The house that Jack built
written and illustrated by Gavin Bishop
published by Scholastic, 1999
The House that Jack Built is a book with two strands. The main rhythmic text based on the well-known rhyme, This is the House that Jack Built, tells the story of Jack Bull, who travels to New Zealand from London as a new settler in 1798. As the story goes on we see that his dream of beginning a new life as a trader is devastated by war between the new settlers and the native Maori, who want to protect their land. The detailed contemporary illustrations using traditional Maori form tell the story from a Maori perspective – beginning with the myth of creation: Papatuanuku, the earth mother, Ranginui the sky father and their children as guardians of the land. As the story goes on and Jack’s house grows, Papuatanuku is shown in the illustrations to weaken and fade. This story holds a poignant environmental as well as cultural message and is a thought-provoking insight into the founding of New Zealand by the Europeans.
Please note that these activities are suggestions which have not yet been trialled. We welcome any feedback on how they play out in the classroom (see the feedback section).
| Activity 1: MEASUREMENT (Mathematics/ Social Science) | |
| NZ Curriculum Level | 2 & 3
(see curriculum links at the end of the activity) |
| NZC Key Competencies |
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| Activity | On the second inside page of the book there is a list of “Goods to Trade”. In this activity, students will examine old units of measurement and compare them with the measurement units used today.
1. Look carefully at the list.
Establish that they are amounts and measurements of each item. 2. Look through the letters and discuss what they might be.
Establish that these are old measurements, used by British settlers when they first arrived in New Zealand. It is called the ‘imperial system’. The units for measurement are: dozen (doz), pounds (lbs), tins (ts), yards (yds).
Establish that we use the metric system now: kilometres, metres, centimetres, kilograms, grams etc..
3.Make a list of old and new measurements and their abbreviations. 4. Tell students that we want to find out how much these quantities are. We want to convert the old measurements into today’s metric system measurements. Show children how they can do this:
Using this information, students can work out the quantity of each item using the metric system, that Jack had brought to New Zealand to trade:
5. Share and compare results – did everyone get the same result? |
| Taking it further |
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| Curriculum Links | Mathematics
Social Science
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| Activity 2: EXPLORING NEW ZEALAND HISTORY (Social Science) | |
| NZ Curriculum Level | 2 & 3
(see curriculum links at the end of the activity) |
| NZC Key Competencies |
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| Activity | The pages in this book are loaded with history. In this activity, students look carefully at the detail within the illustrations in order to find out more about the history of New Zealand.
1.After reading the story, establish that this story was set in the late 1700’s, when many British were coming to settle and start a new life in New Zealand. Look through the illustrations and briefly identify some of the changes as the story moves on. (For example, the buildings, the clothing, shops are established and names of shops change, trading goes on – blankets, pipes, weapons, whaling and clubbing of seals, axes, more ships come as more British arrive, a church is erected as time goes by). 2. Organise children into small groups. Give each group a copy of one page from the book. Ask students to look at the details in their illustration:
3. Each group can report back to the class about what they have noticed. There will be further discussion as students continue to discover more detail in the illustrations, and make connections with their own page. 4. To finish the session, see if students can put the pages back in the right order (without referring to the book!). This will help them to consolidate their observations. |
| Materials |
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| Resources | This website gives 4 different perspectives of the history of New Zealand – Radical, Moriori, Whakapapa and European.
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| Taking it further |
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| Curriculum Links | Social Science
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| Applications for Level 4 and above | This book could be use very effectively at all higher levels. At Level 4, students explore how people pass on and sustain culture and heritage for different reasons and that this has consequences for people. At Level 5, students consider how the ideas and actions of people in the past have had a significant impact on people’s lives. At Level 6 and above, students understand how the causes and consequences of past events that are of significance to New Zealanders shape the lives of people and society. They begin to understand how people’s perspectives on past events that are of significance to New Zealanders differ. |
| Activity 3: SYMBOLISM (English) | |
| NZ Curriculum Level | 2 & 3
(see curriculum links at the end of the activity) |
| NZC Key Competencies |
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| Activity | Gavin Bishop’s illustrations in this book are rich in visual language. In this activity, two aspects of Bishop’s use of visual language are examined:
1. EYES After reading the story, look back through the illustrations and identify places where eyes can be seen in the background of the picture. Notice that the eyes are different on each page:
Help students to notice that at the beginning of the story there is one set of very large, strong eyes, and many many smaller eyes. As the story goes on, the larger pair of eyes become smaller and less defined and the smaller pairs of eyes become fewer. Ask:
Discuss thought as a class. Students may recognise that the eyes are similar to those seen in traditional Maori art – therefore they may represent Maori gods. After the discussion, refer to the back page of the book, which gives a detailed description of Bishop’s use of ‘eyes’ in his illustrations. The ‘About This Book’ description explains that the eyes belong to Papatuanuku (Earth Mother), Ranginui (Sky Father) and their children. As the story progresses and British presence becomes stronger, Papatuanuku’s spirit weakens and fades. So in this way the ‘eyes’ present a Maori perspective of what is happening with land and culture. Ask the students:
2. BORDERS After reading the story, discuss briefly Bishop’s use of borders in the illustrations. Notice that some border have words telling maori myths, and others have pictures. Organise students into small groups and give each group a different border to examine. They need to consider:
When students have had time to discuss in their groups, share together as a class. Do others agree or disagree? Share reasons. Refer to the ‘About This Book’ at the back of the book to find out more about the author’s message in using the borders. In this section Bishop explains that the main pictures are from a European perspective, while the borders give a Maori perspective. The words tell of Maori myths – perhaps what the Maori gods might say about British settlement. The images show the development of British settlement – the first settlers and early trade items, planting the potato, farming, guns, boats and pipes, ships carrying more and more people from Britain, cattle and carts. |
| Taking it further |
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| Curriculum Links | English
Listening, Reading and Viewing
The Arts Visual Art
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| Applications for Level 4 and above | The richness and detail presented in this book make it extremely useable at higher levels. In English, students should begin to recognise more complex themes within visual language and understand that authors have different messages and styles.
In Visual Art, students should begin to research and analyse the influences of contexts on the characteristics and production of art works. |
| Links to other books in NZPBC | Nobody’s Dog
Every Second Friday – both these books are also very rich in visual language |