Monday, August 15, 2016

Todays reading was exciting and full of interesting happenings. My first

point of note is how using the co-construction/interactive model facilitated
a lot more student involvement than I ever anticipated. The introduction
that welcomes and values their input is a great way to encourage
participation and an invaluable tool to allow the students to vocalize in a
new language with no hesitations. Sometimes the conversations felt long
but upon relistening it was actually really interesting to see the studentteacher interaction less teacher-focussed. It will be illuminating to see if
they have as much to contribute in subsequent readings.
I cant help but think that using a wordless picture book gave the students
a feeling of ownership and understanding of the feelings. Following a
constructivist perspective, it allowed for their own interpretations and
experiences. It was incredible to see some of their explanations and from
a Health and P.E. perspective it shows the importance of giving words to
feelings and allowing students to express themselves at this age.
Deekin and Corah both repeated what I was reading in Mori full
sentences more than once. Mohamed repeated part of a sentence of his
own volition. I have to admit I was really excited when this happened. I
wonder what makes certain students more likely to try their hand at these
new sentences than others? Mohamed is an ELL learner. A lot of literature
supports additional language education for ELL learners as an equalising
and powerful linguistic tool.
Abbey and Hayden were the least involved in repetition, even after
prompting. I saw this behaviour in their Mandarin classes. I hope that with
further exposure and repetition they will gain the confidence to have a go.
There was a point where I delved a bit more into metalinguistics as I broke
apart the word matekai meaning to be in need of food. Is this a practice
that will help second language use or just confusing for students?
Before the lesson began I was most concerned with my pronunciation. I
spent the weekend agonising on my pronunciation of au but feel a lot
more confident thanks to Leilanis recording and ample practice. Im sure
my accent is far from perfect but I worked hard at correctly pronouncing
vowels, macrons, as well as giving the Mori sentences as much natural
flow as the English sentences. Upon listening to my lesson, I noticed that I
intonated more in English. Things such as giving a shudder when I said
cold, whereas I said makariri in a more regular voice. I would like to
speak to Leilani tomorrow and have her perhaps reread the book with lots
of feeling so that I may see if I can put the emphasis on the words in the
same way as in English.
For me, using the picture book in this first lesson was invaluable both to
help bridge my limitations in Mori, but also as an amazing hook for the
students. It was far from a boring language lesson, but instead a shared

experience in two of New Zealands official languages. I can see this

picture book getting the students interested in finding out different
feelings and words to express them even in their native languages.
It was interesting to note how much time was taken up reminding
students to raise their hands and respect their friends voices but I was
happy to hear in the recording that most of the reminders and interactions
remained positive from both teacher and students.
Tuesday, August 16th
I spoke to Leilani about my intonation and expression and she said to do
as I would in English. This reading I focussed on making the Mori as
interesting as the English reading. I felt more confident going into today. I
was interested to see how much participation I would get after the first
reading that had abundant student input. The students were just as
involved and just as fascinated by the pictures and what they could mean.
The students chimed in a lot more for the English words this time as they
have become more familiar with which feeling corresponds with which
picture. I am hopeful that this translates to the same in Mori as they get
more comfortable to listening to it in Mori. Next week I will be reading in
MEM so that will be fascinating to see what kind of difference, if any, it will
make.
It is so tempting to cut out English next week already as a way to
encourage them to chime in more in Mori. I will stick to the plan but it is
interesting that I am wishing for this already. Is it my own immersion
background? I have also begun to think about how I can continue to help
their korero in terms of full sentences and books I could read that use the
same sentence structure as Kei te pehea koe?. Or ways to support this
learning such as feelings charades while feeding them Kei te .. au and
having them fill in the Mori feeling word.
I was thinking whether I should explicitly tell the students that they can
say the words with me if they are familiar with them, but then I worry that
the whakarongo aspect of learning new words in Mori carefully will be
lost as they will attempt to read with me without having truly heard the
words.
Corah and Mohamed were absent today and they were two of my major
participants. Deekin remained inclined to repeat Mori sentences after me
and this time Hayden joined in which was a great coup! I was mentioning
to my MT how interesting it was that Deekin often laughs and acts silly in
his Mandarin language lessons but with the reading in Mori he soaks it in.
Could it be the familiarity of an indigenous NZ language?
One student who just joined the class and who is an ELL learner laughed a
lot at the sounds of the words in Mori. She caught parts of words that
sounded like naughty English words and at one point was mimicking the

