I have been reading a very large book that is for mostly older people. I am half way through and quite proud of that achievement! The book is called 'Mortal Instruments City Of Bones' Here is a photo. 

This image is from http://lololovesfilms.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/365-days-of-moviepass-review-movie-28.html 

Today I earnt my silver certificate with the help of my mum, she helped me with my shading equivalent fractions and also my fractions of a selection! 

~Ashleigh 

This morning I woke up and got my silver certificate, but I kept on playing and became the top NZ student and thought to myself where will I be on the top 100 students (worldwide)? So I checked I was 19th so I earned heaps more points and became 2nd!

At the moment I have 7893 points!

~Ashleigh 

Updated Forest Guardian

I stood in the lone hallways of Watercress Elementary School. I was already dreading the first day but my mum insisted on dragging me down there to poke around while she signed the paperwork. So I decided to go exploring in the forest next to the school a bit, I know that's not what mum meant but still what's the harm?

I slumped down a path I found near the back of the gate to the school. Then I climbed up and over a fallen oak tree, and found myself facing the dense, dark forest. I took a deep breath and started walking. The fog, mist and dew only made the journey harder, and soon enough I found myself lost deep in the middle of the woods.

For a while I alternated between a steady jog and quick walking. After about half an hour I realised That it was no use, I was going in circles anyway. I collapsed down on a sodden log and screamed out for help till it felt like my throat would catch fire.

Almost instantly I heard a melody so sweet I thought I was dreaming. I looked ahead of me and to my surprise. A figure emerged from the mist.

I could tell it was a female, she had bright honey golden coloured hair that was wavy, and in some places fell down to her knees. Woven into her hair were yellow leaves with traces of pink. And parts of berry bushes were neatly arranged in her fringe covering half of her eyebrow.

Her ears were long and pointed and she wore a long dress that dragged along the ground behind her. It had silver specks and pink strips in places, and at the back there were white velvety streaks.

Her cheeks were a pale pink colour and her beauty would have won 1,000 pageants. But above everything the thing that amazed me the most was her wings, a light peach colour at the top toning down to a shower of rose coloured sparkles.

She held her head high and gushed out "Follow". Two minutes I opened my eyes and I was standing by the car waiting for my mum. I guess I had just had my first encounter with a Fairy, I sure will be asking about that in my next class (once I got past my case of shyness of course!).

Monday 9 September 2013

Today during maths and morning tea I did some new maths problems. Personally I think that I picked it up quite fast, considering that I had never heard or used this tactic before. Anyway here are a few of the 14 I did that I feel particularly proud of.

1. 14 x 5 = 70

1. Split the 14 into 10 and 4

2. 10 x 5 = 50

3. 4 x 5 = 20

4. 50 + 20 = 70

2. 36 x 4 =144

1. Split the 36 into 30 and 6

2. 30 x 4 = 120

3. 6 x 4 = 24

4. 120 + 24 = 144

3. 57 x 8 = 456

1. Split the 57 into 50 and 7

2. 50 x 8 = 400

3. 8 x 7 = 56

4. 400 + 56 = 456

4. 29 x 8 = 172

1. Split the 29 into 20 and 9

2. 20 x 8 = 160

3. 9 x 8 = 72

4. 160 + 72 = 172

5. 91 x 3 =

1. Split the 91 into 90 and 1

2. 90 x 3 = 270

3. 1 x 3 = 3

4. 270 + 3 = 273

All and all I feel amazed at my change of attitude. I got 14\14! I am very proud and impressed with myself.

-Ashleigh

          

                                      

Balanced Argument on Blogs and Stuff

A great thing about google gmail is the fact that you can be in contact with your friends and teacher constantly.In knowledge net people weren’t in contact at all, well not really.

But a downside to blogger is that not that many anonymous people comment anyway. Anyway on Knowledge net nobody except the teachers could comment anyway!

On google drive you can make folders, documents, presentations, spreadsheets, forms and drawings! And in Knowledge net you had to do all of that separately!

However on blogger a little issue is the fact that you can’t edit and customise your blog that much, I mean last time I didn’t get a chance to because time was up. So I think that we should be able to change, edit and customize things whenever.

On the other hand gmail is great because you can attach files using drive, for example just then I sent Mrs Graham a screenshot  of a maths problem I did.

Something that gets me down is the fact that on google the HTML codes are very confusing, and blogger doesn’t automatically correct the size of the picture you are putting onto your blog.

But all and all I think every child in Elm Park School should have their very own google account, including gmail, drive blogger and much more!

-Ashleigh

This piece of writing is called a balanced argument, in which you alternate between good and bad points of something using sentence starters. At school I have finished two whole other arguments! And I’m telling you they aren’t so easy.

 

Have you ever fallen overboard at night?

Eyes adjusting,

Body plunging,

Courage crumbling

Wear safety gear!

