Civics and Citizenship

Picture Story Book 'Emergency'

1. What students could learn from this resource (VELS/AusVELslevel & Learning focus statement). 


Learning focus statements from VELS:
Civics and Citizenship - Level 2

They explore the roles, rights and responsibilities of various family and community members.

2. How and why the resource would be used in the classroom for HSE learning (Prep – Year 2).

I would use the picture story book ‘Emergency’ by Margret Mayo and Alex Ayliffe in a grade 1 class as an introduction lesson looking at the roles of different members of the community. This book particularly focuses on those in the community that are involved in emergency services. After reading the picture story book, have the students do an activity that involves students matching a person to a specific emergency. I would first ask the students to match them as a class on the interactive whiteboard and then to go back to their desks to cut a paste the work sheet , for example matching a fire with a firefighter.

In a later lesson we would have an incursion from the local Fire Department for the students to meet a fire fighter and see a fire engine.

3. A brief description of how your resource/activity responds to an aspect or aspects of the readings for that week.

‘Emergency’ provides students with an introduction to various different people in the community that are involved in emergency services. It is important for students to be able to relate what they are learning to their own lives and to teach them ’the things that matter to young people, the things that can help them understand their reality’ (Kennedy, 2000 p. 12). Children need to know what to do in an emergency, and it’s important for them to know that there are people who can help if they have an emergency. ‘Emergency’ gives a broad overview of different types of emergencies the and wide variety of people who can help, this is both relevant and important for young people to learn. ‘Civic education must be engaging, relevant and meaningful for young people’ (Kennedy, 2000 p. 17), so, by introducing this topic the using an engaging picture story book, students will become interested and focused on discussion and worksheets about community members.
Students will be able to further make meaning from the topic when the fire fighter visits the school.

Living Locally

YouTube Clip of Sesame Street Theme Song 

1. What students could learn from this resource (VELS/AusVELslevel & learning focus statement).

Learning focus statements from VELS:

Humanities - Level 1

They investigate the relative location, direction and distance of their home, school, classroom, local parks, shops and other significant features of their environment and begin to understand the geography of their local area.

They draw simple pictorial maps from their developing mental maps of familiar environments.

2. How and why the resource would be used in the classroom for HSE learning (Prep – Year 2).

I would use the YouTube clip as an engaging introduction to a unit looking at our community beginning with something that may be familiar to them and has images of kids playing in their neighbourhood. After watching the YouTube clip I would have a discussion with the class about where they live, if they know what the name of their street is and what number house they live at. After the discussion I would get each child to go back to their desks and draw a picture of their house and including the name of the street they live on and the number of their house (if they remember).

The next lesson will focus on ‘our school’ and we will look at the things around our school, such as parks and shops in the local area. 

3. A brief description of how your resource/activity responds to an aspect or aspects of the readings for that week.

Looking at each child’s different houses and neighbourhood, students are able to recognise the school as being on of the ‘centres of their communities’  (Bunting, 2008 p. 27), as we all live in different houses and streets and we come together as a community at school. By giving students an ’open-ended, personally relevant task’ (Harris, 2006 p. 47), when drawing their house it gives personal meaning to the task and relates to their lives.  

Living in Australia

Footy Day with Barbecued Sausages and Lamingtons 

1. What students could learn from this resource (VELS/AusVELslevel & learning focus statement)

 Learning focus statements from VELS:

The Humanities- Level 1

… Participating in celebrations students begin to learn about culture and histories that have contributed to Australian society…

 Civics and Citizenship – Level 1

..they begin to develop a sense of belonging to a school community… 

2. How and why the resource would be used in the classroom for HSE learning (Prep – Year 2)

After focusing on Australian Culture for the week, and using sausages in bread, lamingtons, and the AFL as resources, we would hold a 'footy day' as the school. All of these ideas have been selected specifically because they are stereotypically considered to be part of Australian Culture. This would be a whole school activity and would also involve an AFL clinic that each year level can participate in during the day. It would be just a few weeks before the AFL grand final and a great whole school activity leading up to the event.

