Break away, Wash
away,
Blow away
Amy Casley
Jessica Hansen
Stephanie Scott
EDFD220 – UNIT OF WORK
Break away, wash away, blow away
Level 4: Personal Development, Information and Communications Technology,
The Arts……..
Contents
Introduction
Learning focus
Victorian Essential Learning Standards
Teaching and learning activities
Activity 1
Activity 2
Activity 3
Activity 4
Activity 5
Activity 6
Assessment
Unit resources
Teacher materials
Student materials
Introduction
Break away, wash away, blow away looks at the students transition from
Primary School to Secondary School. In the final year of Primary school,
students prepare themselves for transition focusing on social, emotional and
intellectual changes. Students reflect and develop goals for the year ahead,
constructing strategies for maintaining their goals. Students use the Arts to
express strategies against bullying. This unit enables students to work in
teams and develop strategies for coping with the demands of High school, as
well as identifying their learning styles in order to gain the most out of every
learning experience.
This unit provides opportunities for students to demonstrate achievement
against the standards in Inter-personal development, The Arts, Personal
Learning, Information and Communication Technologies.
Learning focus
This unit addresses learning focus statements from all three strands. These
include:
Physical, Personal and Social learning
Personal learning
 Develop and monitor learning goals.
 Identifying and utilizing preferred learning styles.
Interpersonal Learning
 Working in teams
Discipline-based Learning
The Arts
 Dealing with bullying
 Expressing emotions through art
Interdisciplinary Learning
ICT for creating
 Using ICT to create timetables
Victorian Essential Learning Standards
Break away, blow away, wash away can be used to assess a range of
Victorian Essential Learning Standards.
The table below is an example of how this unit might be used to assess some
Level 4 standards.
Strand
Domain
Dimension
Physical,
Personal and
Social Learning
Personal
Development
The
Individual
learner
Interpersonal
learning
Working in
teams
Key elements of
standards
…students developing
knowledge about their
personal characteristics
and capabilities.
…develop and support their
approaches to and
reflections about learning.
….. identify, with support,
their preferred learning
styles and use strategies
that promote learning
...Students develop the
knowledge, skills and
behaviours to cooperate
with others to contribute to
the achievement of group
goals.
Discipline-based
Learning
The Arts
Creating and
making
Interdisciplinary
Learning
Information and ICT for
communications creating
Technology
…apply a range of skills,
techniques and processes
using a range of media,
materials, equipment and
technologies to plan,
develop, refine, make and
present arts works.
…communicate ideas and
understandings about
themselves.
… Students explore
experiences, ideas, feelings
and understanding
through… performing,
creating and interpreting.
…use a range of skills,
procedures, equipment and
functions to process
different data types and
produce accurate and
suitably formatted
products...
For further advice see the Assessment section (page)
Teaching and learning activities
Activity 1: Developing and maintaining goals
Through participating in a variety of individual tasks, students develop and
monitor their own learning goals through structured worksheets (see student
resources), reflective writing or journal writing.
As students prepare for the transition to secondary school, they reflect on the
progress they have made with learning and set goals for the suture focusing I
their attitudes towards managing their learning.
Students identify:
 What are the students’ strengths and weaknesses?
 Goals they want to achieve by the end of the year.
 Ways in which they are going to achieve these goals.
 Worries or concerns about high school.
 Where do you want to be in 10 years?
 What do you want to gain form this year?
Activity 2: Communicating through art.
Students independently and collaboratively experiment with and apply a range
of skills, techniques and processes using a range of media, materials,
equipment and technologies to plan, develop, refine, make and present
individual arts works.
They investigate a range of sources, including books, and researching different
artist’s to generate ideas and manipulate elements, principles and/or
conventions and explore the potential of ideas through sketching and planning
their ideas.
In their arts works, they communicate ideas and understandings about
themselves and other around them, incorporating influences from their own
and other cultures and times.
Students need to express two the following through their artwork:
 How they are feeling,
 Worries or anxieties
 Hopes and aspirations
Students self evaluate the effectiveness of their arts works and make changes
to focus on their intended aims.
Activity 3:
Students will focus on expressing their feelings and knowledge about bullying
by participating in a variety of drama tasks. They work with role plays, dance
numbers, written plays, commercials, and sound to create a piece about
bullying.
