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Building our Bluebell Community

Gordon Gold Values through Literature

Learning Module

Abstract

In this learning module, kindergarten to year 1 students learn about giving through bucket filling. They explore values of respect, tolerance, responsibility and honesty in the classroom and in the playground, and develop their unit/class code of cooperation.

Keywords

Giving, Relationships, Social Skills, Literature, Cooperation, Belonging.

Knowledge Objectives

This learning module is based on the Australian Curriculum.

PERSONAL AND SOCIAL CAPABILITY - Level 1b

Self-awareness - Typically by the end of Foundation Year, students:

Recognise emotions

  • identify a range of emotions and describe situations that may evoke these emotions

Understand themselves as learners

  • identify their abilities, talents and interests as learners

Self-management - Typically by the end of Foundation Year, students:

Express emotions appropriately

  • express their emotions constructively in interactions with others

Develop self-discipline and set goals

  • follow class routines to assist learning

Social awareness - Typically by the end of Foundation Year, students:

Appreciate diverse perspectives

  • acknowledge that people hold many points of view

Contribute to civil society

  • describe ways they can help at home and school

Understand relationships

  • explore relationships through play and group experiences

Social management - Typically by the end of Foundation Year, students:

Work collaboratively

  • share experiences of cooperation in play and group activities

Make decisions

  • identify options when making decisions to meet their needs and the needs of others

Negotiate and resolve conflict

  • listen to others’ ideas, and recognise that others may see things differently from them

Develop leadership skills

  • identify ways to take responsibility for familiar tasks at home and school

ETHICAL UNDERSTANDING - Level 1

Understanding ethical concepts and issues - Typically by the end of Foundation Year, students:

Recognise ethical concepts

  • identify ethical concepts arising in familiar contexts, such as good and bad behaviours

Reasoning in decision making and actions - Typically by the end of Foundation Year, students:

Reason and make ethical decisions

  • identify examples from stories and experiences that show ways people make decisions about their actions

Exploring values, rights and responsibilities - Typically by the end of Foundation Year, students:

Examine values

  • identify values that are important to them

Explore rights and responsibilities

  • share examples of rights and responsibilities in given situations

Consider points of view

  • express their own point of view and listen to the views of others

ENGLISH

Oral language

Listen to and respond orally to texts and to the communication of others in informal and structured situations (ACELY 1646) through:

  • Sharing prior knowledge of the topic
  • Participating in book orientation and reading activities
  • Small group and class sharing of ideas about 'belonging' and 'giving'

Connecting with text

Identify connections between texts and their personal experience (Foundation Year Achievement Standard) by:

  • Comparing and contrasting real elephants and story characters
  • Identifying the values demonstrated by the elephants in the story, and link to own worlds

Analysing texts

Identify some features of texts including events and characters and retell events from a text (ACELT1578) by:

  • Comparing and contrasting the actions of characters at different times in the story

Share feelings and thoughts about the events and characters in texts (ACELT1783) by: 

  • Hypothesising about the behaviours of the elephants, and linking to own behaviours

Applying values

Value relationships and friendships, recognising how words and actions can help or hurt others, and recognise the effects of modifying their behaviour (for example, discussing the effects of characters’ words and actions on others in texts).

Understand that language can be used to explore ways of expressing needs, likes and dislikes (ACELA 1429).

1.1: What makes you special?

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand that everyone is special.

Success Criteria: Think about and contribute to class discussion about what makes me special. 

Activity: 

  • Think-Pair-Share: Think about what makes you special; turn to someone next to you, share with them why you think you are special. 
  • Circle time: I am special because.... 
  • Class responds each time with 'You are special..... (name)'

For the Teacher

Purpose: For students to discuss why they think they are special and to listen to others say why they are special. This activity is designed to set a positive, safe and inclusive tone for the classroom and to help students feel as though they belong and they are special. 

Teaching Tips: Explicitly teach the following cooperative learning strategies/circle time behaviours. 

  • Think-Pair-Share - give students sufficient thinking time and encourage students to close eyes. Model how to turn knee to knee to someone near them and show partner you are listening. Model how to share with partner. 
  • Circle time - provide students with a sentence starter 'I am special because...' to help them to form their sentence. Use a talking tool (eg. a pencil, a toy, a ball) and tell students that only the person with the talking tool is allowed to speak. When you are not speaking, your job is to listen. 

Resources: Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

1.2: Filling Buckets

For the Student

Fig 1.2: We love bucket filling!

Learning Intention: To understand what a bucket filler is.

Success Criteria:

  • Listen to the story and participate in class discussions.
  • Contribute to a Y chart (what does bucket filling look like, sound like, feel like).

Activity:

  • Listen to the story 'Have you Filled a Bucket Today?' 
  • Answer teacher questions about the book and try to participate in class discussion 
  • Y Chart and Think-Pair-Share: What does bucket filling: look like (add to Y chart), sound like (add to Y chart), and feel like (add to Y chart)

Learning Intention: To understand the reading strategy connecting and what it means to be a bucket filler.

