Big Question
Leanne Williams - Learning Specialist Engagement
Planning for Term 4
During Week 9, each year-level team met to share their vision for Term 4's Big Questions. Each team were asked to first answer this question:
What do you want your students to understand about this Big Question at the end of the term?
Here are some examples:
| Year level | I want my students to understand... |
|---|---|
| Foundation | the basic needs of living things. |
| Year 1/2 | physical properties that make materials appropriate for certain purposes. |
| Year 3/4 | different perspectives on ‘health’ and understand healthy options. |
| Year 5/6 | the importance of being a global citizen. |
Term 4's Big Questions are:
| Year level | Big Questions | Curriculum links |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | How do living things survive and thrive? | Science (biological) Geography Design Technologies Personal and Social Capability |
| Year 1/2 | What's it made of and why? | Science (chemical) Design Technologies Personal and Social Capability |
| Year 3/4 | How do we get the message across? | Health Design Technologies Media Arts Ethical Understanding |
| Year 5/6 | Why should we be informed about global issues? | Civics and Citizenship Geography Personal and Social Capability |
**Bolded Curriculum links are Capabilities from the Victorian Curriculum.
Learner Assets... what's the big deal?
Next term whole school is shining a spotlight on the Learner Asset of ‘Researcher’. At EPS we focus on the following 6 Learner Assets:
- Researcher
- Collaborator
- Communicators
- Thinker
- Self-Manager
- Contributor
These assets underpin the development of lifelong learners and equip our students to deal with unfamiliar situations as they arise. One of our Strategic Goals is to ‘Empower students to be active agents in their learning.’ Research shows that by assisting our students to develop the micro-skills that lead to becoming proficient with the learner assets, will assist them to become agentic learners.
Here are some examples for Foundation: the micro-skill goals are adapted by each teacher depending on the areas of focus for their class.
Stay curious!