Book Review: Silver Shadows

Silver Shadows

Richelle Mead

Silver Shadows is a book of a series called blood lines. It’s about a girl called Sydney Sage (who is an alchemist) and a boy called Adrian. In this book there are beings called moroi, damhpire and strigoi. They’re all part vampire.

In this book of the series Sydney gets captured and brought to the re-education centre where they torture alchemists into hating moroi and dhampirs.

Adrian makes it his mission to find her and the other alchemists to set them free.       

I really enjoyed reading this book. It’s one of those books that you can’t put down. I think that it is suitable for years 5+(9+). Not too much inappropriate language.

⅘ star rating

Recipe for Disaster

To make our teacher angry,

Is considered to be bad,

So follow this tasty recipe,

To send her raving mad,

We have a calling out supreme,

with a side of silliness,

Is sure to make her mean,

But that won’t be enough,

So to get this night rolling,

Swearing is the touch,

A salad of bullying boys,

With a bunch of left-out toys,

To end this lovely evening,

We have a sprinkle of lolly delight,

An armful of graffiti,

Is sure to do her right,

But if she wants to stay around,

She’s not to make a sound.

Remember the time

I remember the time at school when...

sticks were toys,

and clods were balls

and trees were climbing walls.  

I remember the time when you would... 

pee behind a bush, 

hide in out of bounds 

and build a hut in the tree 

I remember the time when you would...

pretend to be spies 

be sent to the thinking room for being stupid 

and trading food was dodgy

A Marvelous menu to make your Teacher angry!

To make your teacher angry,

Is considered to be bad.

So follow this tasty menu,

To send them raving mad.

For their exotic entree,

I'll give them pan fried duck.

Served with pencil shavings, interruptions,

And a whole lot of school house muck!

Their main will include,

Bullies being rude.

If that's not enough,

I'll serve it with graffitied hats too!

Last but not least, a delicious dessert,

Lollies from the dairy that the boys bought.

I wonder what the teachers thought. It will also include,

Food scrapes from the floor, I wonder if the want anymore!

Their faces are bright red,

Their heads have hit the roof.

I wonder if I'll get in trouble,

Because they've got enough proof!

Lemon and Ginger Ice Cream

Combine
Sugar
Lemon Zest
Ginger
Stir
Heat
Dissolved
Boil
Syrup

Egg White

Beat

Stiff

Add

Whip Cream

Yoghurt

Very Thick

Spoon

Cover

Freeze

Ice Cream

SPACE - Personification Poem

SPACE

The excitement of lying on the roof of your tall house,

Your eyes filled with wonder,

When the stars tell you stories,

Filling the black mystical space,

Planets dance around in the sky,

The Milkyway plays the music,

Your mind gives you laughter,

The reality around you fades,

Up in space the world disappears,

It’s you and this lively creation,

This strange dark space,

New stories are created and said by the stars,

There’s a party on Mars,

A race on Saturn,

Mercury’s silence is concerning,

There’s a disaster on Venus as it spins,

Jupiter laughs,

Neptune, Uranus and Pluto are watching while dancing slowly,

No gravity holds you,

You’re free to be,

It all goes quiet,

The Empress Sun,

Welcomes you to her sanctuary,

The house starts yelling and shaking,

Bringing you back to reality,

Your mysterious sanctuary says goodbye,

But you know you’ll be back tomorrow night.

By Anja

Man with a beard poem

Great illustration because it shows what the poem is about. The poems explanation is good and well thought out. Good colour because it is not taking over the poem. The birds in the poem are illustrated in the picture giving the reader an idea of what the poem is about.

Top Team

Recently Top Team paid us a visit. It was great to see all the kids pushing their limits and  being adventurous, everyone tried their absolute best and had a great time doing it. My personal favourite would have had to been the two water based activities which I must say were rather challenging. I’d also like to thank the parents that volunteered to help with the activities. Unfortunately Red team came out on top but don’t worry green we still have a chance to win the house cup!

Storm personification poem

                                       THE STORM

                        Clouds paint the sky with rain.
                     Thunder shouts angrily in the sky.
                 Lightning crashes down faster than a jet.
                        Earthquakes rumble and groan.
                    The tsunami raced down the coastline.
                           The storm attacked the town.
                           The wind howled in the storm.
                           Tree's crack and do the limbo.
              The eye of the hurricane glared down on me.
                                 

