Kura Rātapu Archives for 2022
Te Aka
Click on the Terms below to access the lessons
Te Aka Note:
The first 5 weeks are normal Sundays but the readings are pretty tricky! There is a lot to digest so make sure you read the reflection for the reading to help you interpret it for your tamariki.
And then the following 4 weeks are for Advent! Or Te Haerenga mai a Īhu (the coming of Christ). For these 4 weeks leading up to Christmas, we focus on the 4 common themes of Advent; Hope, Love, Joy, and Peace.
We use the regular reading, and reflect on how this might be a sign to us of the theme for that week. If you choose not to use these lesson plans, we do have an alternative Advent series that follows along our Te Harinui; Te whānautanga mai a Īhu Karaiti book. You are welcome to use whichever is right for your tamariki.
Each week we have provided lesson ideas for you to follow. There are estimated times suggested for the different parts of the sessions, but you will know your group well enough to know how long things will take.
As a reminder, each week there is the following:
- A template of a lesson plan that you can follow
- A description of resources needed
- A brief reflection on the reading
- One or two activities that you could try
Please note, the reflections are incredibly brief. For more information, or if you would like to know more about the context of the story, follow this up with your parish priest. We have provided some contact details on our website for the different Amorangi offices.
The reflection is designed to provoke the inquiring mind of the leader so that you can have some ideas about where the reading might be going, and how you might share that message with tamariki. The pātai for tamariki are what we expect you to talk about with the tamariki.
We have started putting the whole reading into the lesson plans, however where necessary, have indicated which parts of the reading you might like to focus on.This is because there may be multiple messages in the one reading and we need to focus on one message. Tamariki only need to focus on one key message.
Introduced in Term 2, we continue with utilising ‘kupu o te rā/word of the day’ and a ‘rārangi o te rā/verse of the day’. This is for those of you who are trying to strengthen your Māori and want to learn a key word each week, and those who found the whole reading may be too much for your tamariki. Hopefully the key verse sparks and inspires some good korero amongst you.
This term we have applied whole readings into the lesson plans for the leader to read. However, where necessary, we have indicated which parts of the reading you might like to focus on. This is because there may be multiple messages in the one reading and we need to focus on one message. Tamariki only need to focus on one key message.
The introduction line that has been put before each reading is the introduction line that comes from the Anglican Prayer Book that we use. This has been intentional so that tamariki and whanau can learn from the get-go how to present the Gospel reading for the week. This way, if whanau transition to wanting to do readings in Church, they are already prepared for it ☺
Just remember, if you change where you start the reading from, you need to change the verse number in the introduction line. And remember, you DON’T need to provide an ending verse – because the Gospel is never ending!
If you have feedback on the lessons, we have an evaluation form available.
This is a new initiative that is broadly available, and we would like to know how you find the rauemi/ resources given. We take this feedback on board and try to improve our lessons. The more we can understand how tamariki ministry works in the different rohe, the more we can help you, and the Pihopatanga, grow our whānau in Christ.
Feel free to mention everything; the good, the bad, and the crazy.
Koe, Au, Matau, Mauī
A good activity to learn peoples’ names. Everyone stands in a circle with one person in the middle. Ask each person in the circle to find out the name of the person to their taha mauī (left) and their taha matau (right).
The person in the middle can point to anyone in the circle and say the following words. Instructions about what to do when they say those words are with them
- Koe = the person being pointed at says their name
- Au = the person being pointed at says the middle person’s name (the person pointing)
- Matau = the person being pointed at says the name of the person to their taha matau (right)
- Mauī = the person being pointed at says the name of the person to their taha mauī (left)
Keep going till everyone has had their name said, so the leader and other tamariki get the idea of everyone’s names. The game is ‘out’ if the person being pointed at takes longer than 5 seconds to say a name.
He hū tāu?
Ask tamariki to gather in a circle and take their shoes off and put them in the middle. They then return to their circle.
The aim of the game is to run to the middle and get as many shoes back to where you were standing
Extensions:
- Tamariki are only able to take shoe one at a time
- Tamariki are only able to take shoes from the middle
- Tamariki are able to take shoes from their friends houses
- Tamariki have to play the game on hands and knees
- Tamariki have to play the game hopping on one leg
- You can think of any other extensions if you like.
Kori tinana
Everyone is in a circle. Say to the tamariki “at the count of 3, I want everyone to sing their names” – Count to 3
Next instruction – go around the circle and each person will sing their name and show us a dance move. As we move around the circle, we add an extra sung name and a dance move to the one before. By the end of the game, we should have a really cool dance created out of our names!
He aha tō whakaaro?
Tamariki are sitting in a group and you can have a sheet of paper in your hand. You ask tamariki ‘would you rather’ questions and they move depending on what their answer is.
Example: ‘would you rather have a pet dog, or a pet cat?’ tamariki who would rather a pet dog move to one side, those who would rather have a pet cat move to the cat side.
This is a great way to identify similarities and differences between tamariki.
Other examples of ‘would you rather’ topics:
- Go on holiday to a beach, or to the snow?
- Eat hangi or boil up?
- Eat lollies or chocolate?
- Enjoy summer or winter?
- Swim in the awa or in the moana?
- Come up with your own ideas