Unit Plan Template s14

Intel® Teach Program

Designing Effective Projects

Calling Australia Home

Unit Overview
Unit Title
Calling Australia Home
Unit Summary
History comes alive for students as they develop immigrant personas and become immigrants who make the journey to Australia. Once on Australian soil, they experience the immigration process. Throughout this process, students create files that illustrate their personal experiences. Students then assume the roles of their immigrants and share their experiences with the class. This exercise in creating historical fiction enables students to understand the motivations of immigrants and the challenges they faced.
Curriculum Links
History, English, Interpersonal Learning
Year Level
Yr 6/7/8
Approximate Time Needed
1 Term: up to 5 hours per week incorporating English & History.
Unit Foundation
Standards/Syllabus Outcomes
Humanities: History
Level 4: Students develop an understanding of the histories of the cultural groups which have contributed to the Australian identity. This could include some history of source countries for Australian immigration such as Italy, Greece, Poland, Sudan, Ireland, Chile or Vietnam. They explore the concepts of nation, culture and identity in both Australian and regional contexts, and learn that identity is complex, multifaceted and evolving.
Level 5: Students begin to frame key research questions to guide their investigations, plan their inquiries, locate sources and use appropriate historical evidence to present a point of view, and report on their findings. They learn to use primary and secondary sources, and begin to evaluate historical sources for meaning, completeness, point of view, values and attitudes.
English: Reading
At Level 4, students read, interpret and respond to a wide range of literary, everyday and media texts in print and in multimodal formats. They analyse these texts and support interpretations with evidence drawn from the text.
At Level 5, students read and view imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that explore ideas and information related to challenging topics, themes and issues. They identify the ideas, themes and issues explored in these texts, and provide supporting evidence to justify their interpretations. They produce personal responses, for example, interpretive pieces and character profiles.
Writing
At Level 4, students produce, in print and electronic forms, a variety of texts for different purposes using structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience and context of the writing. They begin to use simple figurative language and visual images. They use a range of vocabulary, a variety of sentence structures, and use punctuation accurately, including apostrophes.
Level 5
They write extended narratives or scripts with attention to characterisation, consistency of viewpoint and development of a resolution. They write arguments that state and justify a personal viewpoint; reports incorporating challenging themes and issues; personal reflections on, or evaluations of, texts presenting challenging themes and issues.
Speaking and listening
At Level 4, students plan, rehearses and makes presentations for different purposes. They sustain a point of view and provide succinct accounts of personal experiences or events. They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience, and vary tone, volume and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning.
When listening to spoken texts, they identify the main idea and supporting details and summarise them for others. They identify opinions offered by others, propose other relevant viewpoints and extend ideas in a constructive manner.
Level 5,
They identify main issues in a topic and provide supporting detail and evidence for opinions. They critically evaluate the spoken language of others and select, prepare and present spoken texts for specific audiences and purposes.
Physical & Personal Learning: Interpersonal learning
Building social relationships
At Level 5, students demonstrate respect for the individuality of others and empathise with others in local, national and global contexts, acknowledging the diversity of individuals.
Curriculum-Framing Questions
Essential Question / Who are Australians?
Unit Question / Why take the risk?
What was it like for immigrants as they travelled to, arrived at, and lived in Australia?
How did the immigration experience differ for different immigrant groups?
Content Questions / What is immigration and emigration?
How did Australia regulate immigration?
Why did immigrants leave their homes to come to Australia in various decades?
What was the effect on the families of these people?
How did the new arrivals to Australia affect the existing population?
Assessment Plan
Assessment Timeline
Before Learning Activities begin / While students work on learning activities / After learning activities end
· Brainstorm/Mind Map
· KWL re immigration / · Learning Journals – students edit their Mind Maps
· Rubric & group reflection
· Group research and contribution to Australian Immigration Timeline (PDF 120KB)
· Wiki: Calling Australia Home*
· Presentation: Who are Australians? (PPT 1.37MB) / · Learning Journals
· Wiki Evaluation (DOC 55KB)
· Multimedia Presentation Evaluation(DOC 40KB)
· Completion of KWL
Assessment Summary
Students will maintain their Learning Journals as method to organise their tasks, record their progress, reflections on their learnings, note any concerns, etc. The students will decide on the type of Learning Journal that they would be comfortable to keep: sound bites, personal blog, exercise book, etc. These Learning Journals would be periodically signed &/or have notes/messages recorded by parents & teachers. Rubrics &/or checklist will be provided for the students to lead the students through their tasks.
Unit Details
Prerequisite Skills
Students Prior Knowledge
Students have their family experiences to enrich the personal aspect of this historical study.
Teachers’ Professional Learning
Using existing information from student enrolments develop a statistical representation of the school population re country of origin.

