Years 1-3
ANZH in action: Years 4–6 examples
Teaching Guidance
These videos show teachers actively trialling elements of the new Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum content in their classroom. Watch them demonstrate a range of teaching strategies and learning activities to bring the new histories curriculum content to life.
PART 1
(Waiata begins)
Decision making and planning
Jenni, Teacher, Corinna School, speaking to camera
The reason we chose this inquiry for our students was in term one we'd focused really strongly on identity, because that's a key value in our graduate profile across our kāhui ako. And the kids had explored their own identities and who they were and who they were as learners. And we wanted to widen that to who is our collective identity as people in this space, in this area. And the Histories Curriculum really gave us a good avenue to look at that, into: Where have we come from? Who makes up the ethnic and cultural makeup of this place? What are their stories? and How does their stories feed into a collective story of people in Porirua?
Cindy, Teacher, Te Papapa School, speaking to camera
Because I teach Year 4 students, and so I noticed that there was a bit of a knowledge gap as they weren't so exposed to history before. So I took a step back and had a look at the Year 3 progress outcome and we knowledge-built on that. So now we've got up to a point where we've looked at the Māori migration and settlement stories, and using that to tie in with the students’ own stories and experiences that are relevant to them. And from here as a starting point, we're moving on to look at Year 4–6 progress outcomes.
Tiffany, Teacher, Te Papapa School, speaking to camera
As part of our local curriculum it's really important that the children, first of all, understand the places in our community. And the way that we have approached that this year, through the curriculum, is the children understanding their whakapapa and also our pepeha for the community. And we went on a trip to kind of spark interest of the local area. And we've integrated that through all the other areas. So building knowledge through literacy, and through digital technologies, and getting the children to understand what's around us.
Cindy, Teacher, Te Papapa School speaking to camera
So we started teaching history through our inquiry, just trying to link it in through our local curriculum. And we start off by looking at stories about Polynesians migrating to New Zealand, and then we try to link that with their family history because most of them are like Pasifika children migrating to live in New Zealand. So we thought that would be more relevant to, you know, what they're familiar with, and it will be like a more relevant context for them as well.
Connections with whānau and iwi
(Waiata audio as background to slide)
Jude, Teacher, Ōhoka School, speaking to camera
We've also been working really hard at developing or strengthening our relationship with local iwi. So for us, that's Ngāi Tūāhuriri. All our teachers have gone to training sessions, training workshops over at the marae. And we've strengthened and broadened our knowledge of our local history to the pā site, which is now tapu, very tapu, for our students. So, they’ve been there and even though it looks for all the world like a green field, the stories that we heard, the stories that were told, were immensely moving and they’ll stay with our students for a very long time I think.
Jenni, Teacher, Corinna School, speaking to camera
The quote that started our inquiry: “It is the path laid down by our ancestors that lay the footsteps for where we go in the future”. The kids took it home and they had to get their parent feedback and we came back and we ran a really powerful philosophy session around it going – What do your parents say? There was just a really special opportunity for kids to… to share their parents’… to have their parents’ perspectives involved in the learning and for us to hear from and feel really connected to what the parents’ views on this are, and that the parents were part of that.
Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories
Special thanks to Ōhoka School, Te Papapa School, Corinna School and Waterloo School
PART 2
(Waiata begins)
Understand, Know, Do
Cindy, Teacher, Te Papapa School, speaking to camera
So we started looking at some legends, stories of Kupe and the giant wheke. And then... started off with that story, launching it, and then tying it in with a Māngere mountain trip. So we went to Te Pane o Mataoho as one of our school trips; one of our local mountains. And then from there, the children came up with some, like, inquiry questions. How do people get here? You know, how did people settle here? And so we looked at the migration part, and voyaging, Polynesians voyaging to New Zealand.
(Examples of students’ artwork)
We read a text about Whakaotirangi and her kete of kumara. So it talked about how this Whakaotirangi chief brought kumara to New Zealand and how she helped her people to settle down in New Zealand in the maunga. And then from there, they investigated into – Oh well, like, how do people voyage? How do people navigate? What sort of knowledge and skills did these navigators have? So then we read a text and then in there it talked a lot about the different roles and the different duties people had on the waka when they made the journey. And then what sort of knowledge they had to have. Then the children looked into that and then based on that they would, like, they came up with some new questions.
So why did my family emigrate to New Zealand? So we kind of tried to link that part. You know, in the past people, like, people migrated to New Zealand. And nowadays, like, people were still... there’s most of our population is made up of like immigrants. So then they looked into their family history – “Oh wonder why my family came here?” To tie in that connection.
