Being Myself by Laura Hikawai-Goodall is a reflective non-fiction text that weaves personal experience with scientific understanding to explore deafness, identity, and resilience. Through first-hand narrative, the author shares her journey of growing up with hearing loss, learning to use hearing aids, and developing lip-reading skills to communicate in a hearing world. The text explains the difference between being deaf and hard of hearing, introduces New Zealand Sign Language as an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand, and shows how misunderstandings and bullying can affect confidence and belonging. By reflecting on moments of embarrassment, friendship, and acceptance, the narrative highlights how support from others can transform feelings of difference into strength. Honest, empowering, and deeply personal, the text supports students to understand disability and identity through lived experience and voice.

The text is ideal for integrated learning across literacy, health, and social sciences, supporting inquiry into communication, inclusion, resilience, and wellbeing in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand.

This pack contains a range of response activities complete with activity explainer videos for exploring thinking skills and developing emotional understandings and compassionate inquiry including:

• Blooms Higher Order Thinking activities
• Book Club guide for deepening text discussion
• A range of activities to explore emotional understanding, compassionate inquiry, empathy development, vocabulary and developing skills for self and co-regulation.

Curriculum Phase: Phase 2
Year Level: Year 4

English (NZC Levels 2–3): reading for meaning and enjoyment, analysing author perspective and personal voice, understanding personal recounts and explanatory sections, synthesising information, exploring descriptive and reflective language

Health and Physical Education: wellbeing, emotional awareness, relationships, inclusion, communication, resilience, confidence

Social Sciences – Aotearoa New Zealand Histories: identity and belonging, diversity and inclusion, continuity and change, understanding different life experiences

Technology: assistive technology, hearing aids, design for human needs, problem-solving

Text type: Non-fiction, personal recount, biographical narrative, explanatory text

Key words include: deafness, hard of hearing, hearing aids, lip-reading, New Zealand Sign Language, NZSL, taringa turi, communication, bullying, school, friendships, identity, belonging, inclusion, diversity, resilience, perseverance, empathy, disabilities, assistive technology, sound, hearing, senses, confidence, self-acceptance, wellbeing, family, whānau, community, respect, understanding