Transformation; Enlargement

Over the last week I have been working on enlarging a drawing I did of a pair of ballet shoes. Here is my final drawing.

Transformation Slide

End of Year Sign-Off

There is going to be heaps I miss about being in room 10 including how everyone looks out for each other and how we hardly ever argue. Miss O'B is such an amazing teacher that I'll be sad not to be in her class next year.
In the Summer holidays I'm planning to practice my violin and piano as much as I can and catch up with some of my friends from my old school.
I'm also trying to persuade my bestie who lives in Nelson to come and stay with me for a while so it would be amazing if we could catch up.
I'm also really looking forward to Christmas and swimming in our pool.
My family and I are going to Gisborne for a while to see some family friends, I've never been to Gisborne and I really like exploring new places so I'm looking forward to that.

Christmas Jibjab

My Inquiry Kahoot

For Inquiry this week we made Kahoots on a range of explaining the unexplained topics. Here is a link to my Kahoot.
https://create.kahoot.it/create#/edit/3f151ae3-5006-49fc-ad2d-4ade860bd95a/overview

Writing; Pobble 365

All About Me, for My Teacher Next Year

Novel Study for the Boy on Top of the Mountain

Task one: Blurb for The Boy on Top of the Mountain

Imagine being sent away from your own home, travelling by train for hundreds of miles. You are only seven and you are alone in a changing world…

Pierrot doesn’t know anything of the war or the Nazis when he is sent away to live with his Aunt at the top of a mountain in Germany.

World War 2 has just broken out and little does Pierrot know, but he is living in the same house as the man who started it.

Pierrot is sucked into Hitler’s spell where he lives in awe of the horrible man for years to come.

Little by little Hitler draws Perrot away from his life in Paris and turns him into a junior Nazi.

Task 2: From the Character’s point of View

Here is a piece of writing from Beatrix’s point of view. The Boy on Top of the Mountain. Page 152.

I tried as hard as I could to steady my shaking hands.

“The first slice for the Fuhrer”, I said. My voice came out in a trembling squeak, not at all the calm and collected voice I had planned in my mind.

“Yes of course”, replied Ernst calmly and brightly. “You must tell us if it is as good as it looks.

I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to steady my shaking body. Praying that our plan would be successful but I couldn’t help having some doubts.

“Sadly I don’t think I can eat another thing,” declared Hitler. “I’m ready to burst as it is!”

I swallow hard.

“Oh but you must mein Fuhrer!” cried Ernst immediately. “I’m sorry”, said Ernst, a slight tremor in his voice as he noticed everyone’s surprise at his enthusiasm. “I only meant that you must reward yourself. You have done so much for us this year. One slice please. To celebrate the festive season. And afterwards we can all enjoy some.”

I am astounded at Ernst’s confidence and mock enthusiasm. I could never say all those lies so easily.

Emma cut a generous portion, put it on a plate with a small fork before handing it across, and Fuhrer looked at it for a moment uncertainly before laughing and accepting.

Everything was going to plan.

“Of course you’re right,”he said. “It’s not Christmas without stollen”. He used the side of his fork to cut a section of the cake and bought it to his lips.

I stole a glance at Ernst, he winked and smiled before returning his face to neutral.

“Wait!”cried Pierott, jumping forward. “Stop!”

And I knew all hope was lost of poisoning Hitler.

Task 3, A News Report About the Setting of The Boy on Top of the Mountain, 2017

Guten abend, I’m Hannah Muller bringing you the latest German news. Around a remote mountain range near Munich, there’s a place called Obersalzberg, which is a small village set into the base of the mountains.

On one particularly high mountain, in the centre of the range, there is a grand mansion which was once the home of the powerful Adolf Hitler, who lived there in the 1930 and 40s. Herr Hitler employed a very large host of staff, but when some of them discovered the unspeakable things that he did and wanted to stop them, he had them murdered in his backyard by his soldiers.

Towards the end of World War 2, Hitler’s mansion was overtaken by British while searching for Hitler, who had long since escaped.

The mansion remains to this day in disrepair but plans have been made to turn it into a tourist destination.

From Berlin, I’m Hannah Muller, thank you and gute nacht.

(This paragraph is untrue.)

