A Game of Cards - Reflection Section | Wānanga

In the short story of A Game of Cards by Whiti Ihimaera, the short story entertains the viewers and shows the friendship and love of cards of Nani Mino and Maka Hita.

26 February 2021.

Text title: A Game of Cards

Text type: Short Story

Text creator: Whiti Ihimaera

Critical Literacy Question: Why are we/you reading this text?

Date: 26th February, 2021 

Summary: This story, A Game of Cards, is about a grandma, Nani Miro, who loves to play cards. She plays with her friends at her house. Nani Miro and her best friend Maka Hita were the champions of the games, cheating and blaming each other.  

When Nani Miro was on her deathbed, taking her final breaths, she asked her friends to play a game of cards. As usual, both Nani Miro and Maka Hita cheated and argued, and when Nani Miro laughed, she died.

Why are we/you reading this text?: I am reading this text because, for Wānanga, we have to do at least 1 hour per week of reading, so on Tuesday, we read the short story, A Game of Cards. I really like the characters and how the author described them which feels realistic. 

Parihaka Song — Music Through Time | Social Studies

Welcome to another post on my blog. For the past two weeks, for Social Studies, we move on from the Transatlantic Slave Trade to Parihaka and what happened there. On 5 November 1881, around 1600 British troops invaded Parihaka to take the Māori land. When the Britishers came, the Māori sat down and used the non-violent resistance tactic. We also learnt about Te Whiti and Tohu Karaka who lead the Māori peacefully protest the Britishers.

More information is given in the song and the My Map at the end of the post.

Parihaka by Tim Finn      

 

My friend, My friend, I hate to see you suffer,

Events conspire to bring us to our knees,

My friend, my friend, you've taken this the wrong way, 

Rise up, defend yourself, never give in,

Look to the sky, the spirit of Te Whiti,

The endless tide is murmuring his name. 

I know Te Whiti will never be defeated,

And even at the darkest hour,

His presence will remain.

I'll sing to you the song of Parihaka.

Te Whiti he used the language of the spirit,

Then stood accused, the madman and his dream,

He saw the train go roaring through the tunnel,

He heard the voice travel on the magic wire,

But he loved the silence of the river,

He watched the dog piss on the cannon's wheel.

I know Te Whiti will never be defeated,

And even at the darkest hour,

His presence will remain.

I'll sing to you the song of Parihaka.

One day you'll know the truth,

They can't pull out the roots,

Come and take me home,

To weep for my lost brother.

They gather still, the clouds of Taranaki,

His children's children wearing the white plume,

So take me for the sins of these sad islands,

The wave still breaks on the rock of Rouhotu.

And when you taste the salt that's on your pudding,

And when you taste the sugar in your soup,

Think of Te Whiti, he'll never be defeated,

Even at the darkest hour,

His presence will remain,

I'll sing for you the song of Parihaka,

Come to Parihaka,

Weep for my lost brother,

The spirit of nonviolence,

Has come to fill the silence, Come to Parihaka.

The message of this song is to remember what happened at Parihaka, this song explains the significance and importance of what happened in Parihaka. 

The line, 'the spirit of nonviolence, has come to fill the silence, come to Parihaka.' explains the passive resistance method - showing how to fight peacefully, using nonviolence. This line also means that when you come to Parihaka, you will find peace.

 

The line, ‘you can’t pull out the roots’ refers to their ancestors, their background, the connection to the land, our tribe. 'Rise up, defend yourself, never give in,' and 'I know Te Whiti will never be defeated, and even at the darkest hour, his presence will remain.', these lines show evidence of their determination. 

This song shows the significance of Parihaka because generations are still affected by what occurred in Parihaka and this is a well-known song. 

Sensory Language | English

Welcome to another post on my blog. Today, I completed another activity for the Creative Writing unit for English. This fourth activity is Sensory Language, I had to create a paragraph/scene that connects the five senses without using the words: saw, heard, smelled, tasted, felt.

The tall spire lupin flowers, with a vivid contrast of purple and pink, capture my eye. Bees fly from one to another. People chatter, capturing photos and observing the picturesque flowers. The melting sun was shining and the breeze was light. 

Haiku Poems | English

Welcome to another post on my blog. Today, I completed another activity for the Creative Writing unit for English. This third activity was about Haiku Poems, we had to create at least four haiku poems which can be from one season or different seasons. I chose to write on the current season, Summer. Here is haiku poems I created.

"The Data That Turned the World Upside Down" - Reflection Section | Wānanga

Text Title: The Data That Turned the World Upside Down

Text type: Informative

Text creator: Hannes Grassegger & Mikael Krogerus

Critical literacy questions:

1.  What does the author of this text want us to know?
• The author wants the readers to inform us about how Facebook users were targeted for Donald Trump to win the 2016 US presidential elections. 

Date: 19 February 2021

This article is talking about Michal Kosinski discovering that Facebook data was powerful. This data can find out your personality (gender, skin colour [95% accuracy) and which party that user will vote for with around 85% accuracy.  

Spirituals — Music Through Time: Transatlantic Slave Trade | Social Studies

Welcome to another post on my blog. For the past two weeks, for Social Studies, we have been focusing on the Transatlantic Slave Trade (American Slave Trade). The slave trade triangle transported approximately 10 to 12 million slaves from Africa. This trade was triangular across 3 continents, Africa, North America and Europe.

Songs were used daily by African slaves. It was their tradition brought from Africa by the first slaves, some songs were called spirituals. Songs had many purposes like providing repetitive rhythm for repeated manual work, motivation and inspiration. 

