Grade 4, 5, 6 Cohort Our Grade 4 class this year consists of 26 students, 14 girls and 12 boys. Our Grade 5 class this year consists of 25 students, 15 girls and 10 boys. Our Grade 6 class this year consists of 28 students, 14 girls and 14 boys. They are a confident, talkative bunch who love to share their experiences, stories and work with the rest of the class. They enjoy engaging in class and group discussions. They are a creative bunch who enjoy hands on activities. This is a inquisitive bunch that enjoy asking questions and finding out the answers, especially about themselves and their families. They are great listeners who enjoy listening to what their classmates have to say and finding out more about them. They are technologically up-to-date and enjoy using the computers to research and present their work. They enjoy learning about history and past events. They are a class that enjoy undertaking research tasks that require them to bring things to and from home. They enjoy using different forms of writing to display their work. INQUIRY LEARNING PLANNER UNIT TITLE: What’s my Story? LEVEL TEAM 4/5/6 Bethany Decunto Liana Decunto Cassandra Fontana UNDERSTANDINGS: FOCUS QUESTIONS: TER M 3 DURATIO N 9 weeks We all have our own individual story. What is my past/present/future? What is my culture/background? Our story makes us who we are. How does my story define me? Where did I come from? Where does my story start? (eg. immigration) How does my culture make me who I am? Does my family still practice any cultural traditions/rituals? How are they different to my peers? How is my story different to those around me? What experiences have made me who I am today? Different people have different stories Many factors affect our stories. KEY CONCEPTS: Experiences, Culture: Food and Traditions, Family, Friends Thinking Processes Communication Skills Young people begin making choices about what is important and unimportant, what is relevant and what is not. Students use thinking skills in a more flexible and discretionary way. They do this, in part, Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written, role play) and digital technologies They take turns, ask clarifying questions, paraphrase what has been said to check meaning, and build on the ideas of Personal Learning Assess their strengths and challenges and devise personally appropriate strategies to achieve future success. They develop an Interpersonal Development Students participate in a range of classroom activities where they explore the similarities and differences in the values and beliefs of a range of individuals and groups. They begin to reflect on what this may mean for themselves when building by involving themselves in extended projects with a plan and an outcome. others They regularly present ideas, information and opinions for a variety of purposes, to a range of audiences, in both formal and informal settings attitude of questioning, and are able to provide and receive peer insights and assistance. They begin to ask questions about why tasks are relevant to their future life goals. and maintaining relationships with a diverse range of people. They explore and discuss behaviours which demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences in their interactions with others. Students explore a range of contexts, both within and beyond school. RESOURCES A3 suitcase outline worksheet String and pegs for timeline Shaun Tan, (2007), The arrival, Arthur A. Levine Books; First edition Any non- fiction cultural books. Cultural booklets A3 human body outline Computers and other ICT resources Coloured paper (for the hands) Shane DeRolf, (1997), The Crayon Box That Talked. Random House Children's Books TUNING IN Lesson 1: “What’s in my suitcase?” Activity 1: The teacher brings in his/her suitcase and in that suitcase are some sentimental items that represent who the teacher is, his/her story and what makes them who they are today. The teacher then explains how these items signify his/her life story. Examples of items include: Pictures of family A dog leash A flag to represent his/her culture Photos of his/her past experiences Postcard from his/her favourite destination Items from major events in his/her life eg: Childhood - favourite toy something that belonged to someone important to them eg: Grandparent Discuss and brainstorm with students a variety of items that could potentially represent who they are. List these on the board. Activity 2 (Pre-assessment): Provide students with an A3 worksheet with a picture of a suitcase in which they have the opportunity to draw or list their own items that represent or define who they are. Students will then participate in a ‘think, pair, share’ activity and discuss what they have drawn and why they chose those particular items. (ACELY1676) Lesson 2: “My timeline” Prior to the unit commencing, parents will receive a letter explaining the unit and asking them, along with their child to collect photos of important events from their childs’ life from birth until now. These photos may include them as babies, sacraments, holidays, first day of school etc. The teacher begins the lesson by bringing in a timeline of photos of his/her life and will discuss with the students why these photos are important and what they represent. The photos are displayed on a piece of long rope and are pegged to the rope in sequential order. With the photos gathered by the students and their parents, the students will make a timeline of the important events in their own life with rope and pegs. Students can then demonstrate their ICT skills by typing a description of each individual photo and explaining why it is an important event in the life. The students’ timelines will then be displayed in the classroom. (ACHHS083) Lesson 3: “Autobiography” The teacher will begin the lesson by demonstrating in front of the class how to write an autobiography on A3 paper. The students will then be informed that they will be producing an autobiography about themselves. The class will then have a discussion about what the students can include in their autobiography. The students will be asked to refer back to the things that they saw/discussed in the previous two lessons. These ideas will be brainstormed on the board. For example: Likes/dislikes Hobbies Favorite places Holidays Family life/siblings/parents/grandparents Culture: favourite traditions and foods Adjectives to describe you Fears Students will then create a descriptive and highly informative autobiography. They will incorporate ideas from the previous two lessons, as well as additional information about their lives. (ACELT1607) Reflection: Bring students together to brainstorm ideas of items that could potentially be put into their suitcase. The teacher displays the childrens suitcase worksheets, in order to allow the students to reflect back on and to revisit. After the students have completed their suitcases, they can now participate within a “think, pair, share” activity to review and discuss what items they have listed and drawn. The display should have a heading “What’s My Story?”