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Playing Beatie Bow: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel Playing Beattie Bow. The value of this novel study lies in the opportunities presented to explore the evolution of the English language, including the impact of new technologies on language and the genre of time travel. This unit provides practical teaching ideas and ...

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Midnite: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel Midnite which is a good-humoured history of the exploits of bushranger Captain Midnite and his five good animal friends. This unit provides practical teaching ideas and an assessment task.

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Blueback: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support Tim Winton’s novel Blueback which is a story about family, belonging and living a life in tune with the environment. This unit provides practical teaching ideas and an assessment task.

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Mahtab’s Story: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel Mahtab’s Story. The novel focuses on asylum seekers and explores themes of courage, family, hope and resilience. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay about the novel by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

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Vampyre: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the picture story book Vampyre. The book is told from the point of view of a vampire who is entering young adulthood with the responsibilities that come at that time in life. It shows the struggle to be an individual and find your identity. This unit provides practical teaching ...

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Ubby’s Underdogs: the Legend of the Phoenix Dragon: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel Ubby’s Underdogs: the Legend of the Phoenix Dragon. The novel, set in Broome of the late 1940s, is mostly concerned with the activities of two teenage gangs and explores themes of courage and bullying. As a graphic novel, it offers opportunities to teach about symbolism, ...

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Just Macbeth!: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel Just Macbeth!. Using a group of Australian teenagers as the main characters, the novel plays with the themes of Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth. It explores themes of ambition, guilt and forgiveness, humour, trust and betrayal. This unit provides practical ...

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The Deep: Here Be Dragons: Unit of work

The Deep: Here Be Dragons is a graphic novel tells the tales of the Nekton family – a multiethnic family of Aquanauts who live on a submarine. It explores themes of discovery, family, hope, respect and the environment. This unit provides practical teaching ideas and an assessment task. This teacher resource provides practical ...

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Ubby’s Underdogs: Heroes Beginnings. Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel Ubby’s Underdogs: Heroes Beginnings. This graphic novel explores themes of Aboriginal history and culture, courage, Chinese history, corruption, feminism, First Nations texts, friendship, inter-cultural relationships and teenage gangs. This unit provides practical ...

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The Lost Thing: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support The Lost Thing, a quirky picture story book about finding your place in the world. It explores themes of belonging, bureaucracy, conformity, dystopia and friendship. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay by Gary Crew.

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47 Degrees: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support 47 Degrees, an account of the experiences of writer Justin D'Ath during the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria. Explore themes of belonging, bravery, community, grief, resilience and the environment. This unit provides practical teaching ideas and an assessment task

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Creative thinking with Morris Gleitzman

What is the importance of creative thinking? Morris Gleitzman's characters are engaging and likeable because even when they're going through hardships, they can use their creative thinking to remain positive and optimistic. What do you think a character without this ability would be like? Can you think of any characters ...

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Interviews With 10 Australian Authors, Ch 4: Poetry with Robert Adamson

Australian poet Robert Adamson speaks to Tom Tilley about his extraordinary life, including his experience of being sent to a boys' home as a teenager, of his life-changing discovery of Bob Dylan, and of the spiritual connection he feels with the Hawkesbury River. The Golden Bird is a collection of his poems written throughout ...

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Rebecca Lim's spooky themes

Do you enjoy reading spooky stories? Listen to Rebecca Lim as she describes how her half-memories, reading experiences and imagination come together to inspire her.

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Interviews With 10 Australian Authors, Ch 6: Gary Crew's Strange Objects

How do you use research in a fiction novel that is based on historical events? What is the real symbolism of the ring? Why should a writer have a ‘day job'? Listen to Gary Crew answer these questions about Strange Objects in this interview.

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Interviews With Australian 10 Authors, Ch 3: Michael Gow's Australian classic

According to Gow, his play Away became an Australian classic ‘accidentally'. In this interview, he talks about the way he overlays the context of the Vietnam War and the rise of materialism with the themes of coming of age and accepting the death of a child to create a play that is powerful and complex.

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Gary Crew and the role of objects

In some stories, writers use particular objects as symbols. In other stories, writers use objects as tools to help them shape their narrative. What does Gary Crew say about the meaning of the ring in Strange Objects? What is its purpose within the story?

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Stories without words

Learn how Australian story-teller, artist and academy award winner, Shaun Tan uses emotive illustrations to tell a story. You will also create your own character and tell a story using illustration.

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Interviews With 10 Australian Authors, Ch 8: Experience colonial Australia with Tom Keneally

Thomas Keneally likes to put himself in the shoes of figures from history, whether it's as a member of the SS or an Indigenous man treated unjustly, and ask ‘What would I have done?' In this interview he discusses why he was drawn to the Jimmie Governor story and the significance of the looming Federation of Australia.

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Thinking about settings with Leigh Hobbs

As Leigh Hobbs says, the great thing about inventing a character is that you also have the power to choose where they live. What's your character's world like? Describe your character at home. Where do they live? And what do they do there? Now choose a completely different location and plonk your character there. Think ...