Prep to Year 2 classroom resources
First Steps
Teacher Support Resources > P – 2 First Steps
First Step resources are introductory activities that support students’ development of the
Intercultural Understanding general capability. Students are introduced to issues of identity, culture
and diversity in Australia.
Alignment to the curriculum
Intercultural Understanding
Students discuss ideas about cultural diversity in local contexts and identify similarities and
differences between themselves and their peers. For more information, see: the Australian
Curriculum intercultural understanding learning continuum
English
Students discuss characters and events in a range of literary texts and share personal responses to
these texts, making connections with students’ own experiences. For more information, see:
AusVELS English domain
The Arts
Students use skills, techniques, processes, media, materials, equipment and technologies in a range
of arts forms, to experiment with activities such as photo-montage or collage to create self-portraits.
For more information, see: AusVELS The Arts domain
Engage
Read the picture book Whoever You Are by Mem Fox. Fox describes her inspiration for this book as:
"I come from a pacifist family who believes that tolerance is one of the great virtues, and that all
people are equal and worthy of human rights and human dignity." For more information, see: Mem
Fox
Before reading Whoever You Are, ask students to describe themselves. Provide an example, such as
"I am a boy who is seven and I live with my mum and dad in a small house in the city"; "I am a girl
who was born in China and I came to live in Melbourne when I was three".
Read through the text, inviting students to notice the children they see in the illustrations and how
they might be similar to or different from them.
Extend students’ thinking by using the Visible thinking routine ‘See, think, wonder’. For more
information, see: See, Think, Wonder Visible Thinking Routine
Ask students:
 What do you see?
 What does it make you think?
 What does it make you wonder?

At the end of the reading, invite students to share their wonderings about the meaning of the visuals
and the text in Whoever You Are and make connections between the text and their own lives and
experiences.
After reading, ask students to think about what makes all of these children the same and what
makes them different. Collate their responses into a simple table.
Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom
May 2015
Encourage students to think about the children in their class, their school and their neighbourhood –
how are these children the same and how are they different?
Invite students to interview a partner:
 What things do you like to do?
 How do you spend time with your family?
 What are some of your favourite things?
 What things make you afraid?
Ask each partner to report back to the class one interesting fact they have learned from the
interview with their fellow student.
Show students images and stories of children from diverse cultural backgrounds in Australia. Use the
My Place ABC website for this task.
Introduce students to:
 Laura and Soraya (2008)
 Mohammed and Daniel (1998)
 Lily (1988)

For more information, see: My Place ABC
Take students through the interactive site, telling them about each child and how they like to spend
their time, their best friend and their favourite things and pastimes.
Explore the meaning of the concept of 'cultural diversity'. Invite students to think about the positive
features of a culturally diverse society such as Australia (languages; food; celebrations; respect for
difference).
Ask students to write a brief reflection on cultural diversity in Australia and to illustrate their text.
Create
Invite students to use the visual arts to express aspects of their identity. Encourage them to create a
self-portrait using the techniques of photomontage or collage.
Display these self-portraits in the classroom. Ask students to decide on a theme for the exhibition,
for example ‘We have an interesting classroom!’; ‘Our classroom is diverse.’ ‘Whoever we are … we
are friends.’
Invite family members into the classroom to view the display.
Extend
Introduce students to greetings in other languages. Say good morning to each other in a different
language each week. Use the bilingual and multilingual students in your class or school as linguistic
experts to model these greetings.
Further ideas
For more information, see:
Australian Children's Books – provides information on Australian children’s literature relevant to
Australia’s history and cultural diversity.
Harmony Day Education Resources – provides resources that can be used all year round to help plan
activities focused on living together in harmony.
Harmony Day Activities – a Pinterest board curated by Australian teacher, Audrey Nay, that provides
classroom activities focused on living together in harmony.
Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom
May 2015
Harvard Project Zero: Visible Thinking – provides additional visible thinking routines.
Exploring Deeper
Teacher Support Resources > P – 2 Exploring Deeper
Exploring Deeper resources are learning sequences that support students’ development of the
Intercultural Understanding general capability. Students explore issues of identity, culture and
diversity in Australia.
