Getting to know my classmates

Here's a lovely writing activity idea from Balywyn School in Melbourne that could be used to help your students get to know each other. Using the Venn diagram, students work together in pairs to find out what is the same and different about them. It might be useful to agree on some categories and generate some question prompts that could be used to support students during this writing activity. Here are some category suggestions:

• Appearance
• Hobbies
• Personal traits
• Pets.

Before students work on the Venn diagram with a buddy in the class to complete what is the same and what is different about them, you could use Mem Fox's Whoever You Are as motivation. A big thank you to the teacher from St Josephs in Narrandera who shared this beautiful picture book about inclusion and diversity with us. We have included a YouTube clip of the story for those of you who do not have a copy of the book. Here's how you could use Whoever You Are as the motivation for this writing activity:

• Read/watch the story.
• Have a class or group discussion about ideas and themes in the book. There is a range of grouping ideas on page 42 of The Oral Language Book.
• Use modelled and shared writing to demonstrate how students are to complete the Venn diagram with their buddies.

 Have you seen our on demand writing workshops? Learn more.