Victorian Essential Learning Standards
Humanities: History
Level 4: Students develop an understanding of the histories of the cultural groups which have contributed to the Australian identity. This could include some history of source countries for Australian immigration such as Italy, Greece, Poland, Sudan, Ireland, Chile or Vietnam. They explore the concepts of nation, culture and identity in both Australian and regional contexts, and learn that identity is complex, multifaceted and evolving.
Level 5: Students begin to frame key research questions to guide their investigations, plan their inquiries, locate sources and use appropriate historical evidence to present a point of view, and report on their findings. They learn to use primary and secondary sources, and begin to evaluate historical sources for meaning, completeness, point of view, values and attitudes.
English: Reading
At Level 4, students read, interpret and respond to a wide range of literary, everyday and media texts in print and in multimodal formats. They analyse these texts and support interpretations with evidence drawn from the text.
At Level 5, students read and view imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that explore ideas and information related to challenging topics, themes and issues. They identify the ideas, themes and issues explored in these texts, and provide supporting evidence to justify their interpretations. They produce personal responses, for example, interpretive pieces and character profiles.
Writing
At Level 4, students produce, in print and electronic forms, a variety of texts for different purposes using structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience and context of the writing. They begin to use simple figurative language and visual images. They use a range of vocabulary, a variety of sentence structures, and use punctuation accurately, including apostrophes.
Level 5 They write extended narratives or scripts with attention to characterisation, consistency of viewpoint and development of a resolution. They write arguments that state and justify a personal viewpoint; reports incorporating challenging themes and issues; personal reflections on, or evaluations of, texts presenting challenging themes and issues.
Speaking and listening
At Level 4, students plan, rehearses and makes presentations for different purposes. They sustain a point of view and provide succinct accounts of personal experiences or events. They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience, and vary tone, volume and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning. When listening to spoken texts, they identify the main idea and supporting details and summarise them for others. They identify opinions offered by others, propose other relevant viewpoints and extend ideas in a constructive manner.
Level 5, They identify main issues in a topic and provide supporting detail and evidence for opinions. They critically evaluate the spoken language of others and select, prepare and present spoken texts for specific audiences and purposes.
Physical & Personal Learning: Interpersonal learning
Building social relationships
At Level 5, students demonstrate respect for the individuality of others and empathise with others in local, national and global contexts, acknowledging the diversity of individuals.
© State of Victoria 2008
Heather Harley was involved in the Intel Teach Program and adapted this unit for Australia from the US unit portfolio “Destination America: Our Hope, Our Future”. Copyright is owned by the Crown in right of the State of Victoria. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale. Reproduction for the purposes other than those indicated above requires the written permission of the Department of Education. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and copyright should be addressed to the Liability Management Manager, Department of Education, 2 Treasury Place, Melbourne, VIC, 3002. The State of Victoria accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any part of this material and bears no responsibility for any modifications made.
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