Teaching Sequence

15 minutes	Part A: Think, Pair, Share activity
20 minutes	Part B: House, home, shelter Venn diagram activity
20 minutes	Part C: Viewing THE OASIS
05 minutes	Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: Think, Pair, Share activity

Ask students to work through a Think, Pair, Share activity. Start by writing the word 'home' on the whiteboard to guide them through the activity.

THINK: Provide students with 1-2 minutes to quietly think about what a home is. They summarise their ideas on the Student Worksheet during this time. You may also wish to pose some questions to get the students thinking, such as:

What does a home look like?
What does a home sound like?
What does a home feel like?

PAIR: Ask students to pair up with a classmate and share their answers. Encourage students to discuss their ideas by identifying any similarities or differences they found between them. Allow 4-5 minutes for the pairs to share.

SHARE: Once pairs have had time to share their thoughts together, encourage students to share in a whole class discussion. Allow each pair to present a general summary of their thoughts while encouraging other students to agree with, challenge or question their ideas.

You may also wish to guide the discussion by asking some prompting questions such as those listed below:

Is it only physical factors that make up a home?
Does there need to be a family living in a house to make it a home?
Is a home a direct reflection of the people that live in it?
How can an individual’s home impact their health and well being?

Students should then summarise their new ideas on the Student Worksheet.

Part B: House, home, shelter Venn diagram activity

Step 1.

Ask students to pair up again with their partner from the first activity to complete a Venn diagram to compare and contrast between a 'shelter', a 'house' and a 'home'.

Step 2.

Provide students with a large piece of butcher's paper so that they can draw a Venn diagram with three circles overlapping. Ask students to write one of the following terms in each circle: home, shelter, house. In the areas that overlap, pairs should note the ideas that are common for each term. In those areas that do not overlap, pairs should note the descriptions that are different for each term.

Step 3.

Briefly acknowledge and discuss the most frequently occurring ideas - ask the class about why those words and ideas appeared in their discussion, and what that means about their common understanding of the categories.

Step 4.

Ask students to summarise their ideas on the Student Worksheet.

Part C: Viewing THE OASIS

Step 1.

As a class, watch part two of THE OASIS.

THE OASIS - Part 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx3CjeU-Gmc&list=PL5D5EBAE4CF2F2D61)

Step 2.

Stop the clip at 0:34 seconds and guide a class discussion around where students believe the young people in the clip will sleep if only 14 beds are available at the Oasis Youth Support Network.

Ask students to be as specific as possible; rather than simply saying 'the streets', they may wish to include examples such as 'abandoned buildings' or 'a friend's couch'.

Step 3.

Stop the clip again at 3:12 minutes and ask the class to discuss the conditions that the young people were staying in.

Would students consider it a house, home or shelter based on their Venn diagrams from the previous activity?

As a class, discuss the health issues that may arise when young people sleep in the conditions depicted. You may wish to discuss any of the following:

Lack of sanitation and hygiene leading to increases in illness.
Poor security leading to theft, violence and a lack of personal safety.
No access to kitchen facilities leading to poor nutrition and hunger.
Lack of personal furnishings such as beds and blankets, leading to cold/heat exposure.

Step 4.

Finally, stop the clip at 5:40 minutes and discuss the issues that are being faced by Emma and Trent. You may wish to focus on what additional requirements and supports Emma and Trent may need now that they have a baby. Some possible things to consider may be:

Extra space.
Clean and safe environment.
Baby cot, clothing, nappies, bottles and the like.
Quiet environment.

Ask the students if they would consider Emma, Trent and baby Destiny to still be homeless, considering they are temporarily staying with Captain Paul Moulds and his family. Does their situation fit any of the descriptions that they came up with in their Venn diagrams?

Step 5.

Invite students to consider a health or safety issue that the clip shows Emma and Trent facing, and summarise the support that was provided (or could be provided) by places such as The Oasis to assist them. Students should respond in writing on the Student Worksheet.

Reflection

This reflection activity requires students to move from one side of the room to another to demonstrate their change in thinking about a set of statements about the topic.

Ask students to stand on one side of the classroom, and to move to the opposite side of the room if their opinion on the statement has changed (the side of the room that they cross to doesn't matter- they are simply embodying a change of point-of-view).

Read out the statements below one at a time, and ask students to cross the room if their opinion has changed. After studnets have moved, ask for individuals to volunteer to explain how their thinking has changed. After the second round, and if they are comfortable doing so, some of the less vocal students could be asked to justify their change of perspective.

There is a difference between being houseless and homeless.
A young person who has left home but is sleeping on a friend's couch is not technically homeless.
Homeless youth are largely influenced by their peers to engage in risk taking behaviours.
Having a shelter to sleep in is better than having nothing at all.

In the event that students don't cross the room, ask one or two to explain why they have stayed where they are.

Then, on the Student Worksheet, students outline their change in perspective around the ideas of 'house', 'home' and 'shelter' by completing the statement: "I used to think....but now I think...."

Differentiated Learning

Extension - Ask students to read through or listen to the interview Couch Surfing Limbo: Young People Falling Through the Cracks at: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/worldtoday/couch-surfing-limbo-young-people-falling-through-the-cracks/9188616 and choose a quote from the interview that stands out to them. They could then articulate a response to the following questions:

Explain why you chose the quote.
Based on the quote you chose, what changes have occurred or need to occur to ensure a better outcome for homeless youth?
What do you think the purpose of the interview is?

Provisional Learning Support - For Part B, students could find images that summarise their groups' understanding of the terms 'house', 'home' and 'shelter'. For Part C, inform students of what they should be looking for before watching each section of the clip.

The Oasis - Tuning In to Youth Homelessness 2

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