Unit plan: Lets celebrate

Unit Overview

Unit Plan Title: Lets celebrate!

Year Levels Years 7 8
Curriculum Framing Questions

Essential Question
Why do people celebrate?

Unit Questions
What public celebrations are held in Australia?
What other events does the Australian community celebrate?
Which cultural events are celebrated in Australia?

Content Questions

National celebrations:
When we have a gazetted public celebration in Australia why dont people celebrate its real
meaning?
Which religious celebrations are recognized by public holidays?
Do you think that there is any danger of the old customs and traditions such as those on the list of
events celebrated annually in Australia?
How do holidays affect our economy?
Which Victorian holidays should be celebrated?
Historical celebrations:
Which events celebrate Australias involvement in the war?
Research the meaning of two celebrations which recognize Australias involvement in war
Should we celebrate war?
Cultural celebrations:
How have immigrants and emigrants influenced our culture in Victoria?
Which celebrations recognize different aspects of work and family life in Australia?
Why do Australians celebrate sport?
Family celebrations:
What does your family celebrate?
How does your family celebrate?
How much does the celebration of religious celebration such as Easter and Christmas
influence our everyday lifestyles?

Unit Summary
Students develop a deeper understanding of Australian public holidays building on knowledge
attained in earlier years. They investigate similar holidays in other cultures and their role in providing
the foundations for modern society celebrations. Contemporary issues related to holidays such as
commercialism, family values, our societys view of the importance of celebrations are explored in
depth.

Unit Plan: Lets Celebrate! Page 1

Teaching and Learning Strategies

The pedagogical approach to this unit is firmly based on the Middle Years Thinking Oriented
curriculum and can be adapted across any year level from 7 10. Whilst students complete some
group work they also complete individual tasks. The questions in this unit are based on revised
Blooms Taxonomies. Gardners Multiple Intelligences and the Principles of Learning and Teaching.

Professional Learning
Undertake training in Kahootz basic skills through sessions conducted regionally or as part of an
in-school training session.
Use the Kahootz Tutorial CD, Disk 1 Basic Kahootz Skills 2005, to view brief tutorials on basic
Kahootz skills. For specific skills related to Kahootz tasks in this unit, refer to Kahootz skills
document.

As this unit could be offered as a cross KLA or Domain unit specifically focusing on - English,
SOSE and Technology the formation of a Professional Learning Team incorporating teachers
from these subject areas and the teacher-librarian would facilitate the successful planning and
delivery of this unit. The team would evaluate the impact of the unit on student learning outcomes
against a set of agreed criterion.
Professional reading: Broad research titles, related websites, current issues in Australian
society.
Undertake professional reading of books that provide a valuable resource of ideas for the
pedagogy of this unit. Examples include:
nd
Gifted students in secondary schools: Differentiating the curriculum. 2 ed. (2001) By
Miraca U.M. Gross, Bronwyn MacLeod and Marilyn Pretorius. Publisher GERRIC, The
University of New South Wales, Sydney, UNSW NSW, 2052. email: gerric@unsw.edu.au
There is also a Primary edition.
Michael Pohls Infusing thinking into the middle years. Hawker Brownlow (2002) #6271
Integrating instruction in English: Middle years by Imogene Forte and Sandra Schurr.
Hawker Brownlow (1996) #4737

