Student Centred Wiki

This is a SOSE unit of work but it also integrates Maths, Science, English and The Arts key learning area.

SOSE Essential Learnings by the end of Year 5

Knowledge and Understanding
Time Continuity and Change. Change and continuities are represented by events and people's contribution and are viewed differently by different people.
Ways of Working
Students are able to:
collect and organise information and evidence
plan investigations based on questions and inquiry models
draw and justify conclusions based on information and evidence
communicate descriptions, decisions and conclusions using text types selected to match audience and purpose.
apply strategies to influence decisions or behaviours and to contribute to groups.


Learning Outcome
Students are to populate a wiki with information which improves and expands the knowledge regarding Aboriginal culture before and after colonisation.

Learning Design Ideas
Topics include:
1. What do we know about Australia before the British came? What does colonisation mean and why do aboriginal people call it invasion? TWL chart/retrieval chart.
2. Who Lived in Australia? Construct time line to represent 100 000 years. 1 cm = 200 years. Provide 2 maps of Australia, as we currently know it and an Aboriginal one with the different regions, children to discuss the similarities and differences and utilise Google Earth to represent this on the Wiki.
3. Who lived in your area, what were the names of places, English or Aboriginal? Research in groups.Post to Wiki.
4. What evidence do we have to show that Aboriginal people have lived on this land for past 50 000 years and what did Australia look like. Provide evidence, students to illustrate a particular period of time. Take photo of it, upload it to flick to post to wiki. Explain Australia use to be joined wo a larger land mass. Demonstrate what happens as the earth warms up after an ice age, (global warming) Experiment- glass of water, mark level with rubber band, add ice and once it melts mark new level, discuss what happened and why. link to ice age.
5. What did British see when they arrived? Show etching representing the British arrival discuss what, who, when, where, why questions. Research post findings to wiki.
6. What plants/trees are native? Explore school gardens, sketch, make own etching.
7. Why did the British Government transport convicts to Australia? Research first fleet, a child convict and role play in a hot seat activity.
The unit can also include Captain's Cook journey, the first fleet journey, tools and weapons, penal settlement and resistance.

The students work together to conduct research, and collect images to populate a wiki page. Hands on engaging field trips to rock paintings, a museum and botanical gardens engage students actively in learning. The unit is designed for students to collaboratively work together to understand, document and justify how history can be presented from different points of view.They are not just recalling, recognising or reiterating information. They are involved in decision making, problem solving, experimental inquiry, investigations and system analysis(Marzano & Pickering, 1997, p 191). A wide range of multi literacies resources can be utilised to achieve this; TWL , retrieval chart, jigsaw activity, you tube clips, audio english readings, dream time stories, artists impressions,flickr, digital camera, video camera, guest speaker etc. This unit could span over two years, so I find it difficult to give a "draft copy" of a unit with all my intentions known. There is scope over the two years to assess the student's in the SOSE, english, science, mathematics and Art key learning areas. Oral presentations, written information report, video presentation, PowerPoint slide shows, posting refection's on a blog, commenting on other blogs,and debate to present opposing views.

Providing opportunities to utilise ICT's in the class room proves power in reaching student's who do not fit inside the "curriculum box" as stated by George Lucas. This unit integrates Blooms' Taxonomy thinking skills. According to Pohl (2000) the first three levels of creating, analysing and evaluating provide students the opportunity to generate new ideas, products or ways of viewing things. They break down information into parts to explore understandings and the students justify their decisions. This unit of work provides the students to have an outside focus, they are to populate a wiki, they are making a useful contribution while learning (Kearsley & Shneiderman, 1999). The authentic learning context of the project increases student motivation and satisfaction. According to Marzano and Pickering(1997) a resource to help student's extend and refine their knowledge a teacher must explicitly teach the skills of comparing, classifying, abstracting and analysing perspectives. In this unit of work these skill are important to not only extend and refine knowledge but to use knowledge meaningfully. This requires students to engage in complex thinking and reasoning processes as they complete long term meaningful tasks (Marzano & Pickering, 1997).