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Activities

Learning activities

You do not have to use all the activities suggested below. Choose from and adapt them to suit your students’ needs.

Fakatai La! is a challenging text for the language level of students who have worked through five units of Haia! They are likely to need support with the language before and during reading, and several scaffolded opportunities to make meaning from the text.

Introducing the text

Display an enlarged version of the cover and the title page. Have the students work in pairs or small groups to discuss what they see and make lists of words and phrases in Niue that describe the illustrations and what they think will happen in the story. Prompt them to recall the content and language from units 4 and 5 – in particular, the information about food and how food is cooked in an umu. Have the pairs or groups share their ideas. As they do so, add labels and notes around the cover and title page and introduce any new vocabulary that is relevant to the story.

If the students haven’t done so already, ask them to make predictions about the relationship between the people on the cover and about the context of the illustration on the title page. When discussing the title page, prompt them to recall the Niue words that describe family relationships and record and display them.

Read the title aloud. Direct the students to the glossary and ask them to discuss in pairs what they think the title means. Have the pairs share their ideas and confirm that it means “Just Try It!”

Listening

Give each student a list of words and short phrases that they have learned in units 1–5 of Haia! – most of which occur in the story. Tell them they are going to listen to the story and tick the words or phrases they hear. Read aloud or play a recording of the story once, with a short pause at the end of each page. Have the students compare their answers with a partner’s. Play the story again for them to check their answers.

If appropriate, revise the meanings of the listed words and phrases. Give pairs of students copies of the illustrations with no text (or give each pair one illustration). Have them work in pairs to discuss each page and use the list of words (as well as the lists on display from previous discussions) to make predictions about what is happening and what language they expect to read. Have the pairs share their ideas with the whole group.

Reading the text

Ask the students to skim page 2 and find out who the girls are, what foods they like and dislike, and what they are going to do. Discuss their answers and the vocabulary and sentence structures on the page, paying particular attention to the language for food and for describing likes and dislikes (write and display these sentences to refer to during and after reading). Ask the students what they think is going to happen on Saturday.

Have students work in pairs to read and discuss each page. After the pairs have read each page, discuss their ideas as a group and record relevant language and cultural aspects. As you work though the text, support the students to:

  • check the glossary and the previous units in Haia! An Introduction to Vagahau Niue for words and expressions that they don’t know or can’t remember
  • describe what the illustrations show
  • make connections between the illustrations and the written text
  • work out the relationships between the characters and their involvement in the actions
  • summarise the main ideas on each page
  • identify language and cultural practices, for example, formulaic expressions, greetings and introductions, the clothes people wear, and the associated values.

 

Support students to notice patterns of language, for example, Fiafia au ke kai moa mo e ika – mo e pateta / I like eating chicken and fish – and potatoes. After reading, you can show students how they can use these patterns in other contexts – for example, by constructing speaking or writing frames like the example below and filling them in together. Provide opportunities for them to practise and use the language to achieve a communicative purpose (such as during the food survey described in the “after reading” activities below).

Fiafia au ke kai _______ mo e _______ – mo e ___________.

After reading

Responding to the text

Ask the students questions about their experience of reading the text, for example:

  • What did you enjoy about the story?
  • What did you learn from both the written text and the illustrations?
  • What connections can you make to your own language(s) and culture(s)?

Food survey

Have the students work in vagahau Niue to create, conduct, and respond to surveys on the most and the least popular foods among their classmates and then report their findings. You could organise the class into four groups with different lists of foods (allow them to include any foods – not only foods from the story – but they must find the Niue expressions for the food). Each member of each group interviews selected members of the other groups (and is interviewed) and then reports back to their group. Support each group to prepare a written and/or spoken presentation of their findings.

Cultural customs and values connected with food

As a class, discuss what preparations were made for the lunch and who was involved. Discuss the particular aspects of Niue culture illustrated in the story, including the Niue values the story expresses. Set research tasks for your students to find out more about areas they are interested in or about questions that arise during the class discussion (using the Internet, family members, other students they know, and/or members of the community). Have the students present their research to the class (in English). Examples of presentation topics include:

  • the kinds of foods served at meals in aga fakamotu and in your own culture
  • food preparation and ingredients
  • foods that are the most significant in aga fakamotu compared with those in your own culture, and the reasons for this significance
  • how the written language and illustrations in the storybook reveal cultural practices and values in aga fakamotu.

Guest speaker

Have a guest speaker (a Niue community member) talk about the significance of particular foods and dishes in their family and community. Support the students to welcome the visitor, ask appropriate questions, and thank the visitor appropriately at the end of the session.

The students could plan questions about the cultural practices described in the story, thinking about the characters’ actions, the values shown, and how these are similar to or different from practices in their own cultures.

Technologies for food preparation

The story shows food being cooked in an umu. Unit 5 of Haia! An Introduction to Vagahau Niue gives more information on cooking with an umu, so it may be useful to re-use the activities described there. With your students, facilitate a discussion or set up a research inquiry on different technologies used in food preparation, storage, and cooking across different cultures and in different places. For example, canned coconut cream is used in New Zealand because coconuts are not grown here. In Niue, fresh coconut cream is easily available. Students will also make connections between the use of the umu in aga fakamotu and the way Māori use the hāngi to prepare food, especially when there are large numbers of people to feed.

It may be possible for community members to prepare an umu and share the food at a school event. Participating in the preparations for the umu will give your students and school community a Niue experience.

Following a recipe

Photocopy and laminate enough copies of the recipe on page 8 to have one copy per group. As a class or in groups, prepare the dish by following the recipe in vagahau Niue. Students can read each line of the recipe aloud, then follow the instruction.

You may wish to invite some Niue community members to assist. You may even wish to include other foods and dishes for your students to prepare.

Reflecting on learning

Prompt the students to reflect on what they have learnt from working with this text, by asking questions such as:

 

  • What strategies helped you to understand the story?
  • What will help you to remember the new language?
  • How can you use the new language in other contexts?
  • Can you identify significant aspects of new learning about aga fakamotu?

 

For example, a student might say, “I can now talk about food preferences and food preparation in vagahau Niue. I have also learnt about the importance of some foods in aga fakamotu, and the practices and values associated with them.”

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