What were some of the values that the people your students interviewed talked about? Resilience, perseverance and hard work were the three that really shone. Many of the students were able to link the idea that farmers put in a significant amount of work, and sometimes that it doesn't always have the largest rewards.

“This was such a fantastic kit. Ben Allomes (one of the people in the letters) has a daughter at our school so the kids loved being able to make the connection. The design and layout of the panels was cool, as well as bring out many kids creative side it also taught them key skills of interviewing people, pulling out key information and quotes and team work/collaboration when putting the display together, One idea: many schools are moving into digital systems. Is there a way that this kit could be adapted to allow students to make a choice in the way that they want to present their information (ie interveiw, story, cartoon rather than a panel).”

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Posted 5 years ago

“This school kit looks amazing, unfortunately we have been unable to start this awesome pack due to unforeseen circumstances...are we able to do it at the beginning of next term????”

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Posted 5 years ago

“My class enjoyed learning about farming - our Inquiry topic this term was around Kaitiakitanga and was based on Dairy farming. My Grass Roots encouraged the students to get out and chat with people about their lives growing up on a farm and what they do now.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Wow! My class LOVED this school kit. It fitted in beautifully with our current inquiry around NZ Idenity - Aotearoa - Ko wai tatou? The students loved making the connections to both famous NZers and everyday kiwis, especially the fact that some were local. As a result of this we have gone even further with learning about effective interview teachniques in our writing programme, and interviewing various people around the world, to write informed reports. It has also sparked some great climate change debates, with various viewpoints from our students (and parents! ;-) )”

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Posted 5 years ago

“We are still in the process of publishing our interviews, but have enjoyed learning through this schoolkit. The concept of six degrees of separation has been particularly interesting as the students have worked through making connections to famous - and infamous - people. They really enjoyed reading the letters and thinking about what 'normal' childhoods people have had who have gone on to do exciting things. Thanks again schoolkit!”

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Posted 5 years ago

“This was very interesting for my students, as most of them have little or no experience of farms and lifestyles involved. They really engaged and learned a lot!”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Hi there, we are right in the middle of learning about farming, reading the letters, preparing for calf club etc. We have one parent rep coming to share about our local farming area. I have loved teaching this grass roots topic. The envelopes and letters were a good amount for team work and exciting to open. Thank you for putting so much effort into the presentation. I may have missed it, but an NZ map to locate the farms would be a great inclusion to the package. I'll be doing this topic again with another class :) Kind regards, Chloe”

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Posted 5 years ago

“We have decided to split pour review into plus, minus and interesting. Plus: The class felt inspired by the letters. They learnt that you have to work hard and there are a lot of good values. They thought it was good to grow up on a farm and they could see how it helped them in life. Minus: They thought the letters took a while to read. They would have liked more photos and if possible, would have liked to watch clips of the people on youTube so they could see their farms. Interesting: They liked reading and hearing about what it used to be like on a farm. They were interested in what the people became and how it helped them. They felt sad for the people leaving. Would have been good to add a farm visit. Thank you so much for sending us the kit. It was fun.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Grass Roots 19 Reviews