Our Stories
Stage 1 COGS Unit – Term 1 2012
Focus:
Understanding that cultural activities, objects, songs, dances and stories express beliefs, values and a connection to place and people.
Outcomes & Indicators:
HSIE
CCS1.1 Communicates the significance of past and present people, days and events in their life, in the lives of family and community members and in other communities.
 Identifies and talks about the lives of people in their family and community
 Identifies the origins of significant days and events celebrated by their family and community
 Retells the original stories associated with traditions of their family and community
 Explains why a personal, family or community event is significant.
CCS1.2 Identifies changes and continuities in their own life and in the local community.
 Communicates the value of the contribution of past generations to community life
 Describes and sequences stages and events in their life and in the lives of family members, and reflects on the significance of these stages and events.
CUS1.3 Identifies customs, practices, symbols, languages and traditions of their family and of other families.
 Gives information about their own family background, including languages spoken at home, religions, traditions, practices, customs, celebrations and stories
 Explains ways in which family members learn from each other about customs and traditions, eg recounts, songs, dances
 Identifies characteristics that make another family different or similar to their own.
Science & Technology
ICS1.2 Creates a range of information products and communicates using a variety of media.
 Uses a variety of media to communicate significant stories about self, family and community, eg a storyboard to plan a book or a photo presentation of a significant event.
Assessment Opportunities
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Evaluation of the process of designing and making a presentation
Evaluation of description of personal artefact and significance to their lives
Collecting work samples and observations of students’ participation.
Learning Experiences
Week
3
4
Lessons Experience
Stories
 Bring a personal artifact to share with the class. Using the artifact
tell your own story, in relation to the artifact, and explain the
significance it has to you, eg baby photo album
 Talk about personal stories as the special events that happen in
someone’s life. Provide examples, eg birth of a sibling, going on a
big holiday, being very sick
 Sing songs about events in people’s life, eg Miss Polly, Going to
the Zoo, The Teddy Bears Picnic song.
Families
 Discuss what is a family and who belongs to a family (to lead into
events in families)
 Read: ‘Families’ and discuss the information in the book
 Draw your own family and then ask students to make a portrait
of their own families to display in their classroom
 Create a simple family tree
*Assess students’ understanding of families based on their drawings and
discussions.
Timelines
 Share with the students your personal timeline (pictorial).
Discuss the main events in your own life and why they are
significant. Share any events that led to a change in your family
(eg births, deaths, marriages or migrating to a new country)
 Allow students to create their own timelines. They can include
their birth, when they started preschool, kindy and year 1, birth
of a sibling, etc (keep it simple) Encourage them to draw pictures
of themselves at these different times.
 Look at Mem Fox’s Life in pictures, from the big book “Memories:
an autobiography” and sequence her time line using the pictures
to guide them.
 Conclude by reading: ‘Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge’ by
Mem Fox and talk about the significance of events in people’s
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Resources
Big Book: Families
Art paper
Crayons or colouring
pencils
Personal artifact
Nursery rhymes or
other relevant music
Personal timelines
Class set of blank
timelines
Book: ‘Memories: an
autobiography’ by
Mem Fox
Book: ‘Wilfrid
Gordon McDonald
Partridge’ by Mem
Fox.
Evaluation
lives.
5&6
*Assess students’ understanding of own life events and how well they can
sequence pictorial events in chronological order.
Artefacts:
 Bring in a personal artefact of significance to show to the class.
Explain the story behind the artefact, its significance, why you
have kept it and what it reminds you of (link it back to your
timeline)
 As a class identify special artefacts that belong to the school, eg
an old photograph, trophy, monument, etc. Go for a short walk
around the school to help them identify items.
 Identify something that is important to them as a class and
cannot be represented by an artefact, eg play time every Friday,
friendship, birthdays.
 Make a list of tangible artefacts (a toy, old photo, painting,
costume) and intangible artefacts (love, friendship, special times
and celebrations)
 Discuss how we handle artefacts, why do we keep them safe?
 Send a letter home and encourage students to bring their own
personal artefacts or a photo of it (if it is too precious) to share
with the class. They are to bring a small description of the artifact
to use on the display.
 Organise a class museum to display and show the different
artefacts. Allow students to walk around and have a look at all the
different items on display and discuss why these are precious to
their owners.
 Discuss: What modern technology could become an artifact in the
future? If possible show them items that were technology not
long ago and now are artefacts, eg a typewriter, record player,
cassette player or video player.
 Conclude by reading: ‘Isabella’s Bed’ by Alison Lester or ‘When I
Was Young’ by James Dunbar
*Assess students’ understanding of artefacts based on their answers and
participation in class discussion and sorting activities (tangible, intangible
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Personal artefact
Letter to parents
Labels for class
museum
A typewriter, video
or cassette player or
some other old
technology
Book: ‘Isabella’s Bed’
by Alison Lester or
‘When I Was Young’
by James Dunbar.
7&9
10-11
artefacts)
Our Australian Heritage:
 Use a junior pictorial history book to explore our Australian
heritage. Chose an era and explain things such as the transport
used at the time, was there electricity? What type of clothes did
they use to wear? What type of food did they eat? Etc. Relate to
students’ own experiences and discuss similarities and
differences.
 Chose an event, eg Australia Day or ANZAC Day and discuss its
significance to our nation and why people celebrate or remember
it still.
Australian Celebrations:
 Make a list of some Australian celebrations or important
events/holidays and create a yearly calendar of events, eg
Australia Day, Anzac Day, Queen’s birthday, Remembrance day,
Boxing day, etc
 Play music related to a celebration or event and discuss the
significance of such particular piece of music, eg Waltzing Matilda
or the National Anthem.
 Read: ‘My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day’ by Catriona Hoy
Cultural/Family Celebrations:
 Encourage students to list celebrations, holidays and events they
celebrate as a family or as part of their religious or cultural
heritage. Add these celebrations to the yearly calendar of events,
eg Ramadan, Chinese New Year, Christmas, Easter, etc
 Discuss their significance and how something that is important to
one person may not be important to someone else.
 Read a book about celebrations around the world.
 Chose a simple craft to make with the class, eg Chinese lanterns,
Easter craft, etc
*Assess students’ understanding of celebration as they complete their
calendars and discuss known Australian and cultural celebrations.
Our Stories through Music, Visual Arts, Dance and Drama
Theme song: “Down Under in Australia”
 Music & Dance: Children learn the lyrics and discuss possible
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Junior Pictorial
History Book of
Australia
A3 size yearly
calendar
Australian folk
music
Book: ‘My Grandad
Marches on Anzac
day’ by Catriona Hoy
Book on
Celebrations around
the World
Craft materials
Song: “Down Under
in Australia”
Blank outlines of
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actions to accompany the song.
Visual Arts: Provide each child with a copy of a blank outline of
the map of Australia. Allow children to decorate their map with
things that relate to themselves, eg their family, favourite food,
special cultural dress, even their cultural flag. As a class share
and talk about their maps as their stories.
Create a class map of Australia using their photos/hand prints to
decorate it.
Drama: Read “Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo” by Alison Lester.
Get children into groups and give each group an illustration from
the book. They are to create a freeze frame to present to the class.
*Assess students based on their participation and how well they can
portray an event in Drama.
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map of Australia
Oil Pastels
Book: ‘Ernie Dances
to the Didgeridoo’ by
Alison Lester.