Assignment 1: Portfolio

EDU30006 – FAMILIES, COMMUNITIES & CITIZENSHIP

MADDISON EDEBOHLS - 102906427

Word Limit: 1200 +/- 10%

Weight: 30%
Due Date: 10th of April 2023
Assignment 1: Portfolio
This individual assessment task provides you with an opportunity to showcase your ability to
teach in the learning areas of Civics and Citizenship, Geography and History explored in
Weeks 1-4.

Complete the template below for each of the three areas of Humanities:

 Civic & Citizenship

 Geography
 History.

Civics & Citizenship: 2 – 3 years

Resource 1:
‘When I’m Feeling..’ by Trace Moroney.
These are a set of 6 books based around feelings. They are titled ‘When I’m Feeling:
Angry, Sad, Happy, Excited, Kind, Scared, and Loved’.

Figure 1: Feelings Books (MPH Click, 2015)

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Key concepts/elements to be taught:
Civic Dispositions, Social-emotional development, emotional literacy, and emotional
regulation.

Curriculum connections:
Early Years Learning Framework –
Outcome 1:
- Children feel safe, secure, and supported.

- Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy, and respect.
Outcome 2:
- Children respond to diversity with respect.

- Children become aware of fairness.

Outcome 3:
- Children become strong in their social and emotional wellbeing.
Outcome 5:
- Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes.

(Department of Education and Training [DET], 2019)

Description:
Reading the series of these books in an early learning setting will allow the children to
begin to understand and explore the emotions that they feel, what it looks like when they
are feeling their emotions and what behaviours they may express due to a certain feeling or
situation (Malik & Marwaha, 2018). In the 2-3 year old age group, I would use this
resource by simply reading the children the stories regularly, and also refer back to the
books when children are struggling to regulate their own emotions. Simple gestures/
questions such as “What does the bunny do when he is feeling sad?” and opening the book
and pointing to the pictures may allow the child to become aware of their emotions and
allow them to develop in social-emotional wellbeing (Rouse, 2020). For older students, this
resource can be used with more depth where the children will have the spoken language
skills to be able to have a conversation about the rabbit in the story and begin to empathize

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and relate to the character by sharing personal experiences with their educator and making
connections during a shared reading time (Mantei & Kervin, 2014).

The key concept within humanities that is taught within the lessons using this resource is
civic dispositions. Civic dispositions are seen as the way in which citizen effectiveness is
enhanced and promotes healthy functioning within the community (Wallace, 2006).
Dispositions are defined as the different beliefs that guide a person’s behaviour, that
include things such as individual responsibility, respect for the law, self-discipline,
honesty, and compassion (Wallace, 2006). These dispositions are not something that is
taught through the use of worksheets or book work, they are taught through the practice of
modelling and encouraging (Wallace, 2006). This practice would be used when this
resource was being used for teaching and learning, and children are being encouraged to
express emotions and work through them to become more regulated and in a state of calm
and ready to learn (Kuypers, 2011).

History: 4 – 5 years
Resource 2:
Cardboard Tube Families
Toilet paper/paper towel cardboard inserts used as bodies to create people. Along with
paints, googly eyes, texters, and wool to create facial features.

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 Figure 2: Tube Families (Teaching Expertise, 2022)

Key concepts/elements to be taught:

Continuity and change of people and time.

Curriculum connections:

Early Years Learning Framework -

Outcome 1:
- Children develop knowledge and confident self-identities.
Outcome 4:
- Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation,
confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination, and
reflexivity.
- Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place,
technologies, and natural and processed materials.
Outcome 5:
- Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes.

Description:

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Allowing children, the opportunity to create cardboard dolls of each of their family
members, will develop their ability to understand their identity, feel a sense of belonging
and will further develop their creativity (Benzaquen, 2004). Children will have meaningful
conversations with their peers and educators based around family and what that looks like
for each individual (Rouse, 2020). Children will be exposed to the idea of family looking
different for everyone, and that acceptance of family culture is a positive experience when
they learn this behaviour towards others (Hao & Matsueda, 2006). In the 4-5 year old age
group this resource is age appropriate because it is a hands on experience where children
are able to practice creativity, whilst crafting a cardboard tube model of each person in
their family that they live with. The children in this age group will be exploring the world
around them by comparing what their parents, carers, siblings, cousins, and friends look
like, and how each person’s family structure looks different (Halgunseth, 2009). A
differentiated version of this task could occur in the 2 – 3 year old stage with more
modelling and scaffolding for the craft itself, this would support children in practicing fine
and gross motor skills by picking up craft items, using glue, and placing accessories on
their dolls (Suggate et al., 2017). A lesser level of conversation around age of family
members would occur in regard to experiencing the concept of time, however educators
could ask children “how big/ tall is Daddy?” and encourage students to select tube sizes to
indicate age range within the family. Within the 6 – 8 year old range of children, they
would be able to extend much further within their learning with this resource as they would
be able to verbalise why their grandparent has grey wool for hair, and why their baby
brother has no hair or teeth at all, as they would have had prior knowledge about people
and time (Wallace, 2006).

