Instructional Series
Welcome to the English medium literacy instructional series teaching and learning resources for years 1 to 8.
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77 items - Showing 11 - 20
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The Story of Rona (from Night is a Blanket)
retold by Fran and Leon Hunia
illustrated by Murray Grimsdale
This text is a retelling of the dramatic Māori legend of Rona and gives an explanation for the markings that can be seen in the moon. You could listen to the audio for support with the pronunciation of the Māori vocabulary.
Gold 1
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E Kō, E Kō - Morning Chorus (from Night is a Blanket)
by Hirini Melbourne
illustration by Peter Campbell
This Māori song, with an English translation, encourages children to make connections to their experiences of hearing bird songs as the new day arrives. This poem is best used for shared reading. The birds illustrated around the poem are, anticlockwise from top left, grey warbler, stitchbird, tūì, saddleback, bellbird, and whitehead.
Gold 1
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The Moon (from Night is a Blanket)
by Emily Dickinson
photograph by John Drummond
This short lyrical poem evokes images of the changing moon.
Gold 1
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Blue Eggs
by John Dekker
This report describes the life cycle of a song thrush, how the song thrush came to New Zealand, and why some people consider this bird to be a problem.
This text provides opportunities for students to find and summarise information and to consider different points of view.Gold 1
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A Gift for Aunty Ngā
by Don Long
illustrated by Judith Kunzlé
In this sequel to A Quilt for Kiri (Purple), Kiri visits Rarotonga with her parents to meet Aunty Ngā and gives her a tīvaevae that she and her mother have made. This is a rich personal-experience narrative with many layers of meaning, which lends itself to expressive reading and can be returned to many times. These notes include background information about tīvaevae and some aspects of Cook Islands culture.
Gold 1
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No Big Deal
by Bill Nagelkerke
illustrations by Kelly Spencer
This story introduces colour-blindness in a light-hearted but informative way. When Cody goes back to school after the holidays, he can’t see why his friends are so excited about the repaint of the school. As the story progresses, his classmate Gemma notices Cody is behaving oddly. She eventually realises Cody is showing similar behaviours to her brother who is colour-blind. Could Cody be colour-blind too?
Gold 1
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Living in a Colourful World
by Bronwen Wall
This article explains colour-blindness, a condition that is quite widespread but that many people are unaware of. The text also provides an insight into what the world is like for those who are colour-blind.
Gold 1
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I Spy
by Simon Cooke
illustrations by Vasanti Unka
This humorous science fiction story is about two creatures, Pebble and Stone, who live on the planet Rock 2. One day, a spacecraft visits and leaves an unusual object behind. As the story progresses, Pebble and Stone notice the object changing and invent new words to describe what they are seeing. The story ends with a delicious surprise for the characters.
Gold 1
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Helpful
by Feana Tu‘akoi
illustrations by Fraser Williamson
Grandad wants Vika and Kele to help him in the garden, but they don’t share his enthusiasm. Vika manages to come up with an excuse, leaving Kele with all the work, but then the tables are turned and Vika becomes the one who has to help Grandad. The humour in this story arises from the contrast between Vika’s attempts to get out of helping, Dad’s determination to make sure she does her fair share, and Grandad’s lack of awareness that anything is going on. These characters also appear in “Kele’s Car” (Gold 2) in JJ 49.
Gold 1
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Kākano
by Kelly Joseph
illustrations by Damian Stones
This poem describes a kākano (a seed) as taonga and explains what makes it special. “Kākano” is inspired by the Māori proverb: Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu – although small, it is precious. The poem includes te reo Māori words and phrases that are supported by context, illustrations, sentence structure, and a glossary. This poem provides opportunities for students who are familiar with te reo Māori to share their knowledge.
Gold 2
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