ANZAC Day Curriculum Unit

Learning sequence for teaching and learning activities

This unit will support students to explore the question: How have the contexts surrounding WW1 changed over time and where are these changing contexts evident in texts?

The learning sequence is organised by a series of contributing questions:

1. What is context and where is it ‘found’ in texts?
2. What was the contemporary context of WW1 and where was it evident in texts?
3. How have social, cultural and historical contexts changed in the last 100 years alifnd how are these changes evident in modern texts? 
4. How can I create a text which infers my opinion about WW1 and how can I identify the context and point of view that are revealed in the text?

Sequence 1 — What is context and where is it ‘found’ in texts?

Defining context

Introduce the idea of context by showing students the 'Scary Man' cartoon and asking them to explain what the viewer needs to understand in order to 'get' the joke. Explain that both the writer and the reader bring their own personal thoughts, backgrounds and histories to a text and these affect how the text is written and read. If writer and reader share social, cultural and historical backgrounds, much of the context of the text is familiar and normal, and therefore operates invisibly. It is often easier to 'find' contexts when those of writer and reader are completely different, because everything seems new, unusual and/or challenging to the reader. AC9E3LY01

Inform students that there are three key types of context: cultural, historical and social. The Defining context worksheet (.pdf 209 kB) supports students to work through each of these concepts in guided steps. After each step, show students the suggested images (see below) and discuss the assumptions that were made, using the questions on the worksheets to guide discussion and check student understanding:

Step 1 — Cultural context: photographs of a Mongolian Yurt House and an Indonesian Batak House 

Above: Mongolian Yurt House, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Above: Indonesian Batak House, photo by Yanajin33 CC-BY-SA 3.0

Step 2 — Historical context: two photographs Children 1915

Above: Children 1915 – Photo 1, public domain image from Wikimedia Commons via State Library of Queensland

Above: Children in 1915 – Photo 2, public domain image from Wikimedia Commons via The State Library of Queensland

Step 3 — Social context

This activity does not call for direct comparison, however conducting a Google Images search for ‘world’s most powerful people’ might generate interesting discussions about age, race, gender and socio-economics status. AC9E4LE01, AC9HS3S05, AC9HS4S05

Exploring context in Gallipoli  

Look at the dedication pages, publishing information and title page of Gallipoli then ask students to answer the following questions:

• Who wrote and illustrated the book, when was it written and which country are they from?
• What is their connection to WW1?
• What is their attitude towards war? (hint: look at the dedications and the images?)
• What age group do you think this book is aimed at and why? (hint: look at the pictures) AC9E3LY03

Using the Exploring Contexts in Gallipoli (.pdf 115 kB) worksheet, support students to locate and explore aspects of the cultural, historical and social contexts of the text on at least one double page spread (suggestions include page 1–2 the departure or  page19–20 life in the trenches). AC9E3LY01

After completion of the worksheet, ask students how and why the story might have been different if it was written about the same Gallipoli Campaign, but by a Turkish man in the year 1918, for an adult audience. Record their ideas using the Context Comparison worksheet (.pdf 80 kB). AC9E3LE01, AC9HS3S04, AC9HS4S04

Complete the learning sequence by asking students to explain what they have learned about context. Students could also be asked to independently write a paragraph in order to check their understanding of the concept. AC9E4LE01

Sequence 2 — What was the contemporary context of WW1 and where was it evident in texts?

Introduce the final assessment task and explain that the next three learning sequences will support students to complete the task.

