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Unit of work: Level 4

Let’s Get Down to Business

Let’s Get Down to Business 2 2010

Let’s Get Down to Business

Level 4: Mathematics, English, Interpersonal Development, Personal Learning, Design,

Creativity and Technology, Information and Communications Technology, Thinking

process, Arts.

Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 3

Learning focus ............................................................................................................................ 3

Victorian Essential Learning Standards ...................................................................................... 5

Teaching and Learning activities ................................................................................................ 6

Activity 1: ................................................................................................................................ 7

Activity 2: ................................................................................................................................ 7

Activity 3: ................................................................................................................................ 8

Activity 4: ................................................................................................................................ 9

Activity 5: ................................................................................................................................ 9

Activity 6: .............................................................................................................................. 10

Activity 7: .............................................................................................................................. 11

Activity: 8 .............................................................................................................................. 12

Assessment .............................................................................................................................. 12

Unit resources .......................................................................................................................... 14

Assessment resource............................................................................................................ 14

Teacher materials (Teriary) .................................................................................................. 14

Meeting minutes for Unit of Work: Let’s Get Down to Business Error! Bookmark not defined.

Concept map ............................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/


Introduction In Lets Get Down to Business, students learn about small business operations. Working

individually and in small groups students are exposed to and conduct research creatively on

small businesses in different industries. They use a range of research techniques including

developing appropriate questions to create a knowledge base for how businesses function.

Business functioning includes business personalities, applications for jobs within a business,

promoting a business and the mathematics involved in running a successful business. They

will apply the knowledge gained to a market day application involving the whole class where

they will share, sell and promote their products or services.

The unit provides opportunities for students to demonstrate achievement against the

standards in Mathematics, English, Interpersonal Development, Personal Learning, Design,

Creativity and Technology, Information and Communications Technology, Thinking process,

Arts.

Learning focus This unity addresses learning focus statements from all three strands at level 4:

Physical, Personal and Social Learning

Interpersonal

Work in teams with allocated roles and responsibilities to complete tasks within a set

time frame

Personal Learning

Reflect on their current and future thinking and learning

Give and act upon constructive feedback from peers

Discipline-based Learning

English

Develop a job application for chosen business

Write a reflective piece on learning undertaking and knowledge gained

Mathematics

Exploration of alternative strategies to develop mental computation in the area of

money.

Arts

Exploring occupations to better understand themselves and their interests


Interdisciplinary Learning

Communication

Develop skills in organising research information and clearly developing an ad

campaign to promote their chosen business.

Use verbal and non verbal communication techniques to convey a character.

Students ask clarifying questions about ideas and information they listen to and view

on different businesses.

Students present, using a range of presentation styles information, on their chosen

business.

Design, Creativity and Technology

Develop a story board, poster and/or jingle

Use technology to communicate their ideas

Students learn to analyse how products and systems function and what they look

like, and discuss the meaning of quality in the context of design.

Information and Communications Technology

Use information and communications technology tools and techniques to research

their chosen business, develop an ad campaign and presentation.

Use information and communications technology equipment to develop their final

products for their ad campaign.

Thinking process

Use investigating and brainstorming techniques to develop a knowledge base on

how small businesses operate.

Demonstrate their creative thinking process through the creation of story boards,

and a business presentation.

Use reflective thinking in evaluating their learning and team effectiveness.


Victorian Essential Learning Standards Let’s Get Down to Business can be used to assess a range of Victorian Essential Learning

Standards.

The table below is an example of how this unit might be used to assess some Level 4

standards.

Strand Domains Dimensions Key elements of standards Students:

Physical, Personal and Social Learning

Interpersonal Development

Working in teams

...work effectively in teams and take on a variety of roles. ...They explain the benefits of working in a team. ...they provide feedback to others and evaluate their own and the team’s performance.

Personal Learning

The individual learner

...they seek and respond to teacher feedback to develop their content knowledge and understanding.

Discipline-based Learning

English Writing

...students produce, in print and electronic forms, a variety of texts for different purposes using structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience and context of the writing.

Speaking and listening

Students plan, rehearse and make presentation for different purposes.

Mathematics Number In number, students extend their understanding of whole numbers, fractions and decimals. They order fractions and decimals and locate them on a number line. They use materials to explore decimals.

