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Programming people

Play a variation of the game ‘Simon Says’ to develop understanding of sequencing and instructions in programming.

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Basic ball control with Sphero

Students are introduced to Sphero and its main features – direction, speed and colour. This lesson allows students to experiment through playing with Sphero and controlling it with the Sphero app. This lesson idea was created by Steven Payne.

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Making a small wicking bed

Making and planting a small wicking bed is a fulfilling activity. It upcycles materials, building awareness of waste and reuse. The completed wicking bed can suit small spaces – such as a balcony – demonstrating that even small spaces can be used to produce food. Its small size allows children to take ownership of its maintenance. ...

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Choosing and using decodable texts: Q&A

This video is of a Q&A session about choosing and using decodable texts in your classroom. It is presented by literacy specialists Rebecca McEwan and Elaine Stanley

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For school leaders: Understanding the evidence

This webpage provides information and resources for school leaders about the evidence and research on how students learn to read. It discusses cognitive load theory, explicit instruction, a whole-school curriculum approach, the Big Six of literacy and using a systematic synthetic phonics approach to instruction.

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Teaching irregular words

This short video (4 minutes and 3 seconds) shows two teachers discussing why and how to teach irregular words (words that contain letter-sound correspondences that students have not yet learned) as part of a systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) approach.

Online

Getting to know Bee-Bot

Students are introduced to the Bee-Bot as a robotic device. They learn about what the Bee-Bot is, the functions and how the Bee-Bot can be used for specific purposes. They learn how to develop a sequence of steps for the Bee-Bot to follow. This lesson idea was created by Rebecca Vivian.

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Snap block models

Create a model using snap blocks 1 block high and create a code so someone else can build your model.

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Spelling bee

Write a set of instructions that program a Bee-Bot to move to letters to spell out a word on an alphabet grid.

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Schoolyard biodiversity detectives

Collect data on the biodiversity in garden beds around your school to measure the biodiversity (that is the different types of plants and animals). Explore ways to represent and present data. This lesson was devised by Linda McIver, Australian Data Science Education Institute.

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Assessment and intervention for an SSP approach

This self-paced learning module outlines the specific areas of knowledge and skills that are assessed for a systematic synthetic phonics approach to teaching reading and spelling. It explains how this approach to assessment is helpful to identify student needs across the Response to Intervention framework. It contains a ...

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Administering and analysing the Year 1 Phonics Check - Student 1

This short video (four minutes and 11 seconds) shows a teacher administering the online Year 1 Phonics Check with a student who displays efficient decoding skills, followed by a teacher discussion about next steps for the student.

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Fairytale fun

Use the slide sorter function to arrange a set of presentation slides in correct sequence to retell a fairytale.

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Three little pigs

Retell the story of the Three Little pigs using a light sensing robot such as Ozobot.

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What's the buzz?

In this lesson students use BeeBots and Scratch Junior to synthesize what they know about Bees and are introduced to mapping concepts. This lesson idea was created by Karen Butler.

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Goldilocks, the Three Bears and BeeBot

Students explore a sequence of steps using Bee-Bots in the context of familiar narratives. They navigate a Bee-Bot to events within the story, first as a whole class and then in small groups. This activity can be integrated with English and the exploration of narratives. This lesson idea was created by Rebecca Vivian.

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Can AI guess your emotion?

Discuss emotions as a class, and introduce the idea of artificial intelligence (AI). This lesson can also be used to introduce image classification – a key application of AI. Developed in collaboration with Digital Technologies Institute.

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Soil – more than just dirt!

Explore different soil textures and discover their various properties. Through simple soil testing, children will learn to appreciate the true value soils have in helping plants grow. The learning outcomes of this activity are for children to: - understand how soil texture influences the amount of water and air it holds - ...

Online

Creating a food garden: site assessment and mapping

This learning activity is part of a sequence of 5 individual learning activities focused on creating a food garden. The order of these learning activities are: vision, site assessment, installing a no dig garden bed, planting and harvesting. OUTCOMES of the learning activity are for children to understand more about the ...

Online

Creating a bee hotel: research

Explore the different types of bees common to Australia, their features including how they are different to flies and wasps. We will focus on native bees, specifically to learn about their nesting habitat. This learning activity is the first part of a sequence of 2 individual learning activities focused on creating a bee ...