Researching Australia in 1914

Divide students into eight groups and assign each group one of the topic areas from the ABC’s World War 1: Snapshot of Australia at the time of the outbreak (population, Indigenous population, education, economy, shopping, sport, communication or transport). The Australia Then and Now worksheet (.pdf 127 kB) supports groups to research and reflect on their topic and develop a presentation to explain how the past was different. The Australia Today information sheet (.pdf 179 kB) provides suitable facts if required. AC9E4LY06, AC9HS3S02, AC9HS4S02

After groups have given their presentations, spend some time discussing the context of Australia in 1914. View the photo of people cheering the troops (also adjacent) and ask students to suggest why the Australian people were so supportive of the war, and help them to understand what the soldiers were fighting to protect. AC9E3LY05, AC9HS3S03, AC9HS4S03

Exploring contemporary texts

Discuss the difference between texts written for private use (for example, diaries and letters) and those written for an audience. Explain that during WW1 public texts (for example, newspapers, posters and movies) usually supported the war and tried to present it in a positive way. Explore this idea by viewing the Enlistment Posters collected by the State Library of NSW. Deconstruct The Call from the Dardanelles poster with the class by discussing its use of language, the image of the solider standing on the Turkish land and the background showing the storm brewing, then identifying the intended audience and message. Watch a clip from the 1915 silent movie The Hero of the Dardanelles and discuss the tone the movie was attempting to strike with its choice of image and music. AC9E4LY01

Ask students to identify the point of view revealed in each text and link this point of view to the 1914 Australian context identified in the previous activity. AC9E3LY01, AC9HS3S04, AC9HS4S04

Analysing evaluative language

Display Ashmead-Bartlett’s newspaper reports of the Gallipoli landings and read aloud the first article using the transcript if required. Ask students to identify Ashmead-Bartlett's point of view (or opinion) about the battle. AC9E3LY01, AC9HS3S04, AC9HS4S04

Explain that evaluative language is language that judges the worth of something, including language which expresses feelings and opinions, and language which judges behaviours, actions, events or objects. Use the Examining Evaluative Language worksheet (.pdf 121 kB) to examine how Ashmead-Bartlett used evaluative language to present a favourable point of view about the Gallipoli landings. AC9E3LA02

Complete the learning sequence by asking students to design a WW1 war recruitment poster. The poster should be set in the year 1916 and ask more soldiers to join up. Students should use evaluative language and strong images to persuade the recruits. AC9E3LY06, AC9HS3S07, AC9HS4S07

Sequence 3 — How have social, cultural and historical contexts changed in the last 100 years and how are these changes evident in modern texts?

Write the question ‘What do people think about WW1 today?’ on the board and record students' ideas and opinions. Discussion prompts might include: Was it right for Australia to have fought in WW1? What was good about the war? What was bad about the war? After discussion, draw a Y-chart (.pdf 91 kB) on the board and ask students to suggest how attitudes and opinions about the war have changed over the last 100 years. AC9E3LY02, AC9HS3S01, AC9HS4S01

Exploring modern context and point of view in In Flanders Fields

Introduce the text, briefly explaining that it is set in the Belgian battlefields of the Western Front and is inspired by the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ by John McCrae. Read the text slowly, using the In Flanders Fields question prompts below to help students explore the text. AC9E4LY05

In Flanders Fields  question prompts

Pages	questions | Activities
1–2	Do you know which side’s trench is shown? Why might the illustrator start the book with an image that could be a view from either side’s trench?  What does this help us to understand about the war regardless of whether you are Australian or German?
3–4	What does the author mean when he says “Sadly, many letters and parcels have to be returned to the mail sack”?
6	Why is the robin the first splash of colour we see?
7–8	Why might home be “a world that seems years away”?
11–12	Carry out a drama activity where each sentence is read out and students have to act it out. Ask students to freeze then select individuals, in role as the soldier, to explain how he is feeling at each point.
13–14	Why do the German soldiers hold fire? How does the description of the solider and his walk across No Mans Land help the reader to understand the German solider sympathises with him?
17–18	Why do you think the author choose for the bird to fly a little bit then collapse?
21–22	Look at the angle and position of the two soldiers. Why are they facing inwards on the page? Who is the robin flying towards and why? What is similar about their words? (‘Gluckliche Weihnacht’ = Happy Christmas in German) How does this page help the reader to make a connection between the Digger and the German soldier?
23–24	Why do you think the solider left his rifle and scarf?
25–28	Why did the author describe the German voices as ‘hoarse’ and ‘lonely’? What does this make the reader feel about the German soldiers? Why do you think the author got both sides to sing the same song? What does this represent? How are the two images of the Australian and German trenches similar? What does this make the viewer think about the two sides in the war?