Working mathematically

Students devise and use mental and written methods (algorithms) to add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers. They devise and use mantal and written methods to add and subtract decimals. They routinely make estimations and approximations in calculations and make judgements about their accuracy.

Interdisciplinary Learning

Communication Listening, viewing and responding

...students ask clarifying questions about ideas and information they listen to and view.

Presenting ...students summarise and organise ideas and information, logically and clearly in a range of presentations.

Comment [P1]: Plan learning sequences and units which are consistent with curriculum statements, frameworks and assessment structures commonly used in schools. This table provides the connections that this unit has with Victorian Essential Learning Standards, the Victorian curriculum framework. On page 12 of this unit, the assessment table can be found which incorporates summative and formative assessment opportunities across the range of domains.


Design, Creativity and Technology

Investigating and designing

...Individually and in teams, they use a range of methods to research and collect data in response to design briefs. ...students take account of the views of users/consumers and produce step-by-step plans...for making products.

Information and Communications Technology

ICT for visualising thinking

...Students use ICT tools and techniques that support the organisation and analysis of concepts, issues and ideas.

ICT for creating

...Students safely and independently use a range of skills, procedures, equipment and functions to process different data types and produce accurate and suitably formatted products to suit different purposes and audiences. ...apply conventions and techniques that improve the appearance of the finished product.

Thinking process Reasoning, processing and inquiry

...Students develop their own questions for investigation, collect relevant information from a range of sources.

Reflection, evaluation and metacognition

...students use a broad range of thinking processes and tools, and reflect on and evaluate their effectiveness.

For further advice see the Assessment section.

Teaching and Learning activities This unit focuses on research of small businesses and the skills required run one

successfully.

Throughout the unit, students work in groups, with assigned roles and responsibilities.

Teachers provide opportunities for students to discuss group roles and how effectively they

are contributing to activities and completing tasks with set timelines.

Teachers also provide opportunities for students to reflect on their learning and how they

work in a group with assigned roles. The reflection will be completed at the final stage of the

unit of work and will be a piece of writing using word processing program and can be

presented in a way that the student chooses.

Before commencing the activities, teachers outline the four main stages to be undertaken

by students: exploration, creation, presentation and reflection.


Activity 1:

Business Brainstorm.

This activity requires that students spend time in brainstorming different businesses, not

occupations. This must be made clear before the brainstorming session begins. Each

individual must establish a set of questions that they would like to find out about a certain

business or businesses.

Questions such as:

What makes your business so successful?

How do you go about ordering products?

How do you know how much to order?

What skills are required in order to make this business successful?

Do you have the commitment and diligence needed to make this business work?

Do you have the financial stability to start up such a business?

Why do you want to open this business and what impact do you want to have on

customers, the community and the world?

Is money your one and only motivation?

After the brainstorm, students may like to start thinking about which business they would

like to take a particular focus on, or one in which they would like to more about?

Activity 2:

Excursion to local shopping centre

Teachers organise an excursion to the local shopping centre which allows the students to

experience firsthand how particular businesses work. This could include the supermarket,

bakery, post office, cleaner, jeweller, dry-cleaner, and so on.

Students are broken up into smaller groups headed by either a teacher or parent helper and

visit each business on a rotational basis. Each group is given about 15 minutes with each

speaker, in which time they use the questions developed from the Activity 1 brainstorm to

use as prompts.

Students need to discover the following:

- What service does the business provide?

- What makes the business successful?

- What is the manager’s role in the business?


Students listen attentively to the speakers, taking notes based on the responses given.

Following the excursion, students are given the opportunity to share their findings with their

classmates.

Activity 3:

Creative exploration of businesses

This activity may involve more than one session. Students select and learn about two

businesses they are interested in based on the brainstorm and excursion (see activities 1

and 2). Working individually, students explore their chosen two businesses through visual

art, music, drama and dance.

Their exploration may be informed by interviews, books, internet searches and the

“Worksong” video (see page ...).

Teachers discuss with students:

the physical characteristics of the business men and women visited

the various implements used within businesses

the most efficient ways to portray a character, i.e. which of the arts to utilise, and

how to research effectively

Students conduct their research, and then form their creative artworks. They use their

bodies, voices, art supplies, hand puppets (see page ...) and any other creative devices that

helps to illustrate their business.

