History Resource

Name of resource

Mooncakes

(Seto, L., & Benoit, R. (2017). Mooncakes. Victoria, British Columbia: Orca Book)

https://schoolsequella.det.nsw.edu.au/file/86165194-cb9c-4bd0-acc5-928d022a1f6/1/guide-t0-picture-

books-in-history-k-10.pdf

Stage

Stage 2. Community and Remembrance (Board of Studies, 2012)

Resource format

Book

Description of resource

Mooncakes is a story of a young girl who shares her traditions of the celebration, the Moon Festival.

Mooncakes shows three different stories within the book, the first story is about a woman that lives on the

moon in a Jade Palace, the second story is of a woodcutter who wanted to learn the secret of an eternal life

and the third is about three magicians who wanted to test the compassion and kindness of animals. These

stories told within the book relate to the history of the moon during the Moon Festival celebration. The

purpose of this book is to show the students how and why other people from around the world celebrate

significant events, more importantly from the Asian region to which is being focused on.

Links to syllabus outcomes

Outcome: identifies celebrations and commemorations of significance in Australia and the world HT2-1

(Board of Studies, 2012).

Outcome: applies skills of historical inquiry and communication HT2-5 (Board of Studies, 2012).

Content descriptor: Celebrations and commemorations in other places around the world; for example,

Bastille Day in France, Independence Day in the USA, including those that are observed in Australia, such

as Chinese New Year, Christmas Day, Diwali, Easter, Hanukkah, the Moon Festival and Ramadan

(ACHHK064), (Board of Studies, 2012).

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 Cross Curriculum Priority: Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia (ACARA, 2014)

Key Inquiry Question: How and why do people choose to celebrate significant events?

Classroom Implementation

WALT - We are learning to: find out how and why people choose to celebrate significant events.

WILF – What am I looking for: I am looking for how the children engage with the resources and each

other to answer the inquiry-based question.

The teacher begins with an overview of the book, Mooncakes (Seto, L., & Benoit, R. (2017). Mooncakes.

Victoria, British Columbia: Orca Book) and the celebration, the Moon Festival as the students sit in small

groups. The teacher instructs the children to explore Google Earth (https://earth.google.com/web/) and to

discover China’s location and the countries they have visited. Mooncakes is then read to the children as they

sit on the floor in front of the teacher and the Moon festival’s traditions are emphasised throughout. Think,

pair, share is used as a buddy system where the students introduce their friend’s celebration to the class. The

children will then watch an online slideshow of the Moon Festival

(http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1391479/moon-festival) and have a class discussion about the

celebration and other significant events that are held in the Asian region. The students indicated that Chinese

New Year was another significant event celebrated in the Asian region, showing the cross-curriculum priority

link of Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia (ACARA, 2014). A wonderings session was held to

discuss questions the students had and to construct their inquiry question; how and why do people choose to

celebrate significant events? Four immersion stations were explained in detail to the students of which

contained, a Youtube video with questions to answer on station one

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndknxk4v4QY). A research task on the Chinese New Year where the

students compared the celebration to the Moon Festival using the book and the researched information on the

Chinese New Year using a Venn diagram on station two and http://www.chinesenewyears.info/). A game of

kahoot on station three (https://kahoot.it/) and creating a digital brochure with a self-evaluation and peer

critique on station four then presenting it to the class (https://spark.adobe.com/make/brochure-maker/). The

SAMR model was incorporated into the lesson as a paper quiz was originally prepared; however, it was

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 augmented to a kahoot game on station three to which the technology then enhanced and positively changed

their learning as the children enjoyed the game over the paper quiz (Hamilton et al, 2016).

Potential for differentiation

Emergent: The emergent learners will be doing a structured inquiry by exploring each immersion station

with the assistance of a teacher’s aide.

Advanced: discover using a guided and controlled inquiry by allowing the students to explore the

immersion stations without assistance and instructing them to find additional sources that would help them

answer their inquiry-based question.

Overall critical reflection of the resource

This resource promoted structured, controlled and guided inquiry-based learning as the students began the

lesson following the lead of the teacher to controlled immersion stations that had resources provided and

questions to engage with to a guided inquiry on station four where the children create a design brochure on

their chosen topic (Jones, 2018). Reynolds (2014) says that teachers can approach inquiry-based learning

by; initiating the investigation, getting students to identify and gather information, analyse and organise

information and reflect on their learning to which is implemented through the lesson. The students do this

through research, organising information onto their graphic organisers and reflecting on their learning

through the use of the book and other resources. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy, children were able to analyse

two celebrations using the book and online resources to gather information for their graphic organises and

to create a digital brochure (Armstrong, 2016). The strengths of the resource are how it promoted the

historical concept, significance as the lesson displayed the importance of two significant events in the Asian

region (Board of Studies, 2012). It also fostered the historical tools such as research, analysis and the use of

sources as the students located relevant information from sources including the book on immersion station

two (Board of Studies, 2012). The students do this through researching Chinese New Year and comparing it

to the Moon Festival within the book. Another strength indicated is how the children can relate to

celebrating significant events as they compare and gain knowledge of another culture’s celebration. A

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 weakness identified is that Mooncakes could be difficult to understand as it depicts various stories of the

Moon Festival from different perspectives within the narrative.