Jude, Teacher, Ōhoka School, speaking to camera
The big idea that we've been working on is the very rich history, Māori history. Linked in with this, we talked about Māori and their settlement. We heard the story of how our local marae, our pā was settled, and that it was huge, like a CBD. From Kaiapoi Pā, Māori would walk over to the Coast to access pounamu. And they knew that the pā being situated as it was, was extremely well protected and fortified with swamp all around it. An area where other tribes would like to come and take what they had, because it was such a stronghold.
Students, years 4-6, Ōhoka School, speaking to camera
When we went to visit the pā, it was amazing because it felt like we were standing on history.
We went to some close rivers and looked at them. And then that was kind of a connection to how... because when the Māori were back here, they looked after their rivers and they didn't mess them up or anything. Compared to now, they're kind of a bit messed up.
(Slide: “Look for times when learners can make comparisons between the events of the past and today”.)
Jude, Teacher, Ōhoka School, speaking to camera
So when Europeans arrived, we built up characters so that they could weave a story through those characters of what might have happened when Māori and Pākehā first met and when Captain Cook arrived. And since then, we've created a museum display in the classroom, with some artefacts that we've procured, and the children were told stories about that artefact and its importance to Māori or Europeans at that time.
(Artefacts from student museum display)
Katie, Teacher, Waterloo School, speaking to camera
We then took what we wanted the students to know about colonisation.
(Teacher working with students in the classroom)
So looking at what the whenua meant for the colonisers and also what the whenua meant for the people who were living in Parihaka at the time. And why these two ideas might have caused conflict at Parihaka.
Katie, Teacher, Waterloo School, speaking to camera
Then what we wanted to do was link in the 'Do' aspect. So one thing that, as we were reading through the 'Do' notes, we noticed that there was an emphasis in the third one about having and forming opinions and understanding different sides of a story.
(Teacher working with students in the classroom)
For example, in my class, they need to come up with, like, what the values were that were driving the colonisers, what the values were that were driving the iwi at Parihaka. And then we have a discussion about maybe how that's changed over time, how that might be different now, and how the values have grown and changed over time.
(Slide; “ Deeper understanding is shown when students are able to explore the perspectives of multiple people at an event”.)
Poppy, Student, Waterloo School, speaking to camera
We did a cross classification chart, which is showing the different people at Parihaka. What they... what did they see? What did they feel? What do they do? And what were the consequences? I think the most challenging question to answer is – What did they feel?
Jude, Teacher, Ōhoka School, speaking to camera
As we've been learning, one of the great things about New Zealand Histories and this new curriculum is that there's a focus on perspectives, different perspectives. Whose story is this? Whose perspective is missing? So really a lot of focus on acknowledging sources of information as well. Where has that information come from? Who said that? Who might not be involved in those acts? What might they say? What might they have seen? And what might they have heard?
Students, years 4-6, Ōhoka School, speaking to camera
We've sort of got different checking things. So we read something, and then we check a different place to see if they have the same sort of information.
Jenni, Teacher, Corinna School, speaking to camera
When we were trying to craft learning activities that would help our kids to unpack these issues, we really used a framework. And we used that framework to come up with an activity sheet and all of our reading. Kids were reusing that sheet and re-unpacking in the new context. And then we would also look at different texts that were on the same subject. So Gavin Bishop's book of Aotearoa compared to Damon Salesa's text about the Polynesians, compared to someone else's text about the way navigating happened. And so we were filling in and adding in information and going – Oh, does it become more reliable when more people have said it? Who said it? How do we know that that's valid and reliable? And even if it doesn't have other people that back it up, we just go, we can hold that as that's what Damon said and that's Damon's perspective. And this is what Gavin has said. So taking that information and adding to what makes things more valid and more reliable, but also holding the information that we've heard as “that's that perspective”. And when students had information that they'd heard from their grandparents or… we'd put that in our framework as well, to add to the picture of what we learnt about the impacts, the purposes and the process.
Progress outcomes
(Waiata as background to title)
(Child using iPad as he speaks)
I’ve got a bridge so I can walk to my boat. That’s quite a walk though. I built Ngāti Whātua’s waka and his house.
Tiffany, Teacher, Te Papapa School speaking to camera
At the end of last term we went on a trip to Te Pane o Mataoho, which is Māngere mountain, and a mountain really close to our local area. We explored the maunga as it is today and it really sparked interest in the children, with – I wonder what it looked like when the Māori lived here and it was a pā. And they formed questions and ideas that they wanted to look further into and weave all the areas together.