                                       By Cameron

Capital E - 3D Movie Making

While the year 8's were in Wellington we went to Capital E to make a 3D movie. At Capital E you can make many different things such as 2D animation, soundtrack design, music making, app developments and 3D movie making.

To create 3D movies  we used a programe called Unity. We moulded moutains and rivers into the landscape we were given. We added trees, grass, birds and in some cases buildings or other objects. We changed the colours of the landscape and sky to give it a more realistic effect. It was also cool putting in weather such as rain to continue with the theme

I think we all enjoyed creating our movies and are proud of what we created.

War Poem

Hitler's armies smashed

moved swiftly

splitting defenders

trapping

forcing surrender

invade and conquer

exhausted abandoned

invasion outnumbered

Day after day assault

Winstone Churchill "Never before in human history was so much owed by so many to so few."

Their Finest Hour

Wahine Disaster

10 April 1968
Cyclone Giselle hit Wellington
Winds gusting
Entered harbor

Only seeing distance of 800 meters
Radar system no longer working
Off course, in line with Barrett Reef

Lifejackets were put on
Assembly Points
Harbormaster climb aboard
Abandon ship

Confused and frightened
Slid across deck
Four lifeboats

Small rescue boats
Surrounding Wahine
Waves battering ferry
Struggled to keep hold

Captain and deputy
last to leave
rolled completely
51 people died middle-aged or elderly
Drowned thrown against rocks

Christchurch A&P Show 2014

This year, I have been lucky enough to ride show ponies for the Bailey Family. I have competed throughout the season, in numerous A&P shows riding the ponies; Amberleigh Gold Touch and Amberleigh Spring Cup. The show I am going to talk about is Christchurch A&P Show.

I went to ride "Janey" and "Lilly" everyday of the week so they would keep up the good work. I got to stay the night at the grounds most nights, which was an awesome experience! As the days were coming and going, I was getting more and more nervous. I didn't get a chance to ride on Wednesday which was good in a way because I had a good chance to look around and prepare for the big days.

On Thursday, I just rode Lilly. She was really good for me. We placed 1st in our open, and 4th in paced and mannered. She also got Champion Novice B Pony which I was really happy with. It was Lilly's first time at the show, and she did really well!

On the last day: Friday, I was really nervous. It was Janey's turn this time. I had to get up early as my first class started at 8:30. I walked Janey over to the Issac arenas getting even more nervous. My first class was my open. I rode as best as I could, hoping I would win my first class. The judge really liked me. Janey did what I wanted, and we came out on top. This then carried me on to the Champion judging which I won, and got the sash and a lovely trophy. The judge then told me I was legible to compete in the Supreme Pony class. I trotted out of the ring with a grin on my face. I completed my other classes, and waited for supreme. A judge then signaled to me to come in.

I walked in, with the other legible ponies by my side. The judges got us to line up and complete a workout. This included a little bit of each movements to show off to the judges. I was last to do the workout. Once I had finished, I walked back to the line. While the judges collaborated, I said a friendly hello to the other competitors. We waited in suspense for the winning number to be called. "505, can you please walk forward." I couldn't believe that Janey and I were supreme pony 2014. It was very exciting! I collected my sash, and trophy. Photographers took heaps of pictures while I froze, smiling.
What a fantastic experience. Hopefully I ride for the Baileys next year!

Wellington Year 8 Camp

Wellington Museum 
For our year 8 camp we went to Wellington, we visited many interesting places one of those interesting places was the Wellington museum. We learnt may things about the wahine disaster, lots about maori history and what they use to do before tools and things like that started being invented.

Found Poem

Influenza Epidemic

December 1918,

soldiers returning,

over 8,000 people died,

disaster forget the horror,

Influenza infection in spain,

spread so rapidly,

soldiers returning from the trenches,

isolated parts of the world,

troop ships returning,

100 other crew members were ill,

in need of hospital care,

department of health,

avoid catching the virus,

keeping out of contact with others,

no flu vaccinations available,

influenza was on the lungs,

hard to breath,

not enough oxygen,

purple and black colour,

death,

in fumes,

clear their lungs,

not provided to be effective,

spread the infection,

one half of the population,

was infected with the flu,

military camps,

soldiers crammed together,

had higher death rates,

doctors and nurses,

medical supplies,

run low,

emergency hospitals,

tents,

soup kitchens,

unable to help themselves.

