Role of Women

Year Level

Year 9

Duration

60 minutes

Class size

28 students

Unit Context

Unit: Experiencing World War 1 Lesson 11 of 30: The Role of Women in WW1

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Australian Curriculum Alignment

Strand: Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) – History Content Descriptor:

• AC9HH9K08: The causes of the First World War and the reasons why Australians enlisted to fight in the war
• AC9HH9K02: The key social, cultural, economic and political changes and their significance in the development of Australian society during the period (including WW1)

Achievement Standard: Students explain the causes and impacts of WW1 including the social change brought by the war such as the role of women, making historical arguments supported by evidence and presenting findings in oral, written, and visual forms.

General Capabilities: Literacy (historical texts), Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability (collaboration), ICT Capability.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Describe how the role of women changed during World War 1 in Australia and globally.
2. Identify and explain the contributions women made to the war effort both on the home front and abroad.
3. Collaborate to prepare and perform a role-play that demonstrates women's diverse roles in WW1.
4. Reflect on the social impact of women's participation in the war.

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Success Criteria

• Students participate actively in creating and performing a role-play that showcases at least 3 different roles women fulfilled during WW1.
• Students use historical knowledge to accurately represent women’s contributions in their performance.
• Students demonstrate clear communication and teamwork.
• Extension students produce a written essay analysing women’s post-war impact using historical evidence and sources.

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Resources and Materials

• Guided notes handout (dyslexia-friendly format: bullet points, clear fonts, high contrast)
• Role outlines for each character (nurse, munitions worker, spy, farmer, volunteer organizer)
• Historical source extracts and images (primary/secondary) about women in WW1
• Classroom space arranged for group collaboration and drama presentation
• Writing materials or devices for the essay extension activity

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Lesson Plan Breakdown

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

Teacher activity:

• Begin with a short multimedia presentation (images, quotes) about women's roles before and during WW1 to activate prior knowledge.
• Use clear and concise language with dyslexia-friendly text overlays.
• Explain the learning objectives and success criteria for the lesson.

Student activity:

• Take guided notes provided in a dyslexia-friendly format focusing on key facts about women’s roles during WW1.
• Engage with brief Q&A to clarify understanding.

2. Exploration and Role Assignment (10 minutes)

Teacher activity:

• Distribute role outlines summarising the key responsibilities and contributions of women in roles such as nurses, munitions factory workers, farmhands (Women’s Land Army), volunteer fundraisers, and spies.
• Assign or allow students to choose roles, ensuring mixed ability groups to support diverse learners and promote inclusive teamwork.

Student activity:

• Read role outlines individually or in pairs.
• Discuss within groups how their assigned roles contributed to the war effort.

3. Role-Play Preparation (15 minutes)

Teacher activity:

• Provide guiding questions/prompts to help students develop a brief script or scenario illustrating their assigned role’s contributions and experiences.
• Monitor and support groups, adapting language or providing sentence starters for students with learning difficulties.

Student activity:

• Collaborate in groups to write a short role-play (2-3 minutes) showing their characters’ experiences and importance during WW1.
• Use historical facts from guided notes.
• Practice their scripts with support as needed.

4. Role-Play Presentation (15 minutes)

Teacher activity:

• Facilitate the presentations, ensuring each group performs their role-play.
• Offer constructive feedback focused on historical accuracy, communication clarity, and teamwork.

Student activity:

• Perform the prepared role-plays to the class.
• Listen respectfully to peers’ performances.

5. Reflection and Extension (10 minutes)

Teacher activity:

• Lead a class discussion on how these roles changed societal views of women and influenced their post-war rights and status.
• Present an extension task prompt: writing an essay (to be completed as homework or later classwork) on the impact of women’s roles on Australian society after WW1.

Student activity:

• Participate in the reflection discussion.
• Optional: Begin planning or outlining the essay.

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Differentiation Strategies

• For diverse learners (ADHD, dyslexia, spelling difficulties):

• Provide guided notes with bullet points and clear headings.

• Use role outlines with visual aids and simplified language.

• Allow oral contributions and peer support during role-play preparation.

• Provide sentence starters and word banks for speaking and writing tasks.

• For gifted and advanced learners:

• Challenge them to research an additional less-known role women played (e.g., women in intelligence or in propaganda).

• Encourage a deeper essay analysis linking women’s war contributions to later social change (women’s suffrage, workforce participation).

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Assessment

• Formative: Observation of role-play participation and accuracy; contribution to group discussion; quality of role-play script.
• Summative (optional extension): Written essay explaining the impact of women during and after WW1 using historical evidence.

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This lesson plan integrates age-appropriate interaction and historical inquiry with tailored support and challenge, aligned fully to the Australian Curriculum v9 for Year 9 History focusing on WW1 and social change. It utilises multimodal learning formats (visual, oral, written), encourages empathy through role-play, and includes dyslexia-friendly supports and extensions for advanced learners.