🎉 Pepeha Presentation Day
Celebrate your identity — share your story!
Tēnā koutou katoa!
Today we celebrate who we are, where we come from, and what connects us.
📚 Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
WALT:
- Present our pepeha or mihimihi to the class
- Speak clearly with correct pronunciation
- Stand with confidence and mana
- Listen respectfully and support our classmates
📋 Presentation Day Flow (60+ mins)
🌅 Preparation Time (10 mins)
- Final practice in pairs
- Calm breathing: "Breathe in through your puku, out through your mouth"
- Reminder: This is a celebration, not a test!
- Stand tall — you're sharing who YOU are
- Look at your audience (not the floor)
- Speak slowly and clearly
- It's okay to make mistakes — just keep going!
🎤 Presentations (40+ mins)
Format:
- Student comes to the front (or stays seated if more comfortable)
- Says their pepeha or mihimihi
- Class responds: "Tēnā koe, [Name]!"
- (Optional) Student adds something personal: "I chose this maunga because..."
- Class applauds 👏
Recording Option:
With permission, record each student's presentation. They can:
- Take it home to show whānau
- Add it to a digital portfolio
- Watch their own progress over time
💬 Peer Feedback (during presentations)
Give each student a Peer Feedback Form.
They write ONE positive comment for each presenter:
- "I liked how you..."
- "Your pronunciation of [word] was really clear."
- "I learned that you..."
- "Your confidence was inspiring!"
🎉 Whakanui — Celebration (10 mins)
After all presentations:
- Whakamoemiti (acknowledgement) — teacher thanks all presenters
- Share peer feedback cards
- Optional: Class photo with everyone's maunga named
- Optional: Kai (food) to celebrate!
"Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi."
With your basket and my basket, the people will thrive.
📋 Assessment Rubric
Use the Presentation Rubric to assess. Key criteria:
| Criteria | Beginning | Developing | Achieved | Excellence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content | 1-2 lines | 3-4 lines | 5-6 lines | 7+ lines + extra detail |
| Pronunciation | Needs support | Some errors | Mostly clear | Excellent, clear |
| Confidence | Hesitant | Growing | Confident | Mana-filled! |
| Connection | Basic | Some meaning | Meaningful | Deep personal connection |
🚀 What's Next?
Now that you have your pepeha, you can:
- Share it at school assemblies, pōwhiri, and special events
- Teach your whānau your pepeha
- Learn more about your iwi and whakapapa
- Move on to Kōrero 5: Te Wā (Time and Events) or Kōrero 6: Te Mihi (Formal Mihi)
Ka rawe! — Awesome!
You've completed Kōrero 4: Tōku Pepeha! 🎉
👩🏫 Teacher Notes
- Consider inviting whānau to this lesson — it's a celebration!
- Some students may prefer private recording rather than presenting to the whole class — offer this option.
- Send recordings home with students (with permission) for whānau to see.
- This could align with Māori Language Week (Te Wiki o te Reo Māori) if timing works.
- Consider creating a "Pepeha Wall" display in the classroom or school.
🎬 Media Anchor (8 mins)
Media Anchor: Presentation Confidence and Mana
- Which speaking move in the video could improve your own presentation delivery?
- Set one confidence goal before you present your pepeha.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to craft and perform their personal pepeha — the traditional introduction that locates a person within their whakapapa, connecting maunga, awa, waka, iwi, hapū, and ingoa. Pepeha is one of the most important communicative acts in Te Ao Māori: it establishes identity, relationship, and belonging.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can recite or write their personal pepeha using the correct structural elements with accurate pronunciation.
- ✅ Students can explain the significance of each element of their pepeha — why maunga, awa, waka, iwi, hapū, and ingoa matter as identity markers.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide pepeha sentence frames with blanks for students to complete at the entry level. For students without known iwi or whakapapa connections — due to adoption, Pākehā or non-Māori heritage, or other circumstances — offer a mihimihi alternative that connects to their place, school, and whānau. Extend students who have completed their pepeha by asking them to research the history and significance of their maunga or awa.
ELL / ESOL: Pepeha is a context where home-language connection is a strength, not a barrier — encourage students to reflect on equivalent identity-introduction forms in their own cultural traditions. Pre-teach key kupu (maunga = mountain, awa = river, waka = canoe/ancestral vessel, iwi = tribe, hapū = subtribe, ingoa = name). Model pronunciation using te reo Māori audio resources.
Inclusion: Some students may have complex relationships to identity — adoption, disconnection from whakapapa, or non-Māori backgrounds. Create a safe, non-judgemental space where all identity expressions are honoured. Neurodiverse learners benefit from visual pepeha maps (name → maunga → awa → waka → iwi → hapū → ingoa as a connected diagram). Oral performance can be adapted — some students may prefer written or recorded formats.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Pepeha is not a language exercise — it is a relational and philosophical act. It expresses the understanding that people do not exist as isolated individuals: we are located in landscape, whakapapa, and community. Ko au ko te maunga, ko te maunga ko au — I am the mountain, the mountain is me. This reciprocal relationship between person and place is foundational to Te Ao Māori. Teaching pepeha is teaching identity, belonging, and mana.
Prior knowledge: No prior te reo Māori knowledge required. Students benefit from a brief class discussion about identity and what makes us who we are before beginning their pepeha.
Curriculum alignment
- Te Reo Māori — Communicating: Introduce themselves and others using personal information, including pepeha and mihimihi, drawing on knowledge of their own identity and connections to place.
- Identity, Culture, and Organisation: Understand how identity is shaped by connections to place, whakapapa, and cultural community — and how these connections are expressed through tikanga Māori.