The BBQ lunch would be something that was discussed in the classroom as something that we eat in Australia when watching the Football.

3. A brief description of how your resource/activity responds to an aspect or aspects of the readings for that week.

Having a ‘footy day' at school and a BBQ lunch encourages students to think about ‘national cultural stereotypes and national symbols that we all recognise as Australians’ (Cousins 2006, p.15). Although Australia is such a diverse and multicultural country it is important to think about some of the things that make Australia different.  Looking at Australia in terms of food and sport ensures that it is taught in an appropriate level for Prep students. The whole school participation also allows the preps to gain a sense of belonging to the school community in an enjoyable celebration of Australian Culture.

Indigenous Perspectives

Aboriginal Cave Paintings, Cobar, NSW

Large Poster of Indigenous Cave Art

1. What students could learn from this resource (VELS/AusVELslevel & learning focus statement).

Learning focus statements from VELS:

Level 2 – Humanities

They begin to grasp the role and importance of various cultural groups that make up the Australian community, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

They begin to understand how local resources are used to make products which meet local people’s needs and the needs of people in other places.

2. How and why the resource would be used in the classroom for HSE learning (Prep – Year 2).

In a grade 2 class this poster would be used as a visual aid when studying a unit on Indigenous Art. Students would have looked at dot paintings the previous week and leaning about the different symbols in the paintings. In this lesson students would be learning about how in Indigenous people used the natural resources in Australian land to make the different colours in the paintings. This lesson students will be making their own cave painting, using  a paper bag, scrunched up to look more like a rock. Students would be able to paint anything they like relating to what we would have learnt in class. As a class I would review the different symbols of Indigenous Australians. 

3. A brief description of how your resource/activity responds to an aspect or aspects of the readings for that week.

It is important that all students learn about Indigenous Australian and that ‘all students understand and acknowledge the value of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures’ (Price, 2008 p. 365).  Teaching students about Indigenous Australian art and how they used natural land resources to paint, students can gain an understanding of the history of Indigenous Australians and the importance of the land to them. The poster used as a resource shows students how this historic art looked and how important it is that it is looked after.

Asian Perspectives

Guest Speaker: Michael Raikes (My Dad)

Michael has lived in Japan for 12 years and was a Primary School teaching in Melbourne before moving to Japan. He has taught Primary School, Middle School and is currently teaching in Universities in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan. He lives with his wife Kana and daughter Aika, in Kyoto.


1. What students could learn from this resource (VELS/AusVELslevel & learning focus statement).

Learning focus statements from VELS:
Civics and Citizenship- Level 2

The begin to appreciate the similarities and differences between individuals and groups, including the language, cultural and religious groups which make up the Australian nation.

The Humanities- Level 2

The recognise the globe as a model representation of Earth and can locate Australia and other places with which they have links.

By observing the characteristics of different places, and prompted by questions, students think about environmental differences, locally and in other parts of Australia and the world, and why these differences exist.

2. How and why the resource would be used in the classroom for HSE learning (Prep – Year 2).

Michael, who currently lives in Japan, would be used as a guest speaker to a grade 2 class. He would use a powerpoint with images as a visual aid. He would show the students where Japan is in relation to Australia and what life is like in Japan. Specifically the schools where he has worked in both countries , the food that he eats in Japan and some environmental differences, such as weather (snowing at Christmas time) and the famous cherry blossoms.  My dad would teach the class some basic Japanese and then how to write hello in Japanese characters. The lesson would give students an understanding of some of the similarities and differences between Australia and Japan and give students a way to communicate with a Japanese person in their own language.  

