Australian Curriculum links
Learning areas
Health and physical education
Foundation
F.1 Identify personal strengths
F.4 Practise personal and social skills to interact with and include others
Years 1–2
2.1 Describe the strengths and achievements of themselves and others and identify how these contribute to personal identities
2.2 Describe physical and social changes that occur as children grow older and discuss how family and community acknowledge these
2.4 Describe ways to include others to make them feel like they belong
English
Foundation
Listen to and respond orally to texts and to the communication of others in informal and structured classroom situations (ACELY1646)
Create short texts to explore, record and report ideas and events using familiar words and beginning writing knowledge (ACELY1651)
Year 1
Discuss characters and events in a range of literary texts and share personal responses to these texts, making connections with students' own experiences (ACELT1582)
Respond to texts drawn from a range of cultures and experiences (ACELY1655)
Year 2
Create short imaginative, informative and persuasive texts using growing knowledge of text structures and language features for familiar and some less familiar audiences, selecting print and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose (ACELY1671)
General capabilities
- Intercultural understanding
- Literacy
Cross-curriculum priorities
- Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia
Students view a range of class baby photos and share an oral and written recount of how their birth was celebrated.
Preparation
- Ask students to bring a baby photo and to find out a story about when they were born so that they can tell it to the class.
- Tell Me Again about the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis, a story about adoption.
Read Tell Me Again about the Night I Was Born by Jamie Lee Curtis.
Compare this story to the story of the time that you were born.
Share your baby photo and tell the story of when you were born to the class. Include things such as:
- How did other people find out about your birth?
- How did your family celebrate your birth?
- What did you or your family receive as gifts when you were born?
- Was there a special event held to give you your name?
- Who are the people in your family who are important to you?
- Do you have people outside your family who have promised to care for you as you grow up?
Using a diverse range of images of babies (such as the ones below), choose an image and discuss:
- How am I like the people in this photo?
- What question would I like to ask the people in the photo?
Write a recount of your arrival in your family.
Students explore and compare their identities with children in other places to build respect. They build up knowledge of their multiple identities, their commonalities and differences with others in the class and other places.
Preparation
- Internet/IWB
- Printed images (you may like to use the ones below)
I am a worker. | 
I am a learner. | 
I am a reader. |
I am part of a team. | 
I am a daughter, sister and part of a family. | 
I am a seven-year-old. |
I am an animal lover. | 
I am part of a school community. | 
I am a footballer. |
Discuss the pictures and sentences.
Think of others that you can add.
Write a picture/photo book beginning with the sentence 'I am ...' You may like to use an online writing tool such as Storybird or Little Bird Tales.
View the introduction (2:25 minutes) of the ChildFund Connect Our Day Project (26:27 minutes).
Add some more 'I am ...' statements based on your thoughts from the children in the video.
Use the Red Thinking Hat to express your feelings after you have watched the video.
Discuss:
- What are some things you would like to share about your day?
- What interesting things did you notice?
- How are the people featured in the stories and video similar to you?
- What message do you get from watching the video?
Use the videos, photos and fact sheets on the ChildFund Connect website to find out more about the places in the video.
Complete a placemat in small groups about each country mentioned on the website (Laos, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Vietnam) and record information about Australia in the centre of the placemat.
Create a one-minute video about you, your culture and your daily life to share with your class (or a wider audience), using a digital camera and software such as iMovie.
Use ideas from the ChildFund Connect website or Kids' Vid about using video to tell a story.
Students recognise similarities, differences and connections between cultures and people from different places.
Preparation
- World Vision Australia, Photo kit – a day in the life of 5 children: Sheila from the Philippines, Misael from Honduras, Nissma from Gaza, Myagmargarig from Mongolia and Peggy from Zambia. Photos show children at school, play, home, doing chores and with their family.
- Picture storybooks about interactions between cultures and ages, such as: You and Me: Our Place by Leonie Norrington, Am I a Colour Too? by Heidi Cole or Fair Skin Black Fella by Renee Fogorty.
