Literacy+-+Writing



=Term 1:=

The last couple of weeks we have been writing a two picture story. A two picture story is where you have to write a story around those two pictures.

We also had to write a piece of descriptive writing about a person we knew. I wrote about my Granny

= = =Term 2:=

At the moment in our writing we are trying to add similes, metaphors and hyperbole in our descriptive writing. Here is an example of my writing involving those 3 things:

W.A.L.T: Write descriptively creating vivid pictures - Similes and Metaphors

Forever In My Mind

I am walking into a maze of colours. The sun shines on the leaves making them glow. The trees are standing like skyscrapers, strong, mighty and tall. The sun makes a pathway on the ground.

I hear leaves crunching under my feet. Soon a single leaf falls gracefully to the ground. I spin around and see leaves of all colours and sizes fall from the trees and land on the ground of embers. I realise that every leaf is like a snowflake, no leaf is exactly the same, they are all unique.

I carry on wandering, taking in the beautiful scenery of Autumn. I see a variety of shadows moving on the ground. I lie down on the soft leaves and think......

Strolling through this forest reminds me of all the happy things in my life. I know this forest will stay in my mind forever.

By Livvy

We are also uploading our poem/paragraphs with our pictures.

I have just uploaded my movie so here it is for you:

I have done a hawk description for writing and here it is for you!! We had to try and include similes, metaphors and hyperboles. I really enjoyed doing this piece of writing:P:P:P:P



I watch in amazement as the hawk swoops into the water. I get out my camera and SNAP. I now have the breath taking photograph

Years later I still remembered that same day and the wonderful bird. The way it swooped was so majestic. It moved like a graceful ballet dancer. Once it was centimetres above the gloomy looking water it stretched its wings that looked so strong and mighty. The feathers at the end of the wings stretched out one by one appearing to be so long. The colour on his chest was as white as snow. It brought back memories of white Christmases. The brown below the white gleamed in the sunlight. The yellow beak reminded me of the sun on a summer’s day. I then saw that his claws had started to stretch out looking so dominant and bold. When I looked closer I saw they were razor sharp and could cut through nearly anything. I then gazed at his eyes and they looked as though they could kill. The determination in this creature’s eyes caught me by surprise. His eyes gave me the impression that he had a heart of stone at that time. I gazed a little more and realised the texture on the hawk’s feathers was amazing. I could see that his feathers were soft and rough but still exquisite.

Even the powerful wind hadn’t stopped this hawk from his hunting. He looked so confident and fierce. I knew this hawk had done this many times before. When I glanced at the water I could see the mirror image of this fantastic animal. I knew that image would never abandon my mind.

By Livvy

HERE IS A INTERACTIVE PUZZLE FOR YOU!!!! ENJOY:P:P:P

Where In The World Am I????

Help, help I am in a foreign land. I don't know anyone here and I need YOU to rescue me. I can only describe to you what I hear and see...... I can see a beach with thousands of people sunbathing on them. The waves are blue as the sky, they are calm and the sound is soothing. I see heaps and heaps of Palm Trees. They sway in the gentle breeze. I can see a sign saying Waikiki. I see lots of people wearing leis around their necks. I can also see coconuts which look very tempting even though I can't reach them. I can smell hawaiian pizza. YUM!! Please try and rescue me from this island. I am begging you......

Try and guess where I am in the world......

media type="custom" key="6482161" I will tell you people where I am on 19th July 2010 so you have a bit of time... HAVE FUN :):):):) Hey, Here is the answer to this riddle: I am in HAWAII!!!!!

Term 3:
This term we are doing Exposition writing. This is where you try to persuade the reader to your point of view by writing your opinion. A major part of this is you need to justify why. I wil put my exposition on this page when I do it later. Enjoy!!! :):)

We have just made movies based on Myths/Legends. Our myth was How The Bear Lost His Tail...

Here is the Myth Movie: ENJOY!!!

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We have just retold myths and legends. I did mine on How the Swan got a long neck. Here it is below!