Link to a Slide About the Theme of The Boy on Top of the Mountain

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ABKX9WomHCpHfgYMhRXxV42IOkxmrkMPKwyTS95Jidw/edit#slide=id.g29abf4e1af_0_0

Questions for the Author, John Boyne

• What motivated you to write The Boy on Top of the Mountain?
• Did you base the characters on anyone real?
• Why did you choose to set the Boy on Top of the Mountain in the war?
• What was the biggest piece of editing you had to do before publishing your book?
• Who is your favourite character?

Mandarin Pandas

In Mandarin lesson today we did some traditional Chinese art. We used black ink to paint panda bears. The paper we used was very absorbent and so the ink spread a lot. Evan accidently squirted ink all over my paper so I did my best to cover it up and ended up with random branches and black blobs that were meant to be clouds all over my painting.
Here is a picture of me and Lily painting.

My Passion Project

For my Term 4 passion project I did Earth Evolution. It was really interesting finding out about how the Earth really began. I wrote pages and pages of writing but it was all by hand so unfortunately I can't post it. Anyway, for the project part of my passion project I made a big piece of art that showed a few of the most important transitions the Earth went through. Lava and molten rock, granite rock, beginning of nonvascular plants, dinosaurs and lastly humans. Here are three photos.
I think my presentation went really well with lots of warm fuzzies from people in room 10. I was pretty pleased with the turn-out of my artwork too. It took me a lot of time to make but it was worth it.

My Finished Short Stories

Earlier I posted a doc with all my short stories on it. I have spent the last few days putting those stories onto these pages which I will print and bind together as a book. Welcome to The Little Book of Horrors...

Adding Detail

At the beginning of each reading session every day we have been doing something called adding detail. It was a short activity where we had 10 minutes to write about the photos on the slide above. Here is mine.

The Big Think

In Room 10 we have been working on something called the Big Think which is a slide and a spreadsheet where we pretended we had been given $1, 000, 000 out of nowhere and we then could buy pretty much anything we wanted to. Each slide had a topic, i.e. travel, and we then got to go online and find tickets to wherever we want to go in the world. That slide involved finding hotels, restaurants, activities and of course flights.
There were many slides, with topics like clothing, furnishings and food. We got to 'buy' as much of these things as we wanted but we had to stick to our budget of $1, 000, 000.
We then put all our prices of things we wanted onto a spreadsheet and worked out how much we had spent.

Mandarin

In Mandarin today we made a timetable, (in Mandarin of course.) I didn't do mine electronically so I've taken a photo of it, here it is! (Sorry, it's quite wonky.)

Science Badge;Psychology

  I chose to complete a science badge on psychology because it really interests me and I really wanted to explore that subject. Here is my favourite piece of writing for my science badge.

My Four Short Stories

The Girl Behind the Curtain

Hidden between the folds of the curtain, the little girl watched in horror, as the old man shook under the deathly grip of the monster from her nightmare.

Yellowed fangs, hollow eyes, a twisting smile full of lies.

Close your eyes and hold your breath, or you will meet a ghastly death. She blinked, the voice from her nightmare swirled through her head, laughing at her malevolently.

She wanted to move, to run, to escape, but her legs stood frozen to the ground like molded iron.

The old man’s head lolled to one side, the monster nodded and bared his claws. She couldn’t watch what came next, so she squeezed her eyes closed and bit her lip waiting in a terrified silence.

Crooked nose, grey black hair, none can escape his fateful glare,

Block your ears and clench your fist, or he’ll tick your name off his list.

Haunting voices and ghostly images swarmed into her memory. Her body shook and her stomach churned as she imagined what was happening to the poor old man.

A salty tear slid down her cheek leaving a pale water-track. There was a tiny splash as the tear landed on her bare foot, she gasped, anything could give her away now.

Pale grey lips, raspy voice, to turn evil was his choice.

Crooked shoulders, gnarled knees, a jangling bunch of rusty keys

More voices snarling at her. More mocking laughs, she’d heard before in that horrific nightmare.

No longer could she bare it, no longer would she bare it. She thrust aside the curtain and screamed as loud as she could.

She felt angry, upset, unjustified, hurt, because the monster’s victim was her Grandad.

