Last Day Ahipara School
Apirana began lesson by praising the students for the awesome poetry they have been writing. This was a real boost for their mana. I think this really captures the essence of the programme-creative writing coaches really inspires and encourages children to pursue their talent in writing. By hearing a renowned author and poet tell them they are awesome writers it really makes them believe in what themselves.
In the next part of the session we looked at writing plays.
They began by setting the scene and characters, such as in a kitchen, Sam and Joel, having an argument. Students then worked on writing 3 scenes for their very own play.
We then completed the lesson by sharing our writing from our sessions with Apirana. It was neat for the kids to hear Apirana read out their poems.
Next steps…Publish our poems and create posters for our new office area. We will then turn these posters into a book which can be shared with our school and other schools.
Thank you Apirana for the time you have spent at Ahipara School. The skills and mana they have gained from these four sessions will instil a passion for writing in them now and for their future.
Jody Curran
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Day 3 Ahipara-Apirana
Worked with schools, doing a number of exercises for specific reasons.
The students at Kataia College, Oturu Primary and Ahipara Primary have all produced work
I would be proud to say I wrote.
These are some of the things we looked at.
At Oturu we gathered and discussed information about Oturu. We talked about what Oturu means. It means a certain phase of the moon. When it is seen over a certain hill it signifies the fishing will be good for three days.
The students then wrote poems about this moon and going fishing at that time.
They have also written positive poems about Oturu.
Took them through exercises on how to write description and dialogue.
Some of these students live in difficult circumstances. They have talent and have produced some truly praisworthy work.
Read and told them some of my own stories.
At Kaitaia college I decided these students had ability. I therefore decided to push them into working really hard. I told the students I didn't think they could achieve what I expected of them for the morning. I challenged them to prove me wrong.
They set to with great gusto eager to prove me wrong and they certainly did, which was the purpose of the lesson.
I read one of my stories as a reward.
At all the schools we read and comment on the students work. Its all positive and good.
At Ahipara we have focused on locale legends, looked at the power of words and how to enjoy them. We 've looked at how to work out the lay out of a poem as opposed to writing it out in a paragraph like prose.
We've covered exerecises in how to awaken the sensense and so view the world around us, i.e.
with a fresh pristine vision and eye etc and write about it.
I am pleased with the sudents work.
Some of my focus is on stimulating the classes creativity and maintaining a warm positive happy working environment where the students work hard and enjoy it so that writing is always seen
in a positive light and not a chore.
The vast majority of the first drafts were pretty close to perfect. Some of it can be reworked in a second draft.
I am awarding myself a gold star for success.
We've done other things with all the schools but I'd be blogging for a month or writing a novel to explain it all and I don't like blogging.
cheers
Apirana
The students at Kataia College, Oturu Primary and Ahipara Primary have all produced work
I would be proud to say I wrote.
These are some of the things we looked at.
At Oturu we gathered and discussed information about Oturu. We talked about what Oturu means. It means a certain phase of the moon. When it is seen over a certain hill it signifies the fishing will be good for three days.
The students then wrote poems about this moon and going fishing at that time.
They have also written positive poems about Oturu.
Took them through exercises on how to write description and dialogue.
Some of these students live in difficult circumstances. They have talent and have produced some truly praisworthy work.
Read and told them some of my own stories.
At Kaitaia college I decided these students had ability. I therefore decided to push them into working really hard. I told the students I didn't think they could achieve what I expected of them for the morning. I challenged them to prove me wrong.
They set to with great gusto eager to prove me wrong and they certainly did, which was the purpose of the lesson.
I read one of my stories as a reward.
At all the schools we read and comment on the students work. Its all positive and good.
At Ahipara we have focused on locale legends, looked at the power of words and how to enjoy them. We 've looked at how to work out the lay out of a poem as opposed to writing it out in a paragraph like prose.
We've covered exerecises in how to awaken the sensense and so view the world around us, i.e.
with a fresh pristine vision and eye etc and write about it.
I am pleased with the sudents work.
Some of my focus is on stimulating the classes creativity and maintaining a warm positive happy working environment where the students work hard and enjoy it so that writing is always seen
in a positive light and not a chore.
The vast majority of the first drafts were pretty close to perfect. Some of it can be reworked in a second draft.
I am awarding myself a gold star for success.
We've done other things with all the schools but I'd be blogging for a month or writing a novel to explain it all and I don't like blogging.
cheers
Apirana
Day 3 Ahipara
Day 3 Ahipara School
Today we began the lesson by looking at one of Apirana’ poems…
Adroit songster
Natty dresser
Attired in tuxedo
With immaculate cravat
I am a Tui
The students used the dictionary to find unfamiliar words
This was a great activity to teach children how to write a poem the way we want it read. Apirana wrote it on one line and the students had to break it in lines-writing it how they read it.
For the next part of the session we went to the beach.
