Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: It’s a jumble

20 minutes

Find Out: Unpacking communities

25 minutes

Take Action: Doing our bit

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

explore why people participate in communities, and how their own actions can help build an inclusive and welcoming environment.

Success criteria

Students can:

explain why people participate in communities
identify ways they can contribute to a more inclusive and supportive community
create an action plan to help build inclusion in their school or local area.

Tune In: It’s a jumble

Preparation

Using sticky notes, write each letter of the word ‘community’ on separate sticky notes. Repeat this process 4 times and place each ‘community’ set into a separate envelope.

Step 1

Allocate students into 4 groups and provide each group with an envelope. Ask students to create a word using all of the letters. Once students have discovered the word ‘community’, invite them to discuss the word community in their groups.

Step 2

Encourage students to share their thoughts on the meaning of community. Using the whiteboard, list any applicable vocabulary terms students use to describe the community.

Suggested answers:

belonging
togetherness
respect
support
teamwork
culture
connection
acceptance
trust
friendship

Step 3

Next, collaboratively create a class definition of the word community using the vocabulary terms to display on the whiteboard.

Learning support: Provide students with a variety of sample class definitions of community to support them in creating their own, such as:

A community is a group of people who help and respect each other.
A community is a place where everyone feels safe, supported and included.

Find Out: Unpacking communities

Preparation

Print and cut the community cards for this activity. Ensure that the Set A and Set B cards are separate.

Step 1

Give students a set of sticky notes. On the sticky notes, invite students to brainstorm different types of communities. These could be communities they are involved in or simply aware of, such as a sporting club, school, cultural group, or suburb.

Learning support: If students are unsure whether their example fits the definition of a community, guide them to use the class definition they created during the Tune In task.

Step 2

Display the sticky notes on a wall for students to view. Invite them to participate in a gallery walk to consider and identify the number of communities they are personally part of.

Step 3

Divide students into 2 groups. Give Set A cards to group 1 and Set B cards to group 2. Set A cards each show a community role, and Set B cards describe how the roles help the community.

Explain to students that they will need to move around the room to find their match as they work together to match each community role (Set A) with the correct description of how it helps the community (Set B).

Step 4

Once students have located their match, use the Think, Pair, Share thinking routine by asking students to reflect and discuss:

Why are communities important?
Why do people choose to be part of a community?

Step 5

Allow each group time to share their thinking and discussion.

Take Action: Doing our bit

Step 1

Your students' task is to reflect on a positive action they have witnessed in their classroom and identify why this act was important in developing their classroom community. Ask students to fill out the activity sheet in which they nominate a peer they have seen providing community service, in or out of the classroom, that has positively impacted their class culture.

For example, Callum helped Maxine understand a Maths question because Mr Dean was busy. This helped develop trust in the classroom and showed that he cared for the needs of others.

Step 2

Invite students to share the positive action they have witnessed. Identify an area of the classroom where students can display their activity sheet as they reflect on the importance of these actions within the classroom community. This will assist students with the following task, where they identify how they will contribute to their community.

Step 3

Invite students to independently draft a short action plan on the Student Worksheet on how they can actively participate in their school or local community to promote positive action and inclusion. In the plan, students should identify:

What will I do?
Who will it help?
How will it make our community stronger?

Reflection

Step 1

Ask students to form a circle. Explain to students that this ‘circle chat’ is a respectful and supportive space where everyone can share.

Step 2

Invite students to take turns presenting their short action plan to the group. Encourage students to listen and actively provide positive feedback.

Building Inclusive Communities

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Summary

Lesson Guides and Printables

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