Students will work independently and collaboratively to create a piece which
represents bullying to them. They may choose to explore anti bullying
messages, facts, emotional impact, awareness, how to approach bullies and
what can be done.
As a class all students will learn and explore bullying through books, films and
activities. They will develop groups, plan, create and then present their piece at
the end.
Activity 4:
Students will work collaboratively in teams on a variety of physical activities to
build team work. They will need to use a range of skills including leadership,
communication, cooperation, trust, persuasion, sharing, sacrifice and
language.
By working in both large and small teams through a range of activities and
sports, students will develop these skills.
Different activities will be completed which involve:
- A leader to guide their team
- A range of roles to be designated to individuals in the group
- All students completing the same role to solve a problem
For all activities, the teacher will give little guidance on the approach so that
students will work together to solve their own problems.
Some suggested activities include:
- Team sports (basketball, soccer, netball, football, etc)
- Partner tasks (blind maze, 3 legged race, etc)
- Problem solving tasks (untangling a rope, fit everybody on a small box,
etc)
Activity 5: Exploring and creating timetables
In this activity, students work in groups to explore different types of timetables.
They test different software programs to see how effective they are at creating
timetables and then choose a program to create an example of one.
In groups, students are provided with some examples of different types of
timetables. They look at each of the timetables and create a poster to
demonstrate their knowledge of them. Some information may include the
definition of a timetable, the function, what it is used for and how can students
use it in secondary school to support their studies.
Using this information, each group use the computers to explore software
programs to create timetables.
They create an example of a timetable using the software of their choice.
Each group presents to their timetable to the class. They suggest the reasons
why they chose the software, how they used it and what type of timetable they
created with it.
Activity 6: What’s my learning style?
In this activity, students individually explore their preferred learning styles and
suggest ways this could be implemented within their secondary studies.
Students answer true or false to questions posed in a quiz.
Teachers pose questions such as:
-
I learn best by listening to the teacher.
I like to learn by physically doing things.
I like to look at pictures or diagrams to understand something.
Teachers discuss with students the results of the quiz. They introduce students
to the different types of learning styles (visual, auditory and kinesetic).
In groups, students are allocated a learning style. They develop a topic that
they could teach to the class using the learning style. Each group brainstorms
ideas for activities or teaching strategies they could use to implement the
learning style into the lesson. They present their lesson to the class.
Individually, students reflect on the lessons. They identify which learning style
was the most effective and the least effective for them. They also suggest how
they could utilize their preferred learning styles when studying at secondary
school.
Assessment
The Victorian Essential Learning Standards supports a combination of
assessment practices:


Assessment of learning (summative)
Assessment for learning (formative)

Assessment as learning (ongoing)
Further information on these can be found at:
http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/blueprint/fs1/assessment. asp
When assessing students achievement, assessment criteria can be developed
from relevant standards associated tasks or activities. The table below shows a
range of assessment criteria, tools and strategies applicable to this unit.
Teachers could choose to use some or all of these or use the unit to assess
other standards.
Standards
Interpersonal
Development
The Individual
learner
Interpersonal
Development
Working in teams
The Arts
Information and
Communications
Assessment criteria
(Examples)
Ability to:
 Identify strengths
and weaknesses.
 Determine learning
improvement goals,
justifying their
decisions and
making appropriate
modifications as
necessary.
 Identify preferred
learning style.
 Indentify strategies
to support learning
in secondary school.
Ability to:
 Cooperate with
others
 Positively contribute
to group efforts
Ability to:
 apply a range of
skills, techniques
 Communicate ideas
and understandings
about themselves.
 Present individual
feelings and
understanding of
bullying
 Create and perform
a drama piece
Ability to:
 Explore the
Evidence







Teacher
observations and
records of
student’s
progress (Activity
1).
Learning journal,
reflective writing
or worksheets
(Activity 1).
Reflective
journal. (Activity
6).
Teacher
observations of
students working
together (Activity
4)
Record of
students
preparation and
art works.
(Activity 2)
Final
performance
piece (Activity 3)
Teacher
observations
Technology

functions of different
software programs.
Develop a timetable
using ICT.

(Activity 5).
Presentations
(Activity 5).
Unit resources
Student resources
Kids Central
These documents provide the teacher with information, strategies and tools
when teaching students and personal development and growth.
