WONDER: Venn Diagram

Left: Book, right: Movie

What am I learning?
I'm learning to be able to compare two versions of the same story.

How does this work show my learning?
By showing that I can see the differences and similarities between two stories.

What am I wondering?
What subtle similarities does each of the versions have?

Matariki

Matariki is a celebration commemorating the Maori new year. It is also a time for harvesting, mourning and feasting.

Celebrations for Matariki started before the Europeans came and carried on, but soon died down, one of the last recorded Matariki celebrations being recorded in 1940. They regained popularity in the early 21st century, around 2001.

Mataariki - Eyes of the Ariki - is said to be made of the eyes/tears of the god of the winds, Tawhirimatea. Other stories say that the largest star is the mother star while the other six are its sisters. One story I heard is that the seven sisters came in the form of beautiful women and enchanted Maui’s brothers. The brothers practically served the maidens. Maui soon picked up on this and sent the seven maidens into the sky, turning them into stars.

The celebrations of Matariki were originally made the night the seven stars disappeared. The people would harvest their crops and put them in their storage houses. The next day, on the new moon, the people would celebrate and feast on their successful crops and hunts. They would also pray for the people who had died the previous year, who they believe had turned into stars.

Today, people celebrate Matariki with concerts, cultural performances, craft workshops and other celebratory activities. People gather with their families and look at the past. They harvest any plants they’d planted then replant them the next day. Plenty of celebratory preparations are in place for Matariki.

Novel Study: WONDER (Part 5)

1. Discuss the motivations for Julian's mum to photoshop August out of the class photo and it’s the message it sends to Julian.

Julian's mum doesn't like August, so she photoshopped his face out of the picture and sent it to everyone.

2. What do you make of Mrs Albans' statement that August is handicapped? Do you think she was correct when she said it places too much of a burden on the kids to befriend August?

August is not handicapped. He is capable of doing everything on his own. She was wrong because August can't get through school without friends.

3. Mrs Alban also thought that August shouldn't have been allowed into Beecher Prep. Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

I disagree. He took the entry test and passed, so long as he passes he's a good candidate for the school.

4. How did Jack handle being frozen out by all the boys at Beecher Prep? 

He didn't really care much. He decided to hang out with August and Summer.

5. Why was Justin nervous when he was going to meet Olivia's parents? How did it show? How did it work out?

He would be worried that her parents wouldn't accept him. He was so nervous his tics were showing. Her parents were very kind to him though.

6. Why does Justin greet the different members of the family in four different ways? Explain each greeting.

He shook Via's dad's hand as a formal greeting. He hugged her mum as another formal greeting. He fist-punched August as a casual greeting. He kissed Via's cheek as a romantic greeting.

7. In the bus stop chapter, Justin told Julian and his friends to leave Jack alone. Was this a good thing to do? 

Yes. It's not nice to bully people for being friends with another person. People can be friends with whoever they want to be, no one else has a say.

8. In the chapter titled Bird, Via states that she is 'an awful person'. Why do you think she feels this way? Is she right?

She called herself an awful person because she felt selfish that she didn't want to be embarrassed by August at the show. She's wrong because no one has to know that he's Via's brother.

9. In what ways is Part Five different from the other Parts of the book?

The grammar Justin's written in is incorrect. There are no speech marks or capital letters.

CAN DO'S:

Musical: Via and Justin are enjoying Valentine's day. Find a song that you think they might listen to together to celebrate the holiday. Be sure to explain why you think it fits the situation and their personalities.
My choice: 'Shelter' by Porter Robinson and Madeon
I believe this fits their personalities well. As Justin's family is quite neglectful, he likes Via's more, so the lines 'I'll give them shelter like you've done for me, and I know I'm not alone' would be sung by him. Via also enjoys his company but sometimes grows distant, hence the lines 'I could never find the right way to tell you, have you noticed I've been gone?' Again, I think this song describes their personalities well.

Vocabulary: Find the meanings of the following words: Dissed, sarcastically, tics, immaculate, monologue and theorems.
Dissed: Teased, made fun of
Sarcastically: Saying something in a tone that means the opposite
Tics: Twitching of the face
Immaculate: Neat and tidy, perfect
Monologue: A speech normally made as a part of a play or Broadway show
Theorems: An educated guess, synonym to 'hypothesis'

Hot X Buns

I cooked hot cross buns with Kaela, Marshall and our Thai student Orn. We did very well on the score for our baking, the only cross we got was keeping on time as it took 5 minutes for us to decide who was putting away the dishes.

The final product

The recipe

This recipe was very fun and easy to make. What we would change next time is making sure we're on time.

