English: How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped

https://www.katherinemansfieldsociety.org/assets/KM-Stories/HOW-PEARL-BUTTON-WAS-KIDNAPPED-1912.pdf 

Post Reading Questions

Who were the main characters of the story? 

• Pearl Button - a little girl with curly blonde hair, and white teeth, had lots of layers of clothes, pinafore, petticoat, stockings, and shoes.
• Two dark-skinned fat women (Maori women), one was wearing a red dress, and the other wearing a yellow and green dress, bare-foot, and no stockings.
• Two small men wearing blue (Police)

What happened to Pearl Button in the story? 

Pearl was kidnapped by the two big Maori women, they took her to a log room full of other people who were the same skin as them. They gave Pearl Button a peach and she ate it, the juice running down her front, people laughing at her, they were amused at the little girl. After the funny event, Pearl was carried again but in a green cart with two ponies, red and black. They arrived quickly at their location which was the beach, warm sand, singing birds, and grass pushing against Pearl's pale feet. Suddenly, two little blue men came running towards, carried her back to the House of Boxes.

Pakeha vs Maori Living

The Māori of New Zealand lived in a more communal way than New Zealand’s Pākehā immigrants. Pākehā arrived in Aotearoa and immediately started sectioning up the space — from land down to living quarters. 

While European settlers lived in little houses, Māori people did not live like this. The pā can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, and is the centre of a Māori community, extending the concept of family out beyond the traditional nuclear family by European concept. Mansfield grew up alongside Māori pā culture and would have noted the differences.

Katherine Mansfield’s story ‘How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped’ (1910) can be considered as a paradigmatic example of the author’s use of family relations as a prism for examining a number of issues.

Pākehā vs. Māori, community, urban vs. rural, man vs. nature, conformity vs. freedom, order vs. chaos etc…

To convey these issues without being so literal, Mansfield uses allegory to hide these issues within her text.

Allegory: a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Symbolism

• Allegory can be hard to discern. 
• A great way to uncover it is to look for the symbolism hidden in the text.
• Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols, be they words, people, marks, locations, or abstract ideas to represent something beyond the literal meaning.

What are some symbolism in the story?

Little men in blue coats - This means that they are polices 

Pearl Button swung on the little gate in front of the House of Boxes - Symbolism of the difference of living conditions between Pakeha's and Maori's.

English: New Zealand Fashion Between the 1850s - 1920s

The fashion attire in New Zealand during the 1840s up to 1890s was extracted in Britain. During that time, domestic sewing machines and paper patterns became available and accessible, which makes home dressmaking easier and accessible, as a result, it gives people, especially, women to be fashionable. 

After women's participation in cycling increased, it encouraged a lighter and looser style that allowed freedom of movement. Tailored jackets, skirts, blouses became popular and trendy. 

A couple of years later, in the 1900s, more hand-made clothes were made. Oversized hats with ostrich feathers that flow gracefully were popular among women. 

In the first World War, necklines were cut lower, skirts became shorter. Women's fashion became simpler, low waisted dresses were worn at a mid-calf length or knee-length, which makes the footwear more visible. 

In my opinion, I think that fashion in the past has really evolved, looking back at it, people in today's generation have a more sophisticated and complex style. Fashion today is more open for everyone, for instance, males wear skirts during fashion week, there are a range of styles and genres, gothic style, casual, boho, haute couture, y2k, minimal, etc. 

Wananga Reflection

 Last week, in Wananga class, we did our personalised passion project, we continued to put hair and add more hair in our statue. The Beast King has v-shaped hair so we had to add layers to make the hair shape like a 'V'. We also started to put hair on the head of the other Beast King since we are doing two statues. 

Wananga: Personalised Passion Project Blog - THE BEAST KING KABUKI

What is Genius Hour? Genius Hour means to Create. It is a chance to unleash your creativity and be able to work on something that you are passionate about. It could be a passion that you already have or a new passion that you are interested in learning more about. One of the main outcomes of this will be for you to create something through your passion.  Given that you are working on your passion, it will be up to you to make sure you create something at the end of this.  

