Books for NCEA wide reading

I loved books when I was at high school but I hated being forced to read a book I had no interest in. As a 14 year old I had no interest in reading A Clockwork Orange, no matter how much of a ‘classic’ it was. I hated having to read a book that had specific messages that I had to get out of it. For me, that’s not how books worked. I read them because I wanted a good story that would keep me hooked. The year that stood out for me was Year 12 when I could finally choose which books I wanted to read and how I wanted to respond to them. I still vividly remember the feeling I had reading Witi Ihimaera’s Bulibasha: King of the Gypsies. It was the books I read during this year of high school that really opened my mind to the variety of stories that books could hold.

Now students studying for NCEA English have a wide range of reading options available and are able to choose books that interest them, as long as they fit within one of the wide reading themes. Luckily there is plenty of help at hand, with lots of great resources to help you find some great, and hopefully memorable, books to read.

Christchurch City Libraries’ Pulse website contains information about studying for NCEA English, including booklists. Here you’ll find links to quality online dictionaries and databases, study guides, information about authors and eBook and audio book sites.

• The Golden Bay High School Wiki lists titles within Level 1-3 categories, Year 11-13 groups, Short Stories and Themes.
• The School Library Association of New Zealand (SLANZA) has an extensive page of booklists divided by wide reading themes.
• Dunedin Public Libraries’ Independent Reading pages lists titles under headings such as Cultural Perspectives, Biographies, and Dysfunctional Families. So, there’s no need to panic next time a student asks for an award winning book.

These sites are great guides to where students could start to find suitable books for wide reading, but they should always check with teachers before making a final selection.

I’m sure that having this option of choosing their own reading material makes reading for study slightly more appealing for students than being forced to read a ‘classic’. I only wish I had had this option when I was at school.

The Breeze Walking Festival 2015

It’s cool to be a cyclist, or a scooterer, or a Segway-er, but one of life’s simplest pleasures is walking. The Breeze Walking Festival goes from Saturday 26 September to Saturday 10 October. This year’s festival is in the school holidays, so there are plenty of walks suitable for the whole family.

• 16 days
• 37 free walks
• all terrains, ages, and interests – many are suitable for people in wheelchairs and whanau with babies in buggies.

The Great Dog Walk, 2014. Flickr: 2014-10-04-Archie NRG Walk Oct 14

Here’s a few that you might like. You can see all walks in the programme, available to pick up from ibraries, service centres and recreation and sport centres, or download the programme [3.12MB PDF]

Greening the Rubble Walking Tour

• Saturday 26 September 2pm to 4pm
• Tues 29 September 10am to 12noon
• Saturday 3 October 2pm to 4pm
• Tues 6 October 10am to 12noon

Meet: Re:START, Pod Oasis. Corner of  Lichfield St & Oxford Tce, Central City
Approx distance: 4km
Explore transitional public gardens on demolished building sites across the city centre. Learn how the gardens contribute to the rejuvenation of our ever changing city with a guide from Greening the Rubble.
Booking required, limited to 20. Text only 022 071 6360 or email coordinator@greeningtherubble.org

Eastside Hikoi – Friday 2 October

Time: 10am–12noon
Meet: Cowles Stadium carpark, Pages Road to board bus to New Brighton Library.
Approx distance: 5km or 7km
Hikoi through the heart of the east with whanau and friends to celebrate the life and health of our wonderful community. Walk, talk and explore the new Aranui, Wainoni, Avondale trails. Free bus from Cowles Stadium or meet 10.30am at New Brighton Library.
Rain day: 9 October

All Right? Amble – Sunday 4 October

Time: 11am–3pm
Meet: Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre
Approx distance: 2-4km
Part treasure hunt, part orienteering, this is a fun family walk with a difference. Pick up your map from the Botanic Garden Visitors Centre by 2.30pm and scout out hidden delights. Collect a stamp at each point and return your map for a prize!
Rain date: Sunday 11 October.

SCAPE 8 Artworks – Monday 5 October

Time: 12:30pm–1:30pm
Meet: Corner Gloucester and Colombo Streets, Central City
Approx distance: 2km
Join us for a guided tour of the exciting temporary and permanent artworks which form SCAPE 8 ‘New Intimacies’ on the SCAPE Public Art Walkway.
Booking required, limited to 20.
Phone (03) 365 7994 or email josie@scapepublicart.org.nz

Spectacular Street Art – Tuesday 6 October

Time: 9:30am–12noon
Meet: YMCA Christchurch, 12 Hereford Street
Approx distance: 5km
Local and international street artists have transformed our cities blank walls into impressive works of art. On this walk check out some of the amazing walls that have been painted in Christchurch.
Rain date: Wednesday 7 October.
Booking required, limited to 30.
Phone YMCA (03) 304 8460 or email dave@ymcachch.org.nz
Suitable all ages. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Art by Jacob Yikes, Flickr: 2015-02-03-IMG_5728

There are lots more walks – see the full list  in the programme, available to pick up from libraries, service centres and recreation and sport centres, or download the programme [3.12MB PDF]

More walking stuff

• Search our catalogue for walking
• Explore CINCH for local walking groups
• Christchurch parks and walkways CCC
• Canterbury short walks Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism
• Christchurch and Banks Peninsula tracks Department of Conservation

Poetry in Bloom

If you’re a budding young poet, you might be in with a chance to see a piece of your work gracing a wall at Canterbury Museum.

