Year 5 and 6  (Ages 9 – 11)

10 weeks

This unit of work explores the profound effects of climate change on our planet, using poetry as a lens. Central to this narrative are the picture books Fire and Flood by Jackie French, illustrated by Brice Whatley. These stories serve as examples of the devastating consequences of extreme weather events, highlighting how wildfires and floods drastically alter landscapes, ecosystems, and communities.

• Use stimulus materials, such as images, events, texts, questions, and observations, as inspiration for their own making and responding to drama.
• These experiences support students in developing aesthetic knowledge across cognitive, sensory, emotive, and physical domains, and in valuing artworks and practices from diverse times, places, and other cultural contexts.
• Describe and use selected elements of drama they experience, create and/or perform.
• Describe where, why and/or how drama is created and/or performed across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts.
• Use selected elements of drama.
  Collaborate to improvise and/or devise drama that communicates ideas, perspectives and/or meaning.
• Perform their work in informal settings.

Literacy; Personal and social capability; Intercultural understanding; Numeracy; ICT capability; Critical and creative thinking

As a summative task, students create a performance poetry piece using individual reflections on their personal stories about the effect of climate on the planet. The poetry is shaped by dramatic experiences and class research, conveying personal messages about sustainability.

Students collaboratively sequence and refine their refelections into an original poem, which is then transformed into a dynamic performance using the elements of drama.

This unit of work can be delivered as an integrated unit, combining English, Science and Visual Arts. Students can engage with sustainability concepts across disciplines, developing literacy and communication skills in English, exploring environmental and ecological knowledge in Science, and expressing ideas creatively through the Visual Arts.

This unit was created by:

• Marthy Watson

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