Ko tènei tòku whanau - Minecraft and Whakapapa -2022
Whakapapa:
As part of the beginning of the year, I decided to do a short unit on 'Ko wai au' 'Who I am'. I based this around the students whakapapa using sentence structures and words that were already familiar to them.
Each student had to write out their whakapapa prior to designing their presentation on Minecraft.
Once in Minecraft, students had to design a small village that started with a family tree followed by houses for each member of their family and schools if members were still at school. They also had to include Te Reo Maori on sign posts.
This peice of work carried on into our work on Matariki where we focussed on the Whakapapa of Ranginui and Papatuanuku.
Reflection:
Traditionally Whakapapa shows where you come from or who you belong to. Many people can related to you once they understand who particular blood lines you belong to. Trying to be traditional proved a slight issue with some whanau due to step whanau being of signiciance to their children. Discussions were had sharing understandings of why I was being particular about what information was needed and once parents had the same understanding, the piece of work proved to be very valuable for both the student and the whanau.
Using a platform like Minecraft for the students share their learning was interesting with lots of different skills and tools being learnt, as well as lots of collaboration and peer support.
This is something I would definitely do again but with more whanau discussion and education behind the idea of Whakapapa first.