Tag: Te Reo Māori

LI: to learn how to communicate aspects of your geneology.

This week for the Te Reo Maori challenge, we were learning about how to talk about our aspects of our geneology using Maori words. To do this, we put together a family tree that shows the names of ourselves, our parents and our grandparents. This will help us to answer questions in Te Reo Maori. For example: if someone asks you “Ko wai ō mātua?” (Who are your parents?), the family tree would help you answer this (Ko Bibi Gul taku whaea, Ko Yavaz taku matua.) Ko wai ō tūpuna? translates to Who are your grandparents?. If someone asked me this I would reply back with ” Ko Sayed Ahmad taku koro and Ko Hawa taku kuia “.

I enjoyed this activity because I learnt more about Te Reo Maori and how to communicate sentences in Maori.

LI: To unpack the significance of Matariki.

Screencastify

In groups, LS2 have been exploring and unpacking the importance of Matariki. We used our smart searching skills to create an idea of what Matariki is so that we could explain to other people who might not know what it is.

Matariki is an important celebration because of the meaning and history behind it. Matariki is a cluster made of stars which represent and symbolise the nature of Earth. 

Each star symbolises a different element and concept. For example: Waiti is the star connecting to bodies of freshwater and Waita is the domain of Tangaroa with oceans. 

The Matariki celebration holds a great significance to the early Maori as it was a sign to start harvesting the crops they had previously grown. The Matariki cluster also helped them determine the direction whenever they would travel. The whole concept of Matariki is to bring people together, reflect, celebrate and plan for the future. Reflecting on the past means that you will have a clear understanding of what you can change, keep the same or add. Celebrating is to commend on the present achievements. Planning for the future is to create goals for the future. 

I enjoyed this activity because researching about things that might not be familiar to someone is educational and important.

LI: to research the history of a mountain/volcano in Auckland.

Maungakiekie is the second largest volcanic cone in Auckland after Rangitoto. The tall pencil is seen from many parts of Auckland and represents a single totara tree which held a lot of meaning and significance for a pā (village). Maungakiekie is also known as One Tree Hill and is located in Cornwall Park. The totara tree which was on the summit of the volcano, was a symbol of life and growth. When the totara tree had been cut off by the Pakeha, a tall pencil was built on the spot of where the totara tree had been in order to keep the history of the pā who had once taken reign of Maungakiekie.