1907–2007 School Journal comparison
Students can compare the School Journals from 1907 and 2007. They can identify differences and similarities and record this data using either a T-chart or a venn diagram.
Discuss what the journals look like (including the cover, style, use of colour, illustrations, photos, and fonts), and the changes in language use between 1907 and 2007. Have students give reasons for any differences noted.
Discuss the content of the journals and the stories, articles, and poems. “What changes can be seen between 1907 and 2007?” Consider topics such as families, cultures, leisure, schooling, and technology.
Students can do follow-up research comparing other aspects of life in 1907 with life today. This could include cars, clothing, transport and travel, farming, household appliances.
1907 School Journal cover (PDF 210kb)
1907 School Journal pages (PDF 2.2Mb)
Other ideas
Students can:
- Interview a whanau member about their memories of school life, the School Journal or the stories they read at school.
- Create a timeline of their own life and include key events in New Zealand’s recent history. (The centenary journals that schools will receive in Term 2 include various timelines of key events from the last century that could be used as a model).
- Participate in a guided reading lesson based on one of the articles or stories from the 1907 PDF. As well as comprehension, the lesson could focus on one of the aspects of the writing that are different to today’s journal stories including content, language construction or vocabulary.
- Listen to a poem from the 1907 Journal (PDF) read aloud and respond by drawing what they think the poem was about. Share and compare pictures. Explain the poem to them. Read a selection of poems from recent school journals. “Are they different to 1907? How?”
- Discuss the audience that the School Journal is aimed at. “How different was it in 1907, compared with today? How would today’s students, with a wide ethnic and cultural diversity, respond to the 1907 Journal? How might the audience change in the future and how can the journal reflect this?”
