Description

The purpose of the Treaty of Waitangi Stations Activities is to explore concepts and ideas of the Treaty of Waitangi and Waitangi Day through an engaging and collaborative format. Set up the stations around your classroom (or around the school), get your students into groups armed with the tools they need (see more below), and let them loose!

This activity is set up as a great introduction to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, especially at the beginning of the school year. It is a tool to get your students reading, writing, interacting, using tech tools, and working together from day one.

In the first weeks, you may be testing students, juggling the swimming timetable, and not yet using fixed maths and reading groups. That’s fine – it’s the start of the year and there is plenty of time for that. With Waitangi Day right at the beginning of the school year, this resource helps to cover this important part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history while it is front and centre in your students’ minds.

This Treaty of Waitangi Stations Activities resource includes:

1. 10 stations (we recommend printing these onto strong card or laminating them)

Reading activities
QR code activities
Drama Freeze frame activity
Timeline shuffle
Creative challenges

2. Response sheets for students to record their answers

You will also need:

Copies of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi text (physical or PDF on device)
A device for each group of students e.g. Chromebook, iPad, tablet, phone (for filming, taking photos, and using QR codes)

A flexible, differentiated resource for ALL students in your class

This resource has been purposely created so that it will be accessible to a range of ability levels. The text used in this resource is a School Journal Story Library text which is levelled at Year Six. As a group activity, those who are reading at a lower level can have assistance from others in their group. There are many tasks where they can use their prior knowledge and unique abilities.

The activities all require some form of response: writing short answers, taking photos, using QR codes, and so on. It is up to you as the teacher to decide the level to which you expect your students to take these challenges – we have kept them flexible in this way.

If there is a station that will not work for your students, simply remove it – easy as that.

Aotearoa New Zealand Curriculum Links:

Tino rangatiratanga me te kāwanatanga | Government and organisation

Te Tiriti o Waitangi | The Treaty of Waitangi was signed in different places. The two versions of the Treaty say different things about who would have authority. Māori understandings were based on the version in te reo Māori, which the vast majority of Māori signed.