Whānau Whakaahua

Lesson Overview

Lesson Number: 4 of 15 in Exploring Tōku Whānau
Curriculum Area: Te Reo Māori
Curriculum Level: Level 4 of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa
Duration: 60 minutes
Class Size: 38 students
Lesson Focus: Students will expand their ability to describe whānau members using Te Reo Māori vocabulary related to physical and personality traits.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Use adjectives to describe family members’ physical features and personalities.
2. Apply sentence structures to form simple descriptive sentences.
3. Engage in spoken and written exercises to reinforce vocabulary and grammar.

Resources Needed

• Visual aids with images of whānau members (can include Māori cultural figures).
• Whiteboard & markers.
• Student workbooks or worksheets.
• Small mirrors for an activity.
• Flashcards with adjectives relevant to describing people.
• A ball or soft object for interactive speaking activity.

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Lesson Structure

1. Whakatūwhera - Whakawhanaungatanga (10 minutes)

• Begin with a short mihi to welcome students.
• Quick warm-up: “Kei a wai?” (Who has it?) — Pass the ball around after calling out a student's name using a whānau-related noun (e.g., "Kei a Hine te pōro. Hine, kōrero mai mō tōku pāpā.").
• Allow students to say one sentence about a family member in Te Reo Māori.

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2. Whakamārama (15 minutes) — Explicit Teaching of Adjectives

• Introduce common adjectives used to describe whānau members, such as:
  • Physical traits: roa (tall), poto (short), ātaahua (beautiful), mōmona (chubby)
  • Personality traits: atawhai (kind), māia (brave), pukumahi (hardworking), whakatoi (cheeky)
• Write example descriptive sentences on the board:
  • Ko tōku pāpā he tangata atawhai. (My father is a kind person.)
  • He kiri parauri tōku whaea. (My mother has brown skin.)
• Model pronunciation and sentence construction.

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3. Mahi ā-Rōpū (15 minutes) — Interactive Sentence Building

• Divide students into groups of four.
• Each group receives flashcards with adjectives and nouns. They must construct sentences using the given words.
• Groups present 1-2 sentences aloud. Encourage natural errors and corrections.
• Bonus: Have students use mirrors to describe themselves with one adjective.

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4. Mahi Tahi (15 minutes) – Creative Writing & Speaking Task

• Pair Work: Each student writes a short paragraph about one whānau member, ensuring they use at least 3 adjectives.
• Swap paragraphs with a partner, who then reads it aloud to the class (pairing up to deal with large class size).
• Encourage correct pronunciation and fluency development.
• Kaiako provides constructive feedback on structure and vocabulary use.

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5. Whakatika (5 minutes) — Karaehe Kōrero & Wrap-Up

• Students share what they enjoyed or found challenging about the lesson.
• Quick-fire Q&A: Kaiako asks a student to describe someone famous using Te Reo Māori.
• End with a karakia whakamutunga.

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Assessment & Next Steps

✔ Formative Assessment:

• Observations during pair work and speaking activities.
• Collected written paragraphs for review.

✔ Next Steps:

• Next lesson will focus on comparisons between family members (tōku whānau vs. tōku hoa).
• Homework: Students bring a photo of a whānau member to describe next class.

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Teacher Reflection (Post-Lesson)

• Were students engaged in discussions using Te Reo Māori?
• Which adjectives were commonly used, and which needed more reinforcement?
• Did group activities effectively support different learning styles?

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This lesson merges interactive speaking, writing tasks, and peer collaboration with cultural connections, ensuring a rich Te Reo Māori learning experience. Let’s empower students through language!