Reflection section

Text Title: Holden Kingswood '2 Face' shows the drastic changes of a restoration
Text Type: News Article
Text Creator: Nile Bijoux
Text Purpose: To provide interesting and useful information to readers.
Date: Nov 09 2021

Critical Literacy Question: What is missing from the text?

Restoring an old, beaten car to its original condition is an extremely time-consuming task, one that can take even years. One way of trimming this time is to half-do the restoration, literally. Geoff Luck of GC Restoration has restored only one half of his his Holden Kingswood ute, painting an imaginary line along the middle of the body. Luck has affectionately named the car 'two face,' or 'Harvey' after the Batman villain Harvey Dent. One half of the vehicle is in pristine condition, aside from a handful of modern touches such as LED lights in the cabin. The other half of the vehicle is rusted, sun-damaged, and beaten. GC Restoration's FB page had this to say about the build: 

“Geoff has had this odd idea for a resto in his head for years and has been talking about doing up an old ute to use as a GC Restoration shop runabout for quite some time... ...Harvey’s driver’s side has been bare-metalled, repaired, straightened and freshened up to look like a Sandman tribute from front to back, inside and out, top and underbody, right down the middle. BUT the passenger side has been left almost exactly as it was.We salvaged what we could. It has been sun and weather damaged, it has got dents, holes, bits missing, lost or damaged and bloody red dirt everywhere! Harvey is certainly a head turner!” 

There is no mention or picture of how the interior of the ute has been restored. I would have liked to see how Luck went about restoring the interior- whether he decided to restore it in its entirety or only one half. I would have also liked to see how he implemented the LED lights briefly mentioned in the text.

(Two Face)

PPP Reflection

Now that it's over, what are my first thoughts about this overall project? Are they mostly positive or negative?
They are positive. I remember having fun working with my friends to make the project come to fruition.


What did you do for your project?
For our passion project we did an american football sports tournament.

Why did you do it?

We decided to do an american football tournament because we are passionate about the sport and enjoy it.

How did the brainstorming of ideas go?

We think that the brainstorming of ideas went well and everybody’s opinions and ideas were heard and considered.

What was your driving question?

Our driving question was “How do you make a good sports tournament?”

How did your planning correspond to the finished project?

The result of our planning was a successful sports tournament that everybody enjoyed.

How did the planning help you?

Our planning and research helped us by giving us the knowledge we required to run a good sports tournament.

What didn’t you include in your planning? 

We did not consider how we were going to present our tournament and as a result do not have any photos of our tournament. We also didn’t include much bibliography.

What will you do differently in your planning next time?

Next time I would seriously consider how I would present my project.

What went well with the creating and implementation?

We were able to well organise the tournament and everybody had a good time.

What didn’t go well for the creating and implementation?

It was hard for us to get a great amount of people to come to the tournament because it is not common in New Zealand but this also meant that the people who did show up to the event were all interested in the sport and tried their best. We also did not think to take pictures.

What did you learn about yourself during this phase?

Greg - I didn’t really learn anything about myself.

What did you learn about working with others during this phase? (Please be respectful here!)

I learnt that is important to involve everyone in your group and listen to everybody’s ideas.

How did you show the HHS school values during the whole process? Please be specific.

We showed commitment by working on our project every wananga period no matter what.

We showed achievement by creating this slideshow to present our project to the class.

We showed respect by helping those of lesser skill levels who needed assistance.

We showed resilience by persevering when times got tough so that we could run our tournament.

I didn’t really learn anything about myself by making our project but I did have a lot of fun doing it with my friends. If I did passion projects again I would do one of the projects that are run by teachers.

These are the critical literacy traits that I used:

Passion Projects Sharing & Presenting

This is a presentation I made about my passion project. My passion project was to make an american football sports tournament.

Reflection Section Week 1

Text Title: People can't stop destroying their cars on this width-restricted UK road

Text Type: News Article

Text Creator: Nile Bijoux

Text Purpose: To provide interesting and useful information to readers.

Date: Oct 16 2021

Critical Literacy Question: Who is missing from the text?

