Tohutohu Instructions

Overview

This 60-minute lesson is designed for Year 11 Te Reo Māori students to develop their skills in understanding, translating, and responding to tohutohu (instructional language) in Te Reo Māori. The activities are interactive and scaffolded, supporting learners with diverse needs and aligning tightly with the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh, especially Level 6 Achievement Standard AS92092.

Curriculum Links

Learning Area: Te Reo Māori (Level 6)
Achievement Objectives:
Understand and use language structures to interpret and express instructions.
Translate instructional texts between Te Reo Māori and English.
Participate in oral and written activities demonstrating comprehension and use of tohutohu.
Key Competencies:
Thinking – Analysing and interpreting tohutohu patterns and meaning.
Using Language, Symbols, and Texts – Translating and responding in oral and written forms.
Participating and Contributing – Collaborative group work and interactive games.
Values:
Manaakitanga – Respect and support for all learners.
Whanaungatanga – Collaborative learning and group interaction.
Te Ao Māori:
Embedding Māori worldview through language and tikanga connections.

Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will:

Understand how tohutohu are structured and used in Te Reo Māori to give explicit instructions.
Accurately translate simple and compound tohutohu sentences from Māori to English and vice versa.
Respond to oral instructions by following and completing tasks.
Demonstrate recall of key vocabulary and sentence patterns used in tohutohu.
Engage collaboratively and interactively in group work and games that reinforce learning.

Success Criteria

Students will:

Correctly translate 3–5 tohutohu sentences with appropriate vocabulary and grammar.
Complete a listening comprehension drawing task with at least 80% accuracy.
Accurately articulate one tohutohu as an exit ticket response.
Actively participate in vocabulary reinforcement games, showing improved recall and understanding.

Resources

Student books and devices
Whiteboard and markers
Teaching slides
Listening comprehension drawing sheets
Online tools/devices for interactive games (Blooket, Jeopardy)
Word banks/sentence starters for scaffolding

Lesson Sequence

0 – 10 minutes: Introduction and Karakia

Greet students and open with a karakia to set the tone and acknowledge the Māori worldview in learning.
Students organise their books and devices in readiness.
Briefly introduce the lesson’s purpose: to master giving and understanding clear instructions (tohutohu) in te reo Māori.
Elicit prior knowledge: ask students what they know about giving instructions in Māori.

10 – 20 minutes: Presentation of Tohutohu Examples

Present simple tohutohu sentences on the board/slides (e.g., "Whakapaipai i te ruma", "Tangohia te pukapuka").
Model accurate pronunciation and explain meaning explicitly.
Highlight sentence structure patterns:
Imperative verbs start the sentence.
Common verbs and phrases used in instructions.
Ask clarifying questions to check understanding.

20 – 30 minutes: Collaborative Whakamāori Group Task

Divide students into groups of 4–5.
Each group translates 4–5 short English instructions into Māori on provided worksheets.
Circulate, providing scaffolding support and prompting students to use vocabulary banks.
Groups share their best translation with the class, reinforcing pronunciation and structure.

30 – 35 minutes: Sentence Structure Breakdown

Review group translations, unpacking sentence components.
Emphasise how compound instructions are structured – conjunctions like "ā", "me", or "ka" linking instructions.
Write up exemplary sentences to consolidate learning.

35 – 45 minutes: Passage Translation Task

Students independently translate a short paragraph consisting of several instructions.
Teacher circulates, providing assistance especially to students with learning difficulties.
Use this as formative assessment; observe translation strategies and understanding.

45 – 50 minutes: Review and Discussion

Go over answers as a class.
Discuss any differences and clarify misunderstandings.
Reinforce common vocabulary and structures used.

50 – 55 minutes: Listening Comprehension Drawing Task

Read aloud a set of verbal tohutohu for students to follow by drawing (e.g., "Tāia tētahi whare me ngā matapihi e whā", "Tāia he rārangi kei runga i te matapihi").
Teachers check for accuracy and comprehension.
This task supports auditory processing and practical response.

55 – 60 minutes: Vocabulary Reinforcement Games

Students participate in interactive online games (Blooket and Jeopardy) focused on tohutohu vocabulary and sentence patterns.
This fosters fun engagement and vocabulary retention.

60 minutes: Conclusion and Exit Ticket

Quick round: each student states one tohutohu they learned today to be noted as an exit ticket.
Collect exit tickets to assess individual understanding.
Briefly recap the success criteria and praise student effort.
End with a karakia to close the session.

Differentiation and Alternative Strategies

Use sentence starters and vocabulary banks for students needing support.
Allow peer support during group work.
If engagement drops, shorten independent translation tasks and extend interactive games.
Provide visual aids (word charts, illustrated instructions) for multi-sensory learning.
Use flexible groupings to match learning needs and provide targeted scaffolding.

Reflection and Professional Insight

This lesson plan integrates multimodal learning and assessment strategies aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh to support diverse learners. It combines explicit teaching of grammatical structures with collaborative and interactive activities, reinforcing cognitive and identity-related aspects of language learning. The use of culturally responsive practices such as karakia and whanaungatanga fosters a positive learning environment and strengthens students’ connection to te reo Māori as a living language.

The plan allows for immediate adjustments based on formative assessments and student feedback, ensuring teaching responsiveness. Interactive digital tools add engagement and reinforce learning retention, appealing to varied learning styles and digital literacy competency.

This detailed, curriculum-aligned lesson plan aims to empower Year 11 students to confidently comprehend and give instructions in te reo Māori, thus contributing to their linguistic proficiency and cultural identity development.

Teaching Instructions