Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Year 7’s in Term 1 investigated ‘The Ancient Past’, where students built on and consolidated their understanding of
historical inquiry, using a range of sources for study.
In term 2 students investigated one Mediterranean society, either Egypt, Greece or Rome. They conducted an in-
depth assignment, which required them to analyse physical features of the city, the civilization, key roles in society,
religion, laws, beliefs and values as well as conflict with other nations.
Through these two detailed studies students gained the knowledge and understanding of how to research
information from valid sources. Students have previously had choice in presentation methods, such as a power
point, a poster, an oral and a video. Students have the skills to work collaboratively and individually.
Relevant Content Description from the curriculum
“The Year 7 curriculum provides a study of history from the time of the earliest human communities to the end of
the ancient period, approximately 60 000 BC (BCE) – c.650 AD (CE). It was a period defined by the development of
cultural practices and organised societies. The study of the ancient world includes the discoveries (the remains of the
past and what we know) and the mysteries (what we do not know) about this period of history, in a range of societies
in places including Australia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India and China.” This is a direct copy from the Year 7 History
Curriculum. After thoroughly analysing the curriculum I have focused purely on the study of ‘The Asian World’ in
the time period of 60 000 BC (BCE) – c.650 AD (CE).
Learning goal/s of lesson
My learning goal for this lesson, is for the students to have a basic knowledge of India and China between 60 000 BC
(BCE) – c.650 AD (CE). Specifically looking at physical features of India and China such as religions and roles of key
groups in society (such as kings, emperors, priests, merchants and peasants), as well as traditional beliefs. The goal is
for students to have a basic but broad understanding of China and India in this time period so that in the next lesson
students will look at warfare, death, customs and the role of a significant individuals in Indian history, such as
Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka also the role of a significant individuals in Chinese history, such as Confucius and
Qin Shi Huang. In doing this, throughout the following weeks students will choose to research deeper into either
China or India based on the shallow amount of research conducted over two lessons.
The lesson structure is very specific as it is the beginning of a new topic, therefore I want students to have a clear
idea as to where this new topic will take us and what we hope to achieve out of it.
Lesson Outline
Resource used for section of
Time Activity
lesson
2
General Capabilities
Assessment
Theories
Cross-Curriculum Priorities
Cross-Curriculum Approach
Historical Skills
5 Student Diversity
https://www
mins • When students enter the classroom I will have a YouTube clip playing discussing India and then following have a clip about China
.youtube.co
• I will not let either clips take up more than 5 minutes of the lesson time
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• This will intrigue students as to what our next topic is (This is a Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning ‘Mayer’, as I have begun the
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students’ learning through showing images, videos and music that stimulates learning immediately. Mayer suggests students learn better
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when they are presented with visual stimulus.)
India
• A class discussion will be stimulated based on the open-ended questions I ask
• Who knows anything about India or China, it could be about the people, Asia’s relationship with Australia, languages, religions, lifestyle, https://w
culture, sustainability, famous sportsman or singer, food (By stimulating these questions students are covering Cross-Curriculum ww.youtube
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priorities, as they are discussing the relationship between Asia and Australia, beginning to discuss the relationship between the .com/watch?
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Chinese/Indian Indigenous people and the connection with the land. Even though it is not directly based on Australian Indigenous v=DZrQ7Y
people it gets students thinking in that direction for future discussions and lastly understanding how these Asian communities were uLvtE -
sustainable.) China
• This hopefully will get students thinking about what they already know about these countries and encourage excitement about knowledge
they have (This is a Cognitivist Theory approach, as it is asking students to scan their memory about previous information they may have,
as well as examining it, to see if it is relevant.)
• Another question I could ask depending on the reaction of the first is -
• Has anyone been to either or these countries, in hope someone has and can share their experiences?