Recently, many road users have been destroying their cars on a section on Woodmere Avenue in Watford. So many cars have been wrecking themselves that a 700-member Facebook group has been created to detail the destruction dealt by the concrete and bollards. A Watford Council spokesperson has said that the safety feature “does not meet the criteria for inclusion in our safety engineering programme”. Council Officers have interviewed local residents, spotting themselves at least one accident on the bollards.

The reader is shown the opinion of the Watford Council, but not of those involved in the accidents. I believe that this article should show the opinions of those who got into an accident on the width restriction, showing both sides of the story.

Woodmere Avenue

Reflection Section Week 10

Text Title: Fancy buying a Mad Max garage?

Text Type: News Article

Text Creator: Nile Bijoux

Text Purpose: To provide interesting information to readers.

Date: Sep 11 2021

Critical Literacy Question: Is the text fair?

The Doof Wagon

Australian auctionhouse Lloyd Auctions is putting   up for sale many of the vehicles from the filming of  Mad Max: Fury Road. These vehicles include the Doof Wagon, Furiosa's War Rig, and a twin-supercharged 1973 Ford Falcon Coupe Interceptor. 

The Doof Wagon is a repurposed missile carrier, mounted with roughly 100 loudspeakers. In the film, the Doof Wagon housed mounted drummers, who would pound on drums made of aircon-duct drums, while Coma the Doof Warrior-- who is blind and disfigured-- slung in a web of bungy sounded the distorted 'guitar of war.'

Other auctions include two Chevorlet Coupes, one of which contains a straight-twelve engine, built from two straight-six engins out of two GM straight-six engines. It is not clear if any of these vehicles function, but they are perfcet for anyone who is looking to get their old vehicle memoribilia fix.

Critical Literacy: I think the text is fair. I think this because, despite the use of words with positive connotations, the text makes no attempt to coerce the reader into purchasing a vehicle from this action, or to paint the auction in a negative light to the viewer. 

Reflection Section

 Text Title: This million-mile Honda CRX is basically new

Text Type: News Article

Text Creator: Nile Bijoux

Text Purpose: To educate its viewers

Date: Aug 21 2021

Critical Literacy Question: In whose interest is this text?

A Honda dealership in Tampa, Florida displays a million-mile Honda CRX. The car went on display in 2015, and since then has driven one extra mile- resulting in a total mileage of 1,002,474 miles, or 1,613,325 kilometres. Surprisingly, the car still its original interior, and a fresh exterior re-paint. 

This is because the owner put the CRX through regular maintenenace to keep it in great condition. The dealership says that it is unclear whether or not the vehicle has undergone any major repairs or replacements, but they say it "doesn't seem like it."

Bijoux then goes on to recommend that the article's readers perform some basic maintenance checks on their cars- referring to the TWIRL acronym: Tyres, Windscreen, Interior, Rust, and Lights.

I think that this text is of interest to most readers. It appeals to those interested in vehicles and motoring, but is an interesting and one-of-a-kind story. A vehicle reaching one-million miles is a rare occasion, but the car is also in great condition- especially for the distance it has travelled. 

Reflection Section

Text Title: An Evo has just Sold for Almost $300k

Text Type: News Article

Text Creator: Nile Bijoux

Text Purpose: To educate its viewers

Date: Aug 06 2021

Critical Literacy Question: In whose interest is this text?

Despite some not liking the Japanese four-door, a 2000 Mitsubushi Lancer Evolution VI 'Tommi Makinen Edition' Uk Specification hassis #001 just sold for NZ$288,427 at the Silverstone Auctions. Other notable auctions at Silverstone include 1991 Audi Ur-Quattro 20V (RR), which sold for NZ$321,707, a 1-of-45 1997 Porsche 991 (993) 3.8 RSR Carrera Cup, which sold for NZ$1,282,883, and Richard Hammond's 1999 Lotus Espirit Sport 350, which sold for NZ$128,682.

This text is of interest to those interested in motoring and vehicles, especially those interested in collectable cars. This text could also be of interest to people who like to purchase assets from auctions, to then hold so they increase in value.

