Reflection Section

Text title: Travis Scott speaks out after a 'mass casualty incident' at the Astroworld concert.
Text type: Article 
Text creator: Jess Cohen
Text purpose: To tell people what happened at the Astroworld concert.
Date: 8/11/21

The article, I read talked about how there were multiple incidents that happened at the Astroworld concert. Officials say that there were 8 confirmed deaths from the "mass casualty incident" that happened. Authorities said that around 9pm the crowd started to compress towards the front of the stage. As this happened more people started to get injured and get scared. More people began to get unconscious as they fell to the ground, making people even more panic. There were around 300 people treated on-site for minor injuries while some were rushed to area hospitals, including 17 people and 12 of them were taken to HFD units. Out of all of them, 11 of the patients went into cardiac arrest. The two-day festival was cancelled after the incidents. 

Critical literacy question: Who is most likely to read this and why?

People who are fans of Travis Scott are likely to read this as well as people who want to know more about the incidents that happened during the concert. 

Personalised passion project - Bubble Tea and Boba Cafe

For our Personalized Passion Project, Johanna and I have decided to make a Minecraft boba cafe and boba tea. This is because we both share a passion for boba. The research was used to help us with our project. We searched a couple sites and videos regarding the tea and we looked on Pinterest for cafe inspirations. We ended with a driving question: “how we can make boba for ourselves and friends.”

The planning we did helped us keep track of what needed to be done each day throughout the term. In our plan, we didn’t include our plan for the boba cafe we made in Minecraft. Next time something we would do differently in our planning is to research a better website because the one we used had an unrealistic time to make boba. 

There was a lot of thought and process going into both the cafe and tea. 

During the making of the cafe, we both implemented our ideas so that the cafe suits our best interest. Making the Minecraft cafe took us a couple tries for it to get to where we wanted it to be. As for the tea, it was easy to make as there were few steps going into it, however, an issue that we encountered was uncooked tapioca pearls as we relied on one website that wasn't valid. Our project ended up being fun as it included the shared interest in boba. 

Reflection questions

Now that it's over, what are my first thoughts about this overall project? Are they mostly positive or negative? My thoughts about my overall project are positive because Johanna and I did a really good job at making our boba cafe as well as making the boba.

How well did I and my team communicate overall? Johanna and I did a really good job of communicating as a team. This helped us figure out what we needed to do each step of the way.

What would I do differently if I were to approach the same problem again? If we were going to do this again we could make the tapioca pearls earlier as it took a while for it to cook.

Reflection Section

Text title: Squid Game surpasses Brigderton for Netflix's top all-time series launch with 111 million views.

Text type: Article

Text creator: Jordan Rose 

Text purpose: To tell the readers about how popular the new series on Netflix has become. 

Date: 19/10/21

The article, I read talked about how the new series on Netflix called Squid Game has surpassed Brigderton in the all-time series launch with 111 million views. Because the new series has become a huge hit throughout the world it reached a historic milestone. The last record was from the series called Brigderton with 82 million views the first month. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that Squid game would be a big hit and since then there has been a lot of attention towards the series. Currently, the Netflix show is the most viewed in over 90 countries so far. 

Critical literacy question: Who would most likely read this and why? I think the people who would most likely read this are people who are fans of the show and want to know more about it. I also think that people who are most likely to read this are people who want to find out how many views Squid game has gotten. 

Reflection Section

Text title: Greta Thunberg takes another swipe at Jacinda Ardern's response to climate change. 

Text type: Article

Text creator: Unknown Auckland reporter

Text purpose: To tell us what Greta Thunberg thinks about what Jacinda Arderns thinks of climate change.

Date: Tuesday 28 of September

In the article that I read talks about Greta Thunberg's perception about climate change from Jacinda Ardern. As she says New Zealand hasn't really done much to help with the climate crisis because the NZ emissions still haven't gone down. From 2022 the government is going to try and meet a "carbon budget" which is the number of greenhouse gases New Zealand is going to "spend" each year.  The climate change Minister Shaw says that New Zealand will try to ensure that they are playing a part towards the global emissions in half by 2030. Thunberg responded in December on a tweet talking about how New Zealand had bigger goals than one target “If that was the sum ambition of any government, then that would be worthy of criticism; it is not our sum ambition and it is not the totality of our plans on climate change."

Critical literacy question: Who is most likely to read in text and why? I think people who are interested in climate change would be because it tells you information about what New Zealand is planning to do. I think people who are interested in what Greta Thunberg is talking about would be as well.

Reflection Section

 Text title: Acids

Text type: Article

Text creator: Miss Abernethy 

Text purpose: To learn about what a combination reaction is. 

