Ka Mau te Wehi! Unit 7: What are you wearing to the dance?

Activity 2 

Learning intention

Ākonga will learn names of articles of clothing in Māori. 

Watch: Unit 7 Scene 3 – What are you wearing to the dance? 

The girls and boys talk about what they are going to wear to the dance. 

Have ākonga work in pairs to create a fashion poster using colours and clothing. 

Each pair should choose four different clothing and colour combinations. For example, hāte kākāriki – green shirt, with tarau kahurangi – blue trousers; or panekoti whero – red skirt with hū pango – black shoes; or pōtae mā – white hat with hāte kōwhai – yellow shirt. 

• tarau – trousers 
• hate – shirt 
• hū – shoe(s) 
• panekoti – skirt 
• pōtae – cap, hat 
• koti – jacket, coat 
• tōkena – socks 
• hingareti – singlet 

When each pair has completed their poster, then they should swap with another pair. Each pair makes up a commentary about the posters and then presents the commentary to the pair who created the poster. 

Examples: 

• He pai te hāte kākāriki ki au. – I like the green shirt. 
• He pai ngā hū whero ki au. – I like the red shoes. 
• He pai ēnei kākahu ki au. – I like these clothes. 

When ākonga are familiar with the names of many pieces of clothing, have them draw in their Wehi books two characters dressed in a variety of clothes (shorts, trousers, shirt, skirt, shoes, hat, and so on) and label the clothing. 

Watch: Unit 7 Scene 4 – What’s wrong with red? 

Activity 3 

Learning intention

Ākonga will hear a traditional Māori story about the origin of the rainbow. 

Teach ākonga the waiata “Te Kōpere”, which is available on YouTube – Te Kopere. 

Ākonga can follow the song using the lyrics below. 

Rangi pūkohukohu 
Rā whitiwhiti ka rere, te kōpere 
He Atua 

Ua māturuturu 
Rā whitiwhiti ka rere, te kōpere 
He Atua 

Wherowhero, Karaka …  
Kōwhai, Kākāriki, Kikorangi … 
Māhoe, Waiporoporo … 
Koinei ngā tae o te kōpere 

Wherowhero, Karaka … 
Kōwhai, Kākāriki, Kikorangi … 
Māhoe, Waiporoporo … 
Koinei ngā tae o te kōpere 

Koinei ngā tae o te kōpere 

Ask students to draw a rainbow in their Wehi books and colour it correctly. Then ask them to listen to the song again and label each part of the rainbow with the correct colour in Māori. 

Read the story of Uenuku and Hine-pūkohu-rangi. Ask ākonga to discuss in small groups what lessons could be learnt from this story. Ask them who they think was to blame for the sad ending? Why did Hine-pūkohu-rangi choose to turn Uenuku into a rainbow instead of something else?  

See Materials that come with this resource to download Uenuku and Hine-pukohu-rangi (.doc) 

Colour dancing

Prepare coloured squares, two of each of the colours mā, whero, kākāriki, pango, kahurangi and kōwhai. These squares need to be durable enough for children to stand on and approximately 35cm x 35cm square. (They could be cut from painted pieces of old carpet or sheets of vinyl or plastic. Alternatively, they could be painted on the asphalt in the playground, or you could visit a local flooring specialist for offcuts.) 

When the class know the song “Mā is White “ (well enough to sing it without looking at the words), place the coloured squares to form a grid on the ground. Two students can play at a time. The students have to sing the song and dance to the music by standing on the right colour square as they say the name of a colour. The challenge is to step on the right squares and keep dancing in time to the music without pushing another dancer off the grid. This calls for planning and co-operation as well as dance technique! 

The audience’s job will be to watch carefully to see that ākonga step on the right colours. 

Card game – Whānau

In this game, each of the colours learnt in Activity One – whero, kōwhai, kahurangi, kākāriki, pango, mā, pākākā, māwhero, karaka, tawa – will be a whānau name: for example, te whānau kōwhai. Each whānau set consists of four family members Māmā, Pāpā, Tuakana and Teina. (Some families will have two girls and others two boys.) 

The template on Unit 7 Teacher Sheet A (in the Materials that come with this resource section above) can be copied on to coloured card using felt pens to represent each of the whānau colours. The cards can then be cut out to provide packs of cards, one for each group of three or four learners. 

Divide students into groups of three or four. The aim of this game is to collect complete whānau sets. The player who collects the most whānau sets is the winner. Seven cards are dealt to each player and the remainder are placed face down in the centre. The first player asks for a specific card (for example, “Kei a koe a Pāpā Kōwhai?” – “Do you have Pāpā Kōwhai?”) and names the player who must reply. 

If the player named has the card requested, they must say āe – yes, and give it to the player who asked for it. If they haven’t got the card, they say: Kāo. Tangohia he kāri. – No. Take a card. The player who asked for the card takes one from the centre pile. If the request is successful, the player who asked has another turn. If not, play passes on to the next player, who asks a specific person for a specific card, and so on. If a player runs out of cards, they take one from the centre pile so they can stay in the game.