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Pennies for Hitler

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“Please keep reading!”  When you hear that you know it’s a goodie!   An afternoon shared book becomes a high stakes piece of classroom literacy and motivation.   Another example of integrating Mitey into the curriculum. Pennies for Hitler, by Jackie French...A story steeped in history just begging to be ripped apart through process drama baring the concepts of war, loss, grief, new beginnings, kindness, compassion and courage. The story explores the ideas of discrimination, hatred and fear of being different. There is the ongoing idea that while hatred is contagious so is love. Discussion was in-depth while writing became purposeful with highly descriptive language articulating the pain and suffering of those caught up in the era. Non-writers became silently obsessed patiently waiting to share their work. Critical moments, in a section of the story, were examined, rationalised for significance, re-created through process drama and expressed in clay. Through hot seating s...
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Follow up activity

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  As a follow up Room 8 wrote a letter 'in-role' as Arlo, to his trusted friend. The letters were folded and put into a bundle. I handed the letters out randomly with the recipient having to respond to the letter 'in role,' as the trusted friend. The level of engagement was high and the responses filled with emotion.
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Arlo and the Orca

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  Saint Patrick's has had the pleasure of having Monique Walker share her beautiful taonga with us! Supported by the John Walker Foundation and Healing through Arts we have been able to experience Arlo and the Orca through dance and process drama. Jesse and Catherine brought the emotions of the an orca and the ocean to life for us through dance. Monique and Stacey delivered a powerful session where we heard the story and explored the highs and lows of life through the lens of waves and sunny versus moody skies. We all leant that it's ok to talk about how we feel, to seek help and also, importantly, to cry. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity Monique and we look forward to your next story! An example of an 'Insta-card' where we had to portray people in the lives of Arlo who could support him when he needed help. In these examples we had family members, police, friends, therapists, priests, nuns and even God!!
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Evaluation

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 Following on from Monitoring, Recording and Tweaking I finally feel I have some semblance of data. So moving forward... Can the specific and deliberate use of two types of process drama not only improve  Reflective Discussion  amongst reluctant contributors but also  Critical Literacy? The work we did as a class on Ahi Ka , Bastion Point was a personal test of the new Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum . It allowed us to view both the Nonfictional and Fictional side of Bastion Point from the burial of Michael Joseph Savage to the land occupation. Where:                               I used a type of Drama called ' Mantle of the Expert' (MoE) along with ' Hot Seating'.   MoE allows the student to take on the role of the expert, research, create and present their understanding. Hot Seating allows students to question and find out more information through interrogation. As disc...
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Monitoring, Recording and Tweaking

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  Monitoring: Following our work on Ahi Ka, Bastion Point and the recording of interrogational events throughout the process it became apparent my audio recordings were not showing the improvement I had anticipated.  The historical study began at Michael Joseph Savage's legacy, his burial at Bastian Point and finished at the conclusion of the land occupation. I broke the study into two distinct areas:    The non fiction and the fiction.  The non fiction  included reading and researching this historical time frame looking through old newspaper clippings, movie reels and journals. During this time we hot seated the Crown to find out why they actioned the burning of the homes on Bastion Point. The Crowns response left the students angry and frustrated. Now that the students knew the history of the area we could move into the fictional side. The fictional aspect focussed on the emotions and feelings running through the characters involved. It required the stu...
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Ahi Ka and Mitey

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During Mitey 2 Lab we discussed ways to integrate Mitey throughout other curriculum areas! Here's something I'm doing with the new Aotearoa NZ Histories curriculum. With support from School Kit we have delved into the history of Bastion Point. Following the non-Fiction investigation we are now moving into the Fictional side! The   Mitey  side...What was going through young Joe Hawks mind as he watched his home being torched while sitting up in a tree in the orchard? What if the community came together planning and designing a Pa and Marae on the Orakei reserve that provided healthy safe homes, gardens, a medical centre also incorporating Tikanga. How would the Crown react to this? Would the view for the Queens arrival be more acceptable? Could we avoid the burning of so many homes and a future land occupation? Not to mention the death of a child?Under (a loosely formed) Mantle of the Expert, students are researching, designing and putting a plan through hoping they can change ...
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Mitey2 Lab

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 This week I was invited to speak at our Mitey2 Lab where St Pat's journey to date was shared and celebrated. It was an honour to be asked to speak and share my experience using 'The Backpack,' one of Mitey's wonderful resources supporting mental health and well being. During the day discussion was lead through Pods where representatives spoke about current in-school initiatives, what was working and where to next.  Lots of ideas to mull over and put in to action to hopefully cause a generational change towards the role of mental health and well being being second nature!  
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