Goal Setting

The students are currently setting their goal(s) for writing.  The goal is to be determined by each student as he/she reflects on current achievements and next learning steps.  The goal is then supported by an individual action plan.

The key is for the goal to be a SMART goal:

Goals will be included as part of the next report to parents.

Ode to Bic! By Rion

Pen!

You have failed me!

Your ink is dry in the tube!   

Your ball does not work!        

Your unfaithful brand,

that mocks me with its foul name,

that of a villain;

BIC, the traitorous one?

It lies to me when it says

‘made in New Zealand ‘,      

A country with a more faithful brand,

That of Officemax.

In reality, you are made in China,

a country with a lying brand of pens.

You have lied to me,

and I must pronounce your death!

I will snap you in half,

and then shatter you

then your broken

body will meet

the rubbish bin,

the rubbish bag,

the rubbish truck,

the rubbish plant,

and then,

and only then,

you will meet your fate in the incinerator.

And I,

will go and buy a faithful Officemax pen.

That will not prove a traitor to my page,

and I will

carry on writing.

Poem: The First Pawsteps

The first mewl,

The first sight,

The first sound,

The first fright.

The first pawstep,

The first stroke,

The first food,

The first soak.

The first sunlight,

The first rain,

The first pleasure,

The first pain.

The first tui,

The first dove,

The first hate,

The first love.

The first jumper,

The first mittens,

The first tragedy,

The first kittens!

The first fall,

The first near-death,

The first grey hair,

The last breath

By Holly

An Exciting Week Ahead

Louise Wrightson, a Wellington writer will be joining us TWICE this week!

• On Thursdsay afternoon as we prep for the Trip to Otari-Wiltons' Bush; 
• On the Friday morning as we explore the Otari Bush to use as inspiration for our free verse.

What an opportunity to work with such an awesome mentor!

Today's Warm-up: MONOLOGUES!

Hannah

Alas, dear Rover, 

The pale and fragile fragment of your form is all that’s left of your peaceful and celebrated existence. Your life was an oasis, a star in the endless night of my troubled soul. 

Every second of your slobbery tongue, 

every game of catch, 

a blight of happiness,

a plague of laughter 

in my pit of a mind.

Alex

Florence

Abbey

Sophie

Ext. Writing today!

Today, we started off writing monologues for our warm up. We wrote about pens, balloons, and even polar bears! We had lots of fun reading them aloud. After that we got into groups and talked about poems, one about water, one about Otari, and one about a rimu tree. After that we went off to work on our goals.

Holly O

Videos of the monologues will be shared here VERY SOON!

Term 1's revised timetable

Hi

The timetable for Term 1 has changed slightly...

Week 4 (This Week)
We meet as usual Block 3 Wednesday (except those on overnighters!)


Week 5 (Next week)
We DO NOT meet on Wednesday as I have a course to attend.  Instead we will be meeting on the Thursday afternoon for the 1/2 block that you are not at sport.

We also meet on the Friday 8.30am for the trip to Otari-Wilton's Bush.  Louise Wrightson, a poet, is joining us on this trip!


Week 6
We meet Wednesday afternoon as usual.  This will be the last meeting of the group for Term 1.

Week 3!

It was great to see everyone on Wednesday and it was especially cool to welcome our new writers to the class, Rion and Holly I.  

Most students are focusing on their own choice of writing for the Term.  Here's a taste of some of their projects:

Tom is finishing off a narrative from last year, '8 Minutes', which uses a countdown technique in his structure

Freya's recount of a moment at Waitarere Beach is exhilarating and alarming at the same time:

The looming wave crashes and thunders, a hoarse battle cry. Soon, when it crashes down, I will be tossed among the grey-green chaos, nothing but a speck to those on shore. I scream in delight, half-mad with exhilaration. Oh, I knew of the danger. But it seemed worlds away, impossible to comprehend or recreate on this Earth.

Holly I is writing a series of prose that have the common theme of 'Struggle':

The world is plunged into the smothering embrace of blackness, and it brings fear, horror, and sadness. The world goes into hiding, for fear of losing control, for fear of giving in to the darkness, for fear of losing everthing they ever had

Aliya shared her method of planning for her latest short story.  'Clone', as you can see from the title, has meant some interesting research by Aliya and we are very excited to see that transferred into the narrative.

Holly O has been inspired by our warm-up activity, Poetry Poker, and has used the concept to create a collection of free verse which she is self-publishing and illustrating.

Margaret Mahy” Starlight Essay and Poetry Competition

“Margaret Mahy” Starlight Essay and Poetry Competition"

WIN: The 10 Best entries win ..an exciting weekend at Twizel all expenses paid, a kitset Galileoscope and a visit to the University Observatory at Mt John along with a Certificate presented by our visiting UK astronomer, Professor Chris Lintott

The Aoraki Mackenzie Starlight Festival is holding another Starlight Essay/Poetry

competition in 2015 with TEN big prizes on offer and students in Years 5 – 8 and 9 - 13 are

 invited to enter by Monday 10 August, 2015.

See the Competition page for details... under 'August'

Term 1 links

Term One Outline

Term One Poetry Outline

Extension Writers First Meeting!

A great afternoon was had by all the current and new Extension writers today.  They discovered that many of them had similar passions and interests - the most common one being that they LOVE writing!  Coming close behind was a love of Doctor Who and Harry Potter. It was great to see some great humour and camaraderie among the students!

The warm-up was called "Poetry Poker"... after being 'dealt' 5 word cards, free verse poems were created on the spot and shared with the group.  Some very deep, meaningful poems were the result!

The plan for Term 1 was outlined - Mrs Dunn even created her very first Prezi!  Then onto some goal setting and writing.  What a roller coaster afternoon!

Emily -  creating in confort

Jemma and Aliya - Looking for inspiration, Aliya?

Rebecca (and Tom) and Poetry Poker leftovers!