Literacy development through an historical learning context

I'm Australian too! As part of our year three history unit we will look at Australia as a multicultural country, with individuals from all over the world. The curriculum includes that students should look at how diverse individuals play and have played a role in our society up until today. Many of us grew up in countries other than Australia, yet many of us also grew up in Australia. No matter where we or our families originated from, somehow we all ended up in Australia and now call it our home.

(ACARA, 2018)

Our lesson will begin by reading the book "I'm Australian too" By Men Fox, which will be an engaging way to introduce the unit to students. The book is a classic and some of you may have even read it. The story highlights that no matter where individuals come from, we are all Australian. As a class filled with individuals with diverse backgrounds, this story is quite fitting. The story mentions people originating from places from all over the world including England, Italy, Perth and Vietnam, yet all of them call themselves Australian (Pagano, 2017). 

(Flickr, 2019).

I need your help! 

Students now know about their family’s background; however, it would be useful for another discussion to take place that goes further than this. How did life change upon arrival in Australia? It is important that students understand that overtime the daily life of individuals has changed and our ancestors are responsible for these actions. Your children should really enjoy this unit as they get to complete work on their own families, meaning it is relatable. 

As a class, we will be making our own “I’m Australian too” book, where each child will have a page to decorate and tell their story. It is important that we have an open and accepting environment at our school and this book will allow individuals to share their family backgrounds all in one space. Students can include stories of their grandparents and photographs, as well as where they grew up. They can decorate the pages as they wish, with anything that represents who they are. 

(Pixabay, 2019).

Finally, students will complete their final assessment piece. It will be a creative writing task where individuals put themselves in the shoes of their ancestors. They can choose to be in their country of origin, packing up to move to Australia or they may have already moved to their new home country. Your children will have the opportunity to use their imagination and creative skills to reflect on how Australia is home to many diverse individuals. Students will then be able to reflect on how the community we live in today has been developed and changed over time. Students will be marked on their grammar abilities, as well as their level of creativity. 

Resources

Australian Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Authority [ACARA]. 2018). HASS. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Gilbert, R., & Hoepper, B. (2014). Teaching humanities and social sciences: history, geography, economics & citizenship. South Melbourne, VIC: CENGAGE Learning.

Pagano, A. (2017, April 17). I’m Australian Too By Mem Fox. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx1Y5UU9AG8

Scholastic Australia. (2017). I’m Australian too scholastic teacher notes. Retrieved from http://resource.scholastic.com.au/resourcefiles/8451842_65824.pdf

Citizenship learning in the context of a Geography topic

As part of civics and citizenship for your year three’s we will be discussing our similarities and differences based on our backgrounds. As we are a diverse school, it is a great opportunity for us to share where our families are from in the world. 

We will begin this area of learning by completing a think, pair, share in partners about what each child does in their daily life. Students will be able to see that some things may be similar, yet there will be differences too, something which is important for students to understand.

Together as a class we will watch a presentation on the day in the life of a Japanese student, which demonstrates clear similarities and differences, for example in Japan students are provided and all eat the same lunch at school, whereas in Australia we bring our own.

(Pixabay, 2019).

Our focus will then shift to significant places for different people all over the world. We will discuss Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals as required by the curriculum. Indigenous people discover their identity through their connection to the land (Gilber & Hoepper, 2014). We will identify that for Aboriginal people, our land is sacred to their culture (Korff, 2019). It is important that students begin to understand how individuals feel about the significant places in their region. I will be completing a short but important activity where I will ask students to think about their favourite place in the whole world. I will ask them to think about how they would feel if someone destroyed it or showed little respect towards their significant place. This activity will aim at demonstrating why it is important to protect those places of significance. 

