Lesson 5: Helping Each Other
What real help looks like — close to home and far away
Duration: 60 minutes | Year level: Years 7–8 | Subject: Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi
Lesson at a Glance
"Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi" — With your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive.
In Lesson 3 we saw peoples stand together. Today we ask a closer question: what makes help real? Sometimes people say nice words but do nothing. Real help — the kind that grows a genuine connection, or whakawhanaungatanga — takes listening, time, and showing up. We'll learn to tell the difference, and start thinking about who we could help.
What We Are Learning (Ngā Whāinga Ako)
I am learning to…
- tell the difference between real help and empty words
- describe how you build a genuine connection (whakawhanaungatanga)
- plan one real way I could help or connect with a group
I will know I can do this when…
- I can give one example of real help and one of empty help
- I can name two things that build a genuine connection
- I can finish: "One real way I could help is ______."
Lesson Structure
Do Now: When someone really helped you (10 minutes)
Think of a time someone really helped you — not just said "that's too bad," but actually did something. What did they do? How was it different from someone just saying nice words?
Pair-share: tell your partner the one thing that made it feel real.
Activity 1: Real Help or Just Words? (20 minutes)
With your group, read each example. Sort it into Real Help or Just Words, and be ready to say why.
| Example | Real help or just words? |
|---|---|
| Liking a sad post, then scrolling on. | ______ |
| Learning a group's story and telling others so more people care. | ______ |
| Turning up to help clean a marae or a beach. | ______ |
| Saying "that's terrible" and doing nothing. | ______ |
| Raising koha (a gift) to support a community in need. | ______ |
Group talk: what do all the "real help" examples have in common?
Activity 2: Building a Real Connection (15 minutes)
Māori have a word for building a genuine relationship: whakawhanaungatanga. It doesn't happen in one click — it grows. Here are four things that build it. Rank them 1–4 for how important you think each is, then compare with a partner.
Listen
Find out what the other group actually needs — don't assume.
Learn their story
Take time to understand who they are and what matters to them.
Show up
Keep turning up, not just once for a photo.
Give and receive
Real connection goes both ways — you help them, they teach you.
Activity 3: Who could we help? (start your thinking for the project)
In your books, jot a quick plan. This helps you get ready for the Connections Project in Lesson 7.
- A group or people I care about: ______
- One real thing I could do to help or connect (not just words): ______
- One way I could make it whakawhanaungatanga — a two-way connection: ______
Whakamutunga — Wrap-up (5 minutes)
Exit ticket: One example of real help is ______. Two things that build a genuine connection are ______ and ______. One real way I could help is ______.
Assessment & Differentiation
How to check learning (formative)
- Sorting task: can students explain why an example is real help or empty words?
- Ranking + talk: can they name what builds a genuine connection?
- Project plan: is their idea a real action, not just a nice thought?
Differentiation (Years 7–8)
- Need more support: sort the examples as a class first; give a starter for the project plan.
- Ready for more: add two more examples to the sorting table — one real, one empty.
- Belonging: honour the ways students already help others in their whānau and community.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Fifth lesson of the Years 7–8 Global Connections unit. Where Lesson 3 showed examples of peoples standing together, this lesson asks what makes help genuine — a junior, concrete take on the difference between real solidarity and performative gestures. It introduces whakawhanaungatanga as an active, two-way process, and its planning task deliberately sets up the Lesson 7 project.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Keep it concrete and personal: the strongest discussions come from students' own experiences of being genuinely helped. Avoid abstract debate about "allyship" — stay with what real help looks and feels like.
Mātauranga Māori lens: whakawhanaungatanga is presented as something you do over time, not a one-off — reciprocity (giving and receiving) is central.
Curriculum alignment
- Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi — Phase 3 (Years 7–8): how people and communities take genuine action to support one another, and what makes relationships between groups authentic. (Verbatim Te Mātaiaho statement to be confirmed by the curriculum verification lane — cited here at learning-area + phase level.)