Introduction
This rationale aims at coming up with a program that is designed for Year Four class based on the Australian Curriculum.
Lesson 1
The students will learn that the first people in Australia were the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. This learning will entail various strategies such as brainstorming, video clips, creative thinking, reading about the topic prior to the class, and watching video clips. This will ensure that students are well equipped for the class and that the lesson is well facilitated. Assessment will be carried out at this level (Swan&Raphael, 2006).
Lesson 2
During lesson 2, students will basically learn about the culture of the Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. This will be facilitated through storytelling and will ensure that the students have processed all the information as required and they are able to narrate it. This will sharpen their social interaction, critical thinking, and intercultural comprehension skills. Students will use their creative stories to apply their acquired knowledge.
Lesson 3
Students will acquire knowledge regarding archaeology and archaeologists. This will be essential in enabling them to know more about the culture and human life of the Aboriginals. To facilitate this, students will watch a video and share the insights acquired from the lesson. The teacher will inspect the students as they work in groups and give them more homework regarding the cultures identified through archaeology (Craven, 1999).
Lesson 4
This lesson will entail elaboration of the things archaeology has helped achieve. For instance, archaeology proves that the Aborigines were the first people to live in Australia, the significance associated with the Aborigines in Australia as well as their history and culture (Reynolds, 2012).
Lesson 5
This lesson will entail discussing the kind of life the Aborigines had before colonization. This will involve a discussion on their way of life, the means used to obtain food, how highly they valued land, group, and personal identity, and how their culture has transformed over time. There will be a discussion on how the indigenous people were impacted by a wide array of cultures. However, Australia’s colonization was associated with catastrophic and rapid changes among the Aborigines.
Lesson 6: Rubrics for the Assessment Strategies
Frequent assessment is imperative for both teachers and students. Lesson six will aim at consolidating the previous learning the students had and assessing their final knowledge.
Ongoing formative assessment
This form of assessment will be carried out among the Year 4 students. It will be aimed at evaluating and monitoring learning and receiving feedback regarding the students’ learning and the teacher’s teaching.
Summative assessment
Guardians and parents will be informed about their children’s learning. This will entail the accomplishment and improvement of the students.
- requires improvement
- satisfactory comprehension
- good comprehension
- thorough comprehension
Inquiry Learning Theory
Students will be offered the opportunity to take charge of their learning. To enhance this, there will be open-ended learning. It will therefore be a bit hard to predict the final impacts. Strategies will be put in place to ensure that students are highly motivated to engage in self-learning. Teachers will employ the use of inquiry and explicit strategies while teaching.
The teacher will offer the students the chance to ask questions and read widely. In order to create generalizations and concepts, students will participate in activities that will enable them to organize novel skills and information. Before beginning every lesson, the teacher will ask students questions so as to assess how much new knowledge and information they have acquired. In addition, it is imperative that students are able to use the skills, values, and knowledge they gather from various contexts. For this to be achieved, there will be a comprehensive use of metacognitive, reflective, communication, creative and critical thinking, inquiry, and information processing skills (Reynolds, 2012).
ICT Strategies
The use of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) strategies will be imperative in assisting students in evaluating, critiquing, and gathering information acquired from a wide array of sources. More significantly, the Internet will be a key target of scrutiny. Furthermore, the Internet can enable the students to engage in participatory as well as cooperative groups, hence developing their social skills. Students can form discussion groups and forums, individualized workgroups, and less- structured teaching strategies are applied. It is imperative that students and teachers are equipped with critical skills so as to be able to handle ICT (Craven, 1999). Students will use ICT to transform and communicate data and social networking. Moreover, the computer will be used as a tool for study.
Opportunities for Cross-Curricular Learning
The students will be provided with a relevant and participative opportunity to enable them to add to their educational achievements. More particularly, the key concern is the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander priority that will enable the students to acquire deep knowledge regarding the most ancient cultures in Australia. Some of the knowledge will be in regard to the diversity, richness, resilience, and strength of these communities. The students will therefore have the skills and knowledge necessary to contribute positively towards the growth and development of Australia. Students will also acquire the language and tools necessary for comprehending the world in a better way.
Adjustments for Learning Needs
The ACARA Australian Curriculum recognizes the Disability Standards for Education (2005) and the Disability Discrimination Act (1992). Therefore, as an institution that specializes in offering training and education services, there is a keen focus to ensure that students with special learning needs have the opportunity to participate, access, and acquire equal chances as abled students (Swan&Raphael, 2006).
The class teacher will have to differentiate the students in Year Four depending on their different abilities. Mixed ability groups will be extremely effective in ensuring that disabled and abled students share their abilities. Students with hearing disabilities will seat close to those with hearing abilities so as to copy notes from them. In addition, students with hearing abilities will offer students with hearing disabilities assistance during free time. Furthermore, students with seeing disabilities will seat close to the teacher where they can see the blackboard clearly. Students with walking disabilities should sit at the front where they have easy access to the door (Reynolds, 2012). The teacher should ensure that the learning needs of all the students in the classroom are fulfilled.
References
Craven, R. (1999).Teaching Aboriginal Studies. New York: Allen &Unwin.
Reynolds, R. (2012). Teaching Studies of Society and Environment inthe Primary School. Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press.
Swan, P., & Raphael, B. (2006).Ways Forward: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Policy.New York: Allen &Unwin.