He kupu whakataki
Why do we read? To satisfy curiosity? To develop deeper understandings? To gain specific information – or simply for enjoyment and entertainment?
These teachers' notes are intended to help you to encourage your students to use He Kohikohinga for all purposes. They provide detailed suggestions for using the He Kohikohinga books in your class reading programme.
The notes should be used in close conjunction with The Learner as a Reader and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.
He whakaakoranga pānui
A balanced reading programme uses a variety of approaches, including:
- reading to students
- reading with students
- reading by students.
These notes include ideas for using He Kohikohinga material for all these approaches, with particular emphasis on guided reading.
For information on deciding which approach to use with a particular He Kohikohinga item for particular students, see The Learner as a Reader, Chapter 5.
He pānui arahanga
Guided reading is at the heart of the instructional reading programme. In this approach, teachers work with a small group of students to guide them purposefully through a text.
Guided reading involves:
- selecting a purpose for reading
- introducing the text
- reading and responding to the text
- extending students' word strategies
- discussion and, where appropriate, follow-up activities.
He Kohikohinga
He Kohikohinga targets students in years 3–5, from middle to senior primary school, and is written specifically but not exclusively for students in Māori immersion contexts. He Kohikohinga aims to appeal to students' interests and experiences while enhancing their knowledge of te ao Māori and te ao whānui. This collection of writing focuses on hauora, with examples of writing from both the Poetic writing (Tuhinga auaha) and Transactional writing (Tuhinga whakawhiti mōhiohio) strands.
The stories and ideas in He Kohikohinga are designed to support reading and writing programmes. The stories model appropriate language structures and features that students can use in their own writing. All the ideas in these teachers' notes are suggestions only, and teachers and students are encouraged to adapt them to suit their own learning contexts, needs, and interests. The continuation of a reading support character named Tamaora in this collection provides students with other ways of thinking about and engaging with the text.
To gain full benefit from He Kohikohinga, teachers should attempt to work with some of the language features and ideas in the text. The more students work with the words and features of language in the stories, the greater their retention of them will be. It is very important to provide a language-rich environment in which students can experiment with and freely practise newly acquired skills and ideas.
Each of the pieces of writing is accompanied by notes that support teachers in their programmes. These notes contain some of the following headings under which explanations and ideas about how teachers can use the stories in He Kohikohinga are presented.
He kupu whakamārama
He whakarāpopoto
provides a brief overview of the text.
Ngā āhuatanga i roto i te tuhinga
identifies language features within the text.
- He whatu tūkanga identifies and expands on the cultural context.
- He whatu tamariki identifies links and possible motivations for students.
He whatu pānui
identifies reading support items provided in the text.
- Hei tautoko i te kaipānui identifies aspects of the text that may assist readability.
- Kia mataara! identifies possible challenges for students.
- He kete reo presents further ideas for working with and in te reo.
- He kete kupu identifies words that students may find challenging and/or that will enhance students' further understanding of concepts.
- Hei wānanga i te reo provides a focus for further language development.
Hei whakaihiihi:
- provides ideas for motivating students
- highlights selected features of the text
- discusses the title
- sets a purpose for the reading.
Hei whakatā:
- supports students during the reading
- suggests ideas for focusing attention on detail.
Hei wānanga:
- provides ideas for getting students to respond to the text
- provides a bank of ideas for further development and for developing inferential skills.
He whakapuaki māramatanga
requires the students to recall information from the text (in the first three questions) and to use the reading strategy of inference (in the last two questions). These questions may be used to assess students' comprehension.
Hei mahi
presents a table of possible activities and shows the links between Ngā pūkenga, Learning experiences, and Learning outcomes.
