Rotations:

Lessons 1a, b, c and d will be run in the first week of school in afternoon sessions with the class groups rotating around each classroom teacher. The purpose of the rotations is for students to develop relationships with each of the teachers in the unit and for teachers to maintain buy in to all of the lessons and their purpose. The lessons will be taught in alphabetical order and each teacher will teach each lesson to the students in their rotation group. 

 Learning Activity: Unit Vision

Learning intention: I am learning to develop an agreeded upon standard of behaviour for the learning environment.

Key Questions: 
What is a Unit Vision ?
What does a quality learning environment look like/ Sound like? Feel like?

1. a) Brainstorm on post it notes - what is quality and what is not quality.

b) Teacher to collate student responses onto A4 sheets for students to use for hot dotting. 

2. Multi dot vote with 3 dots which ... are the most important to you.
(This is done over a session allowing all students time to have their vote)

3. Students report back to the whole unit the top 5 responses for each group. 

4. Teachers collate the data for students to hot dot again to get the unit top 5.

5. Teachers collate the data and report back to the students what the top 6 characteristics
were.

6. Students agree that these will be the vision for the unit.

Resources
Sticky notes
Langford tooltime book page: 32.
Dots

A4 paper

Markers. 

Teaching Tips

Include an Overview of rotations in week 1:

Australian Curriculum

Personal and Social Capability: Social Awareness Level 4

Typically by the end of Year 6, students:

Understand relationships

• identify the differences between positive and negative relationships and ways of managing these

Appreciate diverse perspectives

• explain how means of communication differ within and between communities and identify the role these play in helping or hindering understanding of others

Contribute to civil society

• identify a community need or problem and consider ways to take action to address it

Rotations:

Lessons 1a, b, c and d will be run in the first week of school in afternoon sessions with the class groups rotating around each classroom teacher. The purpose of the rotations is for students to develop relationships with each of the teachers in the unit and for teachers to maintain buy in to all of the lessons and their purpose. The lessons will be taught in alphabetical order and each teacher will teach each lesson to the students in their rotation group.

Purpose: Students reflect on their prior knowledge of the four Gordon values in order to bring a focus back on these values and how they impact on them in the classroom, playground and in other parts of their lives.

Teaching Tips:

Tell students that we are now going to revise the Gordon Gold Values and learn about how these help us to be successful learners. Add the Gordon Gold Values to the Concept Map (started in 1.1).

Record 4 big headings on board:

• Be Respectful
• Showing Tolerance
• Being Responsible
• Being Honest

Ask students to record ideas on post-notes of how they have demonstrated these values over the past year. As they add their ideas to the white board, move them around so that like ones are put together.

Then students can look at the board and draw conclusions about what they see - frequency of some activities such as being responsible by not littering or how they have practised one value a lot more than another etc.

Pair up students in the brainstorm activity so that a more able student can do the scribing on the post-it notes or pair a year 3 student with a year 4 student.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Practise skills to establish and manage relationships (ACPPS055)

Rotations:

Lessons 1a, b, c and d will be run in the first week of school in afternoon sessions with the class groups rotating around each classroom teacher. The purpose of the rotations is for students to develop relationships with each of the teachers in the unit and for teachers to maintain buy in to all of the lessons and their purpose. The lessons will be taught in alphabetical order and each teacher will teach each lesson to the students in their rotation group.

Unit Behaviour Management Plan - whole unit activity

Learning intention: I am learning to identify appropriate consequences for my actions. 

Success Criteria: Participation in the unit activity. Unit behaviour management plan. 

1. Refer to the unit vision created in 1a and BE Banksia in 1b. 

 2. Identify appropriate and desired behaiours. Use these behaviours to create the Green section of the behaviour management plan. 

3. Introduce the concept of undesireable behviours that we sometimes see at school. 

Record a list of the behaviours on the board. 

Students need to categorise the behaviours into levels or severity. 

read each behaviour out and students vote Yellow, Orange or Red. 

Yellow vote sitting on the floor 

Orange vote sitting on a chair

Red vote standing.

4. Come back together as a whole unit to report on what we have been doing and to share the completed Unit behaviour Management Plan. 

