Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 Minutes

Tune In: Body functionality

20 Minutes

Find Out: Our bodies can do so much!

20 Minutes

Take Action: Thank you letter

5 Minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Body functionality

Preparation

Download the Teacher’s Guidebook prior to the lesson. This resource contains information on the science behind the Embrace Kids Classroom Program, top tips for implementing the program, approaches that are not recommended, and where to go for further support. Definitely a must-read!

Step 1

Ask your students:

What is the Australian of the Year? What sort of people are nominated for Australian of the Year?

Over the next few lessons, we will be looking at the work of Taryn Brumfitt, Australian of the Year 2023. Taryn has been working with people your age and looking at what our bodies can do and how we view our bodies.

Step 2

Watch this video with your students:

EKCP - Our Incredible Bodies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVf8tajQRyw)

Step 3

We often focus on what we look like - but have you ever stopped to take a moment and realise everything that our bodies do for us? Ask your students:

What are some of the things your body is doing right now, without you even thinking about it?

Your students might suggest:

breathing
digesting food
growing nails and hair
making facial expressions

Step 4

Our bodies are AMAZING! They do all these things without us even thinking about it. Let’s talk about, what are some of the things that you really appreciate about what your body can do? Start students off with your own example, including what you are grateful for and why, such as:

I really love that my body can taste delicious food. It makes me love cooking and fueling my body with energy.

Or

I appreciate my body telling me when I have been working too hard and I need to take a rest and recover my energy. It helps me manage my energy levels, appreciate taking a break, and lets me use my energy for the things I want to do.

Be mindful of the students in your cohort when you share your example, and pick something that is inclusive of all bodies in your class.

Collect the student examples and keep them anonymous.

You might get some interesting answers. You know your students best and can choose to address it …
You’re glad your body can pee? Me too! It lets our bodies get rid of waste that would make us sick. It is a big issue to manage if your body can’t pee.
… or have a chat with them about it later…
You’re glad your body can fight? Do you want to talk with me about why you feel glad you can fight?
See our Teacher’s Guidebook for more supporting resources.

Find Out: Our bodies can do so much

Step 1

Your students’ answers will fall into 4 categories:

Experiencing the world through my senses	Being able to see, smell, hear, taste, touch and feel things.
Internal bodily functions	Breathing, managing body temperature, digesting food, healing when sick or injured.
Being able to express myself	Dancing, how I dress, interacting with others by hugging or handshakes, creating, making things
What I can do physically	Being able to move, play sport, climb, reach, stretch

Either draw 4 circles on the board or put up a large version of the student worksheet.

Keeping the writers anonymous, read out some of the student answers, decide as a class which category the answers belong to, and add it to that circle. As you add answers to the circle have a class discussion about why were are glad our bodies can do that. For example: Being able to hug is important so I can show my friends and family how much I love them and how much they mean to me.

Remember: Every body is different, so we can appreciate different things about our different bodies- even if our bodies don't always do what we would like them to do.

Step 2

Now let’s do our own. This activity can be conducted individually, in pairs, or in small groups. Ask your students to consider:

What do you appreciate about what you can do with your body, and why is this important to you?

Ask students to brainstorm and write their ideas down on the worksheet in the four different categories. Prompt students to include the ‘why’ in their answers. The important part of this exercise is to focus on how our body functionality connects to the things we value and think are important.

Take Action: Thank you letter

Step 1

Now we have brainstormed our ideas about what our bodies can do and how we appreciate our bodies, let’s write a thank you letter to our body. Use the two ideas from your brainstorming worksheet that are the most important to you. What do these ideas allow you to experience or express? For example:

I love that you allow me to play soccer, because that means I can experience the great feelings of kicking a goal and celebrating with my friends. My friends at soccer are so important to me because they make me feel a part of something, and I love that when we work together, it’s like magic happens on the field…

Learning Support: Students can record their letters in the format that works best for them. They might hand-write their letter, draw it as a comic, type it, record it as an audio letter or video letter. So long as they are following the intent of speaking directly to their bodies and expressing gratitude for the amazing things their bodies allow them to experience or express!

Literacy Extension: From our letters, let’s find all the positive words we use to talk to our body and create a word cloud poster for the classroom! Let’s display this poster in our classroom, and when we start thinking about what our body looks like, choose one of these words and create a sentence to remind ourselves of the amazing things our bodies are capable of!

Reflection

Ask your students:

What are some of your key takeaways from doing this exercise today?

They may say:

Our bodies are pretty incredible!
We need to trust and listen to our bodies.
We need to focus more on what our bodies can do, and not so much on what they look like.

Embrace Kids: Our Incredible Bodies

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