Growing and Changing

Overview

Curriculum Area: Health and Physical Education
Year Level: Kindergarten (Foundation Level in the Australian Curriculum)

Focus Area: Personal, Social and Community Health

Learning Intentions

Students will:

• Learn how their bodies grow and change over time.
• Identify and describe external body parts and their functions.
• Recognise the uniqueness of individual bodies.

Success Criteria

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Describe the process of body growth and changes.
• Identify major external body parts and explain simple functions.
• Understand that each person's body is unique and grows differently.

Australian Curriculum Outcomes

• PDe-1: Identifies who they are and how people grow and change.
• PDe-2: Identifies people and demonstrates protective strategies that help keep themselves healthy, resilient, and safe.

Materials Required

• Pictures of animals and humans at different growth stages
• Timeline worksheets
• Crayons and markers
• Matching game cards
• Music source for "Growing Up" by Laurie Berkner

Lesson Activities

Introduction (10 minutes)

1. Visual Engagement:
   Show colourful pictures of animals at different stages of growth (e.g., caterpillar to butterfly, puppy to dog).

2. Class Discussion:
   Engage the students by discussing observable growth and changes in the pictures and make parallels to human growth (e.g., baby to child).

Discussion (10 minutes)

• Human Growth Stages:
  Talk about the different stages of human life: baby, toddler, child, adult. Use simple language and relatable examples.

Activity (20 minutes)

• Personal Timeline:
  Provide students with printed worksheets that resemble timelines.

• Creative Expression:
  Ask students to draw or paste pictures symbolising various stages of their life so far on the timeline. Encourage them to share their timelines with the class, inviting students to describe how they have grown.

Interactive Activity (15 minutes)

• Matching Game:
  Use cards that depict various growth stages of both animals and humans. Facilitate a matching game where students pair animals/humans to their respective stages (e.g., chick to chicken, baby to adult).

Conclusion (5 minutes)

1. Recap Discussion:
   Briefly recap the stages of growth discussed and highlight that everyone grows uniquely.

2. Song Time:
   End the lesson with a joyful sing-along to "Growing Up" by Laurie Berkner, reinforcing the theme of growing and changing.

Differentiation

• Visual Aids:
  Provide extra visual support for English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) students with labelled images.

• Kinesthetic Learning:
  Offer tactile objects related to body parts for students with ADHD, allowing a hands-on exploration alongside the lesson.

Assessment

• Formative Assessment:
  Monitor students' participation in discussions and interactive activities, taking note of engagement and comprehension.

• Summative Assessment:
  Assess students' timelines by checking for correct sequencing and effort in documenting growth stages.

Reflection

Reflect on the effectiveness of the visual and interactive components in helping students understand and engage with the concept of growth and change. Consider feedback from the students about their favourite parts of the lesson to inform future planning.

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This lesson plan uses foundational elements of the Australian Curriculum to strategically develop students' understanding of personal growth and diversity from an early age. By incorporating visual, auditory, and kinesthetic activities, it aims to cater to the varied learning preferences of young students.