What's+Happening+in+7JJ

=__Tuesday 31st July __=

===Today was the big day for Cross Country. It was a great day with the rain holding off and the wind not causing too much havoc. It was exciting watching all the boys cross the finish line after giving their all in the 3km race. And who took out the title of Year 7 Champ?! None other than our Max! Well done! The top 4 boys for 7JJ were Max (1st), Dylan (6th), James S (13th) and Alex (14th). ===



Dylan, James S, Alex and Max
= = = = =__Monday 30th July __=

===We had a special visitor today at Chapel - Saint Kents Old Boy and Olympic Gold Champion Hamish Carter! He came and visited with the ANZ Olympics Bus and shared his inspiring attitude to achieving your dreams. His dream that he had when he was at primary school was to win Olympic Gold - and he did it! He was at Saint Kents for Year 7 and Year 8. When we got back to our class, he was walking past and informed us that our classroom - 7JJ - was his class when he was here. I'm sure he won't be the last kiwi legend that passes through the doors. ===



===7MC were able to go on the Olympics bus as they raised the most money for the World Vision. Those other students who raised $300 or above were also able to go on it. Will H, Desmond and Dylan were part of that special group. === = = =__Monday 23rd July __=

===Enterprise has begun! We begun with some brainstorming in our enterprise groups about considerations we will need to make during the unit. ===

BOYS - If you have questions regarding Enterprise, please ask them on the 7JJ Wiki Enterprise Discussion
=__Friday 20th July __=

===In our brief writing session this afternoon, we were working on building character profiles for our narratives. We had a character that we were profiling to be able to write a paragraph for a narrative around him. As a class, we brainstormed about him and what to include and then started to write (together) our paragraph. Here is our start. ===

= = = = **//"As the skinny-jeaned figure emerged from the safety of the trees, light pierced down on his faded-brown cowboy hat casting a dark shadow over him and his trusty stallion." //**

Boys - if you have more to add, leave a comment and we can add it on.
=__Thursday 19th July __=

===For reading this term, we are reading the novel 'War Horse' by Michael Morpurgo. At the end of the term, we will also be watching the movie 'War Horse' directed by Steven Spielberg. We had our introductory lesson today where we analysed the cover of the book and thought about the author's purpose and effectiveness of the style. Some words that came to mind when looking at the cover and thinking about what the book may be about were: ===


 * =Courage =
 * =Bravery =
 * =Depresssion =
 * =<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Friendship =
 * =<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Trust =
 * =<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Love =
 * =<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Death =
 * =<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Loyalty =
 * =<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Brutality =
 * =<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Sadness =
 * =<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Compassion =

We then read the author's note and shared our thoughts on the importance of the painting of Joey and why Michael Morpurgo included this.
=== We looked at a drawing that was drawn for the Illustrated London News Christmas number which showed a cavalry charge by the British 9th Lancers in September 1914. We thought and discussed what we could see, what we thought and what we wondered - we found that it brought mixed emotions. ===



= =


 * Horses were the backbone of British army activity in France and Flanders during 1914‐18.
 * Some were available as a strike weapon: the cavalry. Many other horses and mules were used to pull guns, supply carts and ambulances.
 * 25,000 horses were in use in 1914; 475,000 by 1918. Probably a million horses and mules were used on British Fronts during the war.
 * 256,000 horses died on the Western Front, 58,000 by enemy fire and the rest by illness, exhaustion, exposure, overwork and the terrible battlefield conditions.
 * In 1917, at Ypres, horrified onlookers watched three horses and six men slowly drown in mud. The bond between horse and its soldier‐carer could be intense. It was said that ‘the soldier came to regard his horse almost as an extension of his own being’.
 * The brilliant Royal British Army Veterinary Corps treated 725,000 horses and saved 529,000 of them. This was a vital part of the war effort. The Germans lost the war partly because their vet service was less effective.
 * Charities like the RSPCA and the Blue Cross raised substantial funds, through flag days or by commissioning special books, to help war horses. Many RSPCA volunteers served in the vet corps in France and Flanders.
 * 165,000 horses were bought up by the army in Britain in the early days of the war in 1914. This was not enough. Thousands more American, Canadian, and Argentinian horses were also bought and shipped to France.
 * British Generals believed strongly in the power of cavalry.
 * There were cavalry skirmishes in autumn 1914 during the open warfare of that time but, once the trench lines formed, horsemen were useless against barbed wire and machine guns. Attempts to attack with cavalry at the Somme in 1916 or at Arras and Cambrai in 1917 resulted in heavy losses of men and horses. Only in 1918 when the Germans retreated across open country did the cavalry have some use.
 * When the British Army went again to France in 1940, not one horse was taken. Their roles had been taken over by machines.
 * At the end of the war, older horses were shot, and younger ones sold to local farmers or butchers. Of 136,000 Australian horses shipped off to war, only one – Sandy – returned home.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">We then watched a youtube clip of horses in World War I which gave us some more information - the clip was very moving.
media type="youtube" key="tWDCO9myKB4" height="315" width="420" align="center"

