As Winter Comes by PP

The days are cold and wet and windy,

The nights get longer and longer.

When night falls the wind howls

and the rain splatters on your window sill.
You know that winter has come.
All snuggled up in bed with hot chocolates,
blankets and hot water bottles.
You know that you are all snug and safe
for another night to come.

I think that standing up for your country can make you a cool Kiwi because you are fighting for millions of people; running, jumping, hiking, hiding.   You could be flying a plane or driving a tank or first aid truck, jeep or motorbike, driving or attacking from the ground.  You have to have a belief in yourself and be brave to fight in the war for your country.

Gold Coast and Sunshine coast by RL

Last Sunday, really early in the morning, me and my family drove to the airport.  We had to wait a long time until we got on the aeroplane.  We flew on Pacific Blue.  We were lucky to have a tv on the aeroplane.  By the time we arrived in Australia, my ears were blocked and they hurt. 

Firstly we went to the Gold Coast and we were there for five days.  I wish we could stay there for longer.  There was a pool and a gym.  The gym was quite small but I ran on the treadmill.  Next we went to the Sunshine Coast.  There was a pool and a gym too and the gym was much bigger than the other one.  We stayed there for two days.  We went to Dream World and Australia Zoo.  They were so much fun, but it wasn't much fun when we had to go.  We arrived in New Zealand at midnight and when we arrived at my house, I went straight to sleep.

Dear Mummy by IG

Please, please, pretty please can I have a puppy?

I’d walk her through the park every day

and give her clean water to drink.

I’d love to have a golden labrador,

so I could play with her.

I will call her Razzle.

She will sleep at the end of my bed

and I will feed her

dog biscuits and meat.

We will be the best companions ever.

Please, please, pretty please can I have a puppy?

Kahu and the Taniwha retold by PP

On the other side of a mountain, between Rotorua and Waikato, there are two tracks.  One short and one long.  A taniwha lived on the short track.  Kahu was fed up with taking the long track to see his girlfriend Koka in Rotorua.  One day Kahu said to Koka's father, "If I can get the taniwha to move to the long track, will you let me marry your daughter?"  So he agreed and said he knew something that might help the taniwha, and that was to get his back scratched. 

Kahu found him lying in the sun and so Kahu went up and scratched his back.
"Ooooooooooooh ... mmmmmmmm ... a bit lower ..... that's nice"

"I could find you a wife to scratch your back, but only if you move to the other track."

"Anything, anything" said the taniwha. 

Kahu went to Pukana's house.  "I have found you a husband who lives on the short track to Rotorua". 

"But only a taniwha lives there" said Pukana.

"That's him."

"Well, I think that living with a taniwha is better than living in this dump", she said, so they went to the taniwha's pit.

"Now, sneak in and scratch his back" whispered Kahu.

"Oooooooooooh yuck!  You're all dirty and mucky" said the taniwha.
"But I'll scratch your back when you want" Pukana promised.

"Oh alright." said the taniwha and to keep his side of the bargain, he lifted her onto his back and flew to the long track. 

Two weeks after, Kahu and Koka were married.  Some days after that, they went for a walk.  The taniwha saw them and he saw Koka, swooped down, picked her up and took her home.  Kahu felt heart-broken and angry and he asked four men to make a trap for the taniwha.  They ran up to the pit angrily.  "I have come for Koka!" threatened Kahu.  "Don't make me laugh" growled taniwha and chased him. 

"Now!" shouted Kahu and then men pulled the trap.  The flax rope went through the taniwha's neck.  After that, Kahu ran up to the taniwha and took Koka down off his shoulders.  Then they went back on their journey. They were all so happy.

My Trip to England and France by ZB

A few weeks ago I had just woken up from a good and long night sleep. I had woken up to get out of bed and to say “Good morning, Mum”, but to my surprise I was in an aeroplane! We were arriving in England. The taxis look unusual compared to the taxis at home.

Three day later my mum had a card for me, it was from my grandparents, the best bit of the card was that there was a twenty pound note in it. My mum told me to spend it at Hamleys. “Sweet”, I shouted, because today we were going to Hamleys. Hamleys is a big toyshop, I think it is the biggest toyshop in the world. We walked all the way and back after I’d bought some Zuzu babies and a carrier with a blanket. http://www.hamleys.com/

That night my mum told me that we were going to France the next morning. Mum packed the bags and we went on a big train called the speed train, it felt like it was less than an hour. We had dinner at a fancy restaurant, then we stayed in a lovely, fancy hotel.

The next day, we scooted and walked all the way to a big fountain and beside the big fountain was a huge glass pyramid. A big building surrounded the pyramid, it was the Louvre! We raced to the Mona Lisa room and there she was, a metre in front of my nose!