Unit Plan: Lets Celebrate! Page 2

Victorian Essential Learning Standards
This unit can be used to assess a range of Victorian Essential Learning Standards for students at
Level 5.
Strand Domain Dimension Key elements of the Standards
Students will:
Discipline-based Humanities: Historical compare key aspects of past and
Learning History knowledge and present societies, for example,
understanding social and political ideas and
structures, and cultural values and
beliefs.
analyse change and continuity
over time, sequence events and
develop timelines, and use a range
of evidence to describe features of
past societies.
Historical reasoning frame key research questions to
and interpretation guide their investigations, and
report on their findings.
evaluate historical sources for
meaning, point of view, values and
attitudes, and identify some of the
strengths and limitations of
historical documents.
use relevant historical evidence,
concepts and conventions to
present a point of view.
English Writing produce, in print and electronic
forms, texts for a variety
of purposes, including speculating,
hypothesising, persuading and
reflecting.
Speaking and use a variety of multimedia to
listening support individual presentations in
which they inform or persuade an
audience.
Interdisciplinary Information ICT for creating when creating information
Learning Communication products, students prepare designs
Technologies that identify the structure and layout
(ICT) of the products, the evaluation
criteria, and the plans.
independently apply a range
of processing skills, functions and
equipment to solve problems and
create products which contain
minimal functional, typographical,
formatting and readability errors.
ICT for use complex search strategies to
communicating refine their searches.
judge the integrity of the located
material based on its credibility,
accuracy, reliability and
comprehensiveness.
Thinking Reasoning, apply a range of question types,
Processing and and locate and select relevant
inquiry information from varied sources.
use a range of appropriate
strategies of reasoning and analysis
to evaluate evidence and consider
their own and others points of view.

Unit Plan: Lets Celebrate! Page 3

 Reflection, describe and explain changes in
evaluation and their ideas and beliefs over time.
metacognition

Procedures
Introductory activities:
1. Brainstorm class knowledge of Public holidays and celebrations to ensure shared
knowledge off all holidays and types of celebrations experienced by class members.
Students to create a concept map using Inspiration to record their findings.

Figure 1 Sample Concept map using Inspiration software

2. Discuss the idea that families have many special days to celebrate. Give them some
examples, such as birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, etc. Ask students
what special days they celebrate with their families. Encourage them to share any
traditions their families may have for these special days. List their answers on chart.
Review the list and point out that, while many families celebrate different special days,
many also celebrate the same kinds of days.

o Research activities:
3. Australia is a multicultural country and many customs from other countries are celebrated
here. To facilitate students understanding about the stories of immigrants from other
countries student complete the self paced activities using the following Digital Learning
Objects:
i. Nhu Minh: multiculturalism TLF0361
ii. Fiona Chiu Chinese family tree TLF0614

4. Dictionary use: Students write definitions for the following Glossary terms. Refer to the
Glossary document as a guide.

Unit Plan: Lets Celebrate! Page 4

o Assessment tasks There are a variety of tasks to select from for this unit requiring a range of
time commitment.

5. Students must complete all three of the following sections: National Historical, Cultural
and family questions.

National celebrations
Interview three people you know, about what National celebrations mean to them.
Use this information to write an article providing your opinion about National
celebrations and whether Australians celebrate their real meaning.
Make a list of the religious celebrations that are recognised by public holidays.
Do you think that there is a danger of losing old customs and traditions such as those
celebrated annually in Australia? In your answer explain why you do/dont agree with
the question Refer to Holidays Jan-Dec document.
.
How do holidays affect our economy? Consider including information about statistics,
work, tourism, accidents.
Select the celebrations which recognise different aspects of work in Australia.
Which Victorian holidays should be celebrated? Give a detailed explanation of your
research and conclusions.

Historical celebrations
Which events celebrate Australias involvement in the war?
Research the meaning of two celebrations which recognise Australias involvement in
war.
Should we celebrate war? Write a response outlining your ideas.

Cultural celebrations
See celebration sheet below

Family celebrations

6. These tasks are based on Gardners Multiple Intelligences. Students are to complete
three of the activities listed. One of the three must be a piece of writing that can be used
for your Writing Folio. One of the three may, be done to be presented for your Oral
Presentation. All ICT tasks will be assessed separately. Three tasks must be completed
to meet the requirements for the unit.

7. Kahootz:
Create a gallery of a family celebration using Kahootz. Alternatively, students develop an
animated scene which is a celebration. The user of your Xpression should be able to
interact with the Xpression i.e. find particular things within the celebration, identify with
the culture and develop their own scene as a comparison.

