Seminar: unpack the word in front of us all
The class works one demanding passage, resolving vocabulary — including te reo Māori terms — through discussion and context rather than a glossary hand-out.
- Close Reading Seminar move: Shared close work on one dense passage
- Evidence it produces: An agreed meaning with the contextual reasoning that produced it
Route status: the learning intentions and mini-lesson scaffold are shared with the workshop route; the Do Now, activities, adjudication, evidence and exit below are this route’s own. The difference is how ākonga work — one shared text, competing claims settled on the words, and a collective record — not which strategies are taught.
Lesson 2: Decoding Vocabulary in Context & Utilising Te Reo Māori Glossaries
Building confident, active readers through Te Ao Māori perspectives, comprehension strategies, and rich Aotearoa texts.
🎯 Ngā Whāinga Akoranga | Learning Intentions
Context clue strategies (definition clues, synonym/antonym clues, example clues, morphology/root words), and using bilingual glossaries to understand te reo Māori concepts (e.g. kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, mauri).
Use surrounding text clues to infer unknown word meanings, apply prefix/suffix decoding, and look up Māori concepts in bilingual text glossaries.
🎥 Media Anchor & Pedagogical Scaffold
Context Clues & Vocabulary Decoding
Video: kaiako to select — guidance below.
🎬 Kaiako: Select and embed a video here
Suggested search: "Context Clues & Vocabulary Decoding"
Search YouTube for a short clip (5–10 min) on this topic. Verify it is age-appropriate and plays correctly before embedding.
🧠 1. Before Viewing (Activate & Predict)
When you encounter a difficult or unfamiliar word while reading, what strategies can you use before running to a dictionary?
👁️ 2. During Viewing (Watch With a Job)
- Early in the clip: Identify four context clue types: definition, restatement, contrast, and cause/effect.
- Midway: Deconstruct prefixes and root words (e.g. un-read-able, bio-degradable).
- Later in the clip: Explore cultural depth of te reo Māori key terms using context sentences and glossaries.
🗣️ 3. After Viewing & Kaiako Move (Process & Apply)
Kaiako Move: Provide 'Context Clue Detective Cards' with highlightable sentences containing target vocabulary.
Immediate Task: Complete Section 2 of your Reading Journal: Context Clue Vocabulary Decoding Graphic Organizer.
⚡ Whakaoho | Do Now: Four words, one passage (8 mins)
The kaiako displays a passage from the shared text with four challenge words marked — chosen because the passage itself carries enough clues to work them out. Silently note what you think each marked word means here. Commit in writing before any discussion.
🗣️ Activity 1: Argue the meanings (20 mins)
Four teams, one marked word each. Each team must build the case for their word’s meaning-in-this-passage from the passage’s own clues — definition, contrast, example, word parts — and present it in under a minute, pointing at the exact words that carry the clue. The class then challenges: is there a reading of the passage under which the word means something else?
Where a marked word is kupu Māori: the passage’s glossary or source is consulted, not debated. Te reo Māori meanings come from the text’s own authority; the seminar argues English challenge words on clues.
⚖️ Adjudication: settle each word, then open the glossary (12 mins)
- For each word the class settles a meaning-in-this-passage, naming the clue that decided it.
- Only after the class has committed does the kaiako reveal the glossary or dictionary entry.
- Compare: where the class’s settled meaning and the entry differ, the class re-reads the passage and rules which fits this use — dictionaries record many meanings; the passage licenses one.
Record any word where the class beat the dictionary’s first sense — that is the point of the lesson.
📋 Activity 2: The class word wall (10 mins)
Enter the four words on the class word wall: word → clue that decided it → settled meaning-in-passage → glossary verdict. Each learner then writes a one-minute journal entry on the word whose settled meaning most surprised them.
🚪 Exit (5 mins)
One line: a word whose meaning the class settled differently from your silent first guess, and the clue that changed your mind.
🏫 Kaiako Planning & Pedagogy Notes
Years 7–8 Curriculum Alignment: Te Mātaiaho English Phase 3 — Reading and Viewing for meaning. Builds core comprehension, critical literacy, and cultural connectedness through Aotearoa literature and pūrākau.