Success Criteria: 

  • Share a personal connection to the text about a time when you filled someone's bucket.

Activity: 

Listen to the teacher explain and model what the strategy 'connecting' means.

Make personal connections to the story in a circle time using the sentence starter 'I was a bucket filler when I....' 

Fig. 2: Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is to introduce students to the concept of bucket filling and its effects through the focus text, 'Have you filled your bucket today?'

The open-ended questions are designed to encourage students to think about the text and respond.

Making personal connections to the text is an important reading strategy to use when comprehending new texts 

Teaching Tips

Ask students questions:

  • What are you thinking about after listening to this book?
  • How did it make you feel?
  • What does a full bucket symbolise/mean?
  • How can you get a full bucket?
  • If you fill someone's bucket, why does yours become full too?
  • What sort of person do you want to be? A bucket filler or bucket dipper? Why?

Resources

  • Y-chart 
  • Questions 
  • Text: 'Have you Filled a Bucket Today?'

1.3: Filler and Dipper Role Plays

For the Student

​Learning Intention: To understand the difference between a bucket filler and a bucket dipper, and the effects of each.

Success Criteria:

  • Help the teacher sort bucket filling and dipping pictures/examples.
  • Actively contribute to and participate in a group role play giving examples of bucket filling and bucket dipping. 
  • Actively watch other groups role plays.
  • Identify bucket filling and dipping examples and discuss the differences and the effects of each.

Activity: 

  • Help the teacher sort bucket filling and dipping pictures/examples on the smartboard and participate in class discussion about how you know it is filling or dipping. 
  • With the teacher, look at/read the role play scenario/problem card provided with your group.
  • Discuss with your group how a) a bucket filler would solve the problem or react b) how a bucket dipper would solve the problem or react. 
  • Create a short role play for each and perform to class. 
  • When not performing, watch other role plays and contribute to class discussions about bucket filling and dipping and which is more effective in each scenario.

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is for students to deepen their understanding of bucket filling by identifying the difference between filling and dipping and discussing the positive impact that bucket filling has on themselves and others.

Activity: 

  • Use a concept attainment/sorting activity on the smartboard with pictures of bucket filling and bucket dipping. Ask students to help you sort them into the columns and ask questions: How do you know this is bucket filling/bucket dipping? What information in the picture tells you this? What can you see on the persons face that shows how they feel? 
  • Model how to work with a group to create and perform a small role play of bucket filling or bucket dipping, using a particular scenario (role play scenario cards).
  • Organise students into groups and with each group explain their scenario to them
  • Tell students that they need to first think about and discuss what a bucket filler would do. Then tell them to think about and discuss what a bucket dipper would do. 
  • Provide students with some time to further discuss, create and practise their short role play to perform to the class. 
  • After each role play, ask questions: How did you feel when you were a bucket filler? How do you think the other person felt? How did you feel when you were a bucket dipper? How do you think the other person felt? 

Teaching Tips

  • Explicitly teach students how to be a good (bucket filling) audience member when observing role plays - watching, listening, encouraging (showing respect)
  • Ask students what they have learned from doing and watching the role plays?
  • Make a teacher reflection at the end of the lesson: when you do something nice to someone, it makes them feel good and makes you feel good too. Sometimes they might do something nice back to you.

Resources:

  • Interactive smartboard sorting activity with pictures 
  • Role play scenario cards 

1.4 How does it make you feel?

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand the author's message in a text.

Learning Intention: To understand how being a bucket filler and/or dipper makes you feel and how it makes others feel .

Success Criteria: 

  • Listen carefully to the story 'The Rainbow Fish'.
  • Think about what the message in the story is.
  • Reflect on how you and others feel when you bucket fill/dip.
  • Communicate your thoughts in class discussions and drawings. 

Activity:

  • Sit and listen carefully to the story 'The Rainbow Fish'.
  • Think-Pair-Share: What is the message in the story? (What is the author trying to tell us?)
  • Make another connection, this time to the text 'The Rainbow Fish'. Think about a time when you filled someone else's bucket. Then think about how it made you feel. Then think about how it made the other person feel. 
  • Draw a picture of your connection and next to it draw a facial expression to show how you felt, and a facial expression to show how the other person felt. 

 

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose of this task is for students to understand that authors write for real purposes and that books can hold a special message for us. It is also to identify that there are only winners when it comes to acts of bucket filling; both the person doing the bucket filling and the person being bucket filled.

Activity:

  • Read the story 'The Rainbow Fish'.
  • Run a Think-Pair-Share: What is the message in the story? (What is the author trying to tell us?)
  • Tell students they will be practising the reading strategy 'connecting'. Remind students about what this strategy is and give an example.  
  • Model to students how to complete the connecting and drawing of facial expressions activity/worksheet  

Teaching Tips

  • Talk students through drawing their pictures and provide opportunities to discuss how they felt when they bucket filled. If students are having troubles remembering a time, give them an opportunity to fill a bucket in that moment (eg. say something nice to someone, share their pencils with the person next to them). 
  •  Students should come to the conclusion that when you fill someone's bucket you feel good about yourself and the other person feels good too. Only good things come from bucket filling - everybody wins. 

