Kia Ora Fellow Bookworms!

In this piece of writing, I will be showing you guys what I have been doing for my reading response, this week. My journal study that i’ve been focusing on was called ” King and Country ” mostly focusing on the life of Tipu, why he wanted to become a soldier and why did he participated in the war.

King & Country

Reading Responses – 

Vocabulary:

Recruits – enlist, hire, or enlist new people for a company, organisation, military, or activity, as well as to replenish or improve something.

Hastily- doing something with excessive speed, in a hurry, or without proper thought and care.

Shelling – the act of bombarding an area with artillery shells.

Contingent – something is dependent or on conditioned by uncertain future events.

Post-mark -an official, usually black ink, marking applied by postal services ( like USPS ) on mail items to cancel to stamp and record the date, time, and location of processing.

Magnifying Glass – 

Subheading – 

16 August 1914 – 

Explains how tipu overheard the debate around the marae area. The debate revolves around war, contributing to the Pakeha and Maori.

19 September 1914 – 

This paragraph was mostly about tipu socialising with his fellow pakeha friends. Then after the random game circumstance, he overheard his parents talking about the waikato war during the 1860.

3 August 1915

This paragraph starts off with Rahia that always reads Rongo’s letter, and he mostly reads it out loud sometimes. Tipu has heard these letters countless times from places he’d never heard of, nor seen. But when Tipu was talking with his mother, all he’d been thinking about was his brother more than anything.

8 September 1916

Tipu was now in the battlefield with other new recruits hastily, Tipu was shocked about the smell and environment simultaneously but he was comforted by his brother Rongo.

Reading between the lines – 

Why did the mom not let the teenager ( Tipu ) go to war? Because Tipu was too young to participate in the war.

Quick Find – 

Who is Tipu’s brother? – Rongo is Tipu’s brother

Why did Tipu want to go to war? – Tipu wanted to go to war because he overheard his parents saying that Waikato would soon be colonised by the pakeha.

Was Tipu the age limit for war? – During those times, Tipu was not the age limit for the war expectations, but he eventually got in a few years later.

Who did Tipu socialise with in his rugby games? – He mostly played with the pakeha during his rugby circumstances.

When did Tipu go to War – Tipu went to war during 8 September 1916.

Essence of the text  –

1. Explain how this biography explains the life of Tipu – This story explains the life of tipu, by explaining why he wanted to go to war, who he was, and why he coordinated his life to become a soldier.

Beyond the text – Day 1 –

In the beginning of the ferocious war, I ( Tipu ) held my gun with force ready than ever, concentrated as an eagle targeting its prey. My sweat drooled down my skin like a waterfall and my eyes groaned with fear.

Day 2 – 

I have bruises and scratches as visible as water, with tears from soldiers heard from afar. The war wasn’t over yet, so I coordinated my next step and kept going till it was over.

Day 3  –

On the final day, our troops were gaining lower numbers, the sunrise beginning to radiate my face like a warm presence giving me a mini hug. Then, the guns stopped, the screams radiated in echoes, and the soldiers started to cheer. We won the war, I hugged my brother Rongo as tight as a snake could go. And this would be the memorial of the 20th century war.

Kamusta!

For the last 2 days, we’ve been writing what we see in the picture and describing what we see or even making a narrative based on the picture is optional. It doesn’t have to be true, just write what you know or what you think is gonna happen. You can put people’s names you don’t even know ( because it’s gonna be fiction okay? )

While I was doing this I got confused if it had to be about ANZAC since one of my workmates beside me did ANZAC and I did a fiction one that’s not even real . I made The Secret Weapon up because I didn’t have any ideas on what to name my fiction military team, let me know if I have to change anything on this! ( etc; punctuation, Grammar, paragraphs )

In 1914, there was a war happening, as soldiers prepared for war – they sat in their tanks, heading to the battlefield. Armed ready to attack or defend – preparing to take down their opponents. There for 10 minutes of heading to the main place, they start blowing bombs. As the leader, Peter Griffin commands his soldiers, the secret weapon corp ( fictional military team ) , they make their first move, as they are the attackers, the other team also makes their move, defending as war happens, one of Peter’s favorite soldiers gets injured in the leg, Zerelia. Her aly, Stella slowly carries her out of the battlefield and grabs the medkit . “Are you okay? I’ll wrap a bandage around your leg, and then in a few days or few weeks, it’ll heal.”  – Stella

