Tōku whānau tino motuhake – My unique whānau

Explore your unique whānau. Using the Oho Idea cards and the My unique whānau activity sheet, explore the things that make your whānau unique.

Oho – Resource collection 

This activity is part of the Oho resource collection. See the resource carousel below for more.

Read background information

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Learners will

• Explore the personal and wider cultural connections between place, language, time, events, people, and identity.
• Express and listen to ideas confidently.
• Describe themselves in relation to the groups within their class and to the whole class.
• Explore and discuss similarities and differences and how they contribute to the unique whānau, culture, and identities of each class member.
• Identify personal strengths of theirs and others.
• Develop a deeper understanding of their whānau and personal histories.
• Investigate the factors that shape our identities and how.
• Identify different ways identities, languages, cultures, and values are and could be represented in learning communities.

Ways to use the resource

• Connect this activity to Enriching Local Curriculum (ELC) by exploring the names of the places you visit.
• Centre these activities around relevant global, national or community places, events or themes.
• Try the activities as an individual, as a small group and as a whole class.
• Use the resources at home to get a deeper understanding of whānau culture.
• Capture outputs in a format of your choice.
• Use insights from these conversations in your learning design.
• Use blank Oho cards to record new ideas that are not in the pack.
• Capture outputs in a format of your choice. 

Shown here: The My unique whānau activity sheet and eight Oho cards.

Instructions

What you will need:

• My places, My languages, My time, My events, My people. and My identity cards
• My unique whānau activity sheet: One per person or group

Set up

1. Prepare cards

Add or remove Oho Idea cards to suit the context of your classroom.

2. Prepare activity sheets

Print or photocopy one My unique whānau activity sheet for each person or group.

Using the Oho Idea cards and the My unique whānau activity sheet, explore the things that make your whānau unique.

Place cards on the activity sheet. Discuss why you made each selection. We suggest introducing the card types, one set at a time, as you work through the steps.

Activity

1. Place

Select a My places card to represent a significant place to your whānau.

2. Language

Select a My languages card to represent an important language of your whānau.

3. Time

Select a My time card to represent a time in history that was significant for your whānau.

4. Event

Select a My events card to represent how you celebrate, express joy, or share special occasions.

5. People

Select a My people card to represent a person or people that have been significant to your whānau.

6. Identity

Select a My identity card to represent a value or belief that guides or is important to your whānau.

Discuss and compare

Explore the different perspectives and ideas around whānau culture. Then, discuss and compare your findings with the group or classroom.

Downloads

See Materials that come with this resource for:

• Oho My unique whānau activity sheet (.pdf)
• Oho My unique whānau teacher support material (.pdf)
• Oho cards (jpgs) (.zip)
• Oho cards (printable) (.zip)
• Oho blank cards (printable) (.pdf)

Next steps

Explore other aspects of whānau and identity with activities such as 'My place in time', 'My people of inspiration', 'I inspire', 'My whānau in my place of learning', and 'My culture in my place of learning'.