Best for
Week-one class culture, daily warm-ups, oral language rotations, and any class starting a basic te reo routine.
Te Reo Maori • Oral language starter • Years 4-10 • Ready to use tomorrow
Te Reo Maori Greetings and Introductions
Use this handout to build confident everyday korero. It gives kaiako a short phrase bank, a mini dialogue, and a simple meet-and-greet routine so te reo can become part of the classroom day rather than a one-off activity.
Free classroom starter, premium adaptation path
This handout is ready to print and use as-is. If you want a version adapted for your kura values, local place names, senior learners, or bilingual classroom routines, Te Wananga can rebuild it without losing the tikanga and oral-language focus.
- Swap in your own class, rohe, or school-specific greetings.
- Create a simpler junior version or a more formal mihi practice version.
- Save the adapted version and reopen it later in My Kete or Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 15-25 minutes as a warm-up, or a full lesson if you build in pair rehearsal and reflection.
- Grouping: Start whole class, then move into pairs or a speaking circle.
- Prep: Decide whether students will use their own rohe/place names and have the pronunciation guide available if confidence is still building.
- Teaching move: Keep the pace brisk and normalise repetition so students treat te reo as everyday classroom language.
Resources already provided
- Core greeting phrase bank
- Introduction question frames
- Mini dialogue model
- Short pair-practice routine
- Curriculum companion for planning clarity
If the lesson asks students to greet, introduce, or rehearse a short exchange, the phrase support already exists here.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning to greet others respectfully in te reo Maori.
- We are learning to introduce ourselves using short sentence frames.
- We are learning to take part in a simple two-way conversation.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can choose an appropriate greeting and say it clearly.
- I can ask and answer a basic introduction question.
- I can take part in a short dialogue without switching straight back to English.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
Use the companion page to make the curriculum intent explicit around oral language, relationship-building, and everyday classroom use of te reo Maori.
Why this matters in Aotearoa
Greetings are not just transactional language. In Aotearoa classrooms they are part of manaakitanga, belonging, and normalising te reo Maori as a living language. Small, repeated daily routines often do more for confidence than one isolated language week activity.
Introduction
Greetings are a way to show manaakitanga and connect with people. Start with short phrases, model them clearly, and build confidence through repetition.
Greetings
Kia ora
Hello, thank you, or a general greeting.
Morena / Ata marie
Good morning.
Tena koe
Hello to one person.
Introductions
- Ko wai to ingoa? What is your name?
- Ko ___ ahau. My name is ___.
- No hea koe? Where are you from?
- No ___ ahau. I am from ___.
Mini dialogue
A: Kia ora. Ko wai to ingoa?
B: Kia ora. Ko Rangi ahau. No hea koe?
A: No Tamaki Makaurau ahau.
B: Ka pai. Ka kite ano.
Practice activity
Meet and greet
- Pair up and practise the mini dialogue once through with the model in front of you.
- Swap names and places so you create a second version from memory.
- Choose one partner pair to share their version with the class.
My korero practice / Taku korero
Write one greeting, one question, and one full reply you want to remember for tomorrow's classroom routine.
If students are ready for stretch, ask them to add a second version using a different greeting or place name.
Teach this tomorrow
Print / share
- One copy per pair or table group
- The pronunciation guide if students are new to macrons and vowel sounds
Decide before class
- Whether students will use real place names or a model example first
- Whether you want pair talk, circle introductions, or a quick exit routine
Good progress looks like
- Students can complete a short exchange without freezing
- Pronunciation improves because the language is spoken aloud, not only copied
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how Māori cultural practices, values, and whakapapa shape identity and community; recognise the significance of te Tiriti o Waitangi and the contribution of Māori culture to Aotearoa New Zealand's national identity.
Te Reo Māori — Language and Culture
Level 3–4: Use te reo Māori to express cultural concepts, identity, and relationships with accuracy and respect; understand the significance of Māori language as a taonga and its role in sustaining mātauranga Māori.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
This resource engages directly with te ao Māori as its subject — the values, practices, language, and worldview that have sustained Māori communities across centuries of challenge and change. Mātauranga Māori is not a supplement to this learning: it is the source. Students approaching this material are invited to engage with it not as outside observers studying a foreign culture, but as people in relationship with a living knowledge tradition that shapes the place they live, the language they may speak, and the obligations they carry as tāngata o Aotearoa — people of this land. That relationship calls for care, curiosity, and respect for knowledge-holders who carry what no textbook can fully contain.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to deepen understanding of Te Ao Māori — exploring whakapapa, tikanga, and cultural identity as living systems that shape who we are in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can explain key concepts from this resource using their own words.
- ✅ Students can connect tikanga Māori and whakapapa to real-world examples in Aotearoa.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters, visual glossaries, or graphic organisers to give entry-level access for students who need additional support. Offer extension tasks that deepen cultural inquiry — for example, exploring local hapū histories or interviewing a kaumātua.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key kupu Māori (whakapapa, tikanga, mana, mauri) with bilingual glossaries where available. Allow students to respond in their home language as a bridge to English expression.
Inclusion: Use accessible formats — clear headings, adequate whitespace, chunked tasks. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured choice in how they demonstrate understanding (oral, visual, written). Acknowledge that students may hold personal connections to the cultural content.
Mātauranga Māori lens: This unit centres Te Ao Māori as a living knowledge system. Whakapapa is not merely genealogy but a relational framework linking people, place, and time. Tikanga grounds behaviour in kaupapa Māori principles. Approach content with aroha and manaakitanga.
Prior knowledge: No specialist prior knowledge required for entry-level engagement. Best used after relevant lesson sequences, or as a standalone introduction to cultural identity.
Curriculum alignment
- Identity, Culture, and Organisation: Understand how cultural identity shapes participation in society — whakapapa, tikanga, and mana as foundations of Māori identity in Aotearoa New Zealand.