Monster at Night

It’s 3am, I lie awake in my bed alone, restless. A tap drips in the bathroom nextdoor, otherwise there is silence.

Creak.

My wardrobe door slides open, I gasp and hide under the bed covers. The sound of feet padding towards me fills my ears. A clawed hand rests on my shoulder, another on my back.

Even through the bedcovers I can smell rancid breath. Like rotten meat and sour milk.

I imagine fangs dripping with blood hovering over my head. I think of the hungry malicious eyes boring into my back and tremble.

I try to scream but no sound comes out. My mouth's as dry as sand. A feeling of dread sucks all the happiness out of my body replacing it with a cold, black fear that engulfs my mind and body.

The monsters hand climbs up my neck and onto my head. Claws press deeply into my skull and a panting sound fills my ears.

I think about the monster, about to strike, readying his claws and fangs. I brace myself for what might come, biting my lip in fear.

I’m vaguely aware of a clawed hand pulling at my covers. I squeeze my eyes closed and bite back tears.

A cold chill passes over my head and neck as my covers are pulled away, I summon all my courage and turn to face the monster.

I am ready to see the blood-dripping fangs, the evil eyes and long sharp claws, except that is not what I see, I see the shape of a little animal, ruffled fur and scruffy ears.

I see the silhouette of my dog.

Lure

“Follow me, little girl, follow me…”

“We are we going?” the child asked brightly taking the grey bony hand in hers.

“Oh, that’s a surprise”,he said to her and smirked.

“I love surprises!”the little girl cried out and tugged on his hand. “Come on, let’s go to the surprise.”

“Of course little girl, of course.”

Hand in hand the grey shadow man and the excitable little girl walked down the alley and disappeared around a corner.

For a split second, a flicker of doubt crossed the little girl’s face but it quickly vanished when she remembered the surprise.

“Where are we going?” She asked.

The shadow replied with a gleeful but sinister laugh.

The child cocked her head to one side and gave him a questioning look.

“Where?”

“To the surprise little girl, the surprise.”

He lead her into a derelict building and up a flight of decrepit stairs, as he was opening an old, rotten door, she stopped and looked up at him.

“Mummy said I shouldn’t go in here”, she paused, an image of her mother pointing to the alleyway she was in and shaking her head. “She said it was a bad place.”

“Oh but this is my home, it’s a lovely place”, said the shadow man, his eyes full of sadness.

The little girls nodded, feeling bad and followed him down a corridor and into a dark room. He closed the door behind him and turned the key in the lock then tossed it into a corner.

It was pitch black and cold, the little girl felt sad, and in a trembling voice she whispered,

“What about the surprise?”

Mirror

A skeletal face emerged from the darkness, pale grey lips and searching eyes, a twisted neck and bent shoulders, bones showing through pale grey skin.

A gnarled hand lifted upwards and rested on a pronounced cheek bone. The lips curled into a smile. A broken laugh echoed through the room, breaking the silence.

Un-cut nails that were long and sharp scratched along the mirror, shattering the perfect glass. Shards landed with perfect precision around large bare feet, forming a mysterious sentence.

Welcome back to your former life, girl of untold happiness…

A spark of an idea, deja vu, blackness.

Thin eyelids flutter open, a memory planted in a possessed mind, a memory of a smiling child in a buttery yellow dress throwing a stick for a dog, laughing. A smiling mother calling and a grinning little sister with an out-of-tune ukulele in her hand.

A life of by-gone bliss.

Duane Kale

My Home Learning, Week 3

My Home Learning, Week 2

Athletics Description, High-Jump

High-jump is a well-known Olympic sport that is the result of humans trying to fly.

At the last Olympics, in Rio, 2016, there were some incredible high-jumpers who could leap over two metres high!

To be a professional high-jumper, you need to be fit, strong and you need to have plenty of self confidence.

Reaching a high level in any kind of athletics takes dedication, passion and lots and lots of practice.

