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Sally Murphy, Australian author

Teacher Tuesday: Using 1915 in a Year 6 Classroom

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Welcome to my first Teacher Tuesday post for 2018 – and, of course, welcome to the new school year. If you have missed my previous Teacher Tuesday posts, links to those are at the end of this post, offering lots of ideas for using my books in your classroom.   This week, I am sharing suggestions for using Australia’s Great War: 1915 in your year six classroom, though of course the activities could be adapted for an older or younger class as well.

Using 1915 in a Year Six Classroom

Australia’s Great War: 1915, by Sally Murphy 
Published by Scholastic Australia, 2015
ISBN: 9781743622483
Format 208 pp Paperback RRP $16.99  (Also available as an ebook)

Blurb:    When Australia throws its support behind Britain in its fight against Germany, young teacher Stan Moore is one of the first to join up, swapping the classroom for adventure in Europe. But the 11th Battalion is sent with the newly formed Anzac Corp to Gallipoli where Stan is confronted by the hard lessons of war.  Though conditions are dismal and death is everywhere, so is the humour and bravery that is the true spirit of Anzac.

Sally’s Recommended Grade Levels: Year 4 – Lower Secondary, but these suggestions focus on Year 6.

Themes/Topics:

  • Word War 1
  • Gallipoli
  • History
  • Family/Siblings
  • Friendship
  • Letter Writing
  • War Poetry

Curriculum Links and Activities

  1. Identify and explore ideas and viewpoints about events, issues and characters represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1619)
  2. Compare the ways that language and images are used to createcharacter, and to influence emotions and opinions in different types of texts (ACELT1621)
  3. Recognise and analyse the ways that characterisation, events and settings are combined in narratives, and discuss the purposes and appeal of different approaches (ACELT1622)
  • Before Reading: Class or small group work – brainstorm knowledge about World War 1, and, particularly, Gallipoli. Start a class ‘fact’ wall, where facts about WW1 are added progressively during the unit.  Have students verify facts, using internet sources and/or class library, and reference the source on their additions to the ‘fact’ wall. Information to consider: key dates of the war, key dates of Gallipoli campaign, countries involved, numbers of Australian who served, casualties, fatalities etc,  geographic locations, famous people involved etc.  Operation Click (available here) has useful fact sheets and worksheets.
  • Before reading – Examine front cover. Focus on the character pictured – the main character (Stan).  Discuss – what kinds of people served in WW1? What would we expect Stan to be like – age, employment background, any special qualities etc.   Examine rest of cover, including the photos and blurb.  Journal writing, or discussion: From examining the cover, do you anticipate enjoying the book? Why/Why not?  What do you know about Stan from the cover information?  What do you think might happen to Stan in the story? Encourage students to give evidence from the cover and from their knowledge of WW1.
  • Before Reading – Focus on the concept of bravery/courage. What do these words mean? In groups, students to crate posters, providing a definition of bravery, and giving examples of what bravery might look – at war, and in everyday life.
  • During reading, focus on key moments of bravery, including the landing at Gallipoli (chapter five), Stanley helping Colin (pp. 67-68), Simpson (Chapter 9), Miles helping the Turk (Chapter 10), Stanley and others staying aboard the Southland (chapter 17). Encourage students to identify other kinds of courage: returning to Gallipoli after hospitalisation, using humour to get through, writing letters which don’t reflect just how bad things are etc.
  • After Reading: Groups to revisit their bravery posters, and create a second poster identifying instances of bravery from the book. Share posters with whole class, and discuss whether concepts of bravery have changed through reading the book. Use worksheets from Operation Click (here) to explore the concept of the ANZAC legend.
  • After Reading: Compare 1915 with other accounts of Gallipoli. Historic accounts, from newspapers and books can be found on Trove, and elsewhere, Contemporary nonfiction accounts in textbooks or online (here’s one to get you started), and fictional accounts are numerous – including the picture books listed here.  Read and/or view a number of accounts, and have students compare by creating a table, focussing on:  attitude to war, events focussed on, word choice, other aspects.

4.Reflect on ideas and opinions about characters, settings and events in literary texts, identifying areas of agreement and difference with others and justifying a point of view (ACELT1620)

5. Understand how language is used to evaluate texts and how evaluations about a text can be substantiated by reference to the text and other sources (ACELA1782)

  • After reading, discuss reactions to the book. Look back at predictions made about enjoying the book, and discuss whether the book met expectations.
  • Examine sample book reviews, and identify elements. (You can find many book reviews on the Reading Time website. There are also reviews of 1915 here and here).
  • Students to write their own review of 1915.
  • Alternatively, create a Booktalk or Book Trailer for the book. There is a sample Booktalk for 1915 HERE, and a Booktrailer for one of my other books, Toppling, HERE.
  1. Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, selecting aspects of subjectmatter and particular language, visual, and audio features to convey information and ideas (ACELY1725)
  • Reread Stanley’s poems (p. 77 & p. 169). Discuss why Stanley wrote poems, and why Charles Bean decided to put together the ANZAC book. Students to attempt their own poem about either another moment from the book (perhaps Miles’ death, or the landing at Galllipoli) OR about something difficult they have experienced.
  • Letter writing. Reread a selection of Stanley and Elizabeth’s letters. Write e letter from one of the characters after Stanley has left Gallipoli for the last time. OR Discuss how their letters differ from modern communication. Imagine they have mobile phones or email and  write a text or email exchange between the two.

