2019 Learning and Lookbook

For the last couple of weeks we've been working on a Look Book. If you don't know what a Look Book is I'll tell you. The Look Book that were making is just us sharing our Learning journey from this term. It's all about what we want to achieve and what we have done. So here it is. Look Book.

Mayor of Gisborne

Today the mayor of Gisborne came to our class and talked about the Hamanatua Stream and what we did. If you didn't know, our class looks after the Hamanatua stream and last week we planted some native plants and tested the water to see if it was health enough to swim in-it wasn't. Anyway, back on topic, the mayor of Gisborne Meng Foon came in and we talked about the Hamanatua stream. For those of you who don't know what a mayor does, a mayor is someone who signs all commissions, licenses, and permits granted by legislative authority. A mayor serves as the top conservator of peace in the City.

A class photo with Meng Foon.

Cross Country

This blog post is long delayed but I came second so I had to blog about it. 5 days after I came back from Israel, the Cross Country was on. Since I've never not come a placing I wanted to make sure I did every Cross Country with a placing, so even though I was jetlagged I still pushed myself to run the Cross Country.
There was dragons flying around in my tummy, parents were cheering, I was in pain. Sprinting as hard as I possibly could, I see the finish line, I fell to the ground. I see my friend Lani lying next to me, also in a lot of pain. I remember when we were waiting for our turn, Lani told me that he came 4th or 5th every time so he made it to interschools but never came a placing. But when he was running, he was coming first by miles. His face showed me that he was so determined to come a placing, and he came first. I just want to say good on you Lani and you were a machine.

Cybersmart-Replying to Comments

Today koka Maria came in and taught us about replying to Blog Posts. If you don't remember koka Maria from my last blog posts, every Wednesday she comes in and teaches us about cybersmart and how to use our chromebooks correctly. So today she came in and taught us how to write a quality reply to blog posts. We looked at 6 peoples blog posts that have already done this with koka Maria. Then we read there replies and wrote about what you need, what you should have, and what you could have. I wrote that...
-You need to reply to their question if they have one.
-Say a greeting like hi.
I didn't write correct punctuation because you need that in everything. For my should have, I wrote...
-Good structure to help your feedback.
-The same content as the writing or the replies.

-Make sure the reply is positive.

For my could have I haven't finished so I haven't wrote anything yet.

Bye Bye Israel - Tui Art

Bye Bye Israel

Last week on Friday our family came back from Israel. It was really hard saying bye to all our family and friends, the delicious food, playing football at night, the giant pool, and of course the heat. But when we came back it was really nice to say hi to all our family and friends here and all the ups of living in NZ. It was hard from going from 40 degrees to 10 degrees but it was nice sitting by the warm fire and stroking the cats. So yeah, you could say I'm having fun in Israel.

Tui Art

Yesterday we had a reliever so we did some really cool art about the Tui our native bird. I always find it really hard to know where to start but after I start I usually roll through it. We could use our chromebooks to look something up and copy it but we couldn't trace it because, well, that's kind of cheating because you're not really doing anything. For the color we used crayon and for the background we had a choice, we could use watercolor which is what most people chose, or we could leave it plain white and 1 person chose that which is original. It was really happy with end result

because I don't normally draw and I think it looked pretty good.

Canada Center.

Yesterday my family, my dad's cousin and his family, and my cousins Alon and Gali, and their family, all went to the Canada Center. No It's not in Canada, it's a place about 20 minutes drive north. It has iJump complex, which is a trampoline park, bowling, swimming pool, cinema and Ice skating rink. Since we've already went bowling 3 times we just went Ice skating and trampolining. Ice Skating was really fun but really hard. Since I've only been Ice Skating once in my life 2 years ago, it took me a long time to get off of the side rail; although, after I let go of the side rail I think I did pretty good for my first try in 2 years.

When we got to iJump I straight away started trying to slam dunk the basketball. Sadly I was a few inches short and couldn't slam dunk. My favourite part was that all the trampolines where just close enough so I could try and jump from one to another. The trick is to go diagonal but try and mix it up a bit so It's not boring. The funniest part was when I started digging a hole in the foam pit so I got be in the air for longer and found a good pair of glasses at the bottom that looked really new. After that we got some ice cream and we all had a go in the massage chair which was really relaxing.

