Woah! That building over there is very similar to the Taj Mahal in India!

On Saturday 28th of May, before night time, my family and I went to the viaduct where there were ships and vessels. We went there so we could explore and get to learn more about the place. We used our four-wheeled car because it is used for travelling purposes when our family goes to faraway places.  Luckily the weather wasn't bad on that day so we decided that it was a great time for some adventure. We all got ready excitedly then I rushed to the car first because I couldn't wait to go.

While travelling, I saw different kinds of buildings and cars. I saw tall buildings, small buildings, vintage cars and new shiny cars. At first, I was a bit confused as to where we were going since it was my first time passing through to that way. My mother was taking pictures so she could post them online while I was looking for more interesting things. I was amazed at the beauty of the sun coming down which made the autumn leaves look spectacular.

When we arrived at the viaduct in Auckland, I  was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful scenery. I saw vessels and boats coming in and sailing away. My uncle took pictures of my mother and I in the middle of one of the boats and a very tall brown building that looked similar to Taj Mahal in India.  After taking a lot of photos, the boat had finally sailed away, so we couldn't take anymore pictures of it.  It was nice to actually see boats sailing because it's a whole new experience for me.

Then we decided to move to another destination since it was time to have dinner. We went to Dominion Road in Balmoral. We used our GPS to guide us to locate the place.  When we got there,  we searched for a nice place to eat. Eventually, we found a Chinese restaurant called, 'Yummy Kitchen'. We had to order our food and my mother and uncle ordered a plate of noodles, a plate of salted pepper chicken, fried rice and dumplings. When the food was served, I took a piece of the salted pepper chicken and I realised it was very delicious. So the next time I took one more and I decided to savour the flavour before swallowing it. After dinner, we paid the bill then went back home. We had to run to our car quickly because the rain started to pour down on us.

Saturday was a fun day for me because I got to explore a new place in Auckland. Next time we go travelling, I want to ask my uncle and mother if we could travel to another place that we haven't been to before. My favourite part of Saturday was when I saw new different kinds of buildings and cars that we passed by on the way.

Learning intention: We are learning to understand and add descriptive language.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I add 23 appropriate adjectives to describe my weekend.

Compost is very important to plants!

Learning intention: We are learning to develop our critical thinking skills using Thinkers Keys.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I use the Alphabet key to find words that are related to compost.

Hmmm, what's the greatest common factor for these two numbers?

Learning intention: We are learning to understand the greatest common factor.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I explain how to find the greatest common factor by first working out the factors for each set of numbers.

What a long way to KFC!

On Sunday 22nd of May, my family and I planned to go on a long trip and discover places that we haven't been before. We ate caramel flavoured ice cream before leaving the house. It was so delicious that I savoured the flavour of the ice cream. After eating, we packed some snacks in case we felt hungry. We used our big red car because we always use it for long trips. I was so excited that I couldn't wait to reach our destination.

While we were on the road, I looked at the different cars on the street and all of a sudden I heard a loud sound. The rain poured down so my uncle turned on the wipers. As soon as he turned it on, the rain poured down so hard that the front screen fogged up. I became very scared because I thought my uncle could not see the road due to the fog.  After a few minutes of driving away, the rain had stopped. I felt that the rain had only poured down on one spot. I turned my attention back to looking for more cars that had different colours and sizes.

After a little while, we stopped at a church in Bombay and looked for a place to have lunch. My uncle had a bright idea and he used the GPS to help us find fast food restaurants. We decided to eat at KFC since we haven't eaten there for a very long time. The journey to KFC was only about eight kilometres so I decided to rest my eyes on the way there.

After a few minutes we finally reached KFC. It was raining again so I was worried that we would get wet in the rain and catch a cold. Once we have parked, we waited for a few minutes for the rain to die down. Soon the rain calmed down so I opened the door quickly and ran as fast as I could but then I smelt something that made me slow down a little. It was the aroma of chicken cooking! This made me eager for lunch so I ran quicker to KFC.

Next my mother decided what to order. She told me that I was going to have two pieces of drumsticks and a chicken thigh. I was getting more and more hungry by the second because the aroma of the chicken was everywhere. While we were waiting, I decided to wash my hands so that it's clean. Soon the food was on the table but before we could eat our meal, we said a lunch prayer. After saying it, I quickly grabbed one of the humongous piece of chicken and dipped it into the ketchup. It was so delicious. It took me a long time to eat my meal because I enjoying every bite slowly. When I finished eating, I washed my hands again and then we ran back to our car as the rain had calmed down.

