How this book works


Together, the Teacher’s Guide, Learner’s Book and Workbook present a comprehensive Life Skills course covering all aspects of the Life Skills Curriculum and Policy Statement (CAPS) for Foundation Phase.


SECTION 2 Orientation to teaching Life Skills


Overview of concepts


This Teacher’s Guide is organised into terms and topics. The content presented within each term and topic is guided by the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement for Life Skills in the Foundation Phase. Topics are divided into sections for Beginning Knowledge and Personal and Social Wellbeing, Creative Arts and Physical Education. Teachers are encouraged to include Creative Arts and Physical Education activities into their weekly planning, as shown in the work schedule. Although teachers are encouraged to include special or religious holidays relevant to their own community within each term, suggestions have been included within the Successful Life Skills Series. It is also recommended that the teacher make daily reference to the days and months on a class calendar throughout the year.


Beginning Knowledge and Personal and Social Wellbeing


Beginning Knowledge content is drawn from the Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Technology. Learners find out more about their own bodies, their community and the world around them through simple activities that develop understanding of basic concepts. Experimentation, observation and discussion are all used to teach these concepts. Personal and Social Wellbeing is an important area


for young children because they are still learning to take care of themselves and keep safe and healthy. It includes social health, emotional health, relationships with others and with the environment, values and attitudes. Discussion, stories, personal and creative expression and observation are ways to teach and learn concepts related to Personal and Social Wellbeing. The topics covered in Beginning Knowledge and


Personal and Social Wellbeing in Grade 2 are listed on the Contents page.


Creative Arts


Creative Arts expose children to four art forms: dance, drama, music and visual arts. Visual Arts develop the sensory-motor skills


and fine and gross motor co-ordination through the manipulation of a variety of materials and tools. Two-dimensional work helps to enrich the child’s experience of the world. Visual and sensory stimulation, discussion and questioning, drawing and painting the body in motion, are ways in which this is achieved. The emphasis is on the body in motion, space filling, and the use of shape, line and colour. Materials used include coloured pencils and crayons,


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chalk, watercolours, powder or poster paint and kokis. Three-dimensional work involves cutting, pasting, wrapping and construction skills such as joining and tying. Clay, play dough and recyclable materials are used to create three-dimensional works. Performing Arts (dance, drama and music) allow


children the opportunity to creatively communicate, dramatise, sing, make music, dance and explore movement. This develops the learners’ physical skills and creativity. It also stimulates memory, promotes relationships and builds self-confidence and self- discipline. Creative games and skills prepare the body and voice for performing. The action of improvising and interpreting allows children to create music, movement and drama alone and collaboratively.


Physical Education


This area focuses on perceptual and locomotor development, rhythm, balance and laterality (using both sides of the body). In addition to fun activities to develop these skills, the learners play games that will form the basis of formal sports in later years. The teacher should encourage the learners to have fun and enjoy using their bodies in new ways and form the basis for a lifelong positive relationship with physical activity.


Preparing to teach Life Skills


Life Skills is a subject area that requires a varied and broad spectrum of talents, abilities and knowledge on the part of the teacher. For many, this can be a daunting prospect. Successful Life Skills has been developed to support the teacher with all the aspects of the Life Skills programme.


Teaching the Creative Arts


This aspect of the Life Skills programme includes dance, drama, music and visual arts. This is an opportunity for children to express themselves in different ways. Encourage children to be individuals and embrace their creativity. Teachers need to be flexible in terms of classroom management during these times, as working with paint, glue and cardboard can get noisy and messy. Music and movement naturally need sound and action too. You are also encouraged to use the music CD in the Teacher’s Guide to assist you in the various activities. The booklet included with the CD provides the lyrics which will help with teaching the songs to the learners.