Reflection Section Week 2

Text Title: Watch a Lada turn into a flamethrower

Text Type: News Article

Text Creator: Nile Bijoux

Text Purpose: To educate its viewers

Date: Aug 06 2021

Critical Literacy Question: Why are you/we reading this text?

Russian Mechanic Vahan Mikaelyan has transformed a Lada 1600 into a flamethrower, 'the first of its kind' he says. The flamethrowers, which are positioned in the 1600's headlights, seem to be capable of spewing flames over 10 metres forward. The build appears to use an auxiliary pump to shoot ignited gasoline forward. Other builds of Mikaelyan include a monster truck on wagon wheels, and a vehicle that rides on eight legs.

We are reading this text as part of our one hour of reading per week. We have devised a new system for this term in which we read one news article of our choice then write a reflection section about it. This is the post that I picked; I found it in the motoring section of stuff.co.nz.

Reflection Section

Text Title: "Māori astronomer claims Matariki has nine stars, not seven"

Text Type: New Report

Text Creator: Te Karere TVNZ

Text Purpose: To educate

Date: 02/07/21

Critical Literacy Question: Why are you/we reading this text? 

Maori astronomer Dr. Rangi Matamua makes the claim that there are Matariki cluster, rather than the preconceived seven. Matamua states that this is an esoteric Maori belief, and not the 'bastardised' version of Maori oral histories. He says that, also, not all stars in Matariki are female- 'this is a fallacy.' The seven stars are Ururangi, Tupu-a-rangi, Tupu-anuku, Waipunarangi, Waita, Waiti, and Matariki. Matamua brings to attention the two extra stars, Pohutukawa and Waiti.

We are reading this text because Matariki, the Maori new year, recently passed on the 24th June. As part of wananga, we have been studying the celebration. 

Reflection Section Week 8

Text Title: Romeo and Juliet: Act 1, Scene 5.

Text Type: Play

Text Creator: William Shakespeare

Critical Literacy Question: What genre does this text belong to?

Date: 21st of June, 2021

Within the great halls of the Capulets stands a feast. Food is prepared and tables are packed with people- who are encouraged to take to the dance floor. Behind the scenes, Romeo has infiltrated the feast. Romeo sees Juliet from across the floor and asks a serving-man who she is. Whilst Romeo moves to see Juliet, Tybalt notices Romeo's voice, and realises he has entered the feast uninvited. Since Romeo is a Montague, Tybalt requests that his rapier is fetched. Luckily, Capulet keeps the peace- stating that Romeo is well-regarded in Verona, and stating also that he would not have a youth harmed at his feast.

Whilst this happened, Romeo and Juliet had gotten to know one another, and kissed twice. Romeo is seeked out by the Nurse, and Romeo asks the Nurse who Juliet's mother is. When the Nurse tells Romeo that Juliet's mother is Lady Capulet, he is devastated. 

Juliet, not wanting to attract attention, asks the Nurse to identify a list of men. When the Nurse identifies Romeo as a Montague, she, too, is devastated.

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy. But, it has many comedic moments in it. 

Reflection Section: Romeo and Juliet

Text Title: Mitosis

Text Type: Educational Video

Text Creator: Amoeba Sisters

Critical Literacy Question: Why are you reading this text?

Date: 28th of May, 2021

Mitosis by the Amoeba Sisters explains the process knwon as mitosis, in which cells repliate. Mitosis is done by most organisms. First, the chromosomes in a cell replicate, going from 23 to 46. These chromosomes pair up, called "homogolous pairs." Second, the chromosomes link together, in a process known as "crossing over." Crossing over happens when two homogolous pairs exchange genetic code. This is how alleles are formed. Next, the chromosomes line up at the equator of the cell. The homoglous pairs then split up, lining up at each pole. The cell then splits in half, creating two cells with identical genetic code.

We watched this text in science because it was relevant to our topic of biology. We wer elearning about sexual and asexual reproduction, and mitosis is present in both.

Reflection Section: Week 4 Term 2

Text Title: Romeo and Juliet

Text Type: Play

Text Creator: William Shakespeare

Text Purpose: To entertain

Date: 28/05/21

Critical Literacy Question: Who is real in the text?