Have you ever been stranded on an island?

Ocean scanning,

Mosquitoes irritating,

Sun scalding

Get help!

Have you ever been threatened by a man holding a stick?

Legs weakening,

Heart thrashing,

Eyes popping

Snap out of it!

Have you ever been stung by a jellyfish in deep water?

Skin burning,

Wound throbbing,

Body aching

Stay afloat!

Have you ever walked through a dark forest, possibly alone?

Eyes spying,

Shadows stirring,

Creatures roaring

Run!

Reflection

This work I have been doing is called a have you ever  poem. It is linked to a book our class has been reading called Kensukes Kingdom, by Michal Morpurgo. I have had lots of fun writing these poems and I will definitely do some at home for fun! :)

- Ashleigh     

    

  

Monet's Gardens

My Tonal Landscape

Movie Magic Speech - Ashleigh Gibbons

Who here likes movies? Well, I know that I do! But have you ever wondered how movies are really made? Well, I’m here today to talk to you about the 5 stages of how to make a movie.

Stage 1 is called Development. This is when the outline for the movie is created. This idea then needs to be sold to a Production company, like Dreamworks, Universal or Paramount.

Fun fact about production companies is that in 2012 Universal celebrated their 100th anniversary. This means that they have been making movies for over a century!

Once you’ve sold your movie idea to a production company, you are given the green light to go ahead to Stage 2 - Pre Production.

This is when the preparations are made for the shoot, which includes hiring the cast and crew.

Locations are scouted, and the props and sets are made.

Fun fact, it is at this stage that our favourite actors are picked for the project. The next stage is called Production.

This is when the actors are filmed, making the characters come to life. Did you know it can take between 15 to 20 goes before a perfect shot is taken? Although the scene may only be 30 seconds long.

Stage 4 is called Post Production, this is when the film is edited and any computer graphics are added. These can include visual effects, sound effects and music.

Depending on the type of movie, post production can take longer than production! For example action, adventure and sci-fi movies often take longer in post production than dramas and comedies.

The final stage in movie making is marketing, and this can be the most important stage of all. This is when the production companies sell their idea to us, the viewers.

There are a number of ways this can be done, for example billboards, bus stops, tv adverts, cinema trailers and of coarse the social media. It is important for a movie’s success that the right audience is targeted.

In conclusion, I hope that I have proven there is more to the movie industry than just acting in front of a camera. Next time you see a movie think of all the movie magic that goes on behind the scenes.

Thank you for listening.

Reflection

• My Evidence: This is my speech, we (rm 20) started writing our speeches at the end of term 2. During the holidays we also had time to write our speeches, by the time school started up again most of us had finished and were adding details and editing our work. I finished my speech two days before we presented them to our class. When we did we used an online voting system we had to sit in our table groups and vote people 1-3  (one being the lowest and three being the highest).
• What Were We Learning: We were learning how to write convincing\informative speeches. I learnt how to write an informative speech I had never heard of one till then! But I still wrote one for the competition:) 
• How I Felt About This: I felt happy, exited and nervous. I felt happy when I heard the speech competitions were coming around again because in year 4 I came 1st, in year 5 I came 2nd and this year I wanted to to go to the inter school competitions. But in the end I didn't even place so my dream was crushed and I felt miserable, unsatisfied and of coarse sad.:(      Next time maybe I could finish my speech quicker so I have more time to practice. 

I have been reading a book written by Jacqueline Wilson called The Diamond Girls. I got it as a hand me down, but it is almost brand new! This is the blurb. 

Dixie, Rochelle, Jude and Martine - the diamond girls! They might sound like a girl band but these sisters' lives are anything but glamorous. They've moved to a terrible house in a run-down estate and after barely a minute Rochelle's flirting, Jude's fighting and Martine is storming off. Even though Dixie's the youngest, she's desperate to get the house fixed up before Mum comes home with her new baby. Will the Diamond Girls pull together in time for the first Diamond boy?

I have read up to page 79 in one and a half weeks (only at school) !

-Ashleigh :)

If you have a Different Name What Would it be?

For maths in week 1 term 3 we were making forms and asking our class mates questions, we noticed that to get the best data we should ask questions with options for example what is your favorite colour options pink, purple, green, blue etc. I worked in a group with me and Annalise it was great. I would definitely do this again for fun at home!

Forest Guardian

A figure emerged from the mist, I could tell it was a female, she had bright honey golden coloured hair that was wavy and in some places fell down to her knees. Woven into her hair were yellow leaves with traces of pink, parts of berry bushes were neatly arranged in her fringe which was covering half of her eyebrow. Her ears were long and pointed and she wore a long dress that dragged along the ground behind. It had silver specks and pink strips in places and at the back there were white velvety streaks

Her cheeks were a pale pink colour and her beauty would have won 10,000 pageants. But above everything the thing that amazed me the most was her wings, 150cm, a light peach colour at the top toning down to a shower of rose coloured sparkles.