Here are a few steps on how to do a high jump…

1. Warm up your muscles by doing a few gentle stretches.
2. Now to find your dominant leg; put both your feet together and start falling forward, whichever leg you put out first is your dominant leg.
3. If your dominant leg is your right leg then you will find it easy to run from the right side when doing your run up to the jump. It is the same with your left leg.
4. Now go back to your starting point.
5. Run in a curved line from your dominant side up to the jump and lift your best leg upward and over the pole, then do the same with your second leg.
6. Practice this slowly until you get it right.
7. Now do exactly what you have just been practicing but in one fast motion.
8. Each time you practice high jump, try to get a little bit higher every time.
9. To finish stretch your leg and back muscles so you won’t injure yourself. Some of the most well known high-jump techniques include the scissor kick, which is when you kick your legs in a scissor motion, one at a time, when your jumping over the pole. While using the scissor technique, make sure to keep your body as vertical as possible because that will give your legs more room to kick over the pole.
   Another technique is the Fosbury Flop which is slightly more difficult. This tricky technique was invented by the 1968 American high jump champion, Dick Fosbury, who used this technique to get him a gold medal at the 1968 olympics. This technique involves leaping over the bar and landing on your back. This time you will make your body horizontal while you leap and it’s your choice whether you jump head first or foot first.
   If you’re a high-jump beginner, it’s a good idea to learn the scissor technique first because it will teach you the basic skills of high-jump. Although when your jumps start reaching higher and higher, then it’s probably time to learn the Fosbury Flop which will hopefully enable you to jump to even greater heights and carry your body in a more horizontal position, which should make it easier to clear the high jump pole.After doing high-jump, you really need to stretch and exercise your muscles so they don’t hurt afterwards.  It is important to warm up your muscles before doing anything physical because when your muscles haven’t warmed up then it is a lot easier to pull, jar or even tear a muscle.
   Landing can be difficult when doing high-jump because most people put all their energy into their jump and not into their landing. Ultimately you will land on your back or even better, your feet, but while you’re learning high-jump, it is really difficult to focus on landing as well as jumping. Make sure you don’t land on your head or neck though, damaging this part of your body can lead to long-term spinal injuries and brain damage. Also remember to have a crash mat underneath and beside your high-jump pole because landing straight on the ground would painful! I hope you have learnt how to do a high-jump and hopefully some good tips for when you are practicing or competing.
   Remember to trust yourself and believe in yourself, everything takes a little bit of self confidence...

This description I wrote about high jump because I really want to get better at it and I thought that if I learnt more about it while writing this description then I might learn some useful tips and techniques. I really hope you enjoyed reading my description!

Week 1 Home Learning

Here is my home learning for week one, it is a weather report for Venus. I did a bit of research and found out that the average degree on Venus is 462 celsius so I based my description and weather report on that. I wrote about six areas of Venus but I think I probably should have done more.  

My Values Slide

My Term Reflection

Term 3 has been the BEST term yet! I was soo nervous starting a new school in term one and I spent most of my spare time at home locked in my room feeling terrified and missing my friends from my old school. I was really busy in Term 2 and had a good term but I still felt like the new kid and I didn't feel like I fitted in that well. But this term Nadia started and it is soo cool to have another newish person in Room 10. We sit together in class and she is really fun to hang out with.

I have learnt lots this term and here is a photo of a poster I made for last week's home learning about my term highlights. 

Pubertal Health

In Room 10 we have been learning about Pubertal Health. I know, it sounds awkward and embarrassing, but it's not that bad. I mean I wouldn't spend my weekend learning about it but it's not like the worst thing in the whole world.
If I was the teacher I would probably teach the girls and boys separately because sometimes it's not that pleasant learning about puberty for boys as well as puberty for girls.
I was really reluctant to come to school on the first Monday of puberty, but mum said there was nothing wrong with me so I had to go.
Anyway, learning about puberty isn't nearly as cringey and embarrassing as I thought it would be. Phew!

Maths Learning

In Room 10 we have been learning about position and orientation. Tools we have been using include the Workspace, Maths Buddy and the HNI Math Hub. Wiles, my maths group have also been working paper treasure maps and writing our own directions for them. I will post a photo of mine when I have finished.
Here are few screenshots of things I have been doing.

My School Speech Reflection

Self Reflection!

WALT: Plan, prepare and deliver a persuasive speech related to our T3 inquiry topic - Healthy Bodies, Strong Minds

Topic: Stress-What Impact Does it Have on Us?

Persuasive component: Include personal, real life stories related to my topic.

