Summer learning journey week one day four: Hitting a high note

Activity one: A song in your heart 

In the past, Māori would often use song as a way of sharing information or communicating emotions.  A waiata is the name given to a traditional Māori song. What is your favourite?

Use Google to research traditional Māori Waiata. Listen to a number of Waiata and read the lyrics. On your blog tell us which one of the waiata you found you like the most. Why do you like it?

My favourite waiata has to be Ma te kahukura. There are a couple harmonies that sound really nice to listen to. Our school kapa haka group sang this song at an assembly and I instantly feel in love with it. I researched for some other waiata but this one was still my favourite. I think that the music is played on a guitar.

Here is the link to the waiata https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBf-LXtQJ4I

Lyrics and their meaning :

Mā te kahukura ka rere

Te manu

Mā ngā huruhuru nei

Ka rere koe

Rere runga rawa e

Ka tae atu koe ki te taumata

Whakatau mai rā e

Mau ana taku aroha

Whai ake I ngā whetu

Rere tōtika rere pai

Rere runga rawa rā e (x3)

Rere runga rawa rā e

Take flight like the bird that is adorned with the colours of the rainbow

Soar high towards the heavens,

And as you arrive to the pinnacle of your destination,

There is where you may rest.

Cloak yourself with my love

Follow the pathway to the stars,

Fly straight, fly true.

Soar high towards the heavens

Activity two: Playing games

Hundreds of years ago, young Māori children were taught to play a number of games, including Poi Rakau, Ki O Rahi, Koruru Taonga and Poi Toa. Read about each of these four games on the Rangatahi tu Rangatira website. Have you played any of them before? Isn’t it cool how the games have been passed down for generations? Choose one game, and on your blog, tell us the (i) name of the game, (ii) the goal or purpose of the game, and (iii) two rules.

The game that I like the most is Tapu ae, it is a ball game. The aim of the game is to hit all tupu with the ki and the team that does that first wins.

Start the games by throwing the KI into te Ao (the middle zone) this is done after each tupu hit.

If a team losses possession out of bounds over the sides, then they hand over the KI to the opposition

If it goes out over the back, the defensive teams kaitiaki gets the KI
The KI must be touched by your team in te Ao, before the attack can gain possession
If you are using a poi, attackers need to keep the poi swinging, if the defender is close enough to hit with the poi, then they are too close, if 2 people catch the poi at the same time then the closest to the ki (head) retains possession. You need 6-10 tupu (these can be cones with balls on top or old bottles filled with sand or water) KI, can be a ball, ki or poi, Filed marking, Bibs to identify teams. This game would be fun to play with family member and friends. I think that every person in your family would love to play this game.

Here is a video on how to play Tapu ae...

heavens.

Summer learning journey week one day three: It's all in the family

Activity 1: The More The Merrier?

In the 1800s, most families were pretty big. In fact, many parents had an average of seven to nine children. Imagine that you were a child in the 1800s and you had nine siblings. On your blog, please tell us how you would feel. Would you enjoy being a member of such a large family? Why or why not?

Personally I wouldn't like to have seven to nine brothers or sisters, especially if I was the oldest! The stress wouldn't only effect my parents, it would effect me as well! It's hard enough having one sister and one brother but seven, eight or nine! My parents probably wouldn't have enough time for me because they would wither be working to provide for us or be looking after the younger ones. But if you weren't the oldest you would probably be okay because you would have older siblings to confide in without worries of them judging you. So no, I wouldn't like to have seven to nine siblings. It would be too stressful!

Activity two: Acknowledging Ancestry

All of us are members of a family. Some of us have large families and some of us have very small families. When I have the opportunity to talk about my family and my ancestry I sometimes choose to use a pepeha. It is a very special way of identifying who I am and where I come from. There are many different versions of pepeha but most provide people with information about who you are and where you come from (i.e. your whakapapa).

I did my mihi in Malay my mothers language. I speak it lightly and I did this myself. The translations on the slides are lightly translated. I did this in my own language to show my Ancestry. I am half Malaysian half European aka Eurasian. I wanted to showcase my language and took the chance to celebrate it.  

Bonus Activity: Fun Family Facts 

Everyone’s family is unique. What makes your family special? Choose three people close to you and ask them what their two favourite things to do in summer are. Then on your blog, write two fun facts about each person.

