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Fefeua he Pelapela Teacher support material

by Lynn Lolokini Pavihi

This story supports:

  • Unit 11 Foaki Mena Fakaalofa / Gifting
  • Unit 15 Tau Fiafia Fakamagafaoa / Family Celebrations

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:

  • words transliterated from English – Iulai/July; kasini/cousin; keke/cake; Anitī/Aunty
  • Fakamolemole tali mai, which is the vagahau Niue equivalent of the French formulaic expression “Répondez, s’il vous plaît”, which is commonly abbreviated to R.S.V.P. in regular English usage
  • common formulaic expressions – Omai a ke kai! / come and eat!; Oti a!/stop that!; Oi! Oi! / oh! oh!; Kua lata tai he mena ia! / that’s enough now!
  • singular and plural forms of verbs – kata/laugh (singular) and fekī/laugh (plural); nonofo/sit (plural); omai/come (plural) and hau/come (singular)
  • pronouns – haaku/my; ha lautolu/their; mautolu/we
  • phrases to indicate direction – ki fafo / outside; ki fale / inside
  • phrases to indicate location – he fiafiaaga / at the celebration; i luga he tau laulau / on the tables; i fafo / outside
  • the connective mo/and – Fakamolemole atu au ma Nena mo Anitī / i’m so sorry, Nana and Aunty
  • imperatives (commands) – Omai a ke kai! / come and eat!; Oti a! / stop that!
  • expressions of time – A fe: 12 Iulai / when: 12 July; he aho nei / today
  • the general term for clothes and the term for clothes for a specific occasion – he tau koloa tui/clothes; he taute/clothes specific to the occasion
  • words or phrases for family members – kasini/cousin; matua fifine ha Siuni / Siuni’s mother; Anitī/Aunty
  • the particle ke to indicate intention – Kua manako a ia ke fefeua/he wants to play; Omai ke hehele e keke / come and cut the cake.

Cultural features

The cultural features in this story include the following.

  • The food at this kind of celebration is a point of discussion, for example, ota and roast pig. Ota is a raw fish dish. See unit 14 of Haia! An Introduction to Vagahau Niue for more information on ota, including a recipe. Having roast pig acknowledges the importance of the occasion. See unit 5 for information on Niue foods and on the preparation of food using an umu.
  • The illustrations show the different kinds of food on the table – ika tao/baked fish; salati/salads; moa/chicken; sapa sui/chop suey; timala/kumara; and pitako / a dessert dish made from grated banana or tapioca with coconut cream.
  • Both the written text and the illustrations include examples of fakalilifu/respect. The narrator apologises to his nana and aunty for letting Siuni get mud on his party clothes. Everyone is helping to get things ready – Kua lavelave oti e magafaoa he fakatokatoka he tau kai i luga he tau laulau/all the family are busy setting the food out on the tables.
  • The illustrations show that the family have put on special clothes for the occasion, including foufou fiti / floral headbands and necklaces made from shells. See unit 9 of Haia! for information on particular items of clothing and how these are made. The clothing in the illustrations is a mix of traditional Niue and Western-style clothes.
  • A first birthday celebration is important in aga fakamotu. The other two main celebrations for children are huki teliga/ear piercing for girls and hifi ulu/hair cutting for boys. These are described in unit 11 of Haia!
  • Siuni has a special birthday cake, which is common practice with birthday celebrations in New Zealand. The illustrations show a mix of cultural practices – those from within aga fakamotu (for example, the kinds of food offered, the cloths with Niue patterns) and those from wider New Zealand culture (for example, cake and balloons).
  • Many Niue families say a Christian grace before eating a meal. To show the importance of the first birthday celebration, the family’s Christian minister has been invited and he blesses the food. Examples of blessings are included in unit 5 of Haia!
  • The story includes an example of a written invitation, which follows the example of the invitation in Unit 15 of Haia! Unit 15 also includes information about cultural practices with invitations.
  • The story expresses the values of loto fakaalofa / the compassionate heart and loto totonu / empathy when the adults react to the two boys with mud on their clothes by laughing with them.

Links to the New Zealand Curriculum

Key competencies

Reading and working with Fefeua he Pelapela 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 values of loto totonu/empathy, loto fakaalofa/the compassionate heart, and loto fakalilifu/respect.

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:

Social sciences, level 3

Students will gain knowledge, skills, and experience to:

  • Understand how cultural practices vary but reflect similar purposes.
  • Understand how the movement of people affects cultural diversity and interaction in New Zealand.

Technology, level 3

Technological products

  • Understand the relationship between the materials used and their performance properties in technological products.

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)
  • communicate about people, places, and things (2.1)
  • understand and express concepts of amount, quality, and state (2.6)
  • recognise and express ownership and relationships (2.7).

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 the story and understand it
  • recognise and use expressions of time and direction, personal pronouns, and formulaic expressions
  • write texts for particular purposes with appropriate use of macrons and with correct spelling
  • make connections with the language(s) and culture(s) I know
  • research and present information on aspects of aga fakamotu presented in the story and the values they represent.

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