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History Unit Plan (based on the Australian Curriculum)

(Proforma utilising the 'Backward Design' model by Wiggins and McTighe*)
School and Class Description

Pre-school year 12 school that offers coeducation.
School Vision:
Our Vision- A centre of excellence for education in the Southern Vales
Our Values- Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Excellence
Our Mission- Inspiring Success
Year 2/3 class
o Class of 26 students; 12 year 2 students, and 14 year 3 students.
o 13 boys & 13 girls
o 3 Indigenous Australian students
o Multi-cultural backgrounds
o One student with dyslexia
o 1 x SSO
o 1 x TRT
Year Level:2/3 Unit Length: 6 weeks

Topic: History

Integrated with other Learning Areas:
History
Year 2
Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written, role play) and digital
technologies (ACHHS054)
Elaborations
representing ideas and creating imaginative responses through visual images as well as
written and spoken descriptions and narratives
Year 3
Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies
(ACHHS071)
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Elaborations
creating and editing a presentation (for example one that includes text, images and
sounds) to record and explain the past
creating an oral, written, pictorial or digital representation to reflect the diverse character
of the community today
English
Interacting with others
Listen to and contribute to conversations and discussions to share information and ideas
and negotiate in collaborative situations (ACELY1676)
Use interaction skills, including active listening behaviours and communicate in a clear,
coherent manner using a variety of everyday and learned vocabulary and appropriate tone,
pace, pitch and volume (ACELY1792)
Plan and deliver short presentations, providing some key details in logical sequence
(ACELY1677)


Strands
Historical Knowledge and Understanding
Year 2. The Past in the Present
o The history of a significant person, building, site or part of the natural environment in the
local community and what it reveals about the past (ACHHK044)

Elaborations
o using the internet, newspapers, community information guides and local knowledge to
identify and list the people and places promoted as being of historic interest in the local
community
o suggesting reasons for the location of a local landmark before searching for resources that
provide an explanation
o investigating the history of a chosen person, building, site or landmark in the local
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community using sources (for example books, newspapers, oral histories, audio visual
material, digital sources, letters, photographs) and relating a story which these reveal
about the past
Year 3. Community and Remembrance
o ONE important example of change and ONE important example of continuity over time in
the local community, region or state/territory; for example, in relation to the areas of
transport, work, education, natural and built environments, entertainment, daily life
(ACHHK061)
Elaborations
o investigating a development in the local community from the time of European settlement
to the present day (for example through photographs, newspapers, oral histories, diaries
and letters)
o comparing photographs from both the past and present of a specific location to identify the
nature of change or continuity (that is key similarities and differences)


Historical Skills Overview

Historical Skills
o Sequence historical people and events (ACHHS065)
o Use historical terms (ACHHS066)
o Pose a range of questions about the past (ACHHS067)
o Identify sources (ACHHS215)
o Locate relevant information from sources provided (ACHHS068)
o Develop texts, particularly narratives (ACHHS070)


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History Concepts

o Evidence
o Continuity/ change
o Cause/ effect,
o Significance
o Perspectives
o Empathy
o Contestability




Highlight which skills, concept/s, capabilities
and cross curriculum priorities you will be
focussing on

General Capabilities

Literacy
Numeracy
ICT competence
Critical and creative thinking
Ethical understandings
Personal and social capability
Intercultural understanding


Cross Curriculum Priorities

o Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
histories and cultures
o Asia and Australias engagement with Asia
o Sustainability


*Wiggins, G & McTighe, J (2005) Understanding by Design, Pearson



Stage 1 Identify Desired Results
'What is worth knowing?'
Aims
The aims of this unit of work it to develop an understanding of community.

Elaborations
To investigating a development in the local community from the time of European
settlement to the present day (for example through photographs, newspapers, oral
histories, diaries and letters)
To enable students to think historically, using historical terms
To compare photographs from both the past and present of a specific location to identify
the nature of change or continuity (that is key similarities and differences)
The Big Idea
How has our community changed? What features have been lost and what features have
been retained?
What is the nature of the contribution made by different groups and individuals in the
community?

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What key inquiry questions will guide the learning?

Who lived here first and how do we know?
How has our community changed? What features have been lost and what features have
been retained?
What is the nature of the contribution made by different groups and individuals in the
community?
How and why do people choose to remember significant events of the past?