“ Yeah I’m fine..thank you Stella.” – Iah 

On the battlefield, Iah ( soldier of the Secret weapon ) throws a grenade on the enemy’s base and Captain Peter is surprised. “ I mean.. What can I say? That was interesting! “ Peter comments, trying not to disturb his soldier. Iah was focused a lot and didn’t respond to captain Peter. As the war goes on, backup arrives, soldiers shoot and aim – a couple hours later the war ends. Everyone is exhausted and the other military team has finished. Stella finishes wrapping a bandage around Iah’s leg, and the Secret Weapon military team slowly cheers that the battle is finally over but suddenly, Captain Peter yells out that the battle is not finished; His soldiers are confused and ask him why. 

“Well, if you look closely over there..” Peter points over a small shelter where everyone can almost see the other Captain

Stella and Iah returns to the battlefield and ic confused on what’s happening,

“What’s happening over here, Captain Peter?” – Iah

“War is not finished and WE shouldn’t even be celebrating early.” Peter stares at the people who were celebrating earlier and thought  that war is over. 

Fyi: Zerelia, Iah, and Stella are just names i’ve thought  to use in this narrative ( even Peter Griffins ) 

Think I might finish this on the weekends, Goodbye!

Kamusta? 

The first week of school, year 8’s in Edmund Hillary has been studying about long divisions and turning the remainder into fractions or decimals. It has been a challenge for me to turn the remainder into a decimal but overtime, i’m getting there.

To master long division, you begin by setting up the standard division bracket, placing the dividend (the number being divided) inside the “house” and the divisor (the number doing the work) on the outside to the left. The process follows a repetitive cycle often remembered by the acronym DMSB: Divide, Multiply, Subtract, and Bring Down. You start by seeing how many times the divisor fits into the first digit of the dividend. If the divisor is larger than that first digit, you expand your view to the first two digits. You write the result of that division directly on top of the bracket, multiply it back by the divisor, and subtract that total from your working number to see what’s left over.

• Divisor ( any number that divides another number )
• Dividend ( the number or total amount being divided in a division problem )
• Quotient ( the final answer obtained by dividing one number )

Once you have your subtraction result, you “bring down” the next digit from the dividend to sit beside it, creating a new number to work with. You repeat this cycle, dividing into the new number, multiplying, and subtracting, until you have processed every single digit available in the dividend. If you reach the end and have a number remaining that is smaller than your divisor, you have found your remainder.

To take it a step further and calculate a decimal, you must extend the dividend by adding a decimal point and a series of “placeholder” zeros (like changing 25 to 25.00). You place a matching decimal point in your answer directly above the bracket to keep your place value correct. You then continue the “Bring Down” process using these new zeros, one at a time, until your subtraction finally results in zero or you notice a repeating pattern. This extra step transforms a messy leftover into a clean, precise decimal value.

What have you been learning in Maths?

Kia Ora everyone,

Day one of the new term as we discussed before the war, New Zealand was just a small, faraway part of Britain. But when the war happened, Kiwi soldiers went overseas, did brave things, and suffered together. Even though it was sad, it made New Zealanders feel like they were a strong, independent team they finally ‘grew up’ and became their own nationt

Nga mehi, Melanie

Kia Ora, this week in Math we have been swapped teachers for Math and we have been doing long division and turning them into decimals and fractions  I really enjoyed this weeks in math because I love doing long division because it’s a very easier way to do it instead of doing it differently. What I found difficult was turning a fraction into a decimal.

 it was the king Birthday but no one said. happy birthday not even the Queen. maybe it’s not my birthday after all. he thought he went upstairs to his library and opened the Royal Birthday book. he looked for his name it is my birthday today he said pointing to his name and birth date. the king went out into the garden where the Royal Gardeners were picking do you know what day is is today he asked it Friday your majesty they said. as they cut some roses. and the king went into the kitchen where the Royal cook were making a cake do you know what today he asked. Baking day your majesty they said as they mixed the cake. the king went into the courtyard where the Royal

Menders the

Talofa, reader!

