Best for
Translation bridges, paired retrieval, quick-fire oral responses, and classrooms moving from English prompts toward everyday te reo use.
Te Reo Māori • Prompt card set • Years 4-10 • Ready to print tomorrow
English to Māori Flashcards Front
This prompt sheet helps students move from familiar English cues into te reo Māori. Use it as a bridge for retrieval, translation games, and quick classroom transitions where students still need an English prompt before producing the kupu or phrase.
Free bridge deck, premium adaptation path
This sheet is ready to print now. If you want a smaller bridging deck, class-specific themes, or a more senior language pack, Te Wānanga can adapt the prompts while preserving the retrieval-friendly layout.
- Create a beginner deck with only one or two themes.
- Add local context, school routines, or topic vocabulary.
- Save the adapted version and reopen it later in My Kete or Creation Studio.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 10-20 minutes as a retrieval warm-up or paired vocabulary game.
- Grouping: Pairs and small groups are best so students can respond to prompts quickly.
- Prep: Print with the matching back sheet and choose whether students are working by theme or mixed cards.
- Teaching move: Encourage fast attempts first, then correction and repetition.
Resources already provided
- 148 English prompt cards grouped by theme
- Matching te reo / pronunciation back sheet
- Print-ready layout for quick prep
- Curriculum companion for planning clarity
If students still need an English entry point before producing te reo, this bridging deck is already ready.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning to move from English prompts into te reo vocabulary and phrases.
- We are learning to recognise patterns across greetings, classroom language, time, weather, and other themes.
- We are learning to retrieve te reo more quickly and with less hesitation.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can respond to an English prompt with the matching te reo word or phrase.
- I can use the reverse side to check and improve my answer.
- I can recognise which vocabulary group a prompt belongs to.
Curriculum integration / Te Marautanga alignment
Use the companion page to make the curriculum intent explicit around vocabulary recall, translation as a temporary scaffold, and moving toward more automatic use of te reo Māori.
Use the bridge, then reduce it
English prompts can help students start, but the goal is still confident te reo use. Use this deck as a bridge into quicker recall, then shift students toward te reo-only tasks once the kupu become more familiar.
A mātauranga Māori lens matters here because even a simple bridge deck should move ākonga toward relational, respectful language use rather than treating te reo Māori as isolated translation trivia.
Print and use
- Print with the matching back sheet and flip on the long edge.
- Introduce one theme at a time for newer learners.
- Use the English side as the prompt and the reverse as the answer key.
Set A: Greetings and Introductions
1
Hello
Greeting
2
Good morning
Greeting
3
Good morning (formal)
Greeting
4
How are you?
Question
5
I am well
Response
6
What is your name?
Question
7
My name is ___
Introduction
8
Where are you from?
Question
Set B: Everyday + Pepeha Terms
9
I am from ___
Introduction
10
Mountain
Pepeha
11
River
Pepeha
12
Canoe
Pepeha
13
Tribe
Pepeha
14
Sub-tribe
Pepeha
15
Family
Pepeha
16
See you again
Farewell
Set C: Classroom Language
17
Listen here
Classroom
18
Look here
Classroom
19
Stand up
Classroom
20
Sit
Classroom
21
Write
Classroom
22
Read
Classroom
23
Question / ask
Classroom
24
Answer / respond
Classroom
Set D: Everyday Actions
25
Go
Action
26
Come here
Action
27
Food / eat
Action
28
Drink
Action
29
Work / do
Action
30
Learn
Action
31
Play
Action
32
Walk
Action
Set E: Time & Place
33
Now
Time
34
Tomorrow
Time
35
Yesterday
Time
36
Morning
Time
37
Afternoon
Time
38
Night
Time
39
Day
Time
40
Year
Time
Set F: Whānau
41
Mother
Whānau
42
Father
Whānau
43
Parent
Whānau
44
Children
Whānau
