I was working in a kura last week and my lesson was going great; the kids were engaged and I was having a lot of fun. The trouble was, the kids were finding it hard to retain the particular Māori phrase I was teaching. We were in the middle of learning the haka pōwhiri Tōia mai, and there’s a bit near the end that I always find hard to get kids to remember:

Ki te takotoranga i takoto ai, te waka!

I think it’s because it nearly repeats a word, but not quite and it’s also quite fast in the haka. So my challenge was getting them to remember it AND be able to recite it without me guiding them.

Tricky….

I turned to my old mates call and response. If you ever see me teaching, you’ll see me do this a lot. Our video lessons are built on this too. I usually find call and response is helpful to get students used to the new sound and feeling of the Māori language.

So I thought, if it helps them pronounce it, maybe it’ll help them remember it.

I said it, they said it… I said it… they said it…

Then my voice CRACKED a bit as I said the words… and you can guess what happened.

They said the words complete with a voice crack.

Interesting…

So I tried it again but this time in the highest squeakiest voice I could…

They repeated it- perfectly.

Then in my low operatic voice. They repeated it perfectly.

The kids were cracking UP (and I got some sideways looks from a few kaiako..!)

but miraculously, the kids GOT IT!

They were no longer focusing on remembering a few Māori words, now they were trying to keep up with the way I was saying it and trying to match it! Knowing what words to say fluidly came as a matter of course.

So I guess next time you’re in a tricky spot trying to get kids to retain something, a little call and response might help. And if your voice cracks too that might not be a bad thing…

Mauri ora,

Justin