Mark awarded Highly Commended

Mark G was awarded Highly Commended
for his entry in the 2015 Storylines
Writing Competition

Mark G was presented with a certificate and a fantastic David Hill novel at the 2015 Storylines Festival today in Christchurch. Mark was awarded Highly Commended in the 10-12 year old category of this year's Storylines Writing Competition.

Congratulations Mark!

The Iain Sharp Poem

We talked about The Iain Sharp Poem. Iain Sharp is a poet who lives in Auckland and wrote a really cool poem based on himself. He gives a picture of himself through descriptions of things and actions.

We each wrote our own 'Iain Sharp' poem, using our own names and some of his framework. Here's what we came up with. (I have omitted the surnames).

The Gill Poem

I am a package carrying a dog.

I am a red chip that’s about to win Connect Four.

I am a UFO, spooking the minds of humans.

I am a thorn, forcing kids to wear shoes.

I am a sandy desert in Africa.

I am a dinosaur, wrecked by extinction.

I am a bad joke.

I am Gill.

  

The Ava Poem

I am a pass the parcel, waiting to be played.

I am a Barbie, staring at the patterned bed while my owner is playing with her friends.

I am a red Ferrari that has just been bought, all shiny and new.

I am a blossom tree and people are taking selfies with me.

I am a playground, I can see children playing on the monkey-bars.

I am an owl, eating my breakfast at night time.

I am Maria Kochetkova, waiting for my ballet class.

I am Ava.

  

The Mark Poem

I am a postcard with a stamp, making by brother jealous.

I am a trash pack, ready to trash my brother’s trash bin.

I am a Volkswagon, ready to drive to the airport.

I am a cacao tree, standing as straight as a zigzag.

I am a piwakawaka fleeting so high among the trees.

I am a human being, none of these are real.

I am Mark.

 

 

The Gabriella Poem.

I am a box, wrapped in red paper

          with a white bow

          on the way to 52 Different Street.

I am a dictionary waiting for misspelt words.

I am a black jet waiting to race around.

I am a wild flower, sad since I am left alone.

I am the beach; hot sand, cold water.

I am a monkey swinging from trees.

I am a human and that is me.

I am Gabriella.

 

The Mitchell Poem

I am a green postcard from Fiji.

I am a basketball getting dunked.

I am a truck, getting stuck up a hill. I am green.

I am a tree in the corner by Room 18, my leaves are dropping and they are green.

I am a lake in New Zealand, my water is green and slimy.

I am a cow mooing at my owners.

I am a bad cough in someone’s throat, pricking them.

I am Mitchell.

The Haoyu Poem

I am a letter wrapped in unicorn skin.

I am a flying netball.

I am a unicorn F22 shooting down UFOs.

I am a blade of grass in a farm, waiting to be eaten.

I am a volcano bursting with lava.

I am a unicorn.

I am Haoyu.

A Slice of Camp

clinging

it was a place of terror

          hanging ropes

breezy wind

           clipping carabiners

classmates pulling, dragging, struggling

          me hooking my harness 

   looking up ready to climb - clinging tight     

          climbing horseshoes

   wishing for good luck        

          shaking and shivering

  climbing to the top

         stretching my arms out as far as

I could to get the waving rope

stepped on the sliver horseshoe

                   going

                                down

                                             down

                                                         down

I got to the bottom

I conquered

         my fear

                                                                   by Olivia C

Camp

It was a place of pandemonium

struggling class mates

and silver metal

                                R

                                     U

                                        N

                                            G

                                                S

piwakawaka fleeting so high

among all the classmates

 

roaming to put on the rappel device

jumping off the pine tree

at last I have jumped off the pine tree

like a wood pigeon

now I have finished my amazing pilgrimage    

around the encampment

so I have come back to my residence

  by Mark G 

Raft building 

    

The wet raft building

It was a place of making

Pulling sticks

The solid rocks just sitting there

The wood looking at us not talking

The water is screaming          don’t come in

The helmets are going to have fun

The mountains are cold

Like a rain drop sweating down the cliff     

Land falling from the mountains

We tie the ropes and sticks together

slippery and slimy

the rocks are staring at me trying to get me to cut my nose

So we drag it down

STOP.

It’s dragging

Pick it up

We go out and we jump in

Sweating

   Shouting

       Tipping

           Screaming

                 Falling... OUCH!

by Mitchell

darkness

it was a place of darkness

                        flying ropes

and giant spiders

steel carabinas

wind wafting

class-mates encouraging

fantails singing

sun missing

trees fluttering

leaves tumbling

I am a spider abseiling down the tree

the nightmare is over

I get down the tree and I stop shivering

the darkness is over

abseiling

by Haoyu

MY VISION OF CAMP

It was a place of challenges

people shivering

students splashing, racing around me

cold water against my face

The heavy spray jacket pulled me up

paddling at full speed

going under the wharf

                it was cold like the freezer at home

As oars touched the water

a splash on your face

Look up                flying birds            above the boats

looking down thinking   

                                                any fish in the water?

paddling as fast as cars

we finished kayaking

we won the race

by Gabriella

Paula Green loved our camp poems so much, she has posted a few of them on her blog, check it out: Poetry Box - Russley School poems

The Most Fabulous Me

We read My Most Fabulous Book by Leonie Young and used it as inspiration to write our own Fabulous Me stories. Here is a selection of some of our favourite lines from our Russley Writers' Club versions:

The most stars I've ever seen was when I went camping with my Dad and he broke the tent so we had to sleep under the stars. (Gabriella)

The most stars I've ever seen was on the catwalk at the talent show. (Mark)

The most stars I've ever seen was when I banged my head on a pole. (Haoyu)

The most exhausted I've ever been was when my team went swimming every day for two weeks. (Gabriella)

The most people I've ever seen was at the A&P Show. (Mitchell)

The most dishes I've ever seen was  on the side of the road where a homeless person was selling plates. (Mitchell)

The most dishes I've ever seen was at my auntie's wedding at Strawberry Fair. (Ava)

The most daring thing I've ever done was when I went to Auckland for Christmas and my cousin dared me to climb through the window and jump into the pool. (Quinton)

The most birds I've ever seen was at the walking forest in Victoria Park. (Ava)

The most water I've ever seen was when I broke the tap off the kitchen drinking fountain. (Haoyu)

The most trouble I ever got into was when I went to the West Coast with my Nana and she never knew I was there, hiding in the back seat of the car. (Gabriella)

The most trouble I ever got into was when I was hitting my brother in the car and my mum was at The Warehouse and someone complained and they called out the car plate number on the microphone and told my mum off. (Mark)