LATEST STORIES
Celebrating Cook island language week
Kia orāna! Cook Islands Language Week / Te epetoma o te reo Māori Kuki Airani. Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language with a number of dialects. This language belongs to the same language family as New Zealand Māori and the languages of Hawai‘i and Tahiti. Pukapuka is a Western Polynesian language, belonging to the same language family as the languages of Sāmoa, Tuvalu, and Tokelau. Palmerston Island has its own unique and distinctive mixture of Cook Islands Māori and English. When celebrating any cultural/langauge week we always like to make sre the learning is authentic, so we research to ensure we do so.
We decided we would celebrate for the whole week with lots of different activities relating to the cook islands, that would reflect all of the islands and their languages. We celebrated by making ‘ei katu ‘ei katu is a garland of flowers you wear on/around your head, also known as flower crown or head garland. Our kaiako made these with fabric flowers, for each tamariki who wanted to make one. we also made chop suey and shared this among the tamariki. we learnt a new coconut game, which the tamariki absolutley loved at mat time. we also did many craft activities throughout the week, painting and many other activities.
Learning outcomes: -Expressing their feelings and ideas using a wide range of materials and modes | he kōrero auaha. -Understanding oral language3 and using it for a range of purposes | he kōrero ā-waha. -Making connections between people, places and things in their world | te waihanga hononga.