Little J & Big Cuz is an animated children’s series centred on 2 Aboriginal children growing up with their nanna and their much-loved dog. Now in development of its fifth season, the show explores their early experiences of school as they learn to navigate new environments, relationships and routines with the support of their teacher, Miss Chen. In this blog series, Miss Chen shares practical Foundation to Year 2 classroom ideas inspired by the show, drawing on resources that teachers can access and download for free from the Little J & Big Cuz website.
Hello, I’m Miss Chen, a primary teacher who believes learning grows through curiosity, responsibility and strong connections to Country. In my classroom, students are encouraged to work together, solve problems and reflect on their experiences as they make sense of the world around them.
As the only teacher at my school, I’m always looking for ways to keep learning engaging for my Foundation to Year 2 students by building on their interests and ideas. My father was born in South-East Asia, while my mother’s family has lived in Australia for generations. Through my mum, I developed an appreciation for the land and the importance of Aboriginal cultures, and I continue to learn through my relationships with Elders, families and members of my local community.
On this blog, I’ll be sharing some of the free Little J & Big Cuz resources I’ve been using in my classroom, along with practical ideas for bringing them to life with students.
In today's activity, my students learn more about natural and processed materials in Foundation Science.
To spark their curiosity, I filled a large tub with a range of materials, including pieces of bark, stones, cork, plastic, fabric, rubber, metal and wood. I then placed 2 hoops on the floor labelled ‘natural materials’ and ‘processed materials’, and we began by talking about what those terms mean.
I was delighted to discover that many of the students already had a good understanding of the difference between materials that come from nature and those that have been made or changed by people. One by one, they selected an item from the tub and placed it in the hoop they thought was correct. The wood laminate certainly got them thinking, as there was plenty of discussion about where it belonged.
We then added another layer of challenge by sorting the materials into 4 groups – natural and hard, natural and soft, processed and hard, and processed and soft. This encouraged students to look more closely at the properties of each material and explain their thinking.
To finish the lesson, the students became ‘materials detectives’ and searched our classroom for examples of different materials in use. Before long, they had identified glass, concrete, plastic, fabric, rubber and many more.
To continue the learning at home, I invited students to start a Science journal with their families. They will collect specimens or photographs of different materials and classify them according to their properties. I’m looking forward to seeing what they discover and sharing their findings in an upcoming lesson.
The resource mentioned in this blog post is directly related to Little J & Big Cuz Episode 8 ‘Where’s Aaron?’ It is recommended that your students view the episode before engaging in the activities listed in the resource.
Did you know there are 50 episodes across 4 series of Little J & Big Cuz available to watch on SBS on Demand? The series is also available in 17 First Nations languages. Visit the Little J & Big Cuz website to view the full suite of resources for each episode.
