CLASSROOM RESOURCESJunior Years: 3 to 6

MATHS:

● Map the five Catholic Dioceses of Queensland.● Calculate the area of each Diocese, order them from smallest to largest.● Give directions for moving between the different dioceses. ● Research the number of students in Catholic Schools in Queensland. ● Work out the percentage of students who attend Catholic Schools.● Create graphs depicting …

Research and learn the local Indigenous counting system, names for the seasons.

Basically, whatever you are working on in maths during Catholic Education Week, use the figures from Catholic Schools in your problem solving and investigations.

Multiplication

For every correct answer you choose, 10 grains of rice are raised to help end world hunger through the World Food Programme (http://freerice.com/#/multiplication-table/17479). This activity instils values such as charity while improving maths skills.

Counting on Frank by Rod Clements Activities (numeracy activity)Read the book to the class as a prompt and get them to work out the number or lollies in a jar you have organised in the class.

Measure the height of every student in the class and get them to calculate the number of your classes it would take to go around the world if you put the students head to toe.

Back to backBack-to-Back involves a pair of classmates standing beside the blackboard with chalk in hand, facing away from one another. A third student says “numbers up,” requiring each competitor to write a number on the board within a specified range. The third student then says the sum or product of the two numbers. Using this information, a competitor wins by stating the other’s number first. Age Range: Years 2-6

Play Stand Up, Sit Down as a minds-on activity, adjusting the difficulty according to student age and skill level.The principle of the game is straightforward: You pick a number, and students must stand if the answer to an equation you read aloud matches that number. If it isn’t, they remain seated in a circle. You can modify requirements for standing as needed. For example, you can tell students to stand if the answer is: Greater than 10

An even numberA multiple of three

You can also alternate from addition to subtraction, and from multiplication to division. Age Range: Years 1-5

Math Facts RaceDivide students into teams at the back of the class, posting a grid sheet at the front for each group. One student from each team will run to the sheet, writing an answer in the appropriate grid. To practice multiplication, for example, a student would have to write 12 in the grid where the third row and fourth column meet.

The student returns to his or her team after answering, allowing a group member to run to the sheet. The group member can fill another grid or, if needed, correct a previous answer. This process repeats itself until a team wins by correctly filling its sheet.

Age Range: Years 2-5

101 and outAs the name implies, the goal is to score as close to 101 points as possible without going over. You need to divide your class in half, giving each group a die along with paper and a pencil. Groups take turns rolling the die, strategizing to count the number at face value or multiply it by 10. For example, students who roll a six can keep that number or turn it into 60.

One-Meter DashRun this quick game to improve perception and understanding of measurement.Grouping students in small teams, give them metre sticks. They then look around the room for two to four items they think add up to one metre long. In a few minutes, the groups measure the items and record how close their estimations were. Want more of a challenge? Give them a centimetre-mark instead of a metre, asking them to convert results to micrometres, millimetres and more.

ENGLISH:

Oral Language, Write...

Brainstorm about types of groups students belong to – friendship, sports, activities, community, informal, etc.

List groups in each:

● Friends – family, neighbourhood, school, class, peer support, buddy class, friends you haven't met

● Sports – hockey, soccer, netball, tennis, cricket, swimming …● Activities – dancing, scouts, drama, chess, gymnastics, Mini Vinnies, ● Community – school, parish, neighbourhood, state, country● Informal groups – things that you like doing that others like too – fishing, listening to music,

gardening, playing UNO, Pokemon …

Write about one of the groups you belong to (graphic organiser to organise ideas).

● Name it● Classify it (friend, sports, activities, community)● Describe it – size of group, type of activity● Positives – what you like about it, how it makes you a better person● Belonging – how do you know you belong? ● How does it make you feel?● Tell a partner about the group you belong to.

Share with the whole class something your partner told you. For example, one student belongs to a sports group. It is BMX…

Questions for discussion include:

● Can you belong to more than one group?● Does anyone in your class belong to the same group as you?● Did you learn that someone in your class likes the same activities as you?