My mothers favourite things to do in the summer is going to the beach and having picnics.

My younger sister Jordan's favourite thing to do in the summer is go to the swimming pool and go on our water slide.

My fathers favourite thing to do in the summer is to relax in the sun and eat ice cream.

Fun facts about my mother...

1. My mum works in a factory called Tegal. Tegal is a chicken and turkey factory. Which means our family gets chicken at a special price.

2. My mother also is from a country called Malaysia, the city/town my mother is from is called Johor Baru!

Fun facts about my sister...

1. My sister Jordan (age 8) is a really good swimmer. She enjoys swimming in her own time.

2. Jordan is also very bold, she is not afraid to tell you what she thinks.

Fun facts about my dad...

1. My father is originally from Invercargill, he moved to Christchurch when he was 12.

2. My father is a cleaner at my school, so before I went to the school last year, he already showed me where some of the classrooms where.

Fun facts about my brother...
1. My brother lives in Kalgoorlie Australia, he works as an engineer in the mines, he fixes the big machines.
2. My brother was born and raised in Malaysia, he and my mother moved to New Zealand when he was nine.

Summer learning journey week one day two: Its all in a days work

Activity one: A house or a home?

In the 1800s, most Māori lived in villages called pa. Each village had many buildings – kauta where people cooked, pataka where they stored goods and wharepuni where the Māori slept. A traditional wharepuni had a thatched roof and walls made of timber, fern, rushes and bark. Look at the picture below of a traditional wharepuni. Does it look like your house? On your blog, compare the wharepuni to your own home. What are two similarities and two differences between a wharepuni and your house?

Some interesting facts about these traditional houses...

- Wharepuni are what are described as rectangular sleeping houses, in the 1800s most Māori people lived in villages called pa.

- Each of the villages had a kauta as well. Kauta were where people cook. They also had Pataka where they stored some goods and wharepuni was where the Māori slept.

- The doorways of the wharepuni were very small.

- The roof was made with timber, rushes and things like that.

There are a few similarities between modern houses and the wharepuni.

For example one of the similarities is what these houses are made of. Both of these houses are made of wood. In most cases, wood is a traditional base for a house. They both also have a door, window, roof and have four walls.

There are also some differences with these houses. In the paragraph above, you may have noticed that I said that both of these houses have a window, but there is a slight differences with these windows. The window on the wharepuni isn't actually a window, it's just a square-shaped hole in the wall but in houses nowadays windows are an opening in the wall or roof of a house or building, fitted with glass in a frame to admit light or air and allow people to see out. The other difference is that this house is actually just a sleeping house. Normal houses these days are for shelter, to protect us, to keep us safe, but the wharepuni is just a house where the Maori people slept. 

The wharepuni's have some differences and similarities. But one question I have is does it look like my house? The answer depends on what angle you are looking at the houses from. If you where looking from the front of my house, there are most definitely some similarities between the houses. Like how there is the roof and then a window in the corner. So the answer really depends on what angle you where looking from. 

Activity two: The rules of engagement

During the early years in New Zealand, men and women would often marry at a young age. Women were expected to have babies and remain in the home caring for their children. Few, if any, left home in search of work. Men, on the other hand, were expected to work outside of the home. These days, we don’t have the same strict expectations about work. Girls and boys can choose their own path in life. In fact, I was lucky enough to go to university and to follow my dream of becoming a teacher! What is your dream job? Draw a picture of yourself doing your dream job and post it on your blog. You could be a doctor, an actor or even a zookeeper! I have drawn myself taking a picture of a beautiful castle in Poland because I would love to become a travel blogger and photographer one day.

My dream job is to star on Broadway. Since I was little I have always aspired to be an actress famous for her acting and singing skills. I have already done some acting things at school, such as the Lion King Musical performance. You can read about it here. I have drawn a picture of me on the Broadway stage, I really hope that it could be me in real life.

Bonus activity: Special meals

Back in the 1800s, most Māori ate a simple diet. They ate foods that they could catch in the water (eg. fish) or grow on the land (eg. kumara). They did not have access to a supermarket to buy food for their meals! Speaking of meals, what is your favourite meal? Mine is wood-fired pizza. Yum! On your blog, post a picture of your favourite meal. Be sure to tell us what it is and why it is your favourite. You could also include the recipe if you have it so that we can all try it!

