He Waiata Whakataukī

By Priya Gain and Sean O’Connor for Poutokomanawa

He Waiata Whakataukī: Hei ngohe korikori, kōrero, tākarokaro hoki – Whakataukī as waiata with movement, speech, and play activities

‘He Waiata Whakataukī’ presents five beautiful waiata based on whakataukī by singer songwriter Sean O’Connor (Ngāti Porou).  Working in collaboration with illustrator Emily Cater and designer Maree Wilson, Priya and Sean have curated this collection of waiata, which includes newly created musical and movement activities that support relational and embodied music learning for primary classrooms here in Aotearoa.  

Throughout this resource you will find musical material which aims to engage kaiako and tamariki in creative exploration, varied repetition, active listening, and playful musical engagement.  In these ways the material provides time and space to notice and feel the rhythms of te reo Māori, the melodies and expressive elements of the waiata, and the various meanings within the different whakataukī, as they emerge within your own classroom or community of learning.  Relational themes of aroha (focused breath and love), presence, diversity, energy, balance, perception, deep attention, ecology, community, and whanaungatanga (weaving relationships and ensemble consciousness) can all be found within the waiata whakataukī material shared in this resource.  To further support open-ended korero around these themes, each waiata has a ‘he wānanga’ section offered, which shares some background for each of the whakataukī waiata used in the resource.

If you would like any further support with teaching the waiata in this resource, or to find out about Sean’s other Porowhita waiata (bilingual te reo Māori/English circle songs) material, you can contact him on: seanoconnornz@gmail.com. You can also get in touch with Sean if you would like to talk about the possibility of him running in-school professional development around his Porowhita waiata.

Click here for the flip book version.

Music Maps for teaching mahere puoro: Poipoia and He Waka Eke Noa

Check out the songs on Spotify.