This term the year 7 inquiry unit is “Why Am I Changing.” We have to put the four classes of year 7′s into two different rooms so it is not as loud. We have to cover the windows because the building that I am in is all open so you can see into other classes and there are year 6′s in the building too. I think that when the windows were covered over it made it more comfortable. The first week that we did on this subject was a bit embarrassing but it got better. The second week we had inquiry was a lot better because I knew what the sorts of things we were doing. Week three and week four was fine with all the info. We have to do another four weeks that we have to do. Each week we all ways have a laugh over somthing. I am quite comfortable with this sort of things now.
Today was round three of the primary school competition, held at St Peters College pool. My team, Adelaide Tritons, played against St Michael’s/Henley. We play four quarters, each five minutes long. Tritons is a mixed team boy/girl team but some of the other team aren’t. Today’s team were all boys and we won 14-5. I scored 6 goals in the game. I really enjoy water polo because it is like combining the two sports I played before, swimming and basketball, in the water. It gives you a really good work out without the impact of land sport. After training sessions on Mondays I really feel tired and that I have exercised all of my body.
At school we have been doing 10 minute writers. A 10 minute writer is when the teacher puts a picture or a question on the board and we have to write a 
short story on it. One of the 10 minute writers we had to do was one with a duck holding a sledge hammer over a computer. This is my version…..
Donal Duck was playing a very intense game of Halo on the computer. Sudenley the computer cut out and soon after it came back on. A red signal came on the computer screen. YOU LOSE. Donal Duck was so angry with the computer for cutting out at the wrong time. He got up and grabbed a wooden sledge hammer and brought the hammer over his back. With one mighty swing he hit the computer. He looked at the computer. It was still in one piece. He hit it again and again but it was still in one piece. The computer screen started writing something. “Whats that?” It said can you please stop hitting me. Donal Duck sat down on his chair and started typing on the keyboard. Are you alive, he typed. Yes I am, so can you pleas stopping hitting me and I will stop cutting out on you. OK then. Donal Duck and the Computer got along together nicely.
The book that I’m reading at the moment is called Toad Heaven. Toad Heaven is the sequel to Toad Rage and there are two other Toad books in the series. The Toad series are wri
tten by Morris Gleitzman who is also the author of The Gift of Gab, Bumface, Deadly and Once. Toad Heaven is about a cane toad called Limpy that is on a quest to find toad heaven,a place where cane toads won’t be blown up with bike pumps or bashed over the head with folding chairs. Limpy’s determined to find this place if it takes him the rest of his life but his plans are waylaid when he’s kidnapped by some sinister-looking humans and tossed into a bucket. That is a far as I have read. I recommend you should read this book.
For a part of our homework we have to do a personal inquiry. I have chosen to present a report on saltwater crocodiles. My interest in saltwater crocodiles came about when I 
went on a family holiday to Darwin in 2010. There we saw them in the wild and in a crocodile park, where I also fed one. The reason I have chosen to do a report on saltwater crocodiles is because I already know some facts about them and want to know more. They are found in Australia and some parts of south-east Asia. Saltwater crocodiles are closely related to pre-historic dinosaurs. I’m looking forward to this inquiry.
On the 18th of October our school had a Side Show Alley. A Side Show Alley is like a mini carnival that the students set up. Each class (except the Junior Primary) had to make four games. Our class’s activities were Pin The Tail on The Animals, Egg And Spoon Race, Balloon Race and Sports Splash. This Side Show Alley had been cancelled from last term due to rain. Before the Side Show Alley the SRC’s were selling tickets for the games. Tickets were 10 for $2. When you wanted to play a game you would give one ticket to the people who were running the stand and they would stamp it. That meant that you couldn’t use that ticket again. If you won the game you would get a yellow ticket that you could use in another game. I was in charge of the game called Sports Splash with some of my friends. In Sports Splash we got a portable white board and stuck laminated sport teams on it and people had to throw wet sponges at them. You got two throws with one ticket. If the player hit a sports team they got one prize ticket and if they hit two sports teams they got two tickets. Other games I played were Lucky Dip and Race to The Finish. It seemed like most people enjoyed the day, especially the younger kids. It was fun trying out new games that the students had made up.
My favourite piece of art for 2011
so far would be my aboriginal painting of an Echidna. It is called “Piggi-Billa the Echidna”. For some of my school work I had to produce a quality piece of art influenced by another culture and I chose to make something that was aboriginal because I like their way of painting things. The design is one by Michael J Connelly and comes in a kit with the 30 x 40cm printed panel, acrylic paints, brushes and instructions. The dream-time story of the painting is printed on the back of the panel so you also learn the story behind the painting. There are actually six different designs in the series. I have also bought the one titled “Dinewan the Emu” and hope that I can find the other four in the series. I really enjoyed the whole thing – following the instructions, learning about the dream-time story and painting the picture.
For this week’s homework I have to recommend a book on my blog. The book that I am recommending is The Foot Book. The Foot Book is by Dr. Seuss who also wrote other books like The Cat In The Hat, Green Eggs And Ham, The Sneetches and the Sleep Book. This book is more for younger children than for older readers. The book is ideal for sharing with kids because it is fun to read and it helps pre-readers to recognize the words because they are often repeated. The book is about all the different types of feet you could meet. When my parents gave me this book for one of my birthdays I constantly kept reading the book over and over because I loved this book so much. Mum and Dad used to read it to me. It is full of rhyming words and you read it with rhythm. It is a book that is fun to read and also fun to listen to and this is why I recommend this book for young readers. I would have to give this book a 4 and 1/2 out of five for its age group. So I recommend you should read this to or with young children.
This term in science we have been learning about our solar system. One of the tasks we had to do was to research and make a power point about four planets and the Sun. 
We had to get with a partner or a small group and decide on what four planets we were going to research. There were a series of questions to answer – an easier set of questions and a harder set. My partner and I chose to do the easier set of questions because we couldn’t understand the harder questions. The four planets we chose were Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. We had three weeks to complete the task and then we had to present our power point to the class.Something that I found out that I didn’t know before is that about 70% of the earth’s surface is water. I didn’t think it was that much. On the day of the presentation, I had to present the power point on my own because my partner was away that day. We were really proud that our grade for the task was a B+ – so close to an A!
On Thursday 18th our school had our book week parade. Most years our school has the book week parade to end the book fair but this year we didn’t have the books yet. On the Wednesday before the parade I organised my 
costume. There were so many different ideas in my mind but I decided to dress up as a cop. My Mum was in the police force for many years and she still had some of her old uniform and it fit me very well. I didn’t wear the skirt though! She loaned me a police shirt, tie, leather jacket and a police hat. The leather jacket was quite heavy and warm. The weather on the day was overcast and it had rained all week, so the parade was held in the school gym. There were quite a few parents there too, so it was fairly crowded and noisy. Later in the day we had a perfomance from some visitors to the school. The performance was based on some of the books that had been short-listed for Book Week. I think I enjoyed reading the books more than watching the perfomance. When you read or listen to a book you can imagine more in your mind. It’s like when a movie is made from a story, I think it is better to read the book first to use your own imagination about the characters.
Overall, I enjoyed my final Primary School Book Week Parade and activities. I always like finding out what the teachers dress up as. There were a few vampires there this year from Twilight. Our Librarian always looks unique. Some years we didn’t even know it was her. Her best one I remember is The Cat in the Hat. She was a great Jack Sparrow too. Mr C made a good Chewbacca a few years ago. I guess now my days of dress up parades at primary school are over….
