Green Grubs Garden Club

Fresh air, bare feet ad grubby hands = active learning! Fun, down-to-earth nature based ideas & educational resources for Grubby kids!

Silver Fern Flag Template ~ FREE PRINTABLE!

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To celebrate the release of our latest Kiwiana resource, we’ve updated our FREE NZ flags file to include the basic template for our unofficial silver fern flag!  



If you’re looking for other Kiwiana themed resources, you might want to have a peek at our latest release below – it’s packed full of fun activities and Kiwiana themed flash cards, all designed to celebrate how awesome we are down here in Aotearoa!
Grubbily yours,

Tohora Nui – Big Whale {Song Lyrics Freebie!}

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Another resource I’ve whipped up for my amazing guitar strumming Mumma… if you’re not familiar with this very catchy Māori song, click one of the youtube links below for a quick listen – but be warned, you’ll be humming the tune for the rest of the day!!

Enlarge, print and laminate the pages before using them to support your class singing programme. Each sentence of the song includes the Māori lyrics plus an English translation – get creative by using the song to inspire the writing of your own lyrics that feature your favourite animals.  The kids will love creating their own actions to match this super catch song – have fun!



If you’re not familiar with this catchy tune, click the links to the youtube clips below…
Tohora Nui – Big Whale (with cartoon images)

Best Read Alouds for Anzac Day! {+FREE Printable follow up activity sheets}

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This awesome list of ‘read aloud’ books are by a mixture of Kiwi & Aussie authors – have a peek below for a quick review and some specific reader response sheets that match the books…. have I missed your favourite?  Flick me an e-mail or leave a comment below!

Anzac Ted
By Belinda Landsberry

Great for the lower levels, Anzac Ted follows the journey of a teddy bear who accompanies an Anzac soldier into battle.  Seen through the eyes of a child (and a teddy bear) the book introduces some of the grim themes of war in a non-threatening way.


Grandad’s Medals
By Tracy Duncan

‘Grandad’s Medals’ has been a popular read since being published in 10 years ago.  Focusing on the bond between Grandad and his grandson, the book shares the events that occur before during and after an Anzac day parade – as seen through the eyes of the grandson.

My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day
By Catriona Hoy & Benjamin Johnson

Another great read aloud – succinct words and beautiful illustrations,  This book focuses on all the little details that make attending an Anzac day parade special… getting up early, driving in the dark, rugging up warm as it’s always cold, the sounds of the guns and hot chocolate afterwards…


Simpson & his Donkey
By Mark Greenwood & Franē Lessac
Simpson’s Donkey provides a larger world view on the Anzac’s contributions to the war effort.  Following the journey of a young soldier from the UK, to Australia and then into battle, the themes contained are more suitable for upper Primary.



Anzac Day Parade
By Glenda Kane & Lisa Allen
‘Anzac Day Parade’ is a current favourite of mine – aimed at the mid to upper primary level, the book contains minimal words that have been chosen to provide high impact and provoke deep thinking.  The beautiful illustrations tell as much of the story as the words.  A short but powerful read.

Some other great Anzac resources that 
you might find helpful include:

Anzac Day the New Zealand Story
By Philippa Werry
If you’re looking for a non-fiction reference resource for all things Kiwi and Anzac, this is your book!  Packed full of detailed information about the Anzac’s contribution from a distinctly Kiwi perspective, I particularly enjoyed all the small personal stories relating to our men, women and small towns contained within the pages.


Anzac Day – Honouring our Heritage
By RIC Publications
Looking for more follow up activities and worksheets to support your Anzac day discussions?  This RIC publications book is full of photocopiable cloze activities, plus specific links to curriculum LI’s and levels – a great time saver!  You can find them here.  Don’t forget to also grab their beautiful *FREE* vintage feel Anzac poster while you’re there.

Anzac Resources 
By MontessoriKiwi on TpT 


 
Our best selling 54 page Anzac booklet is now also available in an A4 page edition for lower primary!  Click here to pop over to our Green Grubs store for a peek at both packs.
You might also want to check out our previous post about NZ’s fascinating flag history to GRAB YOUR FREE SET of colour by number flag pictures.

Still looking for more ideas?  Click here to check out our Anzac Day Pinterest board for more inspiration!


Hope you and your class find some of these resources useful – wishing you all a peaceful Anzac day…

Grubbily yours,

Best Kiwi Christmas Read Alouds! {+FREE Printable follow up activity sheets}

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Ahh…. good old summer holidays…… and not a snowman in sight!  Alongside your usual term 4 sun safe lessons, end of year reports and beach trips, it’s nice to delve into some Kiwi themed Christmas books…  Here’s a list of my favourite ‘read alouds’ – scroll to the bottom for a FREE download containing follow up printables for the following books!

We really are spoilt for choice when it comes to beautifully illustrated and written New Zealand books – have a peek below for a quick review and some specific reader response sheets that match the books…. have I missed your favourite?  Flick me an e-mail or leave a comment below!

 

A Pukeko in a Ponga Tree

By Kingi M. Ihaka

This classic (written in 1981) is still a favourite, and perfect for a sing-a-long!  If you’re teaching in a city school, this book is choc full of lots of interesting vocab which may require some further explanation (huhu grubs, puha etc.)  This song is also great for adapting to create your own class version…

A Kiwi Jingle Bells
By Yvonne Morrison & Deborah Hinde

This modern version of Jingle Bells comes complete with a CD and catchy lyrics!  Packed full of lots of Kiwiana references, it’ll have you day dreaming of starting your beach holiday early…

Christmas in the Bush
By Lindy Kelly

This book (suitable for slightly older children) follows the story of Josh who is off to spend Christmas with his Dad in the country.  It gently touches on the topic of split families, and also the idea of creating different traditions with different sides of your family.  I also enjoyed the theme of Christmas as a time for creating new memories – not the big focus on commercial gift giving.

The 12 days of Holidays
By Yvonne Morrison & Jenny Cooper

Parents and busy teachers will all sympathise with the frazzled Mum in this book, who is juggling her older child and baby in the lead up to Christmas! Older children will enjoy the exploits of the ‘big kid’, and younger ones will enjoy the unfolding chaos of a busy house hold through the detailed illustrations.

 

Looking for other Kiwi Christmas printables?  Check out the ‘Store’ section of our website above!

 

 

Grubbily yours,

Lyrics for the Māori version of the ‘Hokey-Tokey’ song!

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A simple set of action cards to match the Māori version of “Hokey tokey!’ 

You put your right hand in,
you put your right hand out,
you put your right hand in,
and you shake it all about,

you do the hokey tokey,
and you turn yourself around,
that’s what it’s all about!

The cards are in Māori (with a brief English translation), and were designed for my hard-working-musically-minded-Mum to hold up for her students to see as the song progresses.  The cards contain the key words from the lyrics, as well as simple illustrations and arrows to support all your learners with the correct actions.

Also included are some simple position cards (in Te Reo & English) for the words under, on top/over, inside, outside in front & behind!

 


Grubbily yours,