sentences in baby babble. It was interesting to watch and I asked her if

she wished me to repeat the sentence so she could say it properly. Which I
then did, but two others repeated after me and not her. I was happy to
note that their interest was not waning and Im anticipating tomorrows
reading and what it will bring.
Wednesday August 18, 2016
Todays reading started off on a great note when a student saw the book
and said Oh yes! Its my favourite book again. This helped assuage
some of my worries that the students would get tired of the picture book
after having read it a number of times. We still have 6 more readings but
its great to hear that they still like it.
This reading showed me how important it is to pause after the Mori
sentence. Listening back, I noticed that I did nice long pauses after the
Mori sentences for the first few pages and it made a big difference to
encouraging students to repeat it. I will henceforth be conscious of this
and make sure to pause and give the students time to process the words
and try them for themselves instead of rushing into the next part on each
page.
There was just as much discussion about the feelings and the illustrations
in the book as ever. Further support for the co construction/interactive
approach was evidenced today as one of our discussions about loneliness
had Abbey using mokemoke as a loanword in an English sentence. I feel
that without these kinds of conversations there would have been fewer
opportunities to reveal these beginning understandings.
This felt like the lesson that began to enter into language learning
territory. At the end of the book when it asks Kei te pehea koe? How do
you feel? I asked the students Kei te pehea koe? They all answered in
English but it began to expose them to a real-life interaction for which this
language learning could be used. More students than ever began to echo
the words in Mori after hearing them. I think I would like to encourage
them to notice the pattern of repetition of Kei te. Au next week as well
as practice the pronunciation of the feelings vocabulary.
I was impressed with the students participation, pronunciation, and the
gusto with which they are taking on board this book. Today Hayden asked
why this book had no pictures. I didnt hear it during the reading (lots of
little voices) but I did in the audio recording. I feel as though next time I
should explicitly explain that this book is to help our speaking more than
our reading. I will have to talk to Nicola about this.
August 22, 2016
Todays reading was rich in insight and conversation. The discussion about
words came up again. Mohamed asked why the book had no words. I
explained that it did but that I wanted to focus on our spoken language. I

showed them one page and when he saw it he asked why there was no
Mori. I think this may be because he was expecting it to be in a different
alphabet (his first language is Afar which can either be written in Latin or
Arabic script). I pointed out that the top sentence was in Mori and the
bottom was in English. So those words are Mori? he asked. When I said
yes and pointed to the word au this spawned a big conversation on
pronunciation. One student though it was o like in the alphabet so we
practiced pronouncing it properly.
One student in particular loves the readings because he likes to think of
synonyms for the feelings in English. For cold hell say freezing, for hungry
hell say starving etc. This brought up a great talking point about how
matekai and hiakai are two ways to say Im hungry but that matekai is
more like starving. In addition to the second language focus of these
lessons I am truly astounded at the richness of the vocabulary and
meaning-making elements of them. For example, rich discussions about
whether the monsters are real or imaginary and why we might think one
way or the other.
During this fourth lesson I noticed that there was more participation from
everyone- even Kate joined in. The other interesting thing is that on
almost every page after I say the Mori sentence at least 2 people will say
the English translation, often more.
One of the neatest moments was when Hayden and then both Hayden and
Abbey had immediate recall of the sentences Kei te ngenge au Kei te
pukuriri au after seeing the pictures. Haydens story about the angry
picture was noteworthy as he said Maybe someone laughed at him when
he was kei te pukuriri au which made him angry. Maybe they said youre
kei te pukuriri au. Its interesting to note that he is picking up on
meaning but not really the syntax. It will be good to eventually work our
way towards second and third-person answers such as kei te pukuriri
ia/koe or even just further explore that pukuriri is the adjective and not
the full sentence.
August 23, 2016
Today was the first reading weve done in the morning. The students
seemed really motivated and full of new ideas. It hasnt yet ceased to
amaze me how many new ideas and details they notice about the story.
Todays big discussion was around whether or not the moon was lonely in
the picture too.
I noticed a few more loanwords in the participation and requested more
predictions than other readings. The student still say the English sentence
upon seeing the picture. When I do the full Mori reading I wonder
whether that will change. I was very impressed with Abbey who responded
to my question is there another way to say I am feeling tired? with a full
Mori sentence. She also almost got the te reo Mori sentence for I feel
hungry perfectly. It is really beginning to feel interactive. Deekin was

