1. Desired Results (Aims and Rationale)
1.1. A history unit which explores identity, historical features of environments and the diversity of Australian communities.
1.2. To look at the significance of individuals, groups and events and their contribution to the changes in the local community.
1.3. Students will learn about their Australian community, environment, family and identity through the supporting picture book; My Place.
1.4. Expose students to the themes of identity,belonging and change through a historical lens.
2. Learning Experiences (Outcomes and Intentions)
2.1. Week 1: Introducing My Place and Book Cover
2.1.1. Prior knowledge about History and its importance.
2.1.2. Reading and viewing written and visual texts about Australia and watch videos relating to topics on community, family and housing.
2.1.3. View and analyse the book cover of "My Place" and elicit responses about what country it is set in,what sort of buildings are on the cover and so on.
2.1.4. Read and view excerpts from "My Place" and interpret the images. predict what sort of text it is (info report, narrative etc)
2.1.5. Familiarise the students wth the technical devices and terms used in picture books.
2.2. Week 2: Moving through time.
2.2.1. Whole class reading of "My Place" from front to back and back to front. Students make predictions and as a class summaries what they see in each decade (each page).
2.2.2. Understand the relationship between the illustrations and text.
2.2.3. Discuss how the illustrations and text in "My Place" are set out and in what way it is a time machine.
2.2.4. Try and draw a diagram or depiction of the movement of time in the story. Show examples of different timelines. How does this link in with History?
2.3. Week 3: My timeline
2.3.1. How many narrators are used in the text? Is it first person or third person narration? Which is more engaging?
2.3.2. Analyse other texts with different narrators and compare and contrast. Are different forms better for different purposes?
2.3.3. Use the stories of the different narrators to think about own personal stories and think about how you belong in your family, community and country.
2.3.4. Create a diagram of 5 concentric circles after brainstorming using a concept map and put name in the middle, family in the next, friends after that and so on.
2.3.5. Timelines: create a timeline of their life including significant events from each year. Write these events in simple sentences. Can gain info from parents.
2.4. Week 4: Looking at our place through maps.
2.4.1. Discuss the concept of setting and place. Create a mind map about the setting, environment and place of students. Create an artwork of their environment.
2.4.2. In their reading groups looks at the maps on every spread. Each group analyses one/two spreads. Discuss the elements of landscape they can identify.
2.4.3. Discuss the symbolism of the tree and creek in the text. Does every narrator have a map of the same land? Which narrator uses more land?
2.4.4. In their reading groups students draw a map of their school after brainstorming a list of things they need to include in their map.
2.4.5. Discuss the similarities and differences in their maps and discuss importance of settings and places in writing narratives
2.5. Week 5: Our Place
2.5.1. Look at maps of their city and texts which include maps and different settings/places. Use Google Maps, visit historical places in the community and discuss how they have changed.
2.5.2. Students draw their surrounding area in which they live in and write a poem their drawing.
2.5.3. Compare and contrast My Place with Jeannie Baker's Mirror and Window to look at landforms, structures and environment and how they have changed.
2.5.4. In groups students look at a different time period e.g. group 1: 1788-1808. Together they fill in a table using WHO, WHERE, WHEN with a picture of the page and report back to the class commenting on concepts such as time, change, belonging and etc.
2.6. Week 6: Our Community in the past
2.6.1. As a class select a period from the text and read it. Look at the things that were important to the people then, things they'd miss if they lived then, things they wouldn't miss that they have today and determine which period they'd like to live in and why.
2.6.2. Watch an ep of My Place TV series and discuss the clothing, food, environment, land use, family, games and events in the scenes. Compare it to the period we live in today.
2.6.3. How did the people in the past influence the way we live now? Observe the language features of the text in My Place and discuss how the narrators feel about their place.
2.7. Week 7: How has our community changed?
2.7.1. Choosing one of the background characters in the text such as family members, write a short story in first person describing how they feel about their place.
2.7.2. Discuss what features makes up a community and how do the characters interact with their community? Can a community be small or large and can people from the other side of the world be your community?
2.7.3. How is our community> Can we talk to children from different schools around the world? Look at the characters in the text and observe how they interact with their community and what it is like. Compare to their own experiences.