Historical knowledge & understandings

Students will know:
That they are part of a wider community
That communitys change over time.
That changes to a community are evident in housing, transport, education, the building
environment, the natural environment, religious buildings or commercial outlets.
That many people from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds have contributed
to our local community
That we can learn about the people of the past through libraries, museums, the internet,
newspaper, local archives, school records, monuments, cemeteries and our own family
histories.
That Reynella was founded by John Reynell in 1838 and that the information was sourced
from the Historic Old Reynella Walking Guide brochure.


Students will understand:

That they are part of a wider community
That certain aspect of daily life has changed over recent time while others have remained
the same.
There are similarities and differences in the ways in which communities live in Australia
today.
There are similarities and differences in the way in which we live in the present and the
way in which people lived in the past.
We can learn about the past by using a variety of sources, including people and objects.
One important example of change was transport which has developed over time from the
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use of horses to the cars we drive today. (ACHHK061)
How to present their research
How to be a good audience member

Historical skills

Students will be able to:
Sequence people and events (ACHHS065) via a class timeline
Compare objects from the past and present via the maps from My Place
Pose questions about the past and use sources provided (physical, visual, oral) to answer
these questions.

Differentiation:

According to readiness:
Students will be grouped in their reading ability groupings. This will allow students to learn
at their appropriate level.
According to RAFT
Students group themselves according to interest.
Sequence the history of transport with images and labels from when the Reynella
Changing Station was first in use in the 1850s to now. This group will be known as
Transport.
Write a letter to John Reynell the original owner of the land in which the Reynella
Changing Station was built on. Tell him about the station and what it was used for. This
group will be known as Royal Mail
Students explain how the local community has changed; from the past to the present.
This group will be known as Community




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Stage 2 Determine Acceptable Evidence
'What evidence will show what students know, understanding and can do?
Assessment tasks and tools
Formative tasks

Observe: Think/pair/share about what a community is. Collate, record, and add to list over
time.
Questioning students
Discussions


Summative task
My Community and Me worksheet
Written explanations via booklet questions
Comparisons of maps from My Place
Presentation

What assessment tools will you use? E.g. rubrics, exemplars, checklists, anecdotal records,
continuums
Assessment Tasks
o timelines
o oral presentations
o work samples
o essays/ reports
o Exhibitions/displays
o practical
demonstrations
o Posters
o Setting up and
curating a museum
e.g. in class/school hall
o portfolios/reflection
o history box
o visual image (e.g.
photograph/ painting)
& prompts
o Audio-visual (e.g. film
clip, Prezi/ppt)
o conferences/
discussions
o other- e.g. drama, role
play, visual arts
Assessment Tools
o observations
o anecdotal records
o rubrics
o scoring guides
o continuums
o other

Achievement Standard/s
By the end of Year 2, students analyse aspects of daily life to identify how some have
changed over recent time while others have remained the same. They describe a person,
site or event of significance in the local community.
Students sequence events in order, using a range of terms related to time.
They pose questions about the past and use sources provided (physical, visual, oral) to
answer these questions. They compare objects from the past and present.
Students develop a narrative about the past using a range of texts.

By the end of Year 3, students explain how communities changed in the past.
They describe the experiences of an individual or group. They identify events and aspects
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of the past that have significance in the present.
Students sequence events and people (their lifetime) in chronological order, with
reference to key dates. They pose questions about the past and locate information from
sources (written, physical, visual, oral) to answer these questions. Students develop texts,
including narratives, using terms denoting time.



Stage 3 Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction:
What learning experiences will enable students to achieve the desired results?
Learning Experiences (based on Kath Murdochs inquiry model)

Resources
Tuning In ; Establish the known
What is a community?
Students accesses prior knowledge and experiences related to
community and how some things have changed and some
have stayed the same.
Students engage in whole class discussions, think/pair/share
work to establish relevance
Students explore what they already know about their community
for example family as community and build on their knowledge
to include a wider community.
Students share personal experiences
Begin to build a class timeline this is added to throughout the
unit of work.
Students watch You Tube clips
Tom Kruse the Hero
- http://youtu.be/4p13RdsyCT8
Tom the Outback Mailman
- http://youtu.be/WvXm4-lTZck
Read:My Place by
Nadia Wheatley
View: Large images
on maps on page
1978 & 1888

Long piece of
continuous butchers
paper 4 metres long

26 x BLM History
inquiry Topics: My
Community.
Macmillan Teachers
resource.Pg13
Write response on
whiteboard or
butchers paper
Have answers ready.
Founder: John
Reynell in 1838
and died in 1873
Tell students how
you found out
Historic Old
Reynella Walking
Guide brochure.