8. Students create an Australian multimedia enhanced calendar Include the following

national and state holidays, festivals and celebrations. Each student adds their own
family celebrations to their calendar.

9. Students plan an International Day/community festival day/international food day for their
class, school, year level, parents. They organise displays, food samples, presentations
including storytelling, digital presentations of events that reflect celebrations of our
society. Planning includes where the day will be held, who will organise what tasks, how
it will be advertised and when it will be held.

Approximate time needed

This unit could either be delivered in modules or be a continuous piece of assessment over at least
two terms or the year with teaching emphasis related to specific holidays/events during the year.

Unit Plan: Lets Celebrate! Page 5

Prerequisite skills
o Conceptual knowledge: Understanding of cultural beliefs and other customs and values
of different sectors of our Australian society
o Writing skills
o Research skills
o ICT skills
o Ability to plan, collect, analyse and present data.

Unit Plan: Lets Celebrate! Page 6

Materials and resources
Technology Hardware
denotes requirement

Camera Printer Video Camera

Computers Datashow Projector Video Conferencing
Digital Camera Scanner Data logging equipment
DVD player Television Internet connection
VCR

Technology Software
denotes requirement

CD-ROMs Editing Software WebPage Development

Database/Spreadsheet Internet Web Browser Word processing
Desktop publishing Multimedia Email software
Kahootz Animation Software

Digital Learning Resources

Students study Nhu Minh and Fiona Chiu Learning objects and complete the associated tasks to gain
an insight into the lives of two immigrants coming to Australia. The information could then be utilized
as the basis of further research to the influence people from these and/or other cultures have had on
Australian culture. An example would be the number of restaurants in a town related to the % of the
population with the same nationality. Behind the times

Learning Object code:

Note that these Digital Learning Resources are located on digiLearn portal at
www.education.vic.gov.au/digilearn
Nhu Minh: multiculturalism L0361
Fiona Chiu Chinese family tree L0614

Behind the times CAW0058 - Note that this Digital Learning Resource is located on the
Curriculum@work Digital learning resources Release one CD ROM (November 2004).This
may not be available in your school as it is no longer in production.

Supplies
Writable CDs
USB keys
Digital camera memory cards
Video tapes for filming

Others
An excursion to Melbourne which would complement this unit could include the following:

1. The Immigration museum, Melbourne Victoria.

http://immigration.museum.vic.gov.au/

The Customs House building is one of Melbourne's most important 19th century public
buildings. In this building customs officers recorded all goods entering or leaving Victoria; the
customs duties they collected formed the backbone of government revenue. Customs officers
also controlled immigration, recording every arrival, and administering a White Australia
Unit Plan: Lets Celebrate! Page 7
 Policy that excluded immigrants on the basis of their race.
(from: http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/customshouse/)

Accommodations for Differential Learning

Students with special needs
All tasks are modified and made appropriate for the students individual needs e.g.
Devise a simple calendar
Investigate a more well known event e.g. Moomba
Provide support from within the group
Assistance of Integration Aide

English as a Second Language (ESL) students

Students are offered a variety of ways available to demonstrate their learning
Support will be provided by the ESL support teacher
Provide support from with in the group
Modify tasks as required.

Gifted Students
More challenging tasks, extended investigation in related topics of the learners
choice, open ended tasks or projects

Unit Plan: Lets Celebrate! Page 8

Student Assessment
The Victorian Essential Learning Standards supports a combination of assessment
practices:
assessment of learning (summative)
assessment for learning (formative)
assessment as learning (ongoing)

Students and teacher complete relevant Rubrics linked to Content questions using
rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ see Rubrics Research skills example.

Presentation of final product, which could be multimedia, video or written to share

with the class the research and conclusions as part of the overall learning experience
and to facilitate further class and group discussion.
Formal assessment of written tasks.
Assessment of the effective use of the selected learning objects.
Assessment by peers/self/group/teacher in a variety of tasks

The table below shows a range of assessment criteria, tool and strategies applicable to this unit.

