📚 Unit Plans → 🌿 Unit 11: Te Reo Māori Foundations → 📖 Lesson 4: Whānau Connections
Years 9–10 Hauora / Health & PE

Unit 11 Lesson 4: Whānau Connections

Unit 11 Lesson 4: Whānau Connections - Relationships and Questions: Building whānau vocabulary, relationships, and question forms. Free NZ curriculum resource f

Unit 11: Te Reo Māori Foundations — Kōrerotia, Whakarongo, Whakaatu

Building whānau vocabulary, relationships, and question forms.

1 He Tīmatanga
2 Ko Wai Au?
3 Tikanga in Kōrerorero
4 Whānau Connections
5 Kōrerorero o Ia Rā

🎯 Learning Objectives & Success Criteria

By the end of this lesson, ākonga will be able to:

  • Use whānau vocabulary to describe relationships.
  • Ask and answer basic questions about family.
  • Connect whānau kōrero to their pepeha.

Success Criteria

  • ✓ Correct use of whānau terms in a sentence
  • ✓ At least one question formed with "Ko wai?" or "He aha?"
  • ✓ Clear connection between whānau and identity

Ngā Mahi - Lesson Flow (65 minutes)

1. Whānau Word Wall (15 mins)

Collaborative vocabulary

Build a whānau word wall together (māmā, pāpā, tuakana, teina, whaea, matua). Students add translations and example sentences.

2. Pātai Practice (25 mins)

Question stems + pair kōrero

Teach simple question stems: Ko wai? He aha? Kei hea? Students practise asking and answering about whānau members.

  • Example: Ko wai tō māmā? Ko ____ tōku māmā.
  • Extend with location or roles (He kaiako ia).

3. Kōrero Role Play (20 mins)

Role cards

Use the role cards to practise short whānau conversations. Encourage students to include a question and a response with whānau vocabulary.

Whakamutunga: Exit Reflection (5 mins)

Short written reflection

Exit ticket: Write one whānau sentence and one question you can ask at home.

📊 Assessment Notes

  • Formative check: listen for correct whānau terms and question structure.
  • Collect: exit ticket sentences to inform next lesson.

🧺 Resources & Materials

📺 Related Videos

Kaiako Planning Snapshot

Te Reo Māori — Language Foundations — Years 9–10

Curriculum alignment: Te Mataiaho | Te Reo Māori — Oral language, identity, and cultural connection (Years 9–10). Achievement Objective: Students use te reo Māori in a range of communicative contexts with increasing fluency.

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga — Learning Intentions

  • Produce and respond to key kupu and phrases in te reo Māori with correct pronunciation and intonation
  • Use te reo Māori in meaningful social contexts: greetings, pepeha, whānau, and everyday kōrero
  • Connect language learning to cultural identity, whanaungatanga, and a sense of belonging

Inclusion & Accessibility

ESOL/ELL: celebrate multilingualism — reo Māori may be a third language; draw on transfer strategies. Neurodiverse learners: allow oral responses and movement-based language activities. Accessibility: audio recordings of all target kupu available; provide printed word-and-image cards.