By Jenny Chapman © 2020

[email protected]

Ngā Reo E Toru – Our Three Languages

Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori mo te Te Wiki O NZSL 2022
Māori Language Week and New Zealand Sign Language Week 2022
*The aim of this unit of work is to expose children to our Official Languages within the context of celebrating
NZSL Week and Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori and develop an awareness of their importance.
* The activities aren’t necessarily sequential and they don’t need to ALL be done!
*Pick and choose the order and activities that will suit your students and context
YEAR LEVEL DURATION

Any age 1 2 – 4 weeks

Strand Achievement Objectives Learning Outcomes

Te Reo Māori In NZSL and Te Reo Māori Students

Ngā whāinga paetae will be able to:
Achievement objectives
Students should be able to:
1.1 greet, farewell, and acknowledge people and respond to
greetings and acknowledgments
1.2 introduce themselves and others and respond to
introductions
1.3 communicate about numbers, using days of the week,
months and dates
1.4 communicate about personal information, such as name,
parents’ and grandparents’ names, iwi, hapū, mountain and
river, or home town and place of family origin
1.5 communicate about location
1.6 understand and use simple polite conventions, for example,
ways of acknowledging people, expressing regret and
complimenting people
1.7 use and respond to simple classroom language (including
asking for the word to express something in te reo Māori).
1. Use greetings in Te Reo Māori
and NZSL
NZSLCurrriculum 2. Ask and answer questions about
Language Skills needs/wants and likes
Students should be able to: 3. Interact respectfully and
 recognise, respond to, and use familiar appropriately when using NZSL
signs, phrases, and sentence patterns in and Te Reo Māori
familiar 4. Make connections with the Māori
 contexts; and Deaf communities of
 distinguish between statements, questions, Aotearoa
and instructions. 5. Acknoweldge a job well done in
Communication Functions NZSL and Te Reo Māori
Students should be able to:
1.1 recognise and respond to greetings, farewells,
thanks, and introductions;
1.2 communicate about basic concepts of number,
size, shape, and colour;
1.3 communicate about basic concepts of time;

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1.4 communicate their wants and needs and briefly

state their likes and dislikes;
1.5 recognise and respond to classroom
expressions and simple instructions;
1.6 communicate by watching and responding to
signed information and by making use of
visual prompts;
1.7 fingerspell their own name, their family
members’ names, and the alphabet.
Sociocultural Contexts
Students should be able to:
 demonstrate knowledge of the basic history
of Deaf schools and Deaf units within
schools in New Zealand;
 express understanding of the cultural norms
of the Deaf community;
 demonstrate knowledge of technological
equipment used by Deaf people;
 show an awareness of the importance of
sport to Deaf people;
 follow storytelling in NZSL.
Languages (NZSL)
Communication
In selected linguistic and sociocultural contexts, students will:
Selecting and using language, symbols, and texts to
communicate
 Receive and produce information.
Managing self and relating to others
 Produce and respond to questions and requests.
Participating and contributing in communities
 Show social awareness when interacting with others.
Language knowledge
Students will:
 Recognise that the target language is organised in
particular ways.
 Make connections with their own language(s).
Cultural knowledge
Students will:
 Recognise that the target culture(s) is (are) organised
in particular ways.
 Make connections with known culture(s).

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Supporting Achievement Objectives Learning Outcomes

Social studies – level 1 Students will be able to:

(For older children, find appropriate corresponding A/O at
https://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Social-
sciences/Achievement-objectives ) 6. Understand that NZSL and Te
 Understand how belonging to groups is important for Reo Māori are the two official
people.
 Understand that people have different roles and languages of Aotearoa (English is
technically the ‘predominant language’ as opposed
responsibilities as part of their participation in groups. to official language - https://www.new-zealand-
 Understand how the past is important to people. immigration.com/migrate-to-new-zealand/language/
 Understand how places in New Zealand are 7. Understand why it’s important to
significant for individuals and groups.
 Understand how the cultures of people in New
have our languages
Zealand are expressed in their daily lives. acknowledged

