Awa Poster Planner
Mahere Papaaho · Plan Before You Design — Know Your Message Before You Pick Up a Pen
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions
- Plan a persuasive poster BEFORE you design it — strong posters start with clear thinking, not pretty fonts
- Choose your audience deliberately, then shape your message and call-to-action for that specific person
- Select and arrange your three strongest pieces of evidence so they tell a connected story
- Use kupu Māori in headings and labels — not as decoration, but as part of the argument
Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria
- I can name my audience specifically — not "everyone" but "parents at school assembly"
- I have one clear message stated in one sentence — not a topic, a claim
- I have three pieces of evidence — data, quote, and observation — each with an explanation
- My call-to-action is specific and realistic — not "save the awa" but "sign the petition at this link"
- I have planned where kupu Māori will appear and what role they play in my poster
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Level 3–4: plan and create written texts for specific audiences and purposes; select language features, structures, and visual elements that effectively convey the intended message; evaluate choices against the purpose.
Planning before creating is a metacognitive skill — thinking about how you will present information before you produce it. Students who plan produce stronger work. This planner makes that thinking visible and reviewable by both student and teacher before any design time is invested.
Āpitihanga 1 · Step 1 — Who Is Your Poster For?
Name a specific audience. Your message and call-to-action will change depending on who you're talking to. A poster for parents at assembly is different from one for council members — even if it's about the same awa.
My audience is:
Where will they see this poster? (school corridor / assembly hall / community notice board)
What do they already know about the awa?
What do I want them to FEEL? (concerned / motivated / proud / informed)
Āpitihanga 2 · Step 2 — What Is Your Message?
A message is not a topic. "Our awa" is a topic. "Our awa needs us to act now before the kōura disappear completely" is a message. Write your message as ONE sentence — a claim your evidence will support.
My one-sentence message:
My specific call-to-action (what can my audience actually do?):
Āpitihanga 3 · Step 3 — Your Three Key Points
Choose three pieces of evidence from your Evidence Gallery. Mix types: data + quote + observation is stronger than three data points. For each, write what it is AND what it means.
Āpitihanga 4 · Step 4 — Kupu Māori in Your Poster
Te reo Māori belongs in headings, labels, and the call-to-action — not as small decoration in the corner. Use the reference kupu below, or add your own from the interview.
Kupu I will use and where:
Heading:
Labels / captions:
Call-to-action:
Āpitihanga 5 · Step 5 — Sketch Your Layout
Plan where things will go BEFORE you start. The most important thing (message + CTA) should be the first thing a viewer's eye lands on. This is a starting template — rearrange to suit your design.
My design notes (colours, fonts, special features):
Tauira Mahere · Exemplar Poster Plan
Exemplar — Hēmi's Plan for the Mangakōtukutuku Stream Poster
Audience: Parents and whānau at school assembly — they pass the awa daily but don't know about the pH data. They care about the school and the community.
Message: The Mangakōtukutuku Stream has 3× more litter near the stormwater drain than upstream, and the water is getting more acidic every year — but we can reverse this if our community acts now.
Call-to-action: Sign our petition to the local council for a litter trap at the drain — form at the school office, closes Friday.
Key points:
1. pH 7.1 upstream vs 6.2 downstream — the drain is the cause, not just the effect (data)
2. "The awa used to sing. Now it just whispers." — Whaea Aroha (60 years of watching) (quote)
3. Photo of 22 litter items at site 2 — visible, concrete, audience can relate (observation)
Kupu planned: Heading "Tiakina Tō Awa" / labels "pH awa / awaawa" / CTA "Tautoko mai — sign to support"
Ārowhai Angitu · Poster Plan Success Check
Complete this BEFORE you start making your poster. If any box is empty, fix your plan first.
One thing about my plan I'm still unsure about:
Feedback from my kaiako or peer on this plan:
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
In te ao Māori, planning before you speak — and before you create — is a form of tūāhurutanga: the quality of careful, grounded preparation. A rangatira does not stand to speak without knowing what they will say and why. The marae is not built without a plan — the carvings, the wharenui, the paepae are all placed with purpose. Your poster is a form of that deliberate creation. Every element should be there because it serves your message, your audience, and your awa.
The principle of kaitiakitanga applies here too: you are a guardian of the evidence you have gathered. The kaumātua who shared their knowledge, the pH reading that took careful measurement, the photo that captures the awa as it actually is — these are taonga. Your poster is the vessel that carries them to your audience. Plan well, so the taonga are held well.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
Resources already provided:
- This planner — complete it BEFORE starting your poster design
- Poster Rubric (awa-poster-rubric.html) — read the rubric before planning so you know what Exceeding looks like
- Evidence Gallery (awa-evidence-gallery.html) — your curated evidence to choose from for the three key points
- Poster Exemplar (awa-exemplar-poster.html) — see what a completed Exceeding poster looks like
Aronga Rerekē · Differentiated Pathways
Tīmata · Entry Level
Complete Steps 1–3 (audience, message, three key points). Use the layout sketch template as-is. Choose one kupu Māori for your heading. Check three boxes on the success check.
Paerewa · On Level
Complete all five steps and the success check. Have your plan reviewed by a peer before starting your poster. Use the exemplar plan to check that your plan has the same level of specificity.
Tūāpae · Extension
Complete all steps. Then write a short paragraph: "Why did I choose this audience, and how did that choice shape every other decision in this plan?" This is the thinking that distinguishes a deliberately designed poster from one that just looks nice. Your plan should be able to justify every element to a critic.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will explore awa (river/water) as taonga, developing understanding of kaitiakitanga through water guardianship — connecting indigenous environmental knowledge with scientific and civic action.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can explain the significance of awa in te ao Māori and their local community.
- ✅ Students can identify actions that reflect kaitiaki responsibilities for local waterways.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters and graphic organisers for inquiry tasks. Offer entry-level observation activities and extension challenges involving community advocacy or environmental data analysis.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key te reo Māori terms (awa, kaitiaki, wāhi tapu, tūrangawaewae). Allow visual and diagrammatic responses. Bilingual glossaries strongly recommended.
Inclusion: Connect to students' own waterways and places of belonging. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured field investigation templates and clear step-by-step inquiry protocols.