Go back through the text and identify and analyse the noun groups and prepositional phrases that are used to build description. Look for examples of:

• adjectives before the noun, for example, ‘raised firing boards’, ‘a small red shape’
• prepositional phrases after the noun (these function as adjectival phrases which provide more information about the noun) for example, ‘news of his family, school friends and neighbours in a world [that seems years away]’, ‘the bayonet on the end of his rifle’, ‘red from the cold’
• prepositional phrases after the verb (these function as adverbial phrases to describe the circumstances surrounding the activity) for example, ‘crunching in the iced black mud of the frozen battlefield’, ‘flies towards the enemy lines’. AC9E4LA06, AC9E4LA08

Ask students to explain why they think the author used these descriptive words and phrases. Would they expect to see this language in an information text? Why not? How does the description help to persuade the reader to see things from the author’s point of view? AC9E4LE02

Ask students to identify Jorgensen and Harrison-Lever’s points of view about WW1. AC9E3LY01, AC9HS3S04, AC9HS4S04

Finish the sequence by discussing whether or not this text could have been written in 1915. Support students to explain how the text reveals a modern social and cultural context by jointly identifying the modern influences evident in the sympathetic portrayal of the German soldiers, the theme of peace, the lack of focus on fighting and the commonalities between the two sides. AC9E4LE02

Sequence 4 — How can I create a text which infers my opinion about WW1 and how can I identify the point of view and context that are revealed in the text?

Exploring modern context and point of view in The Beach They Called Gallipoli 

Read, view and explore The Beach They Called Gallipoli with students. Examine examples of descriptive language by using the same grammatical focus on noun groups and prepositional phrases as studied in In Flanders Fields from the previous teaching sequence. AC9E4LA06, AC9E4LA08, AC9E4LY04

As an extension task, students can conduct a more challenging group or independent analysis of French’s written text using the Personification Analysis worksheet (.pdf 144 kB). AC9E5LE04 (Year 5 content as this is an extension task).

Ask students to explain how the author’s point of view is similar to that implied in In Flanders Fields. AC9E4LE01

Prompt students to suggest how The Beach They Called Gallipoli is different to Ashmead-Bartlett’s 1915 description of the Gallipoli landings. Jointly identify how our modern social and cultural context has influenced how French and Whatley have represented the war. AC9E4LE02, AC9HS3S04, AC9HS4S04

Examining features of hybrid texts

Inform students that The Beach They Called Gallipoli is a hybrid text and explain that hybrid texts are made of two or more different text genres or purposes, for example, an information text and a narrative which both inform and entertain. Point out that all the texts they have studied are in fact hybrids: Gallipoli combines a narrative and informative text, telling the events of the Gallipoli Campaign through the eyes of two soldiers, In Flanders Fields is a narrative text which contains elements of information about the Western Front, life in the trenches and the Christmas truce of 1914 and The Beach They Called Gallipoli combines descriptive prose with information about the Gallipoli campaign, accompanied by illustrations, photographs and images of ANZAC artefacts.

If required, build students’ understandings about hybrid texts by providing them with a range of examples from the school library. Further examples of WW1 hybrid texts include Archie’s War and Meet the Anzacs. Although not based on the topic of WW1, texts such as such as One Small Island: The Story of Macquarie Island (also a PETAA unit of work) or Sophie Scott Goes South are excellent examples of hybrid texts that have a strong informative focus and combine a range of text examples. AC9E4LA03

Divide students into groups and provide each group with a different photocopied double page spread. Groups should work collaboratively to circle the different types of text and images they find on their sheet and identify the information that each element provides. Either still in groups, or back together as a whole class, complete the Text and Image Analysis worksheet (.pdf 165 kB) to support students to unpack the all the different elements contained in the text. AC9E4LA03

Planning to write

Re-introduce the Summative Assessment Task and explain that students will use their experiences with the three texts they have studied to create their own, hybrid text about life in the trenches which they will then analyse to reveal its context. AC9E3LE05

Prior to developing their summative assessment, students may wish to explore some of the photographic effects used by illustrator Bruce Whatley using Google Images of WW1 and an online photo editor such as Pixlr.

