Category: Hanga | Create

Bruno was bored. He dragged a heavy tire toward the large oak tree. The afternoon sun shined down on the garden, and the house remained deathly silent behind him. Because he was desperate for some kind of adventure, he decided to build a swing to pass the boredom. The rough texture of the rope burned his palms while the smell of damp earth and old rubber filled his lungs as he struggled to knot the swing to a sturdy branch. Total disaster.

“Help me, please!” he cried out after the rope snapped.

Why did it have to be the strange, thin waiter who saw him cry? Pavel carried him inside, washed the bloody wound, and applied a clean white bandage with expert hands. He realized that the man who peeled potatoes was once a doctor who saved lives.

He stared above. Bruno glanced at the peeling wall paint. He narrowed his eyes, and let his curiosity seep in. Although Maria tried to be quiet, she didn’t go unnoticed. Bruno heard the slight sound of Maria’s footsteps and saw/smelt the freshly washed clothes she was carrying which led him to look over. Mind numbing. 

“This house is revolting, don’t you think?” Bruno questioned Maria.

Why was  Bruno asking such questions? He looked at Maria, asking if she agrees with his previous quote,demanding an answer. The soon realised his father wasn’t the man Bruno once thought he was.

Dear Grandmother,

I am writing to you from our new house in Out-with. It’s very unpleasant here.

We had a better and bigger house in Berlin, but this one in Out-with is so much smaller. Here I have no one to play with but back in Berlin I had my three best friends for life. Everytime I look out the windows in Berlin I could see happiness filling the streets, but now there’s barely even a sound and all I see here is a never ending fence and on the other side it’s a wasteland. 

Mother says we had to move here for fathers work, so we have to stay. But I don’t understand why father can’t go by himself, he’s old enough! Mother said we should not complain, and she tried to persuade me that our new house was not so bad.

In Berlin I had my favourite window in the attic, but here my window only shows sadness. There are no grandmothers or girls here besides mother, Gretel and Maria. Everyone is just a boy or a man. They wear dirty striped pyjamas and always look at the ground, so I feel really bad for them. The men in black uniforms are always yelling, and it’s very confusing.

I look forward to hearing from you because I miss our conversations, and I hope this letter finds you well.

Love from, Bruno

LI: To use AI to create an image that shows the contrast between events or characters

For this reading task we made an image of Bruno and Shmuel from the boy in striped pajamas having a contrast, one boy has no hair while the other has hair. We used nano banana ai to make these images with our own prompt.

The definition of contrast or another word for it is opposite. These boys have different life styles.

I enjoyed this task because we used Nano Banana AI and finding out different contrasts.

She curiously gazed. Quietly glancing out of the window. Gretel noticed the filthy people and almost gagged at the sight. Although she attempted to keep herself composed, the unexpected sight caught her off guard. It was horrible Gretel thought, all of  their faces were slim, malnourished and they all wore the same striped pajamas. 

“Completely miserable. Who are these people” she wondered. 

Why do these people look famished and grubby? She turned to Bruno, totally confused and disgusted, hoping He had an explanation.They both felt sick to their stomach after finding out their house isn’t as innocent as they had previously thought.

Gretel should’ve stayed. I wouldn’t admit I was intimidated by her… she had incredibly irritating habits, and her dolls genuinely made me feel unsettled. Although my appearance and stature made me look childlike, I am nine, and this is a profound insecurity for me which Gretel and her friends love to weaponize. I dragged my feet across the floor as I inhaled the dust particles while approaching the entrance of Gretel’s room, which slowly opened. Absolute exhaustion.

“Those kids don’t look friendly,” Bruno informed Gretel. 

How long could Gretel stand there bewildered? She marched toward Bruno, demanding a clarification, as he recoiled from the window. She walked towards the glass, realizing Bruno wasn’t deceiving her. 

The lock clicked. The foreign surroundings made Bruno feel unaccustomed. He didn’t want to accept that this residence was his fate, but the decision wasn’t his. Although he maintained a facade of composure, he remained agitated. The sound of the faint rustles echoed from Bruno’s room filling the empty hallway, the smell of old wood filling his nostrils, as if reminding him this wasn’t his true home. Total descent. 

“ Can you help me unpack my stuff please?” Bruno asked Maria. 

Why was his happiness put into some old crates and taken to a place where it didn’t belong? He made his way to the stairs, he went to his mother,and demanded answers for the questions left unanswered. With a knot in his tummy he knew his life in Berlin was over.

LI: To understand we make judgements based on stereotyping, assumptions and prejudices

Today we went over a story called “Bok Choy for Reading.” The story talked about how Chinese immigrants, like Ah Sum, were treated badly and unfairly judged in New Zealand a long time ago. It showed that many people didn’t see Chinese immigrants as equals and often had negative ideas about them just because they looked different or came from a different culture. The story also taught us that it’s important to understand and care about people who are different from us, even if we don’t fully understand their situation. Showing kindness and empathy is the right thing to do.

After reading the story, our task was to write a letter to Ah Sum to thank him properly. When we visited him in his hut, we didn’t have the right words to express how grateful we were, so now we need to take the time to say it the right way. This exercise made us think about how important it is to be respectful and thoughtful when talking to others, especially those who might have helped us or who are going through tough times.

What I found most interesting about the story is how it revealed that even though a long time has passed, there are still challenges and unfair treatment faced by people who are different, especially because of their race or background. It shows that racism and prejudice are still problems today, not just in the past. The story made me think about how important it is to treat everyone equally and to stand up against unfairness whenever we see it. It reminded me that kindness, understanding, and empathy are needed now just as much as they were back then.

Couple of weeks ago, we learned how to take notes in a very simple way, kind of like how a caveman would do it. That means using short, easy words and only writing down the most important points instead of full sentences. We worked with a partner so we could share ideas, bounce suggestions off each other, and come up with a better note together. This teamwork made the process easier because we could help each other figure out which bits of information really mattered and should be written down. It also made taking notes faster because we focused only on the main ideas, not on writing everything out in detail. I realized that notes don’t have to be exact copies of what’s said or written; they just need to be clear enough for you to understand and remember what you learned later. Overall, this way of note-taking helps save time and makes it easier to grasp and review the key information when studying

A couple of weeks ago on a Wednesday, our school went on a special trip to a place called Panmure Basin. It is a very big and beautiful body of water that looks like a small lake. We spent the whole day walking all the way around it. But we did not just walk for exercise; we stopped at many different places along the path to learn about the area. Our teachers stood with us and talked about what the basin is and what happened there in the past. It felt just like having a regular school lesson, but outside in the fresh air instead of inside a classroom.

The best part of the whole trip for me was hearing a famous story about the basin. It is a legend about a magical creature called a Taniwha, which is a special spirit from local stories. This specific Taniwha has a long name: Moko Ika Hika Waru. People say that this creature lives right under the big bridge that connects the two sides of the water. The stories say that the Taniwha is not a mean monster at all. Instead, it is a friendly helper or protector that looks after the water, the land, and all the people who live close by.

Learning this story helped me understand the local culture and history much better. It showed me how different groups of people use stories to remember the past and pass down important lessons. The trip also made me look at nature in a whole new way. I started to think more about the plants, the water, and how people live together with nature. In the end, it was a really good day because I got to learn things outside of school and hear the special stories that make the community what it is today.