Waitemata @ Waikowhai Primary School

Wow we were so lucky to have New Zealand author Des Hunt come to visit us at Waikowhai! He was a very entertaining speaker. Did you know that he was a Science, Physiscs and Computer 101 teacher before he became an author? He applied his scientists brain to determine why his first book kept getting rejected. Who knew Science could help you become a better fictional writer! He showed us how he took an ordinary kitchen gas lighter and turned it into a missile launcher. Then he showed us how to build a story by adding conflict...more conflict and then an exciting ending. He modelled this by using a ramp and magnets. Then he showed us how to build tension. Tension can be where you know something bad is going o happen...but you cant look away (or stop reading). He demonstrated tension with a balloon. Des Hunt also told us about an author who got rejected 27 times. This author had a German surname and wrote stories that were a little bit different to other...

In Inquiry we are looking at 'Responsible Pet Ownership' as a focus for our Animal Inquiry. Whaea Anita had her friend come an visit us with her pet bird Sammy. He is a very special parrot who could talk! He wasn't very keen at first but after a while he got used to us all and started to repeat what his owner said. Eventually he got down on the floor and even jumped up on Joshua's arm!! We learned all about what it takes to be a good owner of a bird. Its a very big responsibility as Sam needs a lot of things to make sure he is happy. he can only eat certain foods, even though he will try to eat things that aren't good for him, like processed cheese. Thank you for coming to visit us Sammy.