Thursday, March 28, 2019

Citizenship learning in the context of an aspect of Australian history




Hello parents/carers, throughout this term in year 2A we will be exploring citizenship learning in the context of Australian history. Your children have been curious as to the sorts of things people did before there was technology. So, I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to explore the sorts of toys that are not so widely used by children now.
To begin this unit of work I am going to show the students a video about some old toys (link to video below). Before showing the video, I am going to show the students pictures of the toys in the video and ask:  
-          What do you think the main purpose of this toy was?
-          How do you think you could use this toy?
Students will have to discuss in small groups what they think the toys were used for. Planning and asking students questions and letting them discuss with each other allows students to speak as well as listen creating an interactive classroom (Marsh, Clarke, & Pittaway, 2014).  

(Picked, 2017). 

Once the students have seen the pictures and thought about what the toys might have been used for I will show them the video so they can compare their answer to what the toys were used for.
Students will develop a range of questions they could ask about other toys for example
-          What was it used for?
-          Who mostly used it?
-          When was it most popular?
Parents/carers the students will then come to you for assistance in finding an old toy that either you or their grandparents may have used and using the questions developed in class find out about the toy. The students will then compare the toys from the past, discuss difference and similarities between the toys and start to think about how they are different or similar from the toys they use now. Using this knowledge students will create a new toy they think children in the future would enjoy or benefit from. By students developing questions, having discussions one-on-one and in groups it is preparing the students to play an active role as a citizen (Department of Education, 2015).

Throughout this unit of work students will work towards achieving learning outcomes from the Year 2 Australian Curriculum: 



(ACARA, 2019a). 

And Year 3 Australian curriculum 




(ACARA, 2019b).
As well as learning outcome four from the Early Years Learning Framework:

(DEEWR, 2009)
Julie Bishop through Reynolds (2014) argues the importance of studying history outlining that studying the past will help students better understand the present. When students are creating their new toy as a form of assessment they will explain how and why they think it will benefit the future. Reynolds (2014) explores how citizenship education is closely linked to history education and while Civics and Citerzenship Education is not in the year two curriculum it should be at the centre of all education.
If you have any concerns please feel free to contact me.
Miss Adams
Year 2A


Reference list
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2019a). Humanities and Social Sciences Year 2. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10 curriculum/humanities-and-social-sciences/ 
Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR]. (2009). The Early Years Learning Framework. Canberra, ACT.
Marsh, C., Clarke, M., & Pittaway, S. (2014). Marsh’s becoming a teacher (6th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson.
Picked, A. (2017). My old toys from the 60’s & 70’s [video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA6PXiay2YI
Reynolds, R. (2014). Teaching humanities and social sciences in primary school. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.utas.edu.au/lib/utas/detail.action?docID=4389150
Images sourced from:  https://pixabay.com/
Creative Commons, attribution not required









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Thursday, March 14, 2019

Week 2: Civics & Citizenship Education - Democracy



(Planet Ark, n.d)


Welcome, parents/carers of 2A, your children have shown a keen interest in the environment and exploring the life cycle of trees after a discussion on how long trees take to grow. 
Over the next three weeks we will be exploring this topic through reading, discussing and volunteering. This unit is not only going to extend students’ knowledge about the life cycles of trees it is also teaching students the importance of becoming an active citizen in their community, by volunteering in a tree planting day (Department of Education, 2015). For students to become informed and active citizens they need to be participate in real world experiences. Citizenship learning is vital for students as it develops student’s knowledge and skills they will need to actively paly a role in their society (Association for citizenship teaching, 2018). Citizenship has three main components one being social, that is the social value, identity and community involvement (Tudball & Brett 2014). 

This unit will prepare students for the curriculum learning of civics and citizenship education (CCE) in Year 3 (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, [ACARA], 2019a) and covers the cross-curriculum priority of sustainability (ACARA, 2019b).

Other learning arears from the Early Years Learning Framework:
 (DEEWR, 2009). 


Student will also work towards: 
(ACARA, 2019c).


To begin, we will read 'Who will plant a tree, by Jerry Pallotta' I have attached a YouTube link below if you would like to hear the story:


(Love-Fleck, 2018)
After reading this book we will discuss the different types of trees around our school and students will sketch one. While students are sketching they will be asked to think about the following:
-          What is the purpose of trees?
-          How long do you think trees live for? 
We will then be participating in a community tree planting day; this opportunity provides students to give positivity back to the community contributing to CCE. Each year 300,000 people volunteer their time to help educate and give back to the community and environment (planet Ark, n.d). Parents you are invited to come along to this event and help your child plant a tree while discussing with your child
-          The importance of volunteering
-          How it makes them feel to give back to the community. 
In the final lesson students will use books and pictures to look at the life cycle of a tree, so they can see what will be happening to the trees they planted. When students are involved in different projects it can lead to curiosity in bigger local, national and global issues (Arthur, Beecher, Death, Dockett, & Farmer, 2012). Students will be asked to in pairs draw the life cycle of a tree and on their life cycle write down three things that are either important about trees or what they have learnt about trees throughout this unit.

If you have any questions or would like more information in the tree planting day please don’t hesitate to contact me
Miss Adams
Year 2A


References:

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2012). Programming and Planning in Early Childhood Settings (5th ed.). Port Melbourne, VIC: Cengage Learning.

Association for citizenship teaching, (2018). About Citizenship. Retrieved from https://www.teachingcitizenship.org.uk/about-citizenship


Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2019b). Sustainability.  Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/cross-curriculum-priorities/sustainability/



Love-Fleck, H. (2018). PLTW 2.2: "Who Will Plant a Tree?" Read Aloud. [video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy0H3Eciy5g
Planet Ark. (n.d). National Tree Day. retrieved from https://planetark.org/campaigns/treeday.cfm
Tudball, L., & Brett, P. (2014). What matters and what’s next for civics and citizenship education in Australia? Social educator, 32 (2), 4-15. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.utas.edu.au/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=1627dc9f-b482-4788-a0a8-f44b66431676%40sessionmgr104



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