(ACARA, 2018)

As parents, grandparents and carers it would be helpful if students could talk to you in relation to your family’s background including daily life in your country, social norms that influence rules, who decides the rules of your country i.e.: The Government and significant places in i.e. a building or a church. Collecting photos or items for sharing with the class would also be helpful in our learning. I ask that you please photocopy the photos in which you let your child bring into class, to prevent any damage to the originals.

(ACARA, 2018)

Finally, students will be given an inquiry based approach assessment (Guido, 2017). This means they will be asked to research and present a poster on the daily life in a country of their choice in comparison to Australia. On this poster they will be asked to demonstrate the similarities and differences between normal routine, significant places, rules and cultural norms. Students can discuss differences between foods, hobbies or anything that interests them. These posters may include stories or pictures from their own families.

(Pixabay, 2019).

References 

Australian Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Authority [ACARA]. 2018). HASS. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Gilbert, R., & Hoepper, B. (2014). Teaching humanities and social sciences: history, geography, economics & citizenship. South Melbourne, VIC: CENGAGE Learning.

Guido, M. (2017). All about inquiry-based learning: definition, benefits and strategies. Retrieved from: https://www.prodigygame.com

Korff, J. (2019). Meaning of land to Aboriginal people. Retrieved from: https://www.creativespirits.info

Learning about democracy

For our HASS lessons in the coming weeks students will be engaging with the Civics and Citizenship aspect of the Australian Curriculum. The Curriculum aims at developing students into ‘active and informed citizens’ (Gilbert & Hoepper, 2014) and by the end of grade three students should be exposed to the importance of ‘making decisions democratically (ACHASSK070)’ (ACARA, 2018). 

(ACARA, 2018)

Students will be exposed to the role and importance of rules within society, in line with the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians goal number two, which is “all young Australians become… active and informed citizens (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs 2008).

To introduce the concept of a democracy, we will be using a relatable task (Tudball & Brett, 2014) which requires the class  as citizens to design a playground for their school. Firstly, the task will involve the teacher as the ‘leader,’ meaning students will all get to share their opinion on what they would like to be inside the park, however the teacher will have the final say. The class will then repeat the same activity, but instead all the students will have their say in what goes inside the playground with a voting system. Students will be asked how they felt throughout both tasks and which version they preferred. Through this task students will be exposed to the idea of a democracy and alike with the idea developed in ancient Athens, a ‘citizen’ refers to an individual playing a role in the decision making in society, which students will become familiar with. 

(Pixabay, 2019)

This activity will lead us into discussing the rules of our classroom as well as our school. As students are now in year three, they are entering the senior end of the school. Students have been following the rules of our school community for numerous years now, however we will begin to discuss the reasons rules are put in place and why they are different for certain environments as per the curriculum “who makes rules, why rules are important and the consequences of rules not being followed (ACHASSK071)” (ACARA, 2018). 

(ACARA, 2018).

As a class, we will brainstorm why there are certain rules in the school, who makes them and their purpose, for example safety.

(Pixabay, 2019).

As parents, you can get involved with this unit of work by engaging in conversation with your child in relation to this topic of rules and democracy. The year three curriculum requires students to:

(ACARA, 2018).

You may choose to discuss the rules in your household, or the rules you remember having in your school and together come up with similarities and differences. In doing this, your child may become more confident in posing questions relating to the ‘who, what, when and why’ of scenarios. 

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting Authority [ACARA]. 2018). HASS. Retrieved from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Gilbert, R., & Hoepper, B. (2014). Teaching humanities and social sciences: history, geography, economics & citizenship. South Melbourne, VIC: CENGAGE Learning.

Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. (2008). Melbourne Declaration on the Educational Goals for Young Australians. Retrieved from: http://www.curriculum.edu.au

Tudball, L., & Brett, P. (2014). What matters and what’s next for civics and citizenship education in Australia? Civics and Citizenship, 22(4), 35-43. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.utas.edu.au/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=7cdc61fb-5228-4cf0-a9ea-b818c621f5ee%40sessionmgr4005&vid=0&hid=4202