Students present their creative representation of two businesses of choice. Teachers discuss

with students:

the importance of voice projection

use of eye contact

effective communication using emphasis

appropriate language for the context and audience, and

attentive listening when not presenting

Teachers work with students to develop and construct a rubric. Each individual is assigned a

classmate and assesses their performance using the rubric.


Activity 4:

Applying for a business.

After students have explored the two different businesses that they have chosen in Activity

three, students will now take more of a focus on making an application/applying for that

business. The teacher will write down on the board, all of the different businesses that each

student has investigated, so they can make their choice of what they want to apply for.

(Note: There may be more than one student applying for the same business. In this case,

allow the students to discuss amongst them if they want to be in another business, or to be

in competition with each other. Either options work well, as it is important to remember, in

today’s day and age, this is a reality within and between businesses).

For this activity, in order to help the students, each person may use two forms ,such as that

below as a guideline to help them:

Business:

Business Name:

Five skills required to make business successful:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Why are you applying for this business?

Signed:

Activity 5:

Create an ad campaign, signs, jingles and promos

In this activity, students focus on the industry they have chosen to develop a business for

from Activity ... (that they have also applied for the job- Activity 3) and develop an

promotional campaign for it. The students will will work together in groups that will

continue thorughout the remaining group acitivities, collating their ideas and acting as

supportive, interactive group members.


There are three components to the promotional campaign. A television advertisment, an

advertising poster and a jingle. The students must complete the television ad component

and they have the choice of which other component they develop in accordence with what

will best suit their business. They must justify their choice according to this suitablity.

1. Advertising poster- photographs, text, headings, clip art images can be used to

develop their poster.

A digital camera or scanner will be used to capture images.

This poster can also be created on the computer using a program such as Photoshop

or by hand using poster paper.

2. Jingle- The students will create a short jingle to promote their business.

It will be recorded using using a video recorder, digital camera, laptop, or voice

recorder of some kind.

Music, Lyrics, instruments can be used.

3. TV ad

A story board will be developed to plan the layout of their TV ad

This will illustrate

the content of each scene

The location of shooting the ad

The students will focus on developing speech, sounds and scenes to support their

campaign

They may wish to create their ad for TV or for UTube.

Students will ‘publish’ one of the three created campaigns and present it to the class.

Activity 6:

‘Put your money on your mind’

In this activity, students develop their skills in mental computation and explore alternative

strategies in preparation for Activity 7 Market Day, where they will be required to manage

transactions often without the aid of a calculator. Students are placed into groups of mixed

abilities, giving them the opportunity to teach and learn from each other.


Students engage in four different rotations which aim to develop skills in adding and

subtracting monetary values without the use of a calculator. The four stages include

addition and subtraction of decimals, solving real-life problems involving money and games

to encourage the use of and give confidence in, mental computation.

When solving addition and subtraction problems, students work towards finding a solution

that works for them. This may include using tradition algorithms, an empty number line or

an invented strategy. Students share their answers with their group, affirming established

methods and discovering new ones alike.

In solving real-life problems involving money, students are able to practice being the vendor

and customer in preparation for Market Day. One student, the ‘customer,’ “buys” items

from a catalogue and hands over money to the ‘vendor.’ The vendor then issues the

customer with the correct change before swapping roles.

Students participate in various games that highlight the value of mental computation. For

example, in Brain vs Calculator, students divide themselves into two groups, one with

calculators, the other the ‘mental computers.’ They then solve a series of problems to see

who can solve them quickest; the calculators or the computers?

Students write short reflections after each activity reflecting on new strategies learned or

their feelings towards a particular activity undertaken. Teachers can use these reflections to

develop the students’ learning in future classes.

Activity 7:

Market Day

In this activity, each business team sets up their posters and products, and trades their

goods or services. They use their:

creative character development (activity 3)

signage and advertising material (activity 5), and

skills in business related mathematics (activity 6)

Students conduct their businesses with professionalism, utilising the skills developed

throughout the unit.