Resources

  • Text: 'The Rainbow Fish' 
  • Activity/worksheet for student connections and pictures (see worksheet below)
    How does being a bucket filler make me and others feel?

     

 

1.5: A Random Act of Kindness

 

For the Student

 

Fig 1.5: Kindness is a BIG thing

Learning Intention: To understand how to BE a bucket filler. 

Success Criteria:

  • Discuss ways in which you could fill someone's bucket and add to a class list/brainstorm. 
  • Practise random acts of kindness to a member of the class.
  • Reflect on how this made you feel and them feel. 

Activity: 

  • Participate in a sea-saw activity, where you share with a partner the many ways you could fill someone else's bucket.
  • Contribute your sharings to a whole class discussion/list which can be later referred to for ideas.
  • Practise 'random acts of kindness' to your secret class member and try to fill their bucket each day.
  • Participate in a circle time at the end of each day about a) how you filled someone's bucket and b) how this made you feel and c) how you think this may have made them feel.

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is for students to put into practise their understanding of 'Bucket Filling' and to learn how to fill their friends buckets and hopefully extend this to all other students, class, unit, wider school community and at home. 

Teaching Tips

  • Every morning ask students in a circle time format, what their act of bucket filling might be. 
  • At the end of the school day re-form as a circle to share acts of bucket filling and reflect on the effects. Emphasise bucket filling in the playground.

Resources

  • 'Random act of kindness examples/list for students to refer to and continuously get ideas'
  • An organised list of who students' secret person will be - think about pairing students up with children they would not usually work with 

 

2.1: Experiencing Respect

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand what respect means and how it relates to bucket filling. 

 Success Criteria:

  • Brainstorm what you think the word respect means.
  • Listen to the story and think about ways that the characters do show and do not show respect.
  •  Participate in class discussion about respect.

 Activity:

  • Contribute to class brainstorm about what the word 'Respect' means/might mean. Think about whether many of these things are like bucket filling. 
  • Listen to the story 'Mr Pusskins' Think-Pair-Share: In what ways did Emily show respect to Mr Pusskins? Did Mr Pusskins show Emily respect at the start of the story? What did he learn when he left Emily? 
  • Participate in a class discussion/questions about: How do we show respect at school? How do we show respect at home? Why is respect important? What would happen if we did not respect ourselves? What would happen if we did not respect others?

For the Teacher

Purpose

For students to understand what respect is and recognise similarities between this and bucket filling. Students will begin to apply their understanding of respect to real life situations and hopefully practise respect in the classroom, on the playground and at home. 

Activity 

  • Conduct a class brainstorm asking students to contribute their ideas about what respect means.
  • Read story 'Mr Pusskins' to students.
  • Ask students questions and conduct a Think-Pair-Share. 

Teaching Tips

  • Regularly read other texts relating to respect. Some examples are 'Franklin is Bossy' and 'Piggybook' (also used to teach responsibility), 'first look at' books. 
  • Display class brainstorm about respect to refer back to in the classroom. Display the words 'Respect' in the classroom and tell students that this is a Gordon Primary School value. Talk to students about Gordon Gold Awards (Respect, Honesty, Tolerance, Responsibility). 

Resources

Text: Mr Pusskins

Awards: show students what Gordon Gold awards look like

2.2: Understanding Respect

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand different ways to show respect or be respectful. 

Success Criteria: 

  • Make connections.
  • Share ideas about how to show respect.
  • Demonstrate four different ways you could show respect.

Activity:

  • Listen to a short story or clip about respect.
  • Make connections to the story or video: think about a time when you have shown respect.
  • Share your connection with the class in a circle time. 
  • Contribute to a class list of all the different ways that you can show respect or be respectful. 
  • Demonstrate understanding of different ways to show respect at home, in the classroom and on the playground (worksheet provided in teacher section).
  • Discuss and explain drawings/examples with the class and add any further ideas to class list.

For the Teacher

 Purpose

For students to understand HOW they can be respectful or show respect to others. In this lesson students will brainstorm many different ideas on how they have shown respect in the past and how they can continue to show such respect in the classroom, on the playground and at home. The purpose of the class discussions and the worksheet is to provide students with a 'menu' to work from - to give them new ideas of how to show respect in different settings. 

Teaching Tips

  • Encourage students to now USE the different ways to show respect at home, in the classroom and on the playground.
  • Use a circle time or verbal exit passes for students to reflect each day on how they showed respect (eg. I showed respect when I... ).

Resources

  • Worksheet/activity attached: How can I show respect at home, in the classroom and on the playground?
How can I show respect at home, in the classroom and on the playground

2.3: Analysing Respect

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand how showing respect makes me and others feel.

