Rata and the Totara tree

 Rata mother told him to go make a waka out of a magnificent Totara tree. He chopped down the tree.Since the sun was setting he decided to leave the waka carving until morning.The birds and insects were worried that tanemahuta would be angry so they put it back together.Rata came back the next day to find the tree still standing,once again he chopped it down. Rata left because it was sundown and decided to make his waka in the morning.Once again the birds and insects put the tree back up.  When he came back for the third time the tree was still standing. So he chopped it down one more time and hid behind the trees to find out what happens to the mighty totara. The insects and birds started putting it back together and he demanded a explanation and the birds told him that he had forgotten the rules but Tanemahuta let him chop down the tree in the end as long as he didn’t break the rules.

The moral of the story: that we all depend on each other,follow the rules.

Tiakina nga manu, ka ora te ngahere. Ka ora te ngahere, ka ora nga manu.

Look after the birds and the forest flourishes. If the forest flourishes,the birds flourish.

   

I'll never forget the time

As my feet thumped on the ground, my lungs were collapsing and every chance I got, I was gasping for air, praying that it would over soon. My legs were screaming and my heart was hammering. The crowd around me was chanting hungrily,”RATA,RATA”. My ears were straining at the desperate screams of the crowd and my feet were dragging behind me. I breathed in and out, coughing and spluttering as I did so.

I rounded a corner,relieved to see that there was only about 100 metres to go. The crowd cheering me on made me go into a quick sprint. I ran and ran,keeping my eye on the prize,the finish line. My clothes were drenched in sweat and my socks felt like they had been swimming.

As the finish line was coming closer,my legs moved faster. I ran and ran as if my life depended on it. I couldn’t wait to get to the finish line but my thoughts wandered,”what if  someone was about to overtake me?,what if they canceled the race?,what if I had miscounted and I wasn’t coming third?”. I put my mental pedal down and I imagined I was running 100km per hour.

 My legs were nearly falling apart by the time I reached the red finish line. A teacher handed me a card with a big,bronze three on it.I hopped in the line as my heart was recovering from the wild ride. A great big grin spread across my face as my parents gave me the thumbs up sign. I felt warm inside and for once in the first time in my life,proud.😁

The Haunted house

In class for writing we are working on using short sentances and long sentances.

This story is carried on from a charles dickens short story.

I wandered towards the front door,the plants snatching,grabbing and scratching at my knees,the red paint on the door was peeling so badly,you wouldn’t even know it was painted,the door knob was golden with long scratch marks smothered all over it,I turned the knob halfway and it clicked straight away.

  Instantly a musty,stale sort of smell  smacked me in the face,making me stumble back towards the door,I grimaced as I looked around,ants,everywhere,crawling up the yellow/green wallpaper,sitting on the yellow stained fridge,running up the sticky oven. The floorboards creaked and squealed as I took every step,making me shiver at the very sound,I looked around,the couches looked like a moths punchbag and the coffee table had one leg missing and dead fly carcasses scattered all over it.

 I walked towards the rickety stairs,regret now settling in and releasing several stairs were missing. I hopped and skipped my way up,trying not to fall in the process. I managed my way to the top,wishing I could just run out of this house,far,far away,I walked towards the nearest door that had a red and black skull on it. I turned the black door knob but it wasn’t budging,I pulled the door and pushed flinging my whole body towards the door.

 The door flung open and I stumbled,slightly rolling forward.I gave a silent scream. A doll. Eyes open.Walking towards me.Pale faced.Mouth hanging open.I wanted to move but my legs were glued in place.I wanted to scream,but sound didn’t come. I wanted to go downstairs and call the police,but I couldn’t talk or walk. As if the doll had cursed me,the ground was coming into view and soon I was flat on my face, out cold.

  

Ko wai te toa?-who is the winner?

Today we did Te Reo and learnt about different sports names and how to pronounce them we also did a fun game, where you had to act out a sport and your team had to guess it in Te Reo maori.

He pai ki au te tenehi

He pai ki au te epa

He pai ki au te poitarawhiti