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Practise skills to establish and manage relationships (ACPPS055)

Personal and Social Capability: Self-Management Level 4

Typically by the end of Year 6, students:

Develop self-discipline and set goals

• analyse factors that influence ability to self-regulate; devise and apply strategies to monitor own behaviour and set realistic learning goals

Work independently and show initiative

• assess the value of working independently, and taking initiative to do so where appropriate

Become confident resilient and adaptable

• devise strategies and formulate plans to assist in the completion of challenging tasks and the maintenance of personal safety

Express emotions appropriately

• explain the influence of emotions on behaviour, learning and relationships

Rotations:

Lessons 1a, b, c and d will be run in the first week of school in afternoon sessions with the class groups rotating around each classroom teacher. The purpose of the rotations is for students to develop relationships with each of the teachers in the unit and for teachers to maintain buy in to all of the lessons and their purpose. The lessons will be taught in alphabetical order and each teacher will teach each lesson to the students in their rotation group.

Learning Intention: To understand how to represent identities appropriately in different contexts, particularly online spaces, and the importance of respectful conversations.

In this Scholar Update, students move between online and face-to-face activities, all focusing on collaboration, active listening, and developing deeper understandings of online safety, harassment, and being respectful of difference.

As students log into Scholar and create/update their profiles, tell them to select an avatar that provides more information about them - their interests, beliefs, connections. This is a scaffold for the coat of arms they will create for their identities.

Explain the importance of representing themselves appropriately in online spaces - refer to violent or sexual images which would not be appropriate. Also, emphasise that it is important to find appropriate images for their Scholar profiles as it is an academic space, a space where they show their learning.

Resources:

A placemat is used twice in this Update. Print them off beforehand for each group. As students use them, encourage thinking for themselves initially and then each person sharing while others actively listen (eye contact, nodding, smiling, commenting etc)

Placemat

Coat of Arms Template

Students may draw their own Coat of Arms or use this template. Students should draw or cut out images so provide magazines etc. These need to be in hard copy so they can be displayed and then students try to guess identities.

Display the students' coats of arms in the classroom without names. Place students in cooperative groups. Students guess which ones belong to which people, giving reasons.

Extension: Discuss the identity of the Banksia unit as a collective - this could lead to the creation of the whole unit Code of Cooperation. Create a separate Update to prompt students to discuss what could be included.

Reflections

In Scholar, each Update on the Learner side culminates in a comment. The focus of these comments is metacognition and development of writing skills. Students may add their comments to the Community discussion. Alternatively, the comments may be completed in their Growth Diaries, particularly for more personal reflections; or a combination with some students commenting in Scholar, and others in their Growth Diaries. 

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Explore personal and cultural identities and how they change and adapt to different contexts and situations (ACPPS051)

Personal and Social Capability:

• Social management - identify and explain factors that influence effective communication in a variety of situations

Learning Activity:  Dream Quilt lesson 

Dream Quilt activity, Tribes pg. 236

Learning intention: to build a community inclusion and to share a personal goal for the year. 

Success criteria: goal set and illustrated for the class dream quilt. 

1. sit in a cicle

2. Ask each student to think of a goal for the year, something he or she wants to accomlish.

3. Ask students to choose a partner and to take surns sharing their goals. 

4. Pass out squares of paper and ask the students to write and illustrate their goals. 

5. In a sharing circle, ask the students to share their goals with the whole class. 

6. After all the students have shared their drafted goal, give them a piece of fabric to complete their polished work. 

Resources
Tribes, by Jeanne Gibbs, pg 236

Paper
Fabric, craft materials
Teaching tips
Circle time structure
Reflections
Display of completed quilt.

Australian Curriculum

Personal and Social Capability: Social Awareness Level 4

Typically by the end of Year 6, students:

Understand relationships

• identify the differences between positive and negative relationships and ways of managing these

Appreciate diverse perspectives

• explain how means of communication differ within and between communities and identify the role these play in helping or hindering understanding of others

Contribute to civil society

• identify a community need or problem and consider ways to take action to address it

Purpose: In this activity students revise and deepen their understanding of growth mindset.

Teaching Tips:

Notes on Growth Mindset

“In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.”

Development of growth mindset in both learning and developing relationships with others opens up wider experiences and helps us to accept that we can change how we learn, and change how we relate to one another as we come to understand different perspectives.

The comment is critical in this activity for students to develop their understanding on the importance of growth mindset as a stepping stone to learning about developing tolerance of others.

