Last day of 2014...

What a wonderful year it has been with you all, Room 5!  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Christmas movies

What a fantastic job everyone has done putting together short Christmas movies.  The brief was to create a short film on the theme of Christmas with multiple camera angles and strong characters.  I reckon you've all succeeded brilliantly!  Merry Christmas one and all!

Life is a Highway

Life is a Highway (Balmoral Lyrics) – Tom Cochrane/Rascall Flats

https://drive.google.com/a/balmoral.school.nz/file/d/0B-JXPcldmqP3aW1wSWptaDgxQjA/view?usp=sharing

Send Jo an email if you'd like access to the backing track and don't have it yet (all teachers have access)

Verse 1:
Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind

There's a world beyond every darkened door
With possibilities galore
Where the brave are free and thinkers soar
Come ride with us to the distant shore

We won't hesitate
To run through that open gate
There’s not much left of today, yeah

CHORUS:
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you’re going my way
I’m gonna drive it all life long

Verse 2:
Balmoral School is the best in town
It's in our blood, just look around
We thank you now and we’ll thank you again
Our parents, teachers and all of our friends

Arts and sport to those cold camp nights
Rich Task fun to tech highlights
Knock us down get back up again
We’re ready for what’s round that bend.

There's no load I can't hold
Road so rough this I know
I'll be there when the light comes in
Tell 'em we're survivors

CHORUS:
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you’re going my way
I’m gonna drive it all life long

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you’re going my way
I’m gonna drive it all life long

Transition:
So many memories between you and I
Our future’s ahead of us and now
We look it in the eye

[Instrumental]

CHORUS:
Year 7s:
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
Year 8s:
If you’re going my way
I’m gonna drive it all life long

EVERYONE!:
Life is a highway
I wanna to ride it all night long
If you’re going my way
I’m gonna drive it all life long

OK Go

At the end of today, we watched some very very clever music videos by the band OK Go.  They never use any computer trickery - quite hard to believe at times!

In case you'd like to enjoy them again (oh, and I've added another one for you animal lovers out there):

Needing/Getting (with the car) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MejbOFk7H6c
The Writing's on the Wall (the one inside) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m86ae_e_ptU
I Won't Let You Down (with the umbrellas) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZB_rGFyeU
White Knuckles (with the animals) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHlJODYBLKs

Enjoy!

Classmates in Year 8

Hello hello Room 5!

We Year 7 teachers are starting to put together your Year 8 class groups for next year.
This is your chance to let me know which other students you would really like to be in a class with.  I can't promise that you will get any of your choices, but we do our best to take them into consideration.

SO:

• If you are not already, log in to your Balmoral School Google account.
• Click on the link below to go to a new page where you can tell me the names of 2 or 3 current Year 7 students (any classroom) that you would ideally like to be in a class with next year.

IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

• Do this by yourself.  
• You only get to do this once, email me if you have any problems - joannao@balmoral.school.nz.
• Only I will see your answers; they will not be shared with any other students.
• You need to do this by midnight on Wednesday 29th October.

The link: http://goo.gl/forms/RNcwwoh6fs

Seeing beyond...

The Giver is going to do a test to see how Jonas is starting to 'see beyond', but what might that mean?  What is this 'seeing beyond' thing, do you think?

Dance Sport Round 1

We had our first session of Dance Sport today and you guys ROCKED it!  Great to see everyone giving it a go, focusing on learning the new moves and listening to our lovely instructor, Anitra.



What did you think?  Favourite dance so far?

'You are allowed to lie.'

With every chapter we read of 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry, we are gaining more and more insight into Jonas' world and his Community.

Today he read his instructions for becoming the new Receiver of Memory.  His last instruction is simple: 'You may lie.'

What questions or thoughts do you have about lying (in the meaning of 'telling an untruth')?  What do you think of this rule being specified in his instructions?

Jonas is to be the Receiver of Memory

What might that be?  How is he feeling?  How do you think his parents might be feeling?

Tell me about tech!

I'm always aware that I don't know much about what you do with the tech teachers.  So tell me:

What was something you learned in specialisation today?

Mini-debates

What a great set of mini-debates we had today!  Well done on all of you for giving it a go and using that persuasive language to debate the statement "Contemporary music is socially harmful."

What was a highlight for you?  Was there a particularly good point made in your debate?