Success Criteria:

  • Think about a time when you have shown respect on the playground and share in a circle time.
  • Complete worksheet and discuss with class. 

Activity: 

  • Think about a time when you have shown respect on the playground and share in a circle time.
  • Complete worksheet (provided in teacher section) and discuss with class.

For the Teacher

 Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is for student to understand how showing respect makes themselves feel as well as how it makes others feel. This is an opportunity to explore also what would happen if no one in the world showed respect - what sort of world would be live in? This lesson is to reinforce the importance of respect at school and at home and in the wider community. 

Activity: 

  • Ask students to think about a time on the playground when they showed respect or were respectful. Students complete a drawing of this example on the worksheet provided and also reflect on how it made them feel and how it made others feel. 
  • Ask students questions: What would happen if no body showed respect? What do you think the world would look like? Do you think people would be happy or unhappy? Why is it important to show respect? 

Resources:

Activity/worksheet attached: 

How does showing respect make me and others feel?

 

2.4: Applying Respect

For the Student

Learning Intention: To set a personal goal about how you are going to show respect to yourself, to others and to property in our classroom and in the playground.

Success Criteria:

  • Set a personal goal.
  • Illustrate and write the goal.
  • Reflect on the goal.

Activity

  • Circle Time: In our Circle Time, think about how you can show respect in our class and on the playground. 
  • Watch the teacher how to draw and write about this goal.
  • Draw a picture of how you could show respect and have a go at writing a sentence: 'Today I will show respect to...... by........' 
  • Reflection (later in the day): Did you achieve your goal. What could you do differently? 
Fig.2.4: When you write a goal down, it is more likely to happen.

For the Teacher

 ​Purpose

Students apply their learning about respect by setting a personal goal for how they will be respectful to themselves, to others and/or to property in the classroom and/or the playground.

Teaching Tips

  • Model how to illustrate and write a sentence about the goal. Tell students a fact about goal setting: writing your goal down means that it is more likely to happen! Use the sentence starter 'I can show respect to............... by...................' to make the goal specific and measurable. 
  • Conduct the Circle Time activity at the end of the day or after a break. The illustrations can be a prompt for their reflections on whether they achieved goals and to consider their next goal.
  • The personal goal setting throughout the learning module could occur every day or only twice during each week, depending on the needs of your students.

3.1: What is Elmer about?

For the Student

Learning Intention: To share knowledge about elephants.

Success Criteria: 

  • Share a fact you know about elephants with the group.

Activity

Sit in a circle with your class. When it is your turn, tell your partner one thing you know about elephants.

Your teacher will record your ideas.

Look at the front cover of Elmer and think about what this book might be about. Draw a picture of something that you think might happen in the story. Your teacher will help you to write your prediction.

Look and listen as your teacher reads to you.

Fig. 8: Elmer by David McKee

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is to draw on students' prior knowledge so that students can connect to the text.

Teaching Tips

  • Use a Think-Pair-Share within Circle Time structure for this activity. As the “talking tool” gets to each student, he/she shares a characteristic of an elephant with a partner.
  • Prompt students to recall when they might have seen an elephant e.g. trip to the zoo, on television, at the movies, books.
  • Scribe their answers.

Resource

"Elmer" by David McKee, 1998, Random House Children's Press

Book Orientation

At the beginning of this activity explain to students they will be imagining or predicting what the story will be about. Scribe their predictions for students.

Explain that predicting (thinking about what might happen based on what you already know) is what good readers do.

Read the text. Students share their ideas about the text.

3.2: Understanding Tolerance

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand similarities and differences, and what are some bucket filling/dipping behaviours.

Success Criteria:

  • Identify what made the elephants different or the same.
  • Identify bucket filling or bucket dipping behaviours from the story.
Will you be my bucket filler?

Activity:

As a whole class circle time work with your class to talk about the following questions:

  • How were the elephants the same in the story?
  • How were the elephants different in the story?
  • How were the elephants 'bucket fillers' in the story?
  • How were the elephants 'bucket dippers' in the story?
  • How did they make sure everyone was included and felt safe?

In our class, each person is different and unique, but we all need to work together to make the classroom a safe and friendly place.

For the Teacher

Connecting with the story…

Prompt with the following questions:

  • How were the characters bucket fillers in the story?
  • How did they stay friendly towards each other?

Re-read the book and identify the different ways of being a bucket filler. Re-visit page 1 and 2 and get students to orally describe the differences between elephants.

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is to define belonging and bucket filling in relation to the story.

Teaching Tips

  • As a class discuss how the elephants were bucket fillers in the story. Make links to the ideas that the elephants were all different, but still remained part of the group and worked together so they all felt they belonged.
  • Discuss how this is true for the class - each person is different and special but everyone still needs to work together to make the classroom a safe and friendly place to be and where everyone feels they belong and are happy to give to each other.

 

3.3: What Makes Us Different

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand what makes each of us special and have the words to describe it.

Success Criteria:

  • Create an elephant based on your observations about what makes you unique and different.  
No two elephants are the same!