The children sat on the beach and closed their eyes and then described what they heard.
We then explored the beach and described what we saw. The children then collected items from the beach which could help with their poem.
Apirana got the students to really focus on their senses and the colours of objects.
We then head back to school to have a go at writing 1-2 poems about our trip to the beach. The students had to use what they…
Saw
Heard
Felt
Touched
Smelt
Could taste.
This is what one student wrote…
A seabird
Dives
Searches
Captures
Gobbles
In the whirling whitewash
Lonely
It flutters in the breeze
It drifts
Hovering
It swoops in an arch
Lonely
The students loved getting out onto the beach. I noticed that their poetry was really enhanced through exploring their senses and experiencing what they were writing about.
Looking forward to seeing the final pieces of poetry come together.
Jody Curran
Today we began the lesson by looking at one of Apirana’ poems…
Adroit songster
Natty dresser
Attired in tuxedo
With immaculate cravat
I am a Tui
The students used the dictionary to find unfamiliar words
This was a great activity to teach children how to write a poem the way we want it read. Apirana wrote it on one line and the students had to break it in lines-writing it how they read it.
For the next part of the session we went to the beach.
The children sat on the beach and closed their eyes and then described what they heard.
We then explored the beach and described what we saw. The children then collected items from the beach which could help with their poem.
Apirana got the students to really focus on their senses and the colours of objects.
We then head back to school to have a go at writing 1-2 poems about our trip to the beach. The students had to use what they…
Saw
Heard
Felt
Touched
Smelt
Could taste.
This is what one student wrote…
A seabird
Dives
Searches
Captures
Gobbles
In the whirling whitewash
Lonely
It flutters in the breeze
It drifts
Hovering
It swoops in an arch
Lonely
The students loved getting out onto the beach. I noticed that their poetry was really enhanced through exploring their senses and experiencing what they were writing about.
Looking forward to seeing the final pieces of poetry come together.
Jody Curran
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Day 2 Ahipara School
Day 2 Ahipara School
We began the session by listening to one of the students read the story of ‘how Ahipara got its name’.
Apirana wrote down the important names and places in the story.
Students then re-wrote the story in their own words, using only one paragraph.
Students discussed how their tribe, mountain, river and sea are important to the story of Ahipara.
The students then had a go at turning their summary into a poem following Apirana’s format…
The sea at Ahipara
The story (of Ahipara)
Ahipara
Students had 6 minutes. They then shared their poetry (Read poem aloud-eyes are for reading ears are for language)
This is what one student wrote…
The sea at Ahipara laps the golden shore
It cried at my feet like many years ago.
Brave warriors crimson on the sand
Soaking deep staining our land with blood
Fighting for the ever so beautiful beach.
Reconciling after devastating times,
Marriage lights up the shore
Peace at last
Scarlet flames fill the twilight sky
Smoke wafts along the flawless Bay
Offerings of fish and seafood
Imprinting gritty sand like memories of our ancestors
Whitewash hugs the jaggered rocks
Seagulls squeal overhead
This I love more than anything.
After this exercise Apirana shared one of his stories titled ‘Geeks”
We finished with a neat verse…
Thank you poet
For your wonderful poem
May you grow taller
May you grow stronger
May you grow more loving than your poem
Students found today’s task a challenge but really enjoyed tying their knowledge of Ahipara into their work. They are looking forward to learning how to transcribe their ideas into poetry using the tools Apirana will teach them in the next session.
We began the session by listening to one of the students read the story of ‘how Ahipara got its name’.
Apirana wrote down the important names and places in the story.
Students then re-wrote the story in their own words, using only one paragraph.
Students discussed how their tribe, mountain, river and sea are important to the story of Ahipara.
The students then had a go at turning their summary into a poem following Apirana’s format…
The sea at Ahipara
The story (of Ahipara)
Ahipara
Students had 6 minutes. They then shared their poetry (Read poem aloud-eyes are for reading ears are for language)
This is what one student wrote…
The sea at Ahipara laps the golden shore
It cried at my feet like many years ago.
Brave warriors crimson on the sand
Soaking deep staining our land with blood
Fighting for the ever so beautiful beach.
Reconciling after devastating times,
Marriage lights up the shore
Peace at last
Scarlet flames fill the twilight sky
Smoke wafts along the flawless Bay
Offerings of fish and seafood
Imprinting gritty sand like memories of our ancestors
Whitewash hugs the jaggered rocks
Seagulls squeal overhead
This I love more than anything.
After this exercise Apirana shared one of his stories titled ‘Geeks”
We finished with a neat verse…
Thank you poet
For your wonderful poem
May you grow taller
May you grow stronger
May you grow more loving than your poem
Students found today’s task a challenge but really enjoyed tying their knowledge of Ahipara into their work. They are looking forward to learning how to transcribe their ideas into poetry using the tools Apirana will teach them in the next session.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Day 1 Ahipara School
Creative Coaching
Ahipara School
Day 1
Exercise 1
Began lesson with the statement ‘Writing makes us strong’
Students drew and described what this meant and what it means for them.
