For reading I read a story called New Zealand at war. It was all about the world war and I had to label the places in the story on a map so I did.                    

Swimming

I was at the starting line. My heart was pounding, waiting  for the clappers to go. Then suddenly there was a clap. Everyone was off and I was in the lead. I could see the finish line. I made it. As I  waited for my next race I cheered on people.Then Laura was up. I yelled “Go Laura! Go”. She’s winning - she won. I am up at the starting line for backstroke. I jumped in the pool. It was so cold. “On your mark’s, get set, go!” Everyone was off. Everyone was yelling at me “Go Abbey Go!” I came second. Yes! I hopped out of the pool and sat on my freezing cold seat, talking to my friends. I was yelling at everyone “Go Go”. I saw Miss Gardyne. She was sorting out our relay teams. In our team we had Eden, Jaemes, Daniel and myself.

“Ok lets go” I said. Jaemes and I were at one side, Daniel and Eden were at the other. We started, we finished, but unfortunately we came last. But we had a ball and that was the main thing. I swam for Otama School and it was amazing.

The Maori Pioneer Battalion.

On the 4 of August 1914 war was declared. The government decided to send eight thousand men to fight. The main group of soldiers were called the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. While soldiers were meant to be as old as twenty or older, some boys were as young as fifteen. They got into the army because most of the Maori did not have birth certificates.The Maori soldiers joined the army to help. Then they were known as Te Hokowhitu-a-Tu. Then in 1915 the men were sent to Gallipoli. At first the Maori soldiers were kept busy by digging trenches and building supply depots.The Maori's came to fight so they finally got their chance to go and fight. Too many Maori had already been killed at Gallipoli. Around the middle of 1917 the pioneer battalion was reorganised. The Otago men were replaced with around 470 soldiers. The battalion became known as the New Zealand (Maori) Pioneer Battalion. During the war 366 Maori were killed and more than seven hundred were wounded.They had seen their friends get killed and injured.Then at the end of the war the people of Belgium put up a Memorial on Anzac day 1925.