The key concept that will be taught through the use of this resource is the continuity and
change of people and time (Wallace, 2006). The teaching of time, through educating the
children and opening up their wonderings about the age of their parents and siblings will
allow them to explore the concept of time. Although some children believe a 25 year old is
“old” and that at times it can take “ages” for their birthday to come around, conversations
about how many birthdays someone has and what that means in terms of stages of life can
begin to occur at this age level (Wallace, 2006). Children will experience the continuity
and change of people by recognizing the differences they have between themselves and

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their family members (Wallace, 2006).

Geography: 6 – 8 years
Resource 3:
‘Natural and Humanly-Constructed Materials’ PowerPoint from Twinkl.
24 slides about different natural and man-made materials, facts about each and questions/ a
task at the end of the slideshow.

Figure 3: Natural or Manmade PowerPoint (Twinkl, 2023)

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 Figure 4: Question Slides (Twinkl, 2023)

Key concepts:
Environment and Society.

Curriculum connections:
- ACHASSK031: The natural, managed and constructed features of places, their location,
how they change and how they can be cared for.

-  ACSSU018: Everyday materials can be physically changed in a variety of ways.

(Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2018)

Description:
This resource includes a range of PowerPoint slides about natural and man-made materials
that are found within the world and the environment around students. This resource allows
for an in depth, whole-class collaborative discussion about the topic of different materials
(Rouse, 2020). Collaborative discussion allows students to work together and learn by
being scaffolded and supported by their teacher and peers (Laal & Ghodsi, 2012). This
resource would be used to teach students through collaborative learning, each slide has

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information about a natural or humanly constructed material and in the end of the
slideshow there are questions to check for understanding (Hollingsworth & Ybarra, 2012).
The quiz questions at the end of this PowerPoint resource can create an element of fun
amongst classmates and could be used during the lesson, later in the term as revision and as
a mid-cycle assessment (McDaniel et al., 2012).

The key concept that will be taught using this resource is environment and society
(Wallace, 2006). Children in the early years learn about the environment by interacting
with it. Some children who live in cities and built up areas in Australia, have limited
opportunities to explore the outdoor environment and the natural materials that occur
within it. It is vital that children develop a sense of respect for the natural environment
during their early years (Wallace, 2006). Another philosophy for providing education about
the environment in early childhood, is based on the belief that positive interactions that are
encouraged around the natural environment are an important part of positive child
development (Cobb, 1977; Wallace 2006).

Using this resource in a younger age group would not be overly appropriate as the level of
language and content is too advanced. However, the teacher would be able to use this
PowerPoint to drive planning for something of similar content that could be aimed at a
lower level of understanding and language skills for early childhood ages 2 – 5 years (Breit
et al., 2021). The visuals within the PowerPoint would be helpful and educational for
children in a younger age-group, so the teacher will be able to edit the PowerPoint and
make it age appropriate and match discussions to suit.

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 References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (2018). F-10

curriculum: Humanities and social sciences.
https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/humanities-and-social-
sciences/
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (2018). F-10
curriculum: Humanities and social sciences.
https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/science/?
strand=Science+Understanding&strand=Science+as+a+Human+Endeavour&strand=
Science+Inquiry+Skills&capability=ignore&priority=ignore&year=12001&elaboratio
ns=true&el=56570&searchTerm=natural+materials#dimension-content
Benzaquen, A. S. (2004, March). Childhood, identity and human science in the
enlightenment. In History Workshop Journal (Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 34-57). Oxford
University Press.
Department of Education and Training [DET] (2019). Belonging, being and becoming: The
early years learning framework for Australia. Commonwealth of Australia.

Figure 1. (2015). Feelings Books. Retrieved from:

https://www.facebook.com/mphclick/posts/the-amazing-when-im-feeling-books-by-
trace-moroney-helps-both-parents-and-childr/10152930926906253/
Figure 2. (2022). Tube Families. Retrieved from:
https://www.teachingexpertise.com/classroom-ideas/preschool-family-activities/
Figure 3. (2023). Natural or Manmade PowerPoint. Retrieved from:
https://www.twinkl.com.au/resource/t-t-7849-natural-and-manmade-materials-
powerpoint?sign_in=1
Figure 4. (2023). Question Slides. Retrieved from: https://www.twinkl.com.au/resource/t-t-
7849-natural-and-manmade-materials-powerpoint?sign_in=1
Halgunseth, L. (2009). Family engagement, diverse families, and early childhood. Young
Children, 64(5), 56-58.
Hollingsworth, J. R., & Ybarra, S. E. (2012). Explicit direct instruction for English learners.
Corwin Press.

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Kuypers, L. M. (2011). The zones of regulation. Think Social Publishing, Incorporated.

Laal, M., & Ghodsi, S. M. (2012). Benefits of collaborative learning. Procedia-social and

behavioral sciences, 31, 486-490.
Malik, F., & Marwaha, R. (2018). Developmental stages of social emotional development in
children.

Mantei, J., & Kervin, L. (2014). Interpreting the images in a picture book: Students make
connections to themselves, their lives and experiences.

McDaniel, M. A., Wildman, K. M., & Anderson, J. L. (2012). Using quizzes to enhance
summative-assessment performance in a web-based class: An experimental
study. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 1(1), 18-26.
Rouse, E. (2020). Partnerships in the early years. Oxford University Press.

Suggate, S., Stoeger, H., & Pufke, E. (2017). Relations between playing activities and fine
motor development. Early Child Development and Care, 187(8), 1297-1310.
Wallace, M. (2006). Social studies: All day, every day in the early childhood
classroom. Thomson Learning.

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