HASS UNIT PLAN OUTLINE TEMPLATE
Sub strand: History
Year level: Reception
Year level theme: The unit plan will be built
around the theme of personal and family
histories, with a particular focus on students past
and present.
Knowledge and Understanding Content
Descriptions covered
Who the people in their family are, where they
were born and raised and how they are
related to each other (ACHASSK011)
How they, their family and friends
commemorate past events that are important
to them (ACHASSK012)
Knowledge and Understanding Achievement
Standards aspects assessed
By the end of the Foundation year, students
identify important events in their own lives. They
identify how they, their families and friends know
about their past and commemorate events that
are important to them.
Brief description of the units purpose
Students will understand their personal family
histories.
Students will explore the features of their
social and physical worlds.
Through this unit, students will get a sense of
belonging, identity and ownership of their own
lives.
Opportunities to incorporate Cross
Curriculum priorities
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander:
Histories and Cultures: When students are
looking at their histories and community they
are able to make connections.
Length: 4 weeks
Concept focus
Perspective
Inquiry and Skills Content Descriptions covered
Pose questions about past and present objects,
people, places and events (ACHASSI001)
Explore a point of view (ACHASSI005)
Draw simple conclusions based on discussions,
observations and information displayed in
pictures and texts and on maps (ACHASSI008)
Inquiry and Skills Achievement Standards
aspects assessed
By the end of the Foundation year, students
sequence familiar events in order. They respond to
questions about their own past. Students relate a
story about their past using a range of texts.
Key Inquiry questions to guide unit thinking
What is my history and how do I know?
What stories do other people tell about the past?
How can stories of the past be told and shared?
Opportunities to incorporate General Capabilities
Literacy:
Being able to complete sentence and recognise
letters and sounds.
Personal and Social Capability
Recognise personal qualities and
achievements
Appreciate diverse perspectives
Intercultural Understanding
Recognising culture and developing respect
Investigate culture and cultural identity
Explore and compare cultural knowledge,
beliefs and practices
Develop respect for cultural diversity
Page 1 of 9
Learning activities/experiences
Draw picture of family and identify each
member.
Analyse different families around the world.
Looking at similarities and differences.
develop two inquiry questions.
Create a family tree.
look at memory quilts and indigenous.
Create a timeline using pictures.
Self-assessment.
ICT resources available
I-pads
Smartboard
Computer (power point)
Assessment tasks
Formative
Family Drawing: Drawing a picture of their family
and identifying who each member is to the
teacher.
Posing inquiry questions: getting students to be
creative and use their knowledge and
understandings.
Family tree: Using inquiry students create a piece
of assessment on their personal family history.
Summative
Poster: Students create poster of their family
timeline through the use of pictures. This will
link the concepts of past and present together
as well as looking at their families.
Self-assessment: Students are required to fill out
a self-assessment. They will write to things they
thought they did well or learnt and one thing
they think they need to improve on.
Learning resources available
Book: Family Forrest by Kim Kane
Book Im Australian too by Mem Fox
You tube clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXyO7omXH
84
Page 2 of 9
Lesson outline for the 4 week unit
Week 1
Session 1
Activity 1:
Students will discuss and share what the word
family means to them.
Read the book Family Forrest by Kim Kane.
Activity 2:
Students will draw images around the word family
in their books.
Once this is done, students will define what the
word means to them and write it underneath
their drawings.
Session 2
Activity 1:
Students will investigate their family structure.
Students name each of their family members.
Look at pictures of different families across
different cultures.
Show images through a power point (ICT),
showing the different families from different
cultures.
Activity 2:
Draw a picture of their own family in their book.
Show the teacher and explain who each member
is.
Assessment: Identifying their own family through the
use of a drawing.
Week 3
Session 1
Activity 1:
Students respond to inquiry questions about their
own family and investigate families from the
past.
Create a family tree poster including their two-