Chocolate Madness

As you can probably tell from my last post, my family really likes chocolate. And as you can probably tell from the title, today we made and ate chocolate. We went to a place called Shulman in kibbutz, Dafna, which is really close to where we're staying. It has a really cool art museum where everything is made out of chocolate. There's also a wall that has some really cool information about chocolate, like in 1948 they made my all time favourite chocolate spread; and I'm not talking Nutella. The chocolate
spread in Israel can be fed to the gods, or at least that's what I think. Chocolate spread started when 5 brothers opened a small factory that sold sweets: Tahini, Waffles, Halva and Jams. Over time the factory decided to start focusing on chocolate spread, The Dawn. Already 3 generations of Israeli children have grown up with it.

After we checked out the museum we went to actually make chocolate. It was so much fun with lots of friendly chocolate; I  mean people, I mean lots of friendly, yummy, people. Anyway, there were a few people from America that looked about 20. They were really nice to us and we had lots of fun with them. First, we had to choose a picture on the table and I chose the cartoon pig. Then we went over the outline with melted dark chocolate and colored in the middle with white chocolate so it made a cool background effect. Then we had 4 small chocolate squares that we could mold into something and decorate. I made 2 chocolate balls with coconut and 2 squares decorated wit dark and white chocolate. We got to take everything we made home and I had a great time, like always.

Escape Room Paris - Chocolate Galore

Yesterday was so so fun! We went to another Escape room in Rosh Pina which is another old city in our area of the upper Galilee. We had to chase a terrorist group who escaped from Paris. It was even more fun than the one where we had to find the Mona Lisa. There were 3 rooms. The first room felt like a train and we zoomed through that one in 10 minutes. The second room was the hardest. We spent about 15 minutes all doing one question. There were 4 locked chests with holes on the top, which we had to smell and match to a specific spice out of 20 different spices in a glass box, in order to unlock codes. In the end we found out that we actually got the question right on the first go but changed it before we put the code in the lock. The last room was the most fun with really cool digital keys and a bunker that you need to hide in when you plug the bomb in. There's a button that explodes the bomb and when we walked out there was smoke everywhere and everything was broken and thrown around as if the bomb actually exploded. It was so fun and we're going to try and go to one more escape room before we leave.

Chocolate Galore

When we finished the Escape Room our parents showed us a really good chocolate restaurant that made my mouth water. There was some of the best chocolates I have ever eaten in there. There was also some really cool art in there which was nice. My favourite chocolate was the chocolate ball that my mum and I shared. We got 15 chocolates that we shared but we could of had 30 but we stopped ourselves. After we finished eating we went to a lookout to watch the sun set. The lookout was beautiful with a great view of the sun set. 

Grottoes - Achziv Banana Beach

Yesterday we went on a car trip to Rosh Hanikra (head of the Grottoes), which is the most north western corner of Israel. To visit the cliff  we went on the shortest and steepest cable car in the world!  The view from the cable car was breathtaking and that's just the start. After that we went into the caves, which are called grottoes. They were created by a lot of subterranean tremors that cracked the rock, with waves that hit the rock at a force of 250 tonnes per square meter! Rainwater flows through the cracks and create the caves. The inside of the grottoes were amazing and I didn't know where to look first. The water was really clean and clear and in one place there's a bridge and sometimes high waves splash you which is really fun. 

Inside the Grotto.

Cable Car.

Banana Beach

After that we went to banana beach for the rest of the day. Banana beach is much different from Wainui beach, The sea is warm for a start, there's a volleyball net, a massage area, It's rated 4.4 stars, there's a bar on the beach, a restaurant 2 minutes walk from the beach, and cool huts that give you shade. There's also lots more people in the water but the place is so big it doesn't matter. But definitely my least favourite, seaweed. It was so fun we must of been there for 5 hours! My favourite part was how lots of the people that were there were so nice. Like the people who were siting next to us gave us watermelon and at the end gave us 3 drinks.

  

Learning Hebrew

The small letters under the big letters are the
formal way to write it.