The Giver - Chapter 1

We've just read the first chapter of 'The Giver' by Lois Lowry, meeting the main character Jonas and his family.

Was there anything in this first chapter that you have questions or wonderings about?  Comment!

A debate on Monday

On Monday we will be working on our debating skills further, considering the following claim:

"Contemporary music is socially harmful."

Over the weekend, have a chat with family and friends about points supporting each side of this debate, so you come prepared on Monday with ideas and thoughts for our debate.

Week 3 Video Report

From Letele and Caitlyn

Roses in My Carpets

What a lovely, thought-provoking read aloud we had today.
What stuck with you?  What was your reaction?  Which part made you think?  Share your thoughts on this book!

Have a think about a debate topic

We are currently working on our debating skills.  On Thursday, we did an activity where half the class had to come up with arguments supporting a statement, the other half arguments against the statement.

We will do the same on Monday, but you will not be allowed to prepare as a team.  This means you'll need to think on your feet and have a few points prepared, so you don't repeat the point made by someone else on your team.

So start having a think about it over the weekend.  The statement to debate on Monday is:
'Girls and boys should be in separate classes at school.'
(DON'T post your ideas as comments though, you don't want to give your best ideas away - just this once it's not about sharing!)

Remember to think about reasons both for and against, regardless of what your own opinion is.

John Venn's 180th Birthday Doodle

John Venn invented the Venn Diagram, a simple but effective and now widely-used visual representation for comparing concepts.

The Google Doodle celebrating his birthday is a fun one; have a play!

http://www.google.com/doodles/john-venns-180th-birthday

Week 2 Video Report

Thank you to Nicole and Rosie for the Week 2 Video Report.  Enjoy!

End of Term 2 video report

Better late than never!  Sorry for not uploading this sooner.

Couch for Sale

Comfortable and cosy!  It’s the sofa of your dreams!

Comfy cushions that you can just sink into.  So fluffy, so tough(y) and amazingly puffy.  This classic, distinguished multifunctional vintage couch is sturdy and reliable – pre-approved by 30 children.

Better than an armchair or a box, this spongey slice of luxury will fit multiple people or is perfect for a snooze, just like lying on a cloud.

Buy now at an amazing price and receive one extra cushion free.  You will never want to buy another couch again!

View our listing on TradeMe to place a bid: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=761688392&ed=true

Two Rick Task homework tasks

Over the course of this week, each work on the following.  Deadline is Friday.

1. Complete research into the essential facts about your country.  These should include
Population
Flag
Currency
Continent - Where is it?
When they joined the Commonwealth
Language
Capital City

Might find:
Something the country is known for
National Food
National Animal
How many Commonwealth Games they've competed in

2. Come up with your idea of how to track, record and show how your country is doing in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Nominations for tidy up song, Term 3

Here are the nominations for this term's tidy up song - we will vote on Thursday.  Click on the title link to listen to it on YouTube.

If one you put on the list is not here, it's because I've checked the lyrics and there's something about the content that's not school appropriate.

Classic - MKTO
Inventing Myself - Stan Walker
Something in the Water - Brooke Fraser
Hey Brother - Avicii
Girl Party - Mack Z
My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark - Fall Out Boy
American Dream - MKTO

Have your say in House Singing

Welcome back to Term 3, Room 5!  Great to see you all again today.

Hope on the House Singing Survey - https://docs.google.com/a/balmoral.school.nz/forms/d/1PeOk-l-Qlv5kQExgkKxbfILDVxQD63aFc5Z0CLmCwDU/viewform and let me know your thoughts.  Just 3 quick questions.
You'll need to be logged in to your school Google account in order for it to work.

Get ready for Middle Earth

Can't wait to see us all in our get up tomorrow, representing Middle Earth and Room 5 at the Book Quiz!

Remember to bring clothing in one or more of the following colours to change in to:
White, black, brown, green, grey.

And if you have and would like to bring any of the following, go for it:
- a sheet, towel, rug, piece of fabric to be a cloak/cape
- plastic weapons (sword, axe, bow, etc)
- any other Lord of the Rings-y accessories!

Video Report Term 2 Week 6

Thanks to Abbey and Madison for this week's video report!

