Image
Learning objective
Students explore the feelings associated with being able to do something by themselves for the first time and reflect on how personal achievements can influence a person's identity.
Take home messages
Curriculum links
WA HPE Curriculum
Sub-strand: Personal identity and change
- Personal strengths, qualities and achievements, and how they contribute to developing identities.
International technical guidance of sexuality education
Key concept: 1.3 Tolerance, inclusive and respect (5-8 years)
- Every human being is unique, can contribute to society and has a right to be respected.
Materials
Before you get started
- The self-esteem and confidence of some students may be an issue during this activity. Be reassuring and have a list of potential firsts prepared to support students struggling to identify something that they have achieved and are happy to share with other students. Don't force all children to share to the class/wider group.
Learning activities
Group agreement
5 mins
Teaching tip: A group agreement must be established before any Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) program begins to ensure a safe learning environment. Read: Essential tools: Establishing a group agreement for tips on how to create one and what to include.
- Revise or create the class group agreement.
What does it feel like achieving something?
20 min
- Show students the YouTube clips or a story which demonstrates someone achieving something, and how they felt.
- One suggestion: riding bike (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUElXdiSY6w) [5:12min]
- Use the think-pair-share teaching strategy to identify things students have achieved on their own for the first time.
- Use the brainstorm strategy to discuss how the children in the clips might be feeling before you get it right, when you get it right and after they successfully completed the activity for the first time.
Teaching tip: You may want to split a whiteboard into three parts (before, during, after) to capture the discussion.
Ask:
There are lots of feelings of anger or annoyed in the before part. What keeps you from giving up?
(Wanting to get it right, the good feeling at the end, once you do it once it is easy to do again.)
What helps us to keep trying to do something and not giving up?
(the good feeling when you get it right, people helping you, people cheering you on)
What is something you can tell someone else, or yourself, to keep trying?
(Don't give up, keep trying, you got this)
My firsts and achievements
20 min
Ask the students:
Can you run faster now than when you were 3 or 4?
Can you read better now than when you were 3 or 4?
Can you ride a bike better now than when you were 3 or 4?
Are you braver now than when you were 3 or 4?
What helped you get better at these skills?
- Provide each student with a copy of the Student Activity Sheet: First ribbon.
- Students are to draw a picture of themselves doing something on their own for the first time (i.e. riding a bike, catching a fish) inside the ribbon.
- Encourage students to focus on their facial expression in the drawing (e.g. I looked excited when I rode my bike for the first time).
- Students can also write a short description of their drawing.
Teaching tip: You can give students multiple copies of the activity so they can recognise all different kinds of achievements. They can also do ribbons who achievements they want in the future.
3-2-1 Reflection
Sharing achievements
10 min
- Invite students to share their personal achievements. Encourage them to explain how they felt before, during and after they successfully achieved their goal.
- Give the students a few minutes to reflect on their own achievements and to think how their lives might be different now because of their achievements.
- Invite some students to share their reflections or comments to the whole class.
Teaching tip: Highlight that our personal identities (how we see ourselves and how others see us) change and strengthen through personal achievements and successes.
- Display ribbons around the classroom or at students desks to acknowledge the achievements of all the students.
Health promoting schools
Background teacher note: Health promoting schools framework.
Partnerships
Family
- Talk Soon. Talk Often: a guide for parents talking to their kids about sex is a free hardcopy resource that can be bulk ordered by schools and website. Send a copy home to parents prior to starting your RSE program. The booklet offers ages and stage related information on puberty (and other topics) so that parents can reinforce the topics covered in class. (How to order hard copies.) Provide the link to parents on school websites and social media.
- Run a parent workshop and run this activity with parents to model the content that will be covered in your RSE program.
- Run a parent and child evening session, where the children can teach the parents what they have been learning about.