Time: 3:03

Keep (What would you keep in your speech if you did it again?)	Change (What would you change in your speech for next time, how could you make it even better? and why?)	Match (Pick a partner from our class and ask what they would keep, change, add and chuck. What is similar to your thinking?)
I would keep the conclusion of my speech because i think it summarized the main points of my topic and left the audience thinking. (Hopefully.) In conclusion, I’d like to say that sometimes the best thing you can do for your health is just to chill out, relax.	I would change the part where I talked about things that you can do after school, I don’t think that it was very engaging.	I compared my reflection to Savannah’s and our keep, change, add and chuck(s) were all very different. She wanted to get rid of her introduction while I quite liked mine etc...
Add (What further ideas and/or detail would you add to your speech? Were you persuasive enough - what do you peers think?)	Chuck (What are some of the parts of your speech you would scrap?)
I think I would add something about mindfulness and how you can get over stress. All I said on that front was chill out, relax, which is an okay idea, it just needs further detail.	I would get rid of the part when I attempted to be humorous and completely failed. (hmm, I sound a bit like a dull intellectual don’t I?)

Reflective thoughts above + feedback from your learning buddy/peers/teacher

= your next LEARNING step...

My next learning step for my next speech in the future is ……. because...

My Novel Study doc

      NOVEL STUDY (From Chapter 7)

Q1 = Describe Mr Daniels

Mr Daniels is always trying to be encouraging, he is forever setting new tasks and activities for Ally and her class.

Q2 = What does Ally think of Mr Daniel’s so far?

It is hard to say. I don’t think she likes his approach to encourage a lot of reading and writing, but she prefers him to her first teacher.

Q3 = In this section, Ally makes a decision on how she treats another character that seems to weigh on her mind. Why do you think Ally participated in this hurtful discussion with Albert?

I think Ally really wanted to join in on something with other girls in her class. I think she is also sick of being the odd one out.

We have got quite a bit of evidence that Ally just doesn’t quite fit in with her classmates. What are some of the examples the author has given us about this fact?

Ally is dyslexic, she has a lot of trouble with reading and writing and Shay holds a very big grudge with her.

There are many key events in this section. Pick what you think are three of the most important things that have happened. For each, explain why you feel that they are so important to the story.

*** I was away

There are many words that can be used to describe Ally. Pick one character that you think fits her well.

*** I was away

Ally and her friends are called “misfits” by Shay and her friends. Do you agree with this? Explain your thinking.

Just because Ally and her friends aren’t wrapped around Shay’s little finger, it doesn’t mean that they are ‘misfits’ exactly. Sure, Ally, Albert and Keisha aren’t similar at all to their  classmates, but wouldn’t it be so boring if every character was the same?

Ally continues to try to find ways to get off reading and writing. What do you think Mr Daniel’s should do with her?

I am sure Mr Daniel’s has noticed Ally’s unenthusiastic approach to literacy, I think he should maybe give her some separate reading and writing work to do and maybe help her enhance her calculus skills.

Ally, Keisha and Albert are having a discussion about the bullies that are beating him up. Explain how different characters are feeling about this.

Kiesha, being Keisha, was annoyed and wasn’t hiding it. Albert, being, Albert, was taking it from a technical point of view. Ally wasn’t happy but she seemed  little glad that she wasn’t the

victim. (for once!)

Do you think Ally is a changing character? Explain your thinking and give examples from the text.

Yes, Ally is changing for the better. She is enjoying having friends to hang out with at lunch, but she is still struggling with her literacy. She is trying to show Mr Daniel’s that she CAN’T do the school work but he doesn’t really seem to notice.

Writing a summary is a way to take a larger piece of writing and reduce it to a few sentences.

Ally is struggling at school but in a way is enjoying it more too. She has a few friends and Mr Daniel’s is setting the class tasks that don’t involve reading or writing.

At the end of this section Ally says that she will never accept an award that she doesn’t deserve. Does she deserve the poetry award? Explain.

Ally’s poem was quite good but am not sure it was the best in the class. Mr Daniel’s is trying to do everything that might help encourage her to improve her literacy skills.

At the end of chapter 26, Keisha states that ‘one things for sure, we are not gonna fit in but we ar3e gonna stand out.’ What do you think she means by this? Explain your thinking.

