He aha taku mahi?

Overview

In this 10-minute bilingual classroom session, tamariki practise asking and answering “What are you doing?” using actions connected to everyday classroom and whānau life. The lesson begins with the familiar pronoun koe and briefly introduces ia and koutou through movement and oral repetition.

Learning intentions

• WALT ask Kei te aha koe?
• WALT answer using Kei te ______ ahau.
• WALT listen for and use action words in te reo Māori.
• WALT notice that the pronoun changes when we talk about different people.

Success criteria

• I can ask, Kei te aha koe?
• I can answer, Kei te ______ ahau.
• I can use an action word such as noho, oma, kai, inu, pānui or waiata.
• I can use ia or koutou when talking about another person or group.

Curriculum links

• Te Mātaiaho Te Reo Māori — Emergent 1 teaching sequence: Sentence structure (He / Ko), building flexible spoken sentence patterns.
• Te Mātaiaho Te Reo Māori — Linguistic knowledge: Whānau sentence pattern, using a consistent sentence pattern to communicate about people.
• Te Mātaiaho Te Reo Māori — Linguistic knowledge: Language examples, developing confidence with commonly used formulaic expressions.
• Te Mātaiaho Te Reo Māori — Emergent 2 linguistic knowledge: recognising that a range of sentence structures can be used in mihi and spoken interaction.

Lesson structure (10 minutes)

1. 0–2 min · Mihi and movement hook. Open with the movement hook slide showing a child doing a familiar action, then greet the class and silently act out pānui. Students copy the action and watch for the question: Kei te aha koe?

2. 2–4 min · Model the pattern. Use the sentence pattern slide to display Kei te aha koe? — Kei te pānui ahau. Teacher asks a confident student, gestures to the action, and models the answer slowly. Students echo the question and answer, first as a whole class and then with a partner.

3. 4–7 min · Action-and-talk game. Use the action picture slides to show one action at a time: noho, oma, kai, inu, waiata and kanikani. Students mime the action; teacher asks several children Kei te aha koe?, and each child replies Kei te ______ ahau. Repeat with choral support, accepting pointing or movement before speech.

4. 7–9 min · Change the pronoun. Show the pronoun challenge slide. Teacher points to one child and asks, Kei te aha ia? The class answers, Kei te ______ ia. Point to a group and ask, Kei te aha koutou? Students respond together, Kei te ______ koutou. Keep this oral and playful; do not expect written explanations.

5. 9–10 min · Quick check and close. Distribute the picture sentence check. Students circle or draw one action and complete the oral sentence with a partner while the teacher listens to three or four individuals. Finish with Ka kite and a final class response to Kei te aha koutou?

Resources

• the movement hook slide, action picture slides, sentence pattern slide, pronoun challenge slide and closing prompt
• the picture sentence check
• Open floor space for safe actions
• Picture cards or real classroom objects for pānui, kai and inu
• Teacher action-word prompt card
• Visual sentence frames displayed at child height
• Pencils, crayons and clipboards if needed

Assessment

• Listen for whether students can distinguish the question Kei te aha koe? from the answer Kei te ______ ahau.
• During the action game, note who can supply an action word independently and who relies on imitation, gesture or a sentence frame.
• Use the final oral exchange and worksheet drawing/circling as a quick check; record students who can use ia or koutou with prompting.

Differentiation

• Support learners with actions, photographs, gesture, a repeated sentence frame and a choice of two action words. Allow students to respond through movement, pointing or shared speaking before expecting independent speech.
• Pair developing speakers with a patient tuakana or confident language model. Use clear pronunciation, natural repetition and wait time rather than correcting every error.
• For dyslexia-friendly access, keep text large and uncluttered, use one phrase per line, a plain sans-serif font, strong contrast and picture support. Read all written prompts aloud.
• Extension learners can lead the question-and-answer exchange, choose an action for the class, or ask Kei te aha ia? and Kei te aha koutou? with less teacher support.