Engaging and relevant. This is the essence of my teaching and learning resources. You'll find a wealth of History, Agricultural Technology, Retail Services, Aboriginal Studies and more.
Engaging and relevant. This is the essence of my teaching and learning resources. You'll find a wealth of History, Agricultural Technology, Retail Services, Aboriginal Studies and more.
Tom Roberts' 1890 painting 'Shearing the Rams' provides key insights into the working and living conditions of pastoral workers in the regional and outback Australia in the period 1900-1914. This set of activities deconstructs the elements in the painting, looks at their historical significance and gives students the opportunity to mind-map what they have learned. it is designed for students of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum.
Stage 5
Depth Study 2: Australia and Asia
Making a Nation: Australia 1900-1914.
Revision activity for the topic Making a Nation: Australia 1900-1914. Students use the decoding key to decode the 6 questions. They then answer the questions from their class notes to answer the questions. The activity is designed for students of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum.
Stage 4
Depth Study 2: Australia and Asia
Making a Nation: Australia 1900-1914
This activity assists students to write an explanation on the topic:
Why did Australians enlist to fight in World War I? In your answer refer to:
• Patriotism – loyalty to Australia and the British Empire;
• Opportunity for adventure;
• Opportunity for employment and a higher wage;
• Social reasons – approval of peers and family;
• Political reasons – hatred of German aggression etc.
Students are provided with an overview of the explanation text type, language features of an historical explanation and teh marking guide for the task.
The Last Charge was a special feature on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation programme, Landline, in October, 2017. It was made to commemorate 100 years since the Australian cavalry charge at Beersheba (Be'er Sheva) in Ottoman Palestine in 1917. Forget your dry documentaries about past events presented by even drier historians. This documentary takes an agricultural approach, looking at a Hunter Valley Waler-breeding enterprise whose owners enlisted in the Australian Cavalry in 1917, taking horses from their property to Egypt and Palestine during World War I. The men participated in the cavalry charge on Beersheba in October, 1917 and recorded their experiences in 800 photographs that had not been publicly shared until recently. A great short video! This resource is a set of questions based on the video and answers.
This worksheet and answers accompanies the National Geographic documentary, Guns, Germs and Steel, presented by Jared Diamond. It covers the reasons why only 168 conquistadors were able to defeat an Incan army of 7000 and thereby gain control of the empire. His thesis is that cultures with productive farming and grazing practices have larger and more specialised populations. He compares the farming practices, learned knowledge and weaponry of the Spaniards and Incans. He then looks at why the Spaniards had a level of resistance to smallpox while 95% of the Incan population perished.
This video covers the characteristics of nomadic peoples, Temujin's early life, the empires and khanates created by the Mongols, reasons for their military success, positives about the Mongol Empire and negatives about the Mongol Empire. This task is designed for students of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus.
Stage 4
Depth Study 6: The Mongol Expansion.
This is a set of activities using key words and concepts in the topic The Holocaust. It includes an activity where students cut out the key words and concepts and match them with the meanings, finding alternative words and terms for selected technical language and using key terms in their own sentence. The outcome being taught is: HT5-9 applies a range of relevant historical terms and concepts when communicating an understanding of the past. This task is designed for students of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum.
Stage 5
Depth Study 6: The Holocaust
This activity provides students with a primary visual image - a painting of a Mongol cavalryman, and deconstructs the components of the image in order to identify what it was about Mongol mounted warriors that made them particularly effective. Students then use the image and the background work they have completed in class to write a brief speech using the scaffolding provided. The outcome being taught is: HT4-10 selects and uses appropriate oral, written, visual and digital forms to communicate about the past. This activity is designed for students of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus.
Stage 4
Depth Study 6: The Mongol Expansion
This is a set of activities using key words and concepts in the topic Celtic Society. It includes an activity where students cut out the key words and concepts and match them with the meanings, finding alternative words and terms for selected technical language and using key terms in their own sentence. The outcome being taught is: AH11-9 communicates historical understanding, using historical knowledge, concepts and terms, in appropriate and well-structured forms. This task is designed for students of the NSW Ancient History Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum.