Read You and Me: Our Place by Leonie Norrington, Am I a Colour Too? by Heidi Cole or Fair Skin Black Fella by Renee Fogorty.
Use the White Thinking Hat to discuss what you know about culture from this story.
Explain the parts of the story that have made you say this.
Discuss:
- What message does the book give you?
- How has the story shown this message?
- What new perceptions have you gained about people from different cultures?
- What could you learn from this culture?
Use the words to create a Wordle to describe identity, culture and themes that stood out from the story.
Read the story of one of the people featured in World Vision Australia's A day in the life – stories
Discuss:
- How are the people featured similar to you?
- How might the people featured be different from you?
- What things might you share with them?
Complete the A day in the life information chart about the person's age, home, school, favourite activity, chores and food.
Write a letter to the person in your story, telling them about where they live, their school, favourite activity, chores at home and what they usually eat. Then tell them about your culture, your life and your home.
Extension
Activities for You and Me: Our Place by Renee Fogorty.
Students investigate how assumptions can restrict our views of other people by locking them into a stereotype.
Preparation
- Two labels: strongly agree and strongly disagree
- IWB, internet access
- 'I am a girl, I can play!' at ChildFund Australia
- Clancy the Courageous Cow by Lachie Hume: a cow is excluded because he is different, but he uses that difference to his advantage, and proposes a more inclusive future
Discuss the picture:
- Who is featured in this photo and what are they doing?
- Do you think this is usual? Why/why not?
- Why might this picture have been taken?
- What messages does the photograph communicate?
Read about how changing attitudes to educating girls is changing people's thinking and opening up possibilities for all in the case study Educating girls in Pakistan (last paragraph).
Visit 'I am a girl, I can play!' at ChildFund Australia
Discuss:
- How do attitudes to girls and boys differ?
- How is sport helping change attitudes to girls?
Consider your values by placing yourself on the continuum of strongly agree and strongly disagree, when statements such as the following are read:
- Everyone should be allowed to play sport.
- Only boys should play rough sports.
- Girls should be protected from dangerous activities.
- Boys should follow rules even when they don't seem fair.
- It is all right for adults to make decisions about what children can do.
- There should be separate play areas for boys and girls.
- People who are different should be treated differently.
- When there is a shortage of food, boys should get priority.
- All women are good at caring for babies.
- All children in Africa are starving.
- All children from Japan are clever.
Give a reason for your choice.
Discuss: How do general statements limit our view of groups of people?
Read Clancy the Courageous Cow by Lachie Hume.
Discuss:
- Why was Clancy treated differently?
- How was the treatment fair or unfair?
- How did Clancy feel about being treated differently?
- What did Clancy do to overcome the difficulties he faced by being treated differently?
Share with a partner a time when you have felt left out and what you did about it.
Create a piece of artwork that shows how to cope with exclusion or include people who are different.
Students examine how personal abilities and attitudes help build community. They identify their own abilities and consider how they can contribute to their community.
Preparation
- The Little Refugee by Anh Do about escape from war-torn Vietnam
Read The Little Refugee by Anh Do.
Identify the main themes in the story.
List the challenges the family in the story faced and how they overcame them.
Complete a Y-chart about the story, describing what you see, hear and feel.
Discuss:
- What helped the people in the story overcome these challenges?
- What do you do when you find things hard?
- What are some of the abilities and attitudes of the people in the story?
- What are some of your abilities and attitudes?
- What are some things the people achieved after the events in the story?
- How have your abilities and attitudes helped you achieve changes for yourself?
- How could you use your abilities to contribute to a wider group?
Brainstorm ways you could use your abilities to contribute to your community (eg consider new families to the area, the elderly, community gardens).
Develop a plan of action that you can carry out with your class or family that supports inclusion of different cultures, religions or sex.
Extension
Read/view the stories of how the following young people have contributed to the community and identify their characteristics:
