Happy 7th birthday!

On Sunday the 11th of September was my brother's 7th birthday. My mum and I decided to celebrate it at my nana's house.

First my mum and I had to go and buy some KFC because my brother Zinho likes it. While we were out, my nana and papa were also busy getting ready for the party. They were making sure that the food will still be hot when we got back. From KFC, we went straight to my nana's house. It only took us at least four or five minutes because it's too close from their place.

As soon as we entered the house, we saw my grandparents already setting up the food. Then I realized that we had forgotten the cake which was sitting in the fridge at our house. We quickly hopped back into our car and drove back home. Thank goodness, the traffic was not bad so we got there sooner. We immediately grabbed the cake from the fridge and left because we were already running late for the party and the food was getting cold.

Finally, the party started.  My mum placed the KFC chicken on our plates and told us that we can always come back for seconds, if we wanted some more. I had some KFC chicken, taro and fish. The skin of the chicken was so crispy and I savoured the flavour and the crunchiness of it!

Then my mum brought out the birthday cake! It was a cookie and cream cake which was everybody's favourite. We were all so excited!  I  placed the number 7 candle on the cake and my papa lit it.  We sang the happy birthday song in English and in Samoan. Then, the birthday boy blew the candle on the cake. Right after that, my mum cut the cake and I helped her give a slice to everyone. When I was eating the cake, I noticed that it tasted like cheese cake. It was so delicious! Sadly, we had to go home because it was almost time for my karate class.

I had a wonderful time with my family celebrating my brother's birthday. I hope next time my dad could attend. He always works at night time and it's difficult for him to take some time off work.

Learning Intention: We are learning to understand and use descriptive language in our writing.
Success Criteria: I know I can do this when I use appropriate adjectives to describe my brother's 7th birthday party.

Have you ever had a birthday at the swimming pools before?

It was a cool, sunny day on Saturday the 18th of June, so my family and I went to the swimming pools in Panmure because it was my nana's birthday.

When we got there, we quickly changed into our togs as if we were running away from a volcanic eruption. Then we ran to the pools as fast as we could because there were a lot of people and we wanted to be first.

First we played some games with balls. We passed the ball to each other. When we were passing the ball, my cousin Luke threw the ball at me and it hit my face. It hit me so hard that I almost cried.

After a while, I felt better so I went to line up for the water slide. It was a very long and loud queue so it took me a long time to get to the top. When it was finally my turn, I felt a little bit scared because it was a long and dark tunnel. When the light turned green, I went down the slide very fast. It was so dark that I couldn't see anything.

After that, I felt hungry. Before we ate, we sang the happy birthday song to my nana and we gave her a cake. It was a big, yellow banana cake. I love banana cakes because they are very sweet. We also had chocolate ice cream, warm hot dogs, hot chips, cake and some cold drinks. The food was very delicious and yummy. Soon it was time to go, so we had a nice, warm shower. Then we had a lovely drive home.

I had a very relaxing time with my family and I really enjoyed going on the slides. I hope I’ll be able to try the other slides next time.

Learning intention: We are learning to understand and use descriptive language in my writing. 
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I us adjectives to describe my recount about my grandmother's birthday.  

That was the best birthday ever!

Last Friday was my grandmother's birthday so we decided to take her out for dinner at Fortuna restaurant up in Sky City.

It was a dark, cold evening so we put on  our warm jackets before leaving home.

When we arrived at our destination, the first thing we did was look for a car park. It took us a while to find a parking on level nine because the place is always busy especially on a Friday. Then we went in the elevator to go up to the restaurant. When we got there, my aunt Lily had already made a booking for us. We checked with the waiter and within a minute, we were taken to our tables.

Meanwhile, we had to wait for my cousin John to arrive because he got stuck in traffic. As soon as he arrived, we all headed straight into the buffet tables to get our food as we were all starving! I had ham, chips and some fish. When I had finished all the savory food, I decided to eat some cheese cake and some ice cream for dessert. When I ate the cheese cake, it just melted in my mouth and it was so delicious. I loved it! It was the best cheesecake ever!

Hopefully next time we could go to the top of the Sky tower so we can enjoy the view of Auckland City at night. Also, next time I wish that we could spend more time at the restaurant because there was a lot of food for us to try but we ran out of time. My favourite part was eating the best cheesecake ever!

