What is your favourite Maori symbol?

WALT - understand the meaning of a Maori symbol.

I know this when I illustrate a drawing of a Matau (Fish Hook) and write down its meaning.

How big is the fish that you have caught?

WALT - understand Maori creation stories.

I know this when I illustrate the important elements from the story of "The Fish Of Maui."

What is something that you need?

WALT - understand the importance of money and how we can best utilise it.

I know this when I set up a savings plan for my family and I to record.

How much money have you been saving?

WALT - utilise the skills that we have and use it towards my family goal.

I know this when I can write steps on how I could use my skills and what I am good at.

What things can you do to help the community to build their love, hope and faith?

WALT - understand and identify ways that we can express the 3 gifts of the Holy Spirit.

I know this when I list 8 ways that people can show Faith, Hope and Love.

What kind of swimming tricks can you do?

WALT - write a recount using similies and metaphors.
I know this when I use 'like...' to describe something or someone correctly in my writing.
One fine Sunday afternoon, the heat was high and it was a great time to go..... swimming! The sky was blue as my blue berry flavoured Gatorade in the fridge. My eyes were so heavy, that it felt as if they were weight lifting with my eyelashes. My arms and legs were weak and I felt really lazy to even walk a step. I decided to fill my stomach with nutella sandwich and a cup of milk with 3 ice cubes to get some energy. I went to my bedroom and found Panda. 

   Panada was taking a nap on the bed, purring and had his fur all over the place. I went into my parent's room and asked my mum, "When are we going to go swimming?" 

"In the afternoon", she responded. I sped up time by playing, Don't tap the spikes and Geometry dash on my iPad. I was feeling lonely since my older sibling doesn't like playing with me so I went into the hallway to go to Panda. I went to the bedroom and went up the bunk bed ladder. I sometimes made unexplainable sounds when I was tickling and petting Panda. 

   Finally it was 12:00 p.m! I dashed to get my clothes in the garage. I got my things and especially, my swim suit! When I was finished packing, I stuffed them into a plastic bag that I  took out from the pantry. We went into the car and drove to the swimming center. When I looked at a sign, it said that children 16 and under can go for free! It cost an adult $3.30 to go on the pool. My mum didn't choose to go to the pool but she chose to go to the sauna. She got a pink strip of paper around her wrist to prove that she could go into the sauna.

   Next, my mum wanted us to eat so that we could have enough energy to swim. We went into the cafeteria near the entrance and picked the table outside. When she opened the bag, it was pancit. I didn't like that kind of pancit because it was hard to chew so I took the meatballs and a piece of squid tentacle. I tried the squid tentacle, but it was hard to chew as well, just like the pancit. I opened up my can of Pepsi and took a few gulps of it. I mostly drank the Pepsi because there were only 2 pieces of meatballs. We all got full and packed up the food. It was finally time to change and go back into the swimming pool.   

   When I went into the changing rooms, I put the plastic bag on the sink counter so the plastic bag wouldn't be stepped on or get wet. I told my auntie that she had to take a little shower before coming into the pool. She didn't know how to so I had to show her how. I went inside the shower with my swimming suit and shut the door so it won't open. I took off my clothes and quickly put on my swimming togs. My clothes were wet but at least I got another set! I walked to the pool shaking and quivering from the cold. 

   My auntie said she would only go into the pool if it's warm. I went in the pool and the temperature was just right for relaxing. It felt as if I was in a paradise island. I swam around and put my head in the water. I tried opening my eyes underwater but it felt as if something has stung my eyes. I rubbed my eyes and closed them for a few seconds to make sure that the soreness was gone.

Then, I tried floating on my back while paddling. I tried it tons of times but water kept going into my nose or mouth. Sometimes when I tried to catch my breath, I accidentally swallowed the pool water which made me burp 2 times. I folded my legs and my arms. I was feeling quite lonely so I kept calling my auntie to come down to the pool every time but she replied the same answer in every one of my questions, "Not yet." I tried practicing every thing I saw in the late Olympics. I tried the backstroke but I kept going down the water and my hands wouldn't turn the right way. 

   After that, my auntie came out from the changing rooms and I was already bored so I just stood there like a statue but the water current kept pushing my arms and legs away. I just couldn't stand the water, it was really annoying. I didn't want to be pushed by the water anymore so I crossed my legs and my arms. I was sinking down the water and when my legs touched the ground, I felt an impact on my ear. I got up from the water and felt as if my eardrums were going to explode. "I better not do that again", I said to myself. I tried many experiments on the water like rolling under water and letting my body go on the water. I floated when my legs and arms were out, but when I took in one arm to my chest, I sunk. I finally knew that you float when you have equal weight on your arms and legs.