. Once the children have finished their photo timeline, they will have the opportunity to present their three favourite photos/events to the class and discuss why these are their favourite and what is happening in the picture. The teacher will then display the photo timelines hanging across the room. Students are given an opportunity to discuss and brainstorm ideas that can be included in their autobiography. Once the autobiographies are complete, the students will be put into groups and will share their autobiographies with their groups. There will be time for their group members to ask questions and discuss what they thought was interesting about each others autobiographies. The class will then come together and each student will share one interesting fact about someone in their group that they did not previously know. The teacher can then put the autobiographies on the “What’s my story?” display board. FINDING OUT SORTING OUT How can we: Take students beyond what they already know? Challenge their ideas, beliefs and attitudes? Enable them to use skills and knowledge to collect new information? Provide a range of experiences to develop our understandings? How will students sort out, organise, represent and present what they have found out? How can they communicate and express what they know? How will they use preferred ways to demonstrate their knowledge, skills and values? Lesson 4: “Cultural booklet” Lesson 6 : “Biography of an immigrant” The class will begin with a discussion about culture. They will discuss what culture is, what they know about different cultures, how culture can represent people or be of importance in their lives, ect. Ask the students to participate in a “Think, Pair, Share” activity discussing interesting points they gathered from the interview. Using the answers from the questions that the students formulated prior to this lesson, they will compose a biography of the immigrant they interviewed, analyzing, incorporating and organising the best information they gathered. The students are to research their own cultures under the following topics, by using online and non-fiction resources. Where is my family’s country of origin? (located on a map The flag Traditional dress Traditional dishes Traditional dances Unique traditions and rituals. Language Music The students are to create a mini booklet to display what information they have found. They can present it however they like in this booklet, using words and/or pictures. (ACHHS083) (ACHHS102) (ACELT1608) (ACHHS101) Reflection Students are given an opportunity to discuss and brainstorm ideas on what they think culture is and how it is represented within everyday life. The teacher can then list these ideas and concepts on the board. Students can reflect on their own culture by researching significant traditions, foods and languages etc. Once students have completed their cultural booklets, the teacher can place these books in the reading corner of the classroom. Students can read the booklets during their free time or during silent reading, which enables them to reflect on other students cultures. In the biography, students will discuss how immigration has changed their families lives and how it has impacted on the immigrant. Students can use a technological device to type their biography. (ACHHK096) (ACHHK115) (ACELA1498) (ACELY1694) (ACHHS106) Reflection Students are given an opportunity to participate in a “Think, Pair, Share” activity to discuss any interesting facts or ideas that they found out in their interview. After students have completed their biographies, they gain some insight into where they came from, who they are and reflect on what they learnt about the family member/friend. Lesson 5: “Immigration” Lesson 7: “We are one” Activity 1: Read to the students “The arrival” Activity 1: The teacher will begin by calling all students to the floor and handing each student a copy of the poem ‘The crayon box that talked’. The teacher will inform the students that ‘The arrival’ is a wordless picture book that will require them to observe the images, formulate ideas/questions and what they think is happening in the story. The teacher will then go through the book a second time, this time allowing students to share their thoughts and pose their questions about the book. This activity will then lead into a class discussion about immigration; What it means to immigrate, why people might immigrate, why people may have come to Australia, do they know anyone who has immigrated, how people migrated and the struggles they experienced, ect. Activity 2: The students will be told of their homework task which involves interviewing a person who has migrated to Australia for example a parent/grandparent/family friend. The class will brainstorm together ideas of questions that the students can ask. For example: Where did you migrate from? Why did you migrate to Australia? What did you travel by? What was the journey like? During this lesson students are to create a set of 10 or more questions to ask that person during the interview about their immigration and experiences. (ACHHS083) (ACHHK096) (ACHHK115) (ACHHS100) Reflection The class will be brought back together, where each student will be required to share a question they have formulated. This way students who were not able to formulate their 10 questions can be given ideas, and prompts for more questions they can ask. This will also allow the teacher to get an understanding of how much the students understand about immigration. It will also give her the opportunity to help deepen students questions. THE CRAYON BOX THAT TALKED Poem by: Shane DeRolf While walking into a toy store