Victorian Essential Learning Assessment criteria Evidence

Standards (examples)
Humanities Evaluate historical sources Completes the tasks
for meaning, point of view, associated with the selected
values and attitudes learning objects and
researches and reports on
findings

English Use appropriate language for Teacher assessment of all

particular purposes or written tasks related to the
occasions to represent and unit.
reflect on ideas, issues,
arguments, events,
experience, character,
emotion and information.

Information Communication use a range of skills to Kahootz Xpression

Technologies (ICT) develop a multimedia product
that includes an interactive
element; Rubric Self assessment see
below

Key Word Search

The attached glossary exercise can be used as the introduction to the unit and will give students a
thorough understanding of terms that they use to begin their search both in the library catalogue and
on the Internet.

State of Victoria 2004. This work has been created by the Department of Education and Training, Victoria and 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 and Training. Requests and
enquiries concerning reproduction and copyright should be addressed to the Liability Management Manager, Department of
Education and Training, 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.
Intel Teach to the Future Unit Plan template used with permission. 2004 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.

Unit Plan: Lets Celebrate! Page 9

 Family celebrations

Celebrations which evoke the most intense personal meanings in societies and cultures are the approaches to
what is known as Rites of passage Birth, Baptism, Initiations - Coming of age, Marriage, Death

1. Create a table of your family celebrations to show which category listed below is applicable. List the
event; when it is held; why it is held; and special features
Personal
Religious
Educational
Community groups- such as sport, service clubs like Lions/Rotary
Government
Societies

2. Describe how these events celebrated length, activities traditions,

customs, meaning, foods, etc.

3. How much do you think the celebration of religious events such as Easter and Christmas influence our
everyday lifestyles?

Investigate and describe the customs and traditions of another community

To help you get started - some family events are:

Graduations
Debutante Balls
Anniversaries
Fathers day
Mothers Day
Name days
Baptism
Weddings
Funerals
Birthdays
Cultural events
You will investigate some cultural events which are a very important part of our
social life and select an event which you will investigate and then complete an oral
presentation.

All questions are to be completed as part of your assessment.

How have immigrants and emigrants influenced our culture in Victoria?

Which celebrations recognize different aspects of work and family life in Australia?
Why do Australians celebrate sport?
How important are festivals in our community?

The following list is a guide to the type of holidays and events celebrated by citizens of Australia. In
answering the questions above you need to use examples to illustrate your answers. This will involve
research into the individual events.

Arts festivals e.g. Adelaide Festival of Arts, Dance festivals, Film festivals
Music festivals e.g. Tamworth; Woodford Folk festival
Harvest festivals e.g. Thanksgiving; Spring festivals Now Ruz; , Festival of light
Hanukkah, Diwali, Loi Krathong, Winter festivals, Midsummer, Viking - Festival of the winds,
Pure Brightness, Lantern festival, Shinju Matsuri Festival of the pearl
Local festivals e.g. Begonia festival; Jacaranda Festival; Moomba; Laura; Floriade
Pageants, Parades: Carnevale Italian, El Rocio Spanish, Antipodes festival Greek,
Oktoberfest German
Celebration days -Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Halloween. 8 hour day,
Independence Day American, Bastille Day French, Queens birthday, Year of, Bank
holidays, NAIDOC, Australia Day
Agricultural Show days -Royal Melbourne Show; Geelong Show, Horticultural shows
Sports events - Cup day, Grand Prix, Australian International Air show, Olympics games;
Summer and Winter Olympics; Commonwealth Games; Highland games; Football, Soccer
New Year in different countries - Chinese New Year; Vietnamese New Year
Lets celebrate!
(template from Researching together)

Complete three of the activities listed below. One of the three must be a piece of writing that can be used for your Writing
Folio. One of the three may, be done to be presented for your Oral Presentation. All ICT tasks will be assessed individually.
You must complete three to meet the requirements for completion of unit.