Activity: 8

Reflection and evaluation

The students will reflect on what they learned about running a small business. Students

write what they think of the process of small businesses, reflecting on their own campaigns,

market day, the excursion meeting business owners and what that it means to them. They

will write what skills and behaviours that they developed throughout the topic and what

they could further develop.

They will reflect on their individual learning as well as their contributions and roll taken in

the group work.

This reflection may be done using a word processing program or by hand.

Assessment The Victorian Essential Learning Standards supports a combination of assessment practices:

Assessment of learning (summative)

Assessment for learning (formative)

Assessment as learning (ongoing)

Further information on these can be found at:

http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/blueprint/fs/assessment.asp

When assessing student achievement, assessment criteria can be developed from relevant

standards and associated tasks or activities. The table below shows a range of assessment

criteria tools and strategies applicable to this unit. Teachers could choose to use some or all

of these or use the unit to assess other standards.

Standards Assessment criteria Evidence

Interpersonal development Working in teams

Ability to: Take on different roles and responsibilities within a group Contribute ideas to class and group discussion

Teacher observations and records of student contributions to class discussion and working in different roles in teams.

Personal Learning The individual learner

Respond to feedback given by teacher and peers to further develop their knowledge and understanding

Use of rubric for feedback (Activity 3)

Comment [P2]: Plan learning sequences and units which are consistent with curriculum statements, frameworks and assessment structures commonly used in schools.

http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/blueprint/fs/assessment.asp


English Writing

Produce a job application according to appropriate text structures and audiences

Completion of job application (Activity 4)

English Speaking and listening

Students effectively plan, rehearse, and make a presentation on a business.

Teacher observations and records of student performance and preparation (Activity 3)

Mathematics Number Working mathematically

Students explore and record a range of alternative strategies that they have discovered.

Teacher observations and records of student work (Activity 6)

Communication Listening, viewing and responding

Students develop a list of relevant questions.

Teacher observations and records of students skills in asking questions. (Activity 1 and 2)

Design, Creativity and Technology Investigating and designing

Research and collect information relating to advertising their chosen business

Development of a story board for TV ad, poster and jingle

Information and Communications Technology ICT for visualising ICT for Creating

Students develop their skills by using a range of digital tools and techniques.

Teacher observations and final products in Activity 5

Thinking process Reasoning, Processing and inquiry Reflection, evaluation and metacognition

Students develop their questioning that assists in their discovery of small businesses Students develop a reflective piece of writing on their learning experiences throughout the unit of work.

Teacher observations Final writing piece handed in. (Activity 8)

See the assessment resource for advice on developing rubrics.


Unit resources

Assessment resource

This document provides information about assessmet strategies referred to in the unit. It is

available at http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/assessment_resource.html

Teacher materials (Teriary)

Title: “So you want to start a business: Eight steps to take before making the leap”.

Author: Edward D. Hess and Charles F. Goetz

Year of Production: 2009

Place of Production: United States of America

Publisher: Pearson Education LTD

http://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-Start-

Business/dp/0137126670/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287454546&sr=1-

11#reader_0137126670

This is a good tertiary reference that teachers can refer to when undertaking this Unit of

work. It is somewhat similar to what the students have in the “Everything kids money

book”. This is because it provides teachers great background knowledge of what is required

in starting a new/small business, especially as some teachers may not have the personal

experience of starting their own business.

This book includes important information such as: Basic rules of starting a small business,

what is a good business opportunity? , How do you design your product? , How to manage

the business, How to deal with customers and How to manage growth or loss? Teachers will

need to undertake discussion with students at some point within the Unit of work, and

questions such as those mentioned above will be raised, therefore the need for teachers to

be prepared to help students explore such questions.

It also raises three important questions that need to be answered.

1. What will you sell?

2. Who will buy?

3. Why will they buy?

This book makes it an easy to go to reference for teachers, each chapter specifically titled

and helps teachers encourage students of what to look for and what to not look for when

starting a business.

http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/assessment_resource.html

http://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-Start-Business/dp/0137126670/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287454546&sr=1-11#reader_0137126670




Title: “Foundations of Marketing”

Author: Pride- Ferrell

Year of production: 2004

Place of prodcution: United States of America

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company

Type: Book

This is a referenece for teachers throughout this unit of work “Let’s Get Down to Business”.