Activity:

Looking at pages 1 and 2 of the book, think about how the elephants are different?

With your partner, do a 'See Saw' to describe some of the elephants.

It is now your turn to draw yourself as an elephant.

Think about yourself.

  • How are you different?
  •  What would you look like as an elephant?

Make sure you include the things that make you different, so that the elephant you draw is as special as you.

Show your elephant to the class and describe the things that make you different. (Teacher writes descriptive words on elephant.)

For the Teacher

Purpose

To understand that we are all different and to develop oral language to express that difference.

Describing differences

Teacher shows pages 1 and 2 from 'Elmer'. Students look at image closely and discuss orally:

  • How were the elephants different in the story?

In partners, students do a 'See Saw' (Kagan cooperative strategy) to describe an elephant. Discuss the concept of what it means to be 'unique'. Give students paper to do their elephant drawing on. Once students are finished drawing, do a circle time to share students' elephants and hear their describing words. Teacher goes around and scribes the describing words that make each student different in the middle of each of their elephants.

Teaching Tips

  •  Scribe the students' describing words as they share their elephant with the group. These can be scribed on paper, to be added to the artwork after sharing is complete. 
  • Use the 'See Saw' strategy to allow each partner to share their thoughts.

3.4: Role Plays

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand and express a range of emotions.

Success Criteria:

  • Identify a range of different emotions when expressed by others.
  • Identify which emotions/expressions relate to bucket filling, eg. a smile.

Activity:

Media embedded November 24, 2016

Look carefully at the expressions on the animals in the book. 

  • What expression/emotion are the characters showing?
  • How would they be feeling?

Act out the expression that is shown in the book. Pretend you are that character and walk around the room and show that expression to other people.

Freeze when the teacher says SNAP! and pose.

Look around you at the expressions.

  • Thumbs up for if this expression makes you feel happy
  • Thumbs down if it doesn't make you feel happy
  • Thumbs up if it makes you feel like you belong
  • Thumbs down if it doesn't make you feel like you belong

Which expression would you choose to use to show someone that they belong? Could we use this expression when being a bucket filler?

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is to understand how body language (standing) and facial expressions can make people feel they belong or not. Relate this to bucket filling, e.g. a smile is an act of bucket filling that makes others feel like they belong.

Gestural grammar

Analyse the expressions of the different animals on the smartboard or in the book.

Display images from the text one at a time and get students to think about what expression the character is showing and how they would be feeling. (label them)

Model miming an expression/emotion.

Students individually mime the expression that is displayed and walk around the classroom sharing that with others.

Teacher calls out SNAP! Students must freeze their expression and pose. Discuss after each image if seeing that expression on someone else makes them feel happy and if they feel like they belong.

Repeat through all images from text.

At the end, students think about the expression that they saw on other people and which one made them feel happy and that they belonged and which didn't?

Teaching Tips

  • Use the YouTube clip as an alternative to the book, pausing on each animal to read the expression.
  • Over express the different emotions when demonstrating (include voice changes, body language and facial expressions), and describe the emotion you are displaying.

3.5: Behaving Like an Elephant!

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand the difference between bucket filling/colourful elephant behaviour and bucket dipping/grey elephant behaviour.

Success Criteria:

  • Contribute to the class discussion about different behaviours.

Activity:

As a group, share and record ideas about what could be 'grey elephant' behaviour (bucket dipping) and 'colourful elephant' behaviour (bucket filling). Record this in the T-chart.

  • When have you seen 'grey elephant' behaviour at school?
  • When have you seen 'colourful elephant' behaviour at school?

Listen to the examples your teacher reads out. Would these be grey or colourful elephant behaviours? Add these to the T-chart.

Grey Elephant Behaviour Colourful Elephant Behaviour
  •  
  •  

For the Teacher

Purpose

The purpose of this activity is analysing behaviours and how they relate to bucket filling.

Can we do it too?

As a class discuss when we could have “colourful elephant” behaviour at school? 

  • In the classroom
  • On the playground
  • Group time

Read out some situations to the class. You can add to these as appropriate for your class group. Are these 'grey elephant' behaviours or 'colourful elephant' behaviours'? Add these to the T-chart.

  • You take someone else's pencil.
  • Someone pushes you over.
  • Your friend helps you to colour in.
  • You smile and say hello to a friend.

 

3.6: Applying Tolerance

For the Student

Learning Intention: To express creativity and demonstrate understanding of bucket filling behaviours.

Success Criteria:

  • Share a bucket filling behaviour that can be demonstrated at school.
  • Create an elephant based on the artwork from the book.

Activity:

Look at the last page of the book. What do you notice about the elephants? What different colours can you see? What different patterns can you see?

Using the elephant template given, design a colourful coat for your elephant, using different colours and patterns.

Finish the sentence about the behaviour you show when you are a colourful elephant.

Code of Cooperation

Learning Intention: To develop a classroom Code of Cooperation that is agreed upon by the students.

Success Criteria:

  • Contribute to the classroom Code of Cooperation.