Allow students time to research, plan, collaborate and draft their texts before producing their final piece of work.

 

Assessment outline

The Summative Assessment Task below asks students to create a double page spread on A3 paper which details life in the trenches of the Western Front during WW1. Students will develop a factual/fictional hybrid text which includes information boxes, photographs, an imaginary diary entry, a descriptive passage, an illustration and a background. They are then asked to analyse their text to reveal its context and point of view using the prompts and questions on the Context Analysis worksheet. AC9E3LE05, AC9HS3S07, AC9HS4S07, AC9HS3K02

The resources listed in the Assessment Task support students to build their knowledge and understanding of life in the trenches. If possible provide students with computers, laptops or tablets to explore independently.

Summative Assessment Task

Your task is to create a double page spread which details life in the trenches of the Western Front during WW1. The text should be aimed at Australian primary school children. As a text written 100 years after the war, it will reveal both your modern context and your personal point of view about the war.

After creating your page you will need to use the Context Analysis worksheet (.pdf 117 kB) to help you identify and explain this context.

Your double page should be a hybrid text, which means it will include both:

• factual texts, in the form of information boxes, photographs
• fictional texts, in the form of: an imaginary diary entry; a literary description of a solider looking out onto No Man’s Land; an illustration showing trench life; an illustrated page background

You should use the Final Assessment Task Planning worksheet (.pdf 98 kB) to help you plan and draft your text prior to writing. This contains lots of helpful hints to help you create your text.

Your final text should be presented of an A3 piece of paper (which will form the double page spread).

Each text should be written/drawn/typed onto a separate piece of paper. Think about changing the background, box shape and font size for each different text. You will also need to create a background image onto which all of your text and image boxes will be stuck.

Before starting

Before starting the task, research life in the trenches using the following websites: 

Photographs of the trenches of the Western Front:

• BBC photos of WWI downtime on the Western Front
• Imperial War Museum 10 photographs of Life in the Trenches

Information about the trenches of the Western Front from the Imperial War Museum:

• Podcast about trench life (20 minutes and rated PG)
• Paintings of the Western Front
• Resources about living in the trenches
• Resources about fighting in the trenches
• Resources about the Western Front
• Imperial War Museum 10 photographs of Life in the Trenches

Planning

Photograph: Choose a suitable photo from the internet which shows life in the trenches and either print out and stick it onto your double page spread or copy and insert it into your Glog.

Background: You will need to draw, colour or paint a background for your two pages. Your background might choose to show a general picture of the battlefields or simply set the mood you want through your choice of colour. You might like to use the ‘Paintings of the Western Front’ resource to give you some ideas.

Illustration: Draw an illustration of life in the trenches. It might show a shelter, the muddy conditions, soldiers eating or trying to sleep or bombs exploding nearby.

Now use the Final Assessment Task Planning worksheet (.pdf 98 kB) to help you plan and draft your text prior to writing.

Checklist

Create the following checklist to make sure you have completed all the parts of the assessment. Tick each box as you finish each text.

• an introduction about life in the trenches
• at least ONE information box detailing at least ONE aspect of life in the trenches (for example, food, shelter, disease, noise)
• a fictional diary entry
• a descriptive literary passage
• a photograph of life in the trenches
• a background drawing or painting of a battlefield
• an illustration of life in the trenches

Success criteria

A good double page spread will be well organised and attractively laid out, with the texts thoughtfully placed on the page. The images and text should work together to help describe life in the trenches and persuade your reader to agree with your feelings about life in the trenches. The text should be a suitable size, font and colour so it is readable.

