Lesson plan:

Skills and processes fostered through the activities include: 

• locating key ideas in texts (oral, written and visual)
• respecting the opinions and points of view of others
• sharing an individual opinion or point of view
• modifying understandings
• reflecting on learning
• representing ideas in a range of ways
• gathering data
• surveying techniques

1. Tuning in

These activities explore some of the main concepts involved in the episode; make predictions; reveal some of students' prior knowledge; and raise questions for further exploration. 

1.1 Where did I come from? 

Read Cabbage Patch Fib by Paul Jennings or Mummy Laid an Egg by Babette Cole. Discuss common myths and stories related to where babies come from.

Ask students: when you were younger, how did you think babies were born?
(Students are often more likely to contribute if the initial focus is on their 'childish misconceptions' from the past.)

1.2 What do we know about pregnancy and childbirth? 

Use a 1-3-6 strategy to encourage student's to pool their knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth. 

Ask students to independently think about what they know. 

Divide the class into groups of three share their ideas and create a common list, and then move into groups of six to repeat the process. Their understanding of the topic may also be represented using visual means - models, diagrams and other art works. These products can be kept for assessment purposes. 

1.3 Anonymous question box 

Set up a 'question box' in the classroom. Over the course of the unit, students can place any questions they have about the topic in the box - remaining anonymous in doing so. Clear the box every few days and share the questions with your class. The questions will also help you understand some of your students' interests/concerns/misunderstandings. 

1.4 Facts and figures 

Begin a 'fact file' about pregnancy and childbirth which can be added to over the course of the unit. Students can add to the file at any time but they must be encouraged to source the fact to develop their research skills. 

1.5 PMI

Pose the following proposition to students: imagine if men had babies instead of women? Ask students to creatively think about this notion using De Bono's PMI structure (plus, minus, interesting to see): 

• What could be the positive things about this? 
• What could be the negative things about this? 
• What would be 'interesting to see'? 

1.6 Predictions 

View this segment of The Big Burp:

Scene: At the lighthouse - from the beginning of the program. 
Begins with Linda: 'Look if it makes dad happy, then I am glad Fay's moving in.' 
Ends with Jeannie: 'In two days you're going to have a baby.' 

• How do you think you would feel if you were Pete? Why? 
• What do you think is going to happen now? 

1.7 All in the family 

Ask students what they know of their own birth stories. They may also have memories of the birth of siblings. Students can write or draw what they know about these experiences - focussing on feelings and emotions. 

Ask students: 'how do you think your Mum and Dad might have felt? How did you feel when your baby brother was born?' Encourage students to ask their parents about their birth. Ask them to bring in photos of themselves as babies and as the class to try to match their classmates with their photos. 

1.8 Hot potato 

Students can divide into five groups. Give each group a large sheet of paper with one of the following questions on it:

• Name one way to prevent unwanted pregnancy
• Name one physical change that occurs in the body when a woman is pregnant
• Name one thing a mother can do to help ensure the health of her baby
• Name one thing a father can do to help ensure the health of his baby
• Name one thing parents need to do to care for a newborn. 

Discuss the results. Are there questions or answers the students are unsure about? How can they find out more about these things? 

2. Responding 

The purpose of these activities is to help students process the ideas and issues raised in the episode they have viewed. 

2.1 Viewing 

View the remainder of the episode. 

Compare the events to the predictions in activity 1.5. 

2.2 Initial responses 

Give each student three 'talk tokens' (eg. counters, buttons, beads, etc.) 
Organise small discussion groups to share their initial response to the episode asking:

• What were its strengths? 
• What were its weaknesses? 

2.3 Who's who in episode 1? 

Give students the names of the key characters that appear in the episode and ask them identify the character's major role - where they appear and what they do. 

Create a character list as follows: 

Linda 
Pete 
Bronson 
Tony 
Faye 
Nell 
Gribbs 
Tiger 
Rabbit 
Jeannie 
Matron 
Snapper

Using this list, students can create a story map or a socio-gram to show how the characters relate to each other in the episode and what their main purpose or role is in the story. 

2.4 What's pregnancy really like? 

View the following sequence from the episode and have the students note down all the emotional and physical responses to pregnancy they see. 

Scene: In the lighthouse, Pete retching in the bathroom.
Begins with Tony: 'You OK Bronson?' 
Ends with Pete saying to Jeannie: 'And what percentage of boys die in childbirth?' 

If possible, collect texts that show images of pregnancy and parenting. Most women's magazines focus on this regularly and TV 'soaps' often have a pregnant character. Ask students to analyse the messages about pregnancy and parenting portrayed in these images. Compare them with the list of physical and emotional characteristics discussed previously.

2.5 The big event 

View 'the birth scene' again.

Scene: The sick bay 
Begins with Pete saying: 'The contractions have started.' 
Ends with Pete saying: 'It's OK, it's just a bit of afterburp.' 

Discuss their ideas. With parent permission, view a real childbirth scene (see resource list) on video. 
Compare the two scenes. 

2.6 Interviews 

Invite a couple to the classroom, who have had, or are about to have a baby. Prepare a list of questions to ask both the father and the mother about the experience. Prior to the 'interview', show students the brief clip where Pete is being interviewed by a large contingent of media reps, organised by Gribble: 

Scene: Outside the front door of the lighthouse 
Begins with media reps: 'How does it feel to be a boy mother? What are your inner feelings about motherhood?' 
Ends with Tony: I'm sorry, Pete's late for school.' 

Show the next episode segment to students (following the media scene) in which Jeannie discusses the fact that she is feeling ignored. 

Scene: In the classroom. 
Begins with: 'You're the one who is having the baby, I understand that.' 
Ends with: 'I think it's called pre-natal stress.' 

2.7 Taking it further 

People have a wide variety of opinions about the role of a mother and father during pregnancy, childbirth and parenthood. Students can develop a survey to find out people's views about these issues. They can interview members of their school community, their families, their neighbours, etc. Ask them to analyse the data and report back to the class. Encourage your students to develop questions that will engage people in discussing these issues, eg. 

• Do you believe that mother and fathers can parent equally well? Why/Why not? 
• Do you think fathers should be involved in childbirth? Why/Why not? 
• Do you believe that women have a 'maternal instinct'? Why/Why not?