It covers all areas of marketing a product and will provide necessary information for a

teacher prior to conducting these activities. It will be of particular benefit during activity 5

when the students are marketing and promoting their business. It gives some interesting

areas of disucssion for the teacher to raise with the class. For example a discussion on E -

marketing and using technology for a global enviornment would be valuable for students

today. It also covers Target market selection, customer behaviour, product decisions, pricing

and distrubution decisions and the important promotion decisions.

Title: Open-ended Maths Activities: Using ‘good’ questions to enhance learning in

Mathematics 2nd Edition

Author: Peter Sullivan and Pat Lilburn

Year of Publication: 2004

Place of Publication: Melbourne

Publisher: Oxford University Press

This publication is a fantastic resource for teachers of all year levels as it offers a range of

problems and covers a variety of VELS Standards including Number, Measurement, Chance

and Data and Space. Each Standard is broken up into smaller sub-sections, each offering

problems suitable for junior primary, middle primary and upper primary. This resource also

has a section on The importance of questioning as well as Using ‘good’ questions as part of

richer assessment. Teachers are informed on how to create their own ‘good’ questions and

can find out how to incorporate these into student assessment.

This resource is particularly useful for teachers as it has sections particularly on Money and

Counting. Therefore, teachers can draw ideas based from the problems posed in the book

when creating activities for the students to participate in.


Title: Earn and Learn

Author: Rob Vingerhoets


Place of production: Burwood Victoria

Publisher: Inyahead

The “Earn and Learn” program, from which our unit of work stems, was designed and

written by Rob Vingerhoets and this text for teachers suggests ways to create a mini market

community in the classroom. Vingerhoets focuses on the mathematical purpose of the

program; however for our unit of work we have taken a more english, art, interpersonal and

communication focus. The text provides great reproducible resources and work sheets

(paper money, bank cheques, job contracts, business registrations and the like), as well as

detailed session instructions.

Although the text goes much deeper than what the unit of work does, the lesson ideas and

extension suggestions are a very useful resource which can inspire some further concepts

working within the framework of Let’s Get Down to Business. In conjunction with the text,

there are numerous websites related to the program and how it has been used in

classrooms across Australia. One particularly good website to use in relation to this text is

the author, Rob Vingerhoets’, website (http://robvingerhoets.com.au/index1.asp) which

details his publications and where to purchase them.

The great benefit of the Earn and Learn program is that it is open ended and flexible.

Students enjoy the competitive nature of business management, while learning a great deal

about employment and money.

http://robvingerhoets.com.au/index1.asp


Student Resources

Type of resource: Book- “Everything kids money book”.


Publisher: Karen Cooper

Where it is available from:

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Kids-Money-Book-

watch/dp/1598697846%3FSubscriptionId%3D14H876SFAKFS0EHBYQ02%26tag%3Dinspireh

ubpages-

20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D15

98697846#reader_1598697846

Description of how this resource can be used in the classroom:

Money is an exciting that is a huge part of everyday life for kids and grownups. You can

save it, earn it, spend it, collect it or just count it. For children that are interested in

knowing the basics of how to deal with money when starting a small business, then this

is the book to help them along their way. Businesses today revolve around many things,

but predominately money. It is this book that may help children within the classroom

and especially in Activity One (business brainstorm), where they need to establish a set

of questions in regards to everything business. Chapters include: the story of money,

keep the change, bill me: paper money, bank on it, pay day, money makes money, what

stuff costs, super spending, and share the wealth. Within these chapters important

questions are raised such as:

How do you make a profit?

How does the stock market work?

How does the whole idea of ‘money’ work?

Why does price go up and down at certain times, and not constant?

This is a useful student resource when students come across market day as activity

seven in their series of activities, as one element of the story talks to the students about

how to conduct daily trades and fair trading. It also touches on social issues such as how

to deal with and/or treat customers within or between businesses. As a helpful addition

for the students, (as most books do) the glossary at the back encourages students to

look up business terms that they may not fully understand. As it is the first unit of work

on starting a business, it is expected that not all students are going to know all terms,

and so the user friendly glossary of terms could even be put up around the classroom for

everyone to refer to. It also has websites that they can make reference to, if they so

desire.

http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Kids-Money-Book-watch/dp/1598697846%3FSubscriptionId%3D14H876SFAKFS0EHBYQ02%26tag%3Dinspirehubpages-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D1598697846#reader_1598697846






Type of resource: Book- “Start your own kid focussed business and more”.


