Diary keeping
When you have consolidated your students’ knowledge of the cardinal numbers, introduce them to the ordinal numbers by keeping a diary. Get them to note what they do after school each day of the school week.
For example, a student might record:
| Maori vocabulary | English translation |
|---|---|
| I te rā tuatahi, i haere au ki te papa rēhia. | On the first day, I went to the park. |
| I te rā tuarua, i haere au ki te toa. | On the second day, I went to the shop. |
| I te rā tuatoru, i haere au ki te whare pikitia. | On the third day, I went to the movies. |
| I te rā tuawhā, i haere au ki tātahi. | On the fourth day, I went to the beach. |
| I te rā tuarima, i hoki atu au ki te kāinga. | On the fifth day, I went home. |
Language tip
Notice that there is no definite article (te) in the expression: haere ki tātahi (going to the beach).
Language tip
The “atu” conveys the idea of being away from the speaker.
In a similar way, you could use the ordinal numbers to describe the steps in your school day. For example, you could say to your class:
| Maori vocabulary | English translation |
|---|---|
| Tuatahi, ko te pāngarau. | Firstly, it’s maths. |
| Tuarua, ko ngā toi. | Secondly, it’s the arts. |
| Tuatoru, ko te kori tinana. | Thirdly, it’s PE. |