One student said “writing allows me to express how I feel and boosts my self-confidence.” Another student drew a picture of himself being praised by their teacher for awesome writing.
Exercise 2
Students listened to a series of words and then wrote down the first thing that came to their mind
mountain, rain, fire, heart, tree, war, star, love, sea, lightning, bird, moon
Here’s an example of what they wrote…
triangle, dribble, blistering, love, paradise, emotion, wish, family, surf, storm, window, yellow
The students used their words to write a poem (they are not allowed to take their pen off the paper).
Apirana discussed the importance of reading their poem aloud to make sure it makes sense
When you write something it is important to read it aloud because our ears hear how it should sound and therefore be written.
Here is what one student wrote…Branches of yellow snow splatter on the soaring loud waves pumping emotionally onto the foot printed sand.
This activity challenged the students because they had to use all their words and write without stopping. It was neat for the kids to get such positive feedback from Apirana (it really boosted their self esteem).
We finished with a neat verse…
Thank you poet
For your wonderful poem
May you grow taller
May you grow stronger
May you grow wiser than your poem
Thanks Apirana for a fantastic-already some great poetry being written
Jody Curran
Ahipara School
Day 1
Exercise 1
Began lesson with the statement ‘Writing makes us strong’
Students drew and described what this meant and what it means for them.
One student said “writing allows me to express how I feel and boosts my self-confidence.” Another student drew a picture of himself being praised by their teacher for awesome writing.
Exercise 2
Students listened to a series of words and then wrote down the first thing that came to their mind
mountain, rain, fire, heart, tree, war, star, love, sea, lightning, bird, moon
Here’s an example of what they wrote…
triangle, dribble, blistering, love, paradise, emotion, wish, family, surf, storm, window, yellow
The students used their words to write a poem (they are not allowed to take their pen off the paper).
Apirana discussed the importance of reading their poem aloud to make sure it makes sense
When you write something it is important to read it aloud because our ears hear how it should sound and therefore be written.
Here is what one student wrote…Branches of yellow snow splatter on the soaring loud waves pumping emotionally onto the foot printed sand.
This activity challenged the students because they had to use all their words and write without stopping. It was neat for the kids to get such positive feedback from Apirana (it really boosted their self esteem).
We finished with a neat verse…
Thank you poet
For your wonderful poem
May you grow taller
May you grow stronger
May you grow wiser than your poem
Thanks Apirana for a fantastic-already some great poetry being written
Jody Curran
Api Blog
On Monday I went to Kaitaia College.
A day had been set aside for planning. The planning actually took about three minutes.
I therefore spent some time doing poetry workshops with the students.
The workshops were based on the energy and power of words and how to utilise it.
We also wrote poems based on developing original images in poems. I gave the students freee reign to write about Kataia. I got a mixture of positive and negative poetry about Kataia, which I thought was okay as I gave them permission to write and say what they liked.
On Tuesday I was at Oturu School. Fraser has done a fair bit of background research.
We are looking at ways of incorporating his information into the students work. The students wrote positive emails about Oturu as well as several other poems.
I did simililar exercises at Ahipara.
A day had been set aside for planning. The planning actually took about three minutes.
I therefore spent some time doing poetry workshops with the students.
The workshops were based on the energy and power of words and how to utilise it.
We also wrote poems based on developing original images in poems. I gave the students freee reign to write about Kataia. I got a mixture of positive and negative poetry about Kataia, which I thought was okay as I gave them permission to write and say what they liked.
On Tuesday I was at Oturu School. Fraser has done a fair bit of background research.
We are looking at ways of incorporating his information into the students work. The students wrote positive emails about Oturu as well as several other poems.
I did simililar exercises at Ahipara.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Last Day/Supper
On Monday we spent a lot of time illustrating and placing the pictures onto the book pages.
We had to make sure the pictures were the right size to fit onto the page. We also changed some of the words in the story so that it made more sense.
Gavin Bishop also gave us two books for us to keep and we are reading one of them (Piano Rock) as our shared book. We are so lucky that we met him as he has written a lot of books
and is a nice man.
Thank you Gavin Bishop for working with us and supporting us. We hope you come back and see us soon. We really enjoyed sharing a meal with you.
We all miss you and wish you a 'Happy Father's Day' and a great week.
Timoteo and Tanya
Moving closer to our goal.....
On Friday we had a full on session drawing the illustrations that relate to our story.
Mr Bishop was very helpful and showed us the importance of having pictures that relate to the words. We spent a lot of time drawing vegetables and the big rabbit and made sure that the rabbit was placed on a page if it was mentioned in the story.
It was a lot of fun and I am learning a lot about writing a book.
From Sammy
Year 4
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