Publisher: Jere. L Calmes

Place: Entrepreneur Media Inc.

Where it is available from:

http://www.amazon.com/Start-Your-Kid-Focused-Business-

More/dp/1599182580/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287537595&sr=1-

4#reader_1599182580

Description of how this resource can be used in the classroom:

For students who are looking into starting their own business for this unit of work, the book

“Start your own kid focussed business and more” can be quite helpful as a resource within

the classroom. Not only does it provide students with different ideas of businesses that they

might like to look into (Activity One- Business Brainstorm), it also can assist them with

applying for the business in Activity four where they need to list some of the skills required

to make the business successful. Additionally, this book can help children to delve further

into the important aspects that they will need to consider for their specific chosen business.

It includes information such as:

A day in the life of a...

What does it take to run a business?

The state of the market?

What should you sell/would it really sell?

The key to success, etc.

How to advertise your business, especially when considering market day.

One of the most important aspects that I think will be useful for the students when starting

up their own business is the idea of teamwork. A chapter of this book is dedicated to

informing students of how they can work together as a team and build positive relationships

with one another.

http://www.amazon.com/Start-Your-Kid-Focused-Business-More/dp/1599182580/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287537595&sr=1-4#reader_1599182580




Title: Australia’s Best: Entrepreneurs

Author: Ruth Learner


Place of production: Victoria, Australia

Publisher: Heinemann Library

Type: Book

Students can refer to this book throughout the “Let’s Get Down to Business” unit of work.

They are meeting business owners and discussing how they developed their business and

this book gives them further people to research. It provides the opportunity for the students

to widen the industries that they can research as there is limited time on the excursion. It

also gives some insight into how these people maintained success in business. Not only by

being profitable but what other components and personality traits it takes to maintain

success.

In the classroom it could have many uses. Firstly it can be used as a ‘read to‘ book as it has

some interesting points that could be great discussions for the class. Secondly it can be used

as a resource in activity... when the students are conducing research on other businesses

and industries in addition to the excursion. Thirdly as a further knowledge read for student

that completes their work and have the opportunity to read silently a book that is on the

topic.

Title: Collins Eyewitness Guides: Money

Author: Joe Cribb


Place of production: Great Britain

Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Limited

Type: Book

Money is a book that illustrates and describes the diverse world of money. It includes real

photographs of money such as Egyptian silver, Chinese hoe money, Spanish gold, siege

money as well as today’s international currencies. It offers a See, Learn and Discover

experience where for example the students can see what certain money looked/s like, learn

how it’s made or why certain customs are undertaken in different countries, and discover

how to detect forged coins. There is so much information that the students can research

and learn.


The main use for this book in the classroom is for further research increasing their

knowledge base. They can use it during research time in the varying activities as well as

further reading when they have the chance. It can also be used as a discussion point during

a lesson to draw the student’s awareness to money around the world in different cultures. If

there were different cultures within the classroom it would also be good to incorporate

those students knowledge on money from their cultures.

Title: Classroom Focus- Money

Author: Hilary Adams


Place of Publication: Sydney

Publisher: Scholastic Australia Pty Ltd

This book offers students a lot of information on money and is relative to life and systems in

Australia. There is background information including a short history of money, the making of

coins, testing money and even a section on cheques and credit cards. All of this is related to

how money works and is used in Australia. There are games that the students can play if

they are early finishers, as well as worksheets and activities that can be completed. These

are activities that students can initiate and run without the teacher.

This book also comes with a large poster that can be displayed around the room. It shows

how money is designed and created as well as how it is recycled once it has reached the end

of its lifespan. This is a fantastic resource for students, especially for those who are visual

learners and benefit from seeing what happens during this process instead of just reading it.

Students can use this poster to recreate their own showing the process and lifespan of

money, perhaps even showing the journey of a banknote from its creation to its being

recycled into plastic products.