Learning outcomes Key

Learning Experiences Competencies

Introduction to the topic  Interact respectfully  Thinking

and appropriately 
 Don’t give the children any lead in or idea of what you’re going when using NZSL
Relating to
others
to be learning about! and Te Reo Māori  Using
 Watch the short videos of Tohorā Nui “Big Whale” and Tohora  Make connections language,
with the Māori and symbols, and
Nui 2 either on YouTube by following the hyperlinks or on the Deaf communities of texts
First Signs website. Aotearoa  Managing
 Observe the children and make mention of any children trying to  Acknoweldge a job self
well done in NZSL 
read along with the Te Reo Māori subtitles or sign along with the and Te Reo Māori
Participating
and
NZSL  Understand that contributing
 Small group/whole class chat about what the short story was NZSL and Te Reo
Māori are the two
about – lots of praise when the children demonstrate that they official languages of
could understand the story! Even though it wasn’t in English – Aotearoa
Use the following phrases and give NZSL for “GREAT!” =
double thumbs up
Tino pai! Great stuff!
Tau kē! Cool! Neat! Great!
Tino pai rawa atu! Excellent!
Ka pai! Well done!
Ka rawe! How lovely!
Mīharo! Wonderful!

 Make connections
What is “Ngā Reo E Toru?” (Three Languages) with the Māori and
 Pairs/Small group/whole class discussion about what this Deaf communities of
Aotearoa
phrase could mean
 Understand that
 Explain that our three languages are NZSL, Te Reo Māori NZSL and Te Reo
and English Māori are the two
official languages of
 Give the children the two cards – “1987 and 2006” *Appendix
Aotearoa

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 Ask questions such as;  Understand why it’s  Thinking

important to have 
 “What are these?” our languages
Relating to
others
 “How long ago are they?” acknowledged  Using
 “What do you think happened in these years about Te Reo language,
Māori and NZSL?” symbols, and
texts
 “Why do you think that’s important?” (recognized as  Managing
official = acknowledged as important to NZ and the Deaf self
Culture and Māori people, also funding and ability to use it  Participating
and
in legal proceedings among other things – for more read contributing
here for NZSL history and here for Te Reo Māori history)

Ask an Expert  Interact respectfully  Thinking

and appropriately 
 Connect with your local Deaf club, a NZSL tutor, a
Relating to
when using NZSL others
Deaf whānau in your school or community, or and Te Reo Māori  Using
through https://www.deaf.org.nz/  Make connections language,
with the Māori and symbols, and
 Invite them in to your school to share some NZSL Deaf communities of texts
with the children Aotearoa  Managing
 Understand that self
 Have the children prepare questions about NZSL or NZSL and Te Reo  Participating
Deaf Culture before the visit – have these written Māori are the two and
official languages of contributing
on cards in case they’re difficult to communicate to Aotearoa
your guest  Understand why it’s
important to have
 Contact your school kaumatua or local marae, Te our languages
Reo Māori teacher, high school student studying Te acknowledged
Reo Māori, or school whānau to arrange a visit to
your room to share their passion for Te Reo Māori
 Alternatively, take your class on a visit to the
marae your school is associated with (You may
need to research which marae this is as it isn’t
necessarily the one closest) – Make sure you have a
waiata (song) prepared to sing if you are going to
visit. For more information about visiting a marae,
read here
 Ask what a typical koha/gift is for such a visit – it
may be nothing, but it’s always best to ask 

NZSL Online Dictionary  Use greetings in Te

Reo Māori and NZSL
 Using devices – either download the NZSL Online  Thinking
 Ask and answer 
Dictionary App or go to their website www.nzsl.nz questions about
Relating to
others
needs/wants and
 For younger children you could do this activity on a  Using
likes
shared screen  Interact respectfully
language,
symbols, and
 Ask the children about words that we use all the and appropriately texts
when using NZSL
time – steer them in the direction of greetings,  Managing
and Te Reo Māori self
items around the home/classroom, needs and  Make connections
 Participating
with the Māori and
wants Deaf communities of
and
contributing
 With each idea, search it using the dictionary, and Aotearoa
have the children practice the sign and say the te

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reo Māori
 Good words/phrases to start with; Hello, goodbye,
how are you? Feeling words, food, drink, toilet,
clothes, etc.
 Note that you can search using Te Reo Māori as well
as English
 Let the children explore and play – (I’ll give any
teacher a medal who doesn’t have a kid search a
swear word !! – so monitor well )
 Come back for a sharing time using Ngā Reo E Toru

