Tuesday, 28 April 2015

Gallipoli War Diary-Rikihana Carkeek


Learning areas 

Social sciences (level 4): Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community challenges. 
English (level 4): Listening, reading, and viewing Language features: • Show a developing understanding of how language features are used for effect within and across texts. (Indicator: knows that authors have different voices and styles and can identify some of these differences.)



Rikihana Carkeek was a prominent Ngāti Raukawa leader who was in the Māori Contingent and the New Zealand Pioneer Battalion. He fought in many battles during the First World War and kept a diary throughout. Rikihana returned home an officer and died, much later, at age 72. His memoirs were published after his death.

 Key questions

• What can we observe?
• What do we already know? 
• How might people view these diary entries in different ways? 

Possible discussion questions 

• What impressions do you have of Rikihana after reading his diary excerpts? 
• How do the events Rikihana describes in these excerpts fit in with other First World War events you know about? 
• How do you think Rikihana Carkeek felt during the different events he describes? 
• Have you read any other diaries? 
• Why might it have been challenging to write/keep a diary during the war? 
• What differences might there be between the way a soldier or a nurse described their experiences in their diaries compared with their descriptions in a letter home? 
• Why do people keep diaries? 
• If someone 100 years from now were to read a diary you had written, what might be of interest to them?

Geohazards Virtual Field Trip

We're off again! This time we are travelling to Seddon

Here are the Main Learning Areas!


Science Curriculum online

Click on the links below to find the 'Success Criteria' for each strand
Science: Planet Earth and Beyond Levels 2-8, Nature of Science Levels 2-8,
Social Studies: Place and Environment Levels 2-5.


Website
Day 1 Diary

During this field trip we will:


  • travel to Seddon to investigate New Zealand's most recent substantial earthquake
  • see the effect of the Seddon events on the landscape and find out how it affected people
  • visit a place in Marlborough where a tsunami could land and assess the risks
  • go to locations in Marlborough where landslips have caused significant problems
  • discover the impacts of landslides and how these can be reduced
  • meet engineers, scientists and people involved in trying to understand natural hazards and how we cope with them
  • learn about instruments and processes used to detect and monitor New Zealand's geohazards



Where we are going

The South Island's Alpine Fault is a very distinct feature along most of its length. This is because the Southern Alps have been uplifted along their eastern side, making the fault clearly visible from space. The northern end of the Alpine Fault however splits into several parallel faults that spread out across the Marlborough region. There have been several recorded earthquakes in the region including in 1848 and 2013, and a tsunami in 1855. The Marlborough region is, not surprisingly one of the most seismically active in New Zealand and a very good place to explore the nature of geohazards!

After the field trip, challenge yourself to:


  • investigate the risks of earthquakes, tsunami and landslides and other geohazards in your local area
  • bookmark the GeoNet website so you can go there whenever you feel an earthquake tremor or hear about one

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Dawn Service by Ashleigh Young


Letter to Henry Nicholas





This envelope contained a letter for Henry Nicholas, a new Zealander soldier fighting in France, written by his girlfriend, Ethel Martin. Shortly before Ethel wrote the letter, Henry had been awarded a Victoria Cross medal for bravery. The Victoria Cross is the highest military award possible and receiving one was a rare distinction. Of the 100 000 New Zealand soldiers who fought in the First World War, only 11 were awarded the Victoria Cross. Henry Nicholas died before reading Ethel's letter, just 19 days before the armistice. (an armistice is an agreement to stop fighting. The armistice that marked the end of the First World War was signed by England, France and Germany on the 11 November 1918)

The story of Ethel's letter is told through an interactive comic strip. This comic strip contrasts the different experiences of a woman left at home and a man at the front, each with their sorrows


Key Questions:

  • What can we observe?
  • What do we already know?
  • How might people view this envelope in different ways?
Possible questions for further investigation:

  • What can you see on this envelope?
  • Where was its intended destination?
  • Why do you think it looks so tattered?
  • At what stage of the war was it sent?
  • How do you think Ethel Martin felt when the letter was returned to her?
  • Why did she decide to keep the envelope and the letter inside it/
  • Why was this letter in the Canterbury Museum? What is the VC collection?
  • What do you think life was like for Ethel Martin, and other women in New Zealand, during the war?
  • Henry Nicholas won a Victoria Cross for his bravery. In what ways were Ethel Martin and other New Zealand women brave during the war? How was this bravery recognized?


Home Learning WK 1

Welcome back to term 2!

Next week we are going on another Virtual Field Trip. This time to Blenheim to study the fault-line. This VFT focuses on Earthquakes, Tsunami and landslides. This begins next Tuesday. If any parents would like to come along they are more than welcome to join. 

We are a speaking class this time for the audio conference. We need to ask questions about landslides. Take time this week to read these background readings and activities. We need to send our questions away on Friday. You can post them here are a comment if you like.

Monday, 23 March 2015

Home Learning Links Wk8

Here are your Home Learning Links...enjoy!

Spelling


Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4

Spelling Response Form

Maths


This weeks task is easy...complete a mathsbuddy task (what you're currently working on in class is fine), and post the results on your blog. Once you finish your task, you'll need to save the report as a PDF, then open that up in Paint.net and save it. Once you have an image file (.jpg) you can then put it on your blog-me or others for help to do this task. Don't forget to write a sentence or two about your learning.


Literacy

This week you have a simple cloze reading activity. Its the sort of one that has the most points in the STAR test...so its worth practicing



Monday, 16 March 2015

Home Learning Links

Here are this weeks Home Learning Links


Spelling

Group1
Group2
Group3
Group4

Spelling Response Form

Maths

Complete a comprehensive test in a new area of study. Save the PDF to your drive.

Science

Following on from last weeks field trip, this weeks science looks at things in or near a waterway, and how they affect one another. You may want to cut the activity up or cut and paste the sentences that match. Cutting and pasting would be easier...make a table with 2 columns and just cut each sentence into it. Please make a copy of the science first!


Each sentence is linked to another. You just need to match the right ones together. Begin by reading the sentence in italics, then find the answer that matches. You then get another italic sentence underneath, which you'll need to match...and so on. If you've done it right, the last sentence should bring you back to your first 'card'.