Description
Standing with the Ancestors: Fifty Years of Polyfest by Edith Amituanai and Susan Paris is a rich non-fiction text that celebrates Pacific youth, culture, and identity through the lens of Auckland’s Polyfest. Centred on students from Manurewa High School, the text explores how performing arts, language, and collective commitment connect young people to their ancestors, communities, and cultural values.
Through personal stories, historical context, and contemporary voices, students examine how culture is learned, lived, and passed on through dancing, singing, rehearsals, and festival performance. The text supports deep discussion about identity, leadership, belonging, and the role of schools and communities in sustaining Pacific cultures in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This pack contains a range of structured literacy activities including
- Spelling rules ck / dge / drop the e / y as a consonant or vowel
- Sounds of -ed
- Exploring parts of language - adverbs, adjectives, nouns, verbs etc
- Doubling or not when adding -ing, -ed
- Floss rules
- Compound words
- Identifying and naming suffixes
- Identifying and naming prefixes
- Vowel teams
- Root words
- Controlling 'r'
- Diagraphs
- Schwa words
- Ghost diagraphs
- -oo- and -oo- / -au and -ow /
- Hard and soft c and g
- Common subordinating conjunctions
- And much more!!
Curriculum Phase: Phase 3
Year Level: Year 7
English – Reading: comprehension of narrative non-fiction, inference, author’s craft, use of language and structure, themes, making connections
Social Sciences: identity, culture, community participation, continuity and change, cause and consequence, Pacific histories in Aotearoa New Zealand
Health and Physical Education: wellbeing, belonging, participation, collective identity, cultural expression
Text Type: Narrative non-fiction
Key words include: ancestors, Aotearoa New Zealand, Auckland, belonging, culture, community, dancing, diversity, education, festivals, identity, leadership, Manurewa High School, Pacific, Pacific cultures, Pacific youth, performing arts, Polyfest, rehearsals, schools, singing, social connection, student voice, teamwork, Tonga, Tongan culture, Tongan language, Tongans, tradition, youth
Accessing my resources
Add your desired resources to your cart. If you're a non-member, complete the purchase; if you're a member, simply go through the checkout process. Once finished, you'll receive a download link on the confirmation page, and a copy will also be sent to your email.