TASK CARD 1. Teacher Resource.

The Allen Adventure

Year
Strand
Focus
Curriculum Links

Year 3 and 4
HPE Health
The Allen Adventure
Australian Curriculum Focus - General capabilities
Personal and social capability: Self and social awareness; Self and social
management
Ethical understanding: Exploring values, rights and responsibilities
Intercultural understanding: Interacting and empathising with others
The Early Years Learning Framework
Children have a strong sense of identity
Children are connected with and contribute to their world
Children have a strong sense of well-being
Children are effective communicators

Purpose
Explore the vocabulary and concepts of emotions and prosocial behaviours
Recount and discuss personal and social events/incidents
Build relationships and support positive peer interactions
The four chapters and key concept
Chapter 1: The New Kid Joining in, asking for help appropriately
Chapter 2: The Rocket Recognising others feelings, checking in with others
Chapter 3: Kinda Mean Problem solving, when to ask for help for problems
Chapter 4: Earth to Allen Keeping big emotions under control, self-calming, getting along with others
Suggestions for classroom use
Resourses required
IWB/Class iPad
YouTube/ Bullying no way The Allen Adventure
Health books
Classroom floor space
Use in the classroom
This links to the making friends kit students and the LM engage with the
digital story and complete the activities.
Lesson 1 The New Kid
1. Read/listen to chapter one The Allen Adventure (iPad or IWB)
2. Whole class discussion:
Outline to Task Card
What can we see on the screen/cover?
(Possible lesson idea)

This task card would be

carried out over a
month.

Who do you think this is?

What can we see about Allen?
What is an alien?
Where do aliens come from?
What is an adventure?
Where do you think Allen might go on an adventure?

3. Feelings and Emotions (Chapter 1)

-

How do you think Allen was feeling as he was travelling in the space ship to
come to Earth?
What might he have been thinking?
What do you think Allen was feeling as he was showing his pictures to the
class?

4. Discussing themes (whole class)

The discussion explores students idea about how they make others welcome, what
being new feels like, helping others to feel included, happy and safe.

Lesson 2 The Rocket

1. Read/listen to chapter two The Allen Adventure (iPad or IWB)
2. Whole class discussion:
- This chapter is called The Rocket - what do we know about rockets?
- Does anyone here have a toy rocket?
3. Retelling Feeling words
Highlight the emotions and actions of the characters. At the game: I get the feeling,
tell the class they will play it with some other feelings. Using appropriate emotions from
the list of Feeling words, select 3 children and give them a feeling each to show, and
ask the watching children to point to the child with the emotion you nominate. Then ask
them how they could tell, saying: What clues did you see
Example Feeling words

TASK CARD 1. Teacher Resource.

The Allen Adventure
Affectionate, afraid, annoyed, angry, bored, brave, calm, caring, cheerful, confused, comfortable,
confident, cranky, curious, disappointed, disgusted, embarrassed, excited, fed-up, friendly,
frustrated, gentle, generous, guilty, happy, ignored, impatient, interested, jealous, joyful, lonely,
loving, overwhelmed, peaceful, proud, relaxed, relieved, sad, satisfied, sensitive, serious, shy,
stressed, strong, stubborn, tense, troubled, unafraid, uncomfortable, worried

4. Discussing Themes (whole class)

-

If Allen hadnt worked out how to read faces, and he didnt realise the other
kids didnt like it when he was not sharing the rocket, do you think he might
have problems when he wants to play with the other children?
What might happen if you didnt notice how other people were feeling?
Why might it be important to ask someone how they are feeling (and not
assume you know)?
Do you think some people might hide their feelings from their face, so others
dont know what they feel?

Chapter 3 Kinda Mean

1. Read/listen to chapter three The Allen Adventure (iPad or IWB)
2. Whole class discussion -

This chapter is called Kinda Mean what could that be about?

Do you think Allen might be going to be a bit mean?

3. Draw how the Allen is feeling.

Focus group discussion on Allens experiences and feelings because he
doesnt know how to do things the way the Earth kids do.
- Have students create a drawing of how the Allen might be feeling from what
they have read in chapter 3.
4. Own Experiences Whole class discussion
- What would you say to Allen if you were one of the kids?
Can you think of a time when you tried to sort out a problem but you couldnt?
What do we do in this classroom if we cant sort out a problem with someone?
- How would you answer Allens question, What does mean mean??
-

5. Discussing Themes
Explore the idea that we need to try to sort out problems first, but sometimes we do
need help. It highlights that it is better to get help rather than turn a little problem into a
big problem.
- Why is it important to be kind to each other?
- Why is it important to listen to other people?
- Are friends mean to each other? If someone is mean to you and keeps being
mean to you, are they your friend?

Chapter 4 Earth to Allen

1. Read/listen to chapter three The Allen Adventure (iPad or IWB)
2. Whole class discussion - Earth to Allen is like the way that people on Earth send messages to
astronauts in space; they say Earth to Space Station, can you hear me? Why
do you think the Earth might be sending a message to Allen?
3. Actions and Emotions
Scaffold the group to retell Chapter 4, with an emphasis on what the characters might
have been thinking and feeling. Suggested retell prompts (you do not need to use all
the questions):
- What was the main idea of this chapter?
- What sorts of things did Allen feel and do?
- What were the other children thinking? What were they feeling?
- Why did Allen go so crazy?
- What did the boy say that helped Allen?
- What is a calm space?
- What did Allen try that helped him find his calm space?
- What did Allen do at the end of the story?

4. Discussing themes (whole class)

Explore the idea that we all sometimes have strong (big) feelings and it is
important to learn ways to calm down by ourselves, to find our own calm space. It
is particularly important to learn how to experience feeling angry without losing
control and to learn how to become calmer before trying to sort out problems.
- How did Allen feel after he wrecked the science project?
- How do you think his friend felt when Allen wrecked his project?
- What can happen if you do angry things when you feel VERY angry?

TASK CARD 1. Teacher Resource.

The Allen Adventure
5. Closing activity
For a concluding activity, form children in two concentric circles. Children tell each
child in turn what they think Allen will tell the people back on Goopiter about what
he learned on earth, and then move onto the next person in the circle.

References
Bully No Way,. (2015). Index - Under 8 - Take a stand together. Retrieved 14 May 2015,
from http://www.takeastandtogether.gov.au/under8/index.html
This one is for the video direct from the webpage.