Standard 2.1 | Aitsl Portfolio

2.1 Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area

AITSL Standard 2.1 Example 1

I apply knowledge of the content to develop engaging teaching activities. On Wednesday 18th August a student with ASD, Student A, had a wonderful day, he was engaged in learning, participated in learning centres for long periods of time, participated in mat sessions and was more vocal. Below is a reflection on the days activities, changes for the following week on my Daily Work Pad (DWP) then a second reflection, Week 6, followed by steps moving forward to engage Student A in learning.

Reflection of Activities for Student A:

Magic Table:

very excited and involved in the magic table
excited about dressing up and wore his cape outside for Fundamental Movement Skills
enjoyed smelling the different materials for mixing
vocal during this activity (which is unusual), saying if he liked the smell or not. For smells he liked he said, 'Mmmmm, nice' and for smells he didn't he said 'Yuck', and screwed up his nose.
enjoyed mixing the materials and seeing them change and said, 'Oh my God', which is what he usually says if he is impressed or amazed by something

Creating Me (the students looked in the mirror and created themselves using a range of materials):

engaged and creative in this area
enjoyed looking in the mirror and making different faces at himself. He put some 'hair' (brown fluffy wool) on his head, looked in the mirror and laughed at himself
made creations on the table with the materials

Play dough (decorating cupcakes and added candles and decorations):

involved in this activity

Mask Making using colourful materials with different textures

involved in this activity

The Sign in Table was at the Jelly Bean table today, it is usually on the first table as the students enter so that they can sign in before they explore. Instead the Magic Table was in place of the Sign in table, which was fun and inviting.

Outside Activities Used by Student A:

Obstacle course:

Obstacle course with rope, cones, seesaw and trampoline with the large padded mat to jump onto
Student A's favourite activity was the trampoline with the large padded mat to jump onto. He played on it while the students were completing the obstacle course, then joined in with the Scarecrows game in which he wanted to be the 'tagger'

Large Connect Four:

enjoyed playing with this with the TA

Dolls House

This activity was Student A's favourite activity during the first few weeks of school at Caralee and he enjoyed playing with it outside

Figure 1 - Changes for the following week on my DWP

Reflection on Week 6

Student A:

became involved in the Magic Table when he entered the room. He enjoyed the chemical reaction of the bicarb soda mixing with the lemon juice and fizzing up. He was verbal during this activity, saying things like, 'look' and 'Oh my God'. Student A played and mixed, and was absorbed in this activity for an extended period of time. He kept going back to the activity throughout the day.
pinched lentils, seeds and potpourri and added it to his play dough
explored the other activities
read a spider book quietly to himself
shared and initiated reading books with Student B
approached Student B at the blocks to play with him
participated on the mat
enjoyed jumping on the trampoline then onto the mat. He participated in the obstacle course then kept going back to the trampoline while waiting for the other students. EA used the trampoline as a counting activity during the morning session, which Student A enjoyed and participated in
wrote his name with EA using 'Now and Then'
played Scarecrows and was verbal when caught shouting, 'Help! Help me!' at the other students
participated in dance video
was more verbal throughout the day and his speech was clearer
painted a 'person' as part of Father's Day activity

Plan forward to engage Student A in learning:

Magic Table

- colour mixing using ice cube trays and primary colours

- oil and water in plastic cups using pipettes to add oil. Students watch oil stay separate from water on surface and

mix colours

ice play - freeze animals in ice, students use small wooden hammers to break animals free from ice and use pipettes with coloured water to melt ice
water play on veranda with different sized containers, scoops and pipettes
creating pictures using pipettes to draw up coloured water and place onto paper towels
lentils, seeds and potpourri with different sized containers for filling, poring and mixing
Australian animal puppets with wooden tree cookies and gum leaves and add mirrors. This was one of Student A's favourite activities last term which he engaged in for a long period and kept coming back to throughout the day
dolls house - either inside or outside for play, this is another one of Student A's favourite activities

EYLF Outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

NQS Quality Area: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

Domains: Language, Personal, Social, Emotional, Creative, Cognitive, Physical & Spiritual

AITSL Standard 2.1 Example 2

I apply knowledge of the content to develop engaging teaching activities. I have provided relevant resources that have been customised to suit the learning needs of students. In the craft area Student B made cards and enjoyed writing the names of his family members and classmates. He asked how to spell student's names and wrote the letters correctly. To extend Student B forward in his writing I added CVC and CCVC words with pictures and the students names with photos, see Figure 2.

Figure 2 - Students names with photos

Student B was also interested in dinosaurs so I added dinosaur names with the photos of the dinosaur on it, see Figure 3. He wrote tyrannosaurus and drew a picture of a tyrannosaurus, see Figure 4. Student B did not use the CVC or CCVC words, I asked him what other words he would like and he said animal words. The next week I provided Student B with animal words with pictures at the writing table.

Figure 3 - Dinosaur words with pictures

Figure 4 - Example of student B's writing

To expose Student B and the other students to more words and writing I set up a shop in the home corner with real food containers. In a mat session I demonstrated how to write a list, I added lists with clipboards to the home corner and Student B and the other students wrote list, gathered food items and played 'shops', see Figure 5 below.

Figure 5 - Students exposed to new words and writing by using shopping lists while playing shop together

EYLF Outcomes: 1, 4 & 5

NQS Quality Area: 1, 3 & 5

Domains: Language, Personal, Social, Emotional, Cognitive & Physical

AITSL Standard 2.1 Example 3

Below are two examples of student work samples that have been annotated to show engagement in learning of content.

Figure 6 is an example of an activity in which the students made their name using letters on river stones and using an iPad photographed their picture. They then used the Pic Collage app to complete a photograph collage. The students Pic Collage was then printed and mounted on card with an explanation of the task, links to the Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines and a learning objectives table with tick boxes indicating if the student could complete the task independently or with assistance.

Figure 7 is an example of an activity in which the students made a picture using natural resources. Using an iPad, students photographed their picture then used the Pic Collage app to complete a photograph collage. The students Pic Collage was then printed and mounted on card with an explanation of the task, links to the Kindergarten Curriculum Guidelines, a learning objectives table with tick boxes indicating if the student could complete the task independently or with assistance and a typed comment the student made about their picture.

Figure 6 - Example of creating words using letters on river stones, using iPads to take photos and create a picture using Pic-Collage

Figure 7 - Example of student creating a picture using natural resources

EYLF Outcomes: 4 & 5

NQS Quality Area: 1 & 3

Domains: Language, Personal, Creative, Cognitive, Physical & Spiritual

AITSL Standard 2.1 Example 4

I apply knowledge of the content to develop engaging teaching activities. I have provided relevant resources that have been customised to suit the learning needs of students. Due to some of the students interest in writing I created a 'Write the Room' activity in which the students had to find items around the room which were labelled with a photo and word, see Figure 8, and copy the label onto the 'Write the Room' laminated activity sheet on a clipboard, see Figure 9. This resource was customised to the student's environment as the photos were of furniture, toys and objects around the classroom. Some students were able to copy and write the words, see Figure 10, some students ticked the items off as they found them and some students used pretend writing showing symbols, see Figure 11.

Figure 8 - Example of a chair in the room labelled with a photo and word

Figure 10 - Example of student copying and writing the words in the room

Figure 11 - Example of students pretend writing showing symbols

Figure 9 - Write the Room activity sheet

EYLF Outcomes: 4 & 5

NQS Quality Area: 1 & 3

Domains: Language, Personal, Cognitive & Physical