Teaching material for years 1–8

This section highlights ready made teaching materials that will assist in the implementation of Te Takanga o te Wā, Guidelines for Teachers Years 1–8.

Level 1-2

Wāhi

A study of your local area, Wāhi is about exploring, sharing and connecting and enhancing the place where your students live. The ideas in this section, especially those around social action, will work with all primary level students.

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Whakaahua

Photographs give us a window into other people’s lives and histories. Through a number of different learning experiences, students of any level can use visual images to see into the past. They can then use the images to make comparisons with their own lives.

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Whakaari

Help your students with interesting activities:

Create a movie in your head
Hot seat an historical character
Become a building inspector by examining the architecture of your area
Meet the leader that is going to inspire your learning about history
Drama is motivating and these learning experiences will hook in students, especially those in lower and middle primary.

Download PDF (152 KB)

Mahi Toi

Use music and visual arts to teach Māori history at any level. This includes:

Where are you from? – a project that links self-portrait to landscape and location
Making a community connections by creating art for a public space
Exploring, performing and composing waiata and haka

Download PDF (164KB)

Using timelines

Thinking historically not only requires students to interpret an historical event but also means that they need to be able to place that event in time and context. Aimed at younger students, this section covers the skills of chronological thinking and using timelines.

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Level 3-4

Te Takanga o te Wā (English)

Te Takanga o te Wā is not designed as a list of lessons or learning experiences. Rather it provides a framework to support teachers to teach Māori history with their students. The content and context that you choose for your class could focus on building quality and collaborative engagement with your local iwi and hapū. The stories and histories relating to your school’s geographic location will assist you to instill a deeper sense of personal identity and belonging for every student. This resource provides connections to frame that context:

Whakapapa (connections to the past, present and future)
Mana Whenua and Pepeha (connection to the local area)
Mātauranga (connection to knowledge, views and opinions)
Te Hekenga Nui (connection to history through migration stories).

Each one has a list of possible conceptual understandings and a key message linked to the levels 1 and 2 achievement objectives of The New Zealand Curriculum.

Download PDF (4.1 MB)

What do parents think?

A summary of thoughts from parents of children in English medium schools.

Download PDF (221 KB)