Ko Wai Au? — Pepeha and Identity | Te Kete Ako

🕘 Lesson at a Glance | Te Hōtaka

Do NowMap of Me — three places⏱ 5 min 1 · DeconstructWhat's inside a pepeha⏱ 15 min 2 · Builder studioDraft your own⏱ 25 min 3 · Share circleStand and deliver⏱ 15 min SynthesisThe strongest line⏱ 5 min ExitThe one-liner⏱ 5 min

Lesson Overview | Tirohanga Whānui

Ākonga explore who they are and where they come from by building their own pepeha. They map the places that matter to them, pull apart the structure of a model pepeha to see what each element does, then draft their own with sentence frames and local anchors. The lesson ends in a supportive share circle where every ākonga stands and delivers their pepeha aloud — connecting te reo, identity and whakapapa in the most personal way this unit offers.

Learning Intentions | Ngā Whāinga Ako

Identify the elements of a pepeha and explain how each connects identity to place.
Construct a personal pepeha using sentence frames and real local anchors.
Deliver a pepeha aloud to peers with accurate pronunciation of key kupu.

⚡ Do Now — Map of Me

⏱ 5 min

Straight in, pens moving.

Ākonga sketch a quick map of Aotearoa or their local area — rough is fine, this is thinking, not art.
They label three places that matter to them: where they were born, where they live, a river, beach or mountain they know well.

Teacher: circulate and prompt in te reo — "Kei hea koe?" (where are you?). These three places become the raw material for the pepeha draft in Activity 2, so push for places with genuine pull, not just the nearest ones. Open by asking who kept yesterday's phrase pledge — that's the bridge from Lesson 1.

Activity 1 · Deconstruct the Model — What's Inside a Pepeha

⏱ 15 min

What it is: Before ākonga build their own, they pull a model pepeha apart to see what each element does. The kaiako's own pepeha, delivered live, is the anchor text here — nothing teaches structure like hearing it from someone it belongs to.

Watch with a job (1m43s): as the clip plays, ākonga note every piece of personal information the speaker shares — and the order it comes in. Place before people? Name first or last?

Element	What it carries	Sentence frame
Maunga	Your mountain — the land that holds you	Ko ___ te maunga
Awa / Moana	Your river or sea	Ko ___ te awa / te moana
Waka	Your canoe — arrival and journey	Ko ___ te waka
Iwi / Hapū	Your people	Ko ___ te iwi / te hapū
Ingoa	Your name — it comes last for a reason	Ko ___ tōku ingoa

Run it

Model (5 min): The kaiako delivers their own pepeha live, then plays the short clip above as a second voice. Ākonga note the "ingredients" they hear in each.
Name the parts (5 min): Together, match what was heard to the table — maunga, awa, waka, iwi, ingoa. Which elements appeared in both models? Which differed?
Kōrero (5 min): Why does a pepeha introduce place before people? What does that say about how identity works in te ao Māori?

🪶 Local reo check (kaiako Māori / kaumātua): pepeha structure varies by iwi, rohe and whakapapa — maunga first or waka first is a local call, and guidance differs on which forms are appropriate for tauiwi (non-Māori) ākonga. Confirm the structure and the frames for non-Māori students with your local iwi or kaiako Māori before teaching this as the model.

Activity 2 · The Builder Studio — Draft Your Own

⏱ 25 min

What it is: The heart of the lesson. Ākonga turn their Map of Me into a working pepeha draft, then rehearse it aloud until it feels like theirs.

Run it

Draft (12 min): Using the Pepeha Builder handout, ākonga fill the frames with the places from their Do Now map. Not everyone knows their whakapapa — the universal frames (Ko ___ te maunga e tū ana i tōku kāinga — the mountain that stands over my home) keep every ākonga in the task with mana intact.
Read to yourself (5 min): Ākonga whisper-read their draft twice, marking any word they trip on.
Read to a neighbour (8 min): Pairs swap drafts aloud, helping each other with the vowel lengths from Lesson 1 — especially in place names, where the macron carries the meaning.

Teacher: this is your circulation window — listen for vowel accuracy and the rolled "r" during the neighbour reads. That's the formative heart of this lesson; the share circle is for confidence, not correction.

Activity 3 · Whānau Share Circle — Stand and Deliver

⏱ 15 min

What it is: In groups of four, every ākonga stands and delivers their pepeha aloud. Standing matters — a pepeha is spoken to be heard, and standing to say who you are is the point.

Run it

Set the tikanga (2 min): Listeners give full attention — no phones, no side kōrero. A pepeha is received, not just heard.
Deliver (10 min): Each ākonga stands and shares. Groups of four keep it low-stakes; nobody performs to the whole class today.
Feedback (3 min): Listeners give "two stars and a wish" — on delivery and confidence: standing proud, clear voice, eyes up. The kaiako holds the pronunciation calls, made during the circulation in Activity 2.

