Via Belle Hazelton
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Rescooped by
Catherine Smyth
from First Contacts- Stage Two
onto Primary history- First Contacts June 25, 2018 1:42 AM
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Scoop.it!
Belle Hazelton's curator insight,
May 24, 2018 8:24 PM
It is believed that when studying history, or any unit of work in primary school, the approaches towards thinking and understanding must first consider the level of development and maturation of all students (Boon, 2012, p.76).
In this case, when beginning a Unit of Work such as ‘First Contacts’, it is vital for educators to first establish the current understandings of all students in regards to First Contacts. Here, teachers guide conversations about the people, events and actions that might have been relevant in that point of time (NESA, 2016). After exposing students to added information on their prior knowledge in relation to the First Fleet, the resource ‘The Voyage’ would be a fun and insightful activity for students in Stage 2.
Playing the game would assist in ‘identifying reasons for the voyage of the First Fleet, and would explain why various groups were passengers’ (NESA, 2016). With guidance, and modelled questioning throughout the game, students would be transporting a convict vessel to Van Diemen’s Land. The importance of this resource is to address the visual features and actions of the game. Some questions could include:
- Where is the vessel sailing from?
- What are the ‘Masters’ wearing and how is this different from now?
- Which of the food products are different to what we eat today?
- Why do you think these products are suitable for sailing long distances?
- What do the convicts look like? Do we know why they are convicts?
Exposing students to this resource before any other in relation to the unit of work would be beneficial as it would immediately grab all students’ attention, stimulate curiosity, provide a fun learning environment and would expose students to vital information for the rest of the topic to come.
References:
Boon, D. (2012). Chapter 5. Developing thinking and understanding in primary geography and history.
NESA. (2016). History syllabus K-6. Retrieved from https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/hsie/history- k10/
Bonnie W 's curator insight,
May 29, 2020 1:35 AM
Without doubt, educators have been relatively successful in conveying conceptual understanding to children when teaching ‘First Contacts’ in Australian History. However, too little consideration is paid to the “reasoning and strategies” when students acquire historical knowledge, especially when solving ‘complex or real-life tasks’ to explore how their learning affects them personally and meaningfully (Collins, Brown & Holum, 1991, p.1). Consequently, teachers naturally draw on ‘formulaic methods for solving textbook problems’ or eventually focus on developing ‘low-level sub-skills’ without exploring into much depth and detail (Collins, Brown & Holum, 1991, p.1).
Thus when first exploring units such as the ‘First Contacts’, rather than initially bombarding students with information in words, it is crucial that teachers activate, probe and stimulate children’s prior knowledge such that they connect the reasoning of what they’re learning in a personalised and meaningful way (McCrory, 2017).
This digital resource ‘The Voyage’ is a fun, engaging and insightful activity for children in Stage 2, as it helps identify “reasons for voyage of the First Fleet, and explain why various groups were passengers’ (NESA, 2016, p.46). Moreover, it offers students to explore the people, events, actions and effects that might have been relevant to world exploration (NESA, 2016). Such engaging technological activity not only grasps children’s interest, but it exposes children to significant information for the rest of the concepts to come, and ultimately stimulates their sense of curiosity to question, reflect and wonder about what First Contacts in further depth.
Some questions that teachers can ask to probe their understanding may include:
‘Who are the people on the boat? How do you know they are convicts?’
‘Where is the vessel sailing from? Why did they leave in the first place?’
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