Dr Claire | OpenSTEM Pty Ltd

This Week in HASS – term 4, week 9

Well, we’re almost at the end of the year!! It’s a time when students and teachers alike start to look forward to the long, summer break. Generally a time for celebrations and looking back over the highlights of the year – which is reflected in the activities for the final lessons of the Understanding Our World® HASS Units. All of the Understanding Our World® HASS Units run over 9 weeks, to make sure that everyone has a chance to breathe and catch up on the inevitable weeks when other activities cut short lesson times. So this week is the last week of our HASS units for the year!

Foundation / Kindy / Prep to Year 3

Our youngest students in Foundation/Prep/Kindy (Unit F.4) and those in classes integrated with Year 1 (Unit F-1.4) are performing their class play: “People in the Past” this week. This performance brings together their work over the whole term, from the stories read in the first lesson, to the props and costumes prepared and the lines and individual performances practised. Furthermore, aspects of the year-long approach to learning about how the past (and others’ experiences) differ from today are brought together. It is also a great opportunity for parents and other carers to attend and see what their children have been working on. Since assessment is already completed, teachers can encourage students to just enjoy the performance, without feeling stressed about how it goes on the day – also a great vehicle for dealing with issues around resilience and supporting each other.

Slightly older students in Years 1 (Unit 1.4), 2 (Unit 2.4) and 3 (Unit 3.4) are also presenting their dramatisation or other presentation this week. Students in Year 1 have been comparing family structures from around the world and re-examining families in Australia. Students in Year 2 focus on the places special to families around the world, including Australia; while students in Year 3 focus on communities and the families within them in different countries around the world, including Australia.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Year 3 (Unit 3.8), 4 (Unit 4.4), 5 (Unit 5.4) and 6 (Unit 6.4) are celebrating with a class party this week! The party may be influenced by treats won through the Class Election held earlier in the term. Using one of the suggested Diversity themes for the party enables students to explore aspects covered throughout the term (and over the course of the year). Whether or not food is included in the party, students have a chance to explore cultural diversity through choosing decorations and colours, music, dress and other indicators of cultural identity. Students in Year 3 examine diversity within Australian communities by choosing from cultural groups in local communities. Students in Year 4 have been encouraged to consider the cultural identity of different Aboriginal groups, and others, within Australian society. Students in Year 5 incorporate what they have learned about people from Britain and Europe, as well as others, who came to Australia and their contributions to our society. Students in Year 6 have excellent opportunities to include aspects of Asian cultures, represented by people who have come to Australia from different parts of Asia. Students may even be able to enjoy the fruits of their Growing a Plant science activity, as part of their celebration!

It is hoped that for all students the year can end on a high note, with lots of fun celebrations! Teachers can relax, confidant in the knowledge that their students have covered the entire curriculum, with all strands, for all the HASS subjects (including History, Geography, Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business), as well as Science. The students are thus excellently prepared for their move up to a new year level next year, and Year 6s can move on to high school with a firm foundation, having already learnt many of the techniques and skills that will be built upon in secondary school.

This Week in HASS – term 4, week 8

Well, the end of term is in sight! End of year reporting is in full swing and the Understanding Our World® activities are designed to keep students engaged whilst minimising requirements for teachers, especially over these critical weeks. The current activities for all year levels are tailored to require minimal teaching, allowing teacher aides and other helpers to assist students while teachers can be free to concentrate on reporting and other requirements. All year levels have now passed the threshold of completing all curriculum material for the year for all HASS subjects as well as Science, so no more formal assessment is needed. The final weeks are focused on fun, whilst carrying the themes covered earlier in the term, and year, forwards, so that the fun enhances the learning, rather than detracting from it.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Our youngest students in standalone Foundation/Prep/Kindy classes (Unit F.4) or integrated with Year 1 (Unit F-1.4) are doing the final preparations for their play next week. Costumes should be finalised, whilst the students practise their lines and using props. Those classes which have chosen not to dress-up should be finalising their drawings of their characters and the equipment they could use. Students will say their lines and explain their drawings and what their character is doing. Students in Years 1 (Unit 1.4), 2 (Unit 2.4) and 3 (Unit 3.4) are also preparing for their presentation or dramatisation next week. Students in Year 1 are considering the roles of each member of their role-play family group – who does the cooking or cleaning, who works outside the home? Students in Year 2 are considering the role of technology in the lives of their chosen group – what technology do they use for which purposes? Students should also be encouraged to consider where this group lives and how practical it would be to travel to where they live from where the students live – what technology would be involved? Students in Year 3 are considering the roles of their characters in the community where their chosen group lives and whether any representatives of similar groups are present in their local community.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Years 3 (Unit 3.8), 4 (Unit 4.4), 5 (Unit 5.4) and 6 (Unit 6.4) are reaping the benefits of their class election and moving on to plan a celebration for the last week of term. The theme of the celebration is “Diversity in Australia” and students will look back to the migrant group they studied earlier in the term to gain ideas to add to the celebration. Teachers can decide whether food will be included in this celebration, or not. If not, it is recommended that students prepare a menu of the sort of foods that their group might have at a celebration. Other aspects to include may be music, symbols and decorations or even national dress. Students in Year 3 will have chosen from a wide range of possible migrant groups earlier in the term or may also choose an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander group. Students in Year 4 will have concentrated on groups from South-East Asia and Australasia. Students in Year 5 will have chosen a group from Europe, Britain or Western Asia, whilst students in Year 6 will have chosen mainly groups of migrants from Asia. Some students may wish to include Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cultural representations in the celebration.