Preliminary course
Investigating Ancient History – Case Studies
List A: Case studies from Egypt, Greece, Rome, Celtic Europe
A8. The Celts
Newspaper front page activity requiring students to report on the Mongol invasion of China including reasons for the invasion, the Battle of Wild Fox Ridge, the siege of Zhongdu (Beijing) and the leadership of Genghis Khan. It is designed for students of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum.
Stage 4
Depth Study 6: The Mongol Expansion
There are 3 parts to this task: 1. Create a model of a Mongol weapon or armour or piece of clothing, 2. Write a brief information report on the item that you have selected, 3. Include an annotated bibliography of at least 4 sources of information for your task. This has been a very popular task over many years and is guaranteed to maintain student engagement. I suggest that you advise school staff of the day that the task is due so that they are aware that models of knives, swords, shields etc. will be coming directly to you at the start of the day. This will avoid misunderstandings. Some of these models have been truly outstanding replicas!
This assessment task meets the requirements of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum and BOSTES assessment guidelines.
Stage 4
Depth Study 6: The Mongol Expansion
This is a great task to promote History!
Set of activities that include a passage to read to the class on Mongol tactics and strategies, matching the key word/concept with its definition, short answer questions on selected Mongol tactics and a long narrative response: Imagine you are an arlok (commander) in the Mongol army. You have laid siege to the great walled city of Beijing. Write a narrative of the day you succeed in gaining entry. Don’t forget to use all your senses (what you see, smell, taste, hear and touch) as well as your feelings and emotions. A summary of the features of a narrative text type are provided for students to be able to scaffold their response. The lesson is designed for Year 8 students of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus.
Stage 4
Depth Study 6: The Mongol Expansion.
This resource includes 3 separate primary sources from eyewitnesses to events in the topic The Mongol Expansion and activities based on the source including who wrote the source, what we know about the writer, how their presence at the historical incidents impacts their writing, whether the information is reliable and the purpose of the writing. The 3 sources are:
+ Nobleman Dmitri survives the Mongol attack on Kiev, 1240 CE
+ Prince Yuri describes the Mongol conquest of Vladimir, 1238 CE
+ Wassaf describes the Mongol capture of Baghdad, 1258 CE
Each source and analysis questions are on a single page.
This task is designed for NSW students of the History K-10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum
Stage 4
Depth Study 6a: The Mongol Expansion
The outcome being developed is: NSW HT5-5 identifies and evaluates the usefulness of sources in the historical inquiry process.
The sources are colourful and descriptive and I recommend reading it aloud to the class and creating a visual picture of what the eyewitnesses see, hear and sense.
This worksheet accompanies the video The Celts Episode 1: In the Beginning. It focuses on archaeological evidence for Celtic life in Central Europe during the Hallstatt and La Tene periods. There are also worked answers to the questions.
The film 444 Days The Iranian Hostage Crisis is a detailed analysis of the 1979-80 event that reveals the political undercurrents around the event. This worksheet assists students to analyse the issues from the film. It is designed for students of the NSW Modern History Syllabus.
Higher School Certificate course
National Studies
Option H: Iran 1953-1989
This is an assessment task on Celtic Society that includes assessed course outcomes, rubric, marking guideline and student feedback sheet. The task is an essay:
Many of the classical writers (Romans and Greeks) believed that the Celts were barbarians, lacking in the refinements of civilisation. Do you agree with them? Use supportive evidence from the sources to help explain your view.
The task is designed for students of the NSW Ancient History Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum.
Preliminary course
Investigating Ancient History – Case Studies
List A: Case studies from Egypt, Greece, Rome, Celtic Europe
A8. The Celts
It's Saturday, July 19, 1938 and your newspaper editor in chief has asked you, the gun reporter at The West Australian newspaper to write the feature for the front page of tomorrow's paper. You have a format to work within and recent photographs from Germany that inspire you in your task. Can you manage the stress of the task and keep the editor in chief happy? Remember that your audience, the people of Western Australia expect accuracy but strongly believe in fair-play. This task is designed for students of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum.
Stage 5
Depth Study 6: The Holocaust
Mongol Warriors requires students to locating, selecting and organising information in order to page to explain why Mongols warriors were successful in defeating their enemies. Stents are provided with the stimulus sheet and the response sheet with scaffolding. The activity exposes students to outcome HT4-8 locates, selects and organises information from sources to develop an historical inquiry of the NSW History K-10 Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum.
Stage 4
Depth Study 6: The Mongol Expansion