How to use the FP CD This CD is to be used for the three grades of the Foundation phase, so the language is at various levels. However, the choruses are simple. All eleven official languages are represented on the CD, including well known, traditional songs. The CD provides for a scaffolded learning process:


Section 1 and 2 of this Teacher’s Guide include guidelines on teaching life Skills in Foundation Phase, addressing common barriers to learning, creating an inclusive environment and classroom management.


SECTION 3 Term 1


Week 1 Topic 1 Unit 1 What we need to live


BKPSW Activities 1,2,3 CA PE


Activity 10 Activities 7,8,9 FA: 8 Activities 11,12,13,14,15


Week 2 BKPSW Activities 4,5,6 FA: 4 CA PE


Activities 16,17,18


Week 3 Topic 2 Unit 2 Myself and others


BKPSW Activities 1,2,3 CA PE


Activities 7,8,9 Activities 14,15,16 Week 4


BKPSW Activities 4,5,6 CA PE


BKPSW Activities 1,2 CA PE


Activities 7,8 Activities 13,14 Week 6


BKPSW Activities 3,4 FA:3 CA PE


Activity 9 Activities 15,16


Week 7 BKPSW Activities 5,6 CA PE


BKPSW Activities 1,2 CA PE


Activity 5 Activities 8,9,10 FA:9 Week 9


BKPSW CA PE


Activities 3,4 FA:3 Activities 6,7


Activities 11,12,13


Week 10 Topic 5 Unit 5 Religious and other special days


BKPSW Activities 1,2,3,4 CA PE


Activity 5 10


Activities 5,6,7,8 FA:7 Activity 10


Activities 13,14,15


Topic 5 Unit 5 Religious and other special days


Activities 1,2,3,4


Activities 3,4 Activity 7 FA:7


Activities 10,11,12


Topic 5 Unit 5 Religious and other special days


Activities 1, 2


Activities 3 FA:3 Activities 14,15


Activities 10,11,12 Activity 17


Activities 10,11,12,13 FA:12 Activities 17,18 FA:18


Week 5 Topic 3 Unit 3 Everyone is special


Activities 5,6,7,8,9 FA:8 Activities 12,13,14,15 Activities 20,21


Topic 3 Unit 3 Animals that live in water


Activities 1,2,3 FA:1 Activities 7,8 FA:8 Activities 10,11


Activities 4,5,6 FA:5 Activity 9


Activities 12,13


Activities 1,2,3,4 FA:1,3 Activity 9


Activities 11,12 Activities 5,6


Activities 9,12,13,14,15 Activities 22,23,24


Topic 3 Unit 3 Road safety


Activities 1,2,3 FA:1 Activities 7,8,9


Activities 15,16,17 Activities 4,5,6


Activities 10,11,12,13,14 Activities 18,19,20,21


Week 8 Topic 4 Unit 4 Healthy Living Topic 4 Unit 4 Animal homes Topic 4 Unit 4 People who help us


Activities 1,2 Activities 5,6 Activities 8,9


Activities 10,11,12 FA:12 Activities 18,19 Activity 23


Topic 4 Unit 4 Religious and other special days


Activities 1,2,3,4 Activities 5,6,7,8 Activities 9,10,11


Consolidation and assessments


Activity 1


Activities 2, 3 Activities 4, 5


Activities 8,9,10,11 Activities 14,17 Activity 21


Topic 3 Unit 3 Life at night


Activities 1,2,3,4 Activities 13,14,16 Activities 20,21


Activities 5,6,7,8,9 Activities 15,17 Activity 22


Activities 9,10,11,12 Activities 17,18,19,20 Activities 24,25


Topic 2 Unit 2 Animals Activities 1,2,3,4 FA:2 Activities 10,11


Activities 16,17,18,19 Planning tools


Work schedule Formal Assessment activities are indicated in bold and by FA.


