Best for
Teacher modelling, pair annotation, peer discussion, and pre-writing workshops before the Unit 2 assessment.
Unit 2 writing support • Years 8-10 • Exemplar study
Unit 2 Student Exemplar Analysis Workshop
This is not a second copy of the exemplar essay. It is a study sheet that helps ākonga notice what strong counter-narrative writing is doing, why it works, and how to transfer those moves into their own historical writing.
Free exemplar workshop, premium adaptation path
This version is ready to print. Te Wānanga becomes useful when you want the exemplar rewritten for a different phase, a local case study, or a specific writing focus such as introductions, evidence, or conclusions.
- Generate a simpler version with sentence-level scaffolds for younger writers.
- Build a senior version with stronger historiography and source commentary.
- Save your annotated class version into My Kete for reuse and revision.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 20-30 minutes before drafting, or 15 minutes as a revision workshop during writing.
- Grouping: Whole-class modelling first, then pairs or triads for annotation.
- Prep: Decide which writing move you most want students to notice: thesis, evidence integration, Māori agency, or final judgement.
- Teaching move: Make the distinction between “borrowing a move” and copying wording explicit.
- Support / stretch: Support with one highlighted extract; stretch with comparison between this workshop and the proficient exemplar sheet.
Resources already provided
- Short exemplar extracts that are easier to annotate than a full essay
- Prompting around claim, evidence, Māori agency, and historical judgement
- Transfer spaces so students turn noticing into action
- Print-ready note space for pair discussion and revision
- A matching teacher-only curriculum companion
An exemplar only helps if students can actually see why it is strong. This workshop slows that down enough to be useful.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how strong counter-narrative writing makes its argument clear from the start.
- We are learning how evidence and historical judgement work together in an effective essay.
- We are learning how to borrow strong writing moves without copying someone else’s voice.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can identify at least two strong moves in an exemplar extract.
- I can explain why those moves strengthen a counter-narrative.
- I can name one move I will use in my own writing.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
The companion page makes the curriculum fit explicit across English argument work, evidence-based writing, and historical interpretation in Aotearoa histories.
Mātauranga Māori and writing note
A counter-narrative should restore perspective, agency, and historical honesty. Through a mātauranga Māori lens, that means noticing where whakapapa, rangatiratanga, and collective experience have been flattened or ignored. The goal is not to sound dramatic. It is to be accurate, mana-enhancing, and evidence-led.
Extract 1: Opening claim
The common story says Māori resistance was rebellion against legitimate authority. A closer reading of Te Tiriti and Crown policy shows something different: many iwi were defending authority that had never been surrendered in the way the Crown later claimed.
Why it works: The writer names the dominant narrative first, then replaces it with a clear counter-claim.
Extract 2: Evidence and agency
Letters, speeches, and petitions show Māori leaders were not passive recipients of Crown power. They argued, organised, negotiated, and resisted in ways that reveal political strategy rather than confusion or dependency.
Why it works: Evidence is described through action words that foreground Māori agency instead of treating Māori only as victims of events.
Extract 3: Historical judgement
The significance of these events lies not only in what the Crown did, but in how Māori communities kept asserting tino rangatiratanga across changing conditions. That continuity is why the history still matters in current debates about justice and public power.
Why it works: The conclusion goes beyond summary. It states why the history matters now and ties that significance to a wider pattern.
Move 1: Claim
Where does the writer make the main argument obvious? Circle the sentence and explain what it is challenging.
Move 2: Evidence
Which words show that the writer is using evidence to build a point, not just retell facts?
Move 3: Judgement
Which sentence makes the history feel important beyond the past? Explain why that matters.
One opening move I will borrow
One evidence move I still need to strengthen
One sentence I will revise today
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Investigate social, cultural, environmental, and economic questions; gather and evaluate evidence from diverse sources; communicate findings and reasoning clearly for different audiences and purposes.
English — Communication
Level 3–4: Read, interpret, and evaluate information texts; write clearly and purposefully for specific audiences; apply critical thinking skills to evaluate sources and construct well-reasoned responses.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
This resource sits within a kaupapa that recognises mātauranga Māori as a living knowledge system with its own frameworks, values, and ways of understanding the world. The New Zealand Curriculum calls for learning that reflects the bicultural partnership of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which means every subject area has an obligation to engage authentically with Māori perspectives — not as cultural decoration but as substantive contributions to how we understand our topics. The concepts of manaakitanga (care for others), kaitiakitanga (guardianship), whanaungatanga (relationship and belonging), and tino rangatiratanga (self-determination) provide a values framework applicable across all learning areas, and all are relevant to the work in this handout.
Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts
Reflect on what you have learned today. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?
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 develop a decolonized understanding of Aotearoa's history — reading the past through the eyes of tangata whenua, examining primary sources critically, and understanding how colonisation continues to shape the present. This unit centres mana Māori as the starting point, not a footnote.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can analyse a historical source for perspective, reliability, and significance — including identifying whose voices are centred or absent.
- ✅ Students can explain how a specific historical event — such as the NZ Wars, land confiscations, or the Dawn Raids — connects to present-day inequities and Māori-led responses.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide annotated source analysis frames for entry-level access — guiding students through the OPCVL or SOLO process step by step. Offer extension tasks asking students to compare a colonial-era source with a contemporary Māori account of the same event, analysing how the historical narrative has been contested and reclaimed.
ELL / ESOL: Primary source language (particularly 19th-century English) presents specific challenges — pre-read sources with students and pre-teach archaic or specialist vocabulary. Allow students to express historical analysis in their home language first before translating to English. Bilingual glossaries support engagement without reducing intellectual demand. Some ELL students may bring first-hand experience of colonisation from other contexts — honour these as valid comparative perspectives.
Inclusion: Decolonized history can surface difficult emotions for Māori students encountering colonial violence and injustice in the curriculum for the first time. Create a trauma-informed classroom. Neurodiverse learners benefit from chunked tasks and clear analytical scaffolds. Ensure all students understand that the purpose of this unit is not guilt but understanding — and that understanding is the foundation of partnership and change.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Decolonizing history means more than "adding Māori perspectives" — it means recognising that the dominant historical narrative itself is a colonial artefact. Whakapapa is an alternative historical framework: tracing connections, obligations, and continuity across time. The NZ Wars were not distant events — their consequences live in land ownership patterns, economic disparities, and community structures today. Tino rangatiratanga — the right of self-determination — was not surrendered at Waitangi and has been asserted continuously through protest, legislation, and resurgence. Teaching this history is an obligation of Te Tiriti partnership.
Prior knowledge: Students benefit from foundational knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi and its context. No specialist prior knowledge required for entry-level source analysis tasks — scaffolds are provided.
Curriculum alignment
- Aotearoa New Zealand Histories — Know: Understand that colonisation was a global process that had a specific and profound impact on tangata whenua in Aotearoa, and that Māori responses to colonisation have been continuous and varied.
- Do — Social Studies: Explore perspectives, use evidence to form conclusions, and share ideas — analyse primary sources, compare historical perspectives, and present findings.