A Structured Literacy Kēmu for Te Reo Māori
Making pūrākau, kupu, and pānui accessible, joyful, and grounded in kaupapa Māori.
The Story of Marīkī
Marīkī was created from a shared passion: ensuring structured literacy is accessible in both English and Te Reo Māori.
The idea first sparked when I (Heather) attended a conference where Mahina Selby-Law (Mahi by Mahi) highlighted the challenge of finding structured literacy games in Te Reo Māori. Her kōrero stayed with me.
I reached out to my friend Tiana from Pānui me Te Tuhi — a specialist educator deeply experienced in structured literacy in both reo Māori and English. Together, we began designing a resource that honours whakapapa, supports confident pānui, and brings the joy of learning through play.
Now, we are proud to share Marīkī with you. Marīkī is a version in Te Reo Māori of our fun game ‘Yeet’ that is recommended by the Dyslexia Evidence-Based New Zealand website and Dystinct Magazine as a fun way to work on reading skills.
What happens when a passionate educator builds a resource rooted in identity, language, and structured literacy? In this clip from my conversation with Tiana Connolly, founder of Pānui me te Tuhi, we dive into the story behind Marīkī, a structured literacy card game grounded in te reo Māori.
Tiana shares her powerful journey from teaching to founding a bilingual intervention business and how that led to the creation of this amazing resource.
A Te Reo Māori Structured Literacy Card Game
What’s Inside a Marīkī Pack?
Nine packs in total — organised across three Kaupae to support structured, systematic reo learning.
Beginner
Tau 0 - 1
Intermediate
Tau 2 - 4
Advanced
Tau 4 - 6
How to Play Marīkī?
Marīkī is a fun, fast, kēmu pānui designed to build strong literacy foundations in Te Reo Māori. Like Yeet, its simple rules make learning engaging and exciting:
Shuffle the deck.
Draw a kari.
When a kari marīkī appears — steal from another player!
Pānui aloud.
The player with the most kari at the end wins.
It’s fun, fast, and loved by tamariki of all ages — keeping them on the edge of their seats while strengthening phonemic awareness, vocabulary, decoding, and fluency.
For tauira learning Te Reo Māori as a second language: Kaupae 2 and Kaupae 3 are recommended
The Name Marīkī?
Riti — to read
Kīkī — to speak
Mana — acknowledging the expertise and mahi of Mahina Selby-Law, whose Hanganga Reo Matatini scope and sequence this kēmu follows.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We also acknowledge Sommer Gisborne, Kaiako Akomanga Kawau at Kihikihi School, for her contribution to the name of this kēmu.
RESPECT FOR KUPU HOU
As te reo Māori evolves in te ao hurihuri, new kupu emerge — like rorohiko (electric brain) or Te Taitūperepere (a blossoming wave of youth).
We honour that each iwi and hapū may hold different whakaaro around kupu creation and usage.
Support: For pātai about which packs to choose, contact Tiana at panuimetetuhi@gmail.com or visit panuimetetuhi.com