This week, my class and I were given a unique and creative challenge: we were given three distinct photos from different moments in history and asked to select one to talk about. After looking through the options, I found myself immediately drawn to a black-and-white image of Maori soldiers of the Pioneer Battalion performing a haka in an open field in France during the war. While the photo itself is a silent, frozen fragment of time, I wanted my writing to unlock the noise, the heat, and the profound emotion hidden within that frame.

I decided to employ a blended writing style, weaving together narrative storytelling with descriptive imagery. This approach allowed me to respect the historical gravity of the New Zealand Maori Pioneer Battalion, often called Te Hokowhitu-a-Tū, the 140 warriors of the war god, while using fiction to fill in the sensory gaps that history books sometimes overlook. This allowed me to build a fictionalised sequence of events that gave the soldiers a complete day of life. While the specific characters, their internal thoughts, are anchored in real wartime experiences. I wanted to show that their “rest day” was more than just an absence of work; it was a vital reclamation of their humanity. I wanted to capture the contrast between the mechanical, cold violence of the “big guns” and the warm, organic energy of the haka.

The haka is much more than a “war dance”; it is a vessel for storytelling, pride, and collective strength. In the context of a foreign war, it served as a way for these men to maintain their mana and connect with their ancestors.
By blending these two styles, I hoped to move beyond just describing a photo and instead invite the reader to stand in that circle of soldiers. My goal was to make them feel the vibration of the ground and witness a moment of pure, defiant joy, a reminder that even in the darkest chapters of history, culture remains a powerful tool for survival and identity.

Would you want that to happen in real life!?

Te hokowhitu-a-tu

Introduction

Kia ora my name is Price and I will be summrising about the journal of the maori battalion ( Te hokowhitu-a-tu).

on 4 august 1914 war was declared by the britsh (Germany) it was declared on the maori battalions. Some Pakeha were eager to help that maori battalions in the war so the goverment sent 8,000 men to fight but within for days, other pakehas volunteered to help fight with the moari battalion. Many Maoris wanted to join up, at first, but only a few did join. It was because the government said ” it was include a special group of soldiers called the maori contingent”. Boys as young as 15 was enlisted for the maori contingent. Some of the maori lied about their age to not be enlisted. The east coast and Rotorua gave enough men for the war. The maori contingent became known as Te Hokowhitu-a-Tu after training in Auckland in February 1915. Then in July ( same year), men were sent to Gallipoli because first reason is becuas ethey were sent to open the shipping route for Russia. Second reason is to knock Turkey out of the war and last reason is because to stop the deadlock at France. all although the britsh high command was uncomfortable with the idea. on August 6 the maori soliders  were ordered to attack the Turkish trenches along side the Chunuk Bair. 17 maori died on the slopes of Chunuk Biar. 89 more were wounded after the battle, maori soliders became known as brave soliders.

This week in room 9, we have been focusing on a story called ‘King & Country’ written by Andre Ngapo. The source for this story was ‘School Journal’. The purpose of making a summary is to understand clearly of what are reading, while at the same time knowing how to re-tell the story in our own words.

Summary:
Tipu suddenly had the courage to sign up for training to fight for his country, this was because he had seen that the Marae were mentioning that they would fight alongside the British. After he signed up, he suddenly realised that it said that you had to be twenty to go to be a soldier. Tipu was very frustrated yanking on the reins, indicating that he was riding on a horse home very frustratingly. Rongo (Tipu’s older brother) continues to explain how Tipu is too young to sign up. “But I think I’ll go” Rongo said. As Rongo adventures throughout aspects of the world fighting, Tipu can’t help but feel the urge of wanting to go with his brother more than ever. Tipu finally got the chance to get recruited into the army along with other new recruits. Although he was shocked by the injured soldiers they have passed. From afar he spotts his brother and reunites with him, and he could see the grief and trauma he’s experienced throughout his battles.

In my opinion, this activity was overall fun and interesting to do, considering that it is an eyecatching story.

Here is my DLO!!

