Guided Character Workshop

Overview

This is lesson 2 of 4 in the unit “Voices of the Great Depression”. Students use evidence from the previous lesson to build fictional characters and practise historical empathy and perspective-taking through structured pair work.

Learning intentions

• Students will create a fictional character affected by the Great Depression by describing key social and economic circumstances.
• Students will explain how socio-economic factors shaped the character’s choices, daily life, and perspectives.
• Students will justify character motivations using historical evidence from class sources (with attention to what is known and what is inferred).
• Students will compare perspectives within their pair and refine their character decisions.

Success criteria

• I can describe my character’s living/working situation using Great Depression evidence.
• I can explain how hardship, unemployment, welfare, and community responses influence my character’s attitudes and actions.
• I can use at least two pieces of historical evidence to justify character choices.
• I can recognise that my character’s perspective is shaped by their beliefs, location, and circumstances, and explain why.

Curriculum links

• Continuities and changes around 1900 Australia: examining how changes affected living conditions, political/legal institutions, and cultural expression.
• Compare perspectives in sources and explain how they are influenced by events, ideas, locations, beliefs, values.
• Create historical descriptions, explanations and historical arguments using knowledge, concepts, and evidence from sources.
• Key social, cultural, economic, and political changes and their significance in development of Australian society.
• Significant events, ideas, people, groups and movements shaping Australian society; use to frame character contexts.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Entry routine. Review unit focus and display “Character Focus Question.” Students write one sentence on previous lesson's hardship or responses.

2. 5–15 min · Source-to-character modelling. Teacher models turning evidence into character decisions; students complete a brief example distinguishing evidence from inference.

3. 15–25 min · Pair planning. Assign pairs; students select one character pathway using the Blueprint template and identify two supporting evidence points.

4. 25–45 min · Guided writing. Students draft character backgrounds in three paragraphs with evidence justifications; teacher circulates with checklist.

5. 45–55 min · Perspective check. Pairs exchange drafts for feedback on realism and perspective; revise one section with evidence justifications.

6. 55–60 min · Exit ticket. Students submit sentences explaining socio-economic influences and evidence used.

Resources

• Character Blueprint template (one per pair)
• Worked example sheet from teacher modelling
• Evidence set from lesson 1 (printouts or folders): photos, newspaper extracts, diary letters, short statistics captions
• Highlighters or sticky notes for evidence tagging
• Pencils, pens, notebooks
• Teacher checklist for conferencing

Assessment

• Formative: teacher circulates using checklist focusing on evidence use, perspective language, and justification.
• Formative: pair "Perspective Swap" encourages peer feedback and critical thinking.
• Formative: exit ticket assesses understanding of socio-economic influences and evidence justification.
• Pedagogy strategies: use modelling, guided practice, and peer collaboration to engage students in character study.
• Literacy strategies: scaffold inference and justification language; provide sentence starters and word banks to support reading and writing.
• Numeracy strategies: interpret simple statistics captions and integrate quantitative evidence into character backgrounds.

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters for inference and justification (e.g., “The source suggests… because…”, “This would likely affect…”, “Their perspective may differ because…”).
• Support: offer a partially completed Blueprint for students who need reduced planning load.
• Extension: challenge students to include one moment where their character disagrees with a community view, then justify using evidence and plausible values.
• EAL/SEN: allow oral rehearsal with the partner before writing; include a word bank for economic terms (unemployment, relief, wages, housing strain) and perspective terms (concerned, hopeful, resentful, determined).

Extension (optional)

• Skip (not requested).