Kids Central aims to help children, and is based around six key principles:
1. Children and young people’s safety and wellbeing are of primary importance
2. Children are individuals with unique needs and wishes
3. Because children are usually best supported within their family every effort
should be made to assist families to support their children
4. Environments surrounding children need to be child-friendly and provide
them with opportunities to develop and grow
5. Children need to be provided with information and given opportunities to
participate in decision-making processes that affect their lives
The best outcomes are often achieved in partnership with others who can
assist children and families in an ongoing way.
These six principals can be applied to transition and this resource can be used
to benefit student’s emotional well-being during this time.
Attached worksheets are effective in teaching personal learning.
Moore, T & Leyton, M. Institute of Child Protection. Australian Catholic
University . Available
athttp://www.acu.edu.au/about_acu/research/our_research/research_centres_and_institutes/institute_of_child_protection_studies/kids_central/about_us/about_ki
ds_central/
Beyond Blue
Beyond blue looks at recognising and dealing with signs of depression, bipolar
disorder and anxiety. The website aims to build a society that understands and
responds to the personal and social impact of depression, and works actively
to prevent it, and improves the quality of life for everyone affected.
As well as informing the public about these issues the website offers a
symptoms checklist for recognising signs of depression anxiety or bipolar. As
well as offering loads of research and media articles. Beyond Blue offers great
information and support for people and anyone interested in depression,
bipolar and anxiety.
This would be a great resource for students under any circumstances. It is
important to express to children that there are people out there who are doing
all they can and support people with mental illnesses. The website also irritates
that it is not abnormal to suffer from any of these illnesses. A lot of the
problem for people suffering from especially depression or bipolar is the feeling
of being alone and not supported. This website offers an avenue of hope and
support for anyone affected by depression.
Using Beyond Blue as a resource for students, particularly in this unit exposes
students to these issues in a non-confronting way, and subtly offers support
and access for students without feeling pressured.
Beyond Blue (2009). Retrieved October 10, 2010 from
http://www.beyondblue.org.au.
Education Planner Learning Styles Quiz.
Education planner is a website which provides many resources for secondary
school students who are thinking of transitioning to university. One resource
that the website provides is a ‘learning styles quiz’. The quiz is comprised of
20 questions. The questions are worded to enable the student to relate them
back to their own lives.
They cover a number of topics including study habits, learning preferences at
school and how one processes information. At the conclusion of the quiz, the
student is given a percentage breakdown of what degree they relate to the
different learning styles. Students are also given a breakdown of what their
learning style is and how their learning style affects them in everyday life. The
website also provides a number of tips that the student could use to further
enhance their learning by taking into consideration their learning style.
Although the website itself is targeted to a slightly older audience, the learning
styles quiz is targeted to students who are beginning to manage their own
learning. Students in years 5 and 6 will benefit from this as they are becoming
independent learners in preparation for the transition to secondary school. This
quiz could be used in the classroom as an introductory task to the different
learning styles. Students could reflect personally on their learning and develop
strategies to manage effective learning. Alternately, this could be an activity
which could highlight the different learning styles of peers. Students could
compare or contrast their own results with others and come to respect and
appreciate the diverse needs of the class.
Education Planner (2010) Retrieved October 11 2010 from
http://www.educationplanner.org/education_planner/discovering_article.asp?sp
onsor=2859&articleName=Learning_Styles_Quiz
Living file
Living file is a free website that is tailored to record the activities that one
completes during a day. The website enables the user to create a journal
entry, book entry or movie entry. These entries are saved on the account and
can be easily retrieved through a keyword search. There is also a calendar on
the website which records the activities that have been entered into the
account on the day though the journals. The website allows the user of an
account to become friends with other users on the website. The account is set
up so that the privacy tabs can be altered so that some of the entries are
private, some of them are shared with all of their friends or others with specific
friends.
Living file accounts could be used in the classroom in a number of ways. It
could provide an alternative to traditional journal writing in the classroom. The
functions of the website could enable a student to easily retract past journal
entries to compare past and present feelings. The website also enables
students to send reflections to peers and to the teacher to express themselves.
This could be used and the beginning and end of the transition unit. Students
could express their feelings of starting high school before they participate in the
unit and then again at the conclusion of the unit to see how they have grown.
