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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.

Introducing the text

As a class, study the cover and title page of Fakataha Faka‘osita‘u. Brainstorm the students’ favourite activities. Introduce the Tongan word for skateboard (sikeitipooti) and ask who enjoys skateboarding. Prompt the students to consider what the boys might be doing on the cover and why one boy is pointing (he is searching for someone in particular).

Reading the text

Read the first page of Fakataha Faka‘osita‘u with the students and encourage them to study the illustration to help them establish who is Vili and who is Taniela and what Vili wants to do – Vili wants to meet ‘Aisea, and this is the factor that drives the whole story. Then have the students work in pairs to read aloud to each other and analyse each page of the story. They could:

  • describe what the illustrations show
  • summarise how Vili meets each new character, in particular focusing on the greetings used each time and the titles of the family members
  • make connections between the illustrations and the supporting written text
  • draw a mind map that illustrates the different characters who are introduced as the story progresses and their relationship to each other
  • identify aspects of the language and illustrations that demonstrate particular features of lea or anga faka-Tonga, for example: the greetings used; the way family members are introduced (with parents being introduced by their first names); the clothing worn at this New Year’s Eve celebration, and so on.

As the class works through each page, identify any unfamiliar words or expressions (in the text or the discussion). Record these on the board.

Support the students to notice patterns of language that they will use in other contexts, for example, Mālō e lelei, Vili. Fēfē hake?/hello, Vili. How are you?; Sai pē, mālō/I’m well, thanks; ‘Ikai, mālō pē/no, thank you.

Dictation

Dictation can help students focus on sound–spelling relationships and build good pronunciation habits, especially in relation to the definitive accent. Read the following sentences aloud slowly, repeating each sentence and giving the students enough time to write down each one with the appropriate accents.

  • Ko e ‘aho faka‘osita‘u' ‘eni.
  • Ko ‘eku tamai ‘eni, ko Langi'.
  • ‘Oku ke fiema‘u ha me‘akai?
  • ‘Oku ou kumi mo ia ‘e au.

Have the students find the sentences in the book and compare them with what they have written. Have them write a note to themselves about what they need to focus on to improve.  

After reading

‘Aho faka‘osita‘u

As a class, discuss the form of the celebration depicted in the story, who was present, and who would have been involved in preparing for the event. Encourage the students to identify the particular aspects of anga faka-Tonga and the Tongan values that the story expresses.

If there are questions that your class has not been able to answer, set research tasks, and encourage the students to search on the Internet or at the library or talk with family members, other students, or experts from a Tongan community.

Have the students work in groups or alone to research and prepare a presentation about one of the following topics:

  • the way ‘aho faka‘osita‘u is celebrated in anga faka-Tonga compared with how it is celebrated in their own culture
  • the kinds of clothes people wore to this gathering for ‘aho faka‘osita‘u
  • celebrations and festivals that are significant in anga faka-Tonga compared with those that are significant in their own culture, with reasons for this significance in both cultures
  • how the written language and illustrations in the story reveal cultural practices and values in anga faka-Tonga.  

Guest speaker

Have a guest speaker from a local Tongan community talk about the significance of ‘aho faka‘osita‘u and how it is celebrated in their family and community. Have the students prepare for the visit by writing an appropriate greeting for the visitor, an introduction to the class, questions about the cultural practices that relate to celebrating ‘aho faka‘osita‘u, and a thank you, all using appropriate lea and anga faka-Tonga. Encourage the students to practise their greetings, introductions, questions, and thanks with their classmates and choose among themselves particular students to say each piece.

Who’s who and what’s what

As a class, make a list of the names that occur in the story, including the place names – for example, Taniela, ‘Aisea, ‘Uēlingatoni, and Kolo Kakala. Encourage the students to research the meaning and origin of the names (using the Internet or having discussions with members of a local Tongan community) and compare these names with common names from their own cultures.

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 anga faka-Tonga?

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