Gamefroot Games

 For the past few week, in cybersmart we were learning how to code a game using the site Gamefroot. We also did some coding with our games from home, and also with our free time.

I have made a start on my game, it took a lot of perseverance and time. It was really tricky because I kept on getting really angry and I felt like throwing my chromebook out the window, but in the end I pushed through!

It was really tricky to code everything, especially the character. It was really hard to find all the correct blocks and to fix things up. I accidently put some blocks all on a different layer, and that made me really angry! I also did not understand at first, and my class took lots of our time coding our games yesterday!

My game is not all that good, the background is really weird, but I think that's just a bug in the game. So far I think it is quite decent, I just need to fix some things here and there. I also need to finish coding the next few levels and fix some bugs.

Click here to play my game! Please give me some feedback, and constructive criticisim if possible in the comments!

June Reflection

 Today I was reflecting on what we did in June this year. We wrote our reflection on a Student Reflection Newsletter on a google drawing. 

A thing I enjoyed doing this month was going to the GRIP leadership conference. It was a great experience, and it gave me some great advice for being a good leader in the future. Another thing I also enjoyed was going to the Aurora Writing program. We went to Eastwood Hills arboretum for ideas for our poems.

Something I found tricky this month was making my Tom Fedro art. It was tricky to do the blending because the paint was getting all gunky on the last few days and it was hard to work with, but in the end I managed to push through!

Here is my June reflection!

Student-Led Conference Invitation

 For the past few days, in my class all the groups were learning how to understand how to shape different texts for different purposes and audiences. This week, we were learning to write invitations to our parents for our Student-Led Conference. 

First, we had to claim a slide. To claim a slide, we had to randomly pick a slide from a giant slide deck, then we had to write our name on the slide so other people know, this slide has already been claimed by somebody.

Our teacher also showed us an example from her friend's daughter. You can view it here.

Next, we had to use a template our teacher provided us with, so we knew what to write. After we had written the invitation, we had to decorate the slide so it looked nice when our parents read it.

After that, our teacher printed our invitations out. She also printed out a piece of art that we've done somewhere throughout the year for our front cover.

The last and final steps were for us to fold the invitation, put it into a envelope and decorate the envelope so it looked nice when our parents recieved the envelope.

My digital learning object shows that I can embed photos from my chromebook into this blog post.

Here is my invitation for my Student-Led conference and my art!

Maths - Measurement

 For the past few days, my class was learning to measure. Our teacher asked us gave us some  measurement tasks. There were 6 tasks and there were 6 stations. The tasks were: Measure how tall we were without our shoes on, the length of our right foot without our shoes on, our arm span, what is the circumference of our wrist and neck, and last but not least, what was our popliteal length. You may wonder, what is a popliteal length? Well, keep on reading and you'll find out!

For measuring our height, we had to use meter rulers. These rulers were all one meter. We first had to get a hard cover book, then a piece of chalk. We had to have a buddy so they could help. Our buddy had to put the book over our heads, then they slid the book down until it touched our heads. After that they put a mark next to the book with chalk. Then they used a meter ruler and put the top on the mark, then they marked the other end with chalk. This showed where 100 cm was on our bodies. Finally, they measured the rest of our heights with the meter ruler once more. My height was 152 cm!

For measuring our right foot, we went outside with our buddies out onto the concrete. We took our right shoe off and marked the big toe of our foot with chalk. After, we marked the heel of our foot. Then we used a normal ruler for both marks. My right foot length was 23.5 cm!

Next for measuring our arm span, we had to find a wall to lean on. After we found a wall, we leaned on it and our buddies used a measuring tape to measure our arm span. We had to measure from the tips of our right middle finger to our left middle finger. My arm span was 150.5 cm!

Then for measuring the circumference of our wrist, we had to use a tape measure. We wrapped the tape measure around our buddie's wrist, then answered to the nearest centimeter. The circumference of my wrist was 13 cm!

Last but not least, measuring our popliteal length! The answer you've been waiting for is here. What is a popliteal length? The popliteal length is the measurement from the underside of the right leg behind the knee when seated, to the floor, taken with shoes off! Us and our buddies just did that. My popliteal was 39 cm!

Did you learn something new? What is your popliteal length? Tell me in the comments!

Why do bears Hibernate? - explaination writing

 For the past few weeks, my class have been learning how to write explainations. We were split into two groups for our writing. One of the groups was aiming to include a diagram in their writing so that the diagram could help the reader understand more about the topic they were writing about. The other group was aiming to include a complex sentence in their writing. A complex sentence is when you put a phrase in a sentence, but you can move the phrase somewhere else.

There were lots of topics to choose from, but most people were stuck on their topic so our teacher gave us some suggestions. The topic I chose was, Why do bears hibernate? My teacher said that if you have the same topic as someone else, you could work with them and I just did that. 