Intelligence Activity

Intrapersonal 1. Create a journal entry or series of entries which chronicle an event you are researching.
(ICT tasks) 2. Write a diary of a family member selected from the photo albums of your grandparents.
3. You have been asked to help organise a special family celebration. Write a diary for one week leading up to
the day of the celebration.
4. Write the account of a celebration you have participated in or heard about.
5. Describe how you identify with a character in the film. How is he like you?
6. Write a list of questions you wish you could ask the photographer/s about the family albums.

Musical 1. Write a theme song for a celebration from your research.

(ICT tasks) 2. Select a list of songs to be used as the sound track for your film. Be sure to indicate which scene you would
use each for and why. You could do this as a written piece or you could do it as an oral presentation or on an
audio tape or as a power point or CD.
3. Write a song from a family members point of view.
4. Write a rap song about a celebration.
5. Write a poem about a celebration and set it to music.

Bodily/Kinaesthetic 1. Act out a scene depicting a celebration.

(One ICT task) 2. Write and perform a combined dance monologue based on some celebration theme. You may tape this or
choose a limited audience of peers with whom you are comfortable.
3. Perform a traditional dance from a cultural festival.

Logical/Mathematical 1. Create a Lets celebrate crossword.

(ICT tasks) 2. Create a Celebration timeline.
3. Create a new 21st century calendar of National and Victorian state holidays.
4. Create an on-line game.
5. Create a word find based on a national holiday.
6. Create a survey on attitudes towards gazetted holidays. Graph the results.

Verbal/Linguistic 1. Research two traditions from any of the four sections. Write or present to the class a speech or essay in
which you compare them. An example might be Christmas and Ramadan.
2. Write an essay supporting your view on one of the questions in the National celebrations section.
3. You are the grandchild of someone who served in a war. Write an open letter to a newspaper justifying your
right to participate in an Anzac Day Parade.
4. Write a script of a celebration scene where at least two people and discussing, describing or participating in
the event.
5. Give speech on celebrations today.
6. Write a story about a celebration.
7. Give a five minute talk on the history of a celebration.
8. Commercialism of celebrations is more important than the actual celebration. Discuss in an essay.
How do celebrations affect people? Illustrate your opinions by using examples of at least one celebration.
Visual/Spatial 1. Create a DVD cover for your product.
(Mostly ICT tasks) 2. Make a Lets celebrate board game.
3. Create a poster advertising a celebration.
4. Create a collage which expresses one of the themes of a celebration.
5. Create a poster advertising a celebration.
6. Create the front page of a newspaper for the day of a celebration of your choice.
7. 7.Planning icon gallery using Kahootz utilizing CAW0030 - Concept mapping include screen grab and code
details
8. Create a gallery of your family celebrations using the Kahootz gallery.

Figure 2: Digital Learning Object -

Interpersonal 1. Write an interview with one of your family members who feature in the family photo albums which will
(ICT tasks) appear in The Age weekend magazine.
2. Working with a partner, write and perform an interview with one of the central participants in a celebration of
your choice modelled on your favourite TV interviewer.
3. Organise and perform a debate on the proposition It is time to acknowledge all religious celebrations in
Australia with a public holiday.
4. Write a short play about a celebration and act out an event.
5. Organise a debate on the proposition There is no reason to celebrate Labour Day today.
6. Interview a grandparent or great grandparent on their views of important celebrations in
their lives.
Glossary
Create your glossary by using dictionaries to enable you to write the definitions for the following words and
add any words that you find in your research that you need to look up the meaning for:

Almanac
Anniversary
Antiquity
Buskers
Celebration
Commemorate
Custom
Eisteddfod
Ethnic
Fair
Festival
Holiday
Holy
Lent
Mardi gras
Multicultural
Mythology
Pilgrimage
Religious
Remembrance
Show
Shrine
Solstice
Traditional
Vacation
January 1 New Years Day
At midnight on 31st December comes the climax of the New Years Eve Celebrations. New Years Day is a public
holiday for over a hundred nations and territories throughout the world. In many parts of the world, the New Year is
greeted with a lot of noise, originally this was to frighten away any evil spirits that might try to sneak into the new year
and try to spoil it. New Years Eve parties are often held so that everyone will be having a good time when midnight
strikes. This began with the old belief that what you are doing at that time will set the pattern of your life for the rest of
the year. New Year resolutions: Since the New Year is a time for new beginnings, many people make New Year
resolutions: promises to themselves that they will do better in some respects than they have done before. But think
carefully before you make a resolution its said to be bad luck to break one. Originally these promises were made to
the gods, in the hope that the gods would grant some favor in return, such as a good harvest.

January 26th Australia Day

Australia Day is the day on which Captain Phillip officially established the first British
settlement in Australia at Sydney Cove in 1788.

February 14th St. Valentines Day

/The true origin of Valentines Day the festival of lovers is uncertain. It has been celebrated
as we know it since the fourteenth century, but it may actually be a Christianized version
of the Feast of Lupercalia, observed as far back as the third century in honor of the god
Lupercus, who was supposed to protect Roman shepherds from wolves. The practice of
sending cards to loved ones started in England. People made cards and wrote their own
poetry in them.

Shrove Tuesday, Pancake day

Shrove Tuesday is traditionally a day for some merry-making - a last 'fling' before the long fast. It is best remembered
today by making pancakes. For most people it is just pancake day and nothing more, But the custom arose through the
need to use up food items, which were forbidden during Lent. Pancakes were, and still are believed to be of good luck in
many areas of the world as they contained many herbs and food items associated with the prosperity and longevity.
Made from batter and fried, in fat, the ingredients symbolise four crucial points of significance at this time of year:

Eggs ~ Creation
Flour ~ The staff of life
Salt ~ Wholesomeness
Milk ~ Purity

The word 'Shrove' refers to the practice of confessing of sins, then afterwards the fast of Lent could be considered a
penance of faults committed.

Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, was a solemn occasion, deriving its name from the ancient practice of blessing of
the ashes, the priest using the occasion to remind his congregation that they too must return to ashes.

BPA Holidays and their meanings 2005 1

March 17th St. Patricks Day
St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland. He was made a Bishop by Pope Celestine 1, who sent him
to teach the Irish about Roman Catholicism. He worked mostly in the north of Ireland, and died in
461. He is said to have taken the shamrock as a symbol of the Trinity (three in one the Christian
father, Son and Holy Ghost) The shamrock is now Irelands national emblem. The Irish wear green
and celebrate St. Patricks Day with marches and revelry.

Labour Day

(In Vic. WA, Tas. and SA, Labour Day is celebrated in March. In NSW, ACT and SA it is celebrated in October and it
is celebrated in May in Qld.) In March 1856, building workers in Melbourne held a public meeting. They agreed that
from 21st April they would work for only eight hours a day. From then on, each working day should be divided into
eight hours work, eight hours rest and eight hours leisure. On April 21, there was a procession of building workers
through the streets of Melbourne, and then a public meeting. This day is celebrated as a time to remember the workers
struggle to improve salaries and working conditions. Australia was the first country in the world to make eight hours the
official time for work each day.

8 hour day memorial statue, Melboune (from the VITTA image database)

Moomba

The Moomba festival has been held in Melbourne since 1955. It takes place in March, and last for eleven days, including
the Labour Day weekend. Its name comes from an Aboriginal word and means Lets get together and have fun.

Easter

Western Christians celebrate Easter Day on the first Sunday after the full moon after the equinox (21 March). This can
be as early as 22nd March or as late as 25th April. Easter is a major Christian celebration throughout the world. Even
people who do not go to church regularly, take part in the Easter festivities. In Australia we have
four days of public holidays but the church season of Easter is much longer. At Easter, Christians
remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which happened at the time of the Jewish
Passover, but the Christian festival of Easter comes at the same time as the old Spring festival,
which was celebrated many years ago in the Northern Hemisphere. (The word Easter comes
from the old spring goddess, Eostre or Ostara) So many of the things we have at Easter like
Easter eggs, hotcross buns and Easter bunnies come from those Spring festivals.