What else is Genius Hour? Genius Hour is a time when students are allowed to explore topics that interest them the most. The instructional focus of Genius Hour is much more about the process of exploration than the content. Students are tasked with researching their topics of interest and teachers help guide their research more thorough questions than direct learning/content delivery. Students have the freedom to access resources and people in the building who can help with the topic they’ve chosen.

For our personalised passion project, we are doing it as a group and our project will involve sustainability and creativity. We are making a beast king Kabuki (Japanese) out of sustainable materials such as newspaper, cardboard, empty tissue rolls, glues and etc. We will make it a life-size figure and there will be two of them. 

(inspiration)

Driving Questions: How can we use sustainable materials (recycled) such as newspaper and cardboard to create are--a life-size statue?

Detailed Plan: 

Date -  Week 8	What is researched, planned oir actioned?	Location	Who is involved?	Contingency (Identify potential problems and solutions)	Equipment Needed
Wednesday	We brainstormed ideas of what we could make as a group.	We did this at school.	The whole group  (7 members)		Chromebook
Thursday	We gathered our equipments such as the cardboard and newspaper. We began to make the body parts of the statue.	At school	The whole group  (7 members)	How we can stick the pieces together without using much glue.	Cardboard Scissors Stapler
Friday	We continued to create the body parts of the sustainable statue.	At school	The whole group  (7 members)		Cardboard Scissors Stapler
Notes	Create the body parts of the second statue	At school	The whole group  (7 members)		Cardboard Scissors Stapler

Music: Term 3 Music Performance

 What instrument are you performing on? And what will you perform? My group and I will be performing "Can't Help Falling In Love" by Elvis Presley and we will be using our voices and a piano for our instrument.

Are you doing a solo or group performance? I will be performing with a group because I think that with more people, it would be more fun, less nervous, and it will improve our collaboration skills, creativity, and innovativeness.

What do you need to work on first? In my opinion, my group and I will need to work really hard and contribute. We need to work on the piano and voice rhythm so that they will match to create a harmonic piece. 

What will be challenging? I think the challenge will be performing in front of the class and trying not to make a mistake.

English: The Lake

Story: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qGj2VRFR3u3Xhb8InfPKoiI8kju1-5NJ/view

Listing - A listing is a method/technique used by writers who brainstorm and gather ideas about their chosen topic to write, usually 3 or more.

Example: "The wave shut me off from the world, from the birds in the sky, the children on the beach, my mother on the shore."

Figurative Language:

• Simile - Simile is a method used in writing that compares two things, using "Like or As".

Example: "It was like nailing summer into a series of coffins."

Metaphor - Metaphor is a widely used figurative language that uses descriptive words in order to paint a picture or to illustrate a certain thing. 

Example: "The beach was so long and lonely."

Personification - Personification is the use of human characteristics in another object. 

Example: "The wind lifted me."

Dialogue - A dialogue is when two or more people have exchanged conversations, dialogue is used in films, books, novels, plays, etc. 

Example:  "Mama, I want to run up the beach aways," I said.

"All right, but hurry back, and don't go near the water."

Emotive Language - Emotive Language is a technique where the author or writer used languages that evoke the emotions of the audience. They can be used in a variety of concepts such as in spoken word performances, novels, books, debates, etc. 

Example: "Mama withdrew into the distance, sitting. Soon she was only a brown speck and I was all alone."

Allusions - An Allusion is a figure of speech used to make a reference to people and makes the audience think or make connections to something else.

Example: "I stood there, watching the sun take away the water beads on my arms. I replaced them with goose-pimples." 

Music: What is Musical Theatre? How many types are there?

