Report+Writing

In Term One Room 16 learnt about researching and writing information reports. It was very challenging as we had to find relevent information, make notes, group and organise our notes and then use them to write our reports in our own words. Here are a few of our reports. Ever wondered how awesome and exciting Maria Tutaia life really is? Well I am going to tell you. Maria Tutaia is a famous netball player. She was born on the 18th of February and she was born in Tokoroa. Maria is Magnificently tall at the height of 1.88m!! Her friends and family call her Ria as her nickname. All netballers need to stay healthy and eat well so her favourite food is Surimi Salad. She is 23 years old and has a bright personality.

Maria’s team name is the Silver Fern. The silver ferns are the New Zealand netball team and they are absolutely great players! They’re fast and accurate! That’s what makes a good Netball team! When Maria plays for her team she is usually Goal Attack or Goal Shoot!

Are you thinking about playing netball or just want to know some facts then read this. Well firstly there are 15 in the silver ferns but only 7 of them play at a time. This is because the other Eight players are reserves in case one of the players get Hurt.

Did you know that the silver ferns coach is named Ruth Aitken and the Assistant coaches name is Waimarama Taumauna. Netball was originally Introduced as basketball, but over the years netball was Developed. Clara Gregory invented netball in 1895.

Maria Tutaia has a great Passion for netball and is really dedicated to her team and her fans. I hope you have learned a lot about Maria Tutaia. By Olivia.

Do you now what it would be like to be a medieval Knight? Well medieval times were not nice, there where horrible battles and more nasty things. Medieval times started in the year 500 and ended in the year 1500. Not all soldiers could become knights. Knights would get their squires to polish, sharpen and clean their weapons and armour.

Training was tough and hard. At eight years old a boy would be sent to a neighbouring castle to train. The boy would have to train for 7 years as a page and another 7 as a squire before he could be knighted. They would be taught how to fight with a spear and a lance. They practised on dummies which were usually a heavy sack.

Armour was one of the most important things to a knight. The first kind of armour was chain mail, it was mad up of tiny little rings most chain mail held more than 200,000 rings. Some helmets had tiny holes in them to help knights to breathe. Some knights covered their horses in armour. A full suit of armour weighed between 18 to 27 kg. You would have to be pretty strong to ride into battle with all that heavy armour on you.

Weapons are also an important thing to a knight. The most popular weapons were swords, battleaxes and maces. A sword would usually be fastened on the left waist and sometimes a knife on the right. Swords usually weighed 14 kg (pretty heavy). A lance was a long spear and was used to charge into battle. Shields were also used by knights in battles, the shield would be usually made of wood or metal and usually have the family emblem on it.

Tournaments helped knights stay fit in a time of peace. Knights would use blunted weapons in tournaments do reduce injuries or even deaths but some unlucky knights did die. They would also do jousting. Jousting was when two knights would charge at each other with long wooden poles and try knock there opponent of their horse (that would hurt).

You are probably I'm glad I'm not a mediaeval knight! But if I were a medieval knight I think I'd like jousting best! By William

Some endangered birds of New Zealand are the Kiwi, the kokako and the tui. These birds have alot of threats like loss of habitat and are struggling to survive

The kiwi is an important bird to New Zealand as it is on Stamps and postcards everywhere. They also have alot Of enemies such as stoats, cats, dogs, ferrets, possums, pigs, hedgehogs, rodents and weasels. Kiwis were first discovered in 1811 and there are estimated 250 left. There are many types of kiwi too like the great spotted kiwi, the little spotted kiwi, North Island brown kiwi and heaps more. The kiwi was also on the 1898 stamp. Kiwi also share the outdoor bush with the kokako.

The kokako are very beautiful birds because when they are born the kokako have light pink wattles under there chin. When they grow up the North Island kokako have blue wattles and the South Island kokako have orange wattles with only a small patch of blue at the base.It is sad that the North Island kokako are endangered with only 400 left but it is worse that the south island Kokako have been extinct since September 2007.The death of the kokako is mostly caused by possums and ship rats. Another friend of the kokako’s is the tui.

The tui is also a very beautiful bird.It is black with faded brown patches on its back and a small white tuff of feathers on it’s neck. Tui are also very intelligent like parrots. They are mainly found on the North Island. But these birds are very endangered because they have lots of enemies like other birds, bees, bats, rats, cats, stoats, possums and wasps. There are many endangered birds but these three birds are precious because these three are only found in New Zealand. Please help save them!!! By Issy.

Usually its quite hard to find a young superstar especially to find a good one ,but Justin Bieber is one. Well at least most people think so a few of my friends don't like him ,but anyway! Justin Bieber is 16 now but started his career when he was 14.Justin entered in a music show but his parents where away at the time so he taped it and put it on you tube for his parents. Usher and Justin Timberlake found it. he had a choice of going to Atlanta with one. They were both his favourite singers at the time but he chose Usher and started of his career from there. Justin has a sister called jasmine and a brother called jaxon. His birthdays ion 1st march 1994. Justin doesn't write his own songs but sings them really well some of his really good songs are baby, one time, one less lonely girl and lots more. his type of song is pop. So that's Justin Bieber one of my favourite singers. listen to him and i’m sure you will like him too By Jamie.