Learning Intention: We are learning to understand and use descriptive language in writing a recount.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I use adjectives to describe my weekend celebrating my grandma's birthday. 

Yes, I won my first two medals!

On the 9th of April my grandparents, family and I went to Manurewa netball centre for my karate tournament.

First my family and I hopped happily into my dad’s big, grey car. Then we went pick up my grandparents from their house so we could all go to the tournament together. After we picked them up, we headed to the netball centre in Manurewa. It only took us 15 minutes to get there, because there was no traffic.

When we got there, there  were three rings that were ready for us to do our kata and kumite in. I looked for some seats for my grandparents and my family while my dad was booking us in.

After that, it was time for the tournament to start. First we had to stand in our lines. Then the highest belt had to bow us in. After we had bowed the the highest belt, he told us that we were put into three rings and that we will be in different time. My first round was in ring two and it started at 10:30.

When it was 10:30, I went into ring two. There were competitors from all over Auckland and even Christchurch. When I was doing my kata, I felt nervous but I gave it my all. When my competition ended, the judges gave out medals for both kata and kumite. I received a silver in kata and bronze for kumite. After that we all went home.

I had an awesome day because I won my first two medals. I hope that I could get gold in both kata and kumite next time.

Learning intention: We are learning to understand and use the correct language features in our recount.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I write about my karate tournament using past tense.

Have you ever had a party at the swimming pools before?

It was a cool, sunny day on Saturday the 27th of March, so my family and went to the swimming pools in Panmure because it was my cousin birthday.

When we arrived there, we changed into our togs quick like a rocket. Then we ran to the pools as fast as we could because it was filled with lots of people. Then we played some ball games. We passed the ball  back and forth to each other. When we were passing the ball, my cousin Danny threw the ball at me and it hit my face. It hit me so hard that I almost cried.

After a while, I felt better so I went to line up for the water slide. There was a long queue so it took me a long time to get to the top. When it was finally my turn, I felt really excited because it took a long time to reach the front.

When the light turned green, I went down the slide very fast. When I came down from the slide I was feeling hungry, but before we after we could eat some food, we sang the happy birthday song to Jess. After that, ate some food. We had ice cream, hot dogs, hot chips, yummy cake and some cold drinks. The food was very delicious and yummy. Then we had a nice, cold shower before it was time to head home. We had a lovely drive home without any traffic.

I had a very relaxing time with my family and I really enjoyed going on the slides. I hope I’ll be able to try the other slides next time.

Learning intention: We are learning to use descriptive language to make my writing more interesting.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I do this when I use adjectives to describe my weekend.

Dad, isn't the beach cool?

In the weekend my family, cousins and I went to the beach. We went in my uncle's big grey van. There was a big park for us to play on and there was a beautiful fountain.

My brother and I played on the monkey bars while my cousins played on the swings. Then we all went for a swim after we changed into our swimming togs. There were two changing rooms. One of the changing room was for the girls and the other was for the boys. I went in the girls changing room with my cousins Emi, Jess, my brother and my cousin P. J into in the boys changing room.

After we have all changed, we all went for a swim. When I got into the water, it was cold like ice. Then my older cousin Jess and I had a swimming competition. I won because I was faster swimmer.I was happy and proud of myself.

Next we taught my little cousin Emi how to swim because she was scared and she did know how. After a while it was time to go home so we ran out of time to teach Emi how to swim.

I had a lot fun going to the beach with my family and cousins. I hope we can go to the same beach again soon because there are also big rocks that we could climb up on and park to play in.

Learning Intention: We are learning to use descriptive language to make my writing more interesting.

Success criteria: I know I can do this when I use adjectives to describe my weekend at the beach.

How do you celebrate your mum's birthday?

On Friday the 20th of February, my family and I went to a restaurant called Happy Day. Happy Days is a big restaurant with lots of tables and chairs. There was a buffet full with delicious yummy food.

When we got to the restaurant, it was full with lots of people having birthdays and special occasions.

First my day had to get us a table. After we were made a booking a waiter came and showed us to the table where we were sitting. It was so beautiful. Then we eat.

The food that I ate was chicken, ham, chips and fish. When I was eating the chicken it just melted in my mouth and it was crispy on the outside. After a while my brother, dad and I went to get some dessert. It smelted very nice. I had cheese cake and some cold chocolate ice cream. When I ate the cheese cake, it just melted in my mouth and it was so delicious and . After I saw my friend Zack and he asked my brother and I if we could play with him and he said ‘‘Yes.” So we went outside and we played some games together.

