Reading

media type="custom" key="5553367" For reading, we have been reading short stories, then answering questions. It has helped increase my reading skills. Here is an example:

Reading comprehension: Poisonous Spiders 18/02/10

1. Not all spiders are poisonous. 2. Medically significant means that the spider has venom that can harm you, and can cause damage to your body. 3. These spiders are medically significant: a) Black Widow Brown recluse Hobo Spider Yellow sac spider

The Brown recluse is not native to america. its is originally from Europe. You are most likely to see the yellow sac spider because they usually live your garden at home Bites from the black widow spider are rarely deadly, but can damage your body a lot. The brown recluse spider is mostly active at night, so that is when you are most likely to get bitten. The most poisonous spider in the US is the black widow, and the least is the yellow sac spider. Spiders bite people when they are scared or are near the skin. If you are bitten, wash the bite in case of infection and go to the doctor.

Great answers Ruby...you have full and interesting sentences. NS: check for capital letters.

23/02/10 THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

The Golden Gate Bridge (c) spans the Golden Gate Strait The idea for a bridge across the Golden Gate Strait (a) was first suggested in 1916 The bridge proponents wanted to (b) connect San Francisco to the land across the Bay Safety innovations during the construction of the bridge included (a) hardhats and a safety net Putting the right pairs together: 4,200 feet= length of main span 8,981 feet= length of bridge 3 feet= diameter of cable 7,650 feet= length of cable Different people (US navy and the Train-line-that-leads-to-the-fairy) were apposed to building it because some (the US navy) thought it would take away boats from the bay because that was the only way to get from one end to the other, and the train people didn’t like it because it would take away the traffic on the trains whom were going to the ferry. Whew! That was difficult to explain!

Ms Fryer: Well done Ruby. NS can you use the rule in your writing?

13/05/10 The Travelers

“to hawk their wares” means that they are offering their pottery. to “hawk” means to carry around offerings, and “wares” means pottery. Exotic means very different and bright, like long shiny blue and green skirts that sway in the wind, with jingling bells could be described as exotic. “Esmerelda” is an exotic name, while “Annie” is not really. Evanescent means that something has quickly disappeared, and just gone. I think baubles are those things that you hang on your Christmas tree, like a decoration. A picture of what Vagabond means:

I think that the author is a child at the age of about ten or a little older. I know this because he or she mentioned that they played with the kids, and mentioned them a lot. I think that the author would be an adult now, because he or she is talking in past text. They could just have gotten a bit older though. I think the author felt enchanted by the travelers, as he or she spoke with such description, and told about what they wore, and how colourful it was. Probably in the 1960s or 70s. First, it was obviously written in past text, and second, it just sounds like that would be something that happened long ago. Well, it would be racist to say that it would be better off as communities to have people “more like us”, and whats wrong with having other people in our communities? The people in this story didn’t seem like they were any trouble, it seemed more like they made the place more interesting. If I had to describe the narrator, I would say she would be more thoughtful than tough and active, because if she was tough and active, she probably wouldn’t describe the other kids as tough and active, and as she wrote the story she sounded very thoughtful. I would describe the travelers as very exotic and bright, wild and tropical. They don’t sound very modern and rich, but rich in their own way, like with all their clothes and wares. The advantages of their life is that they are not bounded by all the modern day rules, and are very free willed. The disadvantages is that some places may not accept them and welcome them. I think children have a much wider imagination than adults, and their mind is free. they see things differently, like the travelers looked magical to the children, but looked dangerous to the adults. The adults may seem afraid of the travelers because of what they look like. They sound very big and wild, and the adults might think because of that, it would seem okay for them to hurt other people. When I went out with my friend for a day into wellington city. We caught busses all around town and watched a movie.We went to the pools, and we brought a massive dinner at this thai takeaway place. To me this made me feel very independant and grown up. now I feel confident to do lots more things on my own.

Reading goals- To read more carefully and thoroughly, so I don't have to go back and check what I read. Start reading books and FINISH THEM!!!!

This is something I am quite proud of, we had to do it on what the big bang theory was about, after reading a story called "speed freaks":

THE BIG BANG THEORY

We know that out universe exists, but how did it come to be? Its not a simple question, and many once believed that the universe had no beginning or end and was simply infinite. But over long periods of time spent experimenting and researching, scientists have come up with a theory, called the Big Bang Theory. A man called Edwin Hubble discovered the big bang theory, and also says that the Universe is continuously expanding, larger and larger at about 540,000,000 kph, ever since the big bang. Man, its hard to find information thats not hard to read! Its all like, The Big Bang is the cosmological model of the initial conditions and subsequent development of the Universe that is supported by the most comprehensive and accurate explanations from current scientific evidence and observation. I mean, how do you understand that! Geez! Writing this is like trying to translate an ancient script from the outer galaxies, so just bare with me. Okay, the big bang created the universe, which is still growing from the gravitational impact today. Technically, space is expanding itself, day by day. (This is all very interesting and fascinating, but I just wish there was something I could read that wasn’t in the foreign language of geek) How did the universe really begin? Most astronomers would say that the debate is now over: The universe started with a giant explosion, called the Big Bang. The big-bang theory got its start with the observations by Edwin Hubble that showed the universe to be expanding. If you imagine the history of the universe as a long-running movie, what happens when you show the movie in reverse? All the galaxies would move closer and closer together, until eventually they all get crushed together into one ball. It was just this sort of thinking that led to the concept of the Big Bang.

Reading 04/05/10

Coasters try to fix whitebait tensions

The problem is that the whitebait is running low and the fishermen are starting to fight over it and they may get hurt. The government are stepping in to help stop the tension, and it’s led by a man named Jim Bushby. They made a rule guaranteeing space between fishermen and their fishing spots, and clear separation of commercial and recreational whitebaiting. I would ban fishing in the area, and until whitebait where flourishing again I then would let whitebaiters back in.

Ms Fryer: Good answers and good thinking. I like your idea for sorting out the problem.