A possum disturbs Old Dog, and a ‘cranky’ magpie swoops at anyone who steps into the backyard. Little J and Big Cuz share a room and when Little J steps on Big Cuz’s art project, a disagreement over territory ensues. The result is a clear dividing line to mark their individual territory. But they discover they have to compromise on a shared space, and cooperate in order to move in and out of the room, and to get past the swooping magpie in the backyard. Their joint, inventive solution wins high praise from the class at ‘show & tell’.

Explore - Explore actions that help make the classroom a healthy, safe and active place. Examine health messages and how they relate to health decisions and behaviours

Theme - BELONGING

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 12 ‘Territories’, engage students with the following activities to support their understanding about cooperation, sharing, resilience and safety.

Revisit the action in Episode 12 ‘Territories’ where Little J and Big Cuz need to cooperate with each other to solve the problem of getting past the magpie in the backyard. Have students suggest events/experiences in their lives where they have worked with someone to solve a problem. Have students consider what behaviours and attitudes are required to maintain a good working relationship with someone else. List their suggestions for the class to consider, such as:

• listening to the other person,
• communicating what you think clearly,
• accepting advice,
• making choices,
• weigh up the pros and cons,
• understanding what the problem is,
• breaking down the problem into smaller parts and tackling each part rather than the whole problem at once
  • among other strategies…

Suggested teacher resources:

• The Vector Impact – These problem solving techniques will make you uber successful
• What is problem solving?
• Learning to make good decisions and solve problems 
• How to Teach Kids Problem-Solving Skills

View ‘I Think – Real Friends’ (Scootle: TLF R6073), an animation clip, and discuss the concept of cooperation displayed in the story.

Introduce students to a variety of problem solving games. Set the class five games to play as an individual, and five games to play as a pair. Have the class assess which method/process of working they enjoyed most either working with someone else, or working by themselves. Have students recognise that some games/problems are better solved as individuals and some are better solved with others.

• ‘Games that Promote Problem Solving skills’, chapter 10, Paterson, K. (2009).
• Desperately Seeking Solutions. Pembroke Publishers
• Problem Solving games
• How You Can Help Children Solve Problems (teacher reference), Teachers, Scholastic

Introduce students to games that they are unfamiliar with. Select three or four games from the Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games, AIS, and organise for students to play these games in teams.

Assess how students perform in games that are unfamiliar to them. Observe how individuals in the teams support each other to learn the rules and acquire the skills to successfully play the games.  The focus is not on winning the games.

Ask students to imagine if they were to coach a team to play these games, what advice would they give new players. Have students suggest not only the skills and knowledge they need to play by the rules, but also the qualities of being a cooperative and supportive team member.