ST PAULS CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL Inquiry Unit

Term

Learning Phases

Year
TuningLevel
In

Finding Out

General Capabilities
Literacy
Critical & Creative Thinking
Numeracy
Ethical Behaviour
ICT
Intercultural Understanding
Personal and Social Competence
Learning Areas
English- Narratives
Geography

Sorting Out

Year

2015

Going Further

Reflection

Cross Curriculum Priorities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders histories and cultures
Asia and Australias engagement with Asia
Sustainability
The Arts
English
Mathematics
Health and PE

Civics and Citizenship

Economics and Business
History
Geography

Technologies
Science
GEOGRAPHY OUTCOMESThe representation of the location of places and their features on maps and a globe
The places people live in and belong to, their familiar features and why they are important to people
The Countries/Places that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples belong to in the local area and why they are important to them
The reasons why some places are special to people, and how they can be looked after

Overview/Inquiry question:

How do storytelling traditions vary in different cultures?

What is the importance of storytelling?

What is the intended meaning behind different stories?

Who are our neighbours in this world?
Assessment
How
are we similar and different
to our neighbouring countries?
Diagnostic
Assessment
Formative Assessment
Summative Assessment

How will you assess the students prior

knowledge and skills.

Set a Before and After activity. Brainstorm and

record what your students already know about
the country or topic. Have students classify the
list. Brainstorm what students want or need to
know about the topic and
Discuss where and how this information can be
researched. Use self-assessment sheet

Through what other evidence will students

demonstrate achievement of the desired results?

Through what authentic performance task will

students demonstrate the desired
understandings?

Observations
Anecdotal records
Checklist of outcomes

After completing a series of activities,

brainstorm what students now know about the
topic. Compare this with the initial class
brainstorm. Highlight interesting concepts.
Portfolio pieces:

Create a book based on each

celebration/ country explored.

Week
1
2
3
4
5
6

Learning Steps

Tuning In:

Week 1- Mapping Asia & Celebrations

Where is Australia in relation to other countries in the world? Look at map

of world and compare where Australia is and investigate the continent of
Asia.

Have students make up personal passports.

Use classroom wall maps to plan your journey, discussing what items
would be useful to pack.
Incorporate travel language into daily writing activities.
Create a class KWL chart- what I Know, what I Wonder and at
conclusion of unit what l Learned.
Celebrations- Discuss celebrations with students.What do they
understand by the word celebrate? List together celebrations that we
know. The students pick a celebration that they love and draw the part
that they think is the best. The students cut and glue the celebration
pictures onto a celebration mural. The teacher and students build up a

Country
Mapping Asia & Celebrations
Indonesia- Nyepi
India- Diwali
China- Chinese New Year
Japan-Cherry Blossom Festival
Indigenous Story Telling

bank of celebration words to display with the pictures. Words could

include: celebration, culture, games, family, presents, singing, dancing,
happy, laughter, fun, love, treats, special clothes, food, and traditions.

Week 2- Indonesia
Create the illusion of travelling from one place to another by using a
fold-up tunnel or curtains to indicate places of departure and arrival.

Arrange students desks and chairs to simulate travelling on a plane,

train or bus.

Saturate your students senses with sounds, sights, smells or even

tastes of the focus country.
Simulate your arrival in the destination country by:
playing recorded music associated with the focus country;
greeting students with the traditional greeting of the focus country,
welcoming them to their destination;
stamping students passports at a customs desk;
providing sample pieces of fruit or a taste of the national dish or drink
on arrival;
displaying items or pictures from the focus country on a table or wall,
for students to touch and look at;
show a short segment of a video program that features sights and
scenes of the focus country;
arrange for a guest speaker to talk about their country, their national
dress or the display table, or to do a shared reading of the folktale at the
back of the big book;
select up to three topics within the big book for a shared reading
activity.

 Display items from the focus country, such as books, videos,

information about Internet sites, costumes, postcards, pictures, realia etc.
for students to refer to, add to and interact with as the topic unfolds.
Use authentic items to construct an international market in your
classroom, pricing samples of goods from each country. This could form
the basis for a unit of study in mathematics. Have students keep a travel
diary for their journey, recording important information from each country
and any extra information they obtain themselves.
Tuesdays- Introduce narrative from each country as a focus during
literacy time. Students complete Orientation, Problem and Solution
sheet for the narrative each week.

Week 3- India & Diwali

Week 4- China & Chinese New Year

Week 5- Japan-Cherry Blossom Festival

Week 6- Indigenous Story Telling

Finding Out:
Every Monday students pack their bags and hold their passport ready to fly to
another Asian country. (China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India)
Use the relevant Big Books from Snapshots Of Asia to find out information
about each visited country geographical location, cultural habits, traditions
and art, food, music

Sorting Out:

Sort through the different facts being revealed about the Asian countries being
visited. Compare and contrast aspects of Asian lifestyles using a range of
graphic organisers. Use a venn diagram to compare Asian country with
Australia.

Going Further:
Students take on the challenge of finding out about another neighbour of
Australias.

Reflecting:
Students discuss which country would be their favourite to live in (or actually
visit!)
Students need to choose their 5 favourite things they have learnt about the
country an present a short oral talk displaying their knowledge and view. Props
are encouraged.

Assessment Evidence

Resources
Snapshots of Asia resource kit
http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/resource/snapshots_of_asia.html
http://www.curriculumpress.edu.au/sample/pages/SnapshotsOfAsiaTeacherGuide.pdf