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Canterbury earthquakes, Poetica is inviting children from Year 4 to Year 8 to enter a poem in the Bloom poetry competition.

Bloom is a collaboration between Poetica and The River of Flowers project, supported by Canterbury Museum. A mural will be designed that is inspired by and features the winning poem in an exhibition at Canterbury Museum. This temporary exhibition, accompanied by visual poetry and activities, will commemorate the Canterbury earthquakes through floral and poetry tributes by the people of Canterbury. The exhibition will open to the public
in February 2016.
Eligibility: Canterbury students from Year 4 to Year 8. Students who are immediate family members of Poetica, River of Flowers and Canterbury Museum staff, or judging panel members are not eligible.
Topic: Who or what gave you the strength to carry on after the earthquakes?
Example subjects: Your pet, your teacher, your grandmother, your best friend, your idol, a football, a song, a poem, a joke, your imagination, a smile, a hug, a walk on the beach, it could be anything or anyone. Surprise us!

The poem must be original and written by the student and must be no longer than eight lines or 40 words. The poem must be in the English language.

Send your poem to: info@poetica.co.nz
Please include your name, age, year and name of school.

The public will choose the winning poem from the shortlist by voting on the Poetica Facebook site. The poem that is ‘liked’ the most will be the winner and will be included in the Bloom exhibition at Canterbury Museum.

The winner will be announced on the Poetica Facebook page at 5.00 pm on 9 November* 2015, and the poem will be revealed on the wall at Canterbury Museum on 22 February 2016.
As the poem in Bloom will be temporary, Sound Sky gives the opportunity for the poem to be enjoyed for generations by recording the poem onto the Sound Sky app.

*The closing date of this competition has been updated.

NZ Chinese Language Week – The Wu Xing (five-element theory) of Chinese characters

Kia ora koutou, da jia hao 大家好 !

This week (7 to 13 September 2015) is New Zealand Chinese Language Week. To celebrate this occasion, I would like to share some information about the Wu Xing (five-element theory) of Chinese characters.

The Wu Xing refers to the five natural elements – Wood (木 mù), Fire (火 huǒ), Earth (土 tǔ), Metal (金 jīn), and Water (水 shuǐ). This philosophical concept has been used to provide explanation for phenomena across many different fields, such as Chinese astrology, Feng Shui, health and medicine. The dynamic relationships among the five elements are essential, known as “mutual generation 相生” and “mutual overcoming 相克”.

Chinese calligraphy – Chinese Lunar New Year festivities at Upper Riccarton Library, Flickr, P1040956.JPG

Without trying to explain the whole complexity of Wu Xing, let’s use the Wu Xing application in the Chinese language as an example. Each Chinese character belongs to one of the five elements, determined by how it is written and its origin.

I still remember how hard it was to try to find a good name combination for my kids. Firstly I had to identify their preferred element by searching in the Lunar Calendar using their time and date of birth. Of course their having been born in the southern hemisphere made it even more complicated as the Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the northern hemisphere climate.

Then I had to find the characters to go with my surname to have the “mutual generation” effect. After intensive research I had a pool of characters I could use to form the name and then it was time to put them together and look at the visual and sound effect. There are normally a few things to consider from here: simplicity of writing, pleasant intonation, homophonic sounds, meaning of each character and combined meaning, plus characters’ gender differences.

If you are interested in learning some Mandarin Chinese, you can access Mango Languages via our website (use at a library or enter your library card & password/PIN) or download the Android / iOS app to your mobile device – this would a good place to start your journey.

“书山有路勤为径, 学海无涯苦作舟” – 韩愈 (from a Chinese poem)

Diligence is the path to the mountain of knowledge; hard-work is the boat to the endless sea of learning.

A spot of science, a splash of arts, and a tonne of fun – Introducing Fun Palaces 2015

We are super excited to report that Fun Palaces are in Christchurch this year! Free, pop-up ‘Fun Palaces’ will be hosting exciting arts, science and culture activities for people of all ages and abilities. In the weekend of Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October (2nd weekend of the school holidays), we will be the first place in the world to get our Fun Palace on!

You can win too – snap a selfie at any of the Fun Palaces and upload to your social media accounts with the hashtag #funpalaceschch and you are in the draw to WIN a bicycle worth up to $2,000!

