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Years 7–9 Reo Pākehā / English
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Family Tree Writing

Family Tree Writing · Years 7–9

Year LevelYears 7–9
TypeStudent handout — classroom resource

Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions

  • Read and interpret texts for meaning, purpose, and author intent
  • Identify and analyse language choices, text structure, and rhetorical techniques
  • Write clearly and purposefully for a specific audience using appropriate conventions
  • Evaluate the credibility and perspective of texts and sources

Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria

  • I can identify the author's purpose and explain how the text achieves it
  • I can point to specific language choices and explain their effect on the reader
  • My writing is clear, focused, and uses appropriate conventions for the form
  • I can evaluate a source's credibility with reference to specific textual evidence
✍️ English 🌿 Personal Writing 🎓 Year 7–9 🇳🇿 NZC Level 3–5

Family Tree Writing — Tāku Whakapapa

🌳 Researching, recording, and writing about whānau and tīpuna
"Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitū te whenua" — As people disappear, the land remains.
(We are remembered through the stories and places we leave behind. Writing about our tīpuna — our ancestors — keeps them alive and honours the lines that shaped us.)

A family tree is more than a diagram — it is a map of belonging. Every name on it represents a person with a history, a place, a set of choices, and a story. This handout guides you through: researching your whakapapa or family history, interviewing whānau members, building a visual tree, and writing a compelling personal narrative about one ancestor who shaped who you are today.

Part 1 — Rangahau: Research Methods

Good family history research uses multiple sources and cross-references information. Here are the main sources you can use:

Source What you can find Limitations
Kaumātua / elders Whakapapa lines, stories, iwi connections, oral history Memory can vary; respect protocols required
Birth/death/marriage certificates Dates, locations, parents' names Only post-1848 in NZ; Māori names sometimes anglicised
Papakāinga records / marae Land ownership, hapū membership, hui minutes Access may require whānau permission
Papers Past (paperspast.natlib.govt.nz) Historical newspaper articles, death notices, court records Spelling inconsistencies in Māori names
Family photos and taonga Visual evidence, approximate dates, location clues Can be misidentified or undated
Iwi / hapū websites and trusts Official whakapapa registrations, Treaty settlement records Not all hapū have digitised records
  1. List THREE sources you will use to research your own family history. For each, write one specific piece of information you hope to find.
  2. Tikanga question: When approaching a kaumātua for whakapapa information, what protocols should you follow? Research: what does it mean to approach elders with "aroha" (love), "manaakitanga" (respect), and "whakaaro" (thoughtfulness)? Write 3–4 sentences.
  3. If your family is not from a Māori or Pacific background, how can you still apply the concept of whakapapa (the layering of connections across generations) to your own ancestral story? Write 2–3 sentences.

Part 2 — He Uiuinga: Planning the Interview

The richest family history comes from kanohi ki te kanohi — face-to-face conversation. Before you interview a family member or elder, you need good questions.

🌿 Types of Interview Questions

  • Factual: "Where were you born? What year did [ancestor] come to NZ?"
  • Descriptive: "What did Nana look like? What was her daily routine?"
  • Emotional: "What do you think was hardest for her? What made her laugh?"
  • Reflective: "What do you think she would think about our world today?"
  • Connective: "What do you see in me that comes from her?"
  1. Write 10 interview questions for a whānau member, using at least two of each type above. Order them so the conversation flows naturally from facts → feelings → reflection.
  2. After your interview, you will need to write a thank-you note. Write a brief (4–6 sentence) thank-you note draft that acknowledges what they shared, uses the word "manaakitanga," and names one specific thing you learned.

Part 3 — Te Rākau Whakapapa: Building Your Tree

Complete the family tree template below. Use what you know and leave blank spaces where you need more research. For Māori whānau: you can use traditional whakapapa ordering (from tīpuna flowing down to mokopuna).

Generation 1 — Tīpuna Tuarua (Great-Grandparents)
______________________________________ ______________________________________
↓
Generation 2 — Tīpuna (Grandparents)
______________________________________
↓
Generation 3 — Mātua (Parents)
______________________________________
↓
Generation 4 — Koe/Ahau (You)
___________________ (you)
  1. Add birth years, locations, and occupations (where known) next to each name on the tree. Circle any names where you want more information — these become your research priorities.
  2. Look at your tree as a whole. Is there one person you know almost nothing about? Write their name and three questions you would most like answered about their life.

Part 4 — He Kōrero Tīpuna: Writing the Ancestor Narrative

Choose one ancestor from your tree and write a 250–400 word personal narrative about them. This is not a report — it is a story told with warmth, detail, and reflection. Use the writing frame below to structure your draft.

Opening paragraph: Introduce your ancestor in a vivid, specific way — not "My grandmother was born in 1932" but a scene, an image, a detail that brings them alive.
Their world: What was happening in NZ and the world during their lifetime? What challenges or opportunities shaped them? (E.g. the Depression, WW2, urban migration, land confiscations.)
What I know / what I wish I knew: Include something specific you learned about them AND something you still wonder about.
The thread to me: What have you inherited from them — a skill, a value, a physical feature, a way of seeing the world? End with a reflection on why this ancestor matters to who you are becoming.

🌳 Whakamutunga — Ko wai koe?

The question "Ko wai koe?" — Who are you? — is answered in Māori tradition not with a job title or personality, but with whakapapa: the mountain, the river, the people. When you research your family tree, you are finding your own answer to that question. You are making a map of all the lives that had to happen for you to be here.

Te wero: Share your ancestor narrative with the person you interviewed. Ask them what they think. Add anything they correct or add. The collaboration itself is part of the whakapapa.

🌿 Ngā Rauemi Hono — Related Resources

Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment

English — Te Reo Pākehā

Level 3–4: Read and interpret a range of texts for meaning and purpose; identify author intent, text structure, and language choices; write clearly for specific audiences and purposes using appropriate conventions.

Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi

Level 3–4: Understand how texts construct knowledge and perspective; evaluate the credibility and purpose of different sources; communicate ideas and findings effectively in written and oral forms.

Tuhia ōu whakaaro · Write Your Thoughts

Reflect on your learning. What was the most important idea? What question do you still have?

Aronga Mātauranga Māori

In te ao Māori, language — reo — is a taonga: a treasure that carries culture, identity, and whakapapa across generations. The ability to speak clearly, to argue persuasively, to read critically, and to write with purpose are not simply academic skills — they are forms of mana in action. Māori oratory (whaikōrero) has always valued precision, evidence, and the ability to locate one's argument within a broader cultural and ancestral context. Students who develop strong literacy skills are developing the same capacities that made great orators powerful: the ability to be heard, understood, and taken seriously in any room they enter.

Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided

This handout is designed to be used alongside other resources in the same unit. Related materials are linked in the unit planner. All content is provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.

Curriculum alignment