Music: New Zealand Music ♪♫♪

5 Facts: 

• Lorde chose her stage name because she was fascinated with “royals and aristocracy”. However, she felt the name Lord was too masculine, thus she added an “e” to make it more feminine.
• On 13 May 2015, a wax figure of Lorde was introduced to Madame Tussauds Hollywood.
• In June 2014, Lorde released a two-piece make-up limited edition collection in collaboration with MAC Cosmetics, consisting of a lipstick titled after her debut album, Pure Heroine, and an eyeliner.
• She has Croatian citizenship thanks to her mum Sonja Yelich's family, who immigrated to New Zealand from Dalmatia.
• Before writing songs, Lorde wrote fiction. She wrote her first story aged 11 when her dog fell off her balcony and accidentally hanged itself.

English: The Yellow Brick Road pt2 (lockdown)

Story Link: 

https://englishwithhume.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/7/2/10723048/yellow_brick_road_by_witi_ihimaera.pdf

Why does the narrator (speaker) believe they are moving to Wellington? In the narrator’s point of view, he believes the reason why they are moving to Wellington was that it will help them have a better life. As a piece of evidence, he said, “We'll make lots of money and be rich as anything because Wellington is where the money is. And you have to go where the money is, ay Dad. No use staying in Waituhi and being poor all the time, ay”. What Matiu (narrator) meant was Wellington was a place where there are a lot of opportunities, a better economy and a better lifestyle, which was good for his family.

Music: Performing Arts Activities (Lockdown)

Types of Dance

For each style of the dance below find a description of the style and a youtube clip of the dance in action.

What is a Hip-Hop Dance? Hip-Hop dance is a dance that consists of vibrant exercises, art, movements, steps, creating a freestyle movement where individuals or groups creates a platform to express self-expression, perseverance, art and talent. 

What is a Jazz Dance? Jazz is a dance developed from the 19th and 20th centuries and traditional black social dances. To be a Jazz dancer, you need to have powerful movements and techniques that are also lines with a good base in classical ballet. For men, you need to be strong grounding and a masculine edge.

What is  Salsa Dance? Salsa is a Latin dance associated with a music genre of the same name, it was popularised in the United States in the 1960s. It was primarily developed by Puerto Ricans and Cubans living in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s. 

What is a Tap Dance? Tap dance originated in the United States with a combination of several ethnic percussive dances, primarily West African. It is a unique dance that uses a metal end heel of shoes. It creates a tapping sound where it creates a beat and music of art, by rhythmically striking the floor or any hard surfaces.

What is the Contemporary Dance? Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performers that developed during the mid-twentieth century. Contemporary dance draws on both classical ballet and modern dance. There are unpredictable changes in rhythms, speeds, movements and directions.

Music: Performing Arts Activities (Lockdown)

What does the word choreography mean? Choreography is a formed art composed of ballets and other dances where movements, steps, are planned and arranged, usually it consists few dancers to create a pattern. It is a technique where various movements are presented creating a meaningful impact. 

What is a choreographer? A choreographer is someone who creates the dance routines and movements of sequence. They are in charge of the arrangement and forethought of the steps and patterns. Basically, they are the ones who do the choreography in stages, TV, film, performances and many more.

Find two other choreographers find three facts on each and get pictures

Rie Hata 

She is the visionary behind a number of BTS's ironic dances. Such as the "Anpanman", "Airplane pt2" and "Mic Drop". She also Choreopgrahed Chris Brown's song "Party". Rie Hata is a mother of two children with her partner/fellow dancer, Kamiya Yuki.

Matt Steffanina

Matt Steffanina is an American dancer, entrepreneur, producer and choreographer. He was born and raised in VA. Matt is the most ‘followed’ dancer in the world with over 10 million subscribers on YouTube and over 1.5 billion views on his videos.

Music: Performing Arts Activities (Lockdown)

The Royal Family

Who are the Royal Family? The Royal Family is a dance crew where Parris Goebel is involved in.

What competitions have they been involved in/won? They participated in that HHI NZ Mega Crew where they won 1st place in 2019. They have won three gold medals in 2011, 2012 and 2013. One silver medal in 2015 and one bronze medal in 2016. The group appeared at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards, dancing on-stage for K-pop acts CL, 2NE1 and Big Bang. 