To complement this celebration, some students may have plants, from their Scientific Investigation, which can now be used in the celebration, either contributing resources, such as tomatoes, or perhaps flowering or having other characteristics which represent a migrant group.

This Week in HASS – term 4, week 7

This week our younger students are preparing for their play/ role-playing presentation, whilst older students are practising a full preferential count to determine the outcome of their Class Election.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Our youngest students in Foundation/Prep/Kindy (Unit F.4) and integrated classes with Year 1 (Unit F-1.4) are working on the costumes, props and practising getting into character for their People in the Past play. These activities help students to understand the differences and similarities between our lives and those of people in the past. Teachers can use the activities to facilitate discussions around these points. Students in Years 1 (Unit 1.4), 2 (Unit 2.4) and 3 (Unit 3.4) are also preparing for their Different Families Around the World presentation. Students in Year 1 are concentrating on identifying different family members and their roles within the different family structures. Students in Year 2 focus on where the families live, what places are special to them and compare these to the students’ own lives. Students in Year 3 examine communities and how celebrations and special occasions within the community are shared by the families.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Years 3 (Unit 3.8), 4 (Unit 4.4), 5 (Unit 5.4) and 6 (Unit 6.4) are in the midst of their Class Election activity. This week they determine the outcome of the election, an exciting moment! The result is determined by a full preferential vote count. Using the resource, Preferential Voting, students learn how preferences are allocated on a vote by vote basis. Students who have been chosen to be Election Officers will lay out the ballot papers according to the first preference votes, and then re-allocate the votes according to second preferences, choosing the candidate with the lowest number of votes as the first to have their votes re-allocated. This process is repeated until only 2 piles of votes (for 2 candidates) remain. The teacher can then explain that this stage is called “Two Party Preferred”. Finally the winning candidate, with the highest number of votes, is announced and students then compare this result to the first preference vote to see if there have been any changes. Where there is a clear winner, there will often be no changes, but in a tight result the flow of preferences can make a significant difference.

Undertaking this activity themselves, seeing the votes counted and re-allocated according to preferences and comparing what happens at different stages of the process gives student a deep understanding of how our Australian electoral system works. This will stand them in good stead as they grow up to be responsible citizens with a full understanding of their civic duties and rights and the power of their vote and how to use it effectively.

This Week in HASS – term 4, week 6

This week our youngest students are starting work on their Class Play, slightly older students are choosing a family group from around the world for a role play activity and our oldest students are holding a Class Election! What an activity-filled week!

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Our youngest students in standalone Foundation/Prep/Kindy classes (Unit F.4) and those in integrated classes with Year 1 students (Unit F-1.4) are starting activities for their Class Play, People in the Past. Resources are provided for students to choose a character, based on the stories read in Week 1 of this term. The students can choose to learn a simple line of text, just talk about their character, make up their own play, or draw pictures if they prefer not to dress up. Resources are provided for costume ideas for each character, as well as props, which can all be made from craft materials, mostly paper cut-outs coloured in and glued onto card. Teachers can use these ideas to discuss the different ways of life and material culture associated with people around the world at different periods in the past. The activities assist students to more deeply engage with the practical issues of life in the past.