Anzac Art 

Kia ora, Everyone today we make Anzac inspired Art 

We are learning to use Google drawing  as a tool to make Anzac art work. While commemorating our great soldier who fought in the war. This activity is challenging for me however I had fun creating my art piece.I used  Polyline, Shapes, Soldier Silhouette and Art Words with a background. 

Anzac art challange

Introduction

Kia ora my name is Price and in this blog I will be talking about the how I made the anzac art

The task was to make a Anzac art with a solider in the sunset next to some graves and that’s a replica to a Anzac art.

What did I do?

The meterials we use to make the Anzac art was Pollylines to make the outline for the mountain where the solider stands but I messed the moutain up the first time becuase I didn’t know you had to do the mountain all the around  and the you had to use the paint bucket icon to fill the mountain in with black ( it has to be black becuase its a solluite and a sunset). the next metairel I had to use was finding the background ( yellow to orange shading for the sunset ). I search on the Google drawing images but there was no resutls for it so I went to Google and search for “yellow and orange shading sunset” and I finally found a replica of the exact one the was shown on the screen and so I downloaded the image and placed it on the google drawing. the next metireal I had to use was find the find a solluite of a solider so I just found one one Google and I used BG remover to take out the background then I downloaded the the image and put it on the drawing. then finally I use the shapes t o find the sun and the graves ( I use a circle for the sun painted it white and I use dimond shape to make the grave and it painted it grey.

Identify challanges

The Anzac art was very hard to do because you need to be a cromebook expert to know what to do. The challenges I was facing were how to find the Pollylines and how to make the mountains. that other thing was where to find the shapes grave looking shape because I couldn’t find a shape the looks like a grave shape.

WHat did you enjoy about the challenge?

That Anzac art challenge was pertty fun because I liked how it challenge my brain to process where and how to make that stuff like the mountain and the silloutte soldiers because I couldn’t find a solider that was standing or oe that wasen’t aim with the gun

Talofa Lava Reader!
In room 9, Matua Aina (the cybersmart teacher) got the opportunity to teach us how to make an Anzac inspired art piece using google drawings. The task was to make a silhouette of a soldier, alongside with tombs and a nice gradient of a gleamy sky, hanging low with fiery colours such as crimson gold, amber and the fade and transition of day to night. The purpose of this activity was to learn how to create art using google drawings, while at the same time commemorating the soldiers fighting in the war to defend their country.

The Process:
During this process, I firstly set my background by a 2 finger click to a gradient of orange, yellow and white. Secondly I used the polygon line to trace out my ground using black, then I used my paint pot to fill in the shape. Thirdly, I searched up a soldier silhouette and removed the background using backround remover, and I placed the soldier on the mountain. Fourthly, I created a sun setting down in the background using a circle, and a thick border of a slightly different colour. Fiftly, I made tombs using shapes making it a gradient. Then finally, I made clouds using Google photos.

During this activity, I found it really enjoyable because it got room 9 and I to be really creative with our imagination, considering that we didn’t have any instructions unless we asked. I am really looking forward to activities like this in the future!

What ANZAC art did you do?

Sawu Bona Fellow Bookworms!

In this piece of writing, I will be mostly talkative about the topic of the Anzac art challenge, which was led by instructor Aina. So come with me in this cybersmart journey!

My experience throughout this activity was exceptional, I had no trouble collaborating with social buttons, due to past use of them before. Matua Aina, instructed us to create a replica of the Anzac day Artwork he designed as a Cybersmart challenge. I’ve learnt many new things such as a poly line, which basically creates connected, multi-segment lines and custom closed shapes. The challenges I faced was mostly trying to focus on one thing, it felt like a swarm of bees crowding my brain alongside what felt like a pencil stuck out of my fore-head simultaneously, which honestly I couldn’t describe the feeling, but not only that, but trying to coordinate other of my companions to the right track, which made me feel pressured.

The artwork piece sort of looked like a beautifully blended in sunset combo, with a soldier silhouette covering the white sun/moon, standing on a silhouette mountain with graves, of what I can inference is probably the graves of soldiers who didn’t make it past the previous wars that were continuing. I got to express some of what I could visualise in this specific topic I had, which I could finally consider expressing what I felt about this theme of choice.