inquiry question answered down the bottom as
well as their meaning of family at the top.
Teacher will then video each student responding
to one of the inquiry questions.
Session 2
Activity 1:
Compare modern day families to families from the
past with the use of pictures and a class Venn
diagram.
Watch you tube clip then discuss as a class
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXyO7omXH84
Activity 2:
Teacher lays out images of different families on
the floor. Pictures may be different sizes,
cultures etc.
Students select an image from the front that they
think resembles their families.
Justify their selection to the teacher.
Based on 2 90 minute periods per week
Week 2
Session 1
Activity 1:
Students understand that people are born in different
places.
Understand own family history for significant
members.
Students separate into small groups and share their
family drawings they created in the previous lesson.
They need to explain the people in their family and
their significance to them.
Session 2
Activity 1:
Students develop two inquiry questions that they wish
to find out about their family.
Example:
Who is the oldest in the family?
Where were the people in your family born?
In the same small groups from the previous lesson,
discuss possible inquiry questions with peers.
Individually students will go off and create their
questions.
Teachers will circulate room helping students
construct short sentences. Students take inquiry
questions home to investigate.
Week 4
Session 1
Activity 1:
Students understand families come from all cultures
and countries.
Read book Im Australian too by Mem Fox
Students explore a variety of families from different
cultures and use images as a guide to discuss
similarities and differences.
Session 2
Activity 1:
Students will understand that families tell stories to
remember the past.
Students will look at memory quilts and indigenous
drawings then reflect and discuss what stories they
may tell from the past.
Activity 2:
Students bring in pictures from home of their family
members and are able to create a timeline using
pictures. This will be created into a poster.
Students will also answer a self-assessment
(Appendix 1) which requires them to say two things
they thought they did well and one thing they think
they need to improve on.
Page 3 of 9
Potential HASS sub strand connections
Geography
Topic background resources (for teacher use
only) to support teaching learning for the unit
Youtube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXyO7omXH
84
Fox, M. and Ghosh, R. (n.d.). I'm Australian too.
1st ed.
Kane, K. (2011). Family Forrest. 1st ed. Hardie
Grant Egmont.
Potential other learning area connections
English: Through the use of writing and
presenting ideas and thoughts.
Art and drama: Acting out ideas and thoughts.
Pedagogical resources to support the teaching of
the unit
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting
Authority. (2017). Humanities and Social Sciences:
History- Curriculum. Education Services Australia.
Fahey, J. (2012). 'Inquiry, assessment and the
primary years programme', International
Baccalaureate Organization., Ways to learn through
inquiry: guiding children to deeper understanding,
International Baccalaureate, Cardiff, pp. 6-24
Historical understanding | AC History Units. (2017).
Achistoryunits.edu.au. Retrieved 3 March 2017, from
http://www.achistoryunits.edu.au/teaching-
history/historical-understanding/teachhist-historical-
understanding.html
Mccauley, V., Davison, K., & Byrne, C. (2015).
Collaborative lesson hook design in science teacher
van education: Advancing professional practice. Irish
Educational Studies, 1-17
Page 4 of 9
 Justification
Introduction
The following Humanities and Social Sciences unit plan has been created for a reception class focussing on the sub-
strand of history. Within the junior primary years, the Humanities and Social Sciences subjects only focuses on the
subject areas of History and Geography (Reynolds, 2014). The unit plan is based over eight weeks, in which the
theme students will be exploring is their personal and family histories with a particular focus on the past and present.
The unit aims to develop students thinking and understanding about not only their own families but families around
them, whether they be from a different time period or different culture. The concept focus that will be embedded within
the lessons is perspectives. The concept focus perspectives, allows students the opportunity to observe, analyse and
develop new views. The units purpose is to make sure students understand their own history through the use of
inquiry and interest as well as develop a sense of belonging, identity and ownership of their own lives.