You Tube: Tom the
Outback Mailman
http://youtu.be/WvXm
4-lTZck
You Tube: Tom the
Outback Mailman news
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You Tube: Tom the Outback Mailman news report
- http://youtu.be/ztCONk8EOfE
- http://www.myplace.edu.au/TLF_resources/L2706/descriptio
n.html
INTRODUCTION
Read My Place by Nadia Wheatley and discuss how the community
has changed via the maps.
Think/pair/share What is a community? Discuss and record
Ask students
o How long have you lived in your community?
o Have you lived here since you were born or have you moved
here from somewhere else?
o What year did you start living in this community?
On the board write down a list of students names under each year.
Have a few students add their names & dates to the Class Time
Line of our community
200
5
200
6
200
7
200
8
200
9
201
0
201
1
201
2
201
3
2014

Hope
Sam
Tim

Ask students if you know how old Reynella is (our local
community)? If no one knows, ask students how they could find out
when the community was founded (for example looking at a history
book, the internet or local council or library).
Add this information to the class timeline Our community of
report
http://youtu.be/ztCON
k8EOfE
Book: Tom the
outback Mailman.
Book: Links to the
Past 4. Pearson
First Peoples: Later
Contact. Pearson
Colonial Australia:
South Australia.
Pearson
Transport. Lightning
bolt books.





























Assessment: My
community and me
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Reynella was founded in 1838
As a class, describe some of the places and features of the
Reynella community (these can be built or natural places &
features)
Ask students What are some of the buildings and green spaces in
our community?

Introduce My community and me
Students complete the worksheet My community and me and share
their work with the class

Finding Out

Students investigate places and features of their community
of Reynella, what year it was founded and by whom.
Students use the internet to access
http://www.myplace.edu.au/TLF_resources/L2706/descriptio
n.html; they explore the house and record changes as they
move between dates
Students watch You Tube: Tom the Outback Mailman
http://youtu.be/WvXm4-lTZck
You Tube: Tom the Outback Mailman news report
http://youtu.be/ztCONk8EOfE

Tom Kruse the Hero
http://youtu.be/4p13RdsyCT8

They research images/photos from the past and the present

Reynella Horse
Changing Station
Contact them to
arrange a time for the
excursion.
My Place: Large
images of maps on
page 1978 & 1888

Display images on
whiteboard.
Images of Reynella
then and now.
26 x copies on 2 of
the same image
found in Reynella
26 x BLM History
inquiry Topics: My
Community.
Macmillan Teachers
resource.Pg14, 15,
22 & 23
http://www.myplace.e
du.au/TLF_resources
/L2706/description.ht
ml

Booklet for unit of
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and record their findings using a Venn diagram
They attend the excursion to The Reynella Horse Changing
Station building an understanding of who the site was built
for and for what purpose, and what and how it is used today.
Explore historical concepts through research, timelines and
sequencing

Read My Place by Nadia Wheatley and discuss how the
community has changed via the maps.
Student view and compare 2 images of the local area: one from the
earliest date available and one more recent.
Students study the maps one at a time and then together to
compare.
In a Venn diagram, students write things that are different in each
picture. Is anything the same? Students write the things that are the
same in the middle.
Students examine the history of their local community, looking at
how it has changed over time, firstly through new photos of
Reynella.
- What part of community does it show?
- What do you recognise in the image?
Then show an old image of the same image
- Whats changed?
- What has stayed the same?
- Why do you think the changes occurred? (response may
include; more people, less farming in the area, new technology
work.
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etc)
- How else could we find out how the community has changed?
(Responses may include; ask older residents, read a local
history, read old newspapers)
Students complete a worksheet How has my community changed?



Sorting Out
Students choose an area of the topic they want to investigate
further. Students may choose to work in pairs or individually.
Student work out what information is relevant to the chosen
topic
Students sequence events via the class time line.
Pose a range of questions about changes over time in their local
community
They use their research to write a letter to or biography of John
Reynell, produce a timeline on transport or a presentation on
how the community has changed.


