Some groups of students will require different or extra sets of activities to help enrich their learning, these can be extension activities, culturally relevant activities or supportive activities.
Enrichment Activities
Culturally Relevant Resources
Within the Australian Curriculum, the importance of supporting and engaging with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures is highlighted as the curriculum focuses on reflecting 'their identities and their cultures'(ACARA 2017) within each learning area so the students 'can fully participate in the curriculum and build their self-esteem.' Furthermore, the inclusion of these cultures engages all students 'in reconciliation, respect and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures' (ACARA 2017).
In order to support these students I have included some resources relevant to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures:
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First Contact - This resource is structured around the SBS documentary series First Contact, which 'takes a group of six well-known Australians with diverse, deeply entrenched preconceptions and opinions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on a journey into Aboriginal Australia' (SBS). The activity will support student learning about Aboriginal Culture, representation in media, and their abilities to analyse and evaluate media. The resource can be accessed here and the clips can be accessed here.
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The ABC Indigenous Portal- This website is a collection of Indigenous Australian stories in radio, news and TV form from the ABC and around Australia.
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NITV - NITV or National Indigenous Television 'is a channel made by, for and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people' (NITV 2015).
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Ten Canoes - This resource is an activity structured around the film Ten Canoes that offers insight into indigenous culture and it's depiction through film as well as 'a way of exploring change and continuity in that culture in modern times'(Enhance TV 2017).
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This website & this website provides comprehensive lists of many more relevant resources.
Extension Resources
Some students will excel at certain activities so it is essential and handy to have some extension resources available that students can go on with.
ACMI have an online Digital Learning Centre where students can engage in a number of different learning activities. Students can engage with:
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15 Second Place - 8 Modules about art, performance and the moving image outside the traditional setting.
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Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing - 8 Modules that break down the book and the animated film.
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ACMI Generator -The ACMI generator is an online 'creative studio space for teachers and students to explore exemplary work by their peers and industry professionals' (ACMI 2017). Students can explore, comment, tag, and share creative work and education resources.
Another resource is PlaceStories, which is a 'digital storytelling and communications system. It provides individuals and groups with powerful, easy to use tools to create, communicate and collaborate' (PlaceStories 2017). Students can use this website to create and collaborate on different story telling methods.
NFSA also have a Digital Learning Site that students can look through to extend their knowledge. This site is also excellent for teachers to develop resources for activities.
Supportive Resources
Some students may need more support than others to understand the content. These resources can be utilised to support and enrich the learning of such students:
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This website outlines a number of techniques that can be utilised in the classroom such as, breaking down the task into small steps, providing more hands on activities, utilising visual aids and regular feedback.
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This website outlines a number of ways technology can be used to enrich and support student learning, such as collaboration, pod casts and video streaming, blogging and even games.
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ACMI has developed an online game to help students with their literacy, this can also be used to help support script writing.