Main
When developing a unit plan there are many areas to consider to make sure each student reaches the achievement
standards. First a year level needs to be established with a subject area they have decided to focus on. Next thing that
needs to be considered is the time length, making sure it is appropriate for the year level and keeps students
engaged. The concept focus, knowledge and understanding content descriptors and inquiry skills content descriptors
will help shape how the lessons are set out. Finally, the purpose of the whole unit plan need to be clearly outlined so
students know what they are aiming towards. This can be down through inquiry questions or looking at the Australian
curriculum.
The unit consists of two ninety-minute history lessons per week. Whilst this time frame is a good indicator, not always
will reception students be able to focus on a particular subject for that long without losing interest, which can lead to
students not understanding the concept being taught. This is why it is important to observe the class and make that
critical decision to swap activities or lessons when needed so the main concept of the lesson doesnt get lost with the
students. McCauley (2015) suggested that by including or considering students interests when planning tasks will help
to motivate students to learn. In other words, if the lessons are interesting enough and cater for individual students
interests, then students will not get bored and will usually do better learning. Therefore, it is essential that the teacher
takes the time to find out what the students interests are and how they learn best when planning lessons.

As stated early, the concept focus that will be used within the unit plan is perspectives. The Australian Curriculum has
seven concepts that are used within the subject area of history. Tomlinson (2014) suggests that the concepts are
crucial key element to supporting a good quality curriculum. Whilst there are elements of each of the concepts that
could have been used within the unit plan, I decided to use only the perspectives focus to make sure the lessons were
not to difficult for my year level. The perspectives concept aligned best to the content descriptors used for the unit plan
as well as provides students with an opportunity to analyse both their own perspectives and other peoples.

The unit is broken down into two sections in which students will be assessed on; knowledge and understanding and
inquiry and skills. These two aspects, as well as the content descriptors from the Australian Curriculum (ACARA,
2017) shape what has to be achieved within a lesson or unit. The achievement standards allow the teacher to see
what knowledge, understanding and skills a student has to achieve by the end of the year in order to pass their year
level. The content descriptors however provide teachers with a specific outline of what students will be taught by
History and why it is an essential part of the curriculum. Historical understanding often gets mistaken for memorising
facts from different historical events, when in facts historical understanding is more about making sense of the past.
This process involves students skills developing, knowledge acquisitions and the application of key concepts to
investigate particular historical events (Historical Understandings Australian Curriculum, 2017). The knowledge and
understanding content descriptors were chosen because they provide students with the opportunity to develop their
inquiry and skill content. This can be through the use of communicating, analysing and especially communicating.

Page 5 of 9
The key inquiry questions that will be focused on throughout the unit plan are:
What is my history and how do I know?
What stories do other people tell about the past?
How can stories of the past be told and shared?
These questions are used as a guide to both shape the lessons within the unit as well as provide students with
something to think about when learning. These inquiry questions are provided from the Australian Curriculum,
however as a teacher it is beneficial to use both these questions and ones that you have developed on your own in
order for students to understand the meaning behind the information. By also encouraging students to create and
develop their own inquiry questions, they are combining their interests and knowledge they already know to pose their
own question in order to find out more on the subject. Fayhe (2012) stated that inquiry based learning increases
students interests through the use of choice which will generally lead to a more meaningful learning experience.

The Australian Curriculum has three cross curriculum priorities that are developed within the content descriptors.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
Sustainability
Asia and Australias engagement with Asia
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures is the cross-curriculum priority that will be used within the
unit plan. Whilst the other two areas are important they do not fit into the overall learning intentions. Students will look
at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders history towards the end of the unit when comparing different families as well
as looking at how families tell stories. Examples of dot painting can be shown to identify how stories were told then
and now.
The general Capabilities that will be used in this unit from the Australian Curriculum are:
Literacy
Personal and Social Capability
Intercultural Understanding
Through the use of literacy, students will be able to complete sentences and recognise both letters and sounds. This
is an integral aspect of the unit plan as much of the work requires students to write a sentence or express their
thoughts. When looking at personal and social capability students will be able to recognise personal qualities and
achievements and appreciate diverse perspectives. This also aligns with the concept focus of perspectives. Finally,
students will demonstrate intercultural understanding by investigating culture and culture identity and exploring and
comparing cultural knowledge, beliefs and practices. This will lead to students developing and respect for cultural
diversity (ACARA,2017). Batham (2012) stated that as a teacher it is essential to address the general capabilities as
they are necessary for students to be successful in their schooling.

For the purpose of this unit, there will be three main assessment tasks students have to complete, two formative and
one summative task. However, as a teacher it is essential to always be observing and assessing students throughout
each lesson to see how they are going with the learning activities. The assessment tasks were developed around the
achievement standards and content descriptors in the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2017) in order for students to
reach their learning goals. The first two forms of assessment being used within the unit plan is formative assessments.
Students are asked to develop and pose inquiry questions around the topic of their own family. The purpose of this is
for students to think both critically and creatively to come up with interesting questions they wish to find out about their
family. By doing this, students will show their capability to be able to use their knowledge and understanding around
first how to form an open-ended question as well as one that is connected to the subject. The second formative
assessment used in this unit plan is the family tree. Students are required to create a piece of assessment around
their family history. The tree will identify people in their family and how they are connected, as well as their two inquiry
questions down the bottom. Both assessments inform the teacher of how the students are working as well as identify
and changes they need to make to ensure students achieve their learning standards.

Page 6 of 9
The final assessment piece of this unit is a summative assessment. Summative assessments usually take place at the
end of a unit, as they compare students knowledge from the beginning of the unit to the end, looking at the students
progress throughout the unit. For this unit plan the summative assessment will be a poster. Students will create a
poster of their family timeline through the use of pictures. This will link the concepts of past and present together as
well as looking at their families. At the end of the lessons students will complete self-assessment. Students will be
required to write two things they thought they did well or learnt and one thing they think they need to improve on.

