What Was New in April 2017?

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Welcome to a new type of post at the Galarious Goods blog! Each month I'll give a little round up of what's been going on as well as a little peek behind the scenes. 

 
What was new in April 2017 at Galarious Goods
 

 

The Getting Involved lessons and bundle were unveiled in early April. There are eight lessons in this series, each one examining how students can get involved with local and global issues which matter to them.

The first two lessons - Personal Values and Collecting Information focused on personal reflection and knowledge. Students think about what matters to them - and why - and how they can find out more about those issues. The next three lessons - Why We Share, Sharing Information in the Real World and Sharing Information Online - look at ways of getting other people informed and involved with the issues students care about. The final three lessons - Local Action, Actions in Writing and Protest Action - looks at what students can do to make changes in their community and beyond.

One thing I'm really excited about is the inclusion of presentation files in these resources. These are PDF files which can be expanded to full screen and used with projectors or devices in the classroom. This allows for more flexibility within the resources - especially when you have tight photocopy budgets!

You can find the full Getting Involved Bundle here.

The other collection of resources released in April were centred around the verse novel Pearl Verses the World by Sally Murphy. This wonderful book takes a look at Pearl, whose teacher wants her to write poetry with rhymes at a time when she doesn't have much rhyme in her life. 

The resources available include a Comprehension and Vocabulary resource, which allows students to look at the novel in a chronological order or by themes; a Whole Novel resource which looks at retelling the novel, reacting to the novel and exploring the characters in the novel among other things; and a Poetry Activities resource which examines the poetry in Pearl Verses the World and other poetry related to it. 

As well as these activities focused on the novel, Galarious Goods released a series of poems written around a school theme. These poems are available in different formats for different classroom uses. 

All four of these resources are available as a Pearl Verses the World Novel Study Bundle.  

Behind the Scenes

It's been a busy April here at the Galarious Goods house! We've had lots of excitement with Easter this month, as well as thoughtful reflection for ANZAC Day and my daughter's first birthday. I drew a sketch of a dog's face for her birthday party cake and was immediately thankful for the amazing clip artists! (I am definitely not an artist!)

Things should calm down moving into May, but I'm excited to be getting back into some Year 6 Government resources in the coming month as well as some new resources to celebrate learning in the classroom. 

A great way to have a peek behind the scenes at Galarious Goods is through the Galarious Goods instagram account. Follow along for product announcements, quotes, blog post announcements, photos and occasional really bad sketches!

My kids had a brilliant time at their Book Week parade this morning- a great opportunity to celebrate some fabulous books which we adore #bookweek2022 #bookweek #rainbowbear #thebadguys
Book club has come through for me today! #jackiefrench #earthquake #brucewhatley #picturebooks #australianchildrensbooks
A new book study is outlined - time to work on some art work and drafting #behindthescenes #bookstudy #australianbooks #teachingresources
What a week! We spent the weekend under a rain bomb, a lot of it outside trying to keep the rain outside (we succeeded!). Then school was cancelled Monday, back Tuesday and Wednesday and cancelled partway through today and for tomorrow! At least my
That lovely feeling of updating a resource - I'm really proud of this one! #grammarandpunctuation #teacherspayteachers #teachersresources
 
 

Get Students Involved to Make a Better World

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There's been a notable increase with all sorts of activism in the past year, with a lot of people getting more involved in issues which matter to them. For many, it's one way of creating a better world - a world we'll be proud to pass on to those who come after us. But how can we get our students involved in making a better world? What can children do?

 
Get Students Involved to Make A Better World. Looking at ways students can get involved with the world around them to create change in the world. A Galarious Goods blog post
 

1. Learn about Local Issues

A great way for students to become more involved is to learn about what is happening in their local community. Are there local groups working to make improvements? Are there decisions being made by local government which will improve the community? Or are decisions being made which should be challenged? 

Students might begin this look at local issues by looking at their school. What do students love about their school? What improvements would they like to see? What are some of the ways students can create a happier, more productive learning space? How can they work to create a community which is supportive of everyone learning and working within in? 

2. Learn about Global Issues

Students may already have an interest in wider issues such as the environment, world peace, poverty, access to education and equality. These can seem like massive, overwhelming issues, but they can also be broken down into more manageable ideas which have real actions. 

One of the best ways to learn more about global issues is to look at the organisations which are already engaged in working on those issues. Often those organisations have research publications or links to more information on their websites. They might also have ways for students to get involved or inspiration for students to plan their own involvement.

3. Changing Personal Behaviour

Sometimes the easiest way for students to get involved in issues is to change their own behaviour. Students can brainstorm a range of different ways they can make small changes to improve the world, then pledge to make those changes in their life. They might even like to organise record keeping sheets, develop products or posters to help them make those changes or expand the challenge to other members of their school community or local community.

 
Get Students Involved to Make A Better World. Looking at ways students can get involved with the world around them to create change in the world. A Galarious Goods blog post
 

4. Communicating

When students have identified and learned more about local or global issues which matter to them, they can engage by sharing that information with others. They might wish to write to their government representatives, write letters to their local newspapers or create websites or printed materials to share what they know. 

This way of getting involved with issues is great for integrating with writing and reading lessons. Students can examine ways that other people have shared information and experiment with different types of writing.

5. Organising Events

Events are a great way of bringing attention to a particular issue. Students could hold a special assembly or dress up day at school, run a booth at a local market or run lunch time or after school activities. The events could be about raising awareness - like making students aware of bullying and the language they use at school - or could be fundraising events. 


It can be easy to feel a bit overwhelmed at the big challenges in the world, but there are so many ways for students to be more involved as citizens looking to make a better world.