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 Geography Resource

Name of resource

After the Fires

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/resources/schools/teachers/primary-school/new-stage-3-geography

Stage

Stage 3. Factors that Shape Places (BOSTES, 2015).

Resource format

Website

Description of resource

This website explores the 2013 bushfires that severely impacted the people and the community of NSW as

they lost their homes and businesses. The website displays a bushfire plan with instructions of how one could

complete it, what a bushfire plan is, how to access it and videos from people who explain how important it is

to have one and the consequences of not. The website also provides keeping smart factsheets on how to stay

bushfire smart, bulletin annual news of bushfires and a video of primary students who discuss their solutions

to bushfire problems. The website explores the 2013 bushfires through a timeline, tribute and a brief

summary of the bushfires, maps of the affected areas and the history of the blue mountain’s fires in a video.

The purpose of this website is to facilitate children’s learning and knowledge of the NSW bushfires so that

they are aware of the impacts the bushfires have on communities and people and how the students can find

solutions to how the impact on people and places from bushfires can be reduced.

Links to syllabus content outcomes

 Outcome: Compares and contrasts influences on the management of places and environments GE3-

3 (BOSTES, 2015).

 Outcome: Acquires, processes and communicates geographical information using geographical tools

for inquiry GE3-4 (BOSTES, 2015).

 Content descriptor: investigate the impact of one contemporary bushfire hazard in Australia

(ACHGK030), (BOSTES, 2015).

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 Cross Curriculum Priority: Sustainability (ACARA, 2014)

Key Inquiry Question: How can the impact of bushfires on people and places be reduced?

Classroom Implementation

WALT: find how the impact of bushfires on people and places can be reduced.

WILF: how well the students use the geographical concepts and tools.

The students will be shown the following website,

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/resources/schools/teachers/primary-school/new-stage-3-geography and shown

how to navigate through it. The students would be instructed to find information on one of the 2013 bushfires

on the website and note down ways that the impact of bushfires have on people and places and how it can be

reduced in order to save the vegetation and environment. The students would be learning about the cross-

curriculum priority, Sustainability by researching ways that bushfires affect the vegetation and environment,

and how they can be protected (ACARA, 2014) as well as learning about the big idea, Factors that Shape

Places (BOSTES, 2015). The students would form jigsaw groups with the assistance of the teacher and aide

to create a bushfire plan of their school as the teacher displays the school’s map of the safety equipment and

emergency exits to assist them. Immersion stations would be set up for students to explore and they include

research the effect that bushfires have on vegetation and the environment

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/fire/plants-animals-and-fire,

a research task on the fire management strategies to identify how the vegetation could be protected

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/fire/fire-management-

strategies. The students will also identify good fires; fireplace and bad fires; bushfire in images provided and

categorise them under the appropriate headings; ‘good fire’ and ‘bad fire’. The students will then create a

digital brochure on bushfire safety by including where to access a bushfire plan and its importance, the

impact bushfires have on the people and the environment and how to stay bushfire safe.

 Note: Teacher needs to be sensitive with this topic as there could be students who have been

affected by bushfires.

Potential for differentiation

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 Emergent: the emergent leaners will be doing a structured inquiry through the exploration of each

immersion station with the assistance of a teacher’s aide and the teacher will model how to create a bushfire

plan and how to navigate the website.

Advanced: the students will discover using guided and controlled inquiry as they are given the opportunity

to explore the immersion stations without assistance and instructing them to find an additional source to

answer their inquiry question.

