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Activities

Before reading

Prior knowledge

Brainstorm the students’ prior knowledge of tents and camping. Discuss when the students may have been involved in camping, for example, as part of Girl Guides or Boys’ Brigade. Ask the students the following questions:

  • Who has slept in a tent?
  • What basic things do you need to go camping?
  • Why does everyone work together to put up a tent?

Introduce the term ‘are pū‘ākapa – a home that is a tent, or a temporary home. Explain that the word “pū‘ākapa” is taken from the Cook Islands Māori bible, which uses this term for the tents that the Israelites used when wandering through the desert. On the Internet, search for images of tents designed to be used in the desert. Ask the students to compare them with tents they would use to go camping in. Record their responses.

Pronunciation of new language

Check the words in the glossary (on the inside back cover of the book), which may be new to you. If possible, ask a native speaker of Cook Islands Māori to model the correct pronunciation of any unfamiliar words for you and the students. This person could read the story to you and the class as the first reading, or you could record them reading it and play it to the class.

Introducing the book

Show the students the cover of the book and read the title together. Which words can they understand, and which are new? Identify the words ‘are and pū‘ākapa as one they have not learned. Ask the students to combine their prior knowledge with the information in the picture to predict the meaning of the phrase ‘are pū‘ākapa.

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Learning intentions

Share the learning intentions or co-construct them with your students. Some examples of possible learning intentions for reading this story are given below.

After reading the text, I will be able to:

  • identify and use some vocabulary for camping equipment
  • make up letters or poems using the new words
  • make up and present short plays using the new words
  • explain the meaning and origin of the word pū‘ākapa
  • ask and answer questions about where objects are.

Talk about how the students will know they have met the learning intention and decide on success criteria together.

Reading the text

Explain that there are a lot of new words in this story, which are translated in the glossary on the inside back cover of the book. Read the story aloud to the students. Stop at the end of every second page to discuss what is happening and to identify any unfamiliar language. For example, you could:

  • discuss what is happening in the pictures, highlighting Teāriki’s long hair; introduce the new word ‘āmara; discuss how the familiar word pi‘a is used in a different way (meaning box rather than room); and ask what a box has in common with a room – the shape of a cube, which is also called pi‘a (pp. 2–3)
  • talk about what is happening in the pictures and introduce the new phrase kia ‘āriki au ‘i te moenga (pp. 4–5)
  • talk about what is happening in the pictures, discuss the use of possessive adjectives, and introduce the new terms pūte-moe, ūrunga-moe, and mōri-pata (pp. 6–7)
  • discuss the pictures portraying what the other boys think of Hauā’s flash gear, the Cook Islands Māori phrase Kā ‘akapē‘ea koe?, and the use of possessive adjectives (pp. 8–9)
  • talk about what Hauā uses as a torch and introduce the new terms vai inu, mānga katikati, and ‘apinga kangakanga (pp. 10–11)
  • discuss possible answers to Hauā’s questions (p. 12).

After the first reading, go through the text page by page again, prompting the students to use the illustrations and the words they know to work out what each page means. Write key phrases on the whiteboard.

Ask the students to work in pairs. Each partner chooses a character from the story. Each pair then finds one or two situations where their characters are involved, for example, in setting up the tent (pp. 2–3) or setting up the inside of the tent (pp. 4–5). They act out each situation together, first reading their parts and then memorising them.

After reading

Discuss the story with the students, asking whether they enjoyed it, and what they thought of the ending. Discuss Teāriki’s long hair and preview what the students will learn about a haircutting ceremony in Unit 13, lesson C.

Display different images of objects used in the story. Select an image and ask, for example, “Tei ‘ea te ‘āmara?” Students reply, “Tei roto ‘i te pi‘a rengarenga”, as in the story. Ask questions about other objects used in the story, encouraging the students to speak Cook Islands Māori.

Discuss the origins of the word pū‘ākapa. Why was there no word for “tent” in Cook Islands Māori until the Bible was translated into that language. Talk about the environment of the Cook Islands and the kinds of shelters that people have used there, now and in the past.

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Game: Word matching

Groups of four students are each given a set of items (or pictures of items) and a list of those items. They take turns saying to each other “ ‘Ōmai tā tātou [name of item] (Give me our [item]). When the first student asks for an item from the list, the other three try to find the correct picture or item. The student who finds and provides the correct picture or item has the next turn to ask for an item.

Drama activity

Have groups of four students write short plays using some of the new words. Encourage the students to practise their parts until they are confident, and then to present their play.

Follow-up activities

The students could put up a real tent, or role-play putting up a tent, using Cook Islands Māori to name some of the equipment that was used in the story. They could then choose one of the following writing tasks:

  • List (in Cook Islands Māori) the equipment from the story that they would need to go camping overnight in a tent, and practise saying or writing these words in sentences.
  • Write a letter to a friend, in Cook Islands Māori, about an actual or imagined camping experience.
  • Write a poem with a camping theme.

Reflecting on the learning

Have the students refer to their learning intentions and reflect individually about (or discuss in pairs) whether they have fulfilled the intentions. Ask the students questions such as:

  • What helped you understand the story and each character?
  • How can you use the new language and remember it?
  • What have you learned about the origin of the word pū‘ākapa?
  • What do you think are the next steps in your learning?

The students could record this information.

Click here for the English version of the story.

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