===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">This lesson brought about insightful discussions about horses in the war. Many of the boys started reading the first three chapters of War Horse straight after. ===

===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">We carried on from our last writing session today. We covered what was needed to make our openings reach a higher level. They were given another photo for a prompt and they completed openings independently - and they are AMAZING! Here is the prompt: ===



//Zac//
= = =__<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Wednesday 18th July __=

===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Our first writing session for Term 3 and we are focussing on Narratives. We were learning to write an opening that describes a setting in detail. After our discussions about what a narrative is, the purpose of a narrative, what needs to be included in a narrative and what makes a great narrative, we were give a task in pairs to write an opening of a narrative using the photo below as our prompt: ===



===//**The repeated sound ‘crunch, crunch, crunch’ of the dry leaves. Dad and I were on a hunting trip in the Amazon and having trouble getting a kill. It was very hot so we needed somewhere to sit down away from the transparent beam of the hot, yellow sun. Suddenly we pictured something in the distance but it actually wasn’t real – or maybe it was, so we kept walking. Then, out of the corner of Dad’s eye, he saw our first deer. Aim and fire went his rifle followed by a loud ‘DING’! It was a bunch of rusted, old metal. “Dad! That’s not a deer!” I yelled angrily!**//===

====//**As I walked through the dampened forest on a gloomy December morning, a gust of refreshing air came from behind. Glimmers of light burned through the cracks of towering trees as we emerged to a clearing.**//====

====//**As the stealth, ninja-like-hunter crept slowly with a bow and arrow in hand he heard rustling in a nearby bush. Out of the corner of his eye a white figure flashed from bush to bush making him curious – he had to follow. The bush was tall and was towering over him. He pulled out a machete and hacked at the bush. It was rusty but it worked.**//====

====//**As we woke up from our cramped tent, me and my friends felt a feeling of being watched. We got out and the sun was pouring into our eyes. We could not see so we headed into the bush. In the distance while we were running we saw something. It looked like shelter so we ran for it. As I was running I turned to see a strange man wearing a dark coat with a mask chasing us. Our boots were crunching the sticks beneath us. We started to freak out but there it was – we had to go to the object. The man was still behind – we were trapped!**//====

====//**The sun shone through the trees as I slowly trudged through the sticky swamp, which was not my cup of tea. Instantly, I was curious when I saw an old, beat up shape. I knew I had to find out more, so I moved closer like a lion stalking its prey.**//====

====//**It was a cold and wet day as the freezing, cold wind blew the damp leaves up into the dense void of the covering trees. The green moss made a squishing sound as we silently crept through the wet landscape.**//====

====//**It was a cold, lousy day when just the day before it was a perfect camping day. Even that night it seemed to be perfect but now stuck in the moisty dark reaches of the forest we had to go get some firewood to help soothe our frost-bitten fingers. We were frantically weaving through the thorny trees when BANG! I hit a moss-covered car. I started running to the old fashioned car. I was a metre away and I tripped suddenly. My hand was sliced on the metal and I saw the blood!**//====

====//**The crisp sun beams pierced through the covering shade of the damp tree leaves. We had done this track lots of times before as this was our private fishing spot. But something wasn’t right! There was an awfully-odd shape in the distance...**//====