BPA Holidays and their meanings 2005 2

Good Friday (or Gods Friday) is the first day of the public holidays. It marks the day when Jesus died on the cross.
Many people go to special church services and many people do not eat meat on this day. For centuries, people have
stopped their normal work as a mark of respect for Jesus. It is traditional to eat hot cross buns on Good
Friday

Easter Sunday marks the day when Jesus came back to life. In many churches, joyful Easter
Sunday ceremonies begin at midnight. Easter Sunday is traditionally a day of fun and feasting.
Most people eat chocolate rabbits and eggs on Easter Sunday. The chocolate is a fairly new
custom, but rabbits and eggs have been associated with Easter for a long time. The rabbit is a
symbol of abundant life and eggs have always been a symbol of birth and new life.

April 1 - April Fools Day

This is a day when people play practical jokes on their fiends. It often means sending them
on a fools errand- like making them look for something which isnt really there.

Anzac Day:
The 25th April is a day for remembering the people who have served or been killed in war. The word ANZAC comes
from the initials of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, who trained together in Egypt at the outbreak of World
War 1. Since World War 1, Australians have been involved in World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and
East Timor. http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/

Left: Australian War Memorial Canberra and The Shrine of Rememberance (Melbourne) from the VITTA image
database

Mothers Day (The second Sunday in May)

The custom of honouring Mothers dates back to antiquity. According to mythology, a Yearly spring
festival was dedicated to Rhea, mother of the gods Jupiter, Pluto and Neptune, and the goddess Verta,
Ceres and Juno. Early Christians set aside the fourth Sunday after Easter to honour Mary, the mother
of Christ and the English have been observing Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In
America, Mothers Day was officially created in 1914, when Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second
Sunday in May as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country. The actual credit
should go to Anne M. Jarvis, a spinster and devoted daughter who, in the early 1900s waged a one woman
campaign for a day honouring mothers., She arranged a special church service and asked everyone to wear a white
carnation in honour of their mother. This custom soon became widespread and commercialized.

BPA Holidays and their meanings 2005 3

June
Queens Birthday: The British King or Queen has two birthdays every year a private one on his or her real birthday
(Queen Elizabeth IIs birthday is April 21) and a public one. The public holiday for the Queens birthday in Victoria is
on the first or second Monday in June. The Commonwealth Government sets these dates. Many special events take place
over this holiday weekend.

Royal Melbourne Show

December 24th Xmas Eve

December 25th Christmas Day

Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. No one knows the exact date of Christ's birth,
but most Christians observe Christmas on December 25. On this day, many go to church, where they take part in special
religious services. During the Christmas season, they also exchange gifts and decorate their homes with holly, mistletoe,
and Christmas trees. The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, an early English phrase that
means Mass of Christ.

The story of Christmas comes chiefly from the Gospels of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew in the New
Testament. According to Luke, an angel appeared to shepherds outside the town of Bethlehem and
told them of Jesus' birth. Matthew tells how the wise men, called Magi, followed a bright star that led
them to Jesus.

December 26th Boxing Day

Boxing Day is also St. Stephen's Day. St. Stephen was a little known saint who achieved eternal fame
by being the first Christian to be martyred for his faith, and he met his death by stoning.
Boxing Day December 26th is a public holiday in Australia. The day probably takes its name from the fact that on the
day after Christmas in Britain, the alms boxes which had been placed in the churches over the Christmas period were
opened. The contents were distributed to the poor. On the same day, apprentices and servants broke open small
earthenware boxes in which their masters had deposited small sums of money. In large households, the family may have
used this day to distribute Christmas boxes to their staff.

BPA Holidays and their meanings 2005 4

Kahootz Xpression example:
Teacher PD the new Kahootz tutorial

Celebrations present a Learning Object reflecting a celebration you have attended.