We started reading Romeo and Juliet for our 1 hour of reading per week. This is how far we are up to:

Romeo and Juliet takes place in fair Verona. There are two rival families: the Capulets, and the Montagues. At the start of Romeo and Juliet, the Capulets and Montagues get into a large dispute, and threaten eachother with violence. This violence is then broken up by Prince Escalus, who threatens all who fight with death.

Romeo and Juliet is a fictional text. This means that nobody is real, and are all figments of Shakespeare's writing. Verona, however, is a real city, and can be found in Northern Italy.

Reflection Section Week 3 Term 2

Text Title: Denzel Washington's Life Advice

Text Type: Speech

Text Creator: Denzel Washington

Text Purpose: To inspire 

Date: May 21, 2021

Critical Literacy Question: In whose interest is this text?

Denzel Washington recounts the major losses that he had to go through to get to the career he has now: the many majors he failed at university, the auditions he didn't make, e.t.c. The focus of the speech, however, is the importance of losing, and being prepared to lose. The most notable moment of the speech is when Denzel says: "If you do not lose, you are not even trying." This means that in order to succeed, especially in a new challenge, or a field you are not experienced with, you must be prepared to take risks.

This text would be most benficial to those who are currently experiencing a "rough patch" in their life, and require the wisdom and advice. This advice could only be given by somebody who has already experienced such rough patches, and have made it to the other side.

My Culture

 

 

This is a poster about my culture. It has many kiwiana icons and icons important to my culture- such as native animals and important New Zealanders.

Film Aspects

Culture

 

Tieke

What is it?

Teieki is a New Zealand bird, also known as the saddleback.

Saddlebacks belong to the family of Callaeidae.

What does it sound like?

Sound 1

Sound 2

Where is it found?

It is found in New Zealand Mainland and island forests there are

only around 650 birds left in new zealand.

What does it look like?

It is an amazing colour, Its wings are orange and the rest of its

body is black.

What does it eat?

The diet of Tieke mainly consists of insects.

What are the characteristics of Tieke?

Tieke is a cheeky bird with an inquisitive manner.

Why did we pick birds?

"The school spoke of a desire for HHS students to feel a real sense of

belonging to their kāhui. And hoping that students think back long after

they have left and remember their kāhui and the significance of it." 

- Janina Konia

How was HHS named?

Riki Ellison gifted HHS its name a number of years ago.

What's our HHS whakatauki, and what does it mean?

HHS's whakatauki is 'te huruhuru ao o Horomaka,' and means 'the

sacred feathers spread across Horomaka.'

Reflection Section: Subway Eat Fresh

Text title: Subway Eat Fresh

Text type: Advertisement

Text creator: Subway 

Text purpose: To promote eating at Subway (eating healthily; 'Eat Fresh Instead')

Date: 5th March, 2021

In Subway Eat Fresh, Julian Dennison raps a parody of the opening to Fresh Prince of Bel Air, in which the lyrics are swapped out. In the new story, a group of kids are at a skatepark and are hungry, and so they go and get some food (Fish & Chips). The kids open their food container to find a burger and some fries. Then, some kids who were up to some good kicked the fish & chips away and instead gave everybody Subway, which is much healthier. Then, the catchphrase was revealed "Eat Fresh Instead."

Text title: Subway Eat Fresh

Text type: Advertisement

Text creator: Subway 

Critical Literacy Question: How does the text depict age, gender, cultural groups?

Date: 5th March, 2021

In Subway Eat Fresh, teenagers are depicted as almost 'lazy' in their food choice, happy to eat whatever is cheapest no matter how unhealthy it is. This is a stereotype and is not true, as most teenagers are educated on food choices are most healthy, and there are many healthier options that are just as cheap as getting fish & chips.

Reflection Section: A Game of Cards

Text Type: Short Story

Text Title: A Game of Cards

Text Creator: Witi Ihimaera

Text Purpose: To entertain and to educate its reader using a possible underlying theme/message.

Critical Literacy Question: Why are we/you reading this text?

Date: February 26th, 2021.

Summary:

A Game of Cards tells the story of a grandma, Nani Miro, who loves to play cards. In the story, she plays cards with all of the other women in the village. Nani Miro and another grandma, Maka Heta are the best at cards, and win the most games; they are huge cheaters. Nani Miro and Maka Heta would both cheat and then argue the night away. 

