Years 0–3 | Te Pūnaha Ako — Learning Together

Lesson 1: We Belong Here

Children notice that a class is one of many groups they may belong to, then choose a safe way to add themselves to a shared class picture.

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga — Learning Intentions

WALT: I can name ways people show they belong to a class.

WILF: I can notice two signs of belonging and choose one way to add my voice, mark, gesture or drawing to our class picture.

Kaupapa | Central idea

Belonging can be shown in many ways.

A learner may speak, sign, point, draw, watch first, use a home language or ask someone to scribe. Quiet participation is still participation.

Te Whakatakotoranga | Run of show

  1. Do Now — Choose a hello 5 min
  2. Act 1 — Groups all around us 8 min
  3. Act 2 — Belonging detectives 10 min
  4. Act 3 — Build our class picture 10 min
  5. Synthesise — Make the connections 7 min
  6. Exit — I belong when… 5 min

Tirohanga Whānui | What this lesson is doing

Belonging lessons can go wrong when adults ask every child to reveal family, whakapapa, language or personal history before trust exists. This lesson begins with visible classroom practices and gives children genuine choices about how much to share. The class picture is a record of contribution, not a test of identity or confidence.

You’ll need

  • One large sheet titled He wāhi mō tātou katoa | A place for all of us, marker pens and drawing materials.
  • Four simple teacher-made picture cards showing familiar groups: a household, a class, a team or club, and a cultural or community gathering. Use images your school has permission to show.
  • Name cards or blank shapes. Children may use a first name, initials, a chosen symbol or no written name.

Before children arrive

Write the participation choices where everyone can see them: say it · point · sign or gesture · draw · ask for a scribe · pass for now. Model “pass for now” as a normal choice.

Do Now — Choose a hello 5 min

What it is: A low-pressure entry that makes different forms of participation visible immediately.

Run it

  1. Offer, do not demand (2 min): Show four greeting choices: wave, smile or nod, a spoken greeting, or a greeting in any language a child chooses. Add “watch first”. Do not require touch, eye contact or a particular volume.
  2. Notice (3 min): Ask, “Did we all greet in the same way? Did every choice still help us notice one another?” Accept pointing and one-word answers. Name the pattern: a group can make room for difference.

Act 1 — Groups all around us 8 min

What it is: Sorting familiar examples so “group” is concrete before children talk about themselves.

Run it

  1. Picture sort (5 min): Reveal the four cards. For each, ask: “What might people do together? What might help someone know they are part of this group?” Record visible clues such as names, greetings, shared places, routines, clothing or symbols. Avoid saying every family, culture or team works the same way.
  2. One person, many groups (3 min): Place one neutral figure beside more than one card. Children show thumbs-up, point or speak to answer: “Can one person belong to more than one group?” Explain that people choose what they share about their groups.

Act 2 — Belonging detectives 10 min

What it is: Finding evidence of belonging in the classroom children are using now.

Run it

  1. Slow look (4 min): In pairs, look around without moving objects. Find one thing that says “people learn here” and one thing that says “people are cared for here”. Possible evidence includes labelled places, accessible tools, displayed languages, a class timetable or space for everyone’s work.
  2. Evidence circle (6 min): Each pair contributes by speaking, pointing or asking the teacher to scribe. After every example ask, “Who can use this? Who might find it hard to use?” Add one improvement idea, but do not turn this first lesson into a deficit list about individual children.

Act 3 — Build our class picture 10 min

What it is: Every child chooses a mark that can sit alongside other contributions without being ranked.

Run it

  1. Choose a contribution (7 min): Children add a shape, mark, initial, drawing or dictated word to the large sheet. The prompt is “Something I can bring to learning is…” Offer examples such as noticing, asking, building, moving, listening, drawing, wondering or helping. “I am still thinking” is a valid dictated contribution.
  2. Read the whole (3 min): Hold up the picture and notice difference without interpreting children’s marks for them. Ask: “What would be missing if every mark had to look the same?”

Synthesise — Make the connections 7 min

What it is: Joining the curriculum idea of groups to the class’s lived evidence.

Run it

  1. Complete the chain (7 min): On the board write: We are a group → we show belonging by… → this helps because…. Children choose one class example and complete as much of the chain as they can. Scribe exact child language, then read the chain back. Keep more than one answer if the class disagrees.

Exit — I belong when… 5 min

What it is: A private or shareable record that the teacher can use to improve the environment.

Run it

  1. Choose and record (5 min): Children finish one prompt by drawing, pointing to a choice, or dictating: “I know I belong when people…” or “One thing that helps me join in is…”. Sharing is optional. Review records for changes the adults can make; do not display a child’s need without permission.

Taku Tohu Nōhanga | My sign of belonging

Ingoa / Name: ____________________   Akomanga / Class: ____________________

Draw, mark or ask someone to write: I know I belong when…

I chose to: speak · point · gesture · draw · use a scribe · keep this private

Ngā Huarahi Ako | Differentiation

Tautoko / Support

  • Use two real objects before picture cards. Offer a now/next visual and a quiet observation position.
  • Accept AAC, eye gaze, gesture, echolalia, home language and co-created responses as communication.

Toitoi / Extension

  • Compare two class practices: who can participate easily, who may need a change, and what could make access fairer?

Te reo Māori

  • Kupu to model in context: akomanga (classroom), tātou (all of us, including the speaker), tōku wāhi (my place).
  • Welcome languages children already use. Do not make a Māori child the class translator.

Mātauranga Māori | Belonging is relational

Whanaungatanga is not a decorative word for “teamwork”. In this lesson it changes the design: children are welcomed into relationship before being asked to perform, connection is built through repeated actions, and nobody must disclose whakapapa to prove belonging. Ask local whānau and mana whenua which greetings, names and ways of gathering are appropriate in your setting; this generic lesson cannot supply local tikanga.

Hononga Marautanga | Curriculum

People belong to groups (e.g. family, school class, team, culture).

Te Mātaiaho (2025) · Social Sciences · Phase 1 · statement id 50752

Children do more than repeat a list of groups: they identify observable expressions of belonging, test whether one class practice includes everyone, and create evidence that their own class is a group with room for different contributions.

Sources and checking