A long time ago there was a lake. It was in the shape of a swan and it was shared by swans and ducks. The swans were very vain so they wanted it to be called Swan Lake. A lot of people think that there isn’t much difference between ducks and swans but there is. At first swans didn’t have long necks but had very beautiful feathers, slim bodies and swam very elegantly. Ducks however were ugly, big and had to kick very hard because of their short legs. The swans wouldn’t let the ducks swim with them which made the ducks very angry as they too lived at that lake.

One day while the ducks were arguring with swans about who would swim in the lake first, a flock of geese arrived to see what the big hassle was. The geese listened and thought that the swans should swim first because they were more beautiful and swam more gracefully. They also thought that the ducks should swim first as the last time the swans refused to let the ducks have a turn. So the geese in the end said that they should share the lake as it was a large lake.

This outcome made the swans mad so a fight broke out. The ducks were tugging at the swans legs and the geese pulled as hard as they could on the swan’s necks.

After about an hour the fight ended. The ducks and geese stood there and looked at the swans. They had stretched their necks so much that they couln’t hold their heads up! Hours later the swans were able to shorten their necks up to the point where they could hold their heads up. The day after that the geese, ducks and swans shared the lake without having to take turns.

Nowadays swans still have rather long necks and ducks are no longer ugly, they too are beautiful and are a little more graceful.

By Livvy!:)

This term we were assesed on a piece of writing. We had to write a story around a picture of a man holding a flower in his hands. Here is my story I wrote. I scored a 4P which is great.
I can not believe I hold this amazing flower. The magnificent flower that has been in my family for generations. I have just recieved this flower and a letter. The letter which is old and smells musty. It has written on it the experiences family members have been through when they had possesion of this flower. I open the letter up and start reading:

Amy, 24 years old July 26th 1978

I feel nothing. I feel as though my world has crashed and is burning around me. My mind is blank except for the one memory that keeps playing over and over again in my mind. That memory is the day my beloved daughter was murdered. It was a Tuesday night, my daughter Elizabeth and I had finished washing the dishes. She was in her room reading her book when I heard this horrifying scream pierce the air. I turned around and saw this strong, creepy looking man walk slowly towards the front door. He turned and looked at me and then ran as fast as he could outside and into the pitch black darkness. I stood there as still as a statue. I then heard Elizabeth sob in pain. I ran into her room and burst into tears. She was slowly dying right in front of me. All I could do was comfort her as she died a slow painful death. This is why I feel nothing. This is why my world has ended.

Alicia, 18 August 27th 1984

I am shivering in my cold dark room. My whole body aches. I still see the terror in his eyes when he turned to the dark side. The pain is excruciating. I can’t go out and face him. All I can do is wait and remember what happened. I had just arrived home from my date. My father was sitting in his armchair as usual. I was just about to run up the stairs when he spoke. “ Do you think I’m stupid?. I saw you with a boy in the alleyway. I was at the pub next door.” “ That wasn’t me, I was at the lake with Tom. Please believe me father” That was when he stood up and punched my face and kicked my stomach until I could barely move. You could see the power in his legs and arms. I tried to defend myself but couldn’t. He was too strong and powerful. He then turned around for a second and that was all the time I needed. I ran as fast as I could up the stairs and into my room, locked the door and stood there shocked at what my father had just done to me. After that night I moved out and stayed at a friends place until I finally left the country. I still have scars. You can not see them as they are mental scars. They will never fade away into oblivion.

After reading these two stories I can’t even imagine the pain and anguish they went through. I had my own daughter who also died too young. I felt as though my world had ended when she died. The pain Alicia went through was not her fault. She was young and enjoying life. She shouldn’t of gone through that. I could never imagine what she went through when she was abused. There are more stories on this letter but for now I have read enough. I shall wait and while I wait I will let those stories play in my old wise mind. I will also ponder on what I shall write on the tattered old letter. I hope something amazing and happy occurs in the near future so I will not bore the next recipient of this delicate, spectacular flower.