Overall critical reflection of the resource

The website promoted structured and controlled inquiry as the students were lead by the teacher at first then

forming jigsaw groups to explore set resources (Jones, 2018). Bloom’s Taxonomy is seen throughout the

lesson as the students create a digital brochure and bushfire plan to effectively demonstrate their

understanding of the content (Armstrong, 2016). TPACK was integrated as the children navigated the NSW

bushfire website to answer their inquiry question then created a digital brochure to demonstrate their

knowledge of the content and effective use of technology (Hunter, 2015). Reynolds (2014) states that ICT

fosters problem-solving skills, collaboration skills and communication skills as the students use the internet

to locate and adapt digital resources such as the website to extend their knowledge on the impact of

bushfires. This resource promotes geographical concepts such as the environment as the students research the

impact that bushfires have on people and places (BOSTES, 2015). The geographical concept, sustainability

correlates with the cross-priority curriculum as the students promote the importance of maintaining and

supporting the environment and the vegetation from the impact of bushfires (ACARA, 2014). The website

promotes students to use geographical inquiry-based skills such as acquiring, processing and communication

geographical information; gathering and recording geographical data and the use of geographical tools such

as maps in their learning (BOSTES, 2015). The strengths of the website are the solutions shown by primary

school children in a Youtube video and an example of a bushfire plan to assist the students in answering their

inquiry question. A weakness identified, was the lack of information displayed on individual bushfires during

2013, instead, there is a map of the impacted areas rather than an account of the impact.

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Subject Focus in HSIE: History Class: Inquiry Question:

Topic: Community and Remembrance Stage 2, Year 4 How and why do people choose to celebrate significant events?

CCP: Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia

Outcomes: HT2-1, HT2-5

Content Descriptor: Celebrations and commemorations in other places around the world; for example, Bastille Day in France, Independence Day in the USA,

including those that are observed in Australia, such as Chinese New Year, Christmas Day, Diwali, Easter, Hanukkah, the Moon Festival and Ramadan (ACHHK064):

Learning Intentions (WALT) Success Criteria: (WILF)

We are learning to: find out how and why people choose to celebrate significant events. What I’m Looking For: I am looking for how the children engage with

the resources and each other to answer the inquiry-based question.

Significant content or concept words used in the lesson: Moon Festival, Chinese, traditions, celebration, world, Chinese New Year

Time Teaching Strategies Learning Strategies Classroom Resources

Minutes Organisation

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Orientation Invite students to put on their thinking caps and sit on The thinking cap promotes students’ cognitive process Children sitting

the floor in front of the teacher (De Bono, 2001). skills to use their imagination. on the floor

facing the

10 minutes Teacher: I am going to introduce to you a young girl teacher.

who tells us a story about her family’s traditions of

eating mooncakes and drinking Chinese tea as she 4 Stations setup

celebrates The Moon Festival in China. (Appendix A)

Teacher shows the students where China is on Google Students explore the aerial and street view and zooming Students using Google Earth on

Earth features. iPads (3:1 ratio) iPads (Appendix

o Teacher asks students to locate China and B)

where it is from Australia.

o Teacher asks students the transportation to

China

o Teacher asks students to locate where they

have been in the world.

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Body Mooncakes book

65 minutes (Appendix C)

15 minutes Teacher reads Mooncakes (Appendix C) Inquiry-based learning facilitates the acquisition of Children sitting

AAL: Teacher emphasises the Chinese traditions of knowledge, curiosity, communication skills, on the floor

the Moon Festival celebration. The teacher also collaboration skills, effective problem-solving skills and facing the

emphasised that the Moon Festival is celebrated responsibility for learning (Haq, 2017). teacher.

globally and that the date differs depending on the

moon.

10 minutes Teacher pairs students up and asks them to answer the Children in pairs

question, “What do you celebrate and how?”. Think, Pair, Share Strategy. presenting a

Students instructed to remember what their friends friend’s

say as they will share their friend’s celebration with celebration

the class. Interactive

Whiteboard

4 minutes Teacher shows a small online slideshow of the Moon Children discover the origin of The Moon Festival and Children sitting

Festival to the students (Appendix D). Class other Chinese traditions during this celebration. on the floor

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 discussion of how the people celebrate the Moon facing the

Festival and what other celebrations the Asian region teacher.

celebrate.

o Students identified that Chinese New Year is Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia cross-

another celebration held in the Asian region curriculum priority incorporated (ACARA, 2014).

A ‘wonderings’ gathering held and an inquiry

4 minutes
question created for the lesson. How and why do

people choose to celebrate significant events?

6 minutes Immersion stations promote discovery and the use of Children form 4
Teacher explains each immersion station to the
historical tools (Board of Studies, 2012). groups.
students.
Graphic

6 minutes organisers and

AAL: Teacher observes each group’s use of historical
for each Students at the pencils
concepts and tools used, how the students interact
activity plus immersion
with each other and with the resources to ensure they
2 minutes to stations
are on track.

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discuss

findings

= 26 Triangle

minutes

Teacher using a triangle to signal the students to Children rotating

rotate. upon the signal.

Closure

16 minutes

Teacher uses triangle to signal students to stop and triangle

listen to the teacher.