Keisha is comforting Ally by saying that ‘she is on her side.’ That Ally isn’t alone and that she isn’t without friends. Shay is, as always, being pretty horrible to Ally, and Keisha is letting Ally know that she thinks that isn’t OK.

Give one example of a ’turning point’ in the book so far. Why do you think it is important to that the book turns in this direction?

Mr Daniel’s has really noticed Ally’s dyslexia. He has decided to teach her chess after school. Ally wasn’t keen at first but when Mr Daniel’s offers to let Ally off homework for a week, she just has to say yes.

Make prediction about what will happen if Ally starts meeting Mr Daniels after school to play chess. Defend your ideas.

I think Ally might really enjoy chess playing, and Mr Daniel’s is trying to help her learn to read and write as well as bring out the best in her through chess.

Mr Daniel’s is trying to help Ally see that she may struggle with reading and writing but she is actually very smart. Give examples to prove that Ally actually is a very intelligent girl.

When Mr Daniel’s gave Ally’s class an assignment called ‘What’s in the Box?’ Ally was the first to solve it. Mr Daniel’s was really amazed.

This section ends with Ally having many different feelings about school. Pick two of her emotions and explain why they are important to the story.

Ally is enjoying the puzzles and dyslexia-friendly activities that Mr Daniels is giving her. She still holds her grudge with Shay and Shay still holds her grudge with Ally.

Ally has mixed opinions of school, she likes Mr Daniels and Albert and Keisha but she still feels like she doesn’t quite fit in, which is a really really horrible emotion and feeling.

Explain why you think the author included the where Mr Daniels took the word impossible and ripped off the ‘im’.

Sometimes Ally feels that she just cannot cope with the world, Mr Daniels is trying his level best to show her that she really can to read and write just like other kids. He doesn’t believe that it’s impossible, he believes that it is totally possible.

What more have we learned about Albert and how he handles his not-so-perfect life?

Albert likes to keep the fact that his family struggles with money to himself. When Albert brings Keisha and Ally back to his house one day after school all is revealed.

Good readers are constantly using what they know to predict what is going to happen next in the story. What predictions do you think you might make about what is going to happen with Ally and her friends. What evidence from the text is here to support those thoughts.

I don’t want to be negative but… everything seems to be going maybe a little too well for Ally. E.g. Ally’s father has come home. Mr Daniels is being extremely nice to Ally and she has her two friends, Albert and Keisha that she she likes to hang out with.

Ally is defiantly a changing character. Think of one character you believe is changing too. Use examples from the text to prove your thinking.

I think that Albert is also changing. I wonder why he was OK with inviting Keisha and Ally over to his house. Maybe he trusts them more than he used to.

This book is told through the eyes of Ally, the main character, take a moment to look through the eyes of Shay, what do you think SHE really thinks of Ally? Why might she act like she does?

Ally had a big falling out with Shay earlier in the year. I don’t think that Shay has quite forgiven her because she felt embarrassed and humiliated in front of everyone. Shay is just trying to get her own back on Ally.

Ally is definitely a changing character. Think of another character who you think is also changing, use evidence from the text to say who you think it is.

I think that Albert is also a changing character. He took quite a big step inviting Ally and Keisha over to his threadbare home.

In recent chapters Shay’s attempts to be mean to Ally seem to be backfiring. What do you think the rest of the class think about Ally and Shay. Use evidence from the text to explain your thinking.

No one use’t to mind Shay bullying Ally, but it seems as if they don’t think it’s so cool anymore. Ally’s classmates are beginning to realise that Ally is a really clever person, and maybe more people will want to be her friend.

Do you think that Ally will be a good class president? Why?

Ally is really clever, in her own cool way. She is sensitive to everything around her which will help her sort out any problems her class has. Ally also has a great sense of humour, which will make her class really enjoy being around. I.e. she’s not too serious.

Ally is becoming a more assertive character. Give a few examples of how Ally is becoming more confident in herself.

Ally is the class president for her class and she doing an AWESOME job! I think that realising that she can do some stuff really well will give her more self-confidence.

I was away for a few chapters.

Why does Mr Daniel’s want to teach the class about a whole lot of famous people who have dyslexia, do you think that this is a good idea? Explain.