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman, also known as the 'Moses of her people,' was enslaved, escaped, and helped others to gain their freedom as a conductor of the Underground Railroad. She also served as a spy, scout, guerrilla soldier, and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War. Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery from the south to become a leading abolitionist (a movement to end slavery) before the American Civil War. She also lead hundreds of enslaved people to freedom in the North along the route of the Underground Railroad.

Harriet Tubman in 1895

Harriet Tubman and other slaves used songs as a strategy to communicate with slaves in their struggle for freedom. Coded songs contained words giving directions on how to escape, also known as signal songs or where to meet known as map songs. 

Harriet Tubman is credited for freeing enslaved people from the south of America to Canada. She showed extraordinary ingenuity, courage, persistence (continuing something for a very long time), and iron discipline. She helped ensure the final defeat of slavery in the United States by helping the Union during the American Civil War. 

Underground Railroad

It was a system in the Northern States of America before the Civil War which escaped slaves to the North or in Canada. This was neither underground nor a railroad, this was named because its activities to be carried secret, using disguise, and because railway terms were used in the reference of the system. The network of routes extended in all directions throughout the 14 Northern states and 'the promised land' of Canada. The number of black people reached varied, from 40,000 to 100,000. 

The Underground Railroad
Credit: PBS

Spiritual Song

In Wade in the Water

Tubman used “Wade in the Water” to tell slaves to get into the water to avoid being seen and make it through. This is an example of a map song, where directions are coded into the lyrics. These are the lyrics to “Wade in the Water”

Chorus: Wade in the Water, wade in the water children.

Wade in the Water. God’s gonna trouble the water.

Who are those children all dressed in Red?

God’s gonna trouble the water.

Must be the ones that Moses led.

God’s gonna trouble the water.

Chorus

Who are those children all dressed in White?

God’s gonna trouble the water.

Must be the ones of the Israelites.

God’s gonna trouble the water.

Chorus

Who are those children all dressed in Blue?

God’s gonna trouble the water.

Must be the ones that made it through.

God’s gonna trouble the water.

Chorus

Meaning of the song

    Wade in the Water - Go in the water so the scent of them goes away, so the dogs won't find them.

    Must be the ones that Moses led - Harriet Tubman leading thousands of enslaves to escape. She used songs to send messages to slaves. 

The Significance Today in Present

People in America still argue and debate over the impacts of slavery, and there are many protests and movements, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, which use slavery that occurred in the past and is continued to be used during these protests.

Cyber Security | DTE

Welcome to another post on my blog. For the past 2-3 weeks for DTE, we are learning about Cyber Security. So our task was to create an infographic about Cyber Security.

Metaphors & Similes | English

Welcome to another post on my blog. Today, in English, I completed another activity for the main topic that we are working on, Creative Writing. For this activity, I had to write in my own words what are metaphors and similes, with two examples each. 

Both metaphor and similes are used to make comparisons. 

Metaphors: Are directly state a comparison.

    Example 1: The classroom was a zoo.

    Example 2: He is a cat.

Similes: Use the words like or as to compare things.

    Example 1: You are as fast as a cheetah.

    Example 2: You are as strong as a gorilla.

Cyber Security | ICT

Physical or Chemical Change | Chemistry

Aim: Exploring if it is a chemical or physical change.

Hypothesis: It's going to melt - Chemical change

Equipment:

1. Sample of ZnO (Zinc Oxide)
2. Heat source - Hot plate
3. Scales
4. Heatproof container - evaporating dish
5. Tongs
6. Heatproof mat

Method:

1. Get a sample of ZnO (Zinc Oxide) in an evaporating dish
2. Weigh the ZnO and container - record weight
3. Heat container and ZnO on a hot plate
4. Observe any changes - use a phone for before & after photos (could be video)
5. Take off heat and put on a heat proof mat
6. Let cool - observe - photos
7. Re weigh 

Results:

Before the experiment, we weighed the ZnO in a heat container, weighed 57g, then I put the ZnO and container on the hot plate. Then, I observed what changes occurred when the ZnO was heating up. After a few minutes, the ZnO slightly changed colour to a light yellow colour.

After the Zinc Oxide changed colour, I put the heat container on the heat proof mat and let it cool down. It took around 5 minutes to cool down. 

After 5 minutes, we see that the Zinc Oxide's colour changed back to white which meant that it is a Physical change. 

Conclusion

According to the results, my hypothesis was incorrect and it actually changed colour.

Language Features | English

Welcome to another post on my blog. For the next few weeks, in English, we are learning about Creative Writing and we are given activities to complete. Today, I've completed my first activity which is about Language Features. 

Firstly, I had to choose three out of five language features to explore. Then, write a definition and example for all three language features and lastly, publish our work on our blog. 

Critical Literacy | Wānanga

The film, 'The Treaty of Waitangi - What Really Happened', directed by Peter Burger, is about the signing of one of our founding documents. It is a dramatisation of the days leading up to and including the signing. We know this through the chiefs arguing, discussing and eventually signing the treaty, based on history. We also know through the film's title and voiceover. 

The Treaty Of Waitangi - Reflection Section | Wānanga

Welcome to another post on my blog. This week for Wānanga, we watched a docudrama film about the Treaty of Waitangi. Then, we had to write a summary reflection about the film including the main points of the film. 

Text Title: The Treaty of Waitangi - What Really Happened

Text Type: Docudrama Film

Text Creator: Peter Burger (Director)

Text Purpose: To inform us about what happened in the Treaty of Waitangi.

Date: 12 February 2021

The Crown wrote out the treaty. There were many debates and discussions about whether Māori should sign the treaty - because they were worried about their land, people, rights being taken away. So, the Māori chiefs signed the treaty. Later, tobacco and blankets were given away.