Living file (2010) retrieved October 11 2010 from:
http://www.livingfile.com/
Bye-Bye Big Bad Bullybug!
By Ed Emberley
Bye-Bye Big Bad Bullybug is a great story to address bullying at a young age.
This book is appropriate for the younger years of primary school and a great
way to introduce bullying.
The story is about a Bully called Bug Bad Bullybug. He’s big, mean, and scary
and loves to pick on little itty bitty bugs! As the story continues, the picture of
Bullybug gets bigger, meaner and scarier. The story ends with the itty bitty
bugs standing up for themselves and dealing with the bully who then goes
away.
It is important that, from a young age, children know how to identify bullying
and ways in which they can stop it. By starting at a young age, it stops children
from bullying others in the future.
The use of bugs is a fun and creative way to approach bullying which would
get children thinking.
Chicken Little
Chicken Little is a movie which indirectly has a focus on bullying. It is a great
movie to use as an introduction to bullying or to reflect and identify the
characteristics of a bully.
This story can be used to begin discussion, or for follow up activities.
Chicken Little is about a tiny, smart chicken who is afraid of a little debris falling
on his head. Children Little is the target of school bullies as he and his small
group of friends get picked, made fun of and ridiculed because they are
different. The movie is about trying to fit in, but not matter what he does the
situation gets worse.
This movie is relevant to school children as teasing and picking on are the
main form of bulling in schools and for many children, being different in any
way is seen as a negative.
Through Chicken Little these problems can be addressed and solutions
determined.
Teacher Resources
Supporting the Development of Emotional Intelligence Competencies to
Ease the Transition from Primary to High School.
In a study conducted investigating the effect of higher intelligence on the
transition to high school. The study found that students with average/higher
levels emotional intelligence coped better with transition in terms of maintaining
grades, self-worth, school attendance and behviour, than those with lower
baseline emotional intelligence.
The study states that students with lower emotional intelligence responded well
positively to intervention programs, and eased the effects of transition.
This study offered statistics and information on the effect of transition
concerning emotional intelligence, which is a major component for students
during this time. This information is useful as it indicates the type of students
who struggle with transition and give strategies for assistising these students in
order to help them deal with transition more effectively.
P. Qualter, H. E. Whiteley, J. M. Hutchinson, &, D. J. Pope (2007).
Educational Psychology in Practice: theory, research and practice in
educational psychology. DOI: 10.1080/02667360601154584. 23 (1).
Pages 79 – 95.
A holistic view of secondary school transitions.
In a study conducted in Scotland it was concluded that the transition that a
student has from primary school to secondary school can have an impact on
the student and their future learning success.
It was suggested that students generally have an anxiety about leaving primary
school and entering into the secondary school setting. Some major influences
that help spur these anxieties include ‘horror stories’ from other peers, reading
anxiety from the adults around them as well as the stress that comes from
puberty.
This journal article suggests some of the major concerns that year 6 students
have prior to entering secondary school are:
-
Concerns about being picked on and teased by older children
Receiving a harder workload which could result in less successful
results.
Not being able to navigate around a larger, unfamiliar school.
Although students often have an anxiety with this transition they also feel a
sense of ‘anxious readiness’. This means that although they are anxious to
start secondary school they are also in a way looking forward to the change.
At the conclusion of the study it is suggested that primary schools should be
encouraged to take a more active role in preparing their students for the
transition to secondary school.
Fogie, J. Jindle-Snape, D. (2008) A holistic view of secondary school
transitions. Improving Schools , March 2008. p.11.
Bullying No Way
For teachers and parents
www.bullyingnoway.com.au
Australia’s safe and supportive school communities getting to the heart of the
matter!
Bullying. No way! Is developed and managed by all Australian education
authorities for use by Australia’s Government, Catholic and Independent
school communities.
The main aims of this website are to:
- Provide a nationwide resource of approaches to minimize bullying,
harassment and violence in schools.
- Share community solutions that work
- Use technology and networks to make this information accessible to
school communities
- Make sure all students can learn in a safe and supportive school
environment
Bullying. No way! Is set up because bullying is an important behaviour that
needs to stop. Schooling contributes to the development of students’ sense of
self-worth, enthusiasm for learning and optimism for the future and with
bullying in schools, these characteristics can be negatively affected. Students
need to be able to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens of
Australian.