Sorting my places Tātari ōku wāhi
Explore the places that are important to you. Choose My places cards and sort them on a scale of your choice, e.g. significance, belonging or how much they contribute to your whānau culture or your identity. Position places of higher significance to the right.
Oho — Resource collection
This activity is part of the Oho resource collection.
Essential info
- Timeframe:
- 1-2 lessons
- Years:
- 4–10
- Format:
- Individual or groups
Learners will
- Explore the personal and wider cultural connections between place, language, time, events, people and identity.
- Express and listen to ideas confidently.
- Describe themselves in relation to the groups within their class and to the whole class.
- Explore and discuss similarities and differences and how they contribute to the unique whānau, culture and identities of each class member.
- Identify personal strengths of theirs and others.
- Develop a deeper understanding of their whānau and personal histories.
- Investigate the factors that shape our identities and how.
- Identify different ways identities, languages, cultures and values are and could be represented in learning communities.
Ways to use the resource
- Connect this activity to Enriching Local Curriculum (ELC) by exploring the names of the places you visit.
- Centre these activities around relevant global, national or community places, events or themes.
- Try the activities as an individual, as a small group and as a whole class.
- Use the resources at home to get a deeper understanding of whānau culture.
- Capture outputs in a format of your choice.
- Use insights from these conversations in your learning design.
- Change the scale you are sorting by and discuss what has changed and why.
- Take a large set of (curated) My places cards and work as a group to place them on a scale of your choice.
- Use the base activity, or try the Game of my places gameplay.

Instructions
What you will need
My places cards.
Sorting my places activity sheet: One per person or group (not needed for game).
Set up
1. Prepare cards
Add or remove My places cards to suit the context of your classroom.
2. Prepare activity sheets
Print or photocopy one Sorting my places activity sheet for each person or group.
Activity
1. Choose places
Each learner receives five My places cards. Either spread the cards out on the table face-up and let the learner(s) select, or shuffle the cards and deal five to each.
2. Sort places
Each person or group sorts their My places cards on an agreed scale, e.g. significance or how much they contribute to your whānau culture or your identity. Position places of higher significance to the right.
Game variant
1. Set up
- Pick someone to be the judge for the first round.
- Deal three cards to each player (including the judge) and place the remaining cards face-down in a pile.
- Agree a scale on which to sort the cards, e.g. significance (position places of higher significance to the right).
- The players sort their three starting cards based on the agreed scale.
2. To play
- The judge reveals a card from the top of the pile.
- Moving clockwise, each other player indicates where the new card would fit within their existing set and explains why.
- The judge decides which player provided the best explanation and gives that card to the player to add to their set.
- The player to the left of the judge becomes the judge for the next round.
3. To win
Play continues until someone gets six cards in their set.
Discuss and customise
As you go, discuss why the cards (places) sit where they do, e.g. why is one more significant than the other?
Downloads
-
Oho Sorting my places activity sheet
The A3-size Oho Sorting my places activity sheet in pdf format.
Pdf, 57 KB
-
Oho Sorting my places teacher support material
Teacher support material for the Oho Sorting my places activity.
Pdf, 288 KB
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Oho My places Cards jpgs
The Oho My places cards in jpg format.
828 KB
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Oho My places Cards Printable
The Oho My places cards on print-friendly A3-size pages. Files are in pdf format.
Pdf, 813 KB
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Oho Blank Cards Printable
Blank Oho cards in an A3-size printable format. Use for capturing ideas and customising the resource.
Pdf, 385 KB
Next steps
Discuss your places as part of the Names of my places or My place in time activities.