I enjoyed writing about Why do bears hibernate? It was quite fun learning and experiencing new stuff on the way. I found researching tricky, because I did not know much about bears. Luckily, I had some guidance from my friend and teacher.

Have you ever done a piece of explanation writing? Tell me in the comments!

Here is my writing:

Why do bears Hibernate?

Introduction

Hibernation is a way when animals, such as bears, conserve energy to survive harsh weather conditions, or lack of food.

Do bears need food or water during hibernation?

Bears generally don’t need to eat or drink during hibernation. Bears rely on a layer of fat built up in Summer and Autumn months prior to hibernation. Waste is produced, but instead of disposing of this waste, bears recycle it. 

Why do bears hibernate?

Bears hibernate so they can survive without food. Bears will rely on their own fat. Imagine surviving on body fat while sleeping for 5~7 months without any food or water!

How long do bears hibernate?

Bears hibernate for a long period of time. They usually hibernation for 5~7 months! They wake up in the Spring when there is more food for them to eat.

Explanation by Camille S

Thesesus and Minotaur

For the past few weeks, I have been learning to infer. Infering is when you read between the lines. It can also mean answering a question with clues from a text. This week my group and I were reading about Theseus and the Minotaur. We had to read a story about how Theseus became king of the Athens. After we read the story, we had to evaluate. After we all evaluated and stated our own opinions, we had a discussion on what we all thought. We all thought that Theseus was a half and half hero (half good and half bad hero) because he killed the minotaur, but also we also thought he was a bad person because he betrayed Princess Adriane.

After we did the evaluate task, we could also create our own labyrinth or we could make a wanted poster of the minotaur. I decided that I would create a wanted poster. I worked with my friend, and we decided that we would make the minotaur using shapes provided by the google drawing program. It was really tricky to get the skirt right, because we had to go back and forth making tweaks as we went. It was also hard to find a skin colour for the minotaur's upper body. 

I enjoyed creating the poster although it was a bit tricky here and there. It was quite enjoyable in my opinion. 

What are your opinions on Theseus? Do you think he is a hero or is he a villian? Tell me your opinions in the comments!

Here is my evaluate task and wanted minotaur poster!

Maui brick wall

For the past few weeks for reading, I've been learning to infer. Infering is when you read between the lines. It can also mean answering a question with clues from a text.  This week my reading group and I were  reading about Maori gods and Greek gods. We read about how Prometheus gave fire to men. After we read those, we watched a video.

After we read and watched the video, we read how Maui brought fire to the world with our teacher. We  had to infer on what characteristics we thought Maui had with clues from the text. We thought that he was mean, mischieveous, brave, intelligent, curious, greedy, etc. After we read with our teacher, we had to make a character description of Maui on a brick wall.

I enjoyed making the brick wall description of Maui. It took some time because I wanted to jazz and funk it up lots! I got some ideas from my friends. I found remembering all the characteristics tricky because I hadn't written them down on a piece of paper.

My digital learning object shows that I can embed google slides in this blog post.

Samoan Language week!

 This week was Samoan language week! To celebrate, we had our lord's prayer in Maori to Samoan! Also as part of the Samoan language week celebration for our class, we made some art! 
Our teacher said that we would make a tapa cloth. There was lots of patterns to choose from! We used something called 'Sugar paper' for our base. Sugar paper is HIGHLY absorbent, unlike normal paper so that was perfect for our dye later! First, we drew our pattern on the sugar paper with a dark brown crayon. The crayon contained wax so when we put the dye on, the dye wouldn't seep through the crayon.

I enjoyed creating my tapa cloth, although it took a bit of time and I kept making my lines too thick! Other than that, I was satisfied with my work. I found making the lines not too thick EXTREMLY tricky. Our teacher said we couldn't go back and restart though. 

Here is my tapa cloth!

Sketches

 For the past few weeks, my class was learning how to sketch with the help of tutorials. Our learning intention was that we were learning how to shade, showing the shadows, and the light. At one point, the whole lost their first sketches, and we had to restart.

As we progressed with our sketches, we eventually found our old sketches! Some of us completed our old sketches, while others decided to not. I enjoyed sketching, even though it was a bit hard, and took a bit of time.

The character I chose to draw was Shoto Todoroki from My Hero Academia. I did two different ones, because I lost my old one, which took longer (larger picture) and my new one (smaller picture) took less time.

What do you think of my sketches? Please tell me in the comments!
Here are my sketches!

Piskel Sprite

This week for Cybersmart, we had to make a sprite. The website we used was Piskel. 
Drawing the sprite was a bit tricky because you had to use a touchpad, and figuring out how to use Piskel and doing the fine details was very challenging. The other thing was it took me forever to find the copy and paste. Thankfully, my teacher guided me.

I enjoyed drawing my sprite, and figuring out how to use Piskel even though  it was a bit tricky.
It took me a few days to get to where I am right now, and it'll probably take me a few more days just to complete the hair, and hair shading.

Here is my sprite so far!