About the Activities

Key Understandings

Every activity is linked to one or more of the key understandings of this resource, which are derived from the achievement objective. The learning intention for the activity is drawn from these key understandings.

Participation

The more fully your students participate in the activities, the more they will benefit. All activities can be undertaken in groups or individually, but most of the activities lend themselves to a paired or group approach. Organising your students to work in pairs or in groups will encourage them to engage as fully as possible with the tasks.

Progression

You should begin with the diagnostic activities, then make a selection from the four mid-section activities, and finish with the two summative activities.

Diagnostic Activities

The introductory diagnostic activities offer opportunities for checking whether the students understand the underlying concepts and terminology. They form an important diagnostic step that should be undertaken before embarking on the other activities. The diagnostic activities provide opportunities for:

• students to share their prior knowledge;
• teachers to plan the most suitable approach to the unit and to ensure that it is relevant to the particular needs and experiences of their students;
• teachers and students to formulate questions for investigation in the activities that follow.

If your students are familiar with the underlying concepts, they will be able to progress more rapidly through the rest of the activities with greater benefit and enjoyment.

Mid-section Activities

The four mid-section activities provide opportunities for the students to build on their learning from the introductory activities and explore deeper. Some (but not all) of these activities can be done in any order. Where an activity needs to be preceded by another activity, this is noted under Tips for Teachers. Each of the four mid-section activities must be preceded by the introductory activities and followed by the summative activities.

Summative Activities

The summative activities provide opportunities and encouragement for the students to:

• consolidate and extend their learning from all previous activities;
• clarify the main content ideas they have learned;
• develop their self-appraisal skills.

Using the Online Learning Materials

After completing the introductory activities, you’ll find that some subsequent activities have components where your students can work online with interactive learning materials. These activities can be done individually, in pairs, or in small groups.

The Timeline

The information in the timeline is based on the publications of The Landmarks Project – Celebrating Women. It includes a selection of fifty landmarks for New Zealand women and short biographies of fifty women (the Trail of Light) who have made a tangible difference to the status and well-being of others in New Zealand. Students who wish to extend their investigations to other landmarks of social justice in New Zealand history, or to other contributors, will need to access alternative sources.

Strategies for Engaging Your Students with the Biographical Texts

"Dig deeper" for meaning through further questioning. The texts carry a wealth of information that may be daunting to some students. You will know which of your students may need support. For example, of a sentence such as “Her achievements bore witness to hands that were never idle …” (Rangimarie Hetet), you might ask “What do you think that means?” Encourage your students to use the online glossary

Using the Activities with Your Students

The activities are designed for teachers. Each activity can be printed out for classroom use. Presentation of activity outcomes can be done in a variety of ways, for example:
• as part of a library or classroom display;
• as the basis of a newspaper article (for a class, school, or local paper) or radio talk (for a school or local radio station); Note: If your students wish to broadcast information from a personal interview, you will need to ensure that they gain written permission from the interviewee.
• as part of a class book on social justice in New Zealand.