Session 10 Rostrata Primary School Year 6 - Kristy Nita Brown & Mariya Konig

Warm Up:

To begin the session, we played a drama warm-up game called "Lonely Ghost." The students stood in a circle, and one was secretly chosen to be the ghost, whose job was to "wink" at others to get them out, while another student was selected to be the ghostbuster, whose goal was to figure out who the ghost was. The students fully engaged with the game. They took the challenge seriously, trying hard to spot the ghost, and they loved the suspense of watching each person dramatically "die" and fall to the ground after being winked at. Although I had only planned to run the game once, the students enjoyed it so much that we ended up playing four rounds. While playing, the students' energy lifted, and the game created a fun, focused atmosphere to start the session.

Main Activity: 

For the main activity, we explored the idea that silence and thinking time help the brain function better. To introduce this, I shared a slide explaining how quiet moments support memory, creativity, and reduce stress hormones like cortisol. We then tested this idea by collecting class data on how students were feeling using a four-point scale (1 = Not at all, 4 = A lot), recording their levels of tiredness, anxiety, and relaxation. After that, we began the main task: each student selected a stick and spent 20 minutes alone outside, sanding it smooth while thinking about creative ideas for the final four sessions. These ideas were recorded on a worksheet, which asked them to come up with six suggestions and mark their top three.

Although the activity was designed to encourage calm, independent thinking, several challenges made this difficult. Loud music from the undercover area forced us to move to the oval, but there, sports carnival practice and general outdoor noise made it hard for students to focus. Additionally, some students felt anxious about bugs, with a few asking to leave the grass area early due to insects like ants and a spider. When we returned to the classroom, we repeated the same emotional check-in and compared the results. Some students reported feeling less anxious and more relaxed after spending 20 minutes alone. Finally, some students shared creative ideas confidently, but fewer than half were willing to speak in front of the group. Notably, many students left their worksheets blank or had minimal input. This made me reflect that some of the students may need more support developing their imagination and creative thinking skills — something I had not observed as clearly until this session.

At the conclusion of the main activity, students voted for their top three favourite ideas by recording them on a piece of paper. After the session, Mariya tallied the results and later shared them with the class. The students collectively chose to write and record a film as their focus for the final four sessions.

Reflection: 

Reflection was woven throughout today’s session. After the warm-up game, we revisited the Five Habits of Learning and agreed that persistence was the most used habit during the activity. During the main task, students began preparing their yarn sticks. In the next session, they will continue reflecting on the Five Habits by wrapping coloured wool around their sticks to represent which habit they used in each session.

Planning with the Teacher: 

Mariya noted that the students thoroughly enjoyed the warm-up activity, and as a result, she plans to add it to her repertoire of games for future use. She also felt that the discussion about the brain, followed by time outside preparing yarn sticks, was well-timed, taking place after the conclusion of the Toy Program and before the start of the next project. Mariya observed that the students seemed to benefit from a slower, more reflective session, especially as a few of them had been off during the week or were experiencing some difficulties. She also noted, as did I, that some of the students struggled to generate ideas when the task was open-ended or lacked clear rules and structure.

Working with Students: 

The students were very enthusiastic to see me after the break, as I had been away for a couple of weeks. They were open to trying new activities, such as the warm-up, and were keen to contribute ideas for the next project. Once the film was selected as the focus, I sent through a selection of one-minute films to Mariya to share with the group. The feedback was very positive: the students really enjoyed watching them and are now excited to create their own one-minute films over the next four weeks.

Ideas Moving Forward:

Next week, students will work in groups of 2–3 to develop a script for a one-minute film. In the following weeks, they will move on to filming and editing their projects. During the final Form session, I plan to hold a screening where we can showcase all the films the students have created.