This article tells the story of Māori and the First World War and of the huge contribution made by the pioneer Māori Battalion. The topic will be unfamiliar for many students, but the themed content in the surrounding items will provide support.
Although students will be aware of the role soldiers play in wartime, few will know about the role of nurses. This article describes the work of New Zealand nurses who travelled to Africa and Europe during the First World War.
This dark, humorous narrative is set during the First World War and, through exaggeration, shows the effects of extreme patriotism that can appear in wartime. Thomas, the narrator, hates Mrs Biggs, his teacher. He also hates singing. When Mrs Biggs finds him playing Catch the German, she punishes him by making him sing in front of the mayor. Thomas’s desperate attempt to avoid singing has unexpected results when Mrs Biggs and the mayor decide to smash the piano – because it was made in Germany.
Many students will be familiar with the use of mascots by sports teams, but they may be surprised to learn that mascots have also been used in wars. This text describes mascots used by New Zealand soldiers in the First World War. Students may have some awareness of the First World War through Anzac Day commemorations and from events to mark its centenary in 2014.
This tale of a boy telling his grandfather about a cricket match sounds simple, but the clever text structure and extensive use of the language of cricket makes it a very rich text that can be revisited many times for different purposes. The theme of relationships between the generations is conveyed powerfully and in ways that students will recognise.
“The New Zealand Wars” describes the wars fought between 1845 and 1872. The wars were about who controlled the country and who owned the land. This long and fascinating article explains the circumstances of the wars, including the areas and tribes involved. There are good general descriptions of the main confrontations and key players, both Māori and British. The text is written by a Māori author who presents a balanced account of the wars and their impacts.
The article “Fair Chocolate” is about a Christchurch company and its decision to deal directly with cacao producers on the other side of the world and make its own chocolate. Within this context, the article traverses economics, fair trade, and business practices.
This report provides information about seaweeds found in New Zealand waters and how they are used. There is a quiz activity that helps children to apply knowledge from diagrams to actual examples. The rich content means that this text is best read over more than one session and shared before being used for guided reading.
“Hurly Burly” is a spooky morality tale set in the New Zealand gold rush and based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. John Macbeth is returning to camp when he sees three wild and withered creatures stirring a foul stew and incanting “double, double, toil, and trouble”. The unearthly creatures prophesise his future riches. When John returns to the camp, his brother Duncan announces that he has struck gold and asks John to head into town to register his claim. The story takes a dark turn when John’s wife Sarah encourages him to murder his brother and take the claim as his own.
This article is based on the diary of Iris Marshall, a ten-year-old girl who sailed on the yacht Dog Star with her parents and a family friend from New Zealand to Nouméa. The text details the highs and lows of the journey from Iris’s perspective and includes some excerpts from the on-board logbook. While few students will have had the experience of sailing, many will have experienced sea sickness, and most will relate to and be interested in the day-to-day details of life at sea. The text could be used as a starting point to explore the nature of adventure, its perils, and its rewards.
Related titles: Texts related by theme “Boy on a Bike” SJ L3 May 2015 | “Journey on the Sea” SJ L3 August 2018 | “Border Control” “Captain Cook: Charting Our Islands” SJ L4 May 2016 | “What Is Biosecurity?” Border Security, Connected L3 2011