Teacher Support Materials to Accompany

Stories to Support the Pasifika Learning Languages Series

Resource: I-E-KO-KO! An Introduction to Cook Islands Māori

Introduction
These teacher support materials accompany the six storybooks developed especially to support the
Learning Languages Series resource I-E-KO-KO! An Introduction to Cook Islands Māori. Each story
gives students opportunities to extend their language and cultural knowledge and to practise
reading the target language of specific units in I-E-KO-KO!
These teacher support materials suggest ways in which teachers can use the six storybooks to
foster Cook Islands Mā ori language learning at levels 1 and 2, particularly in the context of the I-E-
KO-KO! programme.
Teachers can use the teaching as inquiry cycle within this programme. You can find this cycle in the
effective pedagogy section on page 35 of The New Zealand Curriculum or at:
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Effective-
pedagogy

I-E-KO-KO! An Introduction to Cook Islands Māori

I-E-KO-KO! is a resource in the Learning Languages Series. It provides a language-teaching
programme that can be used by teachers, including teachers who do not speak Cook Islands Mā ori
or know how to teach languages. I-E-KO-KO! includes:
 twenty units, of three lessons each (two of the twenty are revision units)
 a range of language suitable for years 7–10 at levels 1 and 2 of the curriculum
 video and audio support to engage learners and demonstrate how fluent speakers use the
language
 lesson plans that could be linked to opportunities for learners to enjoy reading Cook Islands
Mā ori texts.
You can link to I-E-KO-KO! at http://pasifika.tki.org.nz/Pasifika-languages/Cook-Islands-Maori

Engaging students with texts

The teacher’s role is to mediate the interactions between the student and the learning materials
and enable the student to meet their learning intention.

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Ko‘ai Tērā?
by Tuaine Robati
This story supports Unit 5 (Tutu akara‘anga/Describing people and things).

Text Features
The language features of this story include:
 repeated use of the question structure Ko‘ai tērā …? and the response structure
Ko ___ tērā …
 words for different family members – tungāne, pāpā, māmā, tuakana
 the sentence structure for stating a person’s age – ‘Ē ta‘i nga‘uru mā varu ōna mata‘iti
 words for colours – matie, kerekere, keukeu.
The cultural features of this story include:
 the setting, a Cook Islands family reunion – putuputu‘anga kōpū tangata
 specific family relationships – tōku tuakana, tungāne … tō‘ou māmā, ‘akatuakana tāua
 the gifting of the shell necklace. In the Cook Islands culture, it is customary to give
something to someone when they admire it, as the narrator does to Rongo in the story.

Supports and Challenges

Students who have completed up to Unit 5 of I-E-KO-KO! may find it easy to:
 read and understand terms for family members (learned in Unit 4)
 identify words for colours (learned in Unit 5)
 identify who or what is being talked about by using the pictures.
These students may find it challenging to:
 understand cultural aspects of the family relationships (pp. 104–106 of
I-E-KO-KO! include relevant information about family roles and relationships)
 understand why the narrator gives Rongo her necklace
 identify and understand terms for clothes.

Planning: Teaching as Inquiry

Consider your students’ interests and their ability to read in Cook Islands Mā ori at this level and
choose activities that provide appropriate content and support. Assess and reflect on the
effectiveness of your teaching and the students’ learning, then plan next steps.

Curriculum Links and Links to I-E-KO-KO! An Introduction to Cook Islands

Māori
The New Zealand Curriculum: Learning Languages
 Students will receive and produce information. (levels 1 and 2)
 Students will make connections with known cultures. (levels 1 and 2)
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Cook Islands Māori in the New Zealand Curriculum
Students should be able to:
 introduce themselves and others (level 1)
 give simple personal information (level 1)
 identify people, places, and things. (level 2)
I-E-KO-KO! An Introduction to Cook Islands Māori
Unit 4: Students will be able to ask others who is in their family and say who is in their own family.
Unit 5: Students will be able to:
 ask “Who is he/she?”
 identify pictures of people by listening to brief descriptions.

A Possible Teaching Goal

Students will be able to create a family tree that includes all the people named in the story and
identify their relationships to one another. They will also be able to write a description of a
putuputu‘anga kōpū tangata.

Learning Activities
Before Reading

Prior knowledge
Establish the students’ prior knowledge of family reunions by asking questions such as:
 What is a family reunion?
 Has anyone been to a family reunion?
 What happens at a putuputu‘anga kōpū tangata? (Introduce this phrase.)
 Hand out photocopied outline maps of New Zealand and of the world. Have each student
record, on these maps, where the different branches of their families live. The students can
share this information in groups.
 Quickly revise the words for colours from Unit 5. Then revise terms for family relationships
(from Unit 4), such as tōku tuakana and tungāne … tō‘ou māmā. Students can use these to
discuss their own families with a partner.

Pronunciation of new language

Check the words in the glossary (on the inside back cover of the book), which may be new to you. If
possible, ask a native speaker of Cook Islands Mā ori to model the correct pronunciation of any
unfamiliar words for you and the students. This person could read the story to you and the class as
the first reading, or you could record them reading it and play it to the class.

Introducing the book

Ask the students what they think the picture on the front cover is telling them and where they think
the story is set. They could record their predictions for later reference.

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Learning Intentions
Share the learning intentions and discuss them with your students. Some examples of possible
learning intentions are given below.
After reading the text, I will be able to:
 describe a putuputu‘anga kōpū tangata
 introduce myself and members of my extended family
 write sentences using words such as tōku tuakana, tungāne, pāpā, and māmā to ask and
answer questions about the relationships of people in the story
 ask and answer questions about the colours of people’s clothes and hair
 identify the relationships of people featured in a family tree
 discuss the value of gift-giving in the Cook Islands culture.
Talk about how the students will know they have met the learning intentions, and decide on success
criteria together.