Teacher: join a different group for each speaker if you can. If a student is visibly whakamā, let them deliver seated or to one partner — participation in their own introduction beats performance every time.

Synthesis · The Strongest Line

⏱ 5 min

Whole-class kōrero, two questions:

Which line of your pepeha felt strongest to say today — and why is that place important to you?
What did you learn about someone else in your circle that you didn't know this morning?

Teacher: the second question is the quiet payoff — pepeha builds whanaungatanga in the room, not just language. Name that out loud.

Exit · The One-Liner

⏱ 5 min

On a sticky note or digital exit ticket, each ākonga writes the closing line of their pepeha and hands it over as they leave:

Ko ___ tōku ingoa. Ko au tēnei. — This is my name. This is me.

Teacher: a ten-second read of the stack shows who has the sentence frame down and whose macrons need a quiet follow-up tomorrow. Keep the notes — they open Lesson 3, where these introductions go conversational: "Nō hea koe?"

🎯 Curriculum Links | Te Hononga ki te Marautanga

This lesson's focus: Ākonga learn the structure of pepeha from the inside — by building and delivering their own, grounded in the places that hold their identity.

Pāhekoheko — Practices (Emergent 1 | Learning Languages)

"Pepeha follow a specific structure made up of key elements that each serve a purpose in expressing identity, belonging, and whakapapa."

📑 See the audited unit curriculum map → — Te Mātaiaho 2025 · Learning Languages.

📦 Materials & Resources

📋 Handouts & Worksheets

Pepeha Builder — the Activity 2 drafting scaffold (one per ākonga)
Kupu Flashcards (front) + (back) — warm-up revision from Lesson 1 if needed

🎥 Model Pepeha

Your own pepeha, rehearsed and delivered live — the strongest model in the room
Short clip: Kōrero 101 Ep. 1 — Introducing yourself & greetings (1m43s, embedded in Activity 1) as a second voice

🛠️ Equipment & Setup

Paper for the Map of Me sketch (any scrap does)
Pepeha Builder handouts printed, one per ākonga
Sticky notes for the exit one-liner
Room space for four-person circles in Activity 3

📊 Assessment Framework

This is a single lesson, so assessment here is formative — listening for learning as it happens. The unit's summative assessment sits at the end of the unit, not in this lesson.

What to listen for, mapped to the learning intentions

Structure (LI 1): in Activity 1's matching task — can ākonga name what each element carries, not just its label?
Construction (LI 2): the Builder Studio drafts and the exit one-liner — is the sentence frame correct, with real anchors from their own map?
Delivery (LI 3): during your Activity 2 circulation — vowel length in place names and the rolled "r". The share circle measures confidence; your circulation measures accuracy.

Quick exit read: the one-liner stack shows in seconds who owns the frame — and the Do Now maps (collect them with the exits) show whose pepeha anchors deserve a follow-up kōrero.

🚀 Extension Activities

🗣️ The Introducer

Confident speakers act as kaiwhakataki for their circle — instead of only delivering their own pepeha, they introduce the next speaker: "Ko [name] tēnei."

🧬 Deep Dive

Ākonga who know their whakapapa well add a further layer — their hapū, a significant tupuna (a whakapapa marker), or a second place that holds their story.

🏠 Take It Home

Ākonga deliver their pepeha to whānau tonight and ask one question: is there a maunga or awa our family calls ours? Tomorrow's answers deepen every draft.

🔗 Unit Progression & Next Steps

Lesson 1 built the sounds and greetings; today ākonga grounded themselves in identity through pepeha. Each lesson keeps building:

Lesson 3: Tikanga in Kōrerorero

Conversations begin — "Nō hea koe?" asked and answered with the places mapped today

Lesson 4: Whānau Connections

The language of family — the people behind the pepeha

Lesson 5: Kōrerorero o Ia Rā

Sustained everyday conversation, pulling the whole unit together

Preparation for next lesson: ākonga keep their pepeha drafts — Lesson 3's conversations are built directly on them.

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

✅ I can name the parts of a pepeha and say what each one carries. (LI 1)
✅ I can draft my own pepeha with real places from my life. (LI 2)
✅ I can stand and deliver my pepeha to my group, eyes up. (LI 3)

Prior prep — do these before class

Rehearse your own pepeha — it opens Activity 1 and sets the tone for the room.
Confirm the local structure: check the pepeha order and the appropriate frames for tauiwi ākonga with your local iwi education contact or kaiako Māori — before, not after, teaching it as the model.
Print the Pepeha Builder handouts (one each) and have sticky notes ready.

Inclusion and differentiation for this lesson

Ākonga still learning their whakapapa: the universal frames keep everyone in the task — the mountain that stands over my home is a real pepeha line, not a lesser one.
Ākonga with strong reo: extend into hapū, tupuna and second places; use them as circle models.
Whakamā is real: seated delivery or one-partner delivery is full participation. The exit one-liner gives every ākonga a success today regardless of the circle.

Broader differentiation and the unit-wide framing live on the unit overview.