Kōrero Mai Series  Use greetings in Te

Reo Māori and NZSL
 The Kōrero Mai series can be viewed in video  Ask and answer
format here - this link has the “Animal” book read questions about
needs/wants and 
in NZSL and this link has the “Family” book likes
Thinking

 Allow the children to form groups and explore the
Relating to
 Interact respectfully others
videos of the books being read and appropriately
 Using
when using NZSL
 Let the children explore the book and become the and Te Reo Māori
language,
symbols, and
“experts” on the words in each book  Make connections texts
with the Māori and 
 Each group will then report back to the class Deaf communities of
Managing
self
however they would like to, to share the words Aotearoa  Participating
they’ve learnt in Ngā Reo E Toru.  Acknoweldge a job and
well done in NZSL contributing
 Make posters using the words from the books – you and Te Reo Māori
can download sign images from the NZSL Online
Dictionary by clicking in the image and pressing
“download” these can then be printed to use in
displays as long as not used for commercial
purposes.
 See additional printable resources on the appendix
of this unit

Te Rā Tuatahi O Hope – Hope’s First Day  Interact respectfully  Thinking

and appropriately  Relating to
when using NZSL others
and Te Reo Māori  Using
 Make connections language,
with the Māori and symbols, and
Deaf communities of texts
Aotearoa  Managing
self
 Participating
and
contributing

 This book is widely available at libraries or through

Teacher Talk https://www.teachertalk.org.nz/
 Go through the book the first time just exploring
the pictures and introducing the characters,

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chatting about how Hope is starting school and all

the new experiences she might be having (meeting
teacher, friends, seeing her classroom etc) You may
also like to point out that Hope is doing NZSL in her
pictures!
 Point out the “feelings” page (pg 30) and ask some
children in Te Reo Māori – “Kei te pēhea koe?” then
show them how they could sign back! *Printable
“feelings” resource in the appendix
 Show them the “alphabet” page (pg 31) and explain
that words/names can be spelt out in NZSL too.
 Read through the whole book saying the phrases in
Ngā Reo e Toru and chatting about Hope’s first day
at school – take special note of the different word
order in Māori and NZSL for older children.
 Challenge yourself and your tamariki to learn and
use the phrases in your class! A new phrase a day,
or each week and you’ll be well on your way to
being able to use simple Te Reo Māori and NZSL
phrases! There are 23 phrases in this pukapuka,
and many nouns can be substituted so that you can
create an endless number of phrases!

 Use greetings in Te
Reo Māori and NZSL
More Stories in Ngā Reo E Toru  Ask and answer
questions about  Thinking
 The following links are wonderful books by Sharon needs/wants and  Relating to
Holt that are in Ngā Reo E Toru – watch, share, likes others
 Interact respectfully  Using
read aloud, sign alongside the story/song. and appropriately language,
 Kia Ora – “Hello!” - Greetings, whanau members, feelings when using NZSL symbols, and
and Te Reo Māori texts
 Kei te peke ahau – “I am jumping” - Actions
 Make connections  Managing
 He aha tēnei – “What is this?” – Animals in the garden with the Māori and self
 Matariki – Māori New Year celebrations Deaf communities of Participating
Aotearoa and
contributing

My Whānau and Things I Like  Use greetings in Te

Reo Māori and NZSL
 Watch this Reomation about Te Awarangi and his  Thinking
 Ask and answer  Relating to
whānau – (teaching notes at bottom of the link) questions about
others
needs/wants and
 Have the children try and translate likes  Using
 use the NZSL Online Dictionary and Kiwi Sign books
language,
 Interact respectfully symbols, and
to find the words for family members in NZSL. and appropriately
when using NZSL
texts

 Watch this Reomation about likes and dislikes  Managing

and Te Reo Māori self
several times  Understand that
 Participating

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 Discuss what it means NZSL and Te Reo