Teachers need to implement a range of learning resources in order to help students learning. These learning
resources may be a video, book or worksheets. For this unit plan the use of power points, picture books and a you
tube clip have been embedded into the lessons plans so they students gain an understanding on the task they need to
do. Whilst providing students with various resources is beneficial to their learning, it is also important to have
resources as a teacher that you can refer back to or gain ideas from when planning the unit. These resources may be
from online databases or book.

In week one of the unit plan students will be focusing on themselves and their families. Students will be required to
participate in group discussion whether they be as a whole class, in a small group or as a class. Students will be
required to create a drawing resembling the word family. This will indicate how students perceive family and what
ideas they already have. In week two students will be analysing different families around the world. They will be doing
this through the use of a power point with different pictures of families looking at their culture, size of the family and
then identifying similarities and differences they see. Week three students will be developing their own inquiry
questions. This will provide students with an opportunity to be both creative and critical in their thinking. Students will
also be creating their family tree within this week. In the final week of the unit plan, students will be looking at different
cultures and how families tell stories. Students will look and feel memory quilts and analyse dot drawings. Their task
will be to then create a timeline of their family through the use of pictures.

Conclusion
In conclusion for a unit plan to be successful there are many elements that need to be incorporated to insure students
reach their achievement standards. The lessons in the unit plan need to be clearly outlined and made interesting so
students feel motivated to learn and want to do more as well as the aspects talked about early need to be included. It
is evident that through much research and through the use of resources that this unit plan meets all the curriculum
needs to be a successful history unit plan for receptions. The hope is that they will gain understanding about their
personal histories as well as lead into other peoples histories.
Word Count: 1968
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2017). Humanities and Social Sciences: History-
Curriculum. Education Services Australia.
Batham, J. (2012). Classroom blogs and addressing the general capabilities of the Australian Curriculum. Issue
120. pp 14-17.
Fahey, J. (2012). 'Inquiry, assessment and the primary years programme', International Baccalaureate Organization.,
Ways to learn through inquiry: guiding children to deeper understanding, International Baccalaureate, Cardiff, pp. 6-24

Historical understanding | AC History Units. (2017). Achistoryunits.edu.au. Retrieved 3 March 2017, from
http://www.achistoryunits.edu.au/teaching-history/historical-understanding/teachhist-historical-understanding.html

Mccauley, V., Davison, K., & Byrne, C. (2015). Collaborative lesson hook design in science teacher van education:
Advancing professional practice. Irish Educational Studies, 1-17

Reynolds, R. (2014). Teaching humanities and social sciences in the primary school (3rd ed.). Australia: Oxford
University.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2014). Good curriculum as a basis for differentiation. Chapter 5 in The differentiated classroom:
Responding to the needs of all learners (2nd ed., pp. 60-79). Alexandria, Virginia; ASCD.
Appendix 1:
Self-assessment: Students are required to use the two stars and a wish to complete a self-assessment.
Page 7 of 9
Appendix 2:
Assessment Rubric

Category Excellent Good Satisfactory Below-

Satisfactory
Students can
identify
differences from
the past and
present
Students
understand key
terms such as:
family, past,
present.
Students are able
to show
knowledge and
understanding
through the use
of activities.

Assessment rubric for the unit (attach a brief rubric based on the assessed Achievement Standards
identified above)
Assignment 4: Extended writing on constructing a Unit of Work

Page 8 of 9
 Assessment criteria and scoring scale for the Essay component

Drawing upon your knowledge of the Australian Curriculum or IBPYP and your wider research, make a
strong case justifying how and why you have constructed your unit of work to enable your students to be
knowledgeable, skilful and original students of HASS Geography, or History or Civics and Citizenship.
S T U D E N T NAME _______________________

Your essay length is 2000 words and must have:

Low ------------------High
COMMENT
A minimum of 3 peer reviewed
academic articles, or chapters

Demonstrated ability for effective

descriptions

Demonstrated ability for effective

explanations

Followed a logical and coherent

structure

Included some substantially

developed ideas that demonstrate
complex thinking

Provided well-substantiated
argumentation with evidence in
support of claims made

Demonstrated ability to research

relevant academic sources.
(Please follow the library slides on
FLO and given by Peggy Brooksby
in class to find academic works )
TOTAL Mark Grade

Page 9 of 9