Lesson 6: Telling Our Own Stories
How peoples keep their identity strong — and why who tells the story matters
Duration: 60 minutes | Year level: Years 7–8 | Subject: Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi
Lesson at a Glance
"Ngā kōrero tuku iho" — the stories handed down to us.
Peoples keep who they are alive by telling their own stories — in their language, their songs, their carvings, their dance. In this lesson we look at how Māori and other peoples pass on their stories, and we think about something important: it matters who gets to tell a story. When a people tells its own story, the story stays true to them.
What We Are Learning (Ngā Whāinga Ako)
I am learning to…
- name ways peoples pass on their stories
- explain why it matters that a people tells its own story
- tell a short story that matters to me, in my own way
I will know I can do this when…
- I can name two ways stories are passed on
- I can explain why the storyteller matters
- I have shared a short story of my own
Lesson Structure
Do Now: A story from your whānau (10 minutes)
Think of a story your whānau tells — about a person, a place, or something that happened. Who usually tells it? How do you know it is true to your family?
Pair-share: tell your partner who the storyteller is in your whānau.
Activity 1: How Peoples Keep Their Stories (20 minutes)
Peoples pass their stories on in many ways — not only in writing. Match each way to what it can carry.
Pūrākau
Stories and legends that carry knowledge and values across generations.
Waiata
Songs that hold history, feelings, and whakapapa.
Whakairo
Carvings that record tūpuna and events in wood.
Kapa haka & dance
Movement that tells a story — like hula for Hawaiian peoples.
Group talk: what can a carving or a song do that a written page might miss?
Activity 2: Whose Story Is It? (15 minutes)
Here is a big idea, told simply. Imagine two people describe the same marae visit: one is a manuhiri (visitor) who has never been before, the other is a member of that marae. Both stories are about the same day — but they will be different.
Discuss with a partner:
- Whose story would know the tikanga, the names, and the meaning best?
- Why does it matter that peoples get to tell their own stories, in their own words?
- What can go wrong when someone tells a story that isn't theirs to tell?
Whakamutunga — Wrap-up: Tell it your way (5 minutes)
In one or two sentences, tell a short true story about something you know well — your street, your team, your kai. Tell it your way. Share it with a partner.
Exit ticket: Two ways peoples pass on stories are ______ and ______. It matters who tells a story because ______.
Assessment & Differentiation
How to check learning (formative)
- Ways-of-storytelling activity: can students name modes beyond writing?
- Whose-story discussion: can they explain why the storyteller's perspective matters?
- Tell-it-your-way + exit ticket: can they tell a short story and state why it matters who tells it?
Differentiation (Years 7–8)
- Need more support: let students draw or speak their story instead of writing; model one first.
- Ready for more: find one example of a people telling their own story (a waiata, a film, a book) and share why it matters.
- ELL / ESOL: invite students to tell their story in their home language first, then share in English.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Sixth lesson of the Years 7–8 Global Connections unit. A gentle, age-appropriate introduction to "narrative power": peoples keep their identity by telling their own stories, and whose voice tells a story shapes it. Built entirely from concrete, relatable examples (whānau stories, waiata, whakairo, the marae-visit comparison) — no media-analysis jargon. Sets up the L7 project, where students tell their own connection story.
Handling "whose story is it" with care
Keep the marae-visit example warm, not adversarial — the point is that both perspectives are real, and the people whose story it is holds the deepest knowledge of it. This is groundwork for respecting who has the right to share certain kōrero.
Mātauranga Māori lens: pūrākau, waiata, and whakairo are all valid ways of holding and passing on knowledge — treat them as equal to the written word, not lesser.
Curriculum alignment
- Social Studies / Tikanga-ā-Iwi — Phase 3 (Years 7–8): how stories, language, and perspective shape identity, and why different accounts of the same event can differ. (Verbatim Te Mātaiaho statement to be confirmed by the curriculum verification lane — cited here at learning-area + phase level.)