45
Grandchild
Whānau
46
Grandfather
Whānau
47
Grandmother
Whānau
48
Friend
Whānau
Set G: Pronouns & Pointing Words
49
I / me
Pronoun
50
You
Pronoun
51
He / she
Pronoun
52
We (not you)
Pronoun
53
We (including you)
Pronoun
54
You all
Pronoun
55
They
Pronoun
56
This
Pronoun
Set H: Numbers 1-8
57
One
Number
58
Two
Number
59
Three
Number
60
Four
Number
61
Five
Number
62
Six
Number
63
Seven
Number
64
Eight
Number
Set I: Days of the Week
65
Monday
Time
66
Tuesday
Time
67
Wednesday
Time
68
Thursday
Time
69
Friday
Time
70
Saturday
Time
71
Sunday
Time
72
Week
Time
Set J: Months 1-8
73
January
Month
74
February
Month
75
March
Month
76
April
Month
77
May
Month
78
June
Month
79
July
Month
80
August
Month
Set K: Months 9-12 + Seasons
81
September
Month
82
October
Month
83
November
Month
84
December
Month
85
Summer
Season
86
Autumn
Season
87
Winter
Season
88
Spring
Season
Set L: Weather
89
Sky / weather
Weather
90
Fine / nice
Weather
91
Hot
Weather
92
Cold
Weather
93
Wind
Weather
94
Rain
Weather
95
Cloud
Weather
96
Lightning
Weather
Set M: Emotions
97
Happy
Feeling
98
Sad
Feeling
99
Angry
Feeling
100
Worried
Feeling
101
Scared
Feeling
102
Sleepy
Feeling
103
Hungry
Feeling
104
Thirsty
Feeling
Set N: Classroom Objects
105
Book
Classroom
106
Computer
Classroom
107
Pen / pencil
Classroom
108
Eraser
Classroom
109
Chair
Classroom
110
Table
Classroom
111
Device
Classroom
112
Bag
Classroom
Set O: Colours
113
Red
Colour
114
Blue
Colour
115
Green
Colour
116
Yellow
Colour
117
Brown
Colour
118
White
Colour
119
Purple
Colour
120
Black
Colour
Set P: Numbers 9-16
121
Nine
Number
122
Ten
Number
123
Eleven
Number
124
Twelve
Number
125
Thirteen
Number
126
Fourteen
Number
127
Fifteen
Number
128
Sixteen
Number
Set Q: Numbers 17-20 + Classroom Phrases
129
Seventeen
Number
130
Eighteen
Number
131
Nineteen
Number
132
Twenty
Number
133
Open
Classroom
134
Close
Classroom
135
Use
Classroom
136
Help me
Classroom
Set R: Colours (Natural + Non-natural)
137
Blue (non-natural)
Colour
138
Blue (natural)
Colour
139
Red (non-natural)
Colour
140
Red ochre (natural)
Colour
141
Black (non-natural)
Colour
142
Dark / black (natural)
Colour
143
White (non-natural)
Colour
144
White (natural)
Colour
145
Orange (non-natural)
Colour
146
Grey (natural)
Colour
147
Pink (non-natural)
Colour
148
Bluish grey (natural)
Colour
My next retrieval round
Write six English prompts you still need to practise, then add the matching te reo Māori after you check the answer side.
Use the box to sketch or sort the cards that still matter most for your classroom routines.
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how Māori cultural practices, values, and whakapapa shape identity and community; recognise the significance of te Tiriti o Waitangi and the contribution of Māori culture to Aotearoa New Zealand's national identity.
Te Reo Māori — Language and Culture
Level 3–4: Use te reo Māori to express cultural concepts, identity, and relationships with accuracy and respect; understand the significance of Māori language as a taonga and its role in sustaining mātauranga Māori.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
This resource engages directly with te ao Māori as its subject — the values, practices, language, and worldview that have sustained Māori communities across centuries of challenge and change. Mātauranga Māori is not a supplement to this learning: it is the source. Students approaching this material are invited to engage with it not as outside observers studying a foreign culture, but as people in relationship with a living knowledge tradition that shapes the place they live, the language they may speak, and the obligations they carry as tāngata o Aotearoa — people of this land. That relationship calls for care, curiosity, and respect for knowledge-holders who carry what no textbook can fully contain.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
Curriculum alignment
- Identity, Culture, and Organisation: Understand how cultural identity shapes participation in society — whakapapa, tikanga, and mana as foundations of Māori identity in Aotearoa New Zealand.