Essential Learning > VELS News
VELS News September 2009
1. What's the deal?
This teaching manual is for anyone who wants to educate young people about legal issues. It is aimed at 14 to 16 year olds or year 9 and 10 students. It has information and activities about:
The activities in this manual encourage young people to think critically about the law and learn about talk about issues with their peers. All the activities have been mapped to the Victorian Education Learning Standards. The manual also includes educator’s notes to help teachers and community educators use it in the classroom.
What's the deal? - PDF, 2.6mb Teachers manual for people working with young people about legal issues.
2. Consumer Affairs Victoria – Resources for Teachers
Resources for Secondary Teachers – provides information on CAV's School Speaker program and links to downloadable resources for the teaching and learning of Commerce, English, Maths, Consuming Planet Earth, and Health & Wellbeing.
The next two are from the newsletter ABC Learn Update – to subscribe yourself to the newsletter go to
http://www.abc.net.au/corp/email_newsletter/multi-subscribe.htm#Educational
3 California's Green Dream podcast – http://www.abc.net.au/rn/saturdayextra/
In California the government has mandated for an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2050, and introduced a range of really innovative measures to develop a green economy. Saturday Extra profiles some of the developments in California's green sector and we’ve put it all together in one special audio segment available as audio on demand or to podcast.
4 Free Ace Day Jobs DVD Pack – http://www.abc.net.au/acedayjobs/
In early August the ABC will be posting a 5 disc DVD pack to every Australian High School. It contains the complete collection of the Ace Day Jobs careers series. Produced by the ABC with the assistance of the Australian Government, Ace day Jobs is intended as a careers advice resource for high school students.
Each of the 86 episodes is a profile of a person working in an interesting and mostly science-based career. The stories are told in the Australian Story way, with each person describing their job in their own words, what the work involves, what they love the most about the job, and what advice they have for anyone interested in seeking a similar type of career.
The DVD is free, and we hope it finds a place in your school’s library.
5 Global Education Resources
The Global Education Victoria Project offers consultancy to all schools throughout Victoria. They can help your school develop a whole-school approach to a global perspective OR they can work with a faculty or particular level to plan a program. Professional Learning and the distribution of many of their resources is free to all Victorian schools.
Global Education Resources Flyer [PDF]
Resources available - [Word]
VELS News June 2009
VELS News April 2009
Five new activities – three from our national broadcaster the ABC and two new sample units from VCAA.
ABC Activities
1. Want to bring social media into the classroom but don't know where to start?
Pool is a social media project developed by ABC Radio National. It's a place to share your class's creative work with the Pool community and ABC producers. You can create a profile and upload text, audio, photos and videos. You can use Pool at your school to try out social media in a safe ABC environment, and explore remixing and collaborative media creation within a sound legal framework.
Pool has worked with educators on the My Street project - stories of student's streets which were then broadcast on Radio National. Coming up in 2009 is the Gene Pool project, an exciting Darwin Year media project. We'd love to hear from you if you've got ideas you want to explore with us. [external website]
2. Get students writing online with Heywire
Get your students blogging about the issues that matter to rural and regional Australia through Heywire.
Heywire is an initiative of ABC Radio, which encourages young people to share their thoughts, aspirations, ideas and dreams. The best stories are broadcast on radio, TV and through our website.
As a first-step towards digital literacy in the classroom, you can encourage your students to visit our website, read one of the four blog articles below, research/prepare and submit a response:
How can the government better communicate with young people?
How would you make your regional community a better place for young people to live?
What are some reasons why young people leave the country?
What are we going to do about binge drinking?
For more information about Heywire click here or call 1800 26 26 46 for a 2009 Heywire Information Pack.
3. The Gruen Transfer
Started on Wednesday 18 March, 9.30pm on ABC1. Repeats Thursdays, 9pm, ABC2.
Available on ABC iView [external website]
The Gruen Transfer is a show about advertising, how it works, and how it works on us. Hosted by Wil Anderson, it decodes and defuses the commercial messages that swirl through our lives, with the help of a panel of ad industry experts. Guests on the program face a series of challenges designed to show the thought processes - and, often, the brilliance - of advertising, as well as its understanding of who we are and what we want. Each week we examine the tactics used to sell a particular product; it could be cars or chocolate or cleaning products.