Tuesday in Wellington

We had to do a lot of walking on Tuesday!!!

Firstly, we went to the Museum of Wellington City and Sea. We learnt a lot about the Wahine disaster and we had to do a short role play to help us think about what it must have been like on that dreadful day.

We also had a quick look around Te Papa and got a taste of how cramped life must have been on the early ships. Not like our ferry crossing at all!!

The Year 8s have been let loose in Wellington!!!

We started off on Monday with an early start at the train station. We soon got comfy on the train and settled in for our long trip up to Picton.

Jackson made sure everyone safe on the train and abiding by ALL the rules!

Fortunately we had a smooth ferry crossing.

Our first chance to explore Wellington.

Book Spine Poetry

Last week a group worked with Carol trying to find books for their book spine poetry. Check out how they went.

Crossed - Book Review

Crossed - Ally Condie

Stars: ****

Age: 13+

Like the first book - its great! I really liked how everything flows and links together. It starts to get more interesting throughout the book and starting to make more sense. You start to put pieces together and suddenly it clicks and then you get excited and then it slows down a bit but like Matched  you want to read it over and over again! Can’t wait to read the next book in the trilogy!

Matched - Ally Condie

Matched - Ally Condie

Stars: ****

Age: 13+

It’s a good book. It doesn’t reach out to me like some other books do but I like the characters, setting and the problems Cassia and her friends come across. I would read it over and over again because it’s not a book that would bore you, it keeps you wanting more!  One down point it’s like Katniss (From the Hunger Games) deciding who she loves more Gale or Peeta. When I read the book it came across that Cassia was in the middle between who she loved more Ky or Xander but throughout the series it seems that Cassia leans towards Ky a bit more.  I would recommend to girls more than boys in an intermediate (11- 13) age group!

Cinder - Book Review

Cinder  - Marissa Meyer  

Stars: ****

Age: 13+

And you thought you knew the story of Cinderella! The difference is, is that Cinder is her own fairy godmother but a bit more cyborg like! It’s well written and the setting of the story is in New Beijing which is more interesting than America or somewhere in Europe. The characters were interesting - you were always puzzled by them and was left wondering what their secrets are and what they are going to do next. I loved the vocabulary but I didn’t like how Cinder’s stepmother was put together. The rest of the chronicles sounds so interesting and intense that I am looking forward to reading them.

Dangerous Creatures - Book Review

Dangerous Creatures - Garcia & Stohl

Stars: ****

Age: 13+

This was a perfect story to follow on with the Beautiful Creatures! I quite liked it coming from Ridley’s view. You  get to see who she really is and what she treasures most. I hope Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl are working on another Dangerous Creatures book because I would love to see what Ridley decides to do next and I wonder if it will involve the rest of the Ravenwood’s and Duchannes.

Well written. Needs to be awarded and it needs to be recognized better to get that award. I would recommend it to anyone who has read the first four Beautiful Creatures books.

Beautiful Creatures - Book Review

Beautiful Creatures - Garcia & Stohl

Stars: *****

Age: 13+

The Beautiful Creatures series sounds like a lovely book but there is only one word that would describe my feelings and thoughts for it…. WICKED! The story is so intense and since it’s written by two authors, the ideas and writing skills just click. It’s like chocolate and ice cream - they are made for each other!

I love how it’s written. It is one of my ultimate must-read series which I had already read before given the book at school. There are no words for how much I love this series.

If Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl read this I would say to them, “KEEP WRITING THOSE FANTASTIC STORIES!!!!!”

P.S the sad thing is the movie ruined the book and is nothing like the book!

The Fault in Our Stars - Book Review

Fault In Our Stars #FIOS - John Green

Stars: **

Age: 13+

The Fault in Our Stars is a  well written book. A nice flow and the characters are charming. But I don’t see the big deal over it! I know it was turned into a movie - and a good one too, but I didn’t feel the emotion in the book or the movie. I didn’t get why people made a fuss of it. It wasn’t much of a story when you really think about it. Cancer. Someone dies. The girl gets frustrated and upset and then happy.

There are real people who die from cancer everyday! There are real stories of people surviving cancer! That is what needs to be written.

The story gave too much away, too early! I could easily read into the story and figure out what’s going to happen next.  One thing I did like about the book was the egg throwing at the car. So there was some imagination!

Overall, it’s a book (and a movie) that you either love it or hate it! I do like the effort the Mr Green put into making the book and all the research.