Digital tools for teaching and learning te reo Māori
To develop te reo Māori, it's important to hear, read and use the language in a variety of contexts and situations.
This page provides an overview of technologies and apps that can be used to build students' capability in te reo Māori.
- Consider how different tools can be used to develop reading, listening, writing, and speaking.
- Integrate digital technologies into your te reo Māori learning and curriculum goals.
Taku reo student perception survey – An online research-based survey designed for New Zealand students in English-medium schools from Years 4–8. It gives you a snapshot of your students’ use of te reo Māori at school, home, and in the community.
Te Urungi – An online language assessment for Years 4–9. It enables students to demonstrate their knowledge of te reo Māori vocabulary. The assessment is for English-medium schools. Te reo Māori compliments Taku Reo student perception survey.
Te reo Māori teaching strategies
Teachers from Pegasus Bay School describe how they use digital technology to support the teaching of te reo Māori. In particular, they talk about the apps Tellagami , Explain Everything , and Kahoot!
- Create tasks and challenges that prompt students to focus on meaning.
- Give students opportunities to comprehend input (listen and read) as well as produce output (write and speak).
- Take a communicative, task-based approach to learning te reo Māori.
- Consider how digital technologies can support learning te reo Māori.
Teaching te reo Māori: Strategies and resources
Te reo Māori in English medium schools
New Zealand's school hub for teaching and learning te reo Māori. Contains curriculum guidelines, teaching tools, school stories, and resources.
Supporting Māori students through ako-e (e-learning)
This content from Enabling e-Learning looks at strategies for making your classroom more inclusive for Māori learners.
He Reo Tupu, He Reo Ora
A multimedia resource containing unit plans and teacher's notes.
Tools for learning kupu
When learning a new language, a good target to have is getting familiar with the 1000 most frequently used words. These are the kupu most likely to appear in speech or text, so knowing them gives us a solid foundation for communicating and comprehending in te reo Māori.
1000 frequent word list
You can find the 1000 most commonly used words in te reo Māori listed in alphabetical order on the te reo Māori in English-medium schools community page.
- Use this list to create learning tasks and resources.
- Use apps to practise high-frequency te reo Māori kupu.
Apps for developing vocabulary
These tools have been specifically designed for learning and practising te reo Māori kupu.
An app that uses the camera in your phone to instantly translate objects into te reo Māori.
Use this app to turn the world around you into a learning experience.
The Māori dictionary provides comprehensive translations as well as spoken recordings of words to help develop pronunciation.
Language Drops recently included te reo Māori in their language-teaching app. The app uses a drag-and-drop interface to teach letters, sounds, words, phrases, and grammar. It includes free and paid options.
Google Translate
Google Translate can translate sentences directly into Māori (though not always accurately). Users of the Google Translate app will be able to run their device's camera over a word in te reo Māori and have it automatically translated.
Tools for practising vocabulary
These tools can be used to help students practise vocabulary in any language, including te reo Māori.
Tools for reading and listening in te reo Māori
The following are a selection of tools, apps, and digital resources designed to help tamariki engage with rich Māori language content. Use these tools to provide fun, engaging, and interactive opportunities for your ākonga to listen and read in te reo Māori.
Waiata
In Māori language and culture, Waiata (songs) and haka are important mediums for the communication of knowledge, including history, politics, philosophy, geography and emotion. Teaching and learning through Waiata not only develops our oral and written language, but also our understanding of Kaupapa Māori (Māori perspectives, knowledge, and values).
Hei Waiata, Hei Whakakoakoa
Contains teaching resources that sit alongside recordings of waiata that tie into the New Zealand curriculum.
Māori-medium games and AR
Use these tools to provide fun ways for ākonga to engage with te reo Māori content.
Māori Pā Wars
Māori Pā Wars is a classic tower defence game where players command warriors and build fortifications to battle hordes of enemies. Play with characters from Māori legends. The game can be fully played in either te reo Māori or English.
Tools for speaking
Recording and sharing speech can help your students develop their speaking ability by prompting them to focus more carefully on what they say. Digital tools can offer convenient and collaborative platforms for creating and sharing spoken texts in te reo Māori.
Adobe spark video
Create snappy video content. Record your voice, and pair your spoken te reo Māori with images, music, and animations.
Voicethread
Voicethread is a platform for creating spoken content. Students can share work and receive comments from classmates.
Tools for writing
Use these tools to develop your word knowledge, sentence structure, and written output in te reo.
Tipu Te Reo Māori
This app teaches vocabulary and tests players by asking questions. Slowly build up to more complex sentences and phrases.
A simple, browser-based tool for writing and printing your Pepeha.
He aha tēnei?
For younger learners, this interactive reading app develops phonics and vocabulary knowledge with animations and pictures.
Coding with te reo Māori
Develop skills in te reo and computational thinking simultaneously with these tech tools.
Minecraft te reo Māori hour of code tutorials
Microsoft hour of code tutorials are available for Minecraft in te reo Māori. Listen, read, and learn to code with te reo.
Ngā Motu: The Islands
This Minecraft game supports ākonga in building their te reo Māori and understanding tikanga Māori. Lesson plans are included.
Gamefroot's Mihi Maker
Gamefroot's Mihi Maker tutorial enables users to create a virtual, video game journey through their own mihi. The platform makes this possible by guiding users through their visual, block-coding programming system. Players of this tutorial learn coding, computational thinking, and te reo Māori while writing their mihi.
More teaching and learning resources
These websites offer resources for learning and teaching te reo Māori, providing materials designed to improve basic listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
Te Whanake
A comprehensive set of resources for learning and teaching Māori language. Head to Tōku Reo
to find recordings of their official language learning show for Māori Television.
Māori Language.net
The aim of this website is to help learners with the basics of te reo. It contains written, audio, and visual content.
Kauwhata Reo
Kauwhata Reo is a central online hub for te reo Māori resources to support the growth of teaching and learning te reo Māori. The hub can be viewed in te reo Māori or English.
Kia kaha te reo Māori – Let’s make the Māori language strong!