Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Part A: Activating prior knowledge

15 minutes

Part B: On the beat

30 minutes

Part C: Live from the studio

5 minutes

Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1

As a class reflect on this unit using students’ advocate packs to prompt your thinking.

Across the course of this unit you have:

explored the ARL, its purpose and its function;
examined the recycling habits of your classroom and home;
attempted to change your habits by reducing and reusing your consumption of packaging;
rethought material types, their suitability as packaging and what can potentially make them unsuitable for recycling;
built your own MRF;
learnt how to be a change-maker; and
advocated to your circle of influence changes in consumption and recycling behaviour and promoted and explained the ARL to others!

That’s heaps! Great job!

Step 2

Ask students if there are any areas or topics in particular covered in this unit that they’re unsure of. Are there any misconceptions still lingering for students over the information covered or any gaps in their understanding? Do they still have any questions about what they looked at in this unit?

This is a good opportunity for some informal summative assessment: can students answer each others’ questions?

Step 3

Ask students about the lesson or part of their advocate pack they enjoyed most or found the most interesting.

Alternatively, if they still have lingering questions, this might be a good area to target for further research in the next activity.

Part B: On the beat

Step 1

Explain the task to students: they will take on the role of news reporters on a nightly news program and be responsible for reporting on some aspect of the ARL, recycling or environmentalism to uninformed viewers at home.

Step 2.

To help students better understand the task, review examples of news reports by students at the ABC BTN website.

Step 3

It’s recommended students work in pairs, although you might find that there are multiple topics to be covered depending on student preferences.

Spend some time now as a class determining what stories the news will cover so that there is minimal overlap.

For example, some students might like to revisit the MRF and report on how it works.

Ensure some students are reporting on the ARL, how it should be used and why it is useful.

Step 4

Explain that the best way to structure a report is to first write an outline.

Lead sentence: Grab and hook your reader right away.
Introduction: Which facts and figures will ground your story? You have to tell your readers where and when this story is happening.
Opening quotation: What will give the reader a sense of the people involved and what they are thinking?
Main body: What is at the heart of your story?
Closing quotation: Find something that sums the report up in a few words. You can also end your story with a link to more information or even your own behind-the-scenes blog post.

Remind students that these reports should be informative but also persuasive – we want viewers to learn something about how to use the ARL in caring for the environment and to change their behaviours after seeing a particularly inspiring story.

Check out our tips for writing a newspaper article factsheet!

Remind students that these reports should be informative but also persuasive – we want viewers to learn something about how to use the ARL in caring for the environment and to change their behaviours after seeing a particularly inspiring story.

Step 5

Give students an opportunity to revisit their advocate packs and conduct additional research on their topic. Rove the classroom and support students as needed.

Step 6

Students should then begin to write a script of what each reporter will say. Ensure students are sharing the explanation duties.

Students will also need to play any visuals or props they intend to show.

Finally, ask students to consider whether they will film ‘on location’ out in the yard somewhere (perhaps by a recycling bin) or at the news desk.

Part C: Live from the studio

Preparation:

Set up a desk with two chairs in front of your green screen or block colour sheet.

Ensure students’ clothing is not clashing with the block colour. For example: if someone is wearing a white shirt against a white background, the camera will read these two colours as the same and make the student see-through.

Set up your filming device in a stationary position in front of the news desk.

Step 1

Record each report.

Remind students that they will have to introduce themselves and sign off to bookend their reports.

Alternatively, you may wish to appoint two news anchors who can throw to each segment.

Remind students to speak loudly and clearly. The rest of the class will have to reduce their noise level as filming is taking place.

Step 2

Students choose a background or feature image for their report.

This could be a blow-up of the ARL or one of the various images students have taken throughout this unit, such as of the MRF.

Students may wish to refer to this image, much like a weather reporter on the news points to the map on the screen behind them.

This is achievable through the green screen app.

Note: Green Screen by Do Ink is a child-friendly green screen app. Support and instructions on using the app can be accessed here (http://www.doink.com/support/).

iMovie for iPad also has this function built-in, and you can find a guide on its use here (https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT210891#:~:text=Tap%20the%20Add%20Media%20button,or%20blue%20from%20the%20clip).

Step 3

Finally, you may wish to upload and redownload your report to make use of the breaking news template.

Step 4

Edit together every report into a full-length news program. Consider showing this program on your school website, at an assembly or on parents' showcase night.

Step 5

Students would appreciate a screenshot of their report to include in their advocate pack.

Step 6

Use this report in combination with students’ completed advocate packs to assess their learning across this unit.

Reflection

Students reflect on their final products, the process and the content using an exit card strategy. For example, How has learning been for you? What would you like to learn next? What was your favourite way of learning?

Differentiated Learning

The nature of the task is open-ended, providing differentiation for a wide range of learning abilities.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

ARL - Sustainable News (Assessment)

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