The Gruen Transfer website is full of more ideas and activities related to the shows [external website]
Sample Units from VCAA
4. Leadership – then and now - Level 5 [external website]
In Leadership - then and now students examine the concept of leadership by comparing leaders of an ancient or medieval society with leaders in contemporary Australian society.
They use brainstorming to develop ideas of what constitutes leadership and consolidate their understanding through their research and discussion. A focus on note-taking and documenting sources provides a starting point for evaluating the quality of evidence obtained. Suggested duration: 5 – 6 sessions (50 minutes per session).
5. Which path for me? - Level 6 [external website]
In Which path for me? students research career paths and identify possible careers that match their skills and interests. They then research their chosen career path and present their research as a report. In completing this unit, students identify the education and training requirements for their chosen career path, select suitable resources and technologies to assist with their research, and use subject-specific language and conventions to communicate their findings effectively. Suggested duration: 4 – 5 sessions (50 minutes per session).
VELS News February 2009
Ace Day Jobs > coming to you soon [external website]
Following on from last year’s bumper double DVD, the 2008 series of Ace Day Jobs will soon be landing in high schools across the country. In each episode someone talks about their job – what it involves, what they love about it, how they got into it, and what advice they would give to someone wanting to pursue the same vocation.
The strength of the series lies in the honesty, simplicity and genuine passion of each person’s story – they are left to talk about their experiences with no interruptions or leading questions. The website is also excellent, and provides a great resource for students who want to explore their options at their own pace. Over fifty past episodes are available to watch, with most episodes running to 5 minutes or less. Jobs range from ‘business brains’, ‘hands on’ and ‘creative types’ to ‘tech heads’, ‘investigators’ and ‘strategists’.
Enterprising Idea – Humanities – Economics Level 6 sample unit [external website]
The 1967 Referendum was a significant milestone in the progress towards equal rights for Indigenous Australians. It holds great symbolic importance for Indigenous Australians. In the campaign for the referendum, Victorians played a significant role.
In The 1967 Referendum, students evaluate the significance of the 1967 Referendum by:
This resource will be supplemented by other online materials developed in collaboration with the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated (VAEAI).
The VCAA acknowledges the support of Social Education Victoria (SEV) and the History Teachers Association of Victoria (HTAV) in the planning of this unit. The VCAA also acknowledges the contribution of Sue Gordon.
Downloads: Sample Units by Level – The 1967 Referendum
Source: http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/level6/referendum.html
For more details on Employability Skills: http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/crosscurricular/employability.html
Australian Federation of Societies for the Studies of Society and Environment - http://www.afssse.asn.au/
With the Olympic Games to be held in China in 2008, these resources can be used to build a better understanding of China and promote mutual understanding between Australia and China. The resource includes inquiry-based activities and resources enabling students in the middle years of schooling (Years 7-10) to develop a positive image of China and explore Australia’s relations with China.
Download all four units here. (1.18 MB Acrobat file) or download individual units from the links below.
Advance is a school based program that provides practical opportunities for young people to participate in their local community. Available to all Victorian Government secondary schools, Advance encourages young people’s participation and volunteering in community life. The essential elements are that young people DO something in their community, that they do it in PARTNERSHIP with a community organisation and that they CHOOSE an issue of concern or interest.
The Advance with the VELS Modules (Doc - 153KB)
The Advance with the VELS Modules (Download Level 5 PDF - 226KB)
Updates on the Victorian Essential Learning Standards from 2008 Law Week VELS activities
The Victorian Law Foundation has published the Law Week 2008 program. There are three VELS activities you can use with your students. Go to the for links
Activity 2 – Images of law and justice
This activity asks students to work in groups to analyse a range of images relating to law and justice and to explore key ideas relating to law and justice. Students complete a personal reflection and examine the theme set for law as part of their planning for the Law Week poster. The poster competition closes Thursday 13 March.
Activity 3 – Survival – law and justice
Students take on the role of contestants in a new reality television show – Survival. Working in groups, students design a system of law and justice for their community. Students complete a personal reflection and examine the theme set for law as part of their planning for the Law Week poster.
Activity 4 – Defining law and justice
Using the Melbourne Legal Precinct map, students complete mind maps to identify the key elements of a system of law and justice. Copies of the Legal Precinct map can be downloaded from the Victorian Law Foundation’s website. Students complete a personal reflection and examine the theme set for law as part of their planning for the Law Week poster.