HASS · Year 2

Active learning ideas

School Life in Grandparents' Time

Active learning works well for this topic because students need to compare tangible past and present elements, not just memorize dates. Interviewing family members, handling replica tools, and stepping into roles create sensory and emotional connections that help students grasp how different yet similar school life can be across generations.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HASS2K01

• 30–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Role Play
• 45 min · Pairs

Family Interviews: Grandparent School Stories

Pairs brainstorm five questions about past school life, such as tools used or playground rules. They interview grandparents by phone or video, recording key facts on a template. Groups share highlights in a class talking circle, noting common changes.

How was the classroom and the tools for learning different when your grandparents were at school?

Facilitation Tip

During Family Interviews, provide students with a simple question guide so they focus on learning tools, daily routines, and school rules rather than family stories.

What to look for

Provide students with a Venn diagram template. Ask them to list three things found in a modern classroom in one circle, three things found in a grandparent's classroom in the other, and one thing found in both in the overlapping section.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 02

• Role Play
• 35 min · Small Groups

Then and Now: Visual Timelines

Small groups receive photos of past and present classrooms. They create paper timelines labeling changes in furniture, uniforms, and lessons. Each group presents one change and predicts future shifts.

How do you think the rules and expectations at school were different for children long ago?

Facilitation Tip

When creating Then and Now Visual Timelines, model how to select one key change per decade and include a brief caption explaining its importance.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are a child from your grandparents' time walking into our classroom today. What would surprise you the most, and why?' Encourage students to share their thoughts and justify their answers based on what they have learned.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Role Play
• 40 min · Whole Class

Role-Play: Past to Present Switch

Divide the class into two groups to act out a day in grandparents' school versus today, focusing on routines and rules. Switch roles after 10 minutes, then discuss feelings in pairs using prompt cards.

How do you think a child from the past would feel if they walked into your classroom today?

Facilitation Tip

For Role-Play: Past to Present Switch, assign small groups specific eras to research so each group’s portrayal feels authentic and grounded in evidence.

What to look for

Give each student a card with a picture of an old school tool (e.g., slate, inkwell) and a picture of a modern school tool (e.g., tablet, whiteboard). Ask them to write one sentence comparing how each tool was used for learning.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 04

• Role Play
• 30 min · Individual

Artifact Hunt: Replica Tools

Set up stations with replica items like slates and abacuses. Individuals rotate, testing tools and noting differences from modern ones on checklists. Debrief as a class on usability.

How was the classroom and the tools for learning different when your grandparents were at school?

Facilitation Tip

In the Artifact Hunt, place replicas in labeled stations so students move purposefully while comparing textures and uses of old and new tools.

What to look for

Provide students with a Venn diagram template. Ask them to list three things found in a modern classroom in one circle, three things found in a grandparent's classroom in the other, and one thing found in both in the overlapping section.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers approach this topic best by anchoring discussions in primary sources like family stories and replica objects. Avoid overgeneralizing past schools as “strict and dreary”; instead, guide students to notice both discipline and delight in grandparent stories. Research shows that when students interview relatives, learning becomes more personal and retention increases because the content connects to lived experience.

Students will demonstrate understanding by explaining at least two concrete differences and one similarity between their classroom now and their grandparents’ classroom then. They should use specific examples from tools, routines, or rules to support their thinking.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Family Interviews, watch for students who assume school in the past was all discipline and no fun. After listening to grandparents share games like marbles or singing time, gently redirect by asking, 'What did your grandparents say made school enjoyable despite the rules?'

  During Role-Play: Past to Present Switch, watch for students who portray past schools as entirely joyless. Use the routine cards they researched to highlight moments like recess games or singing assemblies, then ask them to show how these fit into the school day.

• During Then and Now Visual Timelines, watch for students who claim ‘school rules never changed.’ After they compare their timeline with a partner, prompt them to point to the decade where rules shifted from silence to collaboration and ask what might have caused that change.

  During Role-Play: Past to Present Switch, watch for students who claim ‘school rules never changed.’ After the performance, ask the audience to raise a hand if they noticed a rule difference, then discuss what those changes reveal about evolving views of children.

• During Artifact Hunt, watch for students who treat their grandparents’ school as ancient history. After handling replicas like slates or inkwells, ask them to identify modern items that existed then too, such as cars or radios, to bridge the generational gap.

  During Family Interviews, watch for students who see their grandparents’ school as 'dinosaur-like.' After hearing about 1960s classrooms with TVs or field trips, ask them to compare photos of that era with images of their own early school days to highlight shared elements like backpacks or playgrounds.

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Methods used in this brief

• Role Play