Finally, we decided to go home because we didn't have any luck finding a place to go. On the way home, the rain poured down very hard again and the fog was blocking the glass. I decided to close my eyes and cover my ears until the rain calmed down and the fog had disappeared. After a few minutes of covering my eyes and ears, the rain stopped. We continued our journey back to our home.

Sunday was a very wet day but I still liked it because I got to eat at KFC. We also travelled 40 kilometres away from my house. Before we have a long trip next time, I will check the weather. My favourite part of the trip was seeing and exploring all the new buildings.

We are learning to understand and use descriptive language in a recount.

I know I can do this when I add 20 appropriate adjectives to describe my weekend adventure.

Time to convert decimals, fractions and percentages!

Learning intention: We are learning to convert percentages, fractions and decimals.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write steps for converting fractions to percentages, fractions to decimals, percentages to fractions, percentages to decimals, decimals to fractions and decimals to percentages.

Strawberries and the sun are different but they still have common points!

We are learning to understand to develop critical thinking skills through graphic organisers.
I know I can do this when I use the commonality key to find commonalities between a strawberry and the sun.

Woah! These gardens have lots of plants!

Learning intention: We are learning to write a description.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I describe five different areas of the Botanical garden.

Time to experiment!

We are learning to write a description.
I know I can do this when I describe what I want to be when I grow up.

I want to be a chemist when I grow up. A chemist is a person who focuses their research on the movement and structure of the atoms and the molecules which makes all forms of matter. Chemistry is connected to medicine, biology, astronomy and more other science areas. A chemist also experiments the chain reactions that occurs in their experiments.

Look, I made my own pet!

How to make your very own stone pet - horse!

You will need:

• Odd shaped stones that looks like a horse
• 4cm String or Wool
• Brown paint
• Black paint
• Tiny buttons
• Small paper
• Paint brushes
• PVA glue
• A glass half full of water.

Method:

1. Grab your paintbrush and dip it into the brown paint and paint your stone horse. Be careful not to paint the top of the horse because it will be painted in another colour.
2. Dip your paintbrush in a glass of water to clean the paintbrush for ten seconds.
3. Dip your paintbrush into the black paint and paint the top of the stone horse. Be careful not to paint over the brown paint.
4. Use buttons for the eyes of the stone horse. Use PVA glue to glue them on the head of the stone horse. You can paint the eyes of the horse if you want.
5. Grab the 4 cm string for the tail. Use PVA glue and glue it to the back of the horse and your stone horse is finally finished!

Learning intention: We are learning to write a procedure. Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write five steps to make a stone pet horse.

I need to find a good spot to plant my seedling!

How to transfer a seedling into a garden bed!

You will need:

• Watering can
• Rubber gloves
• Trowel
• Brown sheep poo
• A big garden bed
• A seedling in a pot

Method:

1. Grab your rubber gardening gloves and wear it, make sure you have the right glove for each hand.
2. Find a space in your garden bed for your seedling.
3. Dig a medium sized hole using your trowel (making sure it's the depth of the seedling). Make sure it's not to big or too small for the seedling.
4. Put your brown sheep poo into the hole.
5. Squeeze each side of the seedling in a pot to loosen the soil in the pot.
6. Hold the seedling between your index finger and your middle finger. Use your other hand to support the seedling and then turn it upside down carefully.
7. Slowly pull and tap the seedling out and place it into the hole quickly. If the pot of the seedling cannot be removed, try step five again.
8. Use your trowel to cover up the seedling with the surrounding soil.
9. Take off your gloves and use the watering can to water the seedling that you've transferred.
10. Finally put back your watering can back and wash your hands.

Learning intention: We are learning to create a procedure.

I know I can do this when I write 10 steps for transfering a seedling into a garden bed.

Hmmm! How do we multiply this?

We are learning to multiplying decimals.
I know I can do this when I can write the steps for multiply decimals using factors and place value.

Tomatoes are very colourful!

Learning intention: We are learning to develop critical thinking skills using Thinkers Keys.
Success criteria: I know I know I can do this when I make a brainstorm using the keywords that I have researched about tomatoes and use the Alphabetical Key to find words that are related to tomatoes.

Wow! Hmm! No!

We are learning to understand interjections in written language.
I know I can do this when I explain what an injection is and use it in a sentence to show my understanding.

You can order decimals by following the steps!

Learning intention: We are learning to order decimals.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write 3 steps of how we can order decimals with a given example.

God is always around us!

We are learning to identify the names and images of God from the Old and New Testament.
I know I can do this when I use a venn diagram to compare the images of God in the Old and the New Testament.

Keep the dog away from the vegetable patch!

We are learning to develop critical thinking skills using Thinkers Keys.
I know I can do this when I use the Brainstorming Key to come up with three ways to keep the dog from destroying the vegetable patch.