Topic: Our Place - A Social Studies Thematic Unit

Setting: Learning about New Zealand.
Hikutaia - The natural and built environment.

Achievement Objectives:
To identify and represent visually significant natural and built features of the local environment.
To enable the children to describe the places that are important to them and to say why.

Skills Focus:
Knowledge
Communication
Mapping

Specific Learning Outcomes:

The children will identify three natural and six built features of their environment.
The children will convey information and ideas using oral, written, and visual forms.
The children will communicate confidently about their environment.

Learning Activities:

Brainstorm ideas to elicit ideas about the district. What do we know?

Familarisation walk along the main road to identify various buildings, trees, stream, bridge, hills, children's homes etc.

Make an observational drawing of a building in Hikutaia.

Construct a model of a building in Hikutaia.

Make a large wall map showing the main road and the local landmarks. Shared writing of simple statements about these places.

Record the daily weather on individual calendars.

Other Essential Learning Areas:

Visual Language:
Looking at local signs.
Take photographs of the various landmarks.

Written Langage:
Factual writing for charts.
Labelling - models - photos
Make a bochure advertising Hikutaia.

Oral Language:
Give directions on how to get to - - - - - -

Art:
Paint yourself at your favourite place in Hikutaia.

Assessment:

Describe the place in Hikutaia that you like best of all and say why. (Written or oral.) Tape record oral descriptions.

Make a map of how to get to a particular place in Hikutaia from the school. Include important land marks.