You may be thinking that I'm having a really cruisy, easy holiday. Well you're probably right, but I also have to learn how to read and write in hebrew. Nearly every day after we have lunch, but before we have a schnutz, our dad teaches us for half and hour how to read and write. But It feels much harder to read and write in hebrew than in english. There are two different styles, cursive is the handwritten form, and  formal is the printed style like books, newspapers, ads, and posters. Right now I know the whole alphabet of by heart and can read up to lammed which is the 12th letter in the hebrew alphabet. There's also 5 letters that are spelt differently at the end of a sentence which I haven't learnt yet. To help me I installed a game that's really helpful and my mum likes it so she uses it. You write from right to left and  It's like reading a book from back to front.

Bowling

Yesterday my sister, mum, dad, and I went bowling. It was really fun with good music and cool lights. Before we got in the car, mum and I made a deal. If I win I can buy whatever chocolate I want. But if my mum wins, I have to give her a foot massage thinking I would beat her although I've never seen her play. Sadly I underestimated her and she beat me. Of course my dad came first because he's a bowling god and I came third because my mum got 2 strikes on the last 4 bowls but before that I was coming second.

Bring back the Mona Lisa

Today was the most fun I've had in such a long time! My sister, dad, mum and I went to an Escape Room for the first time and finished in less then an hour. The Escape Room was about bringing back the Mona Lisa and blocking the secret entrance that Carmen Sandiego (the thief) made to steal the Mona Lisa. It took us around 15 minutes to complete the first question (which I solved) and we had lots more. But after that we whizzed through it and finished it in 59 minutes and 29 seconds. That's right, we made it with 31 seconds to spare. You can't get closer than that. It was so fun we're going to do another one soon! The guy who runs it was really nice and gave us 2 clues along the way. My favourite part was when my dad got the pipe and was going to poke it into the painting but was just joking. Then my sister got the pipe and did exactly the same thing except actually did it, so it revealed a secret entrance and the painting fell with a loud bang which made my mum and sister scream which made me scream because I thought the screams were coming from inside the entrance. After that we all had a laugh and kept cracking codes.

Jordan river

The Jordan river (were we went kayaking) runs along our Kibbutz so It's really close.
There's also a really beautiful pathway with grape vine above your head so there's patches of shade everywhere. On the pathway you'll see lots of lizards and It's a good view of the mountains. My mum and I sometimes go for walks in the morning along the walkway but today we went in the Jordan. But it takes guts to get in. It's the coldest, frezzingest (that's not a word but it should be) river ever. It took me 5 minutes to get up to my stomach and 15 minutes to get my head under so 20 minutes altogether. We had a picnic under a big tree so there was shade and we had a great time.

       

Yoavs Bar Mitzva

Today at 11:00 we went to Yoavs Bar Mitzva. You probably don't know what a Bar Mitzva is so I'll tell you. A Bar Mitzva is when a boy turns 13 and a Bat Mitzva is when a girl turns 12. Right now I'll be
telling you what a Bar Mitzva is.
A Bar Mitzva is when a boy turns 13 and the whole family celebrates. (In this case around 60 people) It's when a boy becomes a man and is close to becoming an adult.

The person who has the Bar Mitzva makes something to represent how much he's grown. (With parents help if wanted)
Him and his closest family also give a speech about what he's like. It's like turning 18 in NZ except you give speeches and It's just your family. Ok, so It's not really like turning 18. Lets just say It's a birthday that happens 1 time in your life so you want it to be special. Anyway now I can tell you about Yoavs Bar Mitzva. It was really fun with lots of games and great food and snacks.
 I didn't know all the relatives because they were from different places but I got to know them. There was a fun place with Foosball and all these other fun games that I don't know the name of in a corner with some grass and music.
Most of the time I was in the play corner playing football and other games in the corner with all the kids but at the start I had to try all the food there because it was so good. My favourite food there was probably the falafel.
Yoav is my second cousin and as you know, turned 13. He loves football like me and is always smiling. Seriously, I've never seen him not smiling. He has a brother and a sister who are both younger than him. His brother is 7 and his sister is 11. He loves playing video games with his brother, and watching scary movies with his sister. (Who usually falls asleep in the middle of them.)
My favourite thing about Yoav is that he always sees the positive side of things and is really friendly and caring to other people. Sadly there leaving to America today because that's where they live and they were just on holiday. But I hope them a safe trip and hope they come back soon.