3. A brief description of how your resource/activity responds to an aspect or aspects of the readings for that week.

 Teaching children about different cultures is important as there are people from so many different counties in schools and the greater Australian community.  It is vital for students to have an understanding of some of the differences and similarities between particular cultures.  I agree that ‘as educators it is our task to respond to this diversity’ (Marsh, 2011 p. 357) As educators we can greatly influence children's lives and I feel it is important children learn about different cultures. It will help them to have relationships with students of that culture and it may give students an understanding of why children from different cultures may behave differently or eat different food. For example,  it could give an understanding of why a girl from Japan always has rice for lunch. By having someone who has lived in both Australia and Japan coming to speak to the class it will be easy to compare the differences and similarities between Japan and Australia.

Michael Teaching

The view from their house

Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki

Aika at Christmas time

Sustainability

Planting a Veggie Patch

1. What students could learn from this resource (VELS/AusVELslevel & learning focus statement).

Learning focus from VELS:

Humanities- Level 2

They begin to understand how local resources are used to make products which meet local people’s needs and the needs of people in other places.

2. How and why the resource would be used in the classroom for HSE learning (Prep – Year 2).

We will be planting some seeds in the schools veggie garden. After learning about how some types of fruit grow, and where the fruit at the supermarket comes from, as a class we will have the opportunity to plant some ourselves. Each student will have done a mini poster on a particular vegetable in order to find out how to grow, maintain and to see if it is a suitable vegetable to grow in our veggie patch. This will be an ongoing project and will require class monitors each week to ensure the plants are maintained and continue to grow, giving students responsibility throughout the year. This will be a very hands on activity for students to learn about growing their  own resources.

3. A brief description of how your resource/activity responds to an aspect or aspects of the readings for that week.

This resource is a key part in aiming to have a sustainable school, there would be many other implementations that help in making the school sustainable. According to Hicks, ‘all schools should aim to become ‘sustainable’ school’ (Hicks, 2011 p. 10), and by having a sustainable school it means that students can see some of the things they are taught about sustainability happening around the school. It is important for young people as ‘a sustainable school prepares young people for a lifetime of sustainable living through its teaching, fabric and its day-to-day practices’ (Hicks, 2011 p. 10). Students can learn that it’s not that difficult to have a veggie garden, by learning about it at school it means that they will know what to do if they were to have one at home.

Veggie Patch at Vermont Primary School

Global Education

Letters to Woodstock

(Woodstock is a school located in Mussoorie Northern India)

 1. What students could learn from this resource (VELS/AusVELslevel & learning focus statement).

Learning focus statements from VELS:
The Humanities- Level 2

The recognise the globe as a model representation of Earth and can locate Australia and other places with which they have links.

By observing the characteristics of different places, and prompted by questions, students think about environmental differences, locally and in other parts of Australia and the world, and why these differences exist.

2. How and why the resource would be used in the classroom for HSE learning (Prep – Year 2).

After learning about Indian culture, school and sharing my own experiences from India, students  would have some basic knowledge about India. Specifically Mussoorie in Northern India where the sister school Woodstock is located. Each student would write a letter, draw a picture or making something for another grade 2 currently attending Woodstock, India. Students will be telling the students in India about Australian culture and asking them any questions they have. I hope that this will be something that we can do throughout the year to develop a relationship with our sister school Woodstock and that students can continue to write letter to the students. On display in the classroom we will have a large map of India with Mussoorie pointed out on the map, along side the map we will have images of the school  and hopefully some responses from the students at Woodstock.

 

3. A brief description of how your resource/activity responds to an aspect or aspects of the readings for that week.

This resource allows student to look at the area ‘Identity and Cultural Diversity’ (Bourke, 2008 p. 34), they are able to ‘learn about other cultures to enable a deeper appreciation of cultural differences’ (Bourke, 2008 p. 34). It is more than just learning about Indian culture but students can develop a relationship with students from Woodstock and gain cross-cultural awareness , they can learn to see ‘the person not the stereotype’ (Tudball and Stirling, 2011 p.4). As the school is in India students will also be able to learn about connections between Australia and India, such as the large amounts of clothing and bedlinen that are made in India.