Māori are the two
and
contributing
 Find words on NZSL that match the nouns in the official languages of
reomation – avoid doing full sentences at this early Aotearoa

stage as the word order is different and there’s a lot

of subtlety in learning NZSL – read here for more

What’s Your Name? Ko Wai Tō Ingoa? Ko ____ toku  Use greetings in Te

Reo Māori and NZSL
ingoa.  Interact respectfully  Thinking
 A key phrase when learning any language! and appropriately  Relating to
when using NZSL
 It’s a good one for learning NZSL as it highlights others
and Te Reo Māori 
the different word order; “your + name+ what?”  Make connections
Using
language,
 It also allows for learning the alphabet in NZSL – as with the Māori and symbols, and
Deaf communities of texts
people who haven’t been gifted a “sign name” spell Aotearoa  Managing
their name using fingerspelling  Understand that self
 Watch this video as an example of this sentence
NZSL and Te Reo  Participating
Māori are the two and
structure and fingerspelling – notice the expression official languages of contributing
Aotearoa
on Amy’s face when she signs “what?” – the
 Understand why it’s
eyebrows furrow down – this is important to important to have
highlight that facial expression helps with meaning. our languages
acknowledged
 Here is a more detailed video of a conversation
including the sentence structures – good for older
children.
 Explore and play with this sentence structure and
learning to spell their own names
 Pages 22-23 and 28 - 29 of Te Rā Tuatahi O Hope
(Hope’s First Day) has a lovely illustration of this
phrase, and page 31 has a lovely image of the
NZSL alphabet that can be photocopied and
displayed.

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Key Phrases  Use greetings in Te

Reo Māori and
 Use these throughout the day, not just during lesson time!
NZSL  Thinking
 Get the children saying them and signing them as often as  Ask and answer  Relating to
you can! questions about others
 A fun way to encourage this is to have a language ladder needs/wants and  Using
display in the classroom and each time you notice the phrases likes language,
being used, put the student’s name up a rung on the ladder.  Interact symbols, and
respectfully and texts
 Kia ora  Hello  NZSL 1301 appropriately when Managing
 Haere rā (to the person Goodbye  NZSL 1301 using NZSL and Te self
leaving) Reo Māori  Participating
 E noho rā (to the  Make connections and
person staying) with the Māori and contributing
 Kei te pēhea koe?  How are you?  NZSL 1648 Deaf communities
of Aotearoa
 Kei te pai.  I’m fine.  NZSL 1613
 Acknoweldge a job
 He pai ki a koe, ngā  Do you like cheese?  NZSL 1447 well done in NZSL
tīhi?  NZSL 1089 and Te Reo Māori
 Yes, I like it  Āe, he pai ki ahau.  You can nod for
simplicity
 No I don’t like  Kāore e pai ki ahau  Shake head for
cheese. te tīhi. simplicity
 Ko wai tō ingoa?  What’s your name?  NZSL 3274
 NZSL 2173
 NZSL 2266
 Ko ____ tōku ingoa  My name is ______  NZSL 3300
 NZSL 2173

Colours – Ngā Tae  Interact  Thinking

 See the appendix for printables to learn and
respectfully and  Relating
appropriately when to others
practice colours in Ngā Reo E Toru using NZSL and Te  Using
Reo Māori
 Memory/matching language,
symbols,
 Colouring activities and texts
 Snap  Managing
self
 Sign the Sign a Rainbow colour song together  Participati
from First Signs – link here ng and
contributi
 Sing and sign the “Mā is White” colour song – link ng
here

 Use greetings in Te
Celebration Reo Māori and
 Make a video/present to parents/present at NZSL  Thinking
assembly; of the children using Te Reo Māori and  Ask and answer  Relating to
questions about others
NZSL – this could be reading the Kiwi Sign books, needs/wants and  Using
likes
doing one of Sharon Holts books, or using the language,
 Interact symbols, and
various greetings or acknowledgements respectfully and texts
 Remind the children of the history of our official appropriately when Managing
using NZSL and Te
languages and why we celebrate them – this may
self
Reo Māori  Participating
be an aspect some of them would rather present on  Make connections and
with the Māori and
 Remember to invite your special guest you had to
contributing
Deaf communities
the celebration! of Aotearoa
 Provide a shared kai  Acknoweldge a job
well done in NZSL

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and Te Reo Māori

 Understand that
NZSL and Te Reo
Māori are the two
official languages
of Aotearoa
 Understand why
it’s important to
have our
languages
acknowledged