Students in Years 1 (Unit 1.4), 2 (Unit 2.4) and 3 (Unit 3.4) are also expanding on the stories covered in Week 1. The resource, Different Families Around the World, examines family structures in the same parts of the world as in the stories from Week 1. In groups, the students choose a family group for a role play activity – students choose family members within the family group. Students in Year 1 compare these family groups to their own families – what is similar and what is different? Students in Year 2 are also considering the places special to these families. Students in Year 3 consider the family as part of the community and what aspects are similar or dissimilar to Australia. Over coming weeks students will develop a role play/ dramatisation or presentation about their chosen family group, highlighting aspects covered during the term’s work. Students need to consider and represent where these families live, what places they frequent, what their lifestyles are like (including celebrations) and the roles of different family members in the home and in the community.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Years 3 (Unit 3.8), 4 (Unit 4.4), 5 (Unit 5.4) and 6 (Unit 6.4) are holding their Class Election this week. Before voting begins, the class does an activity demonstrating voting by a Show of Hands. The teacher then presents information from the resource: Australia’s Secret Ballot so that the class can discuss the pros and cons of different voting systems, including the secret ballot. Ballot papers are then handed out and names checked off the electoral roll by the Election Officers. Students vote and place their ballots in ballot boxes. All ballot boxes are sealed at the conclusion of voting and a check is made for missing ballot. Finally the Election Officers open the ballot boxes and a First Preference Count is undertaken openly, in front of the whole class. The First Preference Count gives preliminary results. However, the full preferences count will be made in the next lesson, enabling students to have time to absorb the flow of events in greater detail.

As well as assisting students to consider the reasons for a secret ballot and preferential voting, these activities prepare students to become active members of their community in the future and to fully understand Australia’s voting system, before they need to take part in it.

This Week in HASS – term 4, week 5

Halfway through the last term of the year already! This week our youngest students consider museums as a place to learn about the past. Slightly older students are learning about the states and territories of Australia, as well as their representative birds and animals. Older students are in throes of their class election campaign, preparing for Voting Day next week! The Understanding Our World® use of continuous assessment allows teachers to easily stay on top of reporting requirements at this exceptionally busy time of year. In the 4th term in particular, students have already completed the bulk of their assessment tasks by this point, allowing the teacher to stay ahead with marking and preparing final reports.

Foundation/Prep/Kindy to Year 3

Our youngest students in Foundaton/Prep/Kindy (Unit F.4) are looking at museums as places to learn about the past. This lesson introduces them to the concept of material culture, which gets expressed in the remaining weeks of the unit, when they prepare costumes and props for a class play. Students in integrated Foundation/Prep/Kindy and Year 1 classes (Unit F-1.4), as well as Year 1 (Unit 1.4), 2 (Unit 2.4) and 3 (Unit 3.4) classes, are looking at the states and territories of Australia. All the students learn to identify the states and territories of Australia and their location on a map of Australia. Students in Foundation/Kindy/Prep and Year 1 also consider areas of natural beauty and significance and in which states these are located. Students in Year 2 relate the representative bird, animal, fish and flower of each state with the natural areas of significance in that state; while students in Year 3 compare the states and territories, as well as areas of natural significance, with the places associated with the stories read in Week 1.

Years 3 to 6

Students in Years 3 (Unit 3.8), 4 (Unit 4.4), 5 (Unit 5.5) and 6 (Unit 6.4) are proceeding with their class election campaigns. This week students complete their poster on an issue of relevance to their own school or lives – these may include environmental or political issues, depending on the year level and teacher choice concerning relevance for each class. Students should be encouraged to be creative and have fun with these activities. Students are also campaigning for the class election, for which voting will be held in the next lesson. An electoral roll and customised ballot papers are prepared for the class, using Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) resources. Explanations on accessing and using these resources can be found in the Running A Class Election resource. The electoral roll and ballot papers should be prepared well in advance of the lesson in which the class votes. In Queensland, these activities are of particular relevance as we head into a state election, and non-subscribers might be interested in our Class Election bundle.

Happy Teachers’ Day

OpenSTEM would like to extend warm congratulations to all teachers on Teachers’ Day!! We salute you all for the wonderful job you do for all students every day, often without thanks or praise. It is not lightly that people say “If you can read this, thank a teacher”. Teachers truly are the force that shapes the future and can set people on a positive track for life. Your influence is lifelong and all-encompassing.

Well done to you all and we hope you all have a well-deserved rest this weekend! Keep being awesome and know that you are deeply and warmly appreciated by students, parents and all clear-thinking people in society.

Happy Teachers’ Day!