Alignment to the curriculum
Intercultural Understanding
Students discuss ideas about cultural diversity in local contexts and identify similarities and
differences between themselves and their peers. For more information, see: the Australian
Curriculum intercultural understanding learning continuum
History
Students investigate personal and family histories, guided by the questions: "What is my history and
how do I know?" "What stories do other people tell about the past?" "How can stories of the past be
told and shared?" For more information, see: AusVELS History domain
Geography
Students develop understanding of groups in society and their place in these groups. For more
information, see: AusVELS Geography domain
The Arts
Students use skills, techniques, processes, media, materials, equipment and technologies in a range
of arts forms, such as creating three dimensional clay forms using techniques including pinching,
rolling, pressing and stretching. For more information, see: AusVELS The Arts domain
Engage
Locate the website ABC Splash and show students the photograph of the Mansour-Coppell
family. For more information, see: Family life and history, ABC Splash
Ask students to think about questions they could ask to learn more about this family. For example,
where they were born, where they live, what languages they speak and what activities they share as
a family, such as traditions and celebrations.
Invite students to draw a picture of their own family and to write answers to the same questions.
Provide students with an example:
 My mum was born in Melbourne.
 My dad was born in India.
 We live in Carlton.
 We like to have picnics by the river.
Refer students back to the photograph of the Mansour-Coppell family and explain that they are a
'culturally diverse' family. Invite students to think about any other culturally diverse families they
know, including their own.
Ask students to reflect:
 Are there many culturally diverse families in our school community?
 How do we know this?
Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom
May 2015
Explore
Encourage students to find out more about their family history and to collect data, photographs and
artefacts that help to explain their family history.
Family surveys
Devise a simple survey for students to complete and bring back to school. Students might also like to
interview grandparents for this survey.
The interview could include:
 Family member's name
 I was born in....
 I live in....
 I speak this language/s....
 I like to do.... with my family
Also provide students with a simple family tree to complete in collaboration with members of their
family. For more information, see: 'My Family' Handout 3, Prejudice No Way! website
Photographs
Ask students to bring to school family photographs, or copies of photographs, that show the
different members of their family and the things they do together.
Artefacts
Invite students to bring along a small object or photograph of a small object that is treasured by
their family. For example this could be a medal, an old toy, an artwork, a piece of jewellery, a
decorative object. For more information, see: Small Object, Big Story
Explain
Invite students to work in small groups to share their family trees. Encourage them to ask questions
of each other about the different members of their family.
Come together as a whole class to share the results of the family surveys. Use the world map to
locate where the students, their siblings, their parents and their grandparents were born and where
they now live. You may wish to make a permanent display of a world map, highlighting the range of
countries of origin in the class.
Make a record of the language/s spoken in each family and the kinds of things the families like to do
together.
Tally the results and ask students:
 What have we learned about where our family members were born?
 What have we learned about where our family members live?
 What have we learned about the languages our families speak?
 What have we learned about what families like to do together?
Display the tallied results in the classroom.
Then invite students to display their family photographs in the classroom and label these with
information they have gathered from the family survey. For example, "This is my grandfather Angus
and he was born in Scotland". "This is my mother Danielle and she was born in France".
Ask students to work in small groups and talk about their artefact or small object and why this is
significant to their family. Encourage students to ask questions of each other. If students have
permission to display their small object in the class, ask them to label it.
Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom
May 2015
Draw the activities together by asking students to consider these questions:
 What have we learned about our families?
 How culturally diverse are our families?
 How have we learned about the history of families?
 Why is learning about our family history important?
Create
Ask students to reflect on the concept of 'connection' to family and to each other in a community.
Use the ‘I think…Threads’ animation to stimulate students’ thinking and reflection. For more
information, see: Scootle I Think.... Threads
Discuss students’ response to the animation:
What were the children telling us about the importance of connections?
Invite students to draw inspiration from the animation to create an art piece that shows the
connections they have to the other members in their family. Provide students with clay to make
three-dimensional models of their families engaging together in some kind of tradition or
celebration.
Display students’ ‘clay families’ and ask students to write a brief description to go with their models.
Share
Ask students to invite their parents and grandparents to visit the classroom for a Gallery Walk.
Students can then share with their family members the displayed data; photographs and artefacts;
the world map showing locations of where family members were born; the tallied results of the
surveys and the art pieces depicting connections in family.
Then invite parents or grandparents to tell a story about when they were young and the things they
would do as a family.
Further ideas
For more information, see:
 Family Histories – provides extension activities, such as finding out the distance travelled by
some family members when they migrated to Australia.
