Olympic Games!

From the 27th - 12th of August 2012, people from 5 different continents came to London, England to participate in the 30th Olympic Games.

All of Huia 2 watched the amazing opening ceremony which told the history of Great Britain -  now  that was something! Over 8000 volunteers rehearsed for many weeks leading up to this one day performance,  which millions of viewers all around the world watched.
The ceremony opened with the parade of the world's top athletes into the stadium and this was followed by the lighting of the massive Olympic flame. Props like huge cylinder chimneys were positioned inside the stadium and all the special effects were excellent. Many famous musicians and one very well-known author J.K Rowling took part . I especially enjoyed the part where the comedian, Rowen Atkinson fell asleep and woke up looking at angry faces. After a couple of hours,  the ceremony ended.

There were so many sports to watch, such as archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, fencing, gymnastics, rowing, sailing, weightlifting, volleyball, equestrian, boxing and so many more.
The sports I liked to watch were gymnastics, athletics and swimming.

On the news and in the papers there was always something about the Olympics. We talked about them every morning in class too and shared what we had seen. When New Zealand won a medal it was always so exciting. However, the two weeks went by really quickly.

  In the end, new Zealand,  a small country with only four and a half million people, were 16th on the tally chart with 6 golds from rowing, sailing and a lucky shot put, 2 silvers and 5 bronze medals - our best result since the Seoul Olympics!

 We have been completing an Olympics assignment in our Topic books which has included researching both the Ancient and the Modern Olympic Games. We have also made a huge wall display all about these London Games, including some cinquains we wrote and lots of cardboard cutout figures of athletes that we created. It looks terrific and we also have lots of newspaper articles collected in a box below the display, to look through. We've learned heaps!

Selina

Paralympics

The 2012 Paralympics are about to begin: Paralympics are for people with disabilities such as limbs missing or blindness.
 Yesterday was the  opening ceremony for the Paralympics.
  You should try and watch these brave, determined athletes if you can.
                    The Paralympics are not as popular as the Olympics. The sports in the Paralympics include archery, athletics, boccia, cycling, equestrian,
Football 5-aside, Football 7-aside, Goalball, judo, power-lifting, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing,
wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis.
I wonder how this man competed in the Olympics not the Paralympics ?

Ryan