Cindy, Teacher, Te Papapa School speaking to camera
And from there, they did read a little bit more about Te Pane o Mataoho. So they came up with this inquiry question around – Why do people choose to live on this mountain instead of just, you know, any other flat land? Why was it on a volcano? And we read a bit more into the story around Te Pane o Mataoho, which was linked to the trip they went on as well. And then they looked into – Oh, you know, what are the factors that influenced people to make that choice to live in that area?
Voice of Jojo, student, Te Papapa School, using laptop
So we've been learning the history of Te Pane o Mataoho, Māngere mountain. Learning about how the Māori lived there and what was the material they used to build the structures. How they... and how they had food and how they ate it. We did a point of view of Māori in the New Zealand land wars. We wrote why, if ANZACs get more credit than Māori or Māori get more credit than ANZACs.
(Slide: “Students can show their understanding of perspectives by making comparisons between groups or events”.)
Cindy, Teacher, Te Papapa School, speaking to camera
First of all, we looked at the stories and then we did it through drama. So we’d play... act out the stories, but then, like, add a little bit of the students’ own, like, story elements into it. So we did a lot through drama, and then did a bit through art as well. And they used that art to tell their story. So the way the students tried to input that knowledge was they would do it through art, but then use video or storytelling, or even like, stop motion or play to act out that but then they, through those, they had to demonstrate the knowledge that they have been building up to this point.
(Students in classroom)
Jude, Teacher, Ōhoka School, speaking to camera
One of our key things that we wanted the students to learn was to be able to sequence through time – pre-settlement, the arrival of Māori, Europeans arriving. There were key actions going on at those times. So I gathered a dozen or so photos and put children into groups and asked them to please just tell their story.
Child comments from classroom activity
Maybe they're about to have a war, or something, because they’re holding their weapons like that… so maybe they’re about to strike.
(Slide: “Look for students who can justify and explain their choices when sequencing or grouping historical objects and events”.)
Jude, Teacher, Ōhoka School, speaking to camera
And then I want to see how they would make connections between some of those photographed artefacts and scenes. So the final task was to lay those photographs out, those pictures out, in a sequenced order and to be able to tell the story of why they were in that sequence. So we had students arguing and justifying their choices and having to agree within the group, noticing details which were really important.
Ruby, Teacher, Waterloo School, speaking to camera
Historically, we have heard more of that European side of the story. Whereas now we are encouraging them to look critically at information or text or their own research or something that we present to them, and think – How has this opinion been formed based on their historic context, be it Parihaka or Europeans?
Poppy, Student, speaking to camera
So for the women, we put, they feel worried for their families and they feel unsafe and scared, because the Pākehā won't listen and they're disrupting their lives. For the children, we put, they're scared and threatened because their homes and family are in danger. They also feel confused because they don't fully understand what's going on.
Ruby, Teacher, Waterloo School, speaking to camera
In weaving together the ‘Understand’, ‘Know ‘ and ‘Do’, students have the ability to be able to critically analyse a lot of other aspects of New Zealand history. We, in particular, looked at Parihaka, but the knowledge that they gained from that – the critical thinking; the ability to research; the ability to compare both sides; and why the conflict was caused as a result of that. They can apply those to many other situations as well.
Katie, Teacher, Waterloo School, speaking to camera
So what we're hoping is that as the students move through the progress outcomes, they're able to take the skills that they have learnt with us and apply it to new learning about colonisation at a local, national, and global level.
Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories
Special thanks to Ōhoka School, Te Papapa School, Corinna School and Waterloo School
There are two videos per year grouping. The first covers: decision making and planning, and connections with whānau and iwi. The second covers: Understand, Know, Do elements and progress outcomes.
Tip: Regardless of which year grouping you’re interested in, you may wish to watch the videos as a series – a number of themes repeat across them.
You can use these examples in multiple ways:
- Watch the full video series for loads of great ideas on including the content in your planning and teaching.
- Focus on the two videos for your year grouping to get in-depth suggestions and see learners in action.
- Review the examples template for your year grouping for tips on how to build on your planning and include the new content using the examples in the videos.
As part of this pack, you will also find a handy planning guide and planning log template for your classroom level, including a blank editable version for use. These are designed to help you get started in your thinking.
Planning log example: Year 4–6
Get started with Aotearoa NZ histories curriculum planning.
Get started with Aotearoa NZ histories curriculum planning.
Planning guide
Prompts for planning your Aotearoa NZ histories programme.
Prompts for planning your Aotearoa NZ histories programme.
Planning log blank template
