie.

Me and dad were inside our house in the lounge, when WHOOSSSSSSHHHHHHH the wind just got windier than ever. It was so strong we could here houses creaking and groaning. The clear light from our neighbour's house was ripping off and hitting our house and landing in our back and front yard.

Later while we were watching T.V we heard sirens. Dad went outside to see what the sirens were and I followed him to the front porch because the wind was so strong it kept pushing me over. Dad kept going and walked down to where a fire truck was parked, he talked to a fireman and came back. When he came back he told me that  we had to stay inside, so we did.

P.S. I didn't mind one bit staying inside. There was NO WAY I was going back out there

Later on we were watching the News on T.V, and it said that there was a cyclone in Greymouth. A few minutes later the T.V started going static and we turned it off.  Then all of the lights went off and wouldn't turn back on. We were getting hungry so we got out our gas stove and made toasted toast and boiled saveloys.

After tea we went into the spare room to look out the window. When we looked out we saw friend Alyssa's house roof was ripping off and flying down the street. Luckily Alyssa and her family were staying at someone else's house because their house wasn't stable, and they didn't have a roof so they couldn't really stay at theirs.

That night I got to stay on the couch in the lounge because Dad didn't think it was safe to stay in my room because it's at the front of the house and with all of the houses having thing breaking off and flying down the streets. I slept on the couch and Dad slept in his room witch it right next to the lounge. We watched a movie together and then went to sleep.

The next day there was still no power so after toast for breakfast we went in the car to see the damage that had been done around the town. There was a power pole that had been knocked down and in Cobden there were whole houses that had fallen down from the wind. There was so much damage in Cobden that it took years to fix all of it.

I learnt that in a cyclone you should stay inside away from windows incase they smash or something comes in through them.

My Day

Why I Am Lucky To Be A New Zealander

      Why I Am Lucky To Be A New Zealander   

New Zealand is an amazing place, filled with beautiful trees and wildlife. New Zealand also the 4th safest country in the world, and in New Zealand there is free education and most schools are within walking distance from where people live. People in New Zealand get a free dentist until they're 18 and free health care. New Zealand’s air isn’t badly polluted and most of the rivers are clean enough to drink from and swim in. In New Zealand it is not overpopulated, there is only around 4,565,185 people, so you don't have to wait for hours to get into places or buy things.

I am lucky to live in New Zealand because I don't have to walk for hours to get to school, climb cliffs, go across lakes and rivers in homemade rafts or washing buckets, in New Zealand you can get to school by: walking, biking, bus, or get dropped off. In New Zealand you can be yourself and say what you want to say. There are no wars or terrorists or bombers in New Zealand (yet)  so it's (probably)  totally safe to come here ( but if you die or get injured i'm NOT the one to blame. One thing that I'm grateful for is that in New Zealand there are no deadly spiders and no snakes. There are many beautiful native trees and birds such as: the Kiwi, Pohutukawa tree, tui, weka and many many more.

In New Zealand there isn't loads of people living on the streets and dying of starvation and thirst or drinking dirty water like in Syria. In Syria and Iraq  there are thousands of children dying from infections, diseases, and illnesses before they turn five.

I love being a New Zealander because it's beautiful and safe.

Faith ☺♥❣