My favourite meal comes from my mothers birthplace Malaysia, it is called nasi lemak. Nasi lemak is a Malay fragrant rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaf. We serve it with fried chicken. 

Here is the link to the Nasi Lemak... http://www.curiousnut.com/nasi-lemak-with-fried-chicken/

Summer learning Journey week one day one: Setting Sail

Activity one: The first settlers

It is widely believed that the first people to arrive in New Zealand came from Polynesia. Most historians believe that they landed in New Zealand over 700 years ago. Although they were originally from many different countries, these settlers learned to live together and, eventually, formed their own distinct culture known as ‘Māori.’  Māori have their own language, traditions, and culture. Follow this link to read a short story about a famous man in Māori mythology – Maui. On your blog, post three facts that you learned about this interesting man. What other stories have you heard about Maui?

Here are that facts that I have learned about Maui...

1. Maui is in a whole lot of legends in the world and they are a bit different in every country in the Pacific.

2. Maui was the youngest of the five sons of his mother Taranga. His mother believed Maui was still-born and in her grief wrapped him in a bundle of hair (tikitiki) and cast him upon the ocean. He floated in the hair knot to a beach where he was found by his tupuna Tamanui-ki-te-rangi who raised him as his own.

3. In the myth, Maui used his magic fishhook to pull New Zealand's North Island from the depths of the Pacific ocean as a huge fish. The fishhook was magic, a talisman with great meaning and power carved from the jawbone from his grandmother. 

4. Maui is also an island in Hawaii.

Activity two: Setting sail

The first settlers to come to New Zealand must have been really brave! They had to leave their original homes and sail thousands of miles across the ocean on a special boat called a ‘waka’ to reach New Zealand.

Imagine that you were on board one of the wakas. On your blog, write a short letter to a friend telling them about your voyage to New Zealand. In the letter be sure to tell them how you feel about moving to a new country. If it was me, I would have felt really nervous…

Dear Jordan,

The past weeks have been tough. The perilous journey we are making has made everyone stressed out. We have come across a few obstacles on our voyage to a better home. On Tuesday we encountered a large sea beast that was attempting to consume us. All of this travelling is making me miss home. I am always finding myself thinking about all of the fun that we used to have together in our tree fought. This new country that we are seeking seems to be further than I though I would be. We have been sailing in our waka for two weeks now and we still have further to go. How is everyone in the village? I miss them so much, make sure you tell them that. 

I hope that I can see you soon, 

Yours sincerely, 

Nadia. 

Bonus activity: Waka Ama

To this day, the people of New Zealand still use waka. Instead of using their waka to transport them from one place to another, they sometimes use waka in special events and in sporting competitions such as Waka Ama. Both boys and girls compete in Waka Ama boat races. Watch this short video of a Waka Ama race. On your blog tell us whether you would like to be in a Waka Ama race one day. Why or why not?

In my opinion, Waka Ama seems like a very challenging sport. You need to work as a team and be strong enough mentally and physically. Personally I don't think that I would like to be in a Waka Ama race simply because I would not be strong enough. Since I am very competitive, I would hate to lose that because I wasn't strong enough. But if it wasn't a race I would probably join in especially if I was with my friends.

This blog post is my first post for the summer learning journey. The summer learning journey is a challenge in which students do a blog post once a day. Doing this will make sure that the student doesn't lower their literacy skills over the long summer break. I volunteered for this challenge and I am enjoying it so far! 

Prize giving 2K17

Today was not only our last day of school for 2017, but it was also yr 7 & 8 prize giving. Today I was awarded two awards. The first award was for my involvement in performing arts, the award was call the performing arts award. I got this because I did a whole lot of performing arts this year. This year I did the Shakespeare Festival for the second time, I did the lion king musical, read about it Here, and I was also going to do the 48hour film festival but I couldn't because it was a family members birthday. Not only did I get a certificate, but I also got a trophy which will have my name engraved on it and put in a trophy cabinet. I am very proud of myself for getting this award because performing arts is my passion.

