Focus on poems

Poem #1 is about friendship.  Make a document in your English folder called "October poetry," read the poem and answer the questions below it.

Insurance taken out to protect a friendship from ending - Poem by Glenn Colquhoun

We should swap heads.
Yours would be a circle
And mine would be a square.

We should swap arms.
Yours would be two apples
And mine would be two pears.

We should swap legs.
Yours would be an elephant's
And mine would be a fox.

We should swap lungs.
Yours would be two bags of wind
And mine would be two socks.


We should swap toes.
Yours would be from Mexico
And mine would be from Spain.

We should swap ears.
Yours would be like blocks of ice
And mine would be like flames.

We should swap hearts.
If you ever go away
I could just explain

How part of me has left with you
And part of you remains.

1. What do you think this poem is about?

2. How does Glen Colquhoun show the contrast in personality between the two friends?

3. Is this poem mostly similes or mostly metaphors?  Give examples to back up your answer.

4. Copy this poem into your document.  Find pictures to illustrate each verse (stanza) so that you are showing the images the poet creates in your head.

5. Imagine you are writing this poem about a friend and yourself, or about a sibling and yourself.  Have a go at writing your own poem about insurance from a friendship ending.

6. You can read your own book once you have done this work.

OR you can try this poem instead.  Click on the link, read the poem and answer the questions, writing in the same document as you made at the beginning of the lesson.

What would you do?

Today we are going to watch a short film called Bend in the Road.

After we have watched the film, we will have a discussion, and then write a paragraph relating to the film, using a range of sentence structures and fabulous vocabulary.

Writing on white lies

White lies - necessary or evil?
In groups, come up with two paragraphs:
1. that white lies are necessary
2. that white lies are evil

Writing prompt

Words can do more harm than fists.

Do you agree or disagree?
What arguments are there for each side?

Next steps: close reading on protest in New Zealand

Some of you will have studied protest movements in New Zealand Studies last year, or possibly in Global Studies this year.  The reading test next week uses texts from across the Maths, Science, Social Studies (Global) and English learning areas.  The more familiar you are with the topics, the easier it is to focus on the reading comprehension skills in the test.  Below, I have added some reading material and tasks.

Article from here.

This article and video focuses on the famous Hamilton game, where protests against the South African (all white - black players were barred) team playing forced the game to be cancelled.

In Auckland, flour bombs and flares were dropped on the game, which was the last in the tour.  You can read about that here.

The protests against the 1981 Springbok tour changed New Zealand forever.  Families were divided by their beliefs about whether the tour should happen and more people protested about this tour than anything ever before in New Zealand.

For many Maori, it also prompted questions about the white protestors, who were so keen to fight against racism in South Africa, but didn't seem to be so interested in challenging racism here in New Zealand.

Questions

1. What does injustice mean?
2. What does racial injustice mean?
3. The phrase "flour bombs and flares" is an example of which language technique?
4. In your own words, explain what a flour bomb is, and how it was used in the protests against the rugby tour and games.
5. Do you think the current climate action protests are as important as the Spring Bok Tour protests in 1981?  Give reasons to support your answer.