Work with your partner to think about the following questions in a Timed -Think-Pair-Share strategy.

  • Which colourful elephant/bucket filler behaviours would we need to show in our classroom?
  • What things do we need to do in our classroom so that everyone is happy?
  • Where else could we apply these behaviours? (playground, group time)

Work together to create the class Code of Cooperation.

Learning Intention: To set a personal goal about how you are going to show tolerance in our classroom and in the playground.

Success Criteria:

  • Set a personal goal.
  • Illustrate the goal.
  • Reflect on the goal.

Circle Time

In our Circle Time, think about where you can show honesty in our class and in the playground. 

Reflection (later in the day): Did you achieve your goal. What could you do differently? 

For the Teacher

Purpose

To draw on the students' understanding of bucket filling behaviours to create a classroom Code of Cooperation and to set a personal goal for how they will be tolerant in the classroom and/or the playground. .

Students review the last page of the book again and use their observations to assist them to design their own 'colourful' elephant.

Students work individually to design an elephant coat using their own choice of colours and patterns.

Elephant Template

Assist your students to complete the following sentence, describing a bucket filling behaviours they could demonstrate.

When I am a colourful elephant I ........

These can be used to guide the creation of the classroom Code of Cooperation. 

Teaching Tips

  • Use the “what if” scenarios to discuss grey elephant behaviour and colourful elephant behaviour. Who gains and who loses when we use grey elephant behaviour or colourful elephant behaviour?
  • Point out on the last page that they are cooperating and playing together - belonging.
  • Display the students' elephants along with their bucket filler statements. 
  • Prompt the students to consider their elephant statements when discussing the Code of Cooperation.

Personal Goal: Conduct the Circle Time activity at the end of the day or after a break. The illustrations can be a prompt for their reflections on whether they achieved goals and to consider their next goal in demonstrating tolerance.

Also, after creating the Code of Cooperation, take advantage of any further opportunities in the activities in weeks 4 and 5 to add to/change the class/unit code of cooperation. 

4.1: Experiencing Responsibility

For the Student

Learning Intention: To gain understanding of responsible behaviours through the story.

Success Criteria:

  • Share an idea about what you think responsibility might mean. 
  • Listen to the teacher read the story.
  • Identify the responsible behaviours in the story.

Activity:

What do you think the word 'responsibility' might mean? Share this with the class.

Look at the front cover of the story 'Piggybook'. What do you think the story might be about? (Think-Pair-Share)

Listen to your teacher read the story. Think about the different characters and what behaviours they are displaying. 

  • What does the mother do?
  • What does the father do?
  • What do the boys do?

For the Teacher

Purpose:

For students to understand what Responsibility is and to link this to their understanding of bucket filling. Students will begin to apply their understanding of responsibility to real life situations with the aim of practicing responsibility in the classroom, on the playground and at home. 

Activity:

  • Conduct a class brainstorm asking students to contribute their ideas about what responsibility means
  • Read story 'Piggybook' to students 
  • Ask students questions and conduct a Think-Pair-Share 

Teaching Tips

  • Regularly read other texts relating to responsibility, such as 'Franklin is Messy', 'In a Minute Mum'. 
  • Encourage the students to think about how they can apply their responsible behaviour to different environments or situations.

4.2: Understanding Responsibility

For the Student

Learning Intention: To contribute to group discussions and demonstrate continued understanding of responsibility and responsible behaviours.

Success Criteria:

  • Share an example of how to be responsible with the class.
  • Participate in role play scenarios, exploring responsible behaviours.

Activity:

Being responsible means doing what you have agreed to do, without having to be asked all the time. This could be things like cleaning up after yourself, being sensible or helping someone else who looks like they might need help. 

Think-Pair-Share how you could be responsible in different situations.

  • At home
  • At school
  • On the playground
  • In the bathrooms

The teacher will record these and provide other examples for the role play activity. The teacher will assist the students with taking on the roles within the role play examples and talk them through a short scenario. Think about the scenario:

  • What could you do to be respectful in this situation?

For the Teacher

Encourage your students to think about how responsibility can be applied in different places and with different people. Record their think-pair-share, as this can be revisited later on. 

Example scenarios (these can be adapted to suit your class group):

  • Mum has asked you to clean your room, but you don't want to. 
  • The teacher has asked you to take a note to the front office. You go to the bathroom instead.
  • Your friend asks you to come play on the playground and you leave your lunchbox out on the seats.
  • You see one of your friends throwing resources around the classroom and they tell you to join them.

Teaching Tips:

  • Assist the students with their ideas by providing a sentence starter - "I am responsible when I...."
  • Narrate the students through the role play scenarios, guiding their actions if needed.

4.3: Analysing Responsibility

For the Student

Learning Intention: To think further on how being responsible can effect you and those around you.

Success Criteria:

  • Share an idea about how being responsible can have a good/positive outcome.
  • Share an idea about how not being responsible can have a bad/negative outcome.
Being responsible together!

