Lesson summary
In this lesson, students will view an episode of IMAGI-NATION{TV}, focusing on ‘Being Brave in the Time of COVID-19’. Students will view a video diary of a youngster sharing their story of bravery, then dig deeper into what it means to be brave in times of crisis. They will think about the role of their ‘inner voice’ and examine strategies for positive self-talk to help them manage their emotions. They will create a script that demonstrates contrast between the inner and outer voices of a real or imagined character. In doing so, they will demonstrate the positive use of coping strategies, and show how they too can be brave.
Learning intentions:
Students will...
- learn about self-talk and the ‘inner voice’
- You will consider what it means to be brave
- You will consider the similarities and differences between bravery and courage
- You will use drama to explore and express complex ideas.
Success criteria:
Students can...
- engage with challenging topics and emotions
- You can use phrases or deliberate thoughts to control your inner voice better
- You can create a monologue that demonstrates both an inner and outer voice.
Lesson guides and printables
Curriculum links
Select your curriculum from the options below.
Lesson details
Curriculum mapping
Choose by subject for Primary year level mapping:
Years 3 & 4 Health and Physical Education:
- Explore strategies to manage physical, social and emotional change (ACPPS034)
- Identify and practise strategies to promote health, safety and wellbeing (ACPPS036)
Years 5 & 6 Health and Physical Education:
- Plan and practise strategies to promote health, safety and wellbeing (ACPPS054)
- Investigate the role of preventive health in promoting and maintaining health, safety and wellbeing for individuals and their communities (ACPPS058)
Year 3 English:
- Create imaginative texts based on characters, settings and events from students’ own and other cultures using visual features, for example, perspective, distance and angle (ACELT1601)
Year 4 English:
- Create literary texts that explore students’ own experiences and imagining (ACELT1607)
Year 5 English:
- Create literary texts using realistic and fantasy settings and characters that draw on the worlds represented in texts students have experienced (ACELT1612)
Year 6 English:
- Create literary texts that adapt or combine aspects of texts students have experienced in innovative ways (ACELT1618)
Years 3 & 4 Drama:
- Explore ideas and narrative structures through roles and situations and use empathy in their own improvisations and devised drama (ACADRM031)
Years 5 & 6 Drama:
- Explore dramatic action, empathy and space in improvisations, playbuilding and scripted drama to develop characters and situations (ACADRM035)
Choose by subject for Secondary year level mapping:
Years 7 & 8 Health and Physical Education:
- Investigate and select strategies to promote health, safety and wellbeing (ACPPS073)
- Analyse factors that influence emotions, and develop strategies to demonstrate empathy and sensitivity (ACPPS075)
Years 9 & 10 Health and Physical Education:
- Propose, practise and evaluate responses in situations where external influences may impact on their ability to make healthy and safe choices (ACPPS092).
- Evaluate situations and propose appropriate emotional responses and then reflect on possible outcomes of different responses (ACPPS094).
Year 7 English:
- Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, selecting aspects of subject matter and particular language, visual, and audio features to convey information and ideas (ACELY1725).
Year 8 English:
- Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that raise issues, report events and advance opinions, using deliberate language and textual choices, and including digital elements as appropriate (ACELY1736).
Year 9 English:
- Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate arguments, including texts that integrate visual, print and/or audio features (ACELY1746).
Year 10 English:
- Create sustained texts, including texts that combine specific digital or media content, for imaginative, informative, or persuasive purposes that reflect upon challenging and complex issues (ACELY1756).
Years 7 & 8 Drama:
- Combine the elements of drama in devised and scripted drama to explore and develop issues, ideas and themes (ACADRM040).
Years 9 & 10 Drama:
- Manipulate combinations of the elements of drama to develop and convey the physical and psychological aspects of roles and characters consistent with intentions in dramatic forms and performance styles (ACADRM048).
This lesson is part of a wider program: IMAGI-NATION{TV}
Level of teacher scaffolding: Low – students can be self-directed
Syllabus outcomes: DRAS2.1, DRAS3.1, EN2-2A, EN2-10C, EN3-7C, EN4-4B, EN5-1A, PHS2.12, PHS3.12, PDHPE4.2, PDHPE4.3, PDHPE4.8, PDHPE4.9, PDHPE4.10, PDHPE4.13, PDHPE4.16, PDHPE5.2, PDHPE5.3, PDHPE5.6, PDHPE5.7, PDHPE5.8, PDHPE5.13, PDHPE5.16
General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability
Time required: 60-100 minutes.
Tips for parents and carers:
This lesson is designed to be flexible for use with various year levels and across the curriculum. It can easily be tailored or expanded to focus more deeply on the skills that students are exploring in their classroom context. For example, an English teacher might like to expand on the creative writing elements of this lesson, a Drama teacher could focus on character development and incorporating dramatic elements into a performance, and a Health and Physical Education teacher could focus on coping strategies and emotional literacy.
Safety advice: Talking about COVID-19 can be challenging for many people. If you need support, reach out to friends or a trusted adult. You can seek help via Lifeline or Kids Helpline. This article from Orygen talks about self-care during COVID-19 and can be provided as preventative health advice for young people.
Resources required
- Device with internet capability (recording capability optional)
- Pen and paper (optional)
Additional info
This lesson has been developed in partnership with AIME. AIME is an Imagination Factory that since 2005, has been creating pop-up Imagination Factories on university campuses around the world to unlock the internal narrative of marginalised kids, taking them from a world that tells them they can’t to a world that tells them they can. Kids who experience the Imagination Factory have gone on to achieve educational parity, rise up as entrepreneurs, and take on a whole new mindset that prepares them for success.
AIME created IMAGI-NATION{TV} & the IMAGI-NATION{CLASSROOM} experience to put a mentor in the home every day during the tough times of COVID-19 and beyond. It’s a daily TV show broadcast live on the internet, and it’s a gift for teachers, parents and kids to help make sense of today and imagine tomorrow.
The pursuit is to elevate knowledge; every guest we bring on knows something and has wisdom to share. This show is not just about entertainment to pass the time. We want to remake the mould for the modern hero – from beauty to brains, from selfies to self-knowledge, from hashtags to hope. IMAGI-NATION{TV} is seeking to unlock the best in every single one of us; to inspire a generation of heroes in the form of mentors who fight for a fairer world.
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