Date: 21/09/2021

A combination reaction occurs when one or more reactants react to make a product. The general equation for this reaction is A + B --> AB. We did an experiment on it using a bunsen burner. The products we used were magnesium oxide. The word equation we are doing is Magnesium +  oxygen   →   magnesium oxide. In the process of the reaction, we are holding the magnesium on the fire. As this happens we can see the magnesium turn a different colour and state. In our experiment, we observed that the starting state of the magnesium is solid, shiny, malleable, and has a silver colour to it. The end state of the magnesium is crumbly, textured, not shiny, and it’s white instead of silver. The general rule for it is A+B→AB. Magnesium has an electron configuration of 2,8,2. O has an electron configuration of 2,6. Magnesium will lose two electrons to gain a full outer shell and Oxygen will gain two electrons to gain a full outer shell. An atom loses electrons to get a positive charge. An atom gains electrons to get a negative charge. The positive charge is attracted to the negative charge to form a new ionic compound.

Critical literacy question: Why am I reading this? In science, I went on Miss Abernethy's websites to learn about what a combination reaction is. From reading her article I was able to find out the scientific process that is occurring in the combination reaction.

Reflection Section

Text title: UK police arrest 11 over racist abuse following England loss to Italy

Text type: Article 

Text creator: NPA

Text purpose: To tell people the aftermath of the football game.

Date: 6/07/2021

Summary:

In the article 'UK police arrest 11 over racist abuse following England loss to Italy' the article talks about how there was a lot of abuse and towards Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka. These people were abused because of missing the penalty goals in the final of the European Championship. In the aftermath of the situation, the UK Football Policing Unit has asked for all the social media information to be given to the police force. Only recently the police force has arrested 11 people for a couple of offences. So far the ages from the arrests have been from 18-36 years old. Until further inspection, they have been released or posted on bail until the court hearing.

Critical literacy question: Who is most likely to read this text and why? I think people who are interested in football or people who are interested in political sports. This is because the text talks about there's a lot of abuse of racism just from a football game.  I think this article was written to show the other side of sports and how cruel it can be. 

Reflection Section - How Does Mold Grow on Food

Text Title: How Does Mold Grow on Food

Text type: Article 

Text Creator: Lauren Farrelly

Text Purpose: To learn about how mold can grow on bread.

Date: 2/7/2021

A spore lands on a surface and finds food and water to feed off. The spores will start to spread around the food (bread in this case) and make more spores which would spread quickly. This would start the growing process for mold.  Mold can grow as fast in either 12 to 24 hours or even take a couple of weeks. For mold to grow there would be water, food, good air quality, and temperature. Depending on how each of the 4 things will depend on the mold. Mold is normally found everywhere around you and grows when there is moisture around there.

Critical literacy question: Why am I reading this? I am reading this to learn more about mold and how it can grow on food. I am also reading this for my science research.

Reflection Section

Text title: Simon Sinek on Millenials in the workplace

Text type: Interview on YouTube

Text purpose: To help understand Millennials and improve well-being through reducing screen time.

Text creator: David Crossman

Date: 10th June 2021

In the video, Simon Sinek talks about multiple things about millennials. Some things he talks about first is parenting. He talks about how parenting has changed and how it changed to what it used to be. How parents don't actually have proper parenting skills which would affect millennials for their future. The second thing Simon Sinek talks about is the technology and social media. Going on social media to check likes or seeing if someone texts you back gives you dopamine. This would make you rely on it more which can hide what you really feeling e.g. depression. The next thing Sinek talks about is impatience, how you could do anything like watching a movie or binge a show, and how you don't need to wait for it. Patience is a life skill everyone needs. People need to realize that you can't get everything you want in an instant.

Critical literacy question: What does the author want us to know? The author wants us to know how social media impacts people, especially in their daily lives. 

Relfection Section

Text title: Sexual reproduction

Text type: Article

Text creator: Scipad

Text purpose: To find and learn about sexual reproduction

Date: 21st June 2021

Critical Literacy question: Why am I reading this text? 

This article talks about sexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction needs two parents rather than one for Asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction is when the offspring produced by sexual reproduction are similar but not identical. An example of organisms that use the sexual reproduction method is humans. An advantage of asexual reproduction is that they produce a variation. Offsprings that are produced by two parents would be better suited to survive in the habitat this is called variation. A disadvantage of sexual reproduction is that it takes to find and partner and takes a while to process. I am reading this text in science to learn more about what sexual reproduction is and everything to do about it. 

