Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes	Tune in: Who can make a difference?
20 minutes	Find out: Letters for change
40 minutes	Take action: Writing letters
10 minutes	Reflection

Tune In: Who can make a difference?

Step 1.

Begin the lesson by asking students who has the power to make a difference in their community. Collate student thinking on the board - they will likely suggest adults in positions of power in the community. Follow up this brainstorm by asking them whether they think children and young adults can stimulate any social change - they may be unsure, or think perhaps young adults could but not children.

Step 2.

Show students this video: Molly Wright: How every child can thrive by five | TED Allow them to just watch, and at the end, ask them to discuss in pairs how this video confirmed or challenged their beliefs about who can make a difference in their community. Students should come to the understanding that anyone, even a 7-year-old, can communicate a message of change.

Molly Wright’s TEDTalk was the most popular of 2021 - ask students what this suggests about the power of children and young people to communicate a message for social change? The goal is that students will feel empowered to convey a message for change.

Step 3.

Project the article (abc.net.au/news/2021-12-22/molly-wright-most-popular-ted-talk-2021/100716872) onto the board and read it through with your students.

Find Out: Letter for change

Step 1.

Direct students to the information about Letters to the Editor, and the checklist for writing one.

What is a Letter to the Editor?

Ensure you go through the steps on the worksheet with your students and aim to answer any questions that are raised.

Step 2.

Ask students to use highlighters or coloured pens to identify each component in the Letter to the Editor sample (provided). This will provide them with a model text to work towards in their writing. Students should work in pairs or small groups.

Step 3.

Project the sample Letter to the Editor onto the whiteboard, and ask groups to share the different elements they identified. Annotate the board to reflect student observations. If students have differences of opinion on the different elements, facilitate this discussion - there is not always one clear answer, and the conversation surrounding these is valuable for student learning.

OR

Step 4.

If students have acquired sufficient practice with writing letters you may wish to ask them to consider various programs or projects they believe are striving to make a difference and write an article about it for the local newspapers.

If you decide this is a better-suited task for your students consider the following prompts for a program or project they believe deserves to be featured in a news article:

Define the scope of the program or project
Create a work breakdown structure explaining why and how it aims to address issues and make a difference
Define project activities or initiatives
Estimate activity duration, costs, and resources and how others can get involved or stay updated with their progress.

Click here to download Tips For Writing a News Article factsheet to support your student's learning.

If you can sense that students are developing heightened emotions or pressure while completing the tasks, ensure you let students know that not all change has to be significant and immediate, and this is not their responsibility. However, the more people talk, be proactive, and work together to disseminate significant issues and the great work of others, the more impactful change can be.

Take action: Writing letters

Step 1.

Students will now be given the opportunity to write their own Letter to the Editor, based on their learning and understanding of how Australia currently responds to disasters, and how they think this should be changed. Encourage them to use the planning document found on their Student Worksheet to guide their thinking.

Step 2.

Provide students time to write up their Letters to the Editor. They may write by hand using the space provided on the Student Worksheet or type if they have access to a device.

Step 3.

If students are particularly proud of their writing, encourage them to send their letters to the local newspaper, or a state or national publication. Alternatively, they might like to send their letters to their local MPs, to make their ideas known on a political scale.

If students are feeling super creative ask them to stage an interview and practice body movement and facial expressions OR record their letter and experiment with tone, pitch, assertion and exaggeration. All of the noted skills are powerful learning tools to help students in their daily life.

Reflection

Provide students with time to read and reflect on their peers' writing.
Ask students to complete the reflection on their Student Worksheet - How has this activity changed your perspective on who can make a difference or motivate change?

Differentiated learning

Extension

Students who are seeking extension could be encouraged to find a published article to respond to rather than just writing their letters based on their point of view. Encourage them to complete a Google News search for their topic of interest, limiting the scope to Australia and the last 3-6 months.

Provisions for learning support

Students with individual needs should find the scaffolded nature of this task accessible, however, the word count could be reduced if needed. They may find it helpful to use a device to type instead of handwriting and could access speech-to-text technology to further support them in constructing their point of view.

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?

Resilient Australia - To Create Change You Need To Be Heard - Write A Letter To The Editor

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