Novel Study: WONDER (Can Do Task 1)

I chose a musical can-do task where we review the theme song for the movie adaption of the book.

The music starts out quiet, showing his shyness of starting a new school. The notes give a sense of hope and faith that something good will come out of the bad. A small wave of sadness comes through when the violin comes in and the melody changes. The music slowly starts getting louder to symbolise something's about to happen. Then the music SWELLS and the sounds say something like 'This is who I am' or 'I started from the bottom and now I'm up here'. The music makes a sudden drop for the last minute or so to show emotion. The emotions symbolise that August went through a whole lot to live a normal life, but he never gave up and now has everything he could want.

Novel Study: WONDER (Part 4)

1. What was Summer's initial reaction to August's face? Why did they become friends?
Summer felt sorry for August because she knew that people would make fun of him. It's hard being the new kid even with a normal face, let alone a deformed face.

2. Summer isn't in the popular group at school, why is she invited to Savanna's party?
Savanna wanted to know why she hung out with August so much.

3. How does Summer foster a relationship with Auggie, in what ways is it beneficial for them both?
August and Summer have personalities that are very similar. They always make sure that the other is okay. They cheer each other up when they need it.

4. Part 4 starts with the quote "Now here is my secret. It is very simple. It is only with one's heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye." What does it mean?
People are more often able to get what they want through their kindness and not their words.

5. What was Jack's initial reaction to Mr Tushman's request to show August around school?
He didn't want to do it because of August's face deformation, which his mother got a bit mad about.

6. Friendship can be difficult. How does Jack feel about him and August becoming ex-friends? How does he feel when he finds out why?
He was happy that he got to hang out with the popular group, but he didn't like the popular group. When he found out why, though, he immediately regretted saying what he said.

7. How was Jack provoked to punch Julian in the face? Explain why you think this was the right/wrong thing to do.
Julian was insisting on being Jack's partner, saying that he didn't have to be friends with August. This wasn't a good choice as he could have just as easily made a verbal comeback.

8. How did reading Jack's point of view change your perception of his character?
Jack's point of view was very interesting. We get to see how one of the deuteragonists got to be in that situation and how he reacted to finding out how he became a secondary antagonist.

9. Predict how you think August will react to the news that Jack punched Julian. What effect will it have on their friendship?
He will probably act shocked that Jack would do such a thing. Jack doesn't seem like the aggressive type, so it would probably shock a lot of people. I think that August would be scared of Jack because he's afraid that he'd say something wrong and get the same treatment. Until he found out the context, anyway.

Novel Study: WONDER (Part 3)

You know the drill!

1. Explain how the point of view in Part 2 is different from that in Part 1. Do they match up?

No, while Part 1 is in August's perspective, Part 2 is from the perspective of his older sister, Via.

2. In at least a paragraph, describe the challenges Via might face being August's sister.

It's obvious throughout this part that Via doesn't get very much attention as everyone's focus is always on August. This can lead to self-esteem and relationship problems. Her mother is also paranoid about her going on the subway by herself due to her insecurities relating to August. Even though they're not the same person, they're both her children, so she thinks the same about them both.

3. Via says 'August is the Sun'. Explain what she means and why she feels this way.

August is the Sun because everyone orbits around him. Everyone else are the planets around him.

4. Do you agree with Via that she and her parents have made a mistake by always trying to make August feel like he's normal? Is this a problem? Explain.

I actually disagree with Via. Them treating him normally is a good thing, due to the fact that he should be treated normally by default. Besides, he needs emotional support from people who don't judge him because of his face.

5. Why does Via go by Olivia at high school? How is Via finding high school?

She finds it more comfortable to be referred to as 'Olivia'. She's happy that not many people know her, although she's struggling to get along with Ella and Miranda.

6. What are the odds of Via having a child that looks like August? Do you think these are good odds? Explain.

It's a one-in-four chance, but only if she marries someone with the same gene and they have children. These are very good odds, as the gene is quite rare so it won't have a very high chance of double-dosing like what happened to August.

7. Explore the character Miranda. Why did she call August at the end of Part 2? Explain.

She called August to try to get a message through to Via, as proved by the line by August, "She said to tell you she misses you. Quote unquote."

8. Describe Via as a character. Do you empathise with her?

Via is a high school student who always lives in the shadow of August due to his face deformation. I don't empathise with her too much, that would be more my brothers.

9. What do you think will happen to August when he returns to school?

I think he will make friends with more students, who will inspire him to stand up for himself and tell someone about what's happening between himself and Julian.