Term 2 Topic 1 Unit 1 Seasons


Activities 1,2,3,4 FA:2 Activity 13


Activities 21,22


Activities 5,6,7,8 FA:7 Activities 14,15,16 Activity 23


Term 3 Topic 1 Unit 1 Soil


Activities 1,2 Activities 6,7


Activities 11,12


Activities 3,4,5 FA:3 Activities 8,9,10 Activities 13,14


Topic 2 Unit 2 Transport


Activities 1,2 Activity 7


Activities 16,17


Activities 3,4 FA:4 Activities 8,10,11


Activities 18,19,20,21 FA:18 Term 4 Topic 1 Unit 1 Our country


Activities 1,2,3,4 Activities 9,10 Activities 13,14


Activities 5,6,7,8 Activities 11,12


Activities 15,16,17


Topic 2 Unit 2 Ways we communicate


Activities 1,2,3,4 Activities 12,15 Activities 18,19


Activities 5,6,7 Activities 13,16 Activity 20


Section 3 of this Teacher’s Guide includes planning and assessment guidelines and tools. Four Formal Assessments must be done during the year. Plan to do one each term and ensure that all four study areas are covered.


Term Overview Concepts and skills Topic 1 Unit 1 What we need to live


Beginning Knowledge and Personal and Social Wellbeing


y Different types of food – for growth, energy, health y Water – why we need water, sources of water we use


y Air – clean air y Sunlight – include protection from the Sun


Creative Arts: Visual Arts Create in 2D


y Paint pictures of self with others in action (running, jumping, dancing, etc) and talk about primary and secondary colours, cool and warm colours, shape and line


y Create patterns using geometric shapes; talk about rhythm and repetition; talk about cool and warm colours


Activity 7 Activities 8, 10


Activity 3 Activities 1, 2


Activity 6 Activities 4, 5


Activities Concepts and skills Topic 2 Unit 2 Myself and others


Beginning Knowledge and Personal and Social Wellbeing


y Friends – qualities of a good friend y People at school and at home – include sharing, helping, showing respect y Dealing positively with conflict – include self- esteem and bullying


Creative Arts: Performing Arts Creative games and skills y Warming up the body: breathing exercises and use of different joints such as ankles, pointing and flexing, wrists circling, and others y Warming up the voice: using songs, singing vowels, rhymes and tongue twisters y Singing songs in unison, rounds, and call and response


y Locomotor movements: walking, running, skipping, hopping in different directions on own and with a partner y Interactive storytelling activities: listen and respond appropriately to partners, such as telling stories in pairs on “my favourite food”, accumulation stories, echo stories, and others Improvise and interpret


y Rhythm patterns using key words from selected topics such as people at work: “woodcutter” chop-chop-chop, “butcher” slice-slice, and others


Creative Arts: Performing Arts Creative games and skills y Warming up the voice: using songs, singing vowels, rhymes and tongue twisters y Interactive storytelling activities: listen and respond appropriately to partners, such as telling stories in pairs on “my favourite food”, accumulation stories, echo stories, and others


Physical Education Co-ordination


y Throwing beanbags to a partner Rhythm


y Rope skipping Balance y Work in pairs facing one another with legs stretched out and feet touching, holding hands, pull and push forwards and backwards soles of feet together;


y Repeat standing up using hands to push against one another with feet flat on the ground


Locomotor


y Play an indigenous game, for example, Upuca Perceptual motor


y Throwing and hitting balls in pairs


Activities 14, 16 Activities 15, 17


Activity 11 Activity 12 Activity 13


Activity 13


Physical Education Locomotor


Activity 9 Activity 9


y Egg and spoon races – balance a small ball on a large spoon y Potato races Perceptual motor


y Throwing and hitting balls in pairs Laterality


y Introduce activities using the non-dominant body part, arms and legs


Rhythm y Rope skipping Activities 15, 16, 18


1. Look at the picture on Learner’s Book page 6. Discuss the difference between healthy food and junk food.


2. Hand out mirrors and apples to your learners. Ask your learners to take a bite of their apple while looking at themselves in the mirror. Ask them to notice how the apple is in front of their face (overlapping) and what their fingers look like holding the apple, as well as how their arm has to bend.


