Helping time-pressured teachers to use books in classrooms is a long-term goal of the Oratia Books team.
With this in mind, the company has just launched free Teacher Resources for three of its NZ Series books.
The resource sheets are available for free download from the Oratia website for the latest addition to the series, the
stunning Weather and Climate New Zealand, along with The New Zealand Wars and Pioneer Women. Links to each resource are on the respective book pages.
The NZ Series introduces New Zealand society, history, science and geography to intermediate- and high-school age readers
Teacher Resources will be out for the other three titles currently in the series — Volcanoes and Earthquakes, Rush to Riches: Kauri and Gold and First Encounters: New Zealand 1642–1840 — in February 2023.
The resources provide a range of student activities linked to the books, along with guidance for use in line with the
New Zealand Curriculum. Retired teacher Sandra Carrod, author of Weather and Climate New Zealand, put together the resource for her book, while the other two are the work of Clementine Fraser, Head of History at
Avondale College, Auckland.
Oratia also has a range of resources at a more junior level for other books, among them two just-released bilingual
picture books: The River in our Backyard/Te Awa e Pātata Rawa Ana and The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street/Ngā Kuia o te Tiriti o Pikitea.
Other titles with resources include the Nanny Mihi series, Blimmin' Koro, Captain Cat, Home Child, The Forgotten Wars, The Longdrop, The Water Bottle, When Dad Came Home, and Dawn McMillan's nature series.