12 minutes AOL: Teacher encourages students to return to the Students presenting their work demonstrates the use of Children sitting

(3 minutes class with their inquiry question, present their digital key historical concepts, collaboration skills and their on the floor with Graphic

per group) brochure with their evaluation of their learning and understanding of the content. Peer assessment presenters organisers

peer critique. demonstrates the strengths of the students. Evaluation standing next to

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 encourages the development of metacognitive thinking the teacher to

as students reflect on their learning (Board of Studies, present.

2012).

4 minutes AOL: Class discussion: teacher encourages students Furthering students’ knowledge on the topic through Children sitting

to think about how they might gather more critical thinking. on the floor

information that could answer their inquiry question. facing the

teacher

Lesson concludes.

Differentiation Ideas:

Emergent: The emergent learners will be doing a structured inquiry by exploring each immersion station with the assistance of a teacher’s aide. Another way is that the

teacher could model how to create and use a Venn diagram.

Advanced: discover using a guided and controlled inquiry by allowing the students to explore the immersion stations without assistance and instructing them to find an

additional source that would help them answer their inquiry-based question. An alternative could be for the advanced students to create a blog together of the Moon

Festival using both the book and their own research.

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AAL: The teacher is looking for the use of historical tools and content such as the significance of the celebration, an analysis and use of sources, and research by

observing students’ actions in their groups.

AOL: Students will present their Powerpoint from station four to show their findings and evaluation of what they have learnt during today’s lesson and a critique of

how well the group worked together.

AOL: the class discussion will encourage students to critically think of more ways they could further their knowledge on the topic and how else they could answer the

question.

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Appendices

Appendix A: Immersion Station Resources and Set up

Station 1: Watch Mid-Autumn Festival on Youtube

Resources Required:

1. ‘Immersion Station 1’ sign taped to the side of the desk.

2. Instructions taped to the desk, displaying:

a. In your groups discuss and answer the following questions:

b. What is another name for the Moon Festival?

c. Why do people celebrate?

d. How do people celebrate the Moon festival?

e. Can the Moon Festival be celebrated in other countries?

f. Write or draw your thoughts on your graphic organisers

3. Interactive Whiteboard

4. Watch Mid-Autumn Festival | An introduction (Hello China #35) video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndknxk4v4QY

Station 2: Research Chinese New Year and Mooncakes

Resources Required:

1. ‘Immersion Station 2’ sign taped to the side of the desk.

2. Instructions taped to the desk, displaying:

a. Research the Chinese New Year and answer

i. When is the Chinese New Year celebrated?

ii. Who celebrates it?

iii. What do people do on this day?

iv. Can this celebration be celebrated around the world?

v. What is the significance of this celebration?

Amber Lee 18793417 Professional Task 15

 b. Create a Venn diagram to display the similarities and differences between both

celebrations by using the researched information on Chinese New Year and the

book about the Moon Festival

i. A Venn diagram is:

ii. One circle is labelled A

iii. One circle is labelled B

iv. Identify the components in response A

v. Decided if the idea is similar to your response B

vi. If it is similar, you write it in AnB in the middle of both circles

vii. If your response A is different, write it in circle A

viii. If your response B is different, write it in circle B.

b. Discuss your findings with your peers.

3. http://www.chinesenewyears.info/

Station 3: Kahoot

Resources Required: paper quiz augmented for kahoot on iPads as the technology enhanced

the task and positively changed in some way as the children enjoyed the game (Hamilton et al,

2016).

1. ‘Immersion Station 3’ sign taped to the side of the desk.

2. Instructions taped to the desk, displaying:

a. To play kahoot, the in the pin on the iPad and type in your name

Amber Lee 18793417 Professional Task 16

 b. Answer each question

c. After you finish playing, note down how many more points it would take to get

from your position on the leader board to first place.

3. iPads for each student on that station

4. https://kahoot.it/

Station 4: Create a digital brochure

Resources Required:

1. ‘Immersion Station 4’ sign taped to the side of the desk.

2. Instructions taped to the desk, displaying:

a. Create a digital brochure to China using https://spark.adobe.com/make/brochure-

maker/ on the iPads and include:

Amber Lee 18793417 Professional Task 17

 i. Choose either Chinese New Year or the Moon Festival and write a summary

of the festival, why and how it is celebrated.

ii. Include the date it will be held and the location

iii. Include pictures, videos or hyperlinks

b. Then write a brief summary using your graphic designers and answer what you have

learned today in class

i. Write down if you worked well or did not work well as a group and why.

ii. Present it to your class when the teacher instructs

Appendix B: Google Earth on iPads

https://earth.google.com/web/

Amber Lee 18793417 Professional Task 18

Appendix C: Mooncakes by Loretta Seto and Renne Benoit.

