HASS UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE

Jessica Green

Sub strand: History Length: 4 weeks

Year level: 9 Concept focus

Year level theme What was the significance of World War I? The Making of the Modern World
Students investigate key aspects of World War I and the
Australian experience of the war, including the nature and
significance of the war in world and Australian history.

Knowledge and Understanding Content Inquiry and Skills Content Descriptions

Descriptions covered covered
The Knowledge and Understanding content descriptions covered • Identify and select different kinds of questions about the
include; the emergence and nature of significant economic, social past to inform historical inquiry
and political ideas in the period, including nationalism • Identify and locate relevant sources, using ICT and other
(ACOKFH019), An overview of the causes of World War I and methods
the reasons why men enlisted to fight in the war (ACDSEH021)
and an understanding of the places where Australians fought and
the nature of warfare during World War I, including the Gallipoli
campaign (ACDSEH095)

Knowledge and Understanding Achievement Inquiry and Skills Achievement Standards

Standards aspects assessed aspects assessed
The unit plan’s focus is to ensure students attain the knowledge The unit plan’s focus is to ensure that students reach the
and understanding achievement standards assessed. The inquiry and skills achievement standards, which include; the
achievement standard aspects assessed include; the ability for ability to interpret, process, analyse and organise information
students to develop their own interpretations about the past. from a range of primary and secondary sources. Students
Students should have the ability to analyse the causes and effects sequence events and developments within a chronological
of events and developments and make judgments about their framework. In developing these texts, and organising and
importance and explain the motives and actions of people at the presenting their conclusions, they use historical terms and
time. concepts, evidence identified in sources.
Brief description of the units purpose Key Inquiry questions to guide unit thinking
By the end of year nine, students should have the ability to • How did new ideas and technological developments
analyse the causes and effects of events and developments, contribute to change in this period?
therefore making judgements about their importance in • What was the significance of World War I?
• What was the nature of World War I in Australian
Australian History specifically. Students should be able to
History?
explain the significance of these events and developments from a • What was the nature of warfare for the Australian troops
long term and short term perspective. in Gallipoli?

Opportunities to incorporate Cross Curriculum Opportunities to incorporate General Capabilities

priorities Literacy: Through this learning unit plan focusing on the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures: subject of history, students will develop literacy capability as
This cross curriculum priority is clearly incorporated in this they learn how to build historical knowledge and to explore,
learning program with students being required to analyse primary analyse, question, discuss and communicate historical
and secondary sources of both indigenous and non-indigenous information, concepts and ideas. Students will do this
Australians and their significance within the war. This will through the analysis of primary and secondary sources in
therefore strengthen the students appreciation of the Indigenous order to create an extended writing piece and also through
Australians and their significance within society and culture. the recreation of a letter or diary entry home from the
Sustainability: Through this learning plan, students can develop perspective of an Australian troop, therefore developing their
their understanding of the forces that influence continuity and literacy skills in the process.
change as the cross curriculum priority entails. By understanding
the past and how it relates to the present, students need to have ICT capability: This general capability is incorporated in
an understanding of how to make decisions about sustainability this unit plan on many occasions. In particular, through the
to help shape a better future, this evidently needs to be informed use of a website called ‘The First Day’ students have the
by historical trends and experiences. The understanding of the opportunity to discover fine details about the Gallipoli
experiences of Australian’s within the First World War and the campaign and the conditions and nature of warfare through
economic and social systems that led to the hardships that the an interactive website. Students will develop their ICT
Australians experienced could essentially encourage students to capability when they locate, process, analyse and
have a greater understanding of Sustainability and its importance communicate historical information on this website in
in the students lives. particular. Students will also be required to use and locate
articles and historical journals on the internet in order to
complete their extended writing piece near the end of the
unit.

Critical and creative thinking:

Students will be encouraged to be critical and creative
thinkers through the creation of an illustration of the
conditions within Gallipoli during World War I. The
extended essay that students are required to do will also
encourage higher order thinking as they analyse various
questions around the significance of Australia’s involvement
in World War I. This general capability will be incorporated
in the unit as students are assessed on their ability to question
sources, interpret the past from incomplete documentation
and develop an argument using evidence
Learning activities/experiences Assessment tasks
Students will learn about the Australian experiences and
effort in the First World War, by providing students with a Formative
number of different primary and secondary sources.
Students have the opportunity to be creative learners by Source Analysis: Students will be given a number of
being involved in a number of activities, which are outlined primary and secondary sources along with a source analysis
in the four week lesson outline below. template sheet that they must answer questions from.
Diary entry/ letter home (oral presentation): Students will
then have the opportunity to be divided into pairs, with each
pair being given a primary source document that relates to
the Australian War effort in Gallipoli. The primary document
could be a diary or letter or picture from the War, it could be
from the perspective of an Non-Indigenous Australian or
Indigenous Australian Students will then put themselves into
the shoes of the person in the picture or poem or diary entry
and recreate a letter or diary entry home, based on their
source, illustrating the hardships of war individually.
Assessment will then be handed up later in that lesson, where
students will then be required to give a informal oral
presentation to the rest of the class in later lessons.