Australian Curriculum

Personal and Social Capability: Self Awareness - Level 4

Typically by the end of Year 6, students:

Recognise emotions

• explain how the appropriateness of emotional responses influences behaviour

Recognise personal qualities and achievements

• describe the influence that personal qualities and strengths have on their learning outcomes

Understand themselves as learners

• identify preferred learning styles and work habits

Develop reflective practice

• monitor their progress, seeking and responding to feedback from teachers to assist them in consolidating strengths, addressing weaknesses and fulfilling their potential

Purpose: In this activity the students are taking their understanding of growth mindset and constructing a persuasive text.

Teaching Tips:

Review the components of a persuasive text with the class before you start

Persuasive text:

Use the forum responses from the previous growth mindset lesson

Can you change your mindset from fixed to growth? How will this improve your learning? In what ways can developing a growth mindset help our classroom environment and relationships?

Jointly construct a persuasive text (modelled writing).

Students then need time to respond to the forum question and respond to peer's comments before creating their own persuasive text.

Using the forum responses individually construct a persuasive text (this could take the form of a written opinion piece or debate/argument, a cartoon, or an advertisement.

Australian Curriculum

Personal and Social Capability: Self Awareness - Level 4

Typically by the end of Year 6, students:

Recognise emotions

• explain how the appropriateness of emotional responses influences behaviour

Recognise personal qualities and achievements

• describe the influence that personal qualities and strengths have on their learning outcomes

Understand themselves as learners

• identify preferred learning styles and work habits

Develop reflective practice

• monitor their progress, seeking and responding to feedback from teachers to assist them in consolidating strengths, addressing weaknesses and fulfilling their potential

Purpose: In this update students revisit "mindsets" and link it to the notion of a learning pit where challenges are faced and overcome. Link this to the prior activity where students have set personal and learning goals.

Teaching Tips

There are lots of resources and images of learning pits - also see Pinterest. Select one to display in your classroom.

Support students to come up with strategies when they draw their individual learning pits.

For the template, there are 6 speech bubbles and 8 statements so students can select and individualise.

At any time, use the diagram to reflect on strategies students can use to help them climb out of the learning pit. For example, when struggling with a maths, reading, spelling or research problem, identify specific mathematical, comprehension, spelling or research strategies to help them. Focus could also be made on personal qualities such as perseverance or changing mind sets.

The Learning Pit Template

Australian Curriculum

Personal and Social capabilities - Self-management Level 4

Typically by the end of Year 6, students:

Express emotions appropriately

• explain the influence of emotions on behaviour, learning and relationships

Develop self-discipline and set goals

• analyse factors that influence ability to self-regulate; devise and apply strategies to monitor own behaviour and set realistic learning goals

Work independently and show initiative

• assess the value of working independently, and taking initiative to do so where appropriate

Become confident, resilient and adaptable

• devise strategies and formulate plans to assist in the completion of challenging tasks and the maintenance of personal safety

Purpose: This activity explains how the school wide expectations of Positive Behaviours for Learning (PBL) help students be successful learners and how they link with the Gordon Gold Values and Glasser needs.

Teaching Tips:

It is expected that students have been learning about PBL throughout the term and will be familiar with the key ideas. Revise that the Gordon Gold Values help us make good choices in relation to our general behaviour and that the PBL expectations help us make good choices with our learning. PBL outlines 4 school wide expectations that make the expectations really clear and consistent for all teachers and students:

- Be Safe

- Be Respectful

- Be a Learner

- Be Responsible

Quality World Picture

Teacher models drawing their quality world picture for their classroom and filling in the triple Venn diagram withe the Glasser needs, Gordon Gold Values and PBL expectations. Model how to identify which needs, values and expectations they would need to use to create their quality world picture and underline these. Try to identify at least one item from each of the 3 circles.

Students: Think-Pair-Share with a partner what they will include in their Quality World Picture for successful learning at school. Students draw their picture and fill out the Venn diagram individually. Then Year 3 students partner with year 4 students to discuss and underline which needs, values and expectations they need to use to achieve their quality world picture in real life.

Australian Curriculum

Personal and Social Capability: Self-Management Level 4

Typically by the end of Year 6, students:

Develop self-discipline and set goals

• analyse factors that influence ability to self-regulate; devise and apply strategies to monitor own behaviour and set realistic learning goals

Ethical Understanding: Exploring rights, values and responsibilities Level 4

Examine values

• examine values accepted and enacted within various communities

Learning Intention: To understand the importance of representing themselves positively in social media and to deepen their understanding of "identity".

