Kendamas!!

Hey guys---Mark and Dhaydren here to talk to you about a popular toy called a Kendama. 

Although it is a popular toy, please make sure YOU DO NOT BRING THEM TO SCHOOL! It could accidently hurt kids around you and you will definitely get it taken away! Again, I REPEAT! DO NOT BRING KENDAMA'S OR ANY TOY TO SCHOOL! This blog is to explain its popularity and tricks.

For those of you who don't know what a Kendama is, it is a traditional Japanese toy. It require hand to eye coordination, balance, focus, patience, & dexterity. There is a ball called a tama and there's three wooden cups and one spike that is called the ken. The cups have different names the biggest one is the big cup & the 2nd biggest cup is the small cup and the smallest cup is the base cup.

Basic tricks you can do on a Kendama are
-Spike 
-Bird (balance ball between big cup and spike)
-Airplane (swing ken to land in the hole in the tama)
-Lighthouse (balance base cup on ball) 
-All around the world (big cup-small cup-base cup-spike)

So the reason why they were banned in ALL HAWAII SCHOOLS was because first of all,  the Kendama is a toy and toys are never supposed to be brought on campus. It's just one of those things where you should enjoy playing with your toys at home.

The IB Learner Profile that you are showing if your play Kendama is risk taker because you have to take the risk to try a new toy from a different culture. Also because you need to try new tricks. Another IB Learner Profile you should have is principled because you have to do the right thing and don't bring your Kendama on campus.

So if you haven't yet, go grab yourself a Kendama and start mastering some of the tricks. We live to play Kendama; it's what we love to do. Also, we recommend going to Razors in Pearlridge if you want a good Kendama--they have pretty sick Kendamas. Also if you are good at Kendamas you should try a pill, those things are awesome too!

Written by Mark & Dhaydren

Posted by Mrs. Aimee Matsuura H102

1st Semester Awards Assembly

Yay! The day everyone loves--the awards assembly! At the awards assembly, all of the students in the school come together and get awards. Perfect attendance, Academics, and the Student of the Semester awards. Sadly, not everyone got a chance to go to the assembly because of the weather. So, I'm going to tell you all about it.

Awards
What's an award assembly without any awards?! There are three main awards. Perfect Attendance, Academics, and Student of the Semester. In order to get the Perfect Attendance award, students must come to school every day without any tardies. To get an Academic award, you have to get all ME's and MP's and no DP's or WB's. I got that one. Finally, the Student of the Semester awards are for students who show good citizenship. Only one student gets chosen per semester.  Our teacher chose Dhaydren.

Assembly Procedure
On the day of the assembly, it was very hectic. We usually have assemblies on the E-Field but it was all muddy and rainy so we ended up going to the cafeteria.  It was a little sad because the whole school couldn't fit in the cafeteria so only the kids who got awards got to go. Mrs. A. Matsuura was pretty bummed. When the assembly began, the student council welcomed all the parents and students to the assembly.

Our vice principal, Ms. Obra  and our principal, Ms. Hirota read the names of all the students for awards. When your name is called, you go up to the stage and the teachers tell you how to pose. After everyone is on the stage, parents took pictures for 30 seconds. We all count down from 10. There is always a small performance from some students. This assembly had all the student council "dancing" to a song. When I mean "dancing" I meant that they were signing the lyrics of a song in sign language. That was cool. After, we all get excused out of the cafeteria, and went back to class.

IB Learner Profile
When you're attending the assembly you have to be caring. Why? Caring means that you are nice and you care for others. When they announce the names of the great students, you should be quiet so everyone could hear and be respectful. Then of course clap for them after they are all on the stage. That is why you have to be caring.

Now you know what happened at the 1st semester Awards Assembly. Make sure you check the other BLOGS too!

Written by Jayde

Posted by Mrs. A. Matsuura H102

DISTRICT SPELLING BEE!

District Spelling Bee

Have you ever wondered what a District Spelling Bee is? Or, have you wondered what it feels like to be in a District Spelling Bee? Finally, have you wondered what happens in a District Spelling Bee? If you have these type of questions, keep on reading this blog about the District Spelling Bee.

First of all, a District Spelling Bee is a regular spelling except you have students from all over your district participating. In a District Spelling Bee, there are things you need to do before this. First, you would need to win your School Spelling Bee to be entered in the District Spelling Bee. Once you are entered, you get a list of spelling words to study from 1st grade to 8th grade. They are pretty hard to spell! In a District Spelling Bee, there is someone who gives you a word. You can ask for the definition, a sentence, word origin, and alternate pronunciation. First, you say the word. Then, you spell it and say the word a second time. Overall, this is what a District Spelling Bee is and some things that happen.

Next, I will talk about how it felt while I was in the District Spelling Bee. During the Spelling Bee, I felt nervous because the words were really hard and tricky. Also, everybody who came to watch were looking at all of the spellers. There were about 25 participants. A lot of them were out in the first round. I was in around 3 or 4 rounds before I got out with a hard word... anticipatory. This word was pretty hard. I think the other students were nervous---that might be why they got out. There were 3 students who got 3rd place, 2nd place, and 1st place. They were all very good spellers. Overall, this is how I felt during the District Spelling Bee.

During the District Spelling Bee, the IB Learner Profile you need to be is THINKER. You need to be thinkers because you need to solve how to spell the word you're given. You also need to be thinkers because you need to think about how the word is spelled. If you make a mistake, you are out. This is why you need to think carefully when you spell the word because a small mistake could make you out. Overall, the THINKER is the IB Learner Profile you need to be during a District Spelling Bee. 

Thank you for reading this blog and see you next time!!! :)

Blurb- I love eating almost all types of Italian food and one Vietnamese food like Pho.

Posted by Mrs. A. Matsuura H102