The Big Clean

It became apparent we had not been looking after our lovely new tables and desks very well and that they really needed a clean.  So this morning, everyone got stuck in and got everything looking as good as new.  Nice work Room 5!  And here's the proof...

A New Sport for Room 5

Room 4 3/4 challenged us to a game of Ultimate Frisbee today.  Most of us weren't quite sure what that was, but we gave it a great go!  Now we're going to train in secret and challenge them to a rematch!

Iconic American music

Righty, our class is to come up with some suggestions for music tracks that the USA Railroad Journey themed models can strut the catwalk to in our Trash2Fashion Extravaganza.

'Party In the USA' is already being used as the intro music, so other thoughts?  Have a chat with your whanau - what are songs that are quintessentially USA?  Comment!

Life Education - Session 1

Today we had our first session in the Life Education truck with Ben, learning about keeping in balance.  We had lots of discussions about 'mind masters' and 'head hasslers'.  What does this mean to you?  Who or what is your mind master, and who or what is your head hassler?

Poem presentations

Today you all did a great job presenting your poems and your analysis of the poems to the class.  I thought it was great how different each of the presentations was!

As promised, the videos are not live here but have been shared with you through Google Drive.  Instead of a blog posting today, your task is to watch the video of your group doing their presentation and identify two things YOU did well.  I will ask you to write a short reflection in your Learning Journal tomorrow.

Room 5 Week 3 video report

Thank you to Lucy and Yami for this week's video report.  Photos below also of latest work on Trash to Fashion.

All good things must come to an end

That's it!  We have finished The One and Only Ivan.  What a lovely discussion we had about the book today too.

Lots of reviews have been written about the book.  Below are some examples.  Now that you've read the book, write your own short review (no more than 3 sentences) summing up what you think of this book.

"How Ivan confronts his harrowing past yet stays true to his nature exemplifies everything youngsters need to know about courage. … Utterly believable, this bittersweet story, complete with an author's note identifying the real Ivan, will inspire a new generation of advocates."

- Kirkus Reviews

"Applegate makes a powerful statement about the treatment of animals–especially those living in captivity–and reminds readers that all creatures deserve a safe place to call home. (...) the characters will capture readers' hearts and never let go. A must-have."

- School Library Journal

"This book will break your heart—and then, against all odds, mend it again. Such a gentle fantasy is rare; such an evocation of our need to grow, to be free, to become our best selves, is rarer still. In cheering for Ivan and his friends, we cheer for our own humanity and our own possibilities. Read this."

- Gary D. Schmidt, National Book Award finalist, Okay for Now

"A beautifully written, intelligent, and brave book. You will never look at the relationship of humans and animals in the same way again. Quite simply, this story is life-changing."

- Patricia MacLachlan, Newbery Medalist for Sarah, Plain and Tall

Week 2 video report - Finn & Louis

Bella gives sewing lessons

Contemplating their story and design

Seeking inspiration in cultural images on the internet

Refining their design

Working on the story for their costume

Freshly back from gathering materials

Ivan's billboard

Ivan has created a giant billboard picture of Ruby in a zoo as part of his plan to save Ruby.  What do you think of his plan?  What do you think it might achieve?

Poetic devices

Today in Room 5 we explored the definitions and examples of eight different poetic devices - tools to help us with reading and writing poetry.  We discovered:

Alliteration - Repetition of words all with the same beginning sounds, e.g. 'Polly planted plenty of pretty pansies.'
Personification - A figure of speech in which objects are given human qualities e.g. 'The sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds.'
Metaphor - A figure of speech in which things are compared by stating one thing is another, e.g. 'The clouds are cotton balls in the sky.'
Simile - A figure of speech in which things are compared using the words 'like' or 'as', e.g. 'The surface of the water looked as smooth as glass.'
Rhyme - Words that have the same ending sounds, e.g. 'The tiny bird in the tree, was singing songs just for me.'
Onomatopoeia - Words that sound like the objects or actions they refer to, e.g. 'A pesky mosquito buzzed around my head.'
Exaggeration (Hyperbole) - Where we make things sound like they are bigger or better than they really are, e.g. 'The firefly's light was as bright as the sun.'
Repetition - Emphasising a word by repeating it over and over again, e.g. 'The waves pounded and pounded and pounded against the shore.'

