Core Skills Analysis
English
Arrie engaged with cat books by asking questions, listening to explanations, and discussing maps and illustrations with her mother. She practised comprehension and oral communication by connecting what she saw in the books with questions and responses. Arrie also communicated her emotional needs clearly when she told her mother she wanted time alone. This activity supported vocabulary development, attentive listening, visual literacy, and expressing ideas in conversation.
Digital Technologies
Arrie followed a demonstration showing how to create a ghost animation and then successfully made an animation herself with support. She also designed characters on an iPad and used one in a shared game, practising sequencing, creative problem-solving, and digital production. Her request for help showed that she could identify a learning goal and seek assistance when needed. The activity also gave her experience using technology for both creative expression and collaborative play.
Health and Physical Education
Arrie recognised that she was hungry, accepted lunch and a doughnut, and communicated her needs to her mother. She participated in walking and running around the home, incorporating movement into the session. Later, when she became upset about a friendship situation, she expressed that she needed time alone and moved to another room independently. These actions showed developing awareness of physical needs, participation in active play, and use of a self-regulation strategy through taking space.
Mathematics
The maps included in the cat books provided Arrie with an opportunity to notice spatial representations and discuss location, although no formal measuring or calculation was recorded. While creating animations and characters, she also practised ordering steps and recognising that digital projects are built through sequences. Her movement around the house could support informal comparison of routes, distances, and time. These experiences offered early mathematical connections through spatial thinking, sequencing, and practical observation.
HASS
Arrie explored maps in her cat books and showed them to the support worker, engaging with representations of places and spaces. She also moved through different rooms of the home and later chose the front room as a place to take space, connecting locations with purposes and personal choices. The activity supported basic spatial awareness and understanding how people use familiar environments. No specific historical or civic content was described.
Tips
Tips: Turn the ghost animation into a short project by having Arrie plan three frames, label the sequence, and explain how each frame changes. Use the cat books to create a simple map-reading activity, such as locating landmarks, giving directions, or drawing a map of a fictional cat’s journey. Invite Arrie to write or record a storyboard for her character game, including dialogue and a beginning, middle, and ending. In a calm moment, develop a personal regulation plan together that includes noticing feelings, choosing a safe space, and identifying trusted ways to ask for support.
Book Recommendations
- The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds: A supportive story about creativity, confidence, and beginning with a simple mark.
- The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires: A humorous picture book about designing, revising, and managing frustration.
- The Way I Feel by Janan Cain: A clearly illustrated book that introduces different emotions and ways they may be expressed.
Learning Standards
- English – AC9E6LY01: Arrie used interaction skills by asking questions, listening, showing illustrations, and communicating a need for space.
- Science/Technology connection: The animation activity developed sequencing, observation, and digital creation skills; the supplied standards list does not include a specific Digital Technologies code.
- Mathematics – AC9M3M01: The maps and movement around the home provided an introductory connection to spatial comparison and location, though formal metric measurement was not recorded.
- HASS – WAHASS91: Arrie engaged with maps and familiar places, offering an introductory connection to relationships between people and environments; the full Year 9 standard would require more advanced analysis.
- Health and Physical Education: Arrie participated in movement, identified hunger, communicated emotional distress, and independently requested time alone. A specific HPE code was not included in the supplied WACAO standards.
Try This Next
- Storyboard worksheet: draw and label three frames showing how Arrie’s ghost animation changes.
- Map challenge: draw a cat’s route through a house and write four direction clues.
- Character-game writing prompt: “My character solves a problem by…”
- Feelings check-in: identify the feeling, body signal, helpful choice, and trusted person.