whakaaturanga
“We admire those who can organize their wishes and thoughts in stone and wood and steel and brass.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
te ao Māori principles
There are five key principals that we as an English Department consider important as part of a holistic study at school. Please read through these and know that we will come back to them as we begin looking at texts.
- Kaitiakitanga: Guardianship of natural resources and elements of sustainability
- Rangatiratanga: Leadership, authority, Mana, empowerment, Respect
- Manaakitanga: The process of showing respect, generosity and care for others.
- Whanaungatanga: A relationship through shared experiences and working together which provides people with a sense of belonging.
- Tikanga: The customary system of values and practices that have developed over time and are deeply embedded in the social context.
Key Terms
Learning Objectives
- To use structural elements covered throughout the unit to independently and collaboratively read poetry.
- Recognise the use of technical elements within a poem to help explore meaning.
- Extract the techniques used by the writer for specific purposes and explain those purposes.
- Construct a response to a question on the writing of the poem.
- Use terminology within the body of an analytical paragraph to explain with clarity the meaning and purpose of the techniques within a poem as well as the impact on the audience.
Exercises
Spelling
| planning | compromise | ceasefire | manufacture | crystal | savings |
| wake | historic | admire | rid | disclose | signal |
| poverty | empty | frame | convict | capacity |
comprehensive
|
| barely | negotiate | mobile | psychology | actress | specialist |
| wealth | enable | arrival | conviction | ownership | personality |
Pangram
Remember, to become faster at writing, you should practise writing out the following phrase as many times as possible for 5 minutes. Back to the beginning today. A good time to revisit the speed and accuracy.
- The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Reading Warm Up
Read the following passage. Pay special attention to the underlined words. Then, read it again, and complete the activities. Use your English book for your written answers.
“Time to see Auntie Jane and Uncle Reggie again,” said Mollie’s mother. “It’s been so long since we have gone to Scotland. You’ve grown so much that they will not recognise you.”
At first, Mollie was stunned by her mother’s announcement. The news was completely unexpected. Just the week before, her mother was helping her pick out a summer camp. Now she wouldn’t be going to camp; she was going to be traveling to Scotland. She tried to picture her relatives in her mind. The memories of her aunts and uncles were foggy and indistinct. It had been almost eight years since the last trip. She could barely remember the visit to Scotland the family had taken earlier in her childhood. At the time, she had been just six years old.
Mollie remembered the countryside and the buildings better than the people. As a six-year-old, Scotland had seemed like a fairyland.
Mansions sat atop rolling green hills. These were extremely big houses; they looked almost like castles. In fact, some of them were castles, inhabited long ago by princes and kings.
Sitting on the couch, she let her mind wander back in time. Now she remembered a picnic on a cliff overlooking the water. The images in her mind grew clearer. She could see waves gently breaking, leaving traces of foam on the rocks below. Now she remembered the food, so different from what she was used to eating. Instead of sandwiches there had been pastries filled with meat, and so absolutely delicious that she had asked for seconds. For dessert there was a type of fruitcake, filled with tiny bits of nuts and lemon peel. Afterwards, playing with her cousins, Mollie had fallen and torn her shirtsleeve.
“Don’t worry,” said Uncle Reggie. “As soon as we get back to the house we’ll have that mended.”
Questions
- What is the phrase that explains why Mollie is stunned. What might leave someone stunned?
- Name the two relatives of Mollie in the story. Then, explain what relatives are.
- What is the likely reason that Mollie’s memories are so foggy? Define memories.
- Write down the words that name an age that is part of childhood from the story. When do you think childhood ends?
- Give the meaning of the word mansions as it is written in the story.
- Show that words that tell what leaves traces of foam. Name somewhere else foam might be found.
- Write a sentence describing what Mollie thought was delicious. What does delicious mean?
- Write a sentence explaining what Mollie needs to have mended and why.