Writing - Exposition

This term we have been working on our speeches leading up to the Pukekohe Intermediate Speech Competition 2010. Our class first has our own compeytition and the teacher will chose the two top year 7s and the two top year 8s. From there thy will continue on and go into the school competition and the top two from there go through to the Franklin competition.
Heres my speech ....


Just think about it would you ever put a baby to sleep on its stomach?


Cot death, also known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), meaning it is the sudden, unexpected and unexplainable death of a baby. Cot death is the leading killer of children in their first year of life.

James Newman born 22 September 2009 died 31 March 2010. I have discovered how much of an impact cot death can make in peoples everyday lives, as my six month old cousin recently passed away of cot death.


There is no explaination for cot death, but there are many precautional measures to reduce the risk of cot death. Some being put your baby to sleep on its back to sleep face up in its own bed, do not smoke near the baby don’t smoke during pregnancy and do not let others smoke around your baby, don’t let your baby get too hot and dress your baby in as much or as little as you would wear. Put your baby to sleep on a firm mattress, don’t let the baby sleep on soft things, like cushions, pillows, blankets, couches sheepskins or waterbeds.

Take good care of your self and also never bed share. Especially when one of the parents smoke, have been drinking alcohol or are tired. The safest place for your baby to sleep is in its own cot beside the parents bed.

It causes the death of as much as 45 New Zealand children every year under the age of two, but is still a major improvement since 1990 when two hundred and fifty babies died of cot death each year.

Research has shown that the risk of cot death has been at least halved in many countries by changing some child care practices, for example it is now known that tummy sleeping is a risk factor but back when my mum and dad were children most people would put their child to sleep on their tummy because it was not known to be a risk.
The babies that are at risk are multiple birth infants, low birth weight and mother having the a baby at an early age.

Of those who die about 60 percent are boys and 40 percent are girls. It can happen any time and anywhere and they occur quickly and unexpectedly to apparently healthy babies, during times of sleep.


Many parents would take any precaution to guarantee against their baby dying of cot death. If the babies are at quite a high risk of cot death than usually the parents either hire, buy or be given a baby monitor. A baby monitor reacts if the child is not breathing or moving in their cot or bed.


The death of an infant through cot death never has sound to it. The baby will never cry or make a noise, cot death is a silent death and does not cause any pain to the baby. 
Many more children die of SIDS in a year than all who die of cancer, heart disease, pneumonia and child abuse combined . . .


This shows that cot death is quite common. But go ahead smoke around your baby, bed share and put them to sleep on its stomach and lets see what the outcome is.


Unfortunately, parents remain uncertain what they should do to keep their babies safe. It can not be predicted or prevented, and can, and does, claim any baby, in spite of parents doing everything right.

Year 7 Girls Zone Cricket

Yesterday 11 year 7 girls competed in the Zone Girls Cricket Competition which was held at Pukekohe Intermediate School fields. The games were played with 10 overs, no boundaries and no leg before wickets. We played 2 games with the first game at 9.40am versing Green Meadows and we won by a lead of 11 runs. The second game was versing Mansell from Papakura we also won that game after 6 overs. I had fun yesterday and i hope i get in the team again next year.

Student Learning Plan

Towards the end of the term each student had to complete a student learning plan. It was a reflection of what our goals are and how we can achieve them. Above are some of the goals that I put on my student learning plan.
I hope I can achieve these goals by the end of the year.

Book Bag

As part of homework for a book review the students from room 23 had to make a book bag from scratch. Firstly we made the actual bags at school. We then bought them home to complete. We made a book review to put on the bag which was encluding our favourite character, our least favourite character, the rating for the book, why you chose the book and who you would recommend the book to. I did m book bag on Best Friends its a book written by Jacqueline Wilson and is a catchy book to read.
This is my plot summary...


Born on the same day, Alice and Gemma have been best friends since birth. They both complement each other as they are exact opposites. Gemma is very loud, sporty and messy whilst Alice is gentle, very neat and likes playing with dolls. Gemma is the risk taker whilst Alice is reserved and wants to please people. If you've got a best friend you will be able to imagine how Alice and Gemma feel when Alice's parents decide to move along way away, to Scotland. The news devastates them both, having been used to having each other close to hand, suddenly they have to face the prospects of being miles away from each other. First there iis the sadness. Next there is blame. Gemma blames Alice's Mum for splitting them up. This is followed by Alice's own fear she tells Gemma that she wants to run away. The heart of the story is that their circumstances are out of the girls control. No matter what they do, the adults have made their decision and the children have no choice but to eventually cope with a situation they don't like. When the pair are split up, they have to find a way to keep in touch. Whatever Gemma does she cant do the right thing. Even when she tries hard she always seems to attract trouble. It is a book about growing up and the ultimate question is will the relationship between the two girls change or can best friend still be best friends from far away?


I enjoyed completing my book bag am happy with my end result.

ME Project

During this term we have been working on a "Me Project" at home. The projects were to show our personality and back round. We each had to chose a shape that represents ourself and what we like. I chose a jandal because i love the beach and the outdoors. I think they all look awesome on the wall and i enjoyed making them.

Touch Typing

Over the past few weeks our class has been practicing touch typing on a site called Dance Mat Typing. It teaches you how to touch type and about the home row keys. Today we took the test with covering the keyboard on a site Sense Lang. I got a result of 20 words per minute, with 69 characters typed, 23 mistakes and a success percentage of 67%. I believe i am a much better typer when i am able to see the keyboard.

Hara Muru

The Hara Muru exchange students arrived in New Zealand this Saturday to stay with their hosts. On Monday they came to Pukekohe Intermediate and were in their hosts classes. The sky tower was the destination that they went to on Tuesday. Thursday 25 March was the last day at Pukekohe Intermediate as Friday they went to Sunshine Ranch. I hope they enjoyed staying in New Zealand and i hope they had fun.