   After that, my fingers were turning white, wrinkly and old just like an elderly lady's fingers. My auntie was already changed and my mum was too. I was about to get out of the water but my mum thought I was still swimming, so she shouted at me, "It's time to change!" I got up the pool stairs and my body was really heavy. I went to the changing room and looked in the plastic bag. My clothes weren't there! I tried double-checking, but they disappeared like magic! The only thing we could only do now was to wrap the towel around me and go back into the car. I walked out of the changing room and to the entrance. A few people were staring at me and I felt embarrassed. 

We got into the car and put the towel on the seat so I wouldn't make the car seat wet. The pool water that I accidentally gulped before quite made my stomach felt  empty so when I got home, I gobbled another piece of nutella sandwich.

What can you do to help someone?

WALT - understand gratitude and recognise acts of kindness.

I know this when I write at least three random acts of kindness in my Gratitude challenge calendar.

How grateful are you towards your teacher?

WALT show appreciation for those around us.

I know this when I write more than 10 wonderful things that my teacher does.

Time to celebrate Tongan Language Week!

WALT - to celebrate and understand the Tongan culture.

I know this when I write 5 facts about Tonga.

Don't eat too much at your party!

WALT - write a recount using dialogue.
I know this when I use speech marks to start and end a speech. 

On a Friday evening, the stars were shining and the night was silent. Our mum appeared at the door and told us to change for a party. My sister, brother and I asked "What for?" my mum replied. "We're Going to Tita Leya's birthday!" My sister didn't want to go, and I didn't want to either. My brother just said. "Later." When my bigger siblings refused, I felt bad for my mum so I decided to go. After I changed, my mum and I were ready to get into the car, my sister changed her mind and wanted to come too. She said. "I will come just for the food." She was already dressed and ready to come too. I opened the door and the wind was cold and strong. I brought a blanket with me just in case I would freeze to death!

So we went into the car and drove to Tita Leya's house. It was only a few blocks away. My Mum unlocked the doors and saw that the basket ball post had fallen down. They were quite lucky because it didn't land on their car. I didn't know if the wind was too strong, or they forgot to put down the heavy bags to hold down the basket ball post. We opened our doors and made a little click! We got out of the car and knocked on the door. Liam opened the door for us. We went inside and the television was programming a movie, but I had no interest in it and I didn't even know what movie it was. 

I looked to see if anyone else was inside the living room. I looked at my right and saw Danielle and Melissa just sitting on the couch. I went to the kitchen and the food was almost ready. My favourite food on the table was Puto. It was not the type of cupcake, but it was the kind that is squishy, sticky and comes with coconut shavings. I got a spoon and scooped some coconut shavings. I liked the puto with coconut shavings than having it plain. Tita Leya, Mama lo, my Dad, Menard, and Tito Nick were the only ones in the kitchen. Since Melissa was here, Tita Jing-Jing had to be here because she was her mum. 

I wandered into the hallway and tried to find someone to play with. Nico was just coming out of Tita Leya's bedroom after a play in the computer. I asked him. "Can you play something with me?" 

He replied with. "Nah, I'm just going to watch with them." I decided not to give up yet so I still looked around. I looked for Liam but I still couldn't find him. I went back into the living room and found him sitting right infront of the T.V. It was very confusing since I didn't see him near the television when I went inside. I asked him. "Do you want to play with me?" He didn't respond, instead, he stayed silent. I looked for my sister to see what she was doing. She was sitting next to the couch playing on my ipad. She brought the charger too, but It wasn't plugged in. I checked the percentage of the ipad and it was fully charged.

I borrowed the ipad and asked. "Anyone want to play minecraft?" There was just plain silence until I asked Liam. I asked him the same question and he just said. "Okay." He grabbed his ipad and we played and built a house on a mountain. Near the mountain was an open cave. I made a path to the cave and lived inside it. There, I put three crafting benches and 3 furnaces. I went back to the mountain to borrow items from his chest. After a while, his ipad had dead batteries. He went into his room to recharge it. I gave my ipad to my sister and she played cytus. I watched the movie with everyone else and searched for my blanket. My sister was actually leaning on the table and using the blanket as a pillow. I just dealt with it and watched the movie. After the movie was almost ending, they got bored and played. "Guess who's the Person". 

Guess who's the person is when someone who is in has to wear a bandanna or beanie to cover his eyes. We turn off the lights and let someone hold a flash light. We could hide any where, but we couldn't hide under the bed because it would be hard for the person who is "it " to reach down to the ground. When someone is touched by the person who is it, the person has to guess their name. If they got it wrong, he or she has to count to 10 seconds and give the person a chance to hide again. We can't cheat by listing all the names of the people who are playing. If that happens, the person has to be out of the game for 3 rounds.

