Pre-visit learning: student activities, project ideas and questions

The unit could be begun by establishing a context for subsequent activities. This could be achieved by viewing videos, reading historical fiction and/or accessing the Mt Morgan web site. During these activities students would develop skills as meaning makers by building and constructing cultural meaning from the text. Questions such as those below could be asked.

• How are the lives of these people different from our own?
• How did they dress?
• What forms of entertainment did they have?
• What jobs did they do?
• What machines, tools and technology did they have?
• What ceremonies and celebrations did they take part in?
• What major historical events took place at this time?
• How did they effect the people?
• How did these people and their lives change the natural environment?

Through discussion help the students develop an understanding of the audience and purpose of the text and how these were achieved. (Working towards Cu 3.1, CU 3.2, Cu 3.3, OP 3.2)

By constructing illustrated timelines from 1788, through the 1870’s ( when gold was discovered in Mt Morgan), the Boer War, World war I and II, through to the present day, the students apply the knowledge they have gained from the text and prepare for their visit to Mt Morgan as the town will then be set in an historical context. They will also begin to develop an understanding that text can be read and viewed for more than one purpose. (Working towards CU 3.2) Timelines could be constructed in groups with each group working on a section of the timeline and then reporting their findings back to the class and joining their section to the previous section.

If the students have no previous experience of producing brochures teachers can supply the class with a variety of commercially brochures and have the students deconstruct these to identify textural patterns (Working towards OP 3.3) Using brochures that promote historical sites and have the general public as an audience, will support the students as text users and in producing their own brochures. (Resource 1)

Using an easily accessed, known context such as the school or local community, groups of students can then apply their knowledge of text patterns by drafting a brochure about this site. The technology skills needed to publish a brochure can also be practised during this activity. A useful web site that supports brochure construction is listed below.

The completion of the lessons about will enable to students to successfully produce an information brochure.

Through discussion the teacher can help the students identify the need for information about Mt Morgan and possible resources which will provide it for the brochure they are going to produce after their visit to the town (Working towards CU 3.2, CU 3.3, OP 3.2, OP 3.3) Using the resources listed below students can then gather information using research skills such as identifying main ideas, note taking and turning notes to sentences using sentence structure, vocabulary and facts that consider the audience and purpose. (Resource 2)

Classroom organisation for this activity could include:

• Having individual students skim the Mt Morgan web site and relevant text and choose a site/event/object of interest to research
• Teacher chosen site/event/object based on their level of reading difficulty and matching them to the students’ ability
• Groups of students researching a self or teacher chosen site/event/object

Students should not complete the brochure at this time as they will be gathering more information and photographs during their visit to Mt Morgan.

A similar approach could be used to enable students to film and construct a documentary on Mt Morgan. Teacher reference material such as Constructing Realities and Using Visual Text in Primary and Secondary English Classrooms are particularly useful sources of information on the skills of producing documentaries. (Working towards CU 3.1, CU 3.2, CU 3.3, OP 3.2, OP 3.3)

To assist students to understand points of view, to consider the purpose of their presentation and some of the needs of their intended audience, and to know that the roles and relationships of speakers and listeners affect the language used, teachers can develop role play situations. This can be done by setting up problematic scenarios and having students adopt a stance on the topic. Students then research information to sustain their argument and view points. Through debate or role play the students display their speaking skills and knowledge of purpose, audience and the topic. (Working towards CR 3.1, CU 3.1) Examples of this type of learning experience can be found in resources listed below. They provide role play cards which support the students in groups and individually, in identifying the point of view they are adopting, facts about the situation and counter arguments.

Role plays and scenario presentations should be followed by personal reflections, peer assessment and class discussion to assist the students in understanding how effective their presentation was in convincingly presenting of points of view, in considering the purpose of their presentation and the needs of their intended audience, showing an understanding of speaker/listener relationships and effective use of appropriate language.

At this time it would be beneficial to discuss with the students how these activities relate to their visit to Mt Morgan. This could be done by reviewing what they have learnt about the community from their research for their documentary, brochure and timelines, then brainstorming issues which could have occurred during the history of Mt Morgan. Possible issues could focus on problems caused by mining (see SOSE and science units on this site), boom and bust cycles, problems caused by unemployment, re-establishing the prosperity of a town, preserving historical sites, the role of women in mining towns, treatment of Aborigines by white settlers (There is a cairn at the cemetery under which lie the remains of Aboriginal people taken to a Scottish University and now returned and laid to rest.)

Younger students or those with learning difficulties may find these concepts and arguments too demanding therefore they could engage in dramatisations of events from the historical fiction they read at the beginning, and after the visit to Mt Morgan by dramatising events such as the making of the Mafeking Bell or the Running of the Cutter.

To improve students’ speaking skills they could dramatise poems (suggested in other units on this web site) or role play characters from the historical fiction read at the beginning of the unit. (Working towards CR 3.1) During their visit to Mt Morgan students will engage in sensory experiences to help them develop emotional understandings and feelings about real life characters and situations, which should help to improve their dramatisation. Post visit activities will provide opportunities for students to apply these skills in an assessment situation.

If students are to interview the guides conducting the tour of sites in Mt Morgan teachers may need to teach interview techniques and provide opportunities for the student to develop the questions they wish to ask the guides. Using Think, Pair, Share will help students to clarify the questions or the teacher may wish to use slip writing to gather all questions and then group them.