Karakia Before Christianity

Overview

This is Lesson 2 of 5 in the unit Exploring Changes in Karakia. Students build on Lesson 1 by investigating the purpose and roles of traditional Māori karakia (before significant Christian influence), and mapping how those practices carry spiritual meaning within te ao Māori.

Do Now

• Silent write: "Before Christianity, what were karakia used for, and why?" (2–3 sentences)
• Share one idea with a partner.

Whakataukī/Bible Verse/Proverb

• "He karakia, he mana, he tapu." (A prayer holds authority and sacredness.)

Skills Needed

• Critical thinking and inquiry skills
• Note-taking and evidence organization
• Collaborative discussion and peer feedback
• Understanding of cultural and spiritual concepts

Teaching Strategies

• Guided inquiry with curated source materials
• Modeling and explanation of key concepts
• Pair and group discussions
• Use of graphic organisers and note frames
• Formative feedback through peer review and exit tickets

Learning intentions

• Explain the purpose and spiritual significance of traditional Māori karakia before Christianity.
• Identify key contexts and roles of karakia in Māori culture.
• Use inquiry methods to gather and organise evidence.
• Connect traditional karakia practices to broader expressions of religion and cultural change.

Success criteria

• I can outline traditional Māori karakia purposes (e.g., protection, guidance, whakapapa connections, blessing/intent).
• I can explain how karakia spiritual significance is shown through features such as context, wording/ritual use, and relationships (people–atua–whenua).
• I can organise my ideas clearly in a graphic organiser using evidence notes.
• I can identify one key insight that will help me explain later changes in karakia expressions.

Curriculum links

• Religious Studies — Understanding Religion (Level 2): AS90821 Explain the changes in an expression(s) of a religious tradition (this lesson supports the “outline changes” and “reasons/impacts” thinking for later lessons).
• Religious Studies — Understanding Religion (Level 2): AS90821 explicitly requires outlining changes and explaining reasons and impacts; students practise the “explain” skills by focusing on meaning and significance of pre-Christian karakia expressions.
• Key competencies: Thinking (organising information, explaining significance), Relating to others (respectful inquiry and discussion), Participating and contributing (pair evidence mapping), Communication (using clear explanatory sentences).

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook and framing. Teacher displays a prompt card: “Before Christianity, what were karakia used for, and why?” Students complete a quick silent write (2–3 sentences) then share one idea with a partner.
2. 8–18 min · Guided direct teaching (respectful background). Teacher briefly models what “purpose” and “spiritual significance” mean using everyday examples (e.g., prayer language in other cultures as a comparison only, without comparing doctrines), then introduces a respectful inquiry focus: “How did traditional karakia support wellbeing and connection in Māori life?”
3. 18–30 min · Source set and inquiry notes. Teacher provides a small curated set of learning materials (teacher-selected excerpts, images, or short descriptions consistent with school resources) about traditional Māori karakia contexts (for example: protection, blessing, healing, rites of passage, working with whenua/people/atua). Students, in pairs, complete “Evidence→Meaning” note frames: for each item, write (a) what the karakia purpose is, and (b) what makes it spiritually significant.
4. 30–45 min · Graphic organiser mapping. Students create a Karakia Meaning Map with three branches: Purpose, When/Where used (context), Spiritual significance. Teacher circulates and checks that students are explaining “why it matters” not only describing what happens.
5. 45–55 min · Share and refine (structured discussion). Using a “Two Stars and a Wish” routine, students present one completed section of their map. Partner gives two strengths (purpose clarity, significance explanation) and one wish (what to make clearer or better evidenced).
6. 55–60 min · Exit ticket (formative check). Students answer: “In one paragraph, explain one purpose of traditional Māori karakia and its spiritual significance, using at least two specific details from your notes.”

Resources

• Curated source set on traditional Māori karakia (print/digital)
• Karakia Meaning Map graphic organiser (Purpose, Context, Spiritual significance)
• Evidence→Meaning note frames
• Writing and highlighting tools
• Prompt card and exit ticket slips
• Projector or board for modeling and exemplars

Assessment

• Formative: Teacher uses circulation questions (“What makes that spiritually significant?” “Where do you see that in your evidence?”) during inquiry notes and organiser work.
• Formative: “Two Stars and a Wish” feedback to check students’ ability to explain significance, not just outline.
• Summative-in-mini: Exit ticket paragraph assessed against the lesson success criteria (purpose outline + spiritual significance explanation with two details).

Differentiation

• Support: Provide sentence starters for explanations (“Traditional karakia were used to…”, “This is spiritually significant because…”, “In this context… therefore…”). Also offer a partially completed graphic organiser template for one branch.
• Support: If reading load is a concern, teacher gives audio support for source items or shortens extracts while keeping key evidence.
• Extension: Challenge students to add an “Evidence reliability” comment (e.g., “This detail is described by… so it helps me because… I should be cautious because…”), preparing them for later “reasons and impacts” discussions in the unit.
• EAL/SEN: Allow responses using diagrams plus short sentences; provide bilingual word bank where appropriate (e.g., karakia, whakapapa, whenua, atua, blessing, protection, guidance) and pre-teach pronunciation respectfully.

Extension (optional)

• No extension added (Lesson 3 in the unit will build on today’s map to examine how expressions change over time).