Term 1 Topic – The ANZAC

Throughout the term we have been looking at the ANZAC’s. We have investigated things such as the route the Australian’s took to get to Gallipoli, What is ANZAC day?, What is the last post?, What do they read out at ANZAC day?, Why should we commemorate it?, What does Respect mean?, Why did they go?, What does peace look like?, Where is Gallipoli? and What other battles were there during World War 1?. All these questions linked into the Australian Curriculum through Geography, History, Civic and Citizenship, Visual Art and Health. We watched lots of really great snap shot clips from Splash. We had lots of great discussions about what peace means. We wrote the ode in handwriting and talked about the meaning. Children drew the path the soldiers took from Albany to Egypt before heading to Gallipoli. We talked about the landing at Galliopoli and how horrible it must have been. We looked at the trenches and were amazed and fascinated about how the Australian’s left self shooting guns (so they could escape).We looked at the symbols of ANZAC day and what each one means, including the rising sun. The children enjoyed the whole unit and in the end we turned to look at what peace looks like. What would the young soldiers be thinking about what they would like for peace. We brainstormed ideas and ended up making a hand peace mural (this coincided with Harmony day). We also talked about how Australia was very thankful and why we should be thankful. They made little soldiers (including nurses) and wrote why they are thankful underneath. We finished off the unit by making slouch hats, poppies and making ANZAC biscuits with our lovely SSO- Jodie.

During the term each child had the opportunity to take home a bag. In the bag it included the book ANZAC TED,an army teddy from legacy and a questionnaire asking for any information on family members that have served. The learning behind this was to get the children in my class to understand the impact war had on so many families. The children collected pictures of family members and I made a presi presentation on every child’s story. They children love watching it. I have included it <a href="https://prezi.com/embed/syndy9h-pysx/?bgcolor=ffffff&lock_to_path=0&autoplay=0&autohide_ctrls=0#“>here.

Below is a slide show of all the things we did during term 1 in our unit on ANZAC Day. It would be wonderful if at the start of term 2 that some children can say they have attended the ANZAC Day service.

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Mining in South Australia

p>We have been learning about our world this term. We have looked at the Layers of the Earth, rotation of the Earth, moon and sun, importants of water and lots of other Earthy information. I decided to look at what mines we have in South Australia. We use Atlas’ to find where they were. I had compiled a Notebook document about what each mineral mined looked like and what they were used for. We then discussed who is a stakeholder in mines but in particular Miners, farmers, State Government and Environmentalists. We then used our knowledge about expositions to discuss the opinion of each one. It was interesting the hear the children’s pros and cons for mining in South Australia. We have a few mining families within our class (including myself) and it was good to see people respecting each others views but also valuing them at the same time. We agreed that it is about balance. We concluded with an activity where the children received mining tools (tooth picks and serviettes) and then a piece of Earth (a double choc chip biscuit). The instructions were to mine the choc chips out doing minimal damage to the biscuit. It was a fantastic activity of persistence and determination. One child had a huge pile of chocolate where one child had no pile of chocolate (too good to resist) and lots of holes in a biscuit. We talked about how mining companies have to ensure the miners don’t take home the gold!  As an educator it is my job to teach children using a curriculum that is unbiased and encourages the children to ask questions and seek answers! I think this activity achieved this. They could see the sides of everyone and how our Earth is also important to care and look after. They also saw how Earth resources can and are used in our everyday life.

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