3. Ask your learners to draw themselves from the waist up. Remind learners to add all the details of their faces, leaving out the bits that are hidden by the apple.


4. When the line drawing is complete, hand out poster paints in red, yellow and blue. The learners add colour to their pictures. Help them to mix the secondary colours (green, purple and orange) using the poster paints.


5. Learners can then complete Workbook page 6 with coloured pencils or thick poster paints (make sure the paint is dry before closing the books).


Term 1, Topic 1, Unit 1, What we need to live Term 1, Overview 11 15


Activity 14 Activity 14 Activities 15, 16, 17 Activity 17


Activities 1, 2, 3 Activities 4, 5


Activity 6 Activities


1


Activity 7


Activity 8 Activity 7 Activity 10


Activities 11, 12, 13


Activity 9


Section 4 of the Teacher’s Guide is divided into terms. Each term begins with a term opener page giving an overview of the topics and activities for the term.


Activity 5: Protection from the Sun Focus: Sunlight – include protection from the Sun


LB p. 7 Time: 30 minutes


1. Discuss what we can do to protect ourselves from the Sun. The learners can then look at the picture on Learner’s Book page 7 and make suggestions for what the family should do to protect themselves from the Sun, for example use the umbrella, put on hats.


2. Allow the learners to work in pairs to design and make a Sun protection hat out of newspaper.


Activity 6: An air experiment Focus: Air – clean air


LB p. 8; WB p. 5 Time: 1 hour


1. Discuss with the learners what they think is in the air we breathe in. Explain to the learners that we need fresh air to give our bodies energy. We breathe out stale air. Look at the illustration on Learner’s Book page 8. The stars indicate stale air breathed out; the bubbles indicate fresh, clean air. The experiment shows that the air that we breathe out is different from the air we breathe in.


2. Prepare enough red cabbage juice so that each group has two cups half filled with juice. Each group also needs two straws. Explain the steps before you begin:


» Step 1: Stir the juice in the first cup, to expose it to the air that is all around us, that we breathe in.


» Step 2: Gently blow air through the straw into the second cup to expose this juice to the air we breathe out.


» Step 3: Look carefully at the cabbage juice in the two cups and make a note of the differences.


3. Let each group conduct the experiment. Ask the learners to describe what they see. Ask them what they think has happened to the cabbage juice with the stale air in it. Allow all answers, then summarise and say that the air we breathe out is not good for people because it is stale. Our bodies need fresh air to live. Trees breathe in our stale air at night and breathe out fresh air.


4. Once they have cleaned up, the learners can complete Workbook page 5. This can be used for formal assessment.


Week 1: Creative Arts: Visual Arts Activity 7: Eating an apple


Resources


Red cabbage juice indicator (see recipe below) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) Cups (2 per group) Straws (2 per group)


Recipe: Half a large red cabbage grated Pot Enough boiling water to cover cabbage Strainer Glass container or jar


Place the grated cabbage into the pot. Cover the cabbage with hot water. Leave it to soak for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Use the strainer to drain the red juice into the glass container or jar. Discard the cabbage.


Resources


Newspaper glue sticky tape staples


LB p. 6; WB p. 6


Focus: Create in 2D: Paint pictures of self with others in action and talk about primary and secondary colours, cool and warm colours, shape and line


Resources Time: 1 hour


A3 white paper Ballpoint pens Mirrors Apples Poster paints


Remediation


Guide the learners who need prompting by suggesting situations they could act.


Guidelines on teaching each topic and carrying out the activities, are given on the main content pages. Where an activity appears in the Learner’s Book or Workbook, the page reference is given next to the activity title in the Teacher’s Book.


SECTION 5 Assessment tools Observation book


An observation book can be used by the teacher to record brief notes on each learner’s progress in formal and informal assessment tasks. A separate section in alphabetical order needs to be kept for each learner. Each entry should be clearly dated.