 A grandparent's tale – provides an activity for using grandparents' stories.
Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom
May 2015
Engaging with Challenging Issues
Teacher Support Resources > P – 2 Engaging with Challenging Issues
Engaging with Challenging Issues resources are inquiry-based units of work that support students’
development of the Intercultural Understanding general capability. Students investigate some of the
challenges associated with issues of identity, culture and diversity in Australia.
Alignment to the curriculum
Intercultural Understanding
Students discuss ideas about cultural diversity in local contexts and identify similarities and
differences between themselves and their peers. For more information, see: the Australian
Curriculum intercultural understanding learning continuum
Civics and Citizenship
Students identify the groups to which they, their family members and their class belong. They begin
to appreciate the similarities and differences between individuals and groups, including the
language, cultural and religious groups which make up the Australian nation. They begin to
appreciate the common values important to groups and individuals. For more information, see:
AusVELS Civics and Citizenship domain
Note to teachers: This inquiry sequence is intended for students in Year 2.
Engage
Introduce students to the animation with student voiceover, ‘I Think…All together now.’ Cue them in
to the task – they will be listening to the opinions of young children about communities and these
are accompanied by visual images. For more information, see: I Think... All together now
Ask students to focus on the children’s thinking and to take note of the key ideas and words they
hear in the children’s comments.
Invite students to share their responses and collate these under the question: How do these children
describe a community?
View the animation a second time and then add new key ideas and words to the original list. Draw
students’ attention to some of the key themes addressed in the animation – diversity; relationships;
team work or helping others; belonging; showing respect; accepting difference.
Pose the question to students: How would you describe a community? Record students’ ideas and
add these to the display.
Pose additional questions for the inquiry:
 How are communities diverse?
 How important is it for a community to accept diversity?
 What can you do to make your community more accepting of difference?
Place these questions on a wonder wall or class display and encourage students to add their own
questions and responses throughout the unit of work.
Explore
Introduce students to an investigation of their own community. Begin with a focus on the location
and physical features of their community. Use GoogleEarth. For more information, see: Google Earth
Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom
May 2015
Ask students to describe what they see, using these questions:
 Where is our community located? For example, far north Victoria; eastern suburbs of
Melbourne; centre of Ballarat.
 What are some of the important features of our community? For example, we have a huge
nature reserve, two parks and three sporting fields, a main street with many shops, two
hospitals, five schools and one police station.
Then ask students to draw a map of their local community and mark on this important features and
places of significance. Ask students to keep these maps to add to after their fieldwork.
Invite students to identify the community groups they belong to. Use the questionnaire provided on
the Difference Differently website. You may wish to pair students to read through the questionnaire
and assist each other with their answers, or you could guide students through the questions and
responses. For more information, see: Difference Differently
Tally the students’ responses into whole class data:
 Which communities do we feel we belong to?
 Which sporting team, clubs or other teams do we belong to?
 Which after school classes or clubs do we attend?
 Which religious places of worship do we attend?
 Which cultural groups do we belong to?
Ask students to interpret the data:
 What can we say about our involvement in different community groups?
 Why do you think we belong to these different community groups?
Take students on a fieldwork study of their local community. Ask them to document their findings
using photos, or observation checklists, or sketches, or film and or audio recording. You may wish to
organise students into groups to investigate one of the following:
 the cultural diversity of the local community – people; places to buy food and eat; languages
seen and spoken; the clothing people wear; places of worship; places for entertainment,
sport and leisure; places of historical significance and remembrance
 the ‘team work’’ evident in the local community – how do we know that people try to look
after each other and what evidence can we see of this?
 the acceptance of differences – support for the disabled; places of worship; places to buy
food and eat; languages seen and spoken; the clothing people wear; places for
entertainment, sport and leisure
 relationships – people interacting; designated places for people to meet and gather;
designated places for younger and older people in the community.
Ask students to return to their map of the local area and to add to or modify their original thinking.
Invite students to work in small groups to share and discuss their maps.
Explain
Return to the animation I Think… All together now. For more information, see: I Think... All together
now
Take time for students to have a closer look at the visual images used in the animation:
 What do the circles represent?
 Why do they open and close?
 What do these symbols tells us about our community and the groups we belong to within
the community?
 What other symbols could we use to show what we have learned about our community and
what we have learned about belonging, acceptance, inclusion and respecting each other?
Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom
May 2015
Ask students to return to their visual images to consider how they could better represent their
understandings of community and belonging. Provide time for students to modify their visual
images. Invite students to explain their visual images to the whole class and to accept questions
from other students about their thinking.
Share the data that students collected on their fieldwork, for example photographs, sketchings,
observation notes or audio files. Ask students to discuss this data and what they show about the
local community.
Create a worksheet for students to complete, using four headings: Cultural Diversity; Team Work;
Acceptance of Differences; Relationships. Ask students to select a sample of evidence for each
category, for example, a picture of a church and a temple. Explain what these things represent about
their community, for example, acceptance of different beliefs.
Invite students to share their explanations with others in the class.
Elaborate
Revisit the issue of acceptance of/respect for difference and why this is important to communities.
Show the film clip ‘People like me, Team Players’ from the Immigration Museum website. For more
information, see: Immigration Museum
Before viewing, ask students to notice how the girls in the Brunswick Zebras soccer team think and
feel about being included in the team: How do they show they care for each other? How do they
show respect? How do they accept each other’s differences?
After viewing, invite students to share their responses. Then ask students to compare the Brunswick
Zebras, and how the girls work as a team that values inclusion and accepts diversity, to the
community groups that they belong to:
 Do your community groups include everyone and accept their differences?
 Do people have a strong sense of belonging in your community groups?
Pose to students the questions:
 Are people always accepted and included in communities?
 Do communities always value and respect difference?
Then introduce students to the concepts of prejudice and discrimination. Use the definitions
presented on the Prejudice No Way! website for this purpose.
For more information, see:
 Understanding prejudice
 Discrimination dilemmas
 Taking action against prejudice
Invite students to write a brief written reflection about what they have learned about prejudice and
discrimination and to work in a small group to share and discuss their thoughts and feelings.
Draw these activities together by asking students to write a personal pledge about taking action
against prejudice. Invite students to share their pledge with the whole class.
Inform students that they will listen to a true story about a family that came to live in Australia and
the challenges they faced in leaving their home country of Vietnam to begin a new life. Use the 'Our
many identities' activity from the Global Education website as a guide. For more information, see:
Global Education, Our many identities
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May 2015
Next, read the picture book The Little Refugee by Anh Do about his family’s escape from war-torn
Vietnam.
Ask students to identify the main themes in The Little Refugee. List the challenges the family in the
story faced and how they overcame them.
Then complete a Y-chart about the story, asking students to describe what they see, hear and feel
about Anh Do’s personal story.
Discuss the following questions with students:
 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?
Invite students to brainstorm how they could use their abilities and attitudes to contribute to their
community. For example, help new families to the area, show consideration to the elderly, help keep
the community gardens neat and tidy.
Ask students to develop a plan of action to better help their community and contribute to
everyone’s sense of belonging. Invite them to use visual images to accompany this plan.
Display students’ plans in the classroom for others to see.
Evaluate
Return to the key questions posed in the inquiry.
 How are communities diverse?
 How important is it for a community to accept diversity?
 What can you do to make your community more accepting of difference?
Ask students to work in small groups to share their new understanding and thinking.
Create two summative assessment tasks that bring together students’ understanding of
communities. First, return to the animation ‘I Think…All together now’ and invite students to reflect
on what they would like to add to the young children’s comments about communities. For more
information, see: I Think... All together now
Ask students to add their voice about communities by writing a script about their thoughts and
feelings and then audio record these for the class to listen to. Use a voice-recording tool such as
Audacity for this task. For more information, see: Audacity
Then ask students to work in small groups and use a range of materials to create a model of an ideal
community that reflects what they have learnt about diversity, acceptance, inclusion and respect.
Observe each student’s contribution to the task and the language he/she uses about these aspects
of community life.
Display these ideal communities and invite parents and/or other students to view these in the
classroom.
Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom
May 2015
A photograph of the model could be submitted as an entry in the One Team, One Goal: Celebrating
Diversity competition. For more information, see: 2015 One Team, One Goal: Celebrating diversity
competition
Further ideas
For more information, see:
A world of values – provides activities to extend students’ understanding of community and the
values of inclusion, acceptance and respect. Use the access code AtvKRqfQ.
Cool tools for schools – provides a comprehensive range of web 2.0 tools to use in the classroom.
Resources for exploring diversity and developing intercultural understanding in the classroom
May 2015