In this Update, students explore and analyse videoclips that represent young people in particular ways - both positive and negative. Students should pair up to have an informal discussion about each videoclip. If necessary for accountability, students could  record some of the main points of their discussion on Post-it notes and then share them with the class in an Affinity Diagram (more notes below).

Clip 1: Girls are portrayed as being focused on how they look, particularly shoes and prettiness; suggests they are superficial.

Clip 2: Young people are portrayed as being collaborative, imaginative, creative, etc. This contrasts with other representations of computer game players that are associated with violence or obsessive behaviour. Links to belonging, fun and freedom.

Clip 3: Friendship, fun, love and belonging, freedom, active lifestyle and  outdoor activities are important to the young people in the ad. Like many ads, it presents an idealised reality to sell a product.

Students then become active knowledge makers as they find their own videoclips, analyse them, and give feedback to one of their peers. This is important to expand their thinking about identity. Some students will find this difficult. If they cannot find a videoclip, then they can view and comment on what other students post.

They can also apply their understanding by going back to their Scholar profiles and adding/changing the avatar and information about themselves. 

In  "Add an interest", encourage students to include a goal that they would like to achieve by the end of the year. For the year 6 students, this goal could focus on leadership.

Throughout the learning module, students may return to their Scholar profiles and add/change them, making them truly representative of their identities and as positive as possible.

Affinity Diagram

Once students have completed their discussion, they can select three ideas to record on Post-it notes. They then place them on the whiteboard, each pair in turn (or perhaps 2 pairs at a time to speed things up). At first there will be a few random post-its but each pair should look at what is there and place the post-it next to ones that have similar ideas.

So the post-its will be categorised and recategorised as more and more post-its are added. Then as a class,guided by the teacher or a student, make a final decision about the categories/key ideas. Then give each category a title which aligns with some of the issues represented in the videoclips. This will also provide a scaffold for students to find relevant videoclips.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education

• Recognise how media and important people in the community influence personal attitudes, beliefs, decisions and behaviours (ACPPS057)

Learning Intention: To reflect on the 5 people in students' trusted network.

Resources

Growth Diary

Review the previous lesson on personal identity and how everyone's identity is unique.

Model to students who is important to you and why.

In a Think-Pair-Share, students tell their partner who they feel safe to talk to and why.

On the IWB, have an image of a hand and inside it show your trusted network and explain why they are important to you.

Students trace over their own hand in their Growth Diaries and fill each finger with someone who they can talk to them and why.

Students can share with people at their table about who they wrote about and why.

Extension: Students can create another hand for people they feel safe with and compare the two hands.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Investigate community resources and ways to seek help about health, safety and wellbeing (ACPPS053)

Learning Intention: To value prior knowledge and see what students fears and questions are related to puberty

Resources

Growth Diary, A3 paper, Question Box

The class brainstorms words and ideas associated with puberty. Clarify terms with students as you go. Terms could include: adolescence, change, sexuality, gender, transition, maturing, growing and developing.

In Growth Diaries, students write their thoughts, fears, questions and expectations about puberty on a piece of paper to be sealed in an envelope and stapled into their journal. This will be reopened to review at the end of the unit.

Prepare a questions box displaying key words from the word wall and put in an accessible part of the room. Encourage students to submit questions and comments they would like explored in class.

Students form small groups and take part in a World Cafe activity.

At each desk there will be a question related to puberty e.g. I am an 11 year old child. What advice could you give on puberty? students rotate around the questions adding more information.

Review with students by sharing advice and discussing the usefulness of the answers.

WORLD CAFÉ

A series of cafés or tables are set up around the room. At each café is large piece of paper and a different coloured marker. Each café is assigned a topic, question or focus. The group is divided amongst the café’s and one person per café is designated as the owner. It is their job to stay at the café the whole time. Each group is given a period of time (5 to 10 minutes) to respond to the question or topic with their coloured marker. At the signal groups move on, with their coloured marker, to the next café. The café owner stays behind getting ready to share the responses with the next group of customers.

At the beginning of the second rotation the café owner takes their new group through the topic and the responses of the initial group. This group then adds their own thoughts or responses, in their colour, to that of the first. This process continues for as many rotations as can be fitted in or until the guests arrive back at their original café. It is interesting for this group to look at all subsequent responses and discuss this with the café owner. Finally the leader may want to elicit some reflections from the group.

More information on World Cafe.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Investigate resources and strategies to manage changes and transitions associated with puberty (ACPPS052)

English:

• Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students own experiences and present a justified point of view (ACELY1699)

Learning Inention: To identify the major effects of puberty on the body.