Learner: Lisa M 17 February – seems to be very helpful to other learners in the group 18 February – very involved in physical education activity 23 February – verbalises that she is unable to understand instructions 28 February – chooses to read or draw when not busy completing tasks


Checklists Checklists can be used to note whether a learner has mastered a concept or task.


Example checklist for informal assessment Term 1: Physical Education – Locomotor skills Key: ✓ Competent ✗ Needs improvement


Learner’s Names Can balance a ball on a spoon


Can throw and hit a ball


Can use non- dominant arm/leg


Can skip with a skipping rope


Comments


Tools for conducting and recording assessment are included in Section 5.


SECTION 6 Additional resources Term 1 Topic 2 Unit 2 Elton’s story


Every day is the same. My mom walks me to school. I’m already eight, so my mom doesn’t come inside the gate with me anymore. But some days, I wish she would. I know that Andrew will be waiting for me behind the hall. I tried to tell my mom that I was too sick to go to school today but she didn’t believe me.


“Elton, give me your lunchbox” says Andrew. If I don’t give it to Andrew, he’ll go and tell the other children that I have really smelly breath. Then they won’t play with me. Yesterday, Andrew told everyone that I have teddy bears on my underwear. Everyone laughed and when I started to cry, they laughed at me some more. Some children even called me a baby. I hate school.


Andrew’s story


Everyday is the same. I get up and look for something to eat. But there’s never anything. My mom tries her best but she is often sick and so no-one will give her a permanent job. Sometimes she gets work and earns a little money. My dad left us when my brother and I were very young so there’s no money from him. I walk to school, feeling very hungry. I know that I can wait for Elton and he will give me his lunch. At least I will have something to eat today. I will try and save some for my brother, he’s only four.


“Elton, give me your lunchbox.” When I say this, I feel bad that I am taking his lunch but I know that he ate breakfast this morning and that his mom will give him lunch when he gets home. I’m scared that Elton will tell the other children what I am doing, so I make sure that no-one talks to him by telling them lies about him. Elton’s crying again and I want to tell the children to stop laughing at him but I can’t. I know what I’m doing is wrong but there is no other way.


Term 1 Topic 3 Unit 3 Badge templates Rubrics


Rubrics can be used to note the level at which learners have mastered concepts or tasks. A four point rubric like the one below can be used for daily, informal assessment.


Example rubric for informal assessment


Term 1: Beginning Knowledge and Personal and Social Wellbeing -- Topic 1: Me Criteria


1 = Not achieved


Learner can name different types of food Learner can say why we need water Learner can name sources of water Learner can discuss the importance of clean air


2 = Partial achievement


3 = Satisfactory achievement


4 = Outstanding achievement


Term 2 Topic 1 Unit 1 King Midas and the Golden Touch


King Midas was a very kind man who ruled his kingdom fairly, but he spoke quickly without stopping to think. One day, while walking in his garden, he saw an old man asleep in the flowers. He was very angry, but took pity on the old fellow and let him go without punishment. The old man turned out to be magic and he rewarded King Midas by granting him one wish. The king thought for only a second and then said: “I wish for everything I touch to turn to gold.” And so it was.


The beautiful flowers in his garden turned toward the sun for light, but when Midas approached and touched them, they stood stiff and still, turned to gold. The king grew hungry and thin, for each time he tried to eat, he found that his food had turned to gold. His water, his bed, his clothes, and his whole palace was gold. One day a terrible thing happened: his lovely daughter ran up to him to give him a hug, and at his touch, she turned to gold.


King Midas saw that soon his whole kingdom would turn to gold unless he did something right away. He asked the old man to turn everything back to the way it had been, and to take back his golden touch. Because the king was ashamed and very sad, the old man took pity on him and granted his request. King Midas’s palace, and everything around him, turned back to the way it was before.


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Extra resources and tips for teaching Life Skills lessons and activities are included in Section 6.


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