Summative
Essay:
Students will be required to develop an explanation of
Australia’s involvement in World War I in an essay format.
Students are able to choose from a number of essay
questions. Students research Australia’s involvement in
World War I and the significance of the ANZAC legend,
using relevant historical sources. Students can also choose to
research further into the Australian experience in the war and
discuss how the harsh conditions in Gallipoli impacted the
troops. This will therefore allow the students to reach the
achievement standards targeted in the curriculum and allow
them to have a greater understanding of the Gallipoli
campaign as well as the overall understanding of the reasons
behind Australia’s involvement in the War.
ICT resources available Learning resources available
Students can also discover more about the events of Gallipoli
using an interactive website labelled ‘Gallipoli: The First Day’. Australian War Memorial:
http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/gallipoli/ http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/gallipoli/
Australian War Memorial: www.awm.gov.au • First World War diaries:
• Anzac Day: www.anzacday.org.au/education/tff/anzacday.html www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awm4
• Australia Army archives: www.army.gov.au/Our- • National Library of Australia, Pictorial Collection:
history/Primary-Materials/World-War-One-1914- to-1918 www.nla.gov.au/catalogue/pictures
• Australian War Memorial, Opinion, views and
commentaries:
www.awm.gov.au/blog/category/opinion

Lesson outline for the 4 week unit Based on lesson of minute duration
per week
Week 1 Week 2
Lesson 1:
Lesson 1:
To begin the lesson, students will begin the class by watching
In class, students investigate the causes of World War I and why a video that prepares the class for the content that will be
covered for the next week. Students will then be involved in
men enlisted to the in the war, using a range of sources.
a class discussion where they reflect on the past lessons.
Students will then be required to create a mind map on why they Then students will then be introduced specifically to primary
and secondary sources, which will be placed on the board for
think Australian soldiers were enlisted to fight in the War.
future reference.
Students will then begin their second formative assessment.
Lesson 2 and 3 (double lesson):
This assessment requires students to analyse a range of
Students watch a documentary about young Australians enlisting different primary sources, such as poems, students are
in war, to improve their overall understanding of the significance required to individually recreate a letter or diary entry home,
and nature of warfare in World War I from the Australian based on their source, illustrating the hardships of war
perspective. Individually.
In the second half of the double lesson time period, students will
then move into a source analysis surrounding the Gallipoli
campaign. Students will have to complete their own source
Lesson 2 and 3 (Double lesson) :
analysis on a formative level, receiving a template to assist them To being the class, a number of tangible sources from the
in completing this. This will encourage them to think critically Gallipoli campaign will be brought into the classroom where
and have the ability to assess various sources which will be students will be encouraged to be active learners and will be
needed in the lessons next week. The source analysis template required to answer questions such as ‘What does this object
will only be short, allowing the students to complete it within the tell you about conditions on Gallipoli?’.
lesson. Students will be required to create an illustration of the First
Lesson 4: World War or the Gallipoli campaign specifically the
conditions. Students will divide their paper into four squares
For the last lesson on the week, still focusing on the reasons
why men enlisted into the war, students will be required to where they will draw various different illustrations of the
conditions, such as trenches etc. This will not be marked it is
research the life and experiences of Australian soldiers during
just an activity to once again cement the idea of trench
World War 1. They will use their laptops or iPads (assuming
that all students are required to have a digital technology that is warfare and the harsh conditions that the Australians
experienced. Students can use their digital devices to
brought to the classroom)
research more ideas regarding the harsh conditions to assist
them in their drawings.
Lesson 4:
During this lesson, students will have the opportunity to
present their oral presentations of their recreated letter or
diary entry home. The presentations of these sources will
assist in learning for all the students as they can see the war
experience from a number of different perspectives.
Week 3 Week 4

2 weeks to work on their summative assessment Lesson 1:

Landing at Gallipoli will be looked at in more detail to lead
Lesson 1: into the ANZAC legend and why it is so significant to
Australian’s today. This will create the foundation for the
How to write an essay. Choosing essay question. Students can be
next lessons. Whole class discussion and a questions and
given a template to write an essay therefore assisting them in answers booklet will be passed around there students will
getting started. Students will have an opportunity to plan their
need to answer questions about the Landing at Gallipoli
essay by choosing their question within class time so that I can
using both prior and new knowledge learnt.
monitor their work and see what difficulties they may come
across and I can assist them in any way needed.
Lesson 2 and 3 (Double lesson) :
Lesson 2 and 3 (Double lesson) : (Computer room This double lesson will be focused on the importance of the
booked out) ANZAC legend. Students will refer to a number of pictures
and videos shown about the ANZAC day ceremonies and
During this lesson, students will be encouraged to begin
will then use this knowledge to create a wreath to lay at the
gathering information to begin writing their essay, this will be flagpole or during an Anzac Day ceremony. Students will
the only class time allocated to finding resources to assist them
then be required to discuss the use of the red poppy
in their writing. Students research Australia’s involvement in
World War I and the significance of the ANZAC legend, using
relevant historical sources. Lesson 4:
Summative assessment is due within the class time. Students
Lesson 4: are given additional time to write this extended piece before
handing it in by the end of the lesson. If students have already
Students now combine all the information from Lessons 1 and 2
completed their assessments, they can use their digital
to write an extended piece of writing. Students will be given this
devices to log onto the website ‘The First Day’ where they
lesson to continue their assessment, this class time means that can continue to develop their understanding of the
students can ask me questions about structure and discuss with
significance of World War I in Australian History.
me their plans and how they are going to go about writing their
essay. I will just be there to provide support. This unit will finish off with a quiz using resources such as
‘Plicker' or ‘Kahoot' to create a fun and engaging way of
testing students on their knowledge and what they have
learnt over the past four weeks. This is done at the end of
each unit.
Potential HASS sub strand connections Potential other learning area connections
Civics and citizenship: There is a potential sub strand English: Essay writing and different types of primary
connection to civics and citizenship's with a large focus within sources that were recreated could be transferred and used
this unit plan on the Australian war effort and the reason behind within English, as students may have acquired these writing
the ANZAC legend. Therefore there could potentially be the skills from English lessons previously.
transfer of knowledge between both HASS subjects.

Geography: Place and space: Students could use google

earth or google maps to have a deeper understanding and
perception of what Gallipoli looks like now.

Topic background resources (for teacher use only) Pedagogical resources to support the
to support teaching learning for the unit teaching of the unit
Primary Sources:
Source Analysis template for student Letters;
assessment: http://www.anzacwebsites.com/gallipoli/letters.ht
http://www.pendlehillhighschool.org.au/students/assi m
gnments/2013%20Yr%209%20History%20source%2 Photos; https://www.dva.gov.au/i-am/aboriginal-
0analysis%2019%20July.pdf andor-torres-strait-islander/indigenous-
australians-war
Relevant ANZAC Information: www.awm.gov.au.
http://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/sites/default/files/curric Diary entries;
ulum/Sarah-Day_WA.pdf http://www.gallipoli.gov.au/teaching-about-
gallipoli/letters-and-diaries.php
Multimodel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHx_uwdGta
o
The First Day: Gallipoli interactive website.

750 word commentary

The details provided in my Unit Plan follow the Australian Curriculum achievement standards with a focus on
the in depth study within the “Making of the Modern World’ labelled “World War I’. This Unit plan aims to
achieve a number of standards where students are required to undertake a number of activities that develop
their historical understanding and skills at a Year Nine level. There are a number of models for inquiry based
learning, emerging from a number of subject areas. The achievement standards that were achieved through this
unit plan include; the emergence and nature of significant economic, social and political ideas in the period,
including nationalism (ACOKFH019), An overview of the causes of World War I and the reasons why men
enlisted to fight in the war (ACDSEH021) and an understanding of the places where Australians fought and
the nature of warfare during World War I, including the Gallipoli campaign (ACDSEH095). Through this Unit
plan, students had the opportunity to develop their overall understanding of the Australian experience in the
First World War as the Australian Curriculum outlined.
This Unit plan is focused on the historical inquiry approach, where I aimed to develop the historical knowledge
of the students within the classroom through the use of effective questioning throughout the lessons. I also
implemented an inquiry approach in a number of lessons by providing students with strategies to assist them
in scaffolding and guiding student thinking and planning in their extended writing pieces and source analysis
assessments. I aimed to incorporate a number of the general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities into
the Unit plan. I successfully incorporated the general capabilities such as literacy, ICT capability and critical
and creative thinking. These general capabilities are essential in student learning as they allow students to
develop their historical understanding by equipping them with a vast range of skills. In terms of cross
curriculum priorities, I incorporated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, by setting a
task for students to analyse primary and secondary sources of both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians
and their significance within the First World War. This will strengthen the students overall appreciation of
Indigenous cultures in particular. I also incorporated sustainability as a cross curriculum priority, which sought
to ensure students were aware of the previous economic and social hardships that encourage students to have
a greater understanding of sustainability and its importance in their lives.
The pedagogical approach that I aimed to use throughout this Unit plan was mainly student-directed and active
learning. Both learning theories are effective for student learning as they shift the focus of activity from the
educator to the learner. Through active learning, which I implemented throughout my Unit plan encourages
students to solve problems, answer questions and formulate questions of their own. This essentially leads
students in becoming more critical and higher order thinking learners, which could not be achieved without
the incorporation of discovery and active learning through the use of a student-directed approach. However, it
is clear that the main pedagogical approach implemented before students could be involved in discovery and
student centred learning is the teacher-directed approach.The teacher-directed approach was the pedagogical
approach I implemented throughout this Unit plan as I believe it is important in student learning, as I can
provide them with direction and therefore encouragement in their learning. By stating what students need to
achieve before each lesson begins, students can set goals and therefore more easily monitor their learning. I
aimed to implement a number of pedagogical approaches in order to ensure that all students are engaged in
their learning and can therefore develop their overall historical understanding.