Resources

'A Period in Time', questions provided  (one between two) A3 paper, Growth Diary, placemat.

Placemat

Show students a video (Youtube) about changes experienced during puberty. Allow time for questions about any aspect of the video (They could be put in the question box). Students may need to see the video a second time.

Students record their personal connections to the video on a placemat.

Extension: Students can write a question in the question box

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Investigate resources and strategies to manage changes and transitions associated with puberty (ACPPS052)

English:

• Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students own experiences and present a justified point of view (ACELY1699)

Learning Intention: To develop students' technical language in order to participate in online and face-to-face discussions.

Resources

Dictionaries, Growth Diaries

The class brainstorms words and ideas associated with puberty. Clarify terms with students as you go. Students may like to use dictionaries and reference materials to find the meaning of some words. 

Teaching Tip

Be aware of cultural or sensitive issues surrounding some words. Clarify any slang terms with the technical terms.

Extension: Students write down 2 more definitions, or research another word they would like to know more about.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

Investigate resources and strategies to manage changes and transitions associated with puberty (ACPPS052)

English:

• Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students own experiences and present a justified point of view (ACELY1699)

Learning Intention: To clarify puberty language and decide on appropriate language for different contexts.

Resources

A3 paper/butchers paper, felt pens

Divide the class into small groups of four or five. Give each group several sheets of butcher’s paper and felt pens. Ask them to write the word ‘penis’ at the top of one sheet of paper. Then ask them to brainstorm as many other words for penis as they can think of. Encourage safety, respect and scaffolding in the conversation by starting with the category of polite talk, baby talk, medical language, before calling for slang expressions. Continue this for other words such as testicles, vagina and breasts.

Students decide what category of language, such as medical (penis), baby talk (doodle), polite talk (private parts) or slang (dick), their words belong to. Discuss how different words are often used with different people and in certain situations.

Ask students which words are appropriate to use when talking to another person regardless of who they are or what the circumstances are. Decide as a class to use the correct anatomical terminology and label these on a class poster.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

Investigate resources and strategies to manage changes and transitions associated with puberty (ACPPS052)

English:

• Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students own experiences and present a justified point of view (ACELY1699)

Learning Intention: To identify the functions of the male and female reproductive organs?

Resources

Interactive male / female online reproductive systems, Images of male and female reproductive organs, Definitions, Growth Diaries, interactive whiteboards

Distribute diagrams of male and female reproductive systems that require students to match the body parts with names and information on the organs.

Provide link to interactive reproductive systems and model the use of this resource.

Diagram: Consider the diagrams of male and female reproductive systems and match the body parts with names.

Extension: Students write a question to quiz the class, e.g. where are sperm produced?

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Investigate resources and strategies to manage changes and transitions associated with puberty (ACPPS052)

English:

• Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources (ACELY1703)

Purpose: Toclarify the imnportance of using technical terms in order that all studnets will feel comfortable and participate in discussion.

Resources: A3 paper, Growth Diary

Teaching Tips:

Following on form the 'What's in a name' activity in Update 13, students use Team Pair Solo to discuss why it is important to use technical language. Students record thier individual responses in their Growth Diary. Discuss as a class what response students have decided upon.

Prompt students with responses such as:

• Everyone will understand what is being spoken about.
• No one will take offense to words that are being used.

Be sensitive to different cultural beliefs and ensure students are aware of consequences if using inappropriate language during class/with other students.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Explore personal and cultural identities and how they change and adapt to different contexts and situations (ACPPS051)

English:

• Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students own experiences and present a justified point of view (ACELY1699)

Purpose: To develop students' empathy and support of their peers by exploring issues around puberty from different perspectives.

Resources:

What if scenarios

Teaching Tips:

Review with whole class what has been completed in class around puberty.

Model with students a "What If" scenario regarding puberty, e.g. a child who is using their new-found strength against another child. Discuss what students would do and why.

Form cooperative groups for the reading activity. Groups come up with 3 or more 'What if' scenarios, e.g. hat if all your friends have grown taller than you and you feel self-conscious and embarrassed about your height. 

As a class, look at a the class created 'What If' Scenarios regarding puberty and model the use of the Parking Lot tool with one scenario, e.g. a child who is using their new-found strength against another child and bullying them. 