2.7.4. Students are to choose one specific character/double page spread and are to consider how meaning is made through the reading path, the plot and how the ‘my place’ location is presented at that particular section (i.e. with great growth and development or natural and untouched).
2.8. Week 8: How has our community changed?
2.8.1. Have students focus on how the visuals are used to tell the story in My Place. Students are to make brief notes on the change in clothing over time and how this is linked to characters and decades. How have the use of colours been used to communicate life and culture within the text?
2.8.2. Look at the present day illustrations in the text and discuss the people who influence the community. talk about our local sporting, school, neighbourhood community etc.
2.8.3. Begin to research and begin the Inquiry Task:
2.9. Week 9: Inquiry
2.9.1. Start to plan how they will present their research and information. Can use resources such as StoryBird, Powtoon, ACMI Generator, Slidestory, PowerPoint, iMovie etc.
2.9.2. Work in pairs or threes.
2.9.3. Start to research and add to their presentations.
2.9.4. Add finishing touches to their work.
2.9.5. Go over ways to research and present.
2.10. Week 10: Presentations
2.10.1. Presenting their work to the class.
2.10.2. Summing Up the Unit. What did we learn? How did we learn about the community through My Place?
3. Teaching Practices
3.1. Use a wide variety of teaching practices and approaches to cater for diverse learner needs
3.2. Use authentic literary activities to teach a variety of skills such as inferencing, comprehension, interpersonal and intercultural development, language development and reading/writing and speaking skills.
3.3. Modelling, scaffolding, whole -part-whole, small group and individual instruction.
3.4. Questioning, monitoring and coaching.
3.5. explicit teaching of reading, comprehension and writing.
3.6. teach technical processes such as: phonic knowledge, spelling, grammar and pronunciation.
3.7. Make connections between students lives and their current literacy knowledge to what is being taught (KWL charts)
3.8. Open ended questions and recasting everyday language into formal language
4. Focus Questions
4.1. How has our community changed? What features have been lost and what features have been the same?
4.2. What is the nature of the contribution made by different groups and individuals in the community?
4.3. How and why do people choose to remember significant events of the past?
4.4. Stick the focus question on the wall for display
5. Text Types and Genres
5.1. Picture book
5.1.1. Visual and Written Analysis: As a whole class- students look at the four text blocks on every spread (double page). Identify the four topics: home and family, community and environment, pets and celebrations.
5.1.2. Whole class reading of the book.
5.2. Historical fiction
5.2.1. Use of past tense, historical terminology and sequencing of events.
5.3. Persuasive Text: to persuade and put forward a point of view.
5.4. Explanation: to describe and explain why and how things happen. Focus on the cause and effects.
5.5. Information Reports: to classify and describe celebrations and community events.
5.6. Transactional: letter writing to describe an event or situation.
5.7. Factual/Fictional Narrative: writing stories, poems, personal and historical recounts and focus on descriptive language.
6. Evidence of Learning (Assessment)
6.1. Diagnostic: activate prior knowledge and personal experience by making inferences from the front cover of My Place. Strategies such as preview and predict, KWL charts, picture walks, brainstorming, role playing etc.
6.2. Formative: informal discussions and contributions (Think-pair-share, placemat, brainstorming, inside and outside circles)
6.3. Formative: Think Charts, Semantic Maps, Literature circles, ICT, Word walls, Mindmaps, Timelines
6.4. Summative: Narrative writing presentation ( oral, graphic, written or role play) that describes the children's perception of a changing neighbourhood or local community focussing on any aspects such as family, culture, sports, recreation, architecture and lifestyle.
7. Disciplines and Domains
7.1. Year 3/4
7.2. English
7.2.1. EN2-11D responds to and composes a range of texts that express viewpoints of the world similar to and different from their own
7.2.2. EN2-11D responds to and composes a range of texts that express viewpoints of the world similar to and different from their own
7.3. Humanities- History
7.3.1. HT2-1 identifies celebrations and commemorations of significance in Australia and the world
7.3.2. HT2-2 describes and explains how significant individuals, groups and events contributed to changes in the local community over time
7.4. Cross curricular
7.4.1. Geography
7.4.2. Creative Arts