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Syllabus bites – responding to literature

A web page with information, teacher guides and resources on responding to texts. This resource supports the NSW English K-10 syllabus.

Audio

Little Red and the Big Bad Croc

This imaginative digital text is an innovation on the traditional tale of Little Red Riding Hood. It is an audio text with matching illustrations. The resource includes a teaching sequence related to the Big Six components of literacy development (oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension) ...

Text

The Big Book of Old Tom: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the story The Big Book of Old Tom. Explore themes of family, living alone/living with others, making and keeping friends, pets, respect and social awareness. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, assessment tasks and suggestions about how students might respond creatively ...

Text

The Divine Wind: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support The Divine Wind novel which evokes an era of Australians caught up in the events of war and its effects. Its themes include coming of age, family, friendship, identity, love, multiculturalism, racism and war. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and ...

Text

The Art of Taxidermy: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel The Art of Taxidermy which is a verse novel about sadness and loss, and the role of art in helping people manage challenges. Themes include connections to the natural world, grief, holding on to the past, relationships and vulnerability. This unit provides practical ...

Text

A Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel A Bridge to Wiseman’s Cove. The novel explores themes of belonging, coming of age, emotional growth, family, identity and love. This unit provides practical teaching ideas and an assessment task.

Text

By the river: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the verse novel By the River. The novel explores the tough and tender sides of growing up in a small country town with themes such as bullying, coming of age, connection to place, death, grief, identity and small town living. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment ...

Text

Follow the rabbit-proof fence: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the accounts of the Stolen Generations as told to Doris Pilkington by members of her family in Western Australia in the 1930s. The memoir imagines the historical experiences of Indigenous Australians prior to contact with European colonists and the experiences and consequences ...

Text

Fox: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the book Fox which is a picture book that explores the themes of betrayal, friendship, jealousy, loneliness, loyalty and wilderness. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay by Robyn Sheahan-Bright.

Text

The Gathering: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the novel The Gathering. The novel explores themes such as good vs evil, conformity vs individuality, and the nature of friendship. This unit provides practical teaching ideas, an assessment task and an essay by Ruth Starke.

Audio

Radio National: Was Shakespeare psychic, or just a smart guy?

Shakespeare's plays are strangely relevant to today's world. Could he see what the world would be like 400 years into the future, or is it just that humans haven't changed much? Hear Phillip Adams and John Bell (actor and director of the Bell Shakespeare company) discussing Shakespeare's enduring relevance, as well as his ...

Video

Representing Sydney's suburbs, 1965

In this clip from the mid-60s, explore how words and images can be combined to encourage particular interpretations and influence audience response. Explore how some of the inner suburbs of Sydney have been represented in history.

Video

Heywire: To disconnect or not to disconnect?

How often are you ever truly alone? Today's technology can mean that we're in constant contact with friends and family. In this Heywire audio story, Dayna Duncan shares a time when she both needed to be connected and to balance her use of social media with other priorities in her life.<br /><br /> Could you write or record ...

Video

Lifting the lid on Gothic literature

What comes to mind when you think of 'Gothic fiction'? What are some of the characteristics of the genre? In this clip from the British Library, Professor John Bowen from the University of York suggests the Gothic tradition emerged in literature with the publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Qtranto in 1764 and ...

Video

Interviews With 10 Australian Authors, Ch 7: Playing with Hannie Rayson

It was while Hannie Rayson was at acting school that she realised she wanted to be a playwright. In this interview led by Tom Tilley she talks about how she began writing plays, why she became interested in the notion of Anglo Australian art and culture, and how all her characters are in some way an embodiment of herself.

Video

Interviews With 10 Australian Authors, Ch 10: David Williamson's The Removalists

Violence still permeates Australian society, from the actions of sporting figures, to police corruption, to high levels of domestic violence. For these reasons, David Williamson's The Removalists remains as relevant to Australian audiences as when it was first performed. Listen to Williamson speak to Tom Tilley about the ...

Video

Jane Eyre: Who is Bertha Mason?

What do Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason have in common? In what ways are they different? How do you react to Bertha's character? Listen carefully as Professor John Bowen shares his thoughts about the significance of Bertha in Charlotte Bronte's classic novel. This clip is one in a series of four.

Video

The Book Club: Solving 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time'

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' is described by the panellists as part quest and part detective novel. How do they explain this? What are the two 'cases' that the narrator and protagonist 'solves' in the novel, whether deliberately or inadvertently? What is the effect of having the reader know more than ...

Video

David Williamson on inspiration

Listen as David Williamson explains where he finds inspiration for his plays. What are his aims as a playwright?

Video

Alice Pung on story settings

Watch this clip to learn how author Alice Pung thinks about settings in her writing. What does she say about they way they inform the characters she develops? Why does Alice think a high school is a good setting for a story? Write a short story that's set in a high school, paying special attention to the dramatic possibilities ...