Then we wrote our own examples of some of these:

"I jumped off the Sky Tower and I survived.", an exaggeration by Brayden, Joseph, Lina and Letele

"Louis, Devesh and Caitlin are so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so epicly awesome.", a repetition (or is it an exaggeration?) by Louis, Devesh and Caitlin

"Miss Molly Moon made me a mandarin macaroon.", a rhyming alliteration by Lucy, Nicole and Reuben

"The volcano's lava was as hot as the sun.", a simile with exaggeration by Navjot, Isaac and Serkan

"Johnson joyfully juggled jiggling jellies.", an alliteration by Johnson, Bella and Rosie

"I saw a tiger driving a lamborghini.", an exaggeration by Sophia, Turou and Yami

"The boy ran as fast as Ussain Bolt.", a simile with exaggeration by Tiloni, Maelys and Yang Yang.

"The chair groaned as someone sat on it.", a personification by Tiloni, Maelys and Yang Yang.

"The man was as fat as Kim.Com.", a simile by Siniva, Caitlyn, Finn and Charlie.

Now your challenge for this evening's home learning, Room 5: Have a go at coming up with your own example of one of these poetic devices.  Submit it as a comment, but don't tell us what sort of device it is.  We'll identify them together later.

Domain or Cage?

I feel something tighten in my chest, something dark and hot. "And it's not a domain," I add.  I pause, and then I say it.  "It's a cage."

From 'The One and Only Ivan' by K. Appleton

Domain or cage - they're just words.  But what is the difference between the words?  Why do you think Ivan has made this statement?

Have your say in House Singing, everyone!

Which songs do you want to keep?
Which songs do you want to ditch?
Which songs would you like to see added?

Have your say in House Singing, Balmoral!  Go to the short survey here by the end of Tuesday 13 May:
https://docs.google.com/a/balmoral.school.nz/forms/d/1YRWYaJJEy7N6S9Ll_Y_2hBb9wV41gxcLUHbCZsOC3j0/viewform

(You'll need to be logged in to your Balmoral School account to be able to access the survey.)

Nominations for our Term 2 tidy up song

Here they are.  Any that have been left off are ones that have inappropriate content or words in the lyrics, sorry.  Have a listen to any you don't know, so you are ready to vote for your top 3 tomorrow:

Everything is Awesome, by De Vito
Like a Drum, Guy Sebastian
On Top of the World, One Republic/Imagine Dragons
Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO
Rien Est Parfait - Tal
God Only Knows - MKTO
Roar - Katy Perry
Portal Turret Anthem
Feel Inside and Stuff Like That - Flight of the Conchords
Classic - MKTO
Rolling in the Deep - Adele

Nine Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy-Six Days

Ivan worked out how many days he had spent living with humans - 9876.  He marked them all with crosses.

How many crosses would you need to mark on your wall if you counted all the days you have been alive (as a human)?  Write your number in words, not numbers (like the title of this blog post).  How did you work it out?

Mine would be eleven thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
I worked it out as follows:
32 years = 365x32 = 11680, but there were 8 leap years (32/4=8) which have one less day each, so 11680-8=11672

My birthday is 10th October, so I then also need to add all the days since then.  That means the number of days in the rest of October (21), November (30), December (31), January (31), February (28), March (31), April (30) and May so far (5).

11672 + 21 + 30 + 31 + 31 + 28 + 31 + 30 + 5 = 11879

I used a calculator, of course!

Give it a go.

Little Malcolm

Finally, as promised, photos of my ADORABLE little nephew and myself.  I do have video but it will be a few days before I can upload that.

He's just the cutest thing - giggles at everything.  He struggles to pronounce the blend 'gr' at the start of words, so poor Gregg is called 'Egg'!

All sorts in England

Wow, it's been quite a week!  We had a long weekend in London catching up with my sister and visiting a whole heap of fantastic sights.  It's an incredible city.  London is vast with history going back centuries.  As a result you never see or learn everything there is to see or know in London.

One of the highlights of our London trip was catching up with a friend from my first year in New Zealand.  I haven't seen her in 7 years.  Now she is a tour guide on one of the London tour buses, so she took us on a tour.  We found out so many new things!  For example, after the changing of the guard, a small group of horses patrol back down the avenue.  If the horse at the front is white, you know the queen is at home in Buckingham Palace.  Random fact.