I also got another award, 1st in cooking. If i'm being honest, I don't think I am that good at cooking, but I am proud that I got this award. With this award I was given a set of measuring cups which will be handy in future cooking. I am so grateful for this award and I would like to give a big thank you to the people that gave it to me.

Here are some photos...

The day of the lion king musical performance! (aka my acting debut)

Thursday the 7th of November
Today was the day of our performance of the lion king musical. Over this 4 week journey, I was either learning lines or screaming out "I will be king"! I was given the honour of playing one of the main characters, Scar. Scar was the villain of the musical, plotting to kill his brother and nephew in order to become the king of pride rock.

Being the committed student I am, my day started with waking up at 4.30am in order to get my hair washed and dried, (since I was going to have it out all day). I had an amazing costume that suited not only me, but my character, Scar. It included a grey, choker top, full length leggings, chunky boots and a trench coat. When I arrived at school at 7:55am, I started to practice my lines, going over and over them, making sure that my voice was not only loud, but articulated. At 8:25 our school bell rang, signalling all students to get to their form classes. Since I was in a costume, I was eager to get form time over and done with. When I arrived to my form classroom, I was continuously pestered, all of the people in my class where saying "why are you wearing that?", or "oh my god, you look so good"!

After form time, all of the musical theatre group assembled in the auditorium and waited for Mrs Clark, Mrs Beer and Miss Richardson to approach. When they did we all got some feedback from the previous practice, most of my feedback was to talk slower and louder. Since I am the villain, I need to be able to gain all attention and be scary at the same time. I took all this feedback on board, focusing on my voice and facial expression. We were soon going to have a dress rehearsal/performance for 60 Hornby Primary children. The dress rehearsal went very well and we got some feedback at the end from our teachers. I didn't really get that much feedback.

It was now time to get into makeup. My makeup look was exactly how I pictured how it was going to look, bold brows, black lip and a scar running down the left side of my face. Thanks to Mrs Beer for doing my makeup. After everyone's makeup looks were completed we started to go over some key parts of the musical, such as the circle of life and me killing Mufasa.

Now it was time for the big show, I rarely get nervous so I was in the zone before stepping out on stage. Nathan was announcing our arrival on stage and our performance. I elegantly but scarily slinked on stage with the occasional growl at one of the audience members. I spent the whole musical on stage, just sitting casually in my cave looking regal. At some points of the musical I got a lot of "Ohhhs" and "Ahhhs" and the occasional "shot Nadia"! When I was talking, I attracted all attention and made sure that I was loud and enunciated enough. At the end of the musical, it was time for our bows, when it was my time to bow I got a lot of applause, signalling that I did very well and that I should be proud of myself. Funny thing though, at the part where I scare Zazu out of my cave, I think I scared him a bit too much because he fell back, causing the backdrop of the stage to fall with him!

After the musical performance, I got heaps of hugs from all of my friends. I was so proud of everyone in the performance for their stellar efforts to make sure that the musical was perfect. When I went to my classroom to look at everyone else's work, people were flooding me, telling me that I did a wonderful job. Even Mrs Gibson said that I should be an actress or star on Broadway! Lately I have also been approached by many teachers (some I haven't even met) within my school, congratulating me on my performance.

But the one person that I was really proud of was Jaime. Jaime was the person who did a whole solo all by herself while playing Rafiki, a wise old monkey at the start of the circle of life. At the start of our musical theatre journey, Jaime was doubting herself and her abilities, but during that performance, she let that all go. All of the worries seemed to vanish.

Overall there is mainly one thing I could change during my performance and that is talk slower. I think that if I talked slower, it would get the point across to the audience more. The part where I am plotting to kill Mufasa is definitely where I could've spoke more slowly.

I would just like to take this moment to thank all of the teachers who have supported me through this journey, mainly Mrs Clark, Mrs Beer and Miss Richardson. These three teachers have been supporting me from the start, encouraging me and explaining how to do things properly in order for the performance to be perfect. Again a massive thank you to all that have supported me through this journey. Hopefully I will be talking about this to an audience when I am a famous actress staring on Broadway or something similar.

Here is a photo from after the performance...

Ok, can we just take a minute to appreciate how downright awesome I look in this photo...
Photo credit- Jaime
(When I get them, I will post some photos of the performance)