Activity:

Think-Pair-Share something good/positive that could happen if we were responsible. Also, think about something bad/negative that could happen if we were not responsible. The teacher will be able to provide examples and record your answers into the T-chart.

Think about the different ways we could be responsible that were discussed earlier. 

If we all practice responsibility, we can make our classroom, home and playground a safer and happier place for everyone.

 

 

For the Teacher

Guide the students through the Think-Pair-Share by providing examples for the students to explore.

  • If we clean our room when we are asked to, what might happen?
  • If we don't go straight to the front office with a note, what might happen?
  • If we don't help our friend when they ask, what might happen?

 Teaching Tips:

  • Adjust your examples to suit the class group.
  • Prompt the students' thinking using their recorded thoughts from 4.2: Understanding Responsibility.

Resources:

T-chart worksheet

Responsibility T-chart

 

4.4: Applying Responsibility

For the Student

Learning Intention: To set a personal goal about how you are going to be responsible in our classroom and in the playground.

Success Criteria:

  • Set a personal goal.
  • Illustrate the goal.
  • Reflect on the goal.

Activity - Circle Time:

In our Circle Time, think about where you can be responsibile in our class and in the playground. 

Reflection (later in the day): Did you achieve your goal. What could you do differently? 

Can we add some of these responsible behaviours to our classroom Code of Cooperation?

For the Teacher

​Purpose

Students apply their learning about responsibility by setting a personal goal for how they will be responsible in the classroom and/or the playground. 

Teaching Tips

Conduct the Circle Time activity at the end of the day or after a break. The illustrations can be a prompt for their reflections on whether they achieved goals and to consider their next goal.

Throughout the learning module, take advantage of opportunities to add to/change the class/unit code of cooperation. 

Also link to "bucket filling" where relevant

5.1: Experiencing Honesty

For the Student

Learning Intention: To find out about telling the truth or telling a lie/fib.

Success Criteria:

Participate in a Circle Time.

Play the Truth/Lie game.

Listen to and then talk about the story of The Cocky who Cried Dingo.

Circle Time

Truth/Lie Game

Here are two statements:

1. In my family we have 3 pets - 2 dogs and a cat, and they are all good friends.

2. In my family, we never ever watch TV - never ever!

Think! Which one is the truth and which one is a lie?

Put up your hand if you think statement 1 is the truth.

Put up your hand if statement 2 is the truth.

Fig. 5.1a: These are my pets

Think-Pair-Share

Think about one thing about your family or a pet if you have one, that is true. Then make up one thing about your family or pet that is not true.

Person A tells their statement. Person B guesses which one is true and which one is a lie. Person A tells them the correct answer.

Repeat for Person B.

Circle Time Reflection:

How did it feel to tell the truth?

How did it feel to be told the truth?

How did it feel to tell a lie?

How did it feel to be told a lie?

Is it important to be honest?

Can being honest be a "bucket filler? Why?

Now let's look at The Cocky Who Cried Dingo.

First look at the cover of the book. In a Think-Pair-Share, share your ideas about what the story is about.

Fig. 5.1b: The Cocky who Cried Dingo by Yvonne Morrison and Heath McKenzie

Think-Pair-Share: What do you think the Cocky is doing? How do you know? What do you think he might be saying?

Now listen to or watch a clip of the story.

Media embedded November 24, 2016

 Think-Pair-Share:

What was your favourite part? Why?

What do you think arrogant means? 

Do you think Cocky should have told the truth? Explain your reasons.

For the Teacher

Purpose: This update introduces students to the value of honesty through a game and a picture book.

Teaching Tips

 Use the Circle Time to reflect on students' feelings about telling the truth and telling lies. Telling lies can cause a lot of unhappiness for many students!

Other texts to use during the week with the honesty focus include:

Pig the Fibber by Aaron Blabey

I always always get my way by Thad Krasnesky

5.2: Understanding Honesty

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand how being honest makes you feel good.

Success Criteria

Read and talk about The Cocky Who Cried Dingo.

Watch, act out and discuss role plays about being honest.

Discussion

Think back to The Cocky Who Cried Dingo.

What was the problem with cocky pretending he was trapped in the jaws of a dingo? 

Why did the birds in the tree ignore dingo?

What was wrong with Cocky telling lies?

Why is it important to tell the truth?

Sometimes when you are playing, you can pretend things. I could be playing a game with my friend and we could be pretending to be grown ups or animals or pretend we are driving a car. Pretending is not a lie. 

ROLE PLAYS

Being honest means telling the truth, not stealing, giving things back when they belong to someone else, and owning up when you have done the wrong thing. Let's find out more through some role plays.

Watch your teachers perform some role plays. Then you can act them out too with a partner.

1a: One of you drops a dollar without realizing it and the other one picks it up and doesn't say anything. The person who drops the dollar asks the friend if he saw it, but he lies and says no.

1b:  One of you drops a dollar without realizing it and the other one picks it up and returns it to you. 