Assessment task template

Subject: History Year 9

Assessment Type: Summative Weighting: 40%

 Name of Research Essay
Assessment:

Task purpose and background

Students have already developed historical understanding relating to the reasons why men enlisted to fight
in the First World War and have researched the nature and significance of the Australian Experience in the
Gallipoli campaign.

In this Assessment, students will develop a persuasive essay about the commemoration of World War I
and debates about the nature and significance of the ANZAC legend, using research skills learnt during
class. Students will use their knowledge surrounding the significance and effectiveness of primary and
secondary sources in order to construct a sound argument in essay format.

The Task

Students are required to develop an argument. Students are able to choose from a number of essay
questions. Students research Australia’s involvement in World War I and the significance of the ANZAC
legend, using relevant historical sources. Students can also choose to research further into the Australian
experience in the war and discuss how the harsh conditions in Gallipoli impacted the troops. This will
therefore allow the students to reach the achievement standards targeted in the curriculum and allow them
to have a greater understanding of the Gallipoli campaign as well as the overall understanding of the reasons
behind Australia’s involvement in the War. The length of the essay should be between 600-800 words.

Assessment Conditions: Time is allocated within class and students are also required to work
on assignment during homework.

DUE DATE:

Word Count: 600-800 words.

Please attach this sheet to the front of your assignment

Year: 9 Subject: History

Student name:
Teacher: Miss Green

Rubric aligned to relevant Achievement Standard aspects

Achievement Standard aspect A B C D E

Refers to key aspects of the Exceptional Good Adequate Basic Simple

Australian experience in World understanding of understanding of understanding of understanding of understanding of
War I, the impact of World War I the key aspects the key aspects the key aspects the key aspects the key aspects
on Australian society and the of the Australian of the Australian of the Australian of the Australian of the Australian
nature and the significance of the experience in experience in experience in experience in experience in
Anzac legend. World War I. With World War I. With World War I. With World War I. With World War I. With
excellent satisfactory sufficient limited reference little to no
reference to the reference to the reference to the to the impact of reference to the
impact of World impact of World impact of World World War I on impact of World
War I on War I on War I on Australian War I on
Australian Australian Australian society and the Australian
society and the society and the society and the nature and the society and the
nature and the nature and the nature and the significance of nature and the
significance of significance of significance of the Anzac significance of
the Anzac the Anzac the Anzac legend. the Anzac
legend. legend. legend. legend.

Chooses and develops a Effectively Effectively Chooses and Chooses a Chooses a

research question that is suitable chooses and chooses and develops a research research
to the topic. develops a develops a research question that question that has
research research question that is shows some limited
question that is question that is relevant to the relevance to the relevance to the
highly relevant relevant to the topic topic topic
to the topic topic

Analysis and synthesis of Comprehensive Significant Adequate Superficial Use of some

information from a range of Analysis and Analysis and Analysis and Analysis and historical
primary and secondary sources, synthesis of synthesis of synthesis of synthesis of sources.
including the identification of information from information from information from information from
motivations, values and a range of a range of a number of some primary
attitudes. Drawing conclusions primary and primary and primary and and secondary
about information from historical secondary secondary secondary sources.
sources to answer inquiry sources. sources. sources.
questions.

Develops a persuasive essay Reasoned Informed Evaluation of Limited No evaluation

that supports a hypothesis evaluation of evaluation of sources with Evaluation of evident. Use of
through the use of historical sources with sources with reference to sources with historical terms.
terms and concepts. With reference to reference to historical terms reference to
referenced information from historical terms historical terms and concepts. historical terms
sources. and concepts. and concepts. and concepts.
Overall Grade:
Comments:
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