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Koorie Lifestyles (for educators)

Level 4 - Grades 5 & 6

This unit provides students with the opportunity to learn more about Koorie lifestyles and examine issues of Koorie identity and to develop an awareness of the multiple perspectives which exist about Australia's past from the viewpoint of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This unit provides students with opportunities to investigate lifestyles of Aboriginal people in Victoria and Australia-wide. Both similarities and differences are highlighted. Students explore aspects of traditional and contemporary Aboriginal life.

 

 

 

Artwork created in KidPix

 

 

Collecting Information Finding out about the topic or parts of the topic.

The following Internet sites may help with research as you finout about the topic

Australian Aboriginal Art - The Dreamtime
Australian Stone Tools
Traditional Aboriginal Music
Aboriginal Dance
Digital Postcards
Bush food and medicine
Internet news Age or the Herald Sun and Ninemsn
Museum of Victoria-Hidden Histories
Hidden Histories - Ask a Question
Aboriginal Affairs Victoria 
Bunjilaka:The New Aboriginal Centre at Melbourne Museum

  • Definitions- In groups of 4-5 students learn the spelling and meaning of spelling words.
  • Play numbered heads using a dice.
  • Fact Files - Students create fact files about eg
    • What does the Koorie flag symbolise?
    • What is the Dreamtime
    • Find out about traditional bush food and how it is cooked.
    • Find out where Koorie sacred sites are.
    • What do the patterns in Koorie art mean
  • List or draw Koorie tools and weapons, what they are used for and how they were used.
  • What are the songs of the dreamtime? Describe the story they are telling.
  • Describe Koorie ceremonies and rituals to celebrate different stages in a person's life. Research on line then email a Koorie dance postcard to a friend
  • When were Koories given the rite to vote?
  • What is 'bush' medicine? Give examples.
  • How did Koories make fire? What do the Dreaming stories tell us about the origin of fire and rain?
  • How long have the Koorie people lived in Australia for?
  • Classifier - List different groups of famous Koorie people based on what they are famous for such as sport, politics, arts, dance, music, media, social services and law.
  • Surveyor - Interview 6 people of different ages to find out their thoughts about reconciliation.
  • Timelines- Create a timeline showing some of the major events in Koorie culture over the last 200 years. Draw the events.
  • Autobiographer - Use words or pictures to record your personal experiences with
    • Koorie people
    • Rock paintings
    • Places with Koorie names
  • Koorie art Cube it - Write research facts on faces of a cube.
  • Media Watch - For one week keep a record of every time anything to do with the Koorie community is mentioned on TV, radio, the newspaper or on the internet the Age or the Herald Sun and Ninemsn. Comment on the media coverage. What is your reaction?
  • Listen to Joy Sellars, of Ngarrindjerri descent and my country is the Coorong in South Australia. Email her from this link too.
  • Ask a question You might have questions about Koorie culture, past events, or current issues.

Making use of information to develop understanding

Hidden Histories
Children's Art Gallery
Contemporary Koorie Art
Contemporary Koorie Music
Traditional Koorie Music

 

  • Visit personal stories on the Internet, they are drawn from life history of individual men and women. The special qualities of everyday Koorie life is the focus.
  • A to Z - Students write letter A-Z down a page, they have 15 minutes to write as many Koorie related words as they can.
  • Culture Hunter - Compare Koorie face and body painting to the use of face and body painting by New Zealand Maoris, Amazonian Indians, pop groups or sports fans.
  • Poet - Write a Diamante poem using the concepts of 'black' and 'white'.
  • Do a BAR (Bigger, Add, Replace) on a boomerang or kangaroo.
  • Designer - Using Koorie symbols design: note paper, a t-shirt, a book cover, a doona cover, wrapping paper. Look at some children's art work on line and visit
  • Photographer - Make up your own dreaming story and tell it through photographs or pictures.
  • Venn Diagram - Do a venn diagram on
    • Contemporary Koorie Art & Traditional Koorie art
    • Contemporary Koorie music and Traditional Koorie music
  • Sign Writer - Make signs using Koorie symbols for things in the classroom.
  • Hand Hopper - Make a hand hopper about Koorie studies.
  • Jigsaw - Use a jigsaw technique to teach others about five historical events from timelines.
  • Performer - Give a 2 minute talk about a famous Koorie person and their work.
  • Use the Lore of the Land and follow the student activities.
  • Discuss your reserach findings with online students and teachers.
Understanding Using new learning in a thoughtful and reflective way

Uluru Australian Monoliths
Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation
SOFWeb - Koorie 2000

  • Advocate - Students put forward a logical and well-reasoned argument to support the proposition …A law has been passed that nobody should visit Koori sites and our school has been identified as a sacred site. All students must fill in an application form to gain a pass to their playground.
  • PMI - Do a PMI on
    • Climbing Uluru.
    • Only eating traditional bush food
    • Predict what the situation will be in 2010 regarding reconciliation.
    • Calligrapher - Make a bumper sticker promoting Koorie reconciliation or land rights.
    • Body Sculpture - In large groups dance a corroboree and move together.
    • Sound Story - Make a sound story based on different adventures you all experience on a walkabout or on a Dreaming story.