• Here I am going to introduce the terms topic, ‘The Study of the Asian World’ specifically in relation to India and China
• I explain that these are the two counties we will be focusing on and researching in the time span of 60 000 BC (BCE) – c.650 AD (CE) and
10
students will be researching various areas of these societies, firstly a broad understanding of both countries and then more in-depth later
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in the topic
• If there is time I will show an interactive world map where students can show me where India and China are in the world
• I will write 7 questions on the board and explain that individually or in groups of 2 or 3 they will research the questions on their laptops https://www
or on school computers. .google.com
• Students will be asked to write their findings on paper individually so they each have a copy, however I will approach the dyslexic .au/maps/pl
students to give them the choice to type if they would prefer to so they also feel comfortable participating ace/China/
• I will write the questions on the board and have a sheet printed of the questions also for the student that are visually impaired and for the @33.400859
students who do not speak English as a first language (These questions are also a Cross-Curriculum Approach, as students are also 2,78.5816259
researching Geography and Social studies) ,4z/data=!4
20 • What are the psychical features of China and India? m5!3m4!1s0
mins • What roles do key groups in society play? x31508e64e5
• What are some conflicts and contacts with other countries? daa7c349f36
• Who were Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Confucius and Qin Shi Huang? 6f!8m2!3d35
5 information they may have, as well as examining it, to see it if it is relevant, making connections between all the information and then
3 China
questions to research to gain a broad understanding of India and
Achievement Standard aspect explored in lesson Assessment of learning – during and/or at the end of lesson
The lesson plan written incorporates 3 of the Australian I will assess student’s engagement and general knowledge by
Curriculum achievement standards, the following asking open-ended questions at the beginning of the topic and
1) They describe the effects of change on societies, lesson. By doing this, the students who have knowledge of either
individuals and groups. China and India will be identified, as well as those students who
do not contribute because they do not know. This allows me to
This is done through their research of Indian and Chinese
asses if some students have prior knowledge of the topic.
subjects in the allocated time on a computer.
4
Details of the resources to support learning used in lesson Reflection questions for learning improvement and teacher
The resources utilised in this lesson were two YouTube quality
videos and an interactive world map. I chose to begin the Through observing the first 15 minutes of the class I will be able
class with two YouTube videos, as it is an immediate to assess whether or not my teaching strategies were engaging or
introduction to India and China, as the clips are a not. If the students volunteer and engage in contributing their
combination of amazing photos from both countries. The knowledge to the class then I know I have chosen the right
videos will be playing as the students come into the strategy. If students do not participate or seem quiet during the
classroom which means as they are settling down they are discussion time I will volunteer my own knowledge and
also engaging with the topic without them even realising. experiences about India and China. Through doing this, my aim
My third link is the interactive map, so when we begin the is to make students feel confident to share their knowledge.
class discussion about general knowledge to do with India Another strategy would be is to show another YouTube clip.
and China we can also look to see globally where the country The questions I will ask myself
is situated. This can be the basis of understanding cultural • Was this engaging?
influences from surrounding countries, understanding the • Did the students contribute as much knowledge as I
weather and the origin of people. thought?
• Did the students understand the task I set?
Although only three resources are utilised I believe that they • Did the students research the questions as thoroughly as
will be effective and provide the groundwork for a successful I hoped?
and engaging lesson. • If not, what will I do next lesson to ensure their learning
and research skills have reached a certain point?
When I walk around the class in the 20 minutes of research time
I will be able to decipher if students are on task, if they are
accessing the right sources, and if not direct them to sufficient
ones. This may also highlight that I need to spend more time
with the students on utilising the correct sources.
At the end of the class when students show me how much work
they have completed, that will also be a reflection on my teaching
strategies,
• Have I made myself clear, did they understand the
instructions?
• Did the students know what sites to access for research?
• Do I need to spend more time on clarifying what sites
are appropriate to gain information from and which are
not?
By seeing how much knowledge students contribute to the
discussion at the end of the lesson I can conduct formative
assessments to see the quality of work and whether it needs to be
improved.
By the end of the lesson I will know if the combination of the
YouTube clips, class discussion and group/individual research
was a successful way to engage students in the first lesson of
History in term 3.
How does this lesson fit into the Unit of work chosen?
This lesson was designed to be the first lesson of a new unit of work ‘The Asian World’. I
tried to initiate this topic through engaging YouTube clips that highlight the wonders of
both India and China. The lesson was designed for me to assess how much knowledge the
students have come into this topic with and to know what areas need more work. By
generally asking students to research both India and China for lesson 1 and 2, students
hopefully prefer to study one country more broadly than another. The content description
of this area is for students to do an in-depth piece of study on either India or China and by
me focusing two lessons around both it will give students direction to one or the other in
the time period. As well as this, the 7 questions students had to research are based on the
Australian Curriculum learning areas, so when it comes time for their assignment writing
they have basic notes from the first few weeks of class discussion. With the inclusion of
researching the sustainability of Indian and Chinese cultures as well as their relationship
with Australia, Cross-Curriculum approaches are included. This lesson fits into the unit of
work, as it provides students with the foundation questions and knowledge to choose to
study India or China.