As well as showing his class that you don’t have to be good at school work to have a great brain. The reason why those famous people were/are so famous, is because they see the world differently, have new ideas that other people wouldn’t have thought of. I also think that what Mr Daniel’s did for his class was GREAT! So yes, I think what he did was a very good idea.

Give an example in from the book where a character shows ‘grit’. Explain why you selected that example.

I think that both Keisha and Albert have shown grit at times because I don’t think that being friends with Ally is always that easy. Sometimes being friends with the really unpopular girl in the class is tricky, but both Albert and Keisha showed grit because their loyalty never wavered.

Chapter 48 ends with a whole lot of friendship bracelets left on Shay’s desk. What do you think this means? Why might it be important?

I think that the girls who have been enemies throughout the whole book are now trying to become friends, or at least on speaking terms.

Ally tries to talk to Shay and though her activities aren’t rewarded, how have Ally’s feelings changed about Shay?

Ally has learnt a lot in the past 6 months or so. I think she has learnt more about the value of friendship and maybe she doesn’t want have an enemy anymore.

Do you find the end of this book satisfying?

Yes, definitely, I loved the ending of Fish in a Tree, it was perfectly complete but it could lead on to many other stories.

MUST DO

• Task One

Dyslexia is a condition that makes reading, writing and spelling hard for some people. Dyslexia affects approx one in ten New Zealanders, which is 10% of Nz’s population.

Dyslexia make people think differently to the rest of the world. For example, maybe dyslexia makes it hard to read and write, but other things, like mechanics, creativity and other things that involve using your hands and mind to create something as opposed to just your brain.

A lot of truly amazing individuals who have done amazing things in the world, like Steve Jobs, Leonardo Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso had dyslexia. Even if you struggle at school, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be someone amazing when you grow up.

• Task Two

Kiesha

Kiesha is my favourite character because she became friends with Ally despite the fact that she could have been friends with Shay and her gang. Shay is cool and cruel and most normal girls would want to be friends with her because they think she is popular and cool. What Kiesha did separates her from the average 11 year old girl and puts her under the Incredible category.

• Task Three

Travers, Ally’s big brother made a huge and very brave decision at the end of Fish in a Tree when he agreed to take lessons from Mr Daniel’s to help him with his dyslexia. It would be hard saying yes to something like that, but Travers did say yes, he confronted his dyslexia and hopefully he will learn to read as soon as possible with the help of his little sister and the legendary Mr Daniels.

CAN DO

• Task 1-Compare and Contrast

The characters that I am going to compare are Albert and Travers

Albert=Albert is incredibly intelligent, his way of thinking makes stand out from all the other boys in his class, which causes him to not have many friends at school. While Ally suffers terribly with school work because of her dyslexia.

Albert and Ally are both alone at lunch lunch time and recess, this unfortunate loneliness brings Ally and Albert together.
That part of the story focuses mostly on Ally and what’s happening in her life, and leaves you to think about Albert and his problems.

Albert and Ally have completely different temperaments, Ally’s is fierce and strong while Albert’s is quiet and geeky. I don’t mean geeky as in the mean way, I mean that Albert is just really very smart.

Ally and Albert become great friends, not forgetting the fiery, excitable Keisha ofcourse.
The trio set off on quest to succeed, and in the end they are successful with the help of Mr Daniel’s, Ally learns to read and write and Albert learns how to make friends.

• Task 2, You Remind Me of Someone

Ally reminds me of a lot of my little sister, who is not dyslexic but doesn’t exactly sit around reading and writing all day. My sister, Elsa, is nine years old and she absolutely loves doing anything creative. She either spends her weekend bugging me to go and play with her, or she shuts herself in her bedroom with her pencils and pastels spread across her floor drawing or making up songs. She also adores making contraptions out of her beloved meccano sets. My Grandparents bought her a set with batteries last Christmas, and since then she has been making miniature cars with batteries that actually work and driving them up and down the hallway.

Elsa dreams of being the next leonardo Da Vinci, she is always telling me of her plans to be the first human to fly, I hope one day she is successful!

Like Ally, she is also a star chess player, beating everyone in my family.

Ally is creative and clever just like my little sister. I think that if they knew each other, they would be great friends.