The learning object could be:
an exhibition in a gallery
A visual record of a celebration
An explanation of a particular celebration

o Preview some Kahootz examples to give you some ideas.

o Collect some images to utilise in your Learning Object for example
you may scan your own photos.
o Research the history of the selected celebration to enhance your script.

Kahootz Skills

Basic Kahootz understanding:

Navigating 3D world
Inserting appropriate objects
Swatching worlds and objects
Inserting 3D or notepad text
Grouping Object
Using Notepad (see notes below from Kahootz in the classroom)
Keypoint object animation Fly-through movie
Importing 2D images Using digital camera or scanner
Linking scenes Either timed or click-based
Adding sound to objects Either timed or click-based

3.1.4 Notepad

Contains a suite of Draw Tools that allow you to place shapes, text, patterns clipart
and imported images into a Scene.

Possible Curriculum Application of Notepad

Allows for the creation of your own artwork (e.g. drawing of your sister) and
patterns that could be placed in the 3D Scene.

Digital images (e.g. digital camera photo of the school) could be imported through
the Notepad and placed in a Scene or used to Swatch Objects/Worlds.
Text could be entered to annotate or title a Scene.

Example of a Rubric to Assess Research Skills
Students use the research process confidently, demonstrating understanding and ability to use all the steps in the process.
Im just learning
DEFINING 1 point
Limited knowledge of the research
process and its vocabulary, and has
difficulty grasping the meaning of
the task.
LOCATING & 1 point
SELECTING Uses catalogues and indexes
haphazardly and needs help to
locate information. Needs guidance
in evaluating relevance and
accessibility of texts
ORGANISING & 1 point
PRESENTING Needs guidance in constructing
inquiry questions and note-taking.
Transcribes notes into final product.
EVALUATING 1 point
Limited reflection on learning and
final product.
Restricted ability to identify own
strengths and weaknesses. Limited
attempt to express improvement
strategies.
[insert name of
Im getting there
2 points
Can identify some aspects of
the research process and its
vocabulary, and understands
the concept of keywords and
attempts to define the task.
2 points
Uses some keywords to locate
information via catalogues and
indexes.
Strives to evaluate texts for
relevance.
2 points
Constructs mediocre inquiry
questions and takes notes of
inconsistent quality
Organises notes into an
acceptable final product.
2 points
Analyses learning journey and
final product.
Identifies some strengths and
weaknesses in own work..
Expresses strategies which
may improve learning.
school and logo here
Wow! Ive got it
3 points
Understands and uses the
research process and its
vocabulary, and shows
understanding of the keywords,
scope and implications of the
task.
3 points
Skilfully uses keywords,
library catalogue and indexes
to locate appropriate
information.
Scans text for relevance and
appraises Internet sites.
3 points
Constructs quality inquiry
questions and uses
appropriate note-taking
methods.
Synthesises information into
quality final product.
3 points
Uses metacognative journal
to reflect deeply on learning
and reflects on final product.
Identifies a range of own
strengths and weaknesses.
Clearly identifies strategies
which may improve learning.
Mater Christi College 2004
 [insert name of school and logo here

Rubric for Self Evaluation

Research Process Personal Narrative My Rating Teacher rating

PLANNING
What message did I want my
project to give? Did I succeed?
What did I expect to learn?
Did I accomplish my goals?
(Proposal)

MEETING DEADLINES
How well did I manage my time?
(Calendar)

ORGANISATION
How well did I gather information
from reading, note taking and
talking to people? (Journal)
How well did I manage the materials
and tools I used? (see Bibliography)

WORKING WITH THE TEACHER-

Did I ask questions and seek help
when I needed it? Did I take
initiative to set up meetings?
(Calendar and Journal)

PROBLEM SOLVING
What problems did I face and how
did I solve them? What decisions
did I make that shaped the project?
(Journal)

Reference: Gordon, Carol. (2000) Information Literacy in Action John Gatt Publications, Suffolk p175