Which famous singers have they danced for? The group performed for famous artists such as Rihanna, J-Lo, Justin Bieber. Famous Korean Pop singers such as CL, K-pop group 2NE1, and Big Bang, a k-pop band. 

Add some pictures and some links to their performances.

Music: Performing Art Activities (Lockdown)

Parris Goebel

Who is Parris Goebel? Parris Renee Goebel, also known as her name "Parris", is a New Zealand choreographer, dancer, singer, director and actress. 

Where did she grow up? Ms Goebel grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and is the youngest of four children. She has a Samoan, Chinese and Scottish descent. 

How/when did she study dance? Parris is an ambitious, talented, aspiring and creative girl since young. She has always been interested in dancing since she was little. She began to attend hip-hop lessons at the age of 10, where she was part of a dance group called "groupReQuest", along with her friends. A year later, their group joined the Monster of Hip-Hop Dance Convention in the United States, where Parris was selected in the finale performance. 

Since her international performance, Parris dance crew won eight gold medals, with five silver and five bronze medals.  She was also the creative director of the Royal Family Dance Crew who wan won the World Hip Hop Dance Championship three times. She lefts school at the age of 15 to pursue her dreams of being a dancer. She quickly gained a lot of supporters. J-Lo contacted Parris because she was amazed by her dance videos on YouTube. J-Lo asked the young lady to work on her 2012 world tour. Ever since, Parris has worked with big artists like Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Sam Smith (How do you sleep?) , Little Mix, Janet Jackson and Justin Bieber (Sorry).

The Music of the Pacific (Performing Arts Activities - Lockdown)

Choose all or some of the following Pacific Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, New Caledonia, Tahiti. Answer the following questions.

Where is the island situated in the Pacific? Samoa is a small island country, located in the central South Pacific Ocean. Samoa sits about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii.

 What does the flag look like?

What is the music like? The music in Samoa is a complex mixture of cultures and traditions.

What instruments are used? Traditional Samoan musical instruments include a Fala. A Fala is a rolled-up mat beaten with wooden sticks and often accompanied with choral singing. Another instrument is a Pate. A Pate is a traditional Samoan percussion and it is named after its English word, "beat" or "clap". 

Is there dancing that goes with the music? What is it like? Include pictures. 

The Samoans have a unique way of displaying their culture, with their characterized dances as a representation of their Samoan identity, in contact with other civilisation such as countries from the East and West. 

Music: Performing Arts Activities (Lockdown)

These are 15 musicians that paved the way in their genres. Many of our contemporary musicians have been inspired by at least one of these artists!

Listening Task

1. Listen to one song from each artist and put the song down that you listened to.

The Beatles

Across The Universe

Ella Fitzgerald 

Cheek to Cheek

Louis Armstrong

La vie en rose

Dolly Parton

Here You Come Again

Johnny Cash

Folsom Prison Blues

Joni Mitchell

A case of you

Frank Sinatra

Fly me to the moon

Ray Charles

I got a woman

John Denver

Leaving on a jet plane

Aretha Franklin

You make me feel like

The Beach Boys

Don't worry baby

Elvis Presley

Can't help falling in love

John William

Duel of the fates

Yo-Yo Ma

Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, Prélude

The Three Tenors

Nessun Dorma

2. Is there any of them you would listen to more of? There were some songs I like and some are okay for me. Some of these songs I'm familiar with, so I listen to them more but some I just discovered from this activity and surprisingly, I did like some of them. I'm mostly interested with Louis Armstrong because of his song "La Vie En Rose" and John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane", because I've heard covers of these songs but never really listened to the original song.

3. Find a favourite song from one of the artists.

I do have favourites within the songs I put down. It was really difficult for me to choose which beautiful song to pick but I've made up my mind. La Vie En Rose by Louis Armsrong is my top 1 in the list because it's just a wonderful song, it's relaxing and really changes your mood in a good way.

