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Activities

Before reading

Prior knowledge

Revise the vocabulary and structures for Matā‘upu 1 and Matā‘upu 2, in particular, everyday and formal and informal greetings.

Revising greetings

As the students come into the class, greet them individually, using Tālofa and the name of each person. Ask the students how they are, using singular and plural pronouns in your question. For example, say “‘O ā mai ‘oe?” and indicate that you are speaking to one person only (by using a gesture or by adding their name). Then say “‘O ā mai ‘oulua?” and indicate that you are addressing two people, and then, ‘O ā mai ‘outou?” and indicate that you are addressing three or more people. Prompt the students to reply with Manuia fa‘afetai or other forms that you have focused on. Encourage the students to greet one another and ask how they are, using the appropriate forms.

Either as you are addressing the students when they come in or as another activity, you could use a ball as a prompt. Gently toss the ball to a student and greet them. Prompt them (using gesture) to greet you and toss the ball back to you. Then toss them the ball again and ask “‘O ā mai ‘oe?”, again gesturing to them to reply and toss the ball back. Repeat this with several students, then gesture to them to toss the ball to one another and repeat the greetings and the question and answer. Throughout the activity, allow only gagana Sāmoa in order to focus the students’ attention on listening to and remembering the target language.

Pronunciation of new language

If possible, ask a native speaker of gagana Sāmoa to model the correct pronunciation of any unfamiliar words for you and the students. This person could read the dialogue in the speech ballons to you and the class as the first reading, or you could record them reading it and play the recording to the class.

Introducing the book

Look at the cover and the title page. Prompt the students to identify the relationships between the characters and to predict the likely context.

Give small groups of students copies of each frame from the story, mixed up and with no text. Have the groups work together to order the frames. Depending on the time available, you could have them add text or just discuss what they think the characters are saying. When each group has finished, they could go and look at the way other groups have ordered the story.

Learning intentions

Share the learning intentions and discuss 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:

  • read dialogue in gagana Sāmoa aloud with fluency
  • distinguish between everyday, informal, and formal greetings and be able to use them appropriately
  • distinguish between some singular and plural (including dual) pronouns and be able to use them appropriately.

Reading the text

Read the dialogue in the speech bubbles on page 2 to the students and have them work in the same groups to decide which of their pictures would have that dialogue. Then do the same for the other pages. Give them time when you finish to discuss the order and make changes. Read the story a second time and have the students check the order of their pictures.

Have the students work in their groups and each take a part (or more than one) in the story. As they go through it together, using the pictures, have them add the gagana Sāmoa dialogue they think would fit or that they heard in the two listenings. (Circulate and offer help but encourage them not to worry about getting it absolutely right at this point – tell them to just have a go.)

Hand out copies of the book and tell them to read the story individually before discussing, in their groups, what is the same as and different from the story they told.

Then, tell the students to close the books and to try to list as many character names as they can remember. List them on the whiteboard and identify the relationships between the characters. Discuss what greetings are or could be used between the various characters.

As a class, go through the book page by page, looking at the pictures to see what is happening and identifying any unknown vocabulary in the speech bubbles. Discuss:

  • what each page tells, both through the text and through the pictures, in particular noting the story about the dog that is told in the visual text
  • the features of the comic-book format, for example, that a lot of the story is told in the pictures
  • the reasons behind the choice of greeting and the question asking how someone is (distinguishing between formal, everyday, and informal greetings and between greetings addressed to one, two, or several people).

Prompt the students to notice the gagana Sāmoa used to introduce people and to ask questions such as ‘O ai le igoa o lau uō?, even though these are not the language targets for this reading. (You could revisit this text when you are working on Matā‘upu 5: ‘O ai? ‘O le ā? ‘O fea?/Who? What? Where?)

After reading

Discuss with your students how they get to school, their neighbourhoods, and their experiences of dogs. “How do you get to school?” “Do you know your neighbours?” “Who do you talk to on your way to school?” “Has a dog (yours or someone else’s) ever followed you?” “Have you ever had to chase a dog like Alexander’s mother did?”

Have the students work in groups of four or five to create a role play, based on one of their trips to school, which uses a range of greetings, questions about how people are, and responses. Ask them to include informal, everyday, and formal language, and questions to one, two, and more than two people. Alternatively, they could create a short comic strip using some of the language from the text and features of the comic-book format. Perhaps the students could choose which activity they would like to do.

Each group then performs their role play for the rest of the class or shares their comic strip with them. The other students have to guess who the characters are (for example, a parent, a student, or a teacher) and identify the relationships between them.

Reflecting on the learning

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

  • Can you explain when informal, everyday, and formal greetings are used and give some examples?
  • What helped you understand the story?
  • How can you use the new language, for example, singular and plural pronouns, and remember it?
  • Is there some other language from the story that you want to learn and remember?
  • What do you think are the next steps in your learning?

Click here for the English version of the story.

 


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