Lesson Ideas for Primary Students

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English/Literacy

What is diversity? What are some of the ways that people can be different from each other?
What is Harmony Day? What does harmony mean? What are some examples of harmony in nature/in the world?
Word challenge: How many words with three letters or more can you make from the letters in the words ‘Celebrate Australia’s Diversity’?
Two sides to every story: Write a short account of an event from two different points of view.
Acrostic poem: Brainstorm some words associated with cultural diversity in Australia and choose one to write an acrostic poem.
Book review: Write a book review of a text which has diversity as its theme.
Family diversity: Give a talk about your family’s heritage, or how they differ from each other in other ways.
Debate: ‘Variety is the spice of life’.
Oral presentation: Give a short presentation about an Australian you admire who has a different cultural background to your own.

Language treasure hunt: Use your class/school mates as a resource to ‘collect’ basic words or expressions in other languages.
Borrowed words: Search the internet to compile a list of words commonly used in English that have been borrowed from other languages.
Where does your name come from? Research the cultural origins of first or last names. Do they have a meaning? Are there variations of your name in other languages eg John/Ivan/ Giovanni/Johann?
Linguists: Find out how many people in your class/school are bilingual or multilingual.
Body language: Ask schoolmates from various cultural backgrounds what gestures they would use to show the following: ‘Come here’, ‘Go away’, ‘I don’t know’, ‘Crazy’, ‘OK’, ‘Good’, ‘Yes’, ‘No’.
Roll call: Say “good morning/afternoon” in a different language each week.
Diverse scripts: Can any of your classmates write in another script (eg Korean, Arabic)? Ask them to write your name in this script.

Painting to music: Listen to a diversity of music styles and represent what you hear with different colours and brushstrokes to create an abstract piece.
Diverse dancing: Have members of the class demonstrate a dance they have learned. Teach some of the steps to classmates.
Movement to music: Listen to a diversity of music styles and represent what you hear through movement.
Class collage: Make a collage that represents the diversity of your class. Be open to the many different ways of doing this.
Self portrait: Mix paint to match, as closely as possible, the colour of your skin, hair and eyes. Aim for realism in portraying your features.
Aussie art: investigate some of the many techniques used by Australian artists that have been drawn from other cultures eg dot painting, batik, mosaics, papier mache, origami etc.
Colour of culture: Find out what meaning or significance colours have in different cultures. Create a design in one colour to show what it means in a particular culture.
Building designs: Look at local buildings to find design features that have been inspired by different cultures/religions.
Everyone Belongs Logo: Design a logo that shows that everyone belongs in your class/school/town/city/country.
Harmony Day banner: Create a banner to advertise Harmony Day and display it where parents and community can see it.
Musical tastes: Bring a piece of music that one of your parents likes and play it for the class. What are its origins?

Indigenous technology: Examine the basic principles underlying traditional Australian Indigenous technology eg boomerangs/flight.
Diverse nature: Look at ways that diversity exists and functions in nature eg ecosystems: coral reef, rainforest, desert.
Using technology: Investigate how technology can help to bring people together and break down barriers.
Aussie scientists: Research some famous Australian scientists and their backgrounds.
Herb garden: Establish a class herb garden. Where did they originally come from? Think of a dish the class can make with the herbs eg herbed bread.
Flora: Investigate the trees and plants in your school. How many are native? Where did the others come from?
Fauna: Investigate the birds, insects and other animals you see around your school. How many are native? Where did the others come from?

Local Indigenous Country: Find out the name of the traditional Indigenous custodians of the land on which your school is built. Include an ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ statement in your daily class routine.
Indigenous visitor: If possible, have an elder from the local Indigenous people come to your school to do a ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony and/or visit your classroom.
Colours in cultures: Make a list of colours. Ask people from a variety of different cultural backgrounds what each colour represents in their culture of origin.
My groups: List all the groups to which you belong eg team, family, friendship group, leisure activity, hobby etc.
Pets: What breed of dog/cat/other pet do you have, or would you like? In what country did that breed originate?
Places of worship: Find out how many different places of worship there are in your community. Who worships there?
Fashion designers: Research some Australian fashion designers. What is their background? Does it influence their designs?
Architects: Research some Australian architects, or architects who have designed famous Australian buildings. What is their background? Does it influence their designs?
Diverse mates: Find out the many ways in which your classmates are diverse: hobbies, interests, things they dislike, favourite colour/food/music/movie/TV program/car etc.

Dinner last night: Conduct a class survey of what children had for dinner the previous night. Investigate the origins of all the dishes.
Aussie sports: What sports are played in Australia? Where did they all originate?
Food alphabet: Make a list of foods available in Australia that begin with the letters A to Z. Find out where each food originated.
Team mates: Choose an Australian sporting team. Research the heritage of each team member.
Alternative therapies: Identify some of the alternative medical or health therapies in Australia. Where did they originate?
Relax: Try some methods of relaxation that are practised in Australia (eg Tai Chi, Yoga, Meditation). Where did they come from?

Survey graph: Survey the class/unit/school about the languages spoken in their homes. Construct a column graph of the results and display it in the school.
Bilingual counting: Get a bilingual classmate to teach you how to count to 10 in their other language.
Diverse symbols: Ask your parents to write down the symbols they learned as children for the four basic maths operations. Compare them with your classmates. Are there any differences?
Stats & facts: Use the statistics from the latest Census (the Australian Bureau of Statistics) to find out some key information about Australia’s population eg most commonly spoken languages other than English, countries of birth etc.
School stats: Develop some statistics of your own about your school student population. Display them for everyone to see, or include them in the newsletter.
Building shapes: Look at some Australian buildings that have been influenced by other cultures. What shapes can you see in them?