Social Studies: The Holocaust Letter

Imagine you are a school principal who has received a complaint from a parent who is upset because of what his/her child has learned about the Holocaust.

Write a letter to the parent that explains your school’s point of view about teaching the Holocaust. In your letter, you should provide reasons for the school’s decision to present a learning programme about human rights and anti-semitism.

Social Studies: Re-Creating The Past

In your own words, describe what the soldiers discover. What impact does the discovery have on the soldiers?

In one of the activities assigned for us to do, there was a short clip video from a film about the Holocaust. In my opinion and from what I've understood, the allies soldiers went to one of the concentration camps and they discovered the living conditions of the people there. In the scene, I saw a bunch of men waiting from the inside of the large prison, it had barbed wires with sharp ends. The people inside looked miserable, their bodies were skeleton-like, they had dark circles, pale skin, some of them were sick and malnourished and some were near their ends. The atmosphere was dull and gloomy. The soldiers discovered that the guards didn't have enough ammo to kill everyone in the concentration camps. The situation made an immense impact on the soldiers because no one could imagine that humans would treat their own kinds like animals. The Jews in those camps didn't have any resources, no food, no water. From the look on their faces, the soldiers were depressed, confused and heartbroken from what they saw. 

Social Studies: The Gruesome Camp

 In Social Studies, we had to make a bar graph, showing the amount of death occurred in death camps during the Holocaust. From my previous blog, I made a map of where the death camps locations are. 

Death Camps and the amount of deaths:

Auschwitz-Birkenau - 1,400,000 deaths

Belzec - 600,000 deaths

Chelmno - 320,000 deaths

Majdanek - 360,000 deaths

Sobibor - 250,000 deaths

Treblinka - 870,000 deaths

During WWll, the Nazis used six extermination camps, also known as "Death Camps", where Jews were sent to be killed or exterminate in Central Europe. The victims in those camps were killed mercilessly by gassing. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extermination_camp

Social Studies (Working From Home) Mapping Skills

 In Social Studies, our teacher tested our mapping skills and the knowledge we had learnt and used it in an activity where we had to map. 

The map includes F.A.C.K.T.S, it is an abbreviation of Frame, Axis, Colours, Keys, Title and Scale. 

Information:

The term “Final Solution” was first used in the records of the Wannsee Conference.  It has come to mean the systematic, large-scale killing of Jews and other “undesirables” in specially-created extermination camps (as opposed to “concentration camps” which were initially detention camps for the Nazis’ political enemies).

These camps were operated by units of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) – specially selected men who were considered hard enough to be able to do whatever was required.

What happened in the extermination camps? 

• Jews would be rounded up from an area in Europe and transported by train to a camp. 
• On arrival, they would undergo a selection – those who would be “useful” and those who were not.
• Those who were “useful” were kept as slave labourers working for the German war effort.
• Those who were not useful were herded into what they had been told were shower rooms, but were in effect sealed gas chambers.
• Poison gas would be released into the chamber. When all were dead, their bodies would be taken to crematoria to be burned.
• The goods that the deported Jews took with them were sorted and valuables were kept by the Nazis.

Science: DNA Extraction Experiment

 In our lesson in Science, we did an experiment about our topic, which was "Genetics and Evolution". Our experiment is about extracting DNA from fruit. 

Equipment: 

• kiwi fruit or strawberry
• beaker
• stirring rod / or a stick
• ziplock bag
• detergent
• salt
• rubbing alcohol
• filtering paper
• water

Method:

1. After peeling the skin, mash the fruit in a ziplock bag until it's squishy and wet. 

2. Filter the mashed fruit in a beaker through a filtering paper until the juices are gone. 

3. Put a pinch of salt and liquid detergent and water with the mashed fruit in a beaker and stir it with a stick or stirring rod. 

4. After stringing the mixture, pour rubbing alcohol on the mixture and try not to move it around too much. 

5. After waiting for a couple of seconds, a slimy like texture will appear, with a stick scoop that slimy liquid out and that's it.