Title: Introduction to Marketing


Publisher: D.E. Visuals

Type: DVD

This DVD offers information on a range of different business areas and how best to market

products for that business. The list of occupations includes:

- Advertising/promotion

- Clothing/textiles and fashion industry

- E-commerce

- Graphic design

- International business

- Management

- Retailing

- Web development

Being a DVD means that students who prefer audio-visual learning can sit at a computer and

watch and listen to the information provided on the area of their choice. Students are given

great insight and background into each area that they are likely to never have experienced

before. It is up to date with twenty-first century occupations that have mostly been made

available to us only recently.

For students who have overseas interests or connections, which is highly likely in most

Australian schools, the DVD offers a section on international business which could be

appealing to these students. It covers language barriers and communication, lifestyle

changes, and different company roles that may be applicable.

Students could also be given the opportunity to watch the section that appeals to them and

create a piece of writing of their choice. This could be a literary text or a multimodal text,

both of which students need to be familiar with at VELS English Level 4. For example, they

could write an essay or create a website based on the information they find on the DVD.

Type of resource: video

Found online at: http://vimeo.com/6370531

Title of program: Work Song by Reading Rainbow

A production of: Lancit Media Entertainment, WNED-TV and GPN, PBS and the US

Department of Education


Featuring the popular Children’s book “Work Song” written by Gary Paulsen and illustrated

by Ruth Wright Paulsen (1997), this 28 minute children’s documentary travels through many

work domains, exploring numerous businesses. There is a focus on enjoying work that you

can excel at, and the requirement of work to maintain an orderly society. During the

program, viewers see people fighting fire, cooking, creating cartoons and art, teaching,

working office jobs and even making drums. Professionals in these fields speak about what

they enjoy in their line of work, answering questions that would be interesting and relevant

to students in level four. Watching the film may also assist students in getting into

character, which they are required to do in activity 3 and 7.

This would be particularly useful within this unit of work to showcase job variety, which

students may use to inspire their job choice for the market day. It will also encourage

students to think about what their skills are and how they may capitalise on them. While the

entire program is useful and enjoyable, the suite is quite lengthy; it could be beneficial to

select a portion of the feature to show. The shorter sections in which people are

interviewed on their occupation or business are the most interesting and a lot can be

gleaned from these points of view.

Towards the end of the short film, some children conduct mini book reviews of further texts

that are useful and relevant to the topic. Students undertaking the unit may take the advice

of these children in locating further texts as part of their research (activity 3). The film itself

can be viewed online anytime, thus students can access it from home or school to aid their

character development and successful market day contributions (activity 3 and 7).

Type of resource: hand puppets (chef, police officer, surgeon and fire-fighters)

Available online at: http://www.thinkbutton.com/occupations.asp

These resources are relevant to the unit because the puppets are depictions of people in

businesses or occupations. While the available four are not representative of all businesses,

they can be used as a prompt. Puppets are useful for students that revel at the idea of

hands on activity, literally! These cute puppets can help students to channel their creative

ideas about various businesses, which will enable their confidence in using drama more

widely. Although using puppets may seem very juvenile at first, the experience can be a

great starting point for character growth and may encourage students that have no interest

in drama, to have a go.

Drawing from experiences with puppets such as these four, students may choose to create

their own puppet that relates to the business they are modelling in their art time for activity

3. Essentially, the puppets would be for inspiration and character development. However,

the puppets could be used further if students choose an occupation (such as an entertainer)


and sell tickets to puppet shows. They may even decide to make and sell puppets of their

own as their business, and thus, the puppets make for a good source of inspiration.

In level four, puppets can be incorporated into lessons in a number of ways. For some

students the puppets will be an accessible and enjoyable way to explore businesses. For

others, the puppets may encourage creativity and inspire dramatic exploration. Other

children will use the puppets directly and explicitly in their business. However the students

choose to respond to or with the puppets, their experience with them is highly beneficial

and acts as a motivational tool in the classroom.

Taking this angle in motivating students is particularly effective for kinaesthetic learners as

well as children with psychomotor, sensory and imaginational over excitabilities. Puppet use

can also help to simplify concepts which may be difficult or foreign to students, allow for an

element of story-telling and can aid in communication skills.

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