We are now in the Lake District visiting my granddad.  It's quite a contrast to London.  Instead of miles and miles of buildings and streets, lots of people and traffic, we're back in wide open countryside.

On our way up here, we had a day at Alton Towers.  Alton Towers is the UK's premier theme park - 7 roller coasters and a load of other rides.  Oblivion roller coaster has the world's first vertical drop on a roller coaster.  There was also a brand new roller coaster: The Smiler.  The Smiler has 14 upside down loops and twists.  We had to queue for an hour and a half to get on it, but boy was it worth it.  You can check out the promo video for The Smiler here: http://www.altontowers.com/rides-and-attractions/thrill-rides/the-smiler/
I tell you what, Alton Towers made me feel very old.  I first went there when I was 7.  The main roller coaster that was there then, The Corkscrew, has now been discontinued and taken down.  However, they have kept a section of the track (the corkscrew bit) and mounted it as a sculpture at the entrance of the park.  And after a day on the rides, I felt very battered and bruised.  My poor old body… ;o)

Room 5, have a fantastic, well-deserved Easter break.  You have done some awesome learning this first term as Year 7 students and I look forward to seeing you relaxed and raring to go in May.

Keep watching this blog - photos of Malcolm will be up later next week.

The Auks in Scotland

OK, so first the answer to my castle riddle:  Congratulations to anyone who identified it as a roof (although it could just as easily have been a floor).  It was in fact the vaulted ceiling of a round room on the ground floor where the servants probably lived.  Here's me taking the photo.

Today we went to Stonehaven on the coast.  We visited a RSPB sanctuary - a section of the coastline protected by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, as it is a nesting site for a whole range of birds.

Here is your next challenge: Can you identify either of these two birds that we saw in the cliffs:

If you think you know, don't post your answer.  Instead, post a hint for the rest of the class; post a fact you find out about one of the birds to help point your classmates in the right direction.

I'll start with mine: Both birds are types of 'auks' (another bird in the same family is the puffin; auks are closely related to, but not the same as, penguins).  Good luck!

We're off to London tomorrow morning, so you may not hear from me for a while.

Balvenie Castle and the Cooperage

Hello again!

Today we had a proper road trip - a couple of hours up the road from my mum and dad's to Dufftown.

And what's to see at Dufftown?  Quite a lot, it turns out.

Dufftown is in a large area known as Speyside.  It's a beautiful place with lots of rolling hills, fields and stone walls.  The Speyside area is also well known for excellent quality water coming from the natural springs, which is used to make whisky.

There were, and still are many different trades associated with the production of whisky.  One of them is the making of the wooden casks in which it is stored.  Someone who makes casks (one type of cask is a barrel) is called a 'cooper'.  A place where coopers work is known as a 'cooperage', and casks are still made and repaired by hand by skilled tradesmen today.  We visited the Speyside cooperage, watched the coopers making and fixing casks, and had a go at putting together a mini-cask ourselves.  I wasn't very good at it...

This guy is a pro - much better than me!

After the cooperage, we took a tour of one of the many local distilleries, where they make the whisky.

Next we decided to take in a Scottish castle.  There are castles EVERYWHERE in Scotland, and every one of them is a bit different.  Today we visited Balvenie Castle.

Time for a mystery picture: I took this at Balvenie Castle.  Where or what do you think it is a photo of?  Post your ideas in a comment...

Keep up the great work on those amazing maps, Room 5!  The picture Jules sent me shows some really impressive effort.

First days in Scotland

Well, here I am in Aberdeenshire, Scotland!  If you go on to Google Maps and put in 'AB31 5EP', it will show you exactly where I am at my parents' house.  36 hours of flight travel later and I'm feeling pretty tired. One of the best ways to beat jet lag, I've found, is to get out and about in the fresh air.

So today, off we went to a place called Burn o'Vat.  You trudge through the woodland to a place where the river seems to pour out of a narrow gap in the rock.  But in fact, you can squeeze through that gap and come out in the 'vat'.  The vat is a large natural rock formation.  Thousands of years ago, when the glaciers melted at the end of the ice age, enormous volumes of water rushed down the hillsides towards the sea.  In the vat, the water formed a whirlpool and gouged out a huge cavern in the rocks.  It's pretty amazing!

Week 8-9 video report

Thanks to Finn and Flynn for putting together this fortnight's video report.