When Nani Miro was on her deathbed, she asked to play a last game of cards. The women of the village, including Maka Heta all rushed to play with Nani Miro. Heta and Miro had one last argument, and when Nani Miro laughed, she died.

Critical Literacy Question:

I am reading this text because for one Wananga period a week, we are to read for the whole hour. On Tuesday, we read A Game of Cards from Witi Ihimaera for that one reading period. I really like the characters, they feel very real and have lots of character.

Reflection Section

Text Title: Butterflies

Text Type: Short Story

Text Creator: Patricia Grace

Text Purpose: To entertain and convey a message.

Date: 19/02/21

In Butterflies by Patricia Grace, a clever girl with plaited hair who lives with her grandparents heads to school. At school, she writes a short story about how she killed all the butterflies, as they are pests that bite and eat at her grandparents cabbage plants. The teacher says that butterflies should not be killed as they are beautiful, to which her grandparents said that, "She must buy her cabbage from the store."

Butterflies tells of two perspectives, and how ones upbringing can change the way they see things. The grandparents have been led to believe that butterflies are pests, and a danger to their cabbage plants. The teacher has been led to believe that butterflies are a beautiful part of nature and should remain untouched.

To what genre does this text belong to?

Butterflies is a short story. It is a short story because it is ficticious, and short in length.

WTE Sentences

Simple Sentence:
Simple sentences begin with the subject of the sentence (e.g he, she, it, they, I, someone's name, or a place).

He is a cool guy.

Very Short Sentence:

The very short sentence IS one of the most powerful sentence styles ever developed. Immediately, it grabs your attention. 

He is cool.

Power Sentence:

If you find you waffle a bit, try the power sentence. Begin your paragraph with a power sentence of 12 words or fewer. Get straight to the point.

Having a good work ethic is the best way to get good results in school.

Red, White, and Blue:

Use the red, white, and blue sentence style when you have several ideas to convey about a topic.

He was cool, awesome, and popular.

The Adverb Start:

Start a sentence with an adverb, as it adds interest and intrigue. Remember the rule: when you start your sentence with an adverb, place a comma after the adverb then write the rest of the sentence.

Unsurprisingly, he burnt the casserole.

Preposition Start:

Try starting your sentence with a preposition. Prepositions are little words indicating movement or position.

Despite his best efforts, he burnt the casserole.

The -Ing Start

Try starting a sentence with the -ing form of a verb. The rule: when you have finished your -ing phrase, place a comma, then write the rest of the sentence.

Believing that a good work ethic was all he needed to succeed, he worked hard in his classes.

The -Ed Start

Try starting a sentence with the —ed form of the verb. It makes for a punchy opening to the sentence.

Moved by the singer's voice, he was driven to tears.

The Semi-Colon

When you have two independent clauses (two mini-sentences) joined by a conjunction (e.g. and, but), you can remove the conjunction and replace it with a semi-colon.

I needed milk; I went to the dairy.

The Em-Dash

The em-dash in English is the long dash. Use the long dash to drop a phrase in a 

sentence that is at complete odds with the flow of the sentence—way out there—but which adds colour and interest. 

The handicapped man— to the amusement of passerbys— could not get up the stairs.

The W-Start Sentence

Try beginning a sentence with a W-word. Here are some: who, while, when, where, 

what, whereas. The W-start makes writing sound thoughtful and knowledgeable.

When the rain fell, puddles enveloped the vicinity.

Explore the Subject

Accomplished writers use this sentence style. The rule: begin your sentence with the subject then place a comma. Say something interesting about the subject. Place another comma. Then, finish your sentence.

Aron, who didn't feel like finishing his assessments, ditched school today.

Treaty of Waitangi: What Really Happened Critical Literacy

The film 'Treaty of Waitangi: What Really Happened" directed by Peter Burger, is about the signing of the of one of our founding documents. It is a dramatisation of the days leading up to the and including the signing. We know this through the chiefs aruging, discussing, and eventually siging the Treaty, based on history. We also know through the film's title and voiceover.