By Livvy

This term we were also assesed on our expositions we wrote. We had to write about the 1080 poisoning in the Tararua Ranges and in NZ. Here is mine. I still haven't got my results back yet.
How would you feel seeing your innocent dog die a slow and painful death caused by 1080 poison. Well this is happening now and shouldn’t happen anymore. Innocent animals are dying for no good reason. Humans and Animals are being affected by sodium fluoroacetate: the scientific name for 1080. Many people believe that 1080 should not be used and I am one of those people. Below are some logical reasons on why 1080 should not be dropped in the Tararua Ranges or anywhere else in New Zealand.

Firstly, 1080 doesn’t only affect animals in the Tararua Ranges and NZ, but it can actually affect humans as well. If a child managed to eat up to 3 pellets, their lives would be seriously at risk of dying. Do you want that to happen to innocent children? Now what happens when 1080 dissolves into water ways and humans drink it? They could die as well. As well as that, hunters can not hunt until after 4 months of the bait been dropped. That means they cannot eat or sell the meat of animals that live in the area. They would have to find other means of eating and buying that particular meat, which can be a bit of a hassle for some people. Who would of thought that something as little as a pellet would cause so much damage and risks.

Another thing to think about is, how the animals who live and visit the Tararua Ranges are also affected. The wildlife is being affected by 1080 poison even though it is being dropped to protect them. They can die from 1080 by the pellet itself, contaminated water and dead bodies of animals which died from 1080. Now we can’t forget how the poison affects the animals who visit the Tararua Ranges. 1080 poison is highly toxic to dogs so even a tiny bit of the poison will kill them. Even though DOC say dogs should not go into the area whilst 1080 is and has been dropped, people will still take their dogs with them. It is a great place to exercise a dog and bring enjoyment into their live’s and for some people it is too much of a hassle to go some place else.

To finish off, the reasons why 1080 should be banned, is a slow and painful death is usually what happens to humans and animals that eat the poison. So what actually happens when an animal or human eat 1080? Well there is no antidote to 1080 so if an animal eats it, it will die unless early action is taken. Which is unlikely to happen if this animal is wild. When an animal eats 1080 or eats a poisoned animal body it will die an agonising, painful death which is not the way animals should die. It usually takes 6-18 hours for a possum to die and up to 40 hours for rabbits, cats and dogs. For example: Ryan Fitzmaurice innocent dog Tigger died from the highly toxic poison because he ate a possum which had already died from 1080. That shouldn’t of happened but it did because sodium fluoroacetate had been dropped on the West Coast of NZ, where he lived. If a human eats it could die as well especially if this human is a child. To get sick from 1080 you would have to have eaten at least 100g of the poisonous pellets, drink at least 5000L of water from a waterway that has been contaminated by 1080 or eat at least 37kg of meat of an animal that died from 1080. Even though the chances of a human getting sick or even dying from sodium fluoroacetate is low, it could still happen.

To conclude this exposition I will say once again that I do not think 1080 should be used to kill pests in the Tararua Ranges or anywhere else in New Zealand. It is not fair that animals should have to die for no good reason. New Zealand is one of only a few countries that still use sodium fluoroacetate in the world. There are many ways an animal or human can die from 1080 for example, eating the pellet or secondary poisoning. Surely, DOC must see the harm it is causing or are they blind to the fact that more harm is being done than neccesary. They should find other ways of killing pests in this area and in New Zealand even if it takes more time and money. Maybe now is the time to find an alternative to 1080 - what do you think?

By Livvy

Term 3: Poetry

This term we started learning about different types of poetry. One of the types of poetry we learnt was Haiku which is Japanese. Here is my haiku I wrote:

Snow drifts uniquely The mountain will catch the snow The mountain has changed

I look up to it I stand there in amazement I can see the change

We also did Diamante Poems wihch are poems in the shape of a Diamond. Here is my Diamante poem I wrote:





TERM #4:

This term we started writing a book review about a book we have recently read. The top reading group got given a book to read called ' Once' by Morris Gleitzman. Here is my book review I did on Prezi. Hope you enjoy it!

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This is my Book Report on : A Million Shades Of Grey

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