Using Jigsaw groups, discuss a scenario regarding puberty using a Parking Lot tool. Identify the positives, the negatives, any further questions about the situation and any ideas to assist in this situation. 

Extension: Have a number of spare scenarios for students who complete early.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

Investigate resources and strategies to manage changes and transitions associated with puberty (ACPPS052)

English:

• Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students own experiences and present a justified point of view (ACELY1699)

Learning Intention: To reflect on the importance of accepting others.

Resources

Scenarios, Growth Diary

Pose the questions for students to reflect on in their Growth Diaries. 

Pose the scenario: You see a student who is going through puberty picking on another student who is not and using their strength or psychological superiority against them. What would you do? What would you feel if it was you?  Explain 'psychological superiority'.  After time for personal reflection in their Growth Diaries, use a Think-Pair-Square strategy for students to disuss the scenario and their responses.  

In the Scholar Comment box, have students list all the options for dealing with this situation. Tell students to write their ideas and then at your direction, post them at exactly the same time. Then they select one to comment on. They will enjoy seeing all the responses come up and also if someone comment son their comment. Get them to refresh their page to ensure they all come up.

Reflection:  Students use the PEC structure to compose their reflection response in either their Growth Diaries or in Scholar.  They can create an Update with their paragraphs. It may be necessary to revise the PEC structure for some students.

Extension: Students compose several PEC paragraphs expanding on their reflection response

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education

• Practise skills to establish and manage relationships (ACPPS055)
• Investigate and reflect on how valuing diversity positively influences the wellbeing of the community (ACPPS060)

English:

• Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students own experiences and present a justified point of view (ACELY1699)

Learning Intention: To be aware of how the young person’s cultural background may impact upon their developing adolescent identity and adopt a respectful and non-judgemental approach in dealing with differing cultural norms and practices.

Resources

Interactive Whiteboard, access to technology (1 device between 4) or text handouts, PMI template

Organise class into small cooperative groups of 4.

Introduce the research task and supply the research questions. Students share answers of the questions.

Record class thoughts about cultural puberty rituals. 

Reflect back on the learning intention.

These activities support students to write the opinion text in Update 16. 

Australian Curriculum 

Intercultural Understanding:

• Recognising culture and developing respect - explore and compare cultural knowledge, beliefs and practices (describe and compare the knowledge, beliefs and practices of various cultural groups in relation to a specific time, event or custom)

Learning Intention: To use personal recounts and myths regarding puberty to identify influences that affect their identity.

Resources

Whiteboard, Growth Diary, myth and fact statements

Students share stories about how they felt when they were about to start kindergarten, primary school, new grades or what they’ve heard about going to secondary school. They discuss what they heard and whether these things were true. 

Read the myth and fact statements  regarding puberty and model sorting whether the statement is fact, a myth or whether you are unsure. Review  and discuss as a class each statement is a myth or fact. Model recording the correct answer into the myth and fact table. 

Discuss any questions that arise from the activity with students.

Students reflect on their experiences of sharing stories on puberty by writing a journal entry. They write their feelings about puberty and whether they have changed any of their views on the matter and if so, how. They write why they feel it is important to have the facts about their physical development and they can also explore how their views about puberty affects their own and others' identities.

Teaching Tips

Be sensitive to different cultural ideas and use as a teaching tool to show diversity and identity.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Explore personal and cultural identities and how they change and adapt to different contexts and situations (ACPPS051)
• Investigate and reflect on how valuing diversity positively influences the wellbeing of the community (ACPPS060)

Learning Intention: To apply understanding of puberty issues in an opinion piece.

Select "Start the project" in the learning module in the Bookstore. This will take you into Publisher where you can set dates and times for when the draft, feedback and revisions are due. Then finalise the project. Students will then receive a "Work Request" Notification.

As students begin to draft their work, encourage them to use the Structure Tool to organize and outline their texts. Use headings such as Introduction (P), Reasons and Evidence (E), and Conclusion (C). The Structure Tool supports students to develop an initial structure for their text, including notes based on their background knowledge. As they continue to research, they add more notes, refine the elements of their text, and draft new versions, transforming their notes into well written text.

Students should also refer to the rubric as a guide as they write in Creator. If necessary, look through the rubric with students.

Opinion Rubric

Australian Curriculum

English

• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures,language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience(ACELY1704)

Learning Intention: To solve real problems in order to develop understanding and empathy.

