Voices Across Generations

Overview

This is lesson 4 of 6 in Every Voice Matters. Students explore how people, places, stories and choices connect across generations, using simple oral histories and images. They create a “voice pathway” showing how a person from the past can influence life today.

Learning intentions

• WALT listen to and retell a simple story from the past.
• WALT identify connections between people, places and experiences across generations.
• WALT show how an earlier person’s actions or ideas can influence choices today.
• WALT listen respectfully when others share their stories and perspectives.

Success criteria

• I can name or describe a person from the past and something they did, valued or experienced.
• I can connect that person or story to life today.
• I can create a pathway using pictures, words or oral explanation.
• I can listen carefully and show respect for different whānau and community stories.

Curriculum links

• Civics and Society — belonging and community: explaining how being part of a group shapes experiences and belonging.
• Social Sciences — exploring sources that show how societies change over time and how people interact with places and environments.
• Social Sciences — using historical narratives, images and timelines to communicate learning.
• Key competencies: relating to others, managing self, participating and contributing, and understanding language, symbols and texts.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Connect to prior learning. Teacher welcomes students, briefly recalls the unit idea that every person’s voice matters, and opens the introduction slides to show a family or community photograph spanning two generations. Students quietly notice details, then turn and talk: “What might be different? What might be the same?”

2. 4–9 min · Hear a story. Teacher shares a short, age-appropriate oral history, such as a kaumātua describing learning a traditional skill from an older relative, or a grandparent explaining why they helped create a local garden or community space. Make clear that whānau have many different histories and that students may choose a trusted adult, community member or well-known local person for their own pathway. Students listen for who the person was, what they did, and how the story connects with life today.

3. 9–13 min · Build a pathway together. Teacher returns to the pathway example slides and models a three-part pathway: “Aunty Mere planted native trees” → “the trees grew and provided shade” → “people today care for and enjoy the place.” Use arrows and explain that a pathway is a connection, not necessarily a straight line. Students help identify the past voice, action or value, and present-day influence.

4. 13–23 min · Create voice pathways. Teacher distributes the voice pathway worksheet and explains that children may draw, label, dictate or use a shared class story. The worksheet includes three connected spaces: “Someone from before”, “What they did or believed”, and “How this connects to me or people today”. Students work independently or with a partner, adding arrows, pictures and a sentence or oral explanation. Teacher conferences with individuals using prompts: “Who is your person?”, “What did they do?”, and “What changed or continues because of them?”

5. 23–27 min · Share with a partner. Teacher asks students to practise sharing their pathway with a partner, reminding listeners to face the speaker, wait, and respond with “I noticed…” or “I wonder…”. Students share their pathway and identify one connection between their partner’s story and their own life, class or community.

6. 27–30 min · Plenary and exit reflection. Teacher displays the sharing and reflection slides and asks: “How can a voice from the past still be heard today?” Invite two or three responses. Students complete an oral or drawn reflection: “A voice from before matters today because…” Teacher collects worksheets and notes children who can explain a past-to-present connection.

Resources

• the introduction slides, including the photograph hook, oral-history illustration, model pathway, instructions and reflection prompts
• the voice pathway worksheet
• Teacher-selected local or whānau photograph, with permission where appropriate
• Short teacher-read oral history or recorded story with permission
• Pencils, crayons and coloured pencils
• Whiteboard or modelling paper
• Optional classroom map or image of a familiar local place

Assessment

• Listen during the opening discussion for students’ ability to notice similarities and differences between generations.
• During pathway creation, check whether each student can identify a past person or voice, describe an action or value, and explain a present-day connection.
• Use the final sentence, drawing or oral response as an exit check. Record whether the student makes a clear past-to-present link, with support, or independently.

Differentiation

• Provide picture choices, a completed example, oral rehearsal and sentence starters: “Before, ___”; “They ___”; “Today, ___.”
• Allow students to choose a whānau member, friend, kaumātua, community helper or historical figure. No child needs to share private family information; a fictionalised or class story is acceptable.
• Scribe children’s words, accept drawings and oral explanations, and pair students strategically for language, hearing, attention or fine-motor support.
• For English language learners, pre-teach “before”, “today”, “voice”, “influence” and “because” with gestures and images. Invite students to use home-language words and explain meanings to a partner.
• Encourage confident students to add a fourth step showing how their own future choices could carry the voice or value forward.