Intel® Teach Program

Designing Effective Projects

Teaching and Learning Strategies
This unit would be studied during the school’s Harmony Day celebrations, when the diversity of the Australian nation is celebrated, along with social values like community, commitment and understanding.
The school would encourage the students’ families to be involved in the students’ work: visiting the school speaking to the class, recording of interviews/videos of their stories, cultural celebrations to be recognised & appreciated.
Teaching and Learning Activities
1. The teacher introduces the unit of work by having students view the film Looking for Alibrandi, which explores the world of an Australian teenager, a ‘second generation’ daughter of Italian migrants. The film narrates Josie’s struggle to mature, intelligently and independently in modern Australia, surrounded by her rich, Italian heritage. Students note the social and multicultural issues being explored, different characters’ perspectives about the Italian community in Australia, and their views about the importance of family, friends, one’s ‘heritage’ and background. If available, an interactive whiteboard can be used to record students’ observations and ideas as the film progresses. Teacher introduces the Essential Question: Who Are Australians? Groups of students use class discussions and notes taken to develop a mind map about the topic of migration, and the make-up of the Australian population.
2. Students begin to record their progress and reflect on their learning by keeping a Learning Journal. Students may choose the medium for this (web 2.0 application, handwritten journal, digital diary, sound bytes. Students will return to this journal regularly during the unit, and parents/carers/teacher should review and give feedback at particular stages.
3. The teacher may also choose to link this unit to the study of the novel Looking for Alibrandi, and introduce activities concerning critical literacy and understanding of the text and characters.
4. Groups of students (3 or 4) begin a KWL about their personal knowledge/experiences about immigration, noting questions that they would like to investigate further. Students add to their Learning Journals.
5. Students will participate in a ‘Lucky dip’ to form groups that will investigate different time zones of Australia’s population growth/immigration history. Time zones could include pre 1800s, 1800s-1900, 1900s-2000, current. Students will research migrant groups, immigration selection &/or processes, laws.
6. Each group will work together to provide summarised information for the class Australian Immigration Timeline (PDF 120KB). This will illustrate major issues/events which affected population growth and patterns of migration. World maps may be utilised. Group work will include cultural descriptions for each major group of migrants. Students research will be guided by the Unit and Content Questions for the unit. Each group will construct their section of the timeline on Excel; each section will then be constructed into one continuous timeline and saved as a webpage.
7. Excursion – eg Immigration Museum, Melbourne or similar local facility. During this excursion students will explore a variety of immigration stories. The teacher may choose to supplement the excursion by having students explore the CD ‘Convict Fleet to Dragon Boat’: A Virtual History of Australian Immigration(Ripple Media Pty Ltd. 1998). This resource offers many migration stories and design ideas for the multimedia activity later in the unit. Students investigate the motives behind individuals’ decisions to emigrate from their homeland; they explore the experiences of migrants themselves, their treatment by authorities and the local population. They begin to consider their effect on local populations in a specific area as well as the overall impact on the Australian population over time. Students add to their Learning Journals, reflecting on their learnings during the excursion and/or their exploration of the stories on the CD.
8. Students then choose and adopt an individual persona, based on true personal experiences or it can be fictitious. They develop interviews & investigate how their individual migration story might unfold, developing the narrative. They identify family members or local contacts for interview; they may choose to use sound recording for collecting stories from family members or local contacts.
9. Students create their story for posting on a Wiki: Calling Australia Home* If using true, personal experiences, whether their own or others, students will need to change personal details for privacy reasons. The use of Web 2.0 technologies allows students to include sound tracks, video, text, animation to enhance their tales. Again students add to their Learning Journal, noting their reasons for choosing a specific migration story and character; they record how they researched their character and built up the narrative
10. During the research phase of this unit, students investigated a variety of cultures. Using a multimedia application, students will explain/describe the Australian Culture and the contribution that multiculturalism has added to Australian society. They create individual multimedia presentations to begin to address the Essentials Question: ‘Who are Australians?’ (PPT 1.37MB)
11. As a culminating activity, students invite their parents/families/friends to attend a late afternoon gathering. They launch their wiki containing their fictitious personas’ stories & display their multimedia explanations of Who are Australians?.
12. Students add final entries to their Learning Journals to record their perspectives on this unit and their learning.
Accommodations for Diverse Needs
Students with Special Needs / Students will use Auslan with video &/or sound tracks for their web 2.0
Use of interpreters to assist students
English as a Second Language (ESL) Students / Use of African aides to assist students with the literacy components
Gifted Students / Students would be encouraged to develop an opinion on current issues as outlined in newspapers ie: detention centres, the Pacific solution, open borders, etc. Contact the Commonwealth MP and invite them to speak to the students.
Indigenous Groups / Immigration of people to the continent of Australia has had significant impact on indigenous people. These students should be encouraged to look at the tasks from their point of view.
Materials and Resources Required for Unit
Technology – Hardware (click boxes of all equipment needed)
Camera
Computer(s)
Digital Camera
DVD Player
Internet Connection / Laser Disk
Printer
Projection System
Scanner
Television / VCR
Video Camera
Video Conferencing Equip.
Other
Technology – Software (click boxes of all software needed)
Database/Spreadsheet
Desktop Publishing
E-mail Software
Encyclopedia on CD-Rom / Image Processing
Internet Web Browser
Multimedia / Web Page Development
Word Processing
Other
Printed Material / Marchetta, M., 1992, Looking for Alibrandi, Sydney, Penguin Australia/Orchard Books
Supplies
Internet Resources/ Communication Tools / Web 2.0 publishing: Wiki Spaces
www.wikisapces.com

