Rugby and rugby league

Beneath the Maori Moon : An illustrated history of Maori Rugby

Here is a link to the publisher's website - Huia Books : http://www.huia.co.nz/shop&item_id=927




There is also a history of rugby league in Auckland : Auckland 100 Years of Rugby League
http://www.huia.co.nz/shop&item_id=926

Hautipua Rererangi

This fantastic brand new book in "graphic novel" format tells the story of John Porokoru Pohe, a World War II pilot from Taihape who was captured and held prisoner at Stalag Luft III where he was part of the attempt to escape by digging tunnels ( "The Great Escape"). Although he and others did escape, John Pohe was one of the escapees who was recaptured and shot...

Here is the link to the Down the back of the chair website about ordering it :
http://thechair.minedu.govt.nz/servlet/Srv.Ecos_Signon?CN=12587&UC=MOEVIEW&AC=A877804567019987

And you can read more here about John Pohe at the Auckland Museum website :

http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/Cenotaph/18989.detail

The book is published by Huia, and was written by Julian Arahanga, translated by Hareruia Aperahama, and illustrated by Andrew Burdan.

Te Puna brings together essays about the art of Te Tai Tokerau / Northland, including carving, painting, weaving, architecture, moko (tattoo) and waka building. It discusses how Northland Maori art was collected by museums and missionaries; and argues that Tai Tokerau was the cradle for contemporary Maori art. Shorter essays highlight artists such as Ralph Hotere, Shane Cotton, Hec Busby and Kura Te Waru Rewiri. The essays are by leading art historians and curators. Raupo Publishing, 2007

I love the opening of the essay by Chanel Clarke - Nga taonga tuitui tangata.

"There is a certain point on the road north, just before you come upon the settlement of Pakaraka, that for the unknowing may seem like an ordinary bend on the journey. But when you round it the vast, glorious expanse of the Taiamai landscape suddenly opens up before you. You get a glimpse of the past life of our ancestors as the majestic pa of Pouerua rises in the distance with Maungaturoto tucked in behind. The puriri trees that dot the landscape are a reminder of the dense native forest that once clothed this land. It is a brief moment, followed only a minute later by a completely different vision as Holy Trinity Church presents itself, tucked into a leafy glade, in a scene reminiscent of the English countryside. This sharp contrast is characteristic of this part of the North."

Wordle

Wordle is a great tool for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide.

Simply go to http://www.wordle.net/

• and then to Create - type your words - eg a piece of text, a list, a poem... into the box and then Go...
• Randomize will give you many different options
  
• You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and colour schemes.
  
• To keep words connected to each other use the tilde to link them (the tilde is the(the wavy line ~ at the top of the key on the far top left of your keyboard - next to the number 1) .
  
• The images you create with Wordle are yours to print, or save to the Gallery... I've made cover sheets for course booklets, thank-you notes and birthday cards, pictures from poems...

The more often a word appears, the more prominent it will be in the resulting word cloud which can be used for artistic effect but also can help analyse text to find the predominant words or themes...

Here is a link to a great blog with information on how teachers might use wordle for in the classroom...
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/07/more-wordle-in-classroom-ideas.html