 

Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, It has a long history. Jerusalem has been destroyed at least 2, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. The "Old City" is divided into four quarters; Armenian, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish. My dad is Jewish by birth but our family are not religious. 

Western Wall Tunnels

The Western Wall is in the Old City but sadly most of it got destroyed 2,000 years ago. The wall stretched along almost half a kilometre,  but today, the only bit you can see is a small 70 metres. The tour of the tunnels underground were nice and cool, and we could reach and touch the hidden part of the sacred wall. We walked through ancient spaces, with large stone arches, water pits, an ancient water aqueduct that ended at a pool. My favourite bit was when we walked over glass with a 10 metre drop. It was a bit scary at first but then I realized there were people double my size walking across it so I would be fine.

Biblical Zoo

           The Zoo was so fun! There were so many crazy animals! There were dark places with Nocturnal animals like bats, and Owls and much more. My favourite animals were all the Lions, Leopards and Cheetahs, so all the big cats and the wolves. There were cool Lizards and spiders, my favourite part was when my sister screamed because she saw an Anaconda. But in the end, all of us had lots of fun and had

                                   a great time in Jerusalem.

Food

What is this?

If you've ever eaten something from New Zealand and thought it was 

the best thing in the world you're wrong, because the best thing in the world, is skydiving out of your private jet and instead of a parachute, you have a jetpack. But the second best thing in the world is the amazing food that they have in Israel. I'm telling you, you haven't lived until you've tasted the food in Israel. Oh, and by the way, if anyone can guess what the pink thing i'm holding up is, you get a prize. 

Best lunch ever!

Best hummus ever.

 Holy bread!

Kayaking

Today we went Kayaking along the Jordan river around 12:00 pm.
The water was freezing cold but refreshing so it was fun when we jumped in and out of the boat even though we're not meant to because
"It's not safe" but everyone does it anyway. At first you really don't want to get in because the water's freezing cold but all you need  is a little push. Sometimes literally, I was counting down from 3 and I ended up taking 10 seconds for me to get to 2 so my dad just pushed me in, I thanked him because it was refreshing and it would have took me 5 minutes until I got in. After that Alon and I just floated with our life jackets until the rapids came.
We went with my family and my 2 cousins, Alon and Gali, who are also twins.

Zip line going into the Jordan.

The best bit was when we went down the rapid at the end because it was really bumpy and water was flying everywhere.

Archery

After that we usually go on all the fun things that are also there like climbing walls, big ropes that you climb on in the trees, archery, and the zip line that goes into the Jordan. The Zip line is the best part because there's a climbing wall on the side so you can get up like that or you can use the ladders, and just the adrenaline and the feeling of zooming down into the freezing cold water. Next time were going to pay some extra money so we can go on the fun rides.

Zip line with a climbing wall

Israel-Family

First of all, for those of you who didn't know, I'm now in Israel! Before I tell you what we do here I need to tell you about family and what its like. It's so hot here that the average heat in the summer is around 36 degrees and at night it's around 20. So It's too hot to play outside when It's between 1-3 pm. So in that time you sleep or rest for 2 hours, which is called schnutz. Now that you know how hot it is, you should know about my family because It's big, and when I say big I don't mean 10 people big, I mean 35. Every friday, all the family comes together at where we're staying/my grandparents, and eat and eat and eat. We call it friday dinner. I think that pretty much sums up my family. 

The first thing we did after unpacking and recovering from jet lag was go to the pool. But this pool isn't like the Olympic pools, It's so much better. First of all, there's only one outdoor pool about double the size of the Olympic pools, and instead of walking into where you buy tickets and eat, you walk straight into the pool and theirs chairs and food inside the pool. Plus, if your from our Kibbutz, Kfar Blum, then you don't even have to pay. So It's bigger, easier to eat, more refreshing, and you don't have to pay. Now that's what I call a pool.