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Resources and References

https://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/ MĀORI LANGUAGE COMMISION
https://nzslweek.org.nz NZSL WEEK WEBSITE

https://learning-languages.tki.org.nz/Language-Resources/NZ-Sign-Language NZSL CURRICULUM

https://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-guidelines TE REO MĀORI CURRICULUM
https://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Learning-languages LEARNING
LANGUAGES IN THE NZ CURRICULUM

https://www.nzsl.tki.org.nz/Units THUMBS UP - UNIT FOR TEACHING NZSL

https://hereoora.tki.org.nz/Teachers-notes/Useful-language-for-the-classroom USEFUL CLASSROOM PHRASES
https://hereoora.tki.org.nz/Reomations REOMATIONS - short video clips in Te Reo Māori
http://www.firstsigns.co.nz/learn-sign/stories-rhymes-celebrations SONGS RHYMES AND STORIES
http://www.learnnzsl.nz/#/id/co-01 FREE ONLINE COURSE
https://www.deaf.org.nz/ DEAF AOTEAROA
https://maoridictionary.co.nz/ MAORI DICTIONARY
www.nzsl.nz NZSL ONLINE DICTIONARY
https://turitv.ezystream.com/#/ STORIES IN NZSL
https://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/en/ TE TAURA WHIRI – MAORI LANGUAGE COMMISION
https://www.teachsign.org.nz/learners/nzsl-class-listings?s=10 LIST OF CLASSES IN NZSL and
QUALIFIED TUTORS

**This resource is the intellectual property of Jenny Chapman [email protected]

***Please do not share with others, rather refer people to my email address to purchase their own copy 
#supportlocal

*Appendix

1987
2006
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pai harikoa ngenge

fine happy. tired.

pōuri māuiui matekiri

sad. sick. disappointed.

hōhā pukuriri āwangawanga

fed up angry worried

makariri hiamo wera

cold excited hot

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Tae
colour

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tae
colour

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tae kikorangi kākāriki

colour blue green

kōwhai karaka whero

yellow orange red

pango/mangu parauri kiwikiwi

black brown grey

māwhero waiporoporo mā
pink purple white

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whetū kikorangi kākāriki

star

kōwhai karaka whero

pango/mangu parauri kiwikiwi

māwhero waiporoporo mā

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whetū kikorangi kākāriki

star

kōwhai karaka whero

pango/mangu parauri kiwikiwi

māwhero waiporoporo mā

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manawa blue green

heart

yellow orange red

black brown grey

pink purple white

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manawa blue green

heart

yellow orange red

black brown grey

pink purple white

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Mā is white, whero is red, kākāriki is green

Pango is black, mangu is too, a, e, i, o, u

Kōwhai yellow, parauri brown, kikorangi is blue

karaka is our orange, a,e,i,o,u

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He aha te tae?
What colour is it?

it colour what?

He aha te tae o tēnei whetū?

What is the colour of this star?

it star colour what?

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Ideas for use:

This simple resource can be used in so many ways! Here’s just a few, but don’t be
limited by them!
remember to encourage using te reo Māori and practising the NZSL signs, not just
naming them  Using Ngā Reo E Toru is about connection – not just “learning
words.”
o If you are unsure about how to demonstrate any NZSL sign, PLEASE go to the
website for the NZSL Online Dictionary and check the video example; .e.g star
o Even better, invite someone from the Deaf Community in to share NZSL with you!
Contact www.deaf.org.nz for a list of NZSL tutors in your area and other amazing
resources
o Make cards into a matching game; e.g matching te reo Māori with the NZSL
o Play “go fish” with all the cards
o Print off a double set and play “memory”
o Enlarge and display around the centre/classroom
o Make a display for children to interact with and identify colours in all three
languages
o Colour the pictures in – use the NZSL to help the child read the te reo Māori &
English
o Sign the Sign a Rainbow colour song together from First Signs – link here
o Sing and sign the “Mā is White” colour song – link here
o Make a booklet
o Play Charades by using the stack of cards to pull out of a hat and do the NZSL and get
the other kids to guess
o Play question and answer games using the sentences provided.
o Try this online colour activity from NZSL Online Dictionary website – Link here
o If older children show a particular interest in learning more NZSL, here is a fantastic
FREE online course http://www.learnnzsl.nz/#/id/co-01
o Encourage teachers to investigate finding a qualified NZSL tutor or te reo Māori
teacher and take lessons!

 This FREE resource was created by Jenny Chapman

 Te Reo Māori edited by Kataraina Smith
 NZSL edited by Theresa Cooper
 NZSL images used with permission from The NZSL Online Dictionary http://nzsl.nz
 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons,

PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

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