After that we scooted a bit more and then we saw there was something big and metallic. “Oh my goodness it’s the Eiffel Tower”, I exclaimed. I scooted to the middle of the Eiffel Tower and I tried to imagine a long time ago when bungy jumps weren’t invented. We saw a man bungy jump from top to bottom of the Eiffel Tower. We sat down to have a picnic and then we went into the line. This line had an hour wait which was shorter than the 5 hour wait in the other line. We went in the elevator that took us up high, we could see the huge weights that made the elevator rise up. They were as big as a two-storey building. When we eventually got up to the top level we could see a rugby field with a practice going on. We saw our hotel, it looked tiny from way up there.

On the last day we opened our windows and saw and felt cool Disneyland as we went towards it. First we had to wait in 2 big queues, we had tickets, a princess ticket and a monster ticket. The first queue we went in was about an hour wait then the ride shut down before we got to the front. The best ride was the pirate ride, where there were lots of skeletons hanging from the wall, it was creepy. The ride took us past a village that was being terrorized by the pirates. The last bit of the ride was a skeleton driving a crashed boat. I liked Disneyland.

When we got back to London we had a good rest then we were off again. This trip was one of the longest trips, we went through the countryside and saw a man holding up a sign saying Legoland. We saw lots of Legoland people holding up letters, then we noticed it spelt out Legoland. After we went on all the cool rides there was only one more ride left, it was called the Viking ride. When we just sat down we got a bit wet “Oh my gosh”. Then we thought someone was squirting us, it was my Mum. The rest of the ride we got a good soaking. Well we got dried off when we shook ourselves, then we went to toyshop and I got a house float, car and two people lego set. On the last day of our trip, we went to see Big Ben and the London Eye, but we didn’t have enough time to ride on the Eye.

On our trip home, because of Mum’s sore back, we had seats in first class. That night on the plane I was sitting in my seat and suddenly I pressed the lie down button and I was nearly as squished as a sandwich. A man came rushing out and put the seat back and fixed it for me. Mum was no help, she was just laughing her head off. Finally the man made my seat into a bed and I slept on the plane. Two more days and we were home.

I was glad to be home.

The Heart by SP

Your heart is a muscle that is in the middle of your chest.    Your heart needs lots of water and healthy food to keep it going.  When you go for a walk, your heart pumps fast and sometimes when you get a fright, your heart beats fast too.  People say that the heart has a great memory for feelings.  I think I will take good care of my heart.

Dogs by AC

Some dogs are good ... some are bad

Some dogs bite ... and some don't

Certain dogs cause serious damage ... unlike police dogs

Few dogs are dangerous to people ...

unlike labradors who love us to death

KEEP IT GREEN! by HH-W

I think the environment is the most important thing in the world because if we didn’t have a healthy environment we wouldn’t have trees. And if we didn’t have trees we wouldn’t have oxygen and if we didn’t have oxygen we would all be dead! Goodbye I’m dead. Not!

So I think we should care for the environment now, or else we will just be a memory to what’s left on earth. Our children deserve a clean environment. Think about that massive oil spill that is destroying our sea, reefs and animals that live there. Imagine in 20 years time there might just be a pile of bones, logs and dried up leaves.


We need sea, trees, deserts and animals to make our and everybody else's lives more interesting. If we didn’t have all these things we’d just be ordinary people with no great talent at all. Just think, great climbers could not have started their talent without trees and how would jockeys ride without horses?


So how does that make you feel? Ummmm.


I just hope that makes you feel like keeping it green.

Maui and the Sun retold by NS

Once long ago, Maui and his brothers decided to go fishing.  Once they set out, the sun went zooming across the sky and back into bed. 

Maui thought of a plan.  He called upon his brothers to find some flax and make a net.  Later that night, Maui and his brothers went to the sun's home in the pit.  When the sun rose, Maui and his brothers trapped the sun and Maui whacked him with his grandmother's jawbone. 
Maui told the sun to slow down and the sun said "Ok, I will". 
From then on, Maui and his brothers had enough time to go fishing.

Cousins by PC-S

Cousins can be really cuddly and cute, but sometimes they can be annoying and their nappies can smell horrible!  I miss my cousin a lot, but when I sleep over, he screams so loudly at night and I don't get any sleep.

We have an exciting term ahead in Room 15 with a visit from Harold and the Life Education crew.
We've learned lots in 'Heart Central'; about the function of our heart, lungs and kidneys and how to
keep our bodies healthy. 

Our next topic is 'Cool Kiwis' as we explore the ways people make positive contributions to New Zealand society.

Room15 Publishing

Welcome to the Room 15 Publishing blog.  Please enjoy our contributions as we learn to write our recounts, descriptions, information reports, poems and persuasive writing.