Each text should include the following:

Text	Text type, purpose and content:	Grammatical or visual features:
Introduction about life in the trenches	A clear introduction which briefly describes: what the trenches were and why they were built introduces the living conditions in the trenches describes the effect this kind of life had on the soldiers.	Evaluative language (which includes stronger modality) Noun groups to build information
At least ONE information box detailing at least ONE aspect of life in the trenches	An information text which provides extra detail about one aspect of life in the trenches, e.g. an information box on food would describe what a ration was, the type of food that was eaten, and some of the problems that were caused by eating this type of food.	Timeless present tense General nouns Noun groups to build information
Fictional diary entry	A literary text which reveals a soldier’s personal experiences of living in the trenches. The diary entry should describe the sights, sounds and smells of the trenches and detail what the solider thinks and feels.	Written in the first person Imagery linked to sight, smell and sound Noun groups Prepositional phrases and clauses
Descriptive literary passage	A literary text which describes a soldier looking out an No Man’s Land from the trenches. The text should describe the destructive effect of war on the landscape and also on the soldiers who have to look out at it everyday. You could even refer to dreams of home the soldier might have as he looks out	Written in the third person Past tense Imagery including similes Action verbs Prepositional phrases and clauses
Photograph of life in the trenches	This should clearly show the trenches. It will most likely be black and white	Include a caption to explain when, where and by whom the photo was taken.
Background drawing or painting of a battlefield	The drawing or painting should influence how the viewer feels about the battlefield and the trenches.	Colour choice to develop mood
Illustration of life in the trenches	The illustration should help the viewer to picture what it might be like to live in a trench. Think about where you will position the viewer (are they in the trench or looking down on it? Are they close to a solider or looking from a long way away). Also consider how you are going to tell a story with your illustration (you might like to link it to your diary entry).	Salience — what is most obvious in the picture? Point of view — where is the viewer positioned? Gaze — is the solider looking at the viewer or away?

 

Australian Curriculum: English

The following general capabilities are addressed explicitly in the content of the learning in this unit of work: Literacy, Critical and creative thinking, Personal and social capability, Ethical understanding and Intercultural understanding.

Find a linked overview of Australian Curriculum: English content descriptions for this unit below, alongside New South Wales and Victorian syllabus outcomes and levels for the Australian Curriculum: English.

Curriculum and syllabus links for Unit 3: Changing Contexts

	AC: English	NSW	VIC
Language Language for interaction	Understand how the language of evaluation and emotion, such as modal verbs, can be varied to be more or less forceful AC9E3LA02	EN2-7B	L3/Speaking and Listening/Language
Text structure and organisation	Identify how texts across the curriculum have different language features and are typically organised into characteristic stages depending on purposes AC9E4LA03	EN2-8B	L4/Reading and Viewing/Language
Expressing and developing ideas	Extend topic-specific and technical vocabulary and know that words can have different meanings in different contexts AC9E3LA10	EN2-9B	L4/Writing/Language
	Understand that complex sentences contain one independent clause and at least one dependent clause typically joined by a subordinating conjunction to create relationships, such as time and causality AC9E4LA06	EN2-9B	L4/Writing/Language
	Understand how adverb groups/phrases and prepositional phrases work in different ways to provide circumstantial details about an activity AC9E4LA08	EN2-9B	L4/Reading and Viewing/Language
Literature Literature and context	Discuss characters, events and settings in different contexts in literature by First Nations Australian, and wide-ranging Australian and world authors and illustrators AC9E3LE01	EN2-10C	L3/Speaking and Listening/Literature
	Recognise similar storylines, ideas and relationships in different contexts in literary texts by First Nations Australian, and wide-ranging Australian and world authors AC9E4LE01	EN2-10C	L4/Speaking and Listening/Literature
Responding to literature	Describe the effects of text structures and language features in literary texts when responding to and sharing opinions AC9E4LE02	EN2-4A	L4/Reading and Viewing/Literature
Creating literature	Create and edit imaginative texts, using or adapting language features, characters, settings, plot structures and ideas encountered in literary texts AC9E3LE05	EN2-2A	L3/Writing/Literature
Literacy Texts in context	Recognise how texts can be created for similar purposes but different audiences AC9E3LY01	EN2-11D	L3/Reading and Viewing/Literacy
	Compare texts from different times with similar purposes and audiences to identify similarities and differences in their depictions of events AC9E4LY01	EN2-4A	L4/Reading and Viewing/Literacy
Interacting with others	Use interaction skills to contribute to conversations and discussions to share information and ideas AC9E3LY02	EN2-6B	L3/Speaking and Listening/Literacy
Interpreting, analysing, evaluating	Identify the audience and purpose of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts through their use of language features and/or images AC9E3LY03	EN2-8B	L3/Reading and Viewing/Literacy
	Use comprehension strategies when listening and viewing to build literal and inferred meaning, and begin to evaluate texts by drawing on a growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features AC9E3LY05	EN2-4A	L3/Reading and Viewing/Literacy
	Use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring and questioning to build literal and inferred meaning, to expand topic knowledge and ideas, and evaluate texts AC9E4LY05	EN2-4A	L4/Writing/Literacy
Creating texts	Plan, create, edit and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive written and multimodal texts, using visual features, appropriate form and layout, with ideas grouped in simple paragraphs, mostly correct tense, topic- specific vocabulary and correct spelling of most high-frequency and phonetically regular words AC9E3LY06	EN2-2A	L3/Writing/Literacy
	Plan, create, edit and publish written and multimodal imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, using visual features, relevant linked ideas, complex sentences, appropriate tense, synonyms and antonyms, correct spelling of multisyllabic words and simple punctuation AC9E4LY06	EN2-2A	L4/Writing/Literacy

