Spotting Kiwi by Steph Matuku is a warm, engaging narrative that follows a child and their cousins as they adjust to island life and discover the magic of seeing kiwi in their natural habitat. Set on a predator-free island where the children’s parents work as rangers, the story blends humour, family dynamics, and outdoor adventure as technology fades into the background and curiosity, cooperation, and care for the environment take centre stage.

Through rich description and authentic dialogue, the text supports students to explore relationships, responsibility, and respect for wildlife, while learning about conservation practices and the behaviours that protect native species. The story encourages readers to think about connection—to place, to whānau, and to the natural world—making it an engaging and meaningful text for middle primary learners.

 

This pack contains a range of structured literacy activities including

• Spelling rules ck / dge / drop the e / y as a consonant or vowel
• Sounds of -ed
• Exploring parts of language - adverbs, adjectives, nouns, verbs etc
• Doubling or not when adding -ing, -ed
• Floss rules
• Compound words
• Identifying and naming suffixes
• Identifying and naming prefixes
• Vowel teams
• Root words
• Controlling 'r'
• Diagraphs
• Schwa words
• Ghost diagraphs
• -oo- and -oo- / -au and -ow / 
• Hard and soft c and g
• Common subordinating conjunctions
• And much more!!

 

Curriculum Phase: Phase 2

Year Level: Year 4

English: reading for meaning, making inferences, analysing character actions and relationships, exploring themes of responsibility and belonging, understanding dialogue and narrative structure, and supporting ideas with evidence from the text

Science – Living World (Natural World): native animals of Aotearoa New Zealand, animal behaviour and adaptations, habitats and ecosystems, predator-free environments, human impact on wildlife, conservation and protection of endangered species

Sustainability: kaitiakitanga and environmental stewardship, responsible behaviour to protect wildlife, sustainable living in isolated environments, reducing environmental impact, balancing human needs with care for the natural world

Social Sciences: roles of rangers and conservation workers, living in island and rural communities, identity and belonging connected to place, cooperation and shared responsibility

Text type: Fiction, realistic narrative, short story

 

Key words include: conservation, environment, family, friendship, holidays, islands, kiwi, native animals, nature, predator-free, rangers, relationships, responsibility, wildlife protection, whānau,