A free online resource that combines the “ancient wisdom of oneone (sand) art” and storytelling involving a koro and his mokopuna is now available to support language learners build confidence in te reo Māori.
The innovative educational series, Te Onekura (The School in the Sand), is the brainchild of Māori education provider TupuOra and artist Marcus Winter (Te Roroa, Ngāpuhi).
Perfect for ākonga at all levels of their reo journey, Te Onekura consists of 12, three to five-minute, sand art-narrated videos featuring kōrero between Koro and his mokopuna, Anahera, that explore common Māori sentence structures and patterns.
“Te Onekura has the potential to help everyone. Whether you’re young or old, learning or teaching, a beginner or advanced,” Te Onekura project lead Te Manawaroa Teinakore said Wednesday.
The series was originally designed for ākonga and kaiako participating in TupuOra’s programmes and came about after a “noticeable trend” among learners struggling with specific sentence structures and patterns - and “a knowledge that not all of us learn in the same way”.
“We recognise that learning Te Reo Māori can be challenging, and when you get stuck, it affects your confidence and willingness to persevere,” said Teinakore.
The full series is available on TupuOra’s website for Te Onekura.