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Section 3

Chapter navigation:

  • Who are our super heroes now?
  • Why do we view them as super heroes?
  • What attributes do they have?
  • Why do we still need super heroes?

Resources required:


Connecting the Arts learning - you find the through lines that suit your students best

Dance: Merenia Gray - a dance hero of N.Z. & choreographer of Maui.

Drama: Tamati te Nohotu - actor; & Tanemahuta Gray - artistic director of Maui.

Sound Arts: Music: Gareth Farr - leading NZ composer & composer of the Maui soundtrack

  1. Learning intentions:

    Students will:

    1. Interview people to find the local 'heroes'
    2. Explore the drama convention of interview-in-role (PK, DI)
    3. Present their interview -in- role and respond to the work of others' (CI)
    4. Investigate the purpose of Maui - One Man Against the Gods (UC)
    5. Describe what the creator of the show Maui wanted to express and communicate through the show (UC)
    6. Investigate the purpose of Maui - One Man Against the Gods and consider the role of the lead actor in Maui (UC).

    Suggested Sequence of Learning

    Teaching Notes

    Do we still need heroes? Why? Make a list of the people we look up to... in the world? In N.Z.? In our town/city/place? Investigate the people you consider to be national heroes. What have they achieved? What qualities or attributes do they have? Work individually or in groups
      Discuss the possibility of locating people with heroic qualities all around us. What do we view as heroic? What qualities would these people have shown? Examples of questions: When you look back at your life which moment stands out as being particularly difficult? What have you done that was scary or challenging for you? Why did you do it? What helped you to do it? What support did you need? What support did you get? How did you feel after?
    Co-construct a series of 4-5 questions to follow when interviewing people. Practise on each other in pairs then actually carry out the interview on the person. Write down some of what they say (or record it on tape.)  
    Script a section of the real interview and present in role as the interviewee. Use an item of clothing as a costume or a prop, sit in a 'hot seat' and have another student ask the questions and pretend to be the interviewer. This should be a lot of fun - it's a bit of a spoof!
      Read the interview with the creator of the show Tanemahuta Gray ( Resource Sheet M ) and list the main ideas he wanted to communicate about Maui. You might cut up Resource Sheet M into sections and allocate small sections of it to different groups to find different information.
      Read and discuss the interview with Tamati te Nohotu ( Resource Sheet N ), the actor who plays Maui in the show.  
  2. Learning intentions:

    The students will:

    1. Become aware of choreographers in our community and find out about the job and its positive aspects (UC)
    2. Describe the choreographer's experience with the show Maui (UC)

    Suggested Sequence of Learning

    Teaching Notes

    Discuss the word 'choreographer' and do a search on the web for other NZ choreographers. At this age group it might be best to avoid tackling Douglas Wright - he is studied at senior NCEA level!
    Read out the interview with Merenia Gray Resource Sheet O and discuss her job - do a PMI. Or you might allocate sections of the interview to groups.
    What problems did she face with the show Maui? Use Resource Sheet O .  
  3. Learning intentions:

    The students will:

    1. Investigate the music and motivation of Gareth Farr, a NZ hero, to find out where his inspiration comes from, the range of music he has composed, the occasions he has composed for and the diversity of styles he incorporates into his work. (PK, UC)

    Suggested Sequence of Learning

    Teaching Notes

    Students, working either individually or in small groups, could gain their information from a range of different sources:

      Work could be presented as a poster, a PowerPoint or an oral presentation accompanied by Gareth Farr's music with assessment based on the information suggested in the learning intention.  