trying his hardest to remember the Mori words before the English ones
(although mispronounced). The other conversation of note was Hayden
saying mokemoke means boat doesnt it?. The picture has a boat in it
and Hayden is passionate about boats and fishing. I was focussing more
on the feelings words but I wished I had shared the word waka with him! I
will tomorrow.
The enjoyment of the story was palpable and I have had requests to read
it. Im almost worried for the time when that changes. Hopefully it doesnt.
Personally I have not tired of it and I now am responding to students
sentences with the second person. For example, when they say Kei te
ngenge au I respond Ka pai. Kei te ngenge koe. You feel sleepy.
Even modelling using Mori loanwords like asking Has anyone felt wera
today? seems to have a big impact on whether or not they will use the
word and I also see it as a helpful tool to get them using the vocabulary.
So far the only feelings they have memorised are pukuriri, ngenge and
matekai. I dont want to push for memorisation but I am fascinated as to
why these words stick and not others. I feel like next weeks full Mori
readings will really cement the different feeling words
The only other thing I have been thinking about is how well the bilingual
book has scaffolded the childrens learning. They are remembering words
and participating in a way that doesnt push for rote memorisation but
instead comes from them. The discussions in English help them make
sense of their new knowledge and it connects to some of the articles I
read that support the use of two languages and not just the target
language in learning.
August 24, 2016
Today all of the students participated and I couldnt be happier. Even
Hunter and Kate who are so quiet said some sentences without me asking.
The students are clearly taking pleasure in remembering the Mori
sentences and they seem to like the familiarity they have with the book. It
does tickle me that some students say almost the exact same thing every
reading but on the flip side we will have completely new conversations
about different concepts, our own experiences and new things we notice
in the pictures.
I dont feel as though I have very much to say about the reading except
for that it went really well. I am seeing growth with each student with
every reading.
Im very excited and curious for next week. Because the students know
and always say each pages feeling in English I wonder if they will still
always say it even if I dont. I have a great desire to start asking them how
they feel during the roll but instead have opted to do greetings in Mori.
They seem familiar with Morena and Kia Ora but when I took roll in the

afternoon only one of them tried their hand at responding ahiahi marie
to me. It is a lot of syllables!
I feel like the students awareness of te reo Mori has also increased.
Every Friday the junior school has singing assembly and they sing
different songs with positive messages. One of those songs is Aotearoa
and the students have expressed how much they like it so Sarah and I are
teaching them the chorus. I would also like to explicitly teach them the
national anthem in te reo Mori as they are clearly very capable of
pronouncing the words but are just fumbling around with it right now.
I sat in on Whaea Leilanis lesson with my class and so far they have
looked at colours, animals and some great songs. It is very hard for her to
scaffold their learning when she sees them just 45 minutes a week. I feel
like our readings help them understand that instead of just being irregular
vocabulary lessons they can be purposeful to their language learning.
Monday, August 29
Our class has been growing a lot lately so it has been nice to be able to
introduce the book to our new students and have their fresh perspective.
It did not matter greatly for them that I was only telling the story in Mori
as most of the students still repeat the English feeling.
Today I really noticed students giving it a go. When prompted for
predictions of what would come next or saying the feelings before I do, I
noticed that fewer of them were worried about getting the answer wrong. I
feel like the picture book makes it less of a stressful learning environment
- especially for language learning where students can feel put on the spot.
It was so neat to see Abbey pick up on the different personal pronouns.
What was even neater was the see her asking questions about it! It made
me feel as though they are seeing as more than vocabulary to be learned,
and more like something they could use. She asked How do we say he
feels hot?
Im very interested in the feelings they remember easily versus the ones
they dont. It doesnt seem to have to do with the order in which they are
written in the book. I was noticing that no one ever attempts to say Kei te
puhaehae au. Is it that jealousy isnt a feeling they express frequently in
English either? The students like to repeat pai rawa but when asked
independently how they feel they always answer in English if its good or
great yet they try to answer in Maori for feelings like pukuriri, wera,
ngenge etc.
They seem to have words that they simply love to say. In the beginning it
was pukuriri and ngenge. Now they like to repeat whakama and
mokemoke the most. Its simply nice to see that they are taken with any
of the words, sounds, and meanings.

