Anna Murray

212144178

EEO311 Learners Living in their World: Humanities Perspectives

Lesson template
Name: _Anna Murray___________________
10am__________

Tutorial: __Wednesday

Topic: __Asian
Perspectives______________________________________________________
Humanities
Duration of
Group size:
Year level:
areas
lesson:
25
Foundation
60 mins
History
Lesson learning foci:
Introduction to Chinese people in the Australian Gold Rush.
How the stories of families and the past can be communicated, for example
through photographs, artefacts, books, oral histories, digital media, and
museums (ACHHK004)
Pose questions about the past using sources provided (ACHHS049)
Explore a point of view (ACHHS052)
Rationale for teaching this topic:
According to AusVELS 2014, foundation level are focusing on their personal
history and the heritage of their families. This lesson will be focused on How
the stories of families and the past can be communicated, for example through
photographs, artefacts, books, oral histories, digital media, and museums
(ACHHK004) (AusVELS 2014). For this lesson I have chosen a selection of
artefacts to help the students to make meaningful connections with the new
information they are presented. I have chosen two artefacts including a
Chinese hat and some gold nuggets I made from melted lead poured in cold
water then painted gold. These artefacts will help the students to make a
connection between the Chinese culture and the gold rush during discussion,
without going into too much detail. The purpose of this lesson is to introduce
the students to the gold rush and more importantly the fact that Chinese
people came to dig in the goldfields in Australia, because an understanding of
Asia underpins the capacity of Australian students to be active and informed
citizens working together to build harmonious local, regional and global
communities (Welch, 2011). Due to this being the first time majority of the
students are learning about either topic, I want to keep the amount of
information to a minimum as not to overload them with new information. I
hope to evoke questions about the Chinese people coming to Australia by
providing the students with these artefacts as well as an image of what the
people would have worn at the time. Pose questions about the past using
sources provided (ACHHS049)(AusVELS 2014). I have also prepared a simple
line drawing of a person wearing the Chinese hat that the students will be
asked to use as a starting point to draw themselves in costume as Chinese
goldminers. Later in the unit the students will be going to Sovereign Hill
dressed in character to experience what it might have been like to live and
work on the goldfields. Explore a point of view (ACHHS052)(AusVELS 2014).

Anna Murray

212144178

As an alternative to going to Sovereign Hill the teachers could set up the

classroom as the Gold Fields for a day with activities such as a sand box where
the students can dig for gold nuggets and even use old sheets to make tents
and fill the day with activities such as role-play based on their characters.

Resource:
- Artifacts including a Chinese hat and Gold nuggets
- Line drawing of Chinese clothing
- One period image of a Chinese miner

The
Lesson:
Introduct
ion

Introduction to Chinese people in the Australian Gold Rush.

-

Get the students to sit in a circle

Hand around the hat and gold pieces for the children to
hold and feel
Talk about what they think the are
Do you think they have anything in common
Show period image and ask what they think the man is
doing
Explain based on feedback who the people are and

Tim
e
15
min
s

Anna Murray

212144178

Body

what they are doing

Explain how the artifacts link if not already pointed out
Talk about the sorts of clothes the people are wearing
Talk about why the hat looks like it does (sun
protection- relate to them having to wear hats outside)
Show line drawing sheet
Explain that the students are to draw themselves and
colours in the picture along the lines of the period
images
Ask if anyone has any questions (prompt questions can
be used such as: Who are you drawing in this picture?
And, what sort of clothes will you have on?)
Outline expectations of their work (name and date on
the page first, five star work, quiet working only
whispering to the person next to you ect)
Get two students to hand out the pictures

30
min
s

Teacher will rove the class to keep them on track.

Conclusio
n

Referenc
es:

Extension task- step inside the period image and verbally

discuss what they see, think and feel about the image. This
would be done with the teacher for those students who
have finished early.
- Get all students to come back to the circle
- Share the drawings going round the circle
- Explain that later in the term the students will be going
to Sovereign Hill for the day and will be dressed up in
the costumes they have just designed
- Collect all the drawings
AusVELS 2014, The Australian curriculum in Victoria,
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, retrieved
14 September 2014, <http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/>.
Welch M, 2011. Supporting the Asia cross-curriculum
priority in the Australian Curriculum. Volume 9. pp19-23
Image:
Daintree, R 1860, The Gold Fields 1860s, Chinese gold
digger starting for work with his tools suspended from a
yoke on his shoulders, John Oxley Library, State Library of
Queensland, retrieved 11 September,
<http://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/library/media/Ima
ge/id/973>

15
min
s

Anna Murray

212144178