the day before today I overheard a crayon box with many things to say "I don't like Red!" said Yellow and Green said "Nor do I" "And no one here likes Orange but no one knows just why" "We are a box of crayons that doesn't get along Said Blue to all the others "Something here is wrong" Well, I bought that box of crayons and took it home with me And laid out all the colors so the crayons all could see They watched me as I colored with Red and Blue and Green And Black and White and Orange and every color in between They watched as Green became the grass and Blue became the sky The Yellow sun was shining bright on White clouds drifting by Colors changing as they touched becoming something new They watched me as I colored - they watched me till I was through And when I finally finished I began to walk away And as I did the crayon box had something more to say "I do like Red!" said Yellow and Green said, "so do I" And Blue you were terrific! So high up in the sky Wouldn't it be terrible? Wouldn't it be sad? If just one single color was the color that we had? If everything was purple? Or red? Or blue? Or green? If yellow, pink, or orange was all that could seen? Can you just imagine how dull our world would be If just one single color was all we got to see? "We are a box of crayons each one of us unique But when we get together the picture is more complete". The teacher will instruct the class to close their eyes and visualise the poem as she reads through it a first time. The class will then, along with the teacher, read through it a second time. They will have a discussion about the meaning of the poem, focusing on the fact that we are all different but all human, who make up the world and more specifically Australia. Activity 2: The class will then be instructed to collect a sheet of their favourite coloured paper (aiming for a variety of colours). The students are to stencil around their hand, write their name in the middle and cut it out. Each hand will be passed around the classroom for the other students to write a quality about their friend on the hand. (ACELT1610). (ACELT1608) Reflection The students will be given some time to read what their peers have written about them. They will be asked to consider which one they think best describes them and give the class a brief explanation as to why they think that, and possibly give an example of when they have displayed that quality. The hands will then be displayed on the wall inside an outline of Australia, to symbolise the discussion that took place on the floor. Hopefully there will be a variety of colours to represent the different coloured crayons/students. The students will be asked to share with the class and teacher the links they can make between the discussion, the activity and the display. GOING FURTHER How can we extend and broaden the unit? What other perspectives or dimensions can we explore? What are the ways which students can negotiate their own personal inquiries? Lesson 8: “My future self” Ask students to sit on the floor, with their eyes closed and to visualize themselves as a grown person, in response to questions asked by the teacher. This will include scenarios such as: Imagine your life in 10 years from now, when you are grown up and out of school. Now it’s morning and you have just woken up. What do you see? You are now ready to leave for work. Where do you go? What cultural traditions do I still follow? What food do I now eat? What type of person am I? Do I have a family of my own? ect. The students will then create a character profile about their future self. Students will be given a piece of A3 poster paper of a human body outline, in which they will write their aspirations, where they want to travel and their future profession. Students will then be given the opportunity to decorate their future self, for example, dress their character in their future professional clothing. Reflection Once the students have completed decorating their ‘future self’ they will each have the opportunity to share this with the class and describe who they will be in the future. They will answer questions other students may have and have the chance to share what their future aspirations may be. The teacher will then display the students ‘future self’ on the ‘What’s my Story’ board. Lesson 9: “Family Day” Activity 1: This is a time for the students to physically demonstrate who they are and learn about who their fellow classmate are. The ‘Family Day’ involves the students inviting their parents and grandparents along. They dress in traditional clothing, bring in a plate of traditional food and each tell stories of their culture, rituals and their past. They talk about how they became who they are today and how the students identity has been formed from the events that have taken place from years ago. Parents/Grandparents are given the opportunity to share their story with the whole class if they wish to do so. (ACELY1784d) (ACHHK096) (ACHHK115) (ACHHS083) Activity 2 (Post-assessment): Once the parents and grandparents have left the classroom, each student will be handed back his/her A3 suitcase from Lesson 1. The students are to add any new words or pictures they have gathered and learnt about themselves and their story throughout the unit. The teacher will collect the suitcases as assessment. Reflection Students are given the opportunity to reflect on their culture and the culture of other students and their traditions. They will be able to understand that who we are is influenced by our families and the lives of our ancestors. They will also learn that each of us has a different story. The students will be given the opportunity to ask the presenters questions and discuss similarities and differences between different families, stories and cultures. Referring back and adding to the suitcase gives the students the opportunity to reflect on what they have learnt about themselves over the entire unit. ASSESSMENT SUMMARY (ONGOING: FOR, AS and OF learning) What are the cumulative and summative opportunities for assessment? How can teachers and students monitor progress? What strategies can we use to cater for variance in learning styles and progress? How can we allow for expected and unexpected outcomes? How can we provide opportunities for self, peer, teacher, parent assessment? INQUIRY STAGE DESCRIPTION PURPOSE Lesson 1: “What’s in my suitcase?” The