Maui and the Sun

We have been reading and learning about Maori myths, which help explain natural phenomena in poetic terms.  'How Maui Slows the Sun' is a myth to explain the long summer days as opposed to short winter days when it is dark before dinner time.  We finally illustrated our published work in time for daylight saving, which was a prefect time to see how much longer daylight really goes on through the Summer months.

We watched this video of the myth in Te Reo, with English subtitles.  We also read these books:

Then we re-told the myth in our own words.  We spent time writing each part of the story over several days.  We especially focused on the fight scene when Maui fought the Sun as it is an important part of the myth and we wanted it to sound fierce.  

When we had finished our writing, we made illustrations of the Sun using tracing pencils, black markers and dye.  We used a cotton bud instead of the paintbrush to keep the dye inside the black lines.

Here is a sample of our illustrated re-telling of Maori myth about Maui and the Sun.  You can read them all in the WRITING PAGE.