This Week in HASS – term 2, week 9

The OpenSTEM® Understanding Our World® units have only 9 weeks per term, so this is the last week! Our youngest students are looking at some Aboriginal Places; slightly older older students are thinking about what their school and local area were like when their parents and grandparents were children; and students in years 3 to 6 are completing their presentations and anything else that might be outstanding from the term.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy

Students in the stand-alone Foundation/Prep/Kindy class (Unit F.2) examine Aboriginal Places this week. Students examine which places are special to Aboriginal people, and how these places should be cared for by Aboriginal people and the broader community. Several of the Australian places in the Aunt Madge’s Suitcase Activity can be used to support this discussion in the classroom. Students in an integrated Foundation/Prep/Kindy and Year 1 class (Unit F.6), as well as Year 1 (Unit 1.2), 2 (Unit 2.2) and 3 (Unit 3.2) students consider life in the times of their parents and grandparents, with specific reference to their school, or the local area studied during this unit. Teachers may wish to invite older members of the community (including interested parents and/or grandparents) in to the class to describe their memories of the area in former years. Were any of them past students of the school? This is a great opportunity for students to come up with their own questions about life in past times.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Year 3 (Unit 3.6), 4 (Unit 4.2), 5 (Unit 5.2) and 6 (Unit 6.2) are finishing off their presentations and any outstanding work this week. Sometimes the middle of term can be very rushed and so it’s always good to have some breathing space at the end to catch up on anything that might have been squeezed out before. For those classes where everyone is up-to-date and looking for extra activities, the Aunt Madge’s Suitcase Activity is always popular with students and can be used to support their learning. Teachers may wish to select a range of destinations appropriate to the work covered during the term and encourage students to think about how those destinations relate to the material covered in class. Destinations may be selected by continent or theme – e.g. natural places or historical sites. A further advantage of Aunt Madge is that the activity can be tailored to fit the available time – from 5 or 10 minutes for a single destination, to 45 minutes or more for a full selection; and played in groups, or as a whole class, allowing some students to undertake the activity while other students may be catching up on other work. Students may also wish to revisit aspects of the Ancient Sailing Ships Activity and expand on their investigations.

Although this is the last week of this term’s units, we will have some more suggestions for extra activities next week – particularly those that keep the students busy while teachers attend to marking or compiling of reports.