• This is a piece of writing evidence and I wrote this for fun because I had free time so why not spend it working?
• I was learning how to use interesting words and make a vivid image in the readers mind.
• This little experiment with words was so much fun and now I'm off to write another interesting play with words! 

-Ashleigh 

Ashleigh Big Numbers

This is my learning evidence, I have learnt to read big numbers with the help of Mrs Graham.

I learnt how to read a big number (possibly over 100,000) from one end to another I also learnt the different houses of numbers eg: 1 house 10 house 100 house 1000 house ect...!

I am feeling very proud of myself because I have always struggled with my numbers but now i've been taught! Thank you very much Mrs Graham!:)

Melissa

Melissa

I stared through the polished glass at Melissa, she didn’t look like herself, the strange people changed her. They had made her look like a princess then put her asleep...

Her fringe was pulled back and on her head there were fancy ferns  made out of silver and placed together so carefully that they looked like a crown. The rest of her hair was braided with a golden ribbon, yellow and grey beads were sewn together to make a two layer necklace that sparkled like the sun and shone like the moon.

The strange people put a magnificent dress on her that was golden, silver and pale rose. The frills and bows had gems and diamonds placed in the middle of them and the patterns seemed to dance in front of my eyes. Her nails were painted golden and filed to look like perfect ovals. 

I tugged hard on the glass handle and it opened so suddenly that I stumbled back, almost falling. I laid my hand down delicately on her silken skin and gasped at how soft it had become. I know it was wrong but I didn’t like how perfect she looked, I guess I just missed the old scruffy Melissa. 

This is evidence that I have been writing without being told to.

I have been learning to find pictures that amaze me and describe them in my own words.

I feel good that I have gone so far in my writing abilities if you would like me continue writing like this then comment on this piece of writing.

-Cheers Ashleigh:)

      

How to be a Good Sibling

How to be a Good Sibling 

The fist step to being a good sibling is to get your brother or sister to trust you, now if your sibling is older it will be tricky, but if your sibling is younger you’re in luck. The thing that works best is by making deals... and keeping them, e.g. you  could say, “If you let me watch TV then i’ll make you a milo, and also you can use the computer until i’m done”. Now if you keep your promise then your younger sibling will trust you next time you make a deal!

The second step is to be fair, you can be fair e.g. if they played with you when you asked them, then play with them when they ask you. Then they will know you’re a very fair older or younger sibling and it will give you a good feeling deep down inside.

The third and finale step to being a good sibling is to make your older or younger sibling to feel special. You could make them their favorite snack, hang out with them, tell them they mean something to you.

5 Things to Change About Jess

5 things to Change about Jess

If Jess wasn’t afraid of things then he and Leslie could have new adventures in Terabithia, but since he’s so scared of things it’s preventing them to do more things.

If Jess was not as absent minded as he is, then he could have remembered to ask Miss Edmonds to bring Leslie or notice that his dads pick up was pulled up after the field trip!                                   

Maybe if Jess didn’t have a revenge streak in him he might have just talked to Janice Avory instead of making her feel really bad and upset.

Jess could have been nicer on Maybelle, he shouldn’t have been so hard on her, I mean he slapped her harder than he had ever had slapped anything in his life!

 Jess could learn to stand up to his older sisters (in a nice way) like he could say something like “ leave me alone I don’t like you doing that”.

Leslie's Obituary

Leslie’s Obituary

This was an exercise at school from the book Bridge to Terabithia and none of the following information is true!

On May the 21st 1978 during a time with non stop rain, a 10 year old girl called Leslie Burke, who attended Lark Creek Elementary school, drowned in a creek. We have worked out that she swung across an overflowed river on a old rope and it snapped leaving Leslie to fall in the river. We also have reason to believe that she hit her head on something causing her to drown.

Leslie’s father has said “Leslie was a smart little kid and wasn’t afraid to take a risk, but unfortunately in the end her risk taking and fearlessness was what killed her...” Her mother has explained that “It’s all my fault I should have spent more time with her!” Her best friends name is Jess and he has taken this tragedy the hardest, “No comment, I don’t have anything to say”.

Best wishes, greatest sadness for Leslie’s friends and family

-Reporter Ashleigh 

This is evidence that our class read a book called Bridge to Terabithia.

We learnt that At the end of the book Leslie dies and our activity was pretending to be a reporter.

I feel like I portrayed a reporter kind of well...

-Ashleigh  

  

Bridge to Terabithia

This is evidence that I have learnt the traits of Jess and Leslie.

We learnt the similarity's and differences of the characters Jess and Leslie from the book Bridge to Terabithia. 

I feel happy and proud of my work and I think that I have recognized lots of things about Jess and Leslie!

-Ashleigh