Making a Kahoa Kakala
OVERARCHING VALUES: VALUING PASIFIKA WAYS OF BEING AND KNOWING – WITH AND FOR ALL PEOPLE Experiencing this learning should be savoured by all, so allow good time for each part. Remember that this is about relationships – so really encourage the talanoa. Make alongside the students where you can. In your talk and making, share…
Read MoreWorries Are Like Clouds
This unit works with the picture book: Worries Are Like Clouds and supports children to explore what worry is, how it feels in their body, and how they can express worry in a healthy way. The first learning experience in the Worries Are Like Clouds unit is called Jar of Joy. The second learning…
Read MoreThe Home Within Me
This activity offers opportunities for children to rediscover their sense of place by connecting to self and community. This lesson offers a simple sharing circle to incorporate into daily practice to support children to rebuild their sense of place in response to losing their home/community due to natural disaster. There are options for how to…
Read MoreTwo Stars and a Wish
This dance work is a way for students to express their thinking about having been in isolation. This is a physical way of thinking about the good and possibly hard things about having been in isolation. While this lesson plan was initially created and used for returning to education post COVID-19 lockdowns, it can be…
Read MoreThe Green Children
A drama about community fear of the unknown This drama is designed to stimulate critical thinking about culture, multi-culturalism, assimilation, religion, and racism, but it is also useful for considering how communities respond in a crisis or when something strange and unusual happens to disrupt day to day life. It uses an old tale about…
Read MoreThe Giant Who Threw Tantrums
A drama about facing our fears From within the protection of a fantasy about a make-believe village threatened by a tantrum throwing giant, this drama gives young children the chance to consider how people respond when they are afraid. In particular, it explores what happens to a group of people living in a small village…
Read MoreThe Emperor and the Magic Goose
A drama about loneliness and togetherness This drama takes as its starting point the traditional Red Lantern Festival, held in Auckland since 2000, and cancelled in 2020 because of Coronavirus, both in Auckland and throughout China. The drama uses a traditional Chinese folk tale of the Festival’s origins, to explore: 1. Loneliness, what it makes…
Read MoreTeaspoon of Light
This unit of work centres on the story of a little girl who finds that her cloth of dreams has been torn. Using drama, dance and visual arts approaches the children help the little girl restore her cloth of dreams and her hopes for a better world. The video link shows examples of the work…
Read MoreSuperpower Poetry Fun
Seeing ourselves as powerful again after a crisis is an important part of imagining our way out of the trauma of the experience. This poetry unit starts by recognising we all have a ‘why’. Knowing it is key to our wellbeing. This set of writing processes helps students figure out their ‘why’ in a creative,…
Read MoreRegulating Robot
A drama about social rules, morals and creativity This drama gives students the opportunity to explore the necessity for social regulation, the risks and consequences of both making and breaking rules, and the relationship between rules and regulations on the one hand, and creativity and freedom on the other. It also explores how the impact…
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