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Ko e Heigoa e Kai Laā? Teacher support material

by Joan Makisi

This story supports:

  • Unit 12 Tau Vahā he Tau/Seasons
  • Unit 13 Kumi e tau Mena/Finding Things

Schools, ECE centres and education providers can order the set of six Haia! An Introduction to Vagahau Niue storybooks from  Down the back of the chair. Enter item number MOE11625 into the search box.

Text features

Language features

The language features of this story include:

  • formulaic expressions and colloquialisms – Ae tahakau! / hey guys!; Ua popole / don’t worry; Hā fē? / where?; Oka!/awesome!; Mitaki hā ia! / that’s nice!
  • reduplication in a verb to indicate intensity – onoono / look closely, investigate (from ono/to look)
  • ma before a person’s name when addressing them directly – ma Tomasi
  • the connective mo/and – Mafana mo e laā / it is warm and sunny; Kua onoono hifo a Luka, Tuku, mo Jamar ki loto he loloto/Luka, Tuku, and Jamar look into the rock pool
  • pronouns – lautolu/they; haaku/my; haau/your (singular); haana/his; tautolu/us
  • the past tense marker ne to indicate a completed action – Fai mena ne gagau e matalima haaku / something bit my finger; Ne talaage e matua taane haana ki a ia/his father told him
  • words transliterated from English – Ueligitoni/Wellington; papakiu/barbecue; Agikolo/Uncle; māsolo/mussel
  • prepositions to indicate place – he mataafaga / at the beach; he papakiu / on the barbecue; ki loto he loloto / into a rock pool; i lalo he tau maka / under the rocks; i loto he falu limu maka / inside some seaweed; i luga he papakiu / on the barbecue
  • imperatives (commands) – Fakaeneene / watch out; Omai a / come on
  • nakai in a question, and nākai to indicate a negative – Hā ē nakai e uga ne gagau a koe, ma Tomasi? / is this the uga that bit you, Tomasi?; Ko e kelekele e nofoaga he uga, nākai ko e loloto / the uga lives on land, not in a rock pool.

Cultural features

The cultural features in this story include the following.

  • Vahā mafana means “summer” in vagahau Niue. For more information about the seasons of Niue, and the differences between these and the seasons in New Zealand, see unit 12 of Haia! An Introduction to Vagahau Niue.
  • Crayfish and shrimp belong to similar species. Tote/small or little is used with uo/crayfish to mean “shrimp”.
  • The relationships that the names for family members indicate – taokete / elder brother of a man.
  • The names of meals indicate times of day – kai laā/lunch (food when the sun is up).

Links to the New Zealand Curriculum

Key competencies

Reading and working with Ko e Heigoa e Kai Laā? could help students develop key competencies set out in the New Zealand Curriculum: Key Competencies.

Values

The story illustrates many values that relate to the New Zealand Curriculum: Values, in particular community and participation, and to the core Niue value of loto totonu/empathy.

Cross-curricular links

Learners who are working at levels 1–2 in Niue may be working at higher curriculum levels in other learning areas. You will need to consider this in order to make effective cross-curricular links. Here are three examples of cross-curricular achievement objectives that could be linked to this story:

Science, level 3

Ecology

Students will:

  • Explain how living things are suited to their particular habitat and how they respond to environmental changes, both natural and human-induced.

Social sciences, level 3

Students will gain knowledge, skills, and experience to:

  • Understand how people view and use places differently.
  • Understand how people make decisions about access to and use of resources.

Learning languages: Achievement objectives

Students will:

  • receive and produce information
  • produce and respond to questions and requests
  • show social awareness when interacting with others

(Communication strand, relating to selected linguistic and sociocultural contexts)

  • recognise that the target language is organised in particular ways
  • make connections with their own language(s)

(Language knowledge strand)

  • recognise that the target culture is organised in particular ways
  • make connections with known culture(s).

(Cultural knowledge strand)

Tau Hatakiaga ma e Vagahau Niue: The Niue Language Guidelines, levels 1 and 2

Students will:

  • recognise and express number, time, and location (1.4)
  • respond to and express agreement and disagreement and ask for assistance (1.6)
  • communicate about people, places, and things (2.1).

Learning outcomes

Below are some possible learning outcomes for reading this story. Select from and adapt these to meet the needs of your students and share the outcomes with them.

After reading and working with this story, I will be able to:

  • read and understand a simple story in vagahau Niue
  • read the story aloud with clear pronunciation and reasonable fluency
  • recognise and use language to express locations
  • ask and answer questions about location
  • research and present information about food gathering in Niue.

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