Room 5 students: While you're watching, think about some feedback.  What are 2 things you think are really good about the video?  What is one thing you think we could learn from this video to help make the next video report even better?

Have your say in House Singing

Instead of commenting on our blog today, have your say in House Singing here: https://docs.google.com/a/balmoral.school.nz/forms/d/1YRWYaJJEy7N6S9Ll_Y_2hBb9wV41gxcLUHbCZsOC3j0/viewform

(You'll need to be logged in to your Balmoral School account to be able to access the survey.)

Little Ruby

Remember to bring clothes to wear in the pool over your togs tomorrow!

So, we're getting to know Ruby the baby elephant a little bit now.  What do you think of her?  Describe her in 3 fantastic words...

Ruby's Arrival

Ruby, the baby elephant arrived in Ivan's world today, but Stella the elephant does not seem happy.  "Ivan, it will never, ever be okay."

What do you think she means by this?  How do you feel about Ruby arriving at the Big Top Mall?

House Sport reflection

How was House Sport for you today?  What sport were you playing?  Were you a good team player?  Did you have fun?

Reflect on your House Sport experience...

Paper to Fashion

Room 5 students take ownership of their classroom!

Well gang, I have to say I was mightily impressed with your engagement, motivation and ownership of learning today.  Maelys shared her expertise in French, we practised factors in maths (with a bit of musical fun thrown in), fabulous deep thinking about the rules for our philosophical discussions, and some lovely descriptions and abstract thinking in our 'Sounds Around Us' writing session.  Then all wrapped up with our class meeting.

I caught just a bit of it on video today - check it out:

Room 5 Report - Week 5 and 6

Getting to know Ivan

The more we read of 'The One and Only Ivan', the better we are getting to know him.

From what you know of Ivan so far, describe him in three words.

Girl and Robot, est. 1892

On Monday we watched a short animated movie about a girl and her steam-powered robot.  Tomorrow (Wednesday), you will be responding to that movie in some form:

• Write a narrative of the story (from the girl’s, the robot’s or the audience’s (third person) perspective).
• Write a narrative of what happens next.
• Create a script for the story to be acted out.
• Design your own steam-powered robot; label each element of the robot with detail.

For whichever one you choose, you're going to need lots of juicy adjectives, powerful verbs and other descriptive language.  So let's start a collection of great descriptive language that you might be able to use in your Girl and Robot work tomorrow.

Here are some of the adjectives and verbs that spring to mind when I watch the film: hissing, frustrated, the eyes glimmer.  What have you got?

You can rewatch the movie here if you like: http://www.literacyshed.com/the-inventors-shed.html

(Scroll down to 'Girl and Robot, est. 1892)

Camp Recovery

Wow, what an incredible camp experience we had!

What was your personal highlight?  Did you take any great photos?  What's a favourite picture you have that you took (or would have taken if you had a camera) at camp?

Student Leader Elections - VOTE NOW!

Time to have your say, Room 5: Vote for your 2014 student leaders.

Log in to your school Google account, then go to this link:
https://docs.google.com/a/balmoral.school.nz/forms/d/1XBkeMiB_tEKcEu71Oifw5KXeJ94cmKlNQkDXGVJ6ZSc/viewform

And vote!

A descriptive paragraph

Today you all helped me write a descriptive paragraph about my glacier hike on Fox Glacier.  You had so many great ideas!  The whole time we were writing, I was thinking about what I could hear, see and feel while on the glacier, to try and take you all on the journey back to that short moment in time with me.

Here's our draft.  I still need to edit it to improve it even more, but I think we did a really good job of finding powerful verbs and juicy adjectives, and varying the sentence starters.

As far as the eye could see, the blues, whites and silvers of the sculptured ice contrasted against the lush greens of the surrounding New Zealand bush.  The early morning sun glistened on the frozen layers of the glacier.  Below my feet the melt water raged and roared its way into the depths, while my crampons crunched into the slippery surface.  I couldn’t believe I was back in this amazing ancient place.

Tomorrow it will be your turn to write.  I can't wait to read about your moment in time!

Comment below: What are you thinking of writing yours about?
Remember, pick just a very short snapshot of something you experienced during the holidays or some other time.  If you have a photo bring it tomorrow, otherwise imagine the moment and take a photo of it in your mind.