Family Story Sharing

Year Level

Foundation to Year 1 (P-1)

Duration

60 minutes

Unit Title

Exploring Family Stories in Art

Lesson 2: Discussing Our Own Family Stories

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Australian Curriculum Links

Content Descriptions

• Visual Arts Foundation to Year 1
• Use play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to discover possibilities and develop ideas (AC9AVAFD01).
• Explore ideas, experiences and cultural stories through visual arts (aligned through storytelling and personal narratives).
• Share their artworks with audiences (AC9ADAFP01).

Achievement Standards

• Students experiment with improvisation and exploration of ideas to represent feelings, experiences and observations.
• They are able to share ideas about their artworks and contribute to discussions about art, using simple art language.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Discuss and share simple stories about their own family.
2. Use imagination and personal memories to brainstorm ideas for creating visual artwork.
3. Collaborate with a classmate to help narrow down and develop their chosen family story idea.
4. Begin to plan a narrative visual artwork based on personal or family experiences.

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Materials

• Large sheets of paper or whiteboard for brainstorming
• Drawing paper
• Pencils, crayons, coloured markers
• Visual aids (e.g., family photos, story picture cards)
• Name tags or labels for pairs
• Comfortable space for paired discussion

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Lesson Structure

1. Introduction and Engagement (10 minutes)

• Teacher-led discussion: Gather the class in a circle and invite students to think about their families. Use simple open questions:
• "Who is in your family?"
• "What is something special that your family does together?"
• Show example images (e.g., drawings or photos of families in different activities) to stimulate ideas.
• Explain that today, they will talk with their friends about family stories they could share through art.

Purpose: Activate prior knowledge and connect personal experience to the art unit theme.

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2. Brainstorming Family Stories (15 minutes)

• Students stay seated in the group or move to tables.
• Whole-class brainstorming: Teacher records ideas on large paper or whiteboard.
• Encourage students to suggest who is in their family stories (parents, siblings, pets, friends) and what happened (a birthday, a trip, a special moment).
• Use guiding questions:
• "What people will be in your story?"
• "What fun or important thing happened in your family?"
• Prompt students to think of simple sequences or events.

Teacher Strategy: Use scaffolding language prompts and sentence starters to support language development and participation.

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3. Partner Sharing Activity (20 minutes)

• Pair students up (mix levels if possible).
• Each pair shares their family story ideas with each other.
• They discuss which story is most interesting or easiest to draw.
• Use a visual checklist or simple worksheet:
• Who is in your story?
• What will happen in your story?
• What colours or shapes will you use?
• Encourage pairs to provide positive feedback to each other.

Teacher Role: Circulate, facilitate conversations with prompting questions, and encourage shy students.

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4. Narrowing Down and Choosing Stories (10 minutes)

• Pairs share their preferred story idea with the teacher or small group.
• The teacher helps support children in clarifying and simplifying their ideas where needed.
• Students draw a quick thumbnail or symbolic sketch representing their chosen story concept.
• Reinforce the idea that this is the first step before creating their full artwork in future lessons.

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5. Reflection and Closure (5 minutes)

• Gather the class and have a short sharing session where a few pairs volunteer to talk about their family story idea.
• Reinforce themes: family, sharing, imagination.
• Explain what will happen next lesson (planning and starting their artwork).

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Differentiation and Support

• Provide sentence starters for children requiring language support, e.g., "In my family, I like when we..."
• Use visual aids and gestures to support understanding.
• Allow non-verbal sharing options such as drawing simple pictures for those who find verbalising difficult.
• Pair more confident speakers with less confident learners for peer support.

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Assessment

• Formative Assessment:
• Observation of participation in brainstorming and partner sharing.
• Listening for ability to express basic story elements: characters and events.
• Review pairs’ thumbnail sketches to check understanding of narrative structure.
• Informal teacher notes about students’ use of art language and narrative development for ongoing planning.

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Possible Scaffolding Questions for Teachers

• Who will you put in your story? Why?
• What happens first in your family story?
• How do you feel about your story?
• Can you tell me more about what you will draw?

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Curriculum Connections Highlights

• Encourages self-expression and personal storytelling through visual arts aligned to Foundation to Year 1 Visual Arts content descriptions.
• Develops oral language skills and collaboration consistent with general capabilities in literacy and personal and social capability.
• Fosters arts practices like imagination, creativity, and communicating ideas through drawing and discussion.
• Supports cultural identity and diversity through sharing personal family narratives, resonating with First Nations perspectives of storytelling and community.

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This lesson plan balances structured teacher guidance with child-led exploration and peer interaction appropriate for young learners in Years P-1, neatly following the Australian Curriculum (v9) requirements for Visual Arts and complementary literacy development.