Live in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Welcome to the Official Site for Skilled and Business Immigration to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. http://www.liveinvictoria.vic.gov.au/ViewPage.action?contentId=-1&languageId=1&siteNodeId=372

Digilearn (for Victorian Government teachers)
The Victorian portal for accessing exciting Digital Learning Resources for use in the classroom (these resources include 'The Learning Federation' Learning Objects and Digital Resources): www.education.vic.gov.au/digiLearn
Migration stories include:
· Nhu Minh: multiculturalism in Australia
· Fiona Chiu: Chinese family tree
· The journey of the Hong Hai: design a museum exhibition
· The journey of the Hong Hai
· East Timorese arrive in Darwin
· SS 'Sibajak' Dutch migrant ship
· Australian Greek picnic
· 'Faces of Australia'
· Interview with Antoni Suryak
· Chinese-born Michael Xu at a party
· Immigrants arriving in Australia on board a ship
Note: Teachers from other states and territories should source The Learning Federation resources via their state/sector coordinator.
Australian Screen
The rules of the Returned Servicemen’s League (RSL) originally stated that no group that had fought against Australia could march on Anzac Day. After many years and much persistence by Turkish Australians, the RSL finally accepted that Turks too, could march on Anzac Day.
http://australianscreen.com.au/titles/compass-embracing-enemy/clip1/
Migration Heritage centre
From Afghan cameleers to Filipino book-keepers, this is the story of Broken Hill's non-English speaking migrants; people who arrived in a harsh and alien outback mining town and chose to call it home.
http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/sharingthelode/
African Migrants Blogspot
http://africanmigrants.blogspot.com//
Information & Cultural Exchange
http://www.ice.org.au/projects/digitales/
Immigration Bridge Australia
A collection of the stories of migration submitted to the site. We invite you to read and gain some idea of the variation of experiences, taking into account the reasons for migration, the hardships and joys of the journey and the adapting to a climate and countryside that was often extremely foreign. Read them and consider recording your own family's story.
http://www.immigrationbridge.com.au/www/248/1001127/displayarticle/1001210.html
Packing to Leave: Saris, Suits & Spices
The interviews for 'Packing to Leave' were filmed in people's homes. Participants describe their stories of migration to Australia and settlement in Sydney and share their photos and memorabilia.
http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/southasianstories/
Government of Western Australia: State Migration Centre
Success stories
http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/?page=success-stories
Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship – -Success Stories of Australian Migration
http://www.immi.gov.au/media/success_stories/index.htm
Other Resources / Immigration Museum, Flinders St Melbourne
“Looking for Alibrandi” – film, directed by Kate Woods, Robyn Kershaw Productions, 2000
Convict Fleet to Dragon Boat (CD): A Virtual History of Australian Immigration, Ripple Media Pty Ltd. 1998
Credits
This unit has been adapted for Australia by Heather Harley from the US unit portfolio Destination America: Our Hope, Our Future.