Seto, L., & Benoit, R. (2017). Mooncakes. Victoria, British Columbia: Orca Book.

This book, Mooncakes, introduces Chinese traditions in a

family’s celebration of the Moon Festival.

The teacher will emphasise the Chinese traditions; the

Chinese tea, spending time with family members,

lanterns and mooncakes, and compare the Chinese

traditions to Australian traditions. The teacher will also

emphasise that the Moon Festival is celebrated around

the world including Australia and that the date differs

depending on when the lunar moon appears. By

emphasising that the Moon Festival can be celebrated in

Australia, shows the cross-curricula link with Asia and

Australia’s Engagement with Asia (Asia and Australia’s

Engagement with Asia, n.d) showing the connection.

Amber Lee 18793417 Professional Task 19

Appendix D: ‘Moon Festival: Child with Chinese Moon Festival Candles’ Video from ABC

http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1391479/moon-festival

This video explores the Moon Festival’s traditions of lanterns, spending time with family

members and eating mooncakes whilst looking at the moon.

Appendix E: Graphic Organisers:

The graphic organiser is used alongside the resource to assist students in developing and

organising ideas, categorising and recalling information to assist them in creating their digital

brochure.

http://www.laneclark.ca/toolbox/thinkchart-organisers/

Resources Required:

1. Pencils

2. Notepads

3. Venn diagram instructions and diagram so they can create their own

Amber Lee 18793417 Professional Task 20

Venn diagram to show connectivity, differences and similarities between the two

celebrations.

Amber Lee 18793417 Professional Task 21

 Reference List

ACARA. (2014). Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia. Retrieved August 6, 2018,

from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/cross-curriculum-

priorities/asia-and-australia-s-engagement-with-asia/

Armstrong, P. (2016). Bloom’s taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.

Board of Studies. (2012). History K-10-Stage 2 Community and Remembrance. Retrieved

August 6, 2018, from https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/hsie/history-k10/content/802/

BOSTES. (2015). Geography K-10-Stage 3 Factors That Shape Places – Stage 3. Retrieved

August 6, 2018, from https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/hsie/geography-

k10/content/1183/

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival 2018: Facts, Celebrations. (n.d). Retrieved August 9, 2018, from

https://www.chinahighlights.com/festivals/mid-autumn-festival.htm

Chinese New Year. (n.d). Retrieved August 9, 2018, from http://www.chinesenewyears.info/

Clark, L. (n.d). Thinkchart Organisers. Retrieved August 9, 2018, from

http://www.laneclark.ca/toolbox/thinkchart-organisers/

De Bono. (2001). Thinking Caps. In A Treasury of Critical Thinking Activities (pp.120-139).

Westminster: Teacher Created Materials.

Free Brochure Maker: Create Custom Brochures. (n.d). Retrieved August 10, 2018, from

https://spark.adobe.com/make/brochure-maker/

Google Earth. (n.d). Retrieved August 6, 2018, from https://earth.google.com/web/

Hamilton, E., Rosenberg, J., & Akcaoglu, M. (2016). The Substitution Augumentation

Modification Redefinition (SAMR) Model: A Critical Review and Suggestions for its

Use. doi:10.1007/s11528-016-0091-y

Haq, I. (2017). Inquiry‐based Learning. ABC of Learning and Teaching in Medicine, 11.

Amber Lee 18793417 Professional Task 22

Hunter, J. (2015). Technology integration and high possibility classrooms: building from

tpack. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Jones, G. (2018). Lecture Week 2. [Lecture]. Retrieved August 16, 2018, from

https://vuws.westernsydney.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?cours

e_id=_26649_1&content_id=_3691017_1

Kahoot! (n.d). Retrieved August 10, 2018, from https://kahoot.it/

Moon Festival: Child with Chinese Moon Festival Candles. (n.d). Retrieved August 6, 2018,

from http://education.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1391479/moon-festival

New Stage 3 Geography. (n.d). Retrieved August 6, 2018, from

http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/resources/schools/teachers/primary-school/new-stage-3-

geography

NSW Department of Education. (2017, September). Human Society and Its Environment

Guide to Using Picture Books in History K-10. Retrieved August 6, 2018, from

https://schoolsequella.det.nsw.edu.au/file/86165194-cb9c-4bd0-acc5-

928d022a1f6/1/guide-t0-picture-books-in-history-k-10.pdf

Reynolds, R. (2014). Teaching Humanities and Social Sciences in the Primary School. South

Melbourne, Vic.: Oxford University Press.

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