Resources

Scenarios, Growth Diary, scenario prompts girls, scenario prompts boys

Students will begin on the floor and teacher will brainstorm scenarios stemming from the statements below, on the board such as: 

• Your hormones are making your skin become oilier and causing pimples. Sweat glands are more active resulting in body odour.
• Hair growth is beginning in the pubic area and other areas.
• People pass through puberty at different times and different rates. 
• Changes in body shape and size.

Students complete a Think-Pair-Share to discuss how you solve one of the brainstormed problems. 

Teaching Tip

Have mixed gender groups to allow for both genders to experience a potential female/male only problem

Possible Model

Scenario

Once upon a time — not so long ago — ads for pads and tampons showed images of women in gauzy garments, doing yoga on the beach. Manufacturers left it to mothers and big sisters to give young women "the talk."

But being a young person today is different from even a short time ago. Many 12-year-olds now carry smartphones. They use social media like Snapchat and Tumblr. And it turns out, what was once awkward or even shameful is now an ordinary topic of conversation. And there is a lot of support from peers. However, this could also be peer pressure. Look at Josie’s story.

"First Jenny got it. Then stupid Vicky got it. And I tried everything to get my period. Nothing. So, I faked it," says Josie.

“Welcome to the club,” said Jenny.

“Let’s celebrate with a sleepover at my place,” added Vicky.

Reflect: How has peer pressure influenced Josie’s actions? Will this help Josie to be accepted? What should Josie do next? What could you do to help Josie to be accepted? 

Australian Curriculum

Drama:

• Explore dramatic action, empathy and space in improvisations, playbuilding and scripted drama to develop characters and situations (ACADRM035)

Health and Physical Education:

• Practise skills to establish and manage relationships (ACPPS055)

Learning Intention: To consider possible problems students might experience in puberty and ways to solve/support them.

Resources

Paper, computers, Growth Diary, advice column

Divide the class into small groups to discuss concerns young people may have about puberty.

Ask each group to choose one concern and to write a short letter to an imaginary magazine or online advice page explaining the concern and seeking advice. 

Share an example of a letter to an advice column with the link provided.

Each group randomly swaps letters with another group, reads the letter they have received and writes a helpful reply. Share an example of a helpful reply at the advice column link provided. Letters and the replies are returned to the senders to be read.

The class could then reflect back on lessons involving practical problem-solving, decision-making, community resources and personal networks.

Extension: Prepare other questions for students to answer if completed early.

Australian Curriculum

Health and Physical Education:

• Investigate resources and strategies to manage changes and transitions associated with puberty (ACPPS052)
• Practise skills to establish and manage relationships (ACPPS055)

Personal and Social Capability:

• Social management - identify and explain factors that influence effective communication in a variety of situations

Purpose: To create a collage showing their understanding of the what they have learned in this unit of study. 

Resources

Magazines, paper, textas, pencils

Students open their sealed envelopes that recorded their thoughts, fears, questions and expectations about puberty and reflect on their learning.

Students reflect on the images they looked at in Images and Meaning and think of ways they can show their understanding in a collage.

Using images from magazines, paper and written works, students create a collage and with it, attach a rationale saying what the images/words mean to them.

Students have the option to share their responses with the class.

This could be a portfolio piece for the unit. Alternatively, the opinion writing task could be used.

Reflection questions to guide student reflections:

What pubery means to me?

What puberty means to other cultures

Where can I go to for help?

How can I support other?

These questions could be presented in a table format similar to a parking lot

Australian Curriculum

General Capability - Literacy

• Compose spoken, written, visual and multimodal learning area texts

Purpose: To create passion groups to collaborate on a school giving project. The passion areas envisioned are:

- Sport leaders (playground sports and games)

- Reading group (reading to younger classes)

- Art (creating artworks for display)

- Environmental (Litter parade, recycling bins, flag)

- Drama

Teaching Tips:

Each group to be tasked with creating and overseeing to application of a project. Also each fortnight a group would take charge of an act of giving to be carried out before school in the quad.

Overview weekly coordination of giving projects. each teacher to take a group. This is to lead to a community giving project in term 2 then a global giving project.

Australian Curriculum

Personal and Social Capability Social Awareness Level 4

Typically by the end of Year 6, students:

Understand relationships

• identify the differences between positive and negative relationships and ways of managing these

Appreciate diverse perspectives

• explain how means of communication differ within and between communities and identify the role these play in helping or hindering understanding of others

Contribute to civil society

• identify a community need or problem and consider ways to take action to address it