School Journal Level 3 June 2022
PDFs of all the texts in this issue of the School Journal are available online as well as teacher support materials (TSM) and audio for the following:
| Audio | TSM | ||
| Articles | Sapasui: It’s hard to get wrong! | ||
| The Pā That Matawhero Built | ✔ | ||
| Play | The Great-great-greatest | ||
| Student Writing | Grandad’s Couch | ||
| Biography | Princess Iwa | ||
| Poem | Deoxyribonucleic Acid | ||
| Stories | The Story of Mauao | ✔ | ✔ |
| Sunday Hero |
Look inside this issue
Sapasui: It’s hard to get wrong!
by Susan Paris
Carlos Vakalaloma has lots of interests. He likes playing rugby (he’s a prop) and doing jigsaw puzzles (the old-school kind with up to a thousand pieces). During lockdown, he also spent a lot of time cooking. Carlos really likes Italian food. But if he was forced to choose his favourite meal, to both cook and eat, he’d say sapasui. Sapasui is eaten all across the Pacific. The dish is a version of chop suey, which originally comes from China.
The Pā That Matawhero Built
by Mark Peters
When people visit Pakeke o Whirikoka, the pā Matawhero Lloyd built, they enter a world that existed hundreds of years ago … Pakeke o Whirikoka is in Whatatutu, a small kāinga north of Gisborne. The original pā, which overlooked the Waipaoa and Mangatū rivers, was once home to Ngāi Tamatea. Matawhero’s tīpuna lived on this land. He wanted to reclaim his people’s heritage by building a living memorial to the past.
The Great-great-greatest
by Cassandra Tse; illustrations by Jez Tuya
Confusion reigns in the storage room at the Chinese Association. Benny, Lily, Angus and Grace are hiding out in the storage room avoiding kitchen duties, and begin debating which of their great-great grandfathers was the coolest.
Grandad’s Couch
by Lucas Yee, year 5, Russley School; illustration by Lisa Baudry
Our grandad adores his new couch. The old, red, torn one goes out, the brand-new, avocado-green one comes in wrapped in plastic, slippery like arctic ice, not coming off for a week.
You hear a lion-like roar from him, his face a shade of red as the cat tries to strike when the plastic comes off. Protective blankets engulf the couch from head to toe like a warm campfire on a cold winter’s night.
Princess Iwa
by Angela Skerrett Tainui
Meet the young woman from Bluff who shared her culture on the world stage.
One day, many years ago, I was visiting my pōua when I noticed a photo of a beautiful wahine on the wall. She had long, wavy hair and wore a kākahu around her shoulders and a hei tiki around her neck. She looked to be about eighteen.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid
by Tim Upperton; illustration by Paul Beavis
I look at my dad’s chin. His chins. Are those chins in my future? I worry about my genes. Is my throat getting soft? A little flaccid? I pinch it. I’m not too sure. Those chins might be in my DNA, which is a lot easier to say than deoxyribonucleic acid.
The Story of Mauao
retold by Toni Rolleston-Cummins; illustrations by Chloe Reweti
This story is for Kihi Ngatai, the great chief of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Ranginui. He passed away on 1 August 2021 at the age of ninety-one. Kihi loved his maunga. He walked around it three times a week. Toni Rolleston-Cummins shares the story with Kihi’s blessing.
Long ago, there were three maunga …
Sunday Hero
by Annaleese Jochems; illustrations by Lucy Han
There are too many keys in Grandma’s tin …
When I got home from football, Oma was in the kitchen, chopping vegetables. “Are you making soup?” I asked. Oma looked at the celery. “Yes.” “Green soup?” “Yes.” She put down the knife and waited. I was confusing her, but I’d started now.
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