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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 Tau koka‘anga faka-Nu‘u Sila. Encourage the students to recognise words such as Nu‘u Sila and prompt them to consider what the illustrations show and how this might relate to the title. Ask, “What do you think is happening in this picture on the cover?”

Prompt the students to think about how they have learnt to make things and discuss who might be teaching and who might be learning in this story.

Explain that the story is about making ngatu and, more particularly, making ngatu in New Zealand, which is slightly different from how ngatu is made in Tonga. As a class, discuss the students’ understanding of ngatu or tapa and other Pacific arts.

Reading the text

Read the first page of Tau koka‘anga faka-Nu‘u Sila with the students and encourage them to study the illustration to help them establish who are the main characters. 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 what happens on each page
  • make connections between an illustration and the supporting written text
  • identify the roles that different characters have in the story, for example, the school principal, Nena, the men and women, the narrator
  • identify aspects of the language and illustrations that demonstrate particular features of lea or anga faka-Tonga, for example, formulaic expressions, processes involved in making ngatu, the size of ngatu, and the associated values.

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

Support the students to notice patterns of language that they will use in other contexts, for example, ‘Oku talitali kinautolu ‘e he puleako′ / the school principal welcomes us; ‘Oku ne lea ‘o talitali kinautolu kotoa / she welcomes everyone.

After reading

Ngatu

As a class, discuss the ngatu that the characters made in Tau Koka‘anga Faka-Nu‘u Sila. Encourage the students to identify the particular aspects of anga faka-Tonga and the Tongan values that the story expresses. Make sure that the students are aware of the difference between how ngatu is made in Tonga and how it is made in New Zealand – men can be involved in making ngatu in New Zealand, while only women make ngatu in Tonga.

Ask experts from your local Tongan community to demonstrate how to make ngatu. Encourage the students to prepare questions (in English) to ask these experts.

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

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

  • the processes involved in making ngatu, including the order of activities, the history of ngatu, the patterns and colours used in ngatu and their symbolism, the size of ngatu, and the importance of ngatu
  • the kinds of gifts offered at anniversary celebrations in anga faka-Tonga and the different events that are celebrated in anga faka-Tonga compared with the kinds of gifts and different events celebrated in New Zealand culture
  • the roles for different people, the kinds of clothes people wear, and the equipment used in preparing a ngatu in anga faka-Tonga compared with preparing ngatu in New Zealand.

Measuring

Have the students work in pairs to measure five objects in the classroom, such as the surface area of desks, windows, and posters; pencil lengths; the number of chairs in the room; distance of a particular table from the whiteboard; and so on. Come together as a class and create a list on the whiteboard of all the items that were measured. Ask different students to estimate the measurement in lea faka-Tonga for different items and have the original measurers confirm how correct each estimate is.

Songs

The story includes a reference to the girls singing as they make ngatu. The students could research songs that women sing while making ngatu or traditional Tongan songs and nursery rhymes. Have them select one Tongan song to practise and perform (as a group or as a class). There may be experts in the local community whom you could invite to coach the students in the pronunciation of the words, the rhythms, and the traditional movements that accompany the song.

Reflecting on learning

Prompt the students to reflect on what they have learnt 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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