Welcome Prep-Y parents/carers.
Your child expressed interest in places around our community. Over four weeks, we will undertake a unit aimed to prepare students for active participation in society through exploring geography concepts.
Your child expressed interest in places around our community. Over four weeks, we will undertake a unit aimed to prepare students for active participation in society through exploring geography concepts.
Activate Prior Knowledge
We will discuss different
places, and why they are special to each student, people and groups. Photo
prompts will be given, examples below.
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| Figure 1. Our Classroom |
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| Figure 2. Midden (Creative Spirits, 2019) |
It would be great if you
discuss with your child about special places your family has.
Introduction
We will discuss and
brainstorm why the school’s creek is special, review stories and watch videos
about creeks and their importance, examples below.
 |
| Figure 3. A Drop Goes Plop! (Godwin, 1998) |
Video 1. Importance of Water, stopping
Video at 3:52 (Periwinkle, 2017)
The class will actively
engage by going to the creek (on school property) to develop sense of place,
listen, smell and observe the area. Students will see rubbish that has been
accumulating there. You are encouraged to come help us observe the area.
Students will be prompted
to think:
·
what the place is like
·
what the place mean to us
·
what is the future for this place and why
·
what could we do to look after the special
place
(Catling & Willy,
2009).
The Project
Feely bags with various
plastics will be used to open discussion of the rubbish issue at the creek (for
more information on feely bags visit
We will conduct a short
survey and take photos of the area to see how much litter ends up in and around
the creek and where it comes from. Parent volunteers would be appreciated to go
with groups conducting surveys.
https://www.teacherstryscience.org/kidsexperiments/touchy-feely-bags). Students will learn sources of rubbish (e.g. students dropping litter) and how
this could be minimized. You could talk about how to minimize rubbish falling
into water-ways at home, for information visit https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/your-environment/water/protecting-victorias-waters/what-you-can-do-to-protect-our-water
Students express what
they think can be done to clean up the creek via class mind-map (example below).
 |
| Figure 4. Mind Map |
We will vote on which
idea would be possible to implement, then implement this, which will reveal
their new knowledge and skills (Sunal & Haas, 2011). Ideas will be guided
to include adding recycle/rubbish bins to busy areas and making posters for
others in the school/community communicating why the creek needs cleaning up
(Reynolds, 2012).
Follow Up
We will re-visit the
creek and evaluate how our actions have impacted the area. We will take photos of
the progress and reflect on how we have looked after the area.
Why and What We Are Learning
This learning will enact
your child’s sense of wonder and curiosity (Catling & Willy, 2009) and
enable the development of making informed decisions now and into the future
(Reynolds, 2012). The unit will enhance students’ citizenship education, while
developing skills and knowledge regarding:
·
appreciating places and their meanings to
different people
·
thinking and spatial skills
·
becoming active and informed citizens
·
our impacts on places
·
develop a view of maintaining places for
the future
(Catling
& Willy, 2009; Blij, 2012)
Your child’s learning is
informed by the Australian Curriculum and Early Years Learning Framework
detailed below.
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| Figure 5. Australian Curriculum Links |
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| Figure 6. Early Years Learning Framework |
If you have any
questions, please comment below.
Miss Young
References
Australian Curriculum
Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2019a).
Humanities
and Social Sciences. Retrieved from
https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10
curriculum/humanities-and-social-
sciences/
Australian Curriculum
Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2019b). Cross Curriculum
Priorities.
Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10
curriculum/cross-curriculum-priorities/
Australian Curriculum
Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2019c). General
Capabilities. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10 curriculum/general-capabilities/
Blij, H. (2012). Why geography matters: More than ever.
Oxford, Oxford University
Press.
Catling, S., & Willy,
T. (2009). Teaching primary geography.
United Kingdom,
SAGE
Publications.
Creative Spirits.
(2019). Guide to Aboriginal sites and
places [Image]. Retrieved from
https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/land/guide-to-aboriginal-sites
-and-places#toc1
Department of Education
Employment and Workplace Relations. (2009). The
Early
Years Learning Framework: Belonging, being and becoming. Retrieved from
https://docs.education.gov.au/node/2632
Environment Protection Authority Victoria. What you can do to protect our water.
Retrieved form https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/your-environment/water/ protecting-victorias-waters/what-you-can-do-to-protect-our-water
Godwin, S. (1998). A drop goes plop!. USA: Little Bees
Periwinkle. (2017). Importance of water [Video]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkIEjgynmYY
(2nd ed.). Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press.
Sunal, C., & Haas, M.
(2011). Social studies for the elementary
and middle grades: A
constructivist
approach (4th ed.). United States of America, Pearson.
Teachers Try Science.
(2018). Touchy feely bags. Retrieved from
https://www.teacherstryscience.org/kidsexperiments/touchy-feely-bags
Additional images sourced
from:
Hi Eloise
ReplyDeleteI think you have developed a great unit of work, getting the students out of the classroom and actually into the environment would be very engaging for students and it lets them see first hand the creek and rubbish problems which otherwise you would just have to show as either pictures or videos in class.
When you are addressing parents about discussing ideas instead of saying you are welcome to which sounds a bit like you are giving the parents permission to talk to there child about this topic may consider saying 'you are encouraged to' or 'it would be great if you could discuss..'
'We re-visit the creek, take photos and reflect on how our helping look after the place has helped the area.' This sentence also doesn't make sense you might want to reword it.
The links to the curriculum and ELYF are strong and I think the unit overall would be very engaging for students.
All the best
Tahlia
Hi Eloise!
ReplyDeleteI think you have designed a very age-appropriate unit of work that highly engages Prep students by using different resources such as photo prompts, stories and videos. You have also extended students’ learning by allowing them to learn outside the classroom (i.e., visit the school’s creek), which can help them to develop a sense of place by involving their senses: sight, hearing and smell, and provides them with the opportunity to see the problem first-hand, which can have a more direct, emotional impact on the students and hence can prompt the subsequent changed actions more easily (e.g., how to minimise sources of rubbish). Very good use of the open-ended prompting questions that help students think more deeply about the topic/issue is also evident in your unit. Last but not least, I really like how you have included some additional information for parents/carers as a starting point for a discussion with their child.
Regards,
Sue Sean