The first game that we played was tag and  I was in. When I was trying to get Zack my brother bumped into me so I tagged him so he was in.  When my brother was trying to get me Zack was behind him so my brother got him very fast. Then Zack was in. He was trying to get me however our joyful mums and dads came so we had to go home.

I hope next Zack, my brother and I could play a different game and I had a happy day because I got to spend time with my lovely friends and family.

Learning intention: We are learning to use descriptive language.
Success criteria:  I know I can do this when I use adjectives to describe my mum's birthday.      

Have you ever had a birthday at the swimming pools before?

It was a cool, sunny day on Saturday the 28th of November, so my family and I went to the swimming pools in Panmure because it was my mum's birthday.

When we arrived there, we changed into our togs quickly like a rocket. Then we ran to the pools as fast as we could because it was filled with lots of people. Then we played some ball games. We passed the ball  back and forth to each other. When we were passing the ball, my cousin Danny threw the ball at me and it hit my face. It hit me so hard that I almost cried.

After a while, I felt better so I went to line up for the water slide. There was a long queue so it took me a long time to get to the top. When it was finally my turn, I felt a little bit scared because it was my first time.

When the light turned green, I went down the slide very fast.

After that, I was feeling hungry, but before we ate, we sang the happy birthday song to my mum. After that, ate some food. We had ice cream, hot dogs, chips, cake and some cold drinks. The food was very delicious and yummy. We had a nice, cold shower before it was time to head home. We had a lovely drive home.

I had a very relaxing time with my family and I really enjoyed going on the slides. I hope I’ll be able to try the other slides next time.

Learning Interaction: We are learning to understand and use descriptive language in my writing.
Success criteria: I know I can do this when I use appropriate adjectives and verbs to describe my weekend.  

My awesome picnic at the beach!

On a cool sunny day, my family and I went to the beach. We filled a basket with some lovely food and we also took our swimming togs with us to Mission Bay.

My dad placed a mat on the sand and put our basket with delicious food on. After that my brother and I put some sunscreen on to protect us from the sun. Then I went for a swim. It was cold swimming in the sea so I swam very quickly back. After a while I got out of the water and joined my brother on the beach.

Then my brother made sand castles, while I picked up some beautiful seashell.

After a while, we we felt tired so we went to our parents to have some sandwiches, some fruits and some cold lemonade. When I was eating the fruit it just melted  in my mouth and it was yummy. It was very refreshing when I had the drink.

When we finished swimming, my mum took both of together a show.

Then we decided to go to the park. I sat on the swings and played on the slide. After a while, we decided to go for a walk and my dad bought us some cold ice cream. Then we had a lovely drive home with not too much traffic.

It would be a wonderful to go to the beach again soon. Maybe I can ask my parents to swim with us next time.

We are learning to understand and use descriptive language.

I know I can do this when I use appropriate adjectives to describe my weekend.

Do you like family dinners?

On the 20th of September, my whole family and I went to my aunt's house for a family dinner.
First, we cooked butter chicken because everyone had to cook a dish.When we finished cooking the food the whole room smelt very pleasant. When we were cooking the butter chicken my dad told me to taist the food if it was cooked or not. When I tasted it, it made me so happy and I wanted more.
After that, we put the food in the back of the car and we  drove to my aunt's house to have the food together with them.
When we got to my aunty's house, we had to wait for my cousins to come because they were still cooking their food. When we were waiting, my brother and I took turns playing on my dads phone because we were bored. After ten minutes my cousins arrived.
When they finally all came in the house, we shouted ''Yay'' because we were all very hungry. First I ate some butter chicken. It was so yummy because I like chicken.
 After we finished dinner, we played some games. The first game we played was, soccer. I was in my cousin Ben's team and my dad and brother was in the other team. Then the game began.
When we were playing the game, Ben scored a point. That made me so happy because caught up to my dad's  team. After that we add up all the scores and it was ten to ten, It was a ti!
 I felt happy because I got to see my cousins and I maybe next time we could play a different game because we always play the same game. 
We are learning to understand and use appropriate descriptive language.
I know I can do this when I use appropriate adjectives to describe my weekend.