Reflection Section

Text title: Asexual Reproduction

Text type: Article

Text creator: Scipad

Text Purpose: To learn about the Asexual reproduction

Date: 4 June 2021

Critical literacy question: Why am I reading this:

The article talks about asexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction is organisms reproducing from only needing one parent. Since asexual reproduction only needs one parent, the variation in the offspring will be identical to the parent. A genetic advantage of asexual reproduction is that it doesn't take time for organisms to find a mate and doesn't take energy either. Although there are advantages, there are also disadvantages as well. For example, since there is no genetic variation, if the environment changes, the offspring won't survive, which will make it harder for them to survive. I am reading this to learn about what asexual reproduction is and how it works.

Reflection Section

 Text title: Freedom Writers

Text type: Movie

Text creator: Richard LaGravenese

Text purpose: Freedom Writers' purpose to change the way students think of school and writing.

Date: 28/5/2021

Critical literacy question:

How are children, young adults, and adults constructed in this text? The young adults are constructed as people who don't care about school and it only there because they have to be. The teachers are constructed as people who don't enjoy working at school but are only there because they have to be. One teacher (Erin Gruwell) is constructed as someone who wants to change how her students think of school and make them interested. 

The film starts off where a teacher who has never taught a class gets to teach a freshman class. The problem was that people in the class didn't care about it do the work but were only there because they had to. A problem that came up was that the student in the class doesn't get along with each other. The teacher had to figure out a way to help teach the kids and find a way where the student is happy to learn. In the end, she could change the student's perceptions of each other and the school work. The students from the start went from only caring about making it to a junior year to graduating high school and going to college. 

Denzel Washington's Life Advice - Reflection Section

Text Title: Denzel Washington's Life Advice

Text type: Video

Text source: Motivational Madness

Text purpose: To give people life advice.

Date: 21st May 2021

Critical Literacy questions:

Who benefits from this text?

How does this text construct a version of reality?

In the video we see Washington giving life advice. Denzel Washington is an actor, director, and also producer. He talks about his journey and how it shaped him to be the person he is today. Graduates or high school students benefit from it because his advice can help them when they're having trouble or when they feel like giving up. The text constructs a version of reality because there will be times where people will fail or give up, but it's what you will do afterward to help move forwards.

Reflection Section

Text title: Richie McCaw Chasing Great 

Text type: Documentary 

Text Creator: Case Avery and Richie McCaw

Text purpose: To show people the behind-the-scenes of what Richie McCaw does as captain of All Blacks. In the start, he talks about his life when he was a kid and how he really liked playing rugby. He loved playing rugby some much that the team he looked up to with the All Blacks. He loved the All Blacks so much that he would always do the Haka in his backyard.  When he was a teenager he was with his uncle and his uncle asks him to write some goals on a piece of paper one includes joining the All Blacks. He wrote goals that built up to being the G.A.B (great all black). 

Date: 15th March 2021

Critical literacy question:

Why are we/you reading this text? I watched this documentary because it ties in with the topic of goal setting. 

Reflection Section

Text title: A Game Of Cards

Text type: Short Story

Text creator: Witi Ihimaera 

Text Purpose: To show that something symbolic can bring people together. 

Date: 26/02/2021

The story was about Mokopuna and his family went over to Nani Miro house to play cards. Nani Miro always plays cards with her closest friend Mrs Heta. They were unrivaled champions and when is didn't go in their way they would cheat. Near the end of the story they gathered around and played a game Mrs Heta yelled 'you cheat' and everyone started laughing. Nani Miro whispered 'you the cheat yourself' and passed away.  

What genre does this text belong to? Short stories

Reflection Section

Text title: The Data That Turned the World Upside Down 

Text type: Informative 

Text creator: Hannes Grassegger & Mikael Krogerus 

Text Purpose: To show how powerful the internet can be just from peoples liking Facebook posts. 

Date: 19/02/2021

Summary: The article was talking about Kosinski finding out that the data from Facebook was very powerful. They could find out anything about yourself better than anyone else. Trump did this to people who's mind he thought he could change by putting advertising to boost his vote for the 2016 election. 

Who is real in this text? Donald Trump, Kosinski and, Nix.

Treaty of Waitangi: What really happened

The film 'Treaty of Waitangi: what really happened' directed by Peter Burger, is about the signing of one of our founding documents. It is a dramatisation of the days leading up to and including the signing. We know this through the chiefs arguing, discussing and eventually signing the Treaty based on history. We also know through the films title and voice over. 

Treaty of Waitangi - What really happened

Text title: Treaty of Waitangi - What really happened

Text type: Dramatisation

Text creator: Peter Burger

Text purpose: To show what really happened in the Treaty of Waitangi.

Date: 12/02/2021

Key points: 

The crown wrote out the treaty.

Lots of arguments and discussions about whether Maori should sign it - because they were concerned about their land people rights being taken away. 

The Maori chiefs signed the treaty.

Tobacco and blankets were given afterwards.