• listen to and enjoy stories about Matariki and the ways that people celebrate

• create a bank of word items associated with the celebration of Matariki and use these words in oral and written English work e.g., poem or short story writing 

• respond to the story using art, waiata, or drama, for example: – explain aspects of Matariki and/or the characteristics of the whetū (stars), in the form of a storyboard or in graphic novel format , script a short play about the separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, and the role of Tāwhirimātea in the creation of the whetū in the Matariki cluster

• write a poem, or lyrics for a waiata/rap, from the point of view of a specific whetū, telling how s/he is linked to some aspect of the world below. 

Dance, drama, and the visual arts can be used to celebrate and express activities and festivities during Matariki. 

• learn and perform a waiata associated with Matariki 

• use the visual arts to express ideas and feelings about Matariki and her children. Choreograph actions for the waiata about Matariki

• Use a variety of art media to illustrate the relationship between the stars and their environments. 

• plan and implement a healthy kai initiative in their class/school/home for Matariki – by discussing what might be in a healthy lunchbox and why water is the best drink option 

• discuss their hopes, aspirations, goals, and deepest desires for the coming year – beyond material possessions (relating this to Hiwa-i-te-rangi) 

• Conduct a class survey of people’s likes and dislikes associated with the types of kai they might eat at a celebration or hākari. 

• Group/classify the different food types associated with some of the Matariki whetū. 

• Create flashcards, after researching the Māori names for: – parts of the body, e.g., ngākau, mata, waewae, ūpoko, kanohi, ringaringa 

Traditional Māori used measurement and the stars to make sense of the world, for example, navigation, planting and harvesting, interpreting weather. 

Measurement was based on body dimensions. For example, arms outstretched horizontally was a ‘mārō’ – with 10 mārō equalling approximately 18 metres. And a ‘takoto’ was the length of the body with one arm outstretched beyond the head. 

• Learn about the two versions of June and July in Māori, for example, Pipiri/Hune and Hōngongoi/Hūrae (respective names for lunar months and transliterations, where the lunar months do not directly align with Gregorian months). 

• Explore space measurement, and how kilometres relate to light-years. (If you could travel at the speed of light, it would take you more than 422 years to reach Matariki. So, if you could travel at 100 km/h, how long would it take you to get to the moon, 384 400 kilometres away?) 

• make a decorative manu tukutuku/ manu taratahi (kite) to celebrate Matariki, as was done in the past 

• research technology associated with Matariki and the domains of each star, e.g., hīnaki associated with Waitī. 

• Research and write about technologies used to cook and preserve kai 

• investigate objects in our solar system (i.e., sun, planets, moons, comets, and meteors) – and discuss times when students have seen or heard stories about these objects or events. 

• investigate other parts of the Universe, for example, stars, asteroids, exoplanets (planets beyond our solar system). 

• research and explore the vast distances between stars in space. For example, the stars in the Matariki cluster are approximately 4200 million, million kilometres from Earth. 

• describe the positions of the nine whetū in Matariki, relative to each other, and relative to the rising sun in winter. 

• explore names used by other cultures in the world when referring to Pleiades.