Source for content descriptions above: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

Useful general links

• Australian Curriculum: English
• Australian Curriculum English: Glossary
• NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum: English
• Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority: English
• Victorian Curriculum English Glossary (.docx 240 kB)

Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)

The following general capabilities are addressed explicitly in the content of the learning in this unit of work: Literacy, Critical and creative thinking, Personal and social capability, Ethical understanding and Intercultural understanding.

Find a linked overview of Australian Curriculum: HASS content descriptions for this unit below, alongside New South Wales syllabus guidance for the Australian Curriculum: HASS. Victorian syllabus advice and levels to be included soon.

Curriculum and syllabus links for Unit 3: Changing Contexts

	AC: HASS	NSW	VIC
Inquiry and skills Analysing   (Sequence 1, 2, 3 and 4)	Analyse information and data, and identify perspectives AC9HS3S04, AC9HS4S04	Content for Stage 2 History
(Sequence 2)	Interpret data and information displayed in different formats, to identify and describe distributions and simple patterns AC9HS3S03, AC9HS4S03	K–10 Geographical Inquiry Skills Continuum
Questioning (Sequence 3)	Develop questions to guide investigations about people, events, places and issues AC9HS3S01, AC9HS4S01	Content for Stage 2 History
Researching (Sequence 2)	Locate, collect and record information and data from a range of sources, including annotated timelines and maps AC9HS3S02, AC9HS4S02	Content for Stage 2 History
Evaluating and reflecting (Sequence 1)	Draw conclusions based on analysis of information AC9HS3S05, AC9HS4S05	K–10 Geographical Inquiry Skills Continuum
(Sequence 4)	Interact with others with respect to share points of view ACHASSI059  ACHASSI080	K–10 Geographical Inquiry Skills Continuum
Communicating  (Sequence 2 and Assessment)	Present ideas, findings and conclusions in texts and modes that incorporate digital and non-digital representations and discipline-specific terms AC9HS3S07, AC9HS4S07	Content for Stage 2 Geography
Knowledge and understanding History (Assessment)	Significant events, symbols and emblems that are important to Australia’s identity and diversity, and how they are celebrated, commemorated or recognised in Australia, including Australia Day, Anzac Day, NAIDOC Week, National Sorry Day, Easter, Christmas, and other religious and cultural festivals AC9HS3K02	Stage 2 Community and Remembrance  HT2-1

Source for content descriptions above: Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).

Useful general links

• Australian Curriculum: History (Years 7–10)
• Australian Curriculum History: Glossary
• NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum: HSIE/ History K-10
• Victorian Curriculum: F-10 Humanities, History