Pacific Places, Shared Stories

Overview

In lesson 9 of 24 in Auckland: Sustainable New Home, students build knowledge of Pacific places and peoples as they consider Auckland’s connections with the Pacific. They use maps, images and short texts to locate Pacific nations and communities, then communicate accurate, respectful information through collaborative map annotations and fact cards.

Learning intentions

• WALT locate Pacific nations, territories and communities in relation to Aotearoa New Zealand.
• WALT use maps, images and short texts to identify accurate geographical and cultural information.
• WALT speak and write respectfully about Pacific peoples, places and communities.
• WALT explain one way geography can influence livelihoods or access to services.

Success criteria

• I can locate Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Tonga and other Pacific places.
• I can share at least two accurate facts and distinguish a fact from an assumption or stereotype.
• I can pronounce selected place names respectfully and contribute useful information to a group map or fact card.
• I can explain one connection between geography and people’s lives.

Curriculum links

• Social Sciences Years 9–10: understanding the changing nature of places and how societies function and change, including New Zealand’s place in a globalised world.
• Social Sciences Years 9–10: using higher-order concepts such as inequality, ethics and power, and analysing sources and data.
• Social Sciences Years 9–10: exploring political, governance and human-rights contexts, including the significance of te Tiriti o Waitangi | the Treaty of Waitangi.
• Social sciences practices: examining perspectives, communicating evidence-based ideas and participating in respectful dialogue.

Lesson structure (70 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Hook and prior knowledge. Display a map of the Pacific and ask, “How close is Auckland to its Pacific neighbours?” Open with the Pacific map hook and invite students to silently mark a place they recognise before sharing with a partner. Students identify known places, languages, family or community connections without being expected to disclose personal information.

2. 7–17 min · Model locating and pronouncing. Use a projected map and atlas to model the difference between a country, territory, island, nation and community. Think aloud while locating Aotearoa New Zealand, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Tonga; model careful pronunciation and explain that names may have different language forms. Students repeat selected names, practise with a partner, and locate the places in their own atlas or digital map. Refer to the map and pronunciation slides.

3. 17–25 min · Read and interpret sources. Distribute the Pacific places source-and-notes worksheet. Model one short entry using an image, map and text: place, location, people or language, one verified fact, and the source of the information. Students work in pairs to read two short, image-supported profiles and highlight evidence, unfamiliar words and information that needs checking. Emphasise that a place is not defined only by its size, remoteness or climate.

4. 25–45 min · Collaborative mapping. Form six groups of five, assigning roles such as mapper, reader, evidence checker, pronunciation leader and reporter. Each group receives one Pacific place or a teacher-approved additional place and creates a shared map section, including relative location, neighbouring places, one physical-geography feature and two accurate facts. Students use atlases and the worksheet, add labels and arrows, and check that descriptions are respectful and evidence-based. Circulate to ask, “What is your evidence?” and “Whose perspective is represented?” Reopen the collaborative map instructions for timing and criteria.

5. 45–58 min · Fact-card creation and gallery check. Students turn their evidence into a concise fact card: place name, pronunciation guide, location, two facts, one Auckland connection or movement of people, and one question for further inquiry. Groups display their map sections and fact cards. Students rotate, read two other groups’ work, and leave one “accurate and useful” comment and one question. Students correct any claim that is unsupported or overly generalised.

6. 58–66 min · Geography and lived experience discussion. Lead a class discussion using the livelihoods and services discussion slide. Students explain how features such as distance, small land area, ocean access, climate or transport routes may affect livelihoods and access to schools, healthcare, markets or digital services. Prompt students to avoid treating all Pacific places as the same and to consider differences within and between communities.

7. 66–70 min · Exit reflection. Students complete the success-criteria exit ticket slips. They identify one place they can now locate, record one accurate fact and complete: “Geography can affect people’s lives by…” Collect responses to plan the next lesson and address misconceptions.

Resources

• the Pacific places lesson deck
• the Pacific places source-and-notes worksheet
• Classroom atlases or approved digital maps
• Large group maps or A3 Pacific map outlines
• Blank fact-card paper or card
• Coloured pencils, rulers, sticky notes and markers
• Short image-supported texts about selected Pacific places
• Pronunciation guide prepared by the teacher
• Projector or interactive display

Assessment

• Listen for accurate location, pronunciation and respectful language during pair and group work; question students about the evidence behind their claims.
• Check maps and fact cards for correct labels, relevant facts, source use and awareness that Pacific communities are diverse.
• Use exit tickets to identify students needing further support with map-reading, vocabulary, source evaluation or explaining geography–livelihood connections.

Differentiation

• Model atlas use explicitly with a projected map, colour-coded compass directions, an example fact card and a word bank including island, ocean, community, migration, livelihood, services and remote.
• Support English-language learners through image-supported texts, chunked instructions, rehearsal before reporting, pronunciation practice, bilingual dictionaries, home-language expertise and sentence frames: “___ is located ___ of Aotearoa”; “The source shows…”; “This may affect people because…”.
• For ELLPs speaking and visual literacy, accept labelled diagrams, pointing and oral rehearsal before writing; pair students strategically and provide roles that allow meaningful participation without requiring extended public speaking.
• Extend advanced learners by comparing two Pacific places and investigating how geography affects livelihoods and access to services, using two sources and noting a limitation or difference in perspective.