Going Further
Students decide on an area of the topic they want to investigate
further and consider the resources and research required.
Royal Mail Group:
Using their research students are to
Write a letter to John Reynell the owner of the land in which the
Reynella Changing Station was built on. Students research
books are to be used.
Letter template
Poster
cardboard
Make sure
computers are
available for
power point
presentations

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Tell him about how communication has changed since the day
when the Royal Mail was in use.
Once the research is complete, students work on the draft letter
to Mr John Reynell
Students use a letter template

Transport
Using their research students are to:
Sequence the history of transport with images and labels from
when the Reynella Changing Station was first in use in the
1850s to now. Students research books are to be used
Include labels and information boxes
Information sheets and images are provided.

Community
Using their research students are to:
Explain how the local community has changed; from the past to
the present.
This can be done using a poster format, PowerPoint
presentation or Audioboo
Audioboo is an App for iPads. Students record their voice and
upload a photo. This can support students whose verbal skills
are more advanced than their writing skills. Students can often
work slowly if spending energy on letter formation and
placement instead of learning and knowledge building.

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Making Conclusions
Students demonstrate the skills and understanding
Students consider their communitys past and its future
Students create either a timeline of transport,
poster/Audioboo/PowerPoint/ or map of how their community
has changed ( this may change depending on the direction of
inquiry chosen by students)

Taking Action

Students gain an understanding and appreciation of people who
have contributed to their community
They reflect on their learning and know that communities
change over time
Students present their findings to the whole class via poster,
presentation or timeline (may have an opportunity to present to
two classes in our unit).

Arrange to present to
another class

Thinking Tools
o KWHL Prior Knowledge
o Think/pair/share
o De Bonos Six Hats
o Extended brain- storming
o Blooms Taxonomy

o Creative Problem Solving
o Question matrix
o Thinkers Keys
o Graphic organisers

o Moral dilemmas
o Multiple Intelligences
o other
QUESTION MATRIX

Event Situation Choice Person Reason Means
Present
What is? Where /
When is?
Which did? Who is? Why is? How is?
Past What did?
Where /
When did?
Which did? Who did? Why did? How did?
Possibility What can?
Where /
When can?
Which can? Who can? Why can? How can?
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Probability
What
would?
Where /
When
would?
Which
would?
Who would? Why would? How would?
Prediction What will?
Where /
When will?
Which will? Who will? Why will? How will?
Imagination What might?
Where /
When
might?
Which
might?
Who might? Why might? How might?


eLearning Considerations

Students use ICT as a tool for tuning in, finding out, sorting out, going further, making
conclusions and possibly taking action
Students use tools for a specific task, for example, Use Google Earth/Maps to identify
changes in the growth of their community of Reynella
Students access the Onkaparinga Council Website
http://www.onkaparingacity.com/libraries/localstudies/view_subject.asp?subject=Butchers

Students use Power Point, or AudioBoo,
Students use the internet to access
http://www.myplace.edu.au/TLF_resources/L2706/description.html; they explore the
house and record changes as they move between dates

Students watch You Tube: Tom the Outback Mailman
http://youtu.be/WvXm4-lTZck
You Tube: Tom the Outback Mailman news report
http://youtu.be/ztCONk8EOfE

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/special-features/then-and-now
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Unit Evaluation/Reflections

These are the questions I will use to evaluate the unit of work
Unit Assessment:

Did students understand:
- that they are part of a wider community
-That communitys change over time.
- That changes to a community are evident in housing, transport, education, the building
environment, the natural environment, religious buildings or commercial outlets.
- That many people from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds have
contributed to our local community
- That we can learn about the people of the past through libraries, museums, the internet,
newspaper, local archives, school records, monuments, cemeteries and our own family
histories.
- That Reynella was founded by John Reynell in 1838 and that the information was
sourced from the Historic Old Reynella Walking Guide brochure.

- That certain aspect of daily life has changed over recent time while others have remained
the same.
- There are similarities and differences in the ways in which communities live in Australia
today.
- There are similarities and differences in the way in which we live in the present and the
way in which people lived in the past.
- We can learn about the past by using a variety of sources, including people and objects.
- One important example of change was transport which has developed over time from the
use of horses to the cars we drive today. (ACHHK061)
- How to present their research
- How to be a good audience member

Self Assessment:

Identify what worked well during and at the end of the unit, including:
- activities that worked well and why
- activities that could be improved and how
- assessment that worked well and why
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- assessment that could be improved and how
- Common student misconceptions that need, or needed, to be clarified.

Unit Planner by Kingsley Head, 2013 adapted by Jo Fahey 2014
* Murdoch, K (1996), Classroom Connections: strategies for integrated learning, Eleanor Curtain Publishing, Armadale, Victoria