2a: Pretend to write on the wall. Someone comes in and asks if you did it. You tell the truth, saying why you did it and apologising.

2b: Pretend to write on the wall. Someone comes in and asks if you did it. You lie, saying you didn't do it, and blame someone else.

3a: You are playing a game with 2 friends. You see your friend cheat so that they can beat the other friend. You tell your friend that they are not playing fairly.

3b: You are playing a game with 2 friends. You see your friend cheat so that they can beat the other friend. You say nothing.

4a: You break your little sister’s toy when you are mucking around. You tell your parent that you did it.

4b: You break your little sister’s toy when you are mucking around. You don't admit it, even when your parent asks you if you did it.

DISCUSSION

Describe what happened in each role play.

How did it feel to tell a lie?

How did it feel to tell the truth and do the right thing?

Is being honest a good way to fill someone else's bucket?

5.2: Being honest when you play games makes you feel good.

For the Teacher

 Purpose

This update focuses on defining and deepening students' understanding of honesty, lies and pretending.

Teaching Tips

Teachers model the role plays in the Bluebell "Meet and Greet" sessions. Then students can work in groups of 2-3 students to act them out too.

In the Circle Time discussion, emphasise how students feel when they tell the truth and how they feel when they are dishonest.

In defining telling truth and telling lies, don't go into detail about white lies and fibs - can be very confusing for students.

Focus on the positive as much as possible.

5.3: Analysing Honesty

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand how you gain from being honest and what you lose by being dishonest.

Success Criteria

Observe and discuss the cheating game.

Add your ideas to a whole class chart on honesty.

Let's Play.

I'm going to play a game of noughts and crosses. Who would like to play me. I'm really good.

After we have played 3 or 4 games, let's talk about what happened.

Think-Pair-Share

Did you feel upset when I cheated?

How does someone being dishonest by cheating, make you feel?

Is it the same as when someone tells a lie?

Let's make a T-Chart of the positives of being honest and the negatives of being dishonest.

Being Honest Being Dishonest
   
   

Reflect: Which is better?

Fig. 5.3: In the story of Pinocchio, his nose grew bigger whenever he told a lie. That would be a big problem if it happened in real life. Some people might have very big noses!

For the Teacher

 Purpose: This update deepens students' understanding of the effects of honesty and dishonesty.

Teaching Tips

In the noughts and crosses game, draw the grid on the whiteboard. Allow the student to fill in one space and then quickly fill the other spaces and say "I win! Who else wants to play me?"

After winning by cheating in 3-5 games, stop and say, "Some of you seem upset.Why? Then explain that you pretended to cheat in the game to make the point that being dishonest by cheating can make you all feel bad. Emphasise the impact on feelings. You can play other games such as card games and ball games. 

Then complete a T Chart as a whole class. Consider all forms of honesty and dishonesty - cheating, lying, stealing and owning up. Use Think-Pair-Shares to involve all students in contributing ideas to the T Chart.

5.4: Applying Honesty

For the Student

Learning Intention: To set a personal goal about how you are going to show honesty in our classroom and in the playground.

Success Criteria:

Set a personal goal.

Illustrate the goal.

Reflect on the goal.

Circle Time

In our Circle Time, think about where you can show honesty in our class and in the playground. 

Reflection (later in the day): Did you achieve your goal. What could you do differently?

Fig.5.4: Honesty is always the best policy

 

For the Teacher

 ​Purpose

Students apply their learning about honesty by setting a personal goal for how they will be honest in the classroom and/or the playground.

Teaching Tips

Conduct the Circle Time activity at the end of the day or after a break. The illustrations can be a prompt for their reflections on whether they achieved goals and to consider their next goal.

Throughout the learning module, take advantage of opportunities to add to/change the class/unit code of cooperation. 

Acknowledgements

The original version of this learning module was written by Sue Gorman, Jessica Humphreys, Hayley Hinde, Aly Allpress and Alyssa Audsley.

Title: (Source); Fig.1.1: Insert image/photo for "you are special" (Source); Fig. 1.2a: (Source); Fig 1.2b: (Source]; Fig. 1.3: Possibly two images/photos of bucket filling and bucket dipping (Source); Fig: 1.4: Cover of The Rainbow Fish (Source); Fig 1.5: (Source); Fig. 2.1: Cover of Mr Pusskins (Source); Fig. 2.2: (Source); Fig. 2.3: Image/photo of children playing respectfully in PGD (Source); Fig. 2.4 (Source); Fig.3.1: (Source); Fig.3.2: (Source); Fig.3.3: (Source); Fig. 3.4: (Source); Fig.3.5: (Source); Fig. 4.2: (Source); Fig. 4.3: (Source); Fig. 4.4: (Source); Fig. 4.1:(Source); Fig. 5.1a: (Source); Fig. 5.1b: (Source); Fig. 5.3: (Source); Fig. 5.4: (Source);

NOTE To acknowledge photos you or someone else at Gordon PS takes, instead of Source with a link, write - Photos by [Name of Photographer]