Lesson

Plan 8
Week 4
Date: Wednesday 22nd of April 2015

Duration:
6 0
m
inutes

Unit: Shining the light on historical Australians

Lesson: 8 of 10

Level: Year level 6 Name:

M
ary Mackillop

Curriculum

Humanities and social sciences

Australia as a nation
The contribution of individuals and groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and
migrants, to the development of Australian society, for example in areas such as the economy,
education, science, the arts, sport. (ACHHK116).
o Considering notable individuals in Australian public life across a range of fields (for example the
arts, science, sport, education), including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, a range
of cultural and social groups, and women and men drawn from the Australian Living Treasures
list or from the Australian Dictionary of Biography)

Chronology, terms and concepts
Use historical terms and concepts (ACHHS118).
o Using historical terms and concepts related to the content such as democracy, federation,
empire, immigration, heritage, diversity, enfranchisement, suffrage.

Historical questions and research
Identify questions to inform an historical inquiry (ACHHS119).
o Developing key questions about the birth of Australian democracy and the experiences of
citizenship for women, migrants and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
o Developing key questions about immigration such as: What were the main reasons people
migrated to Australia? Who migrated? Where did they come from? What impact have they
had on the character of Australian society?
Identify and locate a range of relevant sources (ACHHS120).
o Using internet search engines, museums, library catalogues and indexes to find material
relevant to an inquiry.

General capabilities and cross curriculum

General capabilities
ICT
o Students develop capability to access important information using ICT throughout the research
phase of this lesson.
Critical and Creative thinking
o Throughout this lesson students will be using critical and creative thinking when evaluating the
resources they come into contact about Mary Mackillop.
Cross curriculum
Sustainability
o This lesson will allow students to gain values that will enable them create a socially just world
and make informed decisions accordingly.
Trish Gee, Deashni Pillay, Rosalba Contarino, Bianca Polino & Amy Gampe

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Lesson Overview

Integrating socially model of inquiry stage: Making Connection

This lesson the students will be making and developing connections about influential Australians and
their immigrant backgrounds by applying their learning to a study on Mary Mackillop. Students and
teacher will complete a whole class activity where they are collaboratively modelling research
techniques.

Lesson Objectives

Students will have the ability to:

o Learn about Mary Mackillops background and her significant influences.
o Collaborate as a class to develop research skills to prepare for a historical recount.
o Independently research using websites and books.
o Use graphic organisers to aid in research

Students Prior Knowledge

Students have prior knowledge in:

o Students have some knowledge of why people migrated to Australia (ACHHK096).
o Students have prior knowledge of how some people and groups shaped Australias first colonies
(ACHHK097).
o Students will have some prior knowledge of Saints from Religious class.
o From prior lessons in unit students will know what values an influential person may have.

Assessment

Assessment for learning:

o Students will be asked to complete a graphic organiser at the end of the lesson so the teacher
can gauge their research capabilities
o Observations will be also made to ensure that students are engaging with the lesson and
keeping on task.

Inquiry question

Key inquiry question:

o Who was Mary Mackillop and how did she positively influence Australia as a developing nation?

Lesson Structure
Time



20 mins

Introduction & Motivation

Orientation Phase

Think, Pair Share Activity
Ask students question :Is a Saint an influential person /why or
why not?
Students will think individually first jotting down ideas on

Trish Gee, Deashni Pillay, Rosalba Contarino, Bianca Polino & Amy Gampe

Teaching
Resources

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notebook.
Teacher walks around monitoring how much students have
written down and once everyone has written down a
sufficient amount ask students to share ideas with the person
sitting next to them.
Allow discussion of pairs to go on for 4-5 minutes encouraging
students to write any new information down in their
notebook.
Once teacher believes the pair discussions have reached a
conclusion move on to sharing ideas as a class.
Draw a table with two columns on the white board. One
column will be headed with a + and the other with a - .
Allow students to raise their hand to discuss the topic
question and fill in the table on white board with students
answers accordingly.

Time



30 mins

Resources
o History
notebooks.
o Pencils and
eraser.
o Whiteboard and
whiteboard
markers.






Main Content
Teaching
Resources
Enhancing Phase

30 minutes



Instruct the students that todays lesson will be on Australias
first and only Saint. Allow students to supply class with the

Mary Mackillops name to engage their background knowledge
on her.
Resources
Graphic Organisers
o History note
o Hand out graphic organiser to each student.
books.
o Graphic Organisers are in simple web format as they
o Laptops
are focussing their research on one main person
o Access to library
(Reynolds, 2014).
o Graphic organiser
o Step through each section of the graphic organiser
with the students.
o Begin discussing ideas on what would be the best way
to research Mary Mackillop. Include techniques such
as looking through table of contents or index, words
to put into search engines, how to find appropriate
websites. etc
o Choose one of the ideas on how to research and as a
class fill in the first section of the graphic organiser.
o Release students to work in partners researching Mary
Mackillop filling in the graphic organisers.
Whilst students are working in pairs teacher is to continuously
walk around class discussing with students their research
method and its successfulness.

Conclusion
Teaching
Resources

Time

Trish Gee, Deashni Pillay, Rosalba Contarino, Bianca Polino & Amy Gampe

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10 mins

Summarising Phase
10 minutes
Gather as a class to discuss the research process and ask
students if it was it successful or not? What different
techniques would you use to research next time? Was the
graphic organiser useful?

As a class go through each section of the graphic organiser
sharing information learned on Mary Mackillop. Keep this
brief to only having one pair share their research per section
on graphic organiser.

Glue graphic Organiser into history workbook
Extension work
o To extend this activity the students will have the
opportunity to further research Mary Mackillops
Canonisation. To do this students will need to
independently add an additional section to their
graphic organiser.

Resources
o History
workbooks.
o Graphic
Organiser

Differentiation of learning

This lesson shows diverse differentiation as it has:

o Instruction based on students readiness
o A range of modes of instruction
o Individual achievement is a major goal
Has formative assessment on the individual (Marsh, 2010)

Zone of proximal development:
Throughout the lesson students will be working in pairs or small groups, this will unsure that students
are supporting each other during the learning process (Ashman and Elkins 2012).

Evaluation

o
o
o
o
o
o

Did the students successfully meet the learning objectives?

Did the simple web style of graphic organiser suit this lesson?
Did the children successfully learn about Mary Mackillop and research techniques?
Were all students catered for?
Are the students ready to start historical recounts?
Did the students display research techniques that were appropriate to the overall task.

Resources

Ashman, Adrian, and John Elkins. Education for inclusion and diversity. 4th. Frenchs Forest NSW:
Pearson Australia, 2012.

Trish Gee, Deashni Pillay, Rosalba Contarino, Bianca Polino & Amy Gampe

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Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.). Humanities and social sciences,
geography, year 6. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-
social-sciences/geography/curriculum/f-10?layout=1
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d.). Humanities and social sciences,
history, year 6. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/humanities-and-social-
sciences/history/curriculum/f-10?layout=1#level6
Marsh, Colin. Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, skills and issues. 5th. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson
Australia, 2010.
Reynolds, Ruth. (2014) Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences in the Primary School.3rd edition.
Sydney, NSW: Oxford University Press Australia.

Trish Gee, Deashni Pillay, Rosalba Contarino, Bianca Polino & Amy Gampe

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