I feel as though this week is definitely at the limit of how long the
interactional reading aloud should be. I think that sticking with the focus
of feelings will be great but changing the activities to laminated pictures
of the illustrations and playing more interactive games where the students
ask each other Kei te pehea koe? and answer with the illustration
theyre holding. I feel like that will encourage differentiating the feelings
and words as well as their memory of them. Not only that it increases the
amount of interaction even more.
Wednesday, August 31
Today we did the reading after fitness and before reading I asked the
students how they were feeling. I asked them Kei te pehea koe? most of
them answered in English but Abbey answered using loanwords and said
I feel wera, ngenge and pai! It was neat to see her able to use these
adjectives together. I think it shows great understanding of the meanings
of the words and the adaptability of her oral language.
The reading started with Hayden saying he was tired of the story I dont
like reading books over and over. Nonetheless, he fully participated and
seemed to forget his earlier objections. There was a lot of participation
from everyone. Usually only 3 students can remember the feelings upon
seeing the picture but there was a slight jump today. I also noticed that it
had a snowball effect; if two people said it then a few more would give it a
go and then others would echo it. It is nice to see how some learners
respond to each other and are perhaps more likely to echo their friends
rather than the teacher.
I read the story with lots of feeling today. I tried to show the feeling before
saying the sentence as another way to prompt the students to think about
the words and their meanings. I noticed that some students would guess
the feelings and blend some vowel sounds and words together. They also
were more likely to mix up feelings whose pictures portray similar scenes.
For example some students said kei te pouri au for kei te mokemoke
au and one student said Kei te mokemoke au when the picture was kei
te puhaehae au. The illustrations all portray a certain sadness and all of
them use more muted colours. I could easily see how the students would
mix them up as the jealous girl is also solitary and separate - one could
easily interpret her facial expression and the picture as loneliness. They
could simply be picking up on the qualities that loneliness, jealousy, and
sadness share.
There was a rich conversation in English about the difference between
scary and scared. Students gave examples, showed the difference through
facial expressions, and came to an agreement about which part of the
illustration showed something scary and which part showed someone
scared. To me, these exchanges show how abundant the learning can be
with picture books. If faced with the challenge of having to defend
spending time reading Maori picture books to students I would have no

trouble defining all of the literacy, oral language and critical thinking skills
the children are developing concurrently with their additional language.
Thursday, Sept. 1
Today marked the first time Hunter called out with immediate recall of
seeing a picture. He is so shy and quiet that it was great cause for
celebration. I think the classroom culture that is exhibited in the coconstructed and interactional reading really helps to create a safe and
open space for the young learners. The students are noticing each others
responses and growing from them. When I turned the page to show the
tired feeling almost everyone called out before I said anything in the full
Mori sentence and Hayden reacted with everyone knows this one!
There was a lot of active contribution to the lesson and many students
once again echoed their friends. Its interesting to notice how great a shift
there was this week between repeating what the teacher said and then
starting to repeat what their peers said.
Today the students were getting quite restless by the end of the lesson so
I didnt ask each of them how they were feeling. I wish I had as this has
been so interesting to see what language theyre using and what words
they choose. They still enjoyed the discussion but it was mostly
observations that we had heard in previous discussions. Although
Abdifatah did tell a detailed and great story about the girl who lost her
umbrella that I hadnt heard before. The students once again responded
enthusiastically to miming the feelings and practicing the words. I
overheard some of them repeating words like pukuriri in order to try and
get the r sound right. It is great as I am not stressing pronunciation, only
trying to model it as best as I can.
This was our last official reading. I am so proud of how responsive the
students were. They grew in leaps and bounds in 3 short weeks. My own
vocabulary has grown and I have developed a slightly better
understanding of some of the grammatical structures of te reo Mori. I
have already photocopied and laminated the illustrations from our picture
book to use next week in our circle time. As a teacher, I feel like I could do
two small units like these every term. The demand is not too much and it
has diverse benefits. The following unit could use the same question
structure such as Kei te phea te hua o te rangi? And focus on weather
vocabulary. I feel like teaching in such a way would expand students
additional language acquisition in a relevant and worthwhile way.
I look forward to the day that I have more strengths in teaching te reo
Mori but I am glad that I have begun my journey instead of resigning
myself to the common trap of inaction.