When we were playing, Liam hid behind a luggage. Danielle hid in the closet. But Nico and I were on the bed. When I was holding the light I focused the light on Melissa so everyone knows where Melissa was. We were all giggling and it made us easier to be found by Melissa. We kept saying. "SSHH!" But some of us just continued on. Melissa kept going and going until she found Liam. Liam was the person who was giggling all the time, so Melissa recognised his laugh and his voice. So she said his name and Liam wore the bandanna. We lead him outside the door and put his hand on the handle so he wouldn't be confused where the handle was. It took a really long time for him to find us. So we decided to play another game. It was called "Disgusting Food Challenge". 

Disgusting food challenge is when a person is blindfolded. The other people has to find food and add disgusting things onto it. Some food don't have to be yucky, it could also be like chocolate cake with frosting. When the food is ready to eat, it has to be given to the person who is blindfolded. No matter what, the person has to have his mouth wide open. When they taste it, they have to guess the food combo. If they got it wrong, it didn't matter, so it will be another person's turn to be blindfolded.

We asked the adults if we could use the food but they declined. We went back to Mama Lo's room to play something else. "How about hide and seek?" asked Danielle. "Or probably truth or dare?" None of us wanted to play truth or dare yet, but we did want to play hide and seek. Nico was the first one to be it, so we hid somewhere in Tita Leyas's room. To make it easier for Nico, we all hid inside the closet. It wasn't that long until he found all of us. The first person he found was Melissa so she counted up to 10 in the living room. I had no better place to hide so I hid in the water heater closet with Danielle. It kind of hurt because some of my limbs touches the boiling pipes. I made sure I wasn't found so I hid behind the towels. I wasn't found for 2 rounds, until Nico opened the door. I helped Nico find the others and saw that Liam was hiding under Baby Jessie's tall chair with clothes hanging from it.

We all got bored and luckily, the food was done and it was time to sing happy birthday to Tita Leya. It was sort of like a private birthday party since only 3 families came. After we sang, it was time to eat. I ate some shrimp with rice and 3 pieces of puto with coconut shavings. We ate hastily and some of us stuffed the food into our mouth. We ate and ate until our plate was cleared. After that, we all met at Mama Lo's room again to do the Disgusting food challenge. Danielle blindfolded me and took them a while to decide on what the food will be. When they were finally here, I opened my mouth and got curious of what it was. They put it on my tongue and I crunched and munched on it. "Shrimp with oil?" I guessed. "Is it apple with meat sauce?" I swallowed the food and took off the blindfold. They had a spare of what they gave me "What was that!?", I said in disgust. I felt angry inside my head so I got my revenge on the person who was blindfolded. This time, I made sure that it tasted just like a smelly rotten cheese!

I went into the kitchen and got a piece of chocolate cake, put some coconut shavings on top and dipped it in coke. I went into Mama lo's bedroom and saw that Nico was blindfolded. I told him. "Open your mouth wide!" He only opened it a little bit, but I put it straight into his mouth. Crumbs and cake pieces were falling off the ground. He slowly chewed it and liked it a bit. "Hmm.... is it the chocolate cake from the table dipped in coke and topped with coconut shavings? My eyelids widened with surprise. "What?!", I said in shock. "How did you know that!?" 

"I just guessed" ,he said happily. His dad walked past the hallway and saw the crumbs. "Oh no, the room is messy!" He said "Get out, get out!" We walked out of the room and into the garage. 

"So what do we do now?", asked Melissa. 

"Let's just play..... I know! Truth or dare!" answered Nico. 

We got our chairs and sat down. We tried finding a stick to use. "How about an umbrella?" I asked. "Nah, it's too pointy.", replied Danielle. It was so hard finding just a stick that we just picked a hard hat. 

"How are we going to know which part of the hat is the pointer?" , I questioned. 

"Just use the cap of the hat.", responded Liam. We span the the hardhat and pointed right at Melissa. Melissa thought for a moment. "I dare Liam to... lick the dust of the car!" ,said Melissa. Liam felt shy and started rubbing his hand. "Fine." ,returned Liam. He slowly moved his tongue to the steel of the car. When his tongue touched the surface, he put back his tongue into his mouth and coughed. He went to the kitchen and drank some water. After that, he sat down on his seat and we continued the game. We went on and on until we were tired. Melissa left, Danielle left and I left. 

It was a pretty late day so I almost fell asleep while we were driving home.