Reading the text

Read the story aloud to the students, beginning with the text on the outside front cover. To confirm
that the students have a clear understanding of the story, pause on every page to ask questions. For
example:
Page 2: Ask the students if their prediction about the setting was correct and what they think is
happening in the picture.
Page 3: Focus on the following words and discuss them with the students – Autereria, tungāne.
Page 5: Ask the question Ko‘ai tērā? while pointing to Ngā tamā ‘ine. The students respond by saying
Ko Ngātamā‘ine tērā. Discuss or revise the question-and-answer structure.
Page 8: Discuss or revise the question-and-answer structure Tei ‘ea tō‘ou _____? (Where is your
_____?) Ko tōku _____ tērā/tēnā (My _____ is there/here).
Page 10: Prompt the students to identify and describe the ‘ei-pārau in the picture.
Page 12: Read the text: Kua ‘ōake atu au ‘i tōku ‘ei-pārau. Discuss why the narrator gave the
necklace to Rongo and ask the students if they would do this. Talk about the importance of gift-
giving in the Cook Islands culture and in other cultures that the students know of. If possible, draw
out students’ prior knowledge that it is common for Cook Islands people to gift an item to someone
who admires it. Provide this information if necessary.
After the first reading, go through the text page by page again with the class. Prompt the students to
use the illustrations and the words they know to work out what each page means. Write key
phrases on the whiteboard.
Invite students to read the story aloud with a partner, with one reading the narrator’s part and one
reading Rongo’s. Their goal is to read fluently, with correct pronunciation and expression. Each can
give their partner feedback on this.

After Reading
Ask the students to share what they liked about the story, or about their partner’s reading.

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Talk about the differences and similarities between Cook Islands families and those in other
cultures that the students know. Talk about the family relationship between Rongo and the
narrator. Discuss the differences in meaning between the words brother, sister, cousin and the
words tuakana, teina, tungāne, tua‘ine. Compare them with equivalent terms in other known
languages.

Think, Pair, Share

Prompt the students to share with their partners what they know about the different people in the
story and their relationship to the narrator. Give each pair a card with the names of each person in
the story down the left-hand column and the relationship terms down the right-hand column. Each
pair matches each person with the correct relationship to the narrator and shares some of this
information with the class in Cook Islands Mā ori sentences.
Name Relationship to narrator
Rongo Ko tō ku tuakana
Ngā tamā ‘ine
Tiaki

Family trees
Have the students work in pairs to revise their “family tree” language from Unit 4 of
I-E-KO-KO! Each partner displays their own personal family tree. One asks the question “Ko‘ai tērā?”
while pointing to a name on their partner’s family tree. The second student answers using the
relevant relationship term, for example,
“Ko _____” or Ka ‘akatuakana au _____”.
Each pair then draws a similar family tree that shows Rongo, the narrator, and their mothers and
fathers. Under the tree, the students write sentences using the terms tuakana, tungāne, pāpā, and
māmā to describe the relationships of the characters in the story.
Students can then add more people to the tree and ask their partners more complex questions. For
example:
Q: Ko‘ai te pāpā o [name]?
A: Ko _____ te pāpā o [name].
Q: Ko‘ai te tuakana o [name]?
A: Ko _____ te tuakana o [name].

Class discussions
As a class, talk about the place of gifts in our family life. Who do we give gifts to, when, and why?
How do we feel when we give them and when we receive them? How does the narrator’s gift to
Rongo compare with gifting in cultures that the students know? Have the students find ways of
recording some of the values associated with giving in Cook Islands and other cultures. Make links

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to other special occasions, such as weddings and hair-cutting ceremonies, and describe the typical
gifts given at these occasions.
As a class, share what you know about family reunions. Create a class mind map around the concept
of a putuputu‘anga kōpū tangata. The students can use the mind map to write their own short
description of a putuputu‘anga kōpū tangata.

Role Plays
In groups, students can take on various roles and introduce themselves and various members of
their extended family, using Cook Islands Mā ori.
Each group could then prepare a short play that involves asking and answering questions about the
colours of people’s clothes and hair. As they present their play to the rest of the class, each student
says who they are in the play and what their relationship to another character is.

Reflecting on the Learning

Have the students refer to their learning intentions and reflect individually about (or discuss in
pairs) whether they have fulfilled the intentions. Ask the students questions such as:
 What helped you understand the story?
 How can you use the new language and remember it?
 What have you learned about being part of a family in the Cook Islands culture?
 What have you learned about giving gifts in the Cook Islands culture?
 What do you think are the next steps in your learning?
The students could record this information.

English version of the story

Who’s That?
[page 2]
We went to Rarotonga for our family reunion.

[page 3]
I met Rongo from Australia. Her mother is my dad’s sister.

[page 4]
Rongo wanted to know some names.
“Who’s that in the green dress?” asked Rongo.

[page 5]
“That’s my older sister, Ngā tamā ‘ine,” I told her. “She’s eighteen years old.”

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[page 6]
“Who’s that in the black shorts?” asked Rongo.

[page 7]
“That’s my dad, Tiaki,” I told her. “He’s your mum’s brother.”

[page 8]
“Where’s your mum?” asked Rongo.

[page 9]
“That’s my mum – the woman with red hair,” I said.

[page 10]
“Who’s that with a mother-of-pearl necklace just like yours?” asked Rongo.

[page 11]
“That’s Poko‘ina. She’s our older cousin – yours and mine,” I said.
“That’s very pretty, the necklace!” said Rongo.

[page 12]
I gave Rongo my necklace.

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