teacher will walk around the classroom and listen to students discussions in the ‘Think, Pair, Share’ activity. During the discussion, the teacher will determine if students are stating why they chose that particular item and why it represents who they are as a person. The teacher can assess how deep the students thinking may be, for example is it purely materialistic. OF: To identify sentimental items that allows students to define who they are. Forms a sense of identity. Lesson 2: “My timeline” To identify whether students are able to put events in chronological order. Able to clearly articulate why those specific events are important to them. FOR: Students are able to specify why their chosen photos are important and why these events are significant to them and their lives. Lesson 3: “Autobiography” Students can formulate a descriptive piece of writing, including relevant information that gives readers a thorough understanding of who they are. OF: To develop a sound understanding and a sense of identity of who they are as a person. Lesson 4: “Cultural booklet” The teacher (by roaming the room and analyzing the students booklets) will identify whether students have successfully used a range of resources to gather relevant information for their cultural booklets. OF: Allows the students to learn more about their culture and the cultures of their peers. This also allows students to understand diversity and the similarities and differences between different people and cultures. Assessing their research skills and display of appropriate information. Lesson 5: “Immigration” Whilst reading the book, the teacher will assess the student’s knowledge and understanding of immigration by analysing the questions they pose and responses they give during the discussion. As well as the depth of the questions they formulate. The teacher will assess the structure of the questions and whether they are clear. FOR: To understand what immigration is. To expand and deepen student’s thoughts and links between immigration and their heritage. Lesson 6: “Biography of an immigrant” The teacher will walk around listening to the discussions students are having and make sure the students are discussing immigration, asking relevant questions and discussing interesting facts. The teacher will then collect the OF: To learn about immigration stories, the reasons behind immigration, the immigration experience, why the immigrant chose Australia and other biographies and assess the students on the relevance of information used in the biography of the immigrant they interviewed. The teacher will make sure that the information included reflects what has been discussed in class and if the students have developed a sound understanding of immigration and all that is involved. immigration related information. Lesson 7: “We are one” The teacher will develop an understanding of students comprehension of the poem along with their ideas and thoughts on the subject of diversity. Teachers will assess students relationship and views of their fellow peers by selecting appropriate qualities. AS: Students understand that we are all diverse and have different interests, appearances and characteristics, however are one whole that make up Australia. Lesson 8: “My future self” The teacher will develop an understanding of what students see of themselves in the future and what drives them to succeed in life. The teacher will assess the students creativity and artistic abilities whilst decorating their future mini-me. AS: Develop an understanding of goal setting and to recognise and reflect on strengths and future aspirations. Lesson 9: “Family Day” The teacher will walk around the classroom, analyzing what students are adding to their suitcases that they completed in Lesson 1, to demonstrate that they understand that there is more to them and their story than what they may have originally thought. OF: To identify new knowledge about their life story. To identify a deeper understanding of who they are. To demonstrate what more they have learnt about themselves after having inquired into their culture, heritage, qualities, and future. INQUIRY EVALUATION We found the “What’s My Story” inquiry unit to be quite successful as the students were excited, engaged, stimulated and developed a sound, in depth understanding of the topic. We felt the unit catered excellently to the interests and learning styles of the Grade 4, 5 and 6 cohort. The students thoroughly enjoyed the unit. They participated well in all activities and were thoroughly engaged and enthusiastic about their learning. They were interested in the unit and grasped a sound understanding about the topics covered. All learning goals and outcomes were met by each student and we believe this is because the unit was so well suited to the cohort. The students loved learning about their culture, background, and family, and learning about how they became the person they are today. They loved sharing stories and participating in class, group and paired discussions. Both the students and teachers thoroughly enjoyed this unit, therefore would happily teach it again in future. Group Participation We took responsibility for the jobs we were given in week 5; Cassandra constructed a mind map that was able to assist us in developing ideas/lessons for our unit of work, Bethany compiled a description of students in years 4, 5 and 6, that we would base our inquiry lessons on and Liana made sure that each of us were on task and were present at each meeting by organising times that were convenient for each group member and ensuring that our inquiry unit would be completed by the due date of the 17th of October. We met on: 16/9/14 - 3:00pm - 4:00pm 23/9/14 - 2:00pm - 4:00pm 12/10/14 - 1:00pm - 5:00pm 14/10/14 - 10:30am - 2:30 pm Using google docs, all three of us worked together in creating all nine lessons, their reflections and assessment. We found working together on all aspects of the unit to be quite successful as we were able to combine all of our ideas to create what we believe is a goodquality unit. Our main aim was for all the lessons to flow and we believe we have done this by working together. We understand the task required us to split the unit up and for each of us to formulate three lessons, however when we attempted completing the unit in this way we felt it did not flow, nor was it a successful inquiry unit.