Year 5 – 6 | Write a Letter to Your Younger Self

Protecting My Skin full resource download  |  Concept 4: Keeping Your Skin Sun Safe download

Background

This lesson aims to activate students’ critically thinking skills and reflect on how their actions and behaviours today can
impact their health later in life. Students watch a thought-provoking video and write a letter to their younger self within the
context of sun protection.

Key messages

• Research has established that childhood and adolescence are critical periods during which sun exposure could
  contribute to skin cancer later in life
• In Western Australia, UV radiation levels are 3 or above for the majority of the year
  It is estimated that more than 75% of all skin cancers could be prevented by practicing sun protective behaviours in
  childhood and adolescence
• The sun produces heat that we can feel and light that we can see. It also produces ultraviolet (UV) radiation that we
  cannot see or feel
• The sun produces UVA (skin damage/skin cancer, ageing, wrinkles), UVB (sunburn, skin cancer) and UVC (doesn’t
  reach earth)
• The sun produces ultraviolet radiation that causes damage to the skin
• UV radiation can bounce and reflect off surfaces, so it is important to use all five forms of sun protection. Slip, Slop,
  Slap, Seek and Slide

Resources

• Dear 16-year-old Me

Instructions

1. Watch the resource video.
2. Ask key questions to generate discussion.
3. Display the statement: ‘Imagine writing to your younger self’ What would you say?
4. Set the context to focus on sun safety: What sun protection messages would you try to focus on?
5. Write a letter to their younger self.
6. Provide prompts:
   – Dear me, I am writing this letter to remind you of the most important things
   – What lessons have I learned up to this point?
   – Tell yourself what you wish you had been told by someone else back then
   – What advice would you tell yourself?
   – If I could rewind the clock, what would I do differently?
   – What would you do differently to change your life?
7. Writing task should include language features to show how ideas can be extended, complex sentences, unfamiliar
   technical vocabulary, figurative language, accurate spelling and punctuation and self-edits from students for cohesive
   structure and meaning.

Key questions

• How did the video make you feel?
• What do you think the purpose of the video was? Why? How do you know?
• Do you think the video is effective in getting the sun protection message across?
• Who do you think the target audience is? Explain why
• What sun protection advice would you give yourself in the letter?
• What knowledge of sun protection and UV radiation can you offer in the letter?
• What things could we do to increase the community’s knowledge of UV and sun protection?