This document provides an overview of teaching history to years 7-10 students. It discusses the Victorian curriculum structure and content for each year level. It offers examples of organizing topics like The Vikings and World War II. It emphasizes the importance of backward design, developing historical skills gradually, and using formative and summative assessments. Introductory activities, videos, textbooks, and a variety of teaching strategies are presented. Continuing professional learning is encouraged to strengthen subject knowledge. The goal is to make history engaging and the best part of a student's day.

1. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
WELCOME
• Thanks, HTAV!
• Thanks, Gerry!
• Thanks to me school too 
• Who are you, where are you from, and why are you
here? Go to Padlet New 7-10 History
• A little competition – to which VC depth study do
each of the sidebar images belong? First correct
answer to swhite@oxley.vic.edu.au wins a prize!

2. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
PRESENTER
• Stephen White
• Oxley Christian College
• Teaching experience – 15 years
• Currently teaching Year 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 History
• Contributing author to HTAV’s Modern History
textbook series (Russian Revolution, Apartheid
(coming in 2022).

3. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
Session description
• Curriculum structure – building a course/a topic
• Teaching strategies for content & skills
• Designing assessments
• Q&A (if you’re still here and/or awake)

4. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
Before we get started…
The VICTORIAN CURRICULUM is your best friend!
Victorian Curriculum for History
Get familiar with the structure, the content & the skills.

5. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
Level 7-8: Year 7 Ancient History
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples &
cultures (incorporated into an overview)
• Europe & Mediterranean World: Rome
• Asia-Pacific World: China

6. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
Level 7-8: Year 8 MIDDLE AGES History
• Europe & Mediterranean World: Vikings
• Asia-Pacific World: Angkor/Khmer Empire
• Expanding Contacts: Renaissance Italy

7. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
Level 9-10: Year 9 EARLY MODERN History
• Making of the Modern World: Industrial Revolution
• Australia & Asia: Australia 1750-1918
• Modern World & Australia: World War One*

8. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
Level 9-10: Year 10 MODERN History
• World War Two
• Rights & Freedoms (Civil Rights Movements)
• Globalising World: Popular Culture

9. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
SAMPLE: THE VIKINGS (LEVEL 8)
• Introductory activities
• Homelands & geography - mapping
• Social structure incl. women, children & slaves
• Viking religion, death rituals & mythology
• Raiding – weapons, armour, tactics, longships
• Trading – expansion of wealth & power
• Harald Bluetooth – significant individual
• Battle of Stamford Bridge 1066 CE - challenge

10. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
SAMPLE: WORLD WAR TWO (LEVEL 10)
• Between the Wars overview
• The Road to War (Europe & Asia)
• Australia goes to war (why & where)
• Turning points (key battles, Holocaust, Hiroshima,
Resistance)
• Effects on Australian society & relationships
• Debate – for & against the use of the atomic bomb)

11. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL TOPIC
• Backward design Understanding by Design
• Start with achievement standards/desired
outcomes (and a memorable hook)
• Learning strategies
• Classroom activities
• Set formative/summative assessment dates & factor
in revision time if testing

12. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
ADVANTAGES
• You know where you’re headed & what you want to
achieve with your class
• You are less likely to rush through the content
• Lessons are worthwhile & aligned to the outcomes
• Reduces time wasting & distractions
• Allows students time to think, draft, make & correct
errors, improve & succeed

14. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
VC Historical concepts & skills
• Chronology
• Historical sources (evidence)
• Continuity & change
• Cause & effect
• Historical significance

15. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
VC Historical concepts & skills
These skills should be developed gradually from Years
7-10. You don’t have to go all out in Year 7.
A carefully developed scope & sequence can help
students build on their skills each year. Ideally, all
History teachers are involved & on board.

16. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
SAMPLE: CHRONOLOGY
• Year 7: dates (BCE, CE, centuries, timelines)
• Year 8: Vikings timeline showing the rise &
fall of the Viking Age
• Year 9: Timeline of the changes in laws
relating to child labour in the Industrial
Revolution – why did the laws change?
• Year 10: Complex WWII timeline

17. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
DIGITAL TIMELINES - SUTORI
• https://www.sutori.com
• A blank digital canvas – well suited resource
• Auto-saving
• Develop templates in the early years
• Mr White's guide to using Sutori
• Sample: Sophie's Vikings timeline

18. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
DIGITAL TIMELINES - SUTORI
• Free subscription allows basic features
• Paid subscription allows:
• Easy tracking of student progress
• Live student collaboration
• All functions open incl. embedding media
• No glue, no scissors!

19. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
TEACHING STRATEGIES
• Introductory activities
• Textbooks & literacy issues
• Student workbooks
• Variety in the classroom – being predictable &
unpredictable
• Developing research skills
• Revision & retrieval practice

20. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES
• The hook/theme for the depth study
• Rome – Guts, Glory & Gladiators
• Vikings – Raiders, Traders, Viking Invaders
• What do we know about…
• How do we know about…
• Images & objects
• Overview videos & documentaries

26. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
INTRODUCTORY VIDEOS
• Consider the quality, length & content
• Should not be too long or academic
• Avoid older videos to avoid condescension!
• Develop a culture of ‘the video is the learning’
• Note-taking task – record the information
• CLOZE activity, PMI, Padlet
• Use the notes you take to help in a quiz

27. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
VIDEO RESOURCES
• Ted Ed - The World's People & Places
• Crash Course European History
• It's History
• The Great War
• Epic History
• Horrible Histories

28. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
TEXTBOOKS & WORKBOOKS
• Use the textbook as a starting point for further
inquiry, not as the be all & end all
• Develop your own questions
• Bring back workbooks – students develop their
own historical resources & create records of their
learning – a knowledge bank
• Note taking methods & Handwriting vs Typing

29. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
HANDWRITING
• Writing is linked to improved creativity, critical
thinking & problem solving skills
• Use fine motor skills & neuro-sensory experiences
– feeling the paper, holding the pen, directing
movement with thought
• Typing is faster but repetitive and rote –
handwriting develops summarising skills

30. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
VARIETY IN THE CLASSROOM
• Develop your own teaching toolkit
• Reuse strategies to build familiarity
• Bus Stop activity
• Fact files Jessica's Renaissance Learning Diary
• Sensory learning activities
• Mind mapping Mind mapping with Tony Buzan
• Hexagon & Lotus diagrams
• Be a story teller – the expert students rely on

36. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
AN ASSESSMENT PLAN
• The Oxley model for each topic (so long as the
teachers follow it):
• One formative assessment
• One similar summative assessment
• One inquiry task
• One topic test
• Other classroom learning activities

37. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
AN ASSESSMENT PLAN
• My model for each topic (so long as the teachers
follow it):
• One formative assessment – detailed feedback
• One similar summative assessment – apply
feedback
• One inquiry task
• One topic test
• Other classroom learning activities

38. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT – CHILD LABOUR REPORT
• A task which allows them to develop a historical
skill using recently learned knowledge
• The feedback is specific & timely, to be applied to
the upcoming summative task
• Not graded – Y/N
• Examples – an essay plan; research notes; smaller
versions of future tasks

39. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
• Reflect on the feedback & make adjustments,
additions, improvements
• Use clear & specific criteria
• Summative feedback should include reference to
whether or not feedback was applied
• The ‘long game’ approach – encourage students to
be patient, persistent & have a growth mindset

40. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
INQUIRY TASK – RESEARCH PROJECTS
• Battling the information tsunami
• Teach solid research skills
• Provide starting points for research
• Mandate note taking from sources
• Expect correct referencing
• Use detailed rubrics

44. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
TOPIC TESTS
• Knowledge is vital – without it, you cannot display
your skills. Students have a chance to show you
what they KNOW
• Topic tests are learning activities
• Dates, names, events, causes, effects, source
analysis & much more
• Multiple choice, short answer, sources etc.

45. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
TOPIC TEST REVISION
• Prepare students as best you can by:
• Giving plenty of notice to students
• Revision suggestions – what do we need to
revise?
• Constant revision – from the first lesson onwards
• Retrieval activities Retrieval practice
• I use Quizlet (Kahoot – not so much) Stephen
White Quizlet

48. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
DEVELOPING YOUR EXPERTISE & KNOWLEDGE
• Professional reading
• HTAV journal Agora
• Carefully selected books (not the textbook) from
a good bookshop – build a library
• History podcasts
• The Rest Is History
• You're Dead To Me

49. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
MAKE HISTORY THE BEST PART OF A STUDENT’S DAY
• Be the best teacher you can be – grow your
knowledge, extend yourself, take risks
• Make your class unique – stickers, badges, hats, t-
shirts, collector cards
• Themed worksheets & resources
• Differentiate & adjust whenever necessary
• So many things – but most of all, be yourself

50. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
CONTACTS
• swhite@oxley.vic.edu.au
• Twitter:
• HTAVed
• BBC History Extra
• Stephen White (for what it’s worth :p)

51. HTAV2021
New to 7-10 history: Starting from scratch
THANK YOU!
We are all in this together! Middle Years History is enormously
rewarding. It is a deep, rich and exciting curriculum with many
options and pathways to head down. In the current global
climate it is vital that more students understand their place in
the human story and global experience. History, taught well,
will help students develop the ability to judge evidence for
themselves, recognise different perspectives in a debate, show
empathy, represent their views clearly and much more.