Be There lists all the local Fun Palaces and our Central Library Peterborough will play host to 12 events over the weekend:

Fun Palaces at Central Library Peterborough

Saturday 3 October

Augmented reality 10am to 12pm
Colour in images in the “old school” way and watch them come to life using Quiver Augmented Reality technology with an iPad that will transform your pages into a magical and engaging 3D experience that is sure to have you entranced. Presented by Christchurch City Libraries.

Spider phobia demonstration 10am to 4pm
Don’t miss out on this experience to have virtual spiders creep and crawl all over a desk and up your arms! Presented by HIT Lab NZ and Christchurch City Libraries.

Augmented reality kiosk 10 am to 4pm
Come check out the latest in Augmented Reality! Bringing virtual images into the real world. See comic books and colouring books come to life right before your eyes! Presented by HIT Lab NZ and Christchurch City Libraries.

Nao robots 10am to 12pm
Robots robots robots! Swing by play with real humanoid robots and learn how to program them too! Presented by HIT Lab NZ and Christchurch City Libraries.

3D printing demo 11am to 2pm
Come in and see one of the Library 3D printers in action during a live demonstration. Learn a little about how they work, what material the Libraries use and some interesting facts about this exciting technology. Presented by Christchurch City Libraries.

Minecraft 12pm to 3pm
Create your own Fun Palace. Come and build your own “Fun Palace” in Minecraft. Build something exciting on your own or in collaboration with friends during a 3hr session aimed at creating the most fun environment you can think of within the minecraft realm. Redstone disco light floors, minecart roller coasters or massive waterslides the more fun it is the better. Unleash your creativity! There will be 20 computers available and will be on a first in first served basis. Presented by Christchurch City Libraries.

Oculus Rift 1pm to 3pm
This is Minecraft on a whole new level. Experience Minecraft as if you were really there using the Oculus Rift. Presented by HIT Lab NZ and Christchurch City Libraries.

Sunday 4 October

Augmented reality kiosk 10am to 4pm
Come check out the latest in Augmented Reality! Bringing virtual images into the real world. See comic books and colouring books come to life right before your eyes! Presented by HIT Lab NZ and Christchurch City Libraries.

Spider phobia demonstration 10am to 4pm
Don’t miss out on this experience to have virtual spiders creep and crawl all over a desk and up your arms! Presented by HIT Lab NZ and Christchurch City Libraries.

Nao robots 10am to 12pm
Robots robots robots! Swing by play with real humanoid robots and learn how to program them too! Presented by HIT Lab NZ and Christchurch City Libraries.

3D printing demo 11am to 2pm
Come in and see one of the Library 3D printers in action during a live demonstration. Learn a little about how they work, what material the Libraries use and some interesting facts about this exciting technology. Presented by Christchurch City Libraries

Oculus Rift 1pm to 3pm
This is Minecraft on a whole new level. Experience Minecraft as if you were really there using the Oculus Rift. Presented by HIT Lab NZ and Christchurch City Libraries.

And if you visit Be There, you will see heaps more Fun Palaces to explore. Grab bookmarks and flyers from your local library. See you there!

Comics and colouring in

You can go online and make your own Fun Palaces comic. Or do some colouring in:

• Artists [165KB PNG, 1.26MB PDF]
• Explorers [159KB PNG, 1.24MB PDF]
• Librarians [189KB PNG, 1.53MB PDF]
• Scientists [165KB PNG, 1.31MB PDF]
• and Posters and bookmarks

Happy Roald Dahl Day

A big cheers for Mr Roald Dahl, born 13 September 1916. Yup, he would have been 99 this year. His work has given so much pleasure around the world that there’s an actual Roald Dahl Day – and it’s the day of his birthday, of course.

I’ve read Roald Dahl as a kid – Charlie and the chocolate factory was my fave. The version illustrated by Faith Jaques is the one I remember, not Quentin Blake. And later I loved Switch Bitch, the sexy short stories, and that murder story Lamb to the slaughter where a piece of mutton is a genius murder weapon. Now it’s full circle, and am enjoying the delights of reading him to my daughter. Her first long reads were The BFG and Matilda. Matilda is the ultimate library kid, a real posterchild for reading:

“So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.”

The library is full of Roald Dahl, books, eBooks, audiobooks, and Chʻalli wa chʻokʻollit kongjang (Charlie and the chocolate factory – in Korean), Rohngngahnchawkgohlaatmahhahtsahjahn  (Thai) … So, celebrate his Dahl-ness – if you want to have a Dahl playday, there is an awesome activity pack on the Roald Dahl Day site.

More Dahl stuff

• Books by Roald Dahl
• Books about Roald Dahl
• Roald Dahl Day site
• The Roald Dahl website
• Our previous Roald Dahl posts