Find a person/group of people who share an interest with you – have a chat about it.

● Do you think people in other parts of the country/world have the same groups? ● Like the same things? ● How do you know? (I've watched swimming/soccer/ on television, Olympics, community

groups, festivals, etc).

We might live in different parts of the world, but we are all like belonging to groups/ sharing a connection with others. We are many voices but one spirit. This activity helps students explore the importance of relationships, working together and having a sense of belonging.

Belonging (Jeannie Baker) – a fabulous wordless picture book that explores ideas of building community, working together, diversity, love, hope, common good, care of environment, from little things big things grow.

Share, discuss, develop, connect and challenge.

Other books on belonging:Whoever You Are (Mem Fox)I'm Australian Too (Mem Fox)Malala's Magic Pencil (Malala Yousafzai) – great for older studentsYouTube – Malala's Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai | Read Aloud by Auntie's Bedtime Stories

Catholic Mission – Song Competition

Catholic Mission are currently running a song competition based on the theme of the Extraordinary Month of Mission. The purpose of the competition is to engage children and young people of every Diocese in composing and ‘singing for mission’.

All school aged students, school music groups and choirs, parish choirs, youth groups, youth music groups/bands/choirs and individual music students up to the age of 19 years, are invited to compose a song and submit it to Catholic Mission. Competition closes 26/7/19.

This activity promotes energy, enthusiasm and unity while highlighting values.

This is a beautiful song that could be used for a range of purposes – Many Voices, One Spirit

Kevin Wood https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsvRwyJz08I. Would be certainly beautiful for meditation.

Puzzle ActivityTake a jigsaw puzzle that is representative of a whole. For example, a map of Australia or the world (dependent on age and ability), but before giving it to the class to complete take one piece out. Let the students create the puzzle and discover that there is a piece missing. Ask the following questions:

● What’s missing?● What happens because there is a piece missing? (incomplete)● Can we have a map (or whatever the picture is) with a piece missing? Why or why not?● What will make the picture complete?

Continue questioning to try and get the students to get to the point that a puzzle is like the church or like a community, it has many voices (pieces) yet to combines to make just one picture (spirit) and if a part is missing then it is incomplete. It needs all pieces. Ensure that the students are given the missing piece so that they can now see the whole picture.

(The same activity could be done with a recipe like playdough for example. Give the students the task of making the recipe but intentionally leave out the water so that the recipe won’t work. In this case, the water is the glue that binds it all together and if it is missing it is incomplete. The many voices (pieces) come together but it is missing an essential ingredient.)

Perhaps you could even do both activities, leaving the puzzle incomplete until after the recipe was made and that the students realised that there is one essential ingredient or piece that is missing. Parallel the two and complete both.

These activities highlight the importance of relationships, unity and belonging.

Wordle or Word Cloud

Take a word cloud program like Wordle or Word Cloud or something similar and take a text (could be the school mission statement for older students, a story book for younger students or even a song; for example, Tell the Good News by Andrew Chinn), that relates to inclusivity or belonging or any of the ideas presented in the theme. As a program like this highlights the most frequently used words (usually omitting a, is, the etc) students will be able to see the theme or idea that is the strongest in the text. (Andrew Chinn’s lyrics can be found at http://www.butterflymusic.com.au/resources/need-wordshttp://www.butterflymusic.com.au/resources/need-words)

You could also ask them what they think Many Voices One Spirit means to them. Type these responses in and again the most commonly occurring words are highlighted. Perhaps this could even be used with the biblical references given surrounding the theme. A great literacy activity that picks up frequency and then questions could be asked about whether or not they believe it encapsulates the theme or idea that is being portrayed. Suitable for all ages depending on the text and word cloud program used.

The Day the Crayons Came HomeRead or watch the story and using the similar themes as above talk about how eventually all the crayons came home and found their place. This was regardless of how they looked, they all found a place and belonged. It talks about everyone being welcome and everyone finding their own little space.