Anzac day was a specific topic that was chosen, because Anzac day was approaching and what other pursuits to do other than the topic of Anzac? we had approximately 15 minutes to finalise this activity, but we could also polish it off tomorrow, but it was optional. This activity felt like a roller-coaster of  new ideas and collaboration with each other, which was pretty positive to me.

In all inclusive, this Anzac day art-work was used so that we could create another replica of it, while also having a time limit, which had some of us pressured and worried simultaneously. But nonetheless I had a great time in this activity because you get to express your ideas freely about Anzac day.

Thank you for reaching out to read my blog, and hopefully you have a great rest of your day.

Nga mihi – Poching Natoealofa

Kia Ora, this week we have been doing Anzac artwork I this I went on to google drawing and added a Red, Orange, and yellow background and added a circle and made it white to make it like the moon, I went on google and typed soldier silhouette and put it on the google drawing drew a mountain and made it black. I added shapes to make a grave and decorate it by added poppies.

What I found difficult was using the poly line to make the shape of the mountain and making the background because it was multi- colored and in a specific angle, finding the right shape to make the grave. I enjoyed being able to finish the task and making the background even though I found it difficult but I enjoyed it because of the colors and blending it together.

Anzac Artwork

This is about 300 minutes it is a book retell.

Mercer scrambled down deeper and deeper into the 30:00 dark the limestone walls were cold beneath his grimy fingers. Water dripped from stalactites echoing through the caverns and tunnels. Angry voices rang out behind him: he went this way I’ve got a footprint over here looks old ignore it. Mercer leapt from the edge of an outcropping and shimmied down a stalagmite the cavern floor looked squeezed  in just as torch beam swept past mercer didn’t have a torch. didn’t need one. He loved the dark – the shifting slipperiness of it. on moonless night he’d sneak out and prowl the streets of the village or walk along the empty beach listening to the roar of vast invisible ocean. With his ribs compressed between two slabs of stone he could’t breath in all the way. A wet, mossy smell filled his. noes He still had the portable cassette player clenched in one dirty hand.

Kia Ora, this first week back at school for term 2 we have been learning about the Maori battalion and the first world war in the first paragraph they talked about the part when the British empire which was they still decided there foreign policy most of the Pakeha weren’t bothered by it many still thought as it at home.

Then in July 1915, the men were sent to Gallipoli the British high commander was uncomfortable with the idea of the native people fighting alongside the Europeans but first the soldier were kept busy digging trenches and building supply depots. After they finished war they were sent back to New Zealand. The men were angry to be treated this way but also pleased that they were going home the soldiers were welcomed with parades and parties all over the country.

Kia ora my Name is peter and one day ago I had this book to go with to home and that was milesmrlies rstranger tides. in this book it talk about how miles morales turn in to a spider boy.

after a few a days their was something was happening at the city, their was someone was destroying the city he was big , dandrist, there was no one to save because every one was scared, in 2 min someone came to the rescue and that was miles morales he was their ton stop him for good.

10 miutes later miles morales dafetted the monster and miles morales sweing back to home with his weabs. when he was sweing around he met the one an only sdier men .

They went somewhere to go talk about how they trun in to sdiers,after talking  to each other they diside to work togther and fight some crime  in the city.

after they work togther they fighted crime and they become friend  forevery .

Kia ora

One hot day there was a soldier he was looking at those soldiers you fast and he did a haka for you. Imagine  he was doing it with his friends and he was so fun that he friend and he need to go home 

I search up for the soldier and put them on the mountain I made by using this creation and I use blocks to make it look like stone to the people who passed away joined the Great world best war and i Used a big white Circle to make it look like a sun I Change  background and you can see the background is so cool that i can’t do 

Kia ora,

Yesterday we started on a new school journal called “King and country” level 4, each person has roles ( etc: interpreter, overseer, leader, questioner and predictor called reciprocal ) The book or topic is about the first world war. The main character is Tipu, eventually he wanted to sign up for the war but Rongo said he had to be 20 above.

Me doing this with my group was okay, but we got confused on who was gonna be the leader next – obviously I was a predictor but I couldn’t predict that much. Anyways I liked the story, the way it had pictures and all of that It only took us around 15-26 minutes.

Give me suggestions on which I should improve on! ( helpful ones please. ) Have a good day!