Other suggestions for using 1915 in your classroom include:

  • Make red poppies for ANZAC Day or Remembrance Day. Simple instructions can be found here.
  • Geography/HASS: Create a timeline for the Gallipoli campaign. Using a different colour or font, insert key events from the book.
  • Show students this real photo which features in the opening scene of the book.  
  • Email the author(that’s me!) Your students can write to me through this website, and share their responses or ask questions.

 

Related Books

Mostly, I’d love to remind you that while I love to see my books used in classrooms, I also love to see kids just enjoying them. Reading a book should be pleasurable – whether it’s being used in the classroom or not.  So allow your students to enjoy reading 1915

If you find this useful, or have any suggestions or comments, do leave a comment. And, if there is a particular book or year level or topic that you would like covered in a future edition of Teacher Tuesday, let me know.

Previous Teacher Tuesday posts include:  Pearl Verses the World, Looking Up, Toppling,  Roses are Blue, Do Not Forget Australia, The Sage Cookson Series,  Snowy’s Christmas and The Floatingest Frog.

 

 

Teacher Tuesday: Do Not Forget Australia for Year 5 Classrooms

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Welcome to the second edition of Teacher Tuesday, where I match one of my books to a year level, and offer some activities for sharing the book in the classroom.

This week I’m focusing on one of my picture books: Do Not Forget Australia, With the centenary of the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux to be marked on ANZAC Day 2018, this is a good time to connect with this book if you haven’t yet, or to revisit it if you have.

Using Do Not Forget Australia in a Year Five Classroom

Do Not Forget Australia, text by Sally Murphy, illustrations Sonia Kretschmar  Do Not Forget Australia

Published by Walker Books, 2012
ISBN: 9781921529863 (Hardcover)/ 9781922077097 (Paperback)
Format 32 page Picturebook, RRP $29.99 (Hardcover)/$16.99 (Papaerback)

Available from good bookstores or here.

Blurb: Henri lives in the French village of Villers-Bretonneux. Billy lives in Melbourne, Australia. These two little boys, who live thousands of miles away from each other, share one story that unites Villers-Bretonneux and Melbourne in history.

Sample Pages HERE
Publisher’s Teacher Notes HERE
Sally’s Recommended Grade Levels: Year 1-10, but these suggestions focus on Year5

Themes/Topics:

  • War
  • ANZAC Day
  • Friendship
  • Family
  • France
  • Australia
  • Victoria
  • Compassion
  • Mail

Curriculum Links:

Year 5 English

  1. Identify aspects of literary texts that convey details or information about particular social, cultural and historical contexts (ACELT1608)
  • Before Reading: Make predictions on time period and setting of the book based on title and front over.
  • During and After Reading: Focus on aspects of text and illustrations which show that the book is set in 1918 – including colour palette, clothing, transport, communication methods.
  • Questions: Why can’t the two boys meet in person?
    What is the connection between Henri and Billy?
  • Use internet sources (such as The Schoolhouse Museum) to compare school life today with that of 1918. Create a table which compares aspects including  classroom setup, size of classes, subjects taught, school attire, school rules, stationery used and more.
  • Writing: Rewrite your existing class rules as if it was 1918
  1. Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses (ACELT1610)
  • During Reading (and on rereading): Discuss the changes in viewpoint – from Henri to Billy and back again. What visual cues are there for these shifts?  For example, examine the colour palette used in the illustrations
  • After Reading: Discuss why the author might have chosen to use two viewpoints rather than one?  Why use third person voice rather than first person? Why tell a war story from the viewpoint of children rather than from, say, a soldier, or adult from the village.?
  • In Groups: Each group to work through the text, focussing on how we learn what the adults are feeling. – half the groups to focus on Billy’s Dad, the other groups on Henri’s Mum.  Report back and discuss.
  • Writing: Tell the story from the point of view of one of the adult characters OR in the first person voice of one of the children.
  • Write the postcard that Billy receives from his father. There is a printable stencil for this activity HERE.
  1. Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources (ACELY1703)
  2. Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing textstructures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1704)
  • Recap: From reading the story, what do students know about the battle of Villers-Bretonneux and the rebuilding of the school?
  • Give students a blank table, or have them create one, with three columns: Story, Back of Book Notes, Video.  Provide some subheadings: Dates, Key Events etc. Have them note what they know about the key events of 1918 from the fictional story. Then read the back of book notes, with students using the second column to note any new facts. In groups, students can then examine the back of book notes themselves and add any facts they may have missed. Lastly, have them watch a video about the events – there are several on Youtube, including this one  , which is made by a young researcher.  Again, have students complete the table.
  • Discuss: Which source provided the most information? Which was the most entertaining? Which one helped them to connect with the people involved?
  • Writing Ideas: Write a recount of the events of  the battle of Viilers-Bretonneux, OR the destruction and rebuilding of the school, using notes.
  • Write two news reports which Billy might have read: One reporting on the Battle, and the other reporting on the reopening of the School

Other suggestions for using Do Not Forget Australia in your classroom include:

  • Explore transport and communication – comparing 1918 to 2017/18 – look at items including time to travel between Australia and France, modes of transport, forms of communication (telephone/email/mail/internet/television/telegram)
  • Life stories: research the story of one Australian soldier in WW1
  • Art:  Experiment with using different colour palette for different moods and time periods.
  • Writing: Tell the story of another historical event through the eyes of a fictional child character
  • Email the author (that’s me!) Your students can write to me through this website, and share their responses or ask questions.

Related Books

Mostly, I’d love to remind you that while I love to see my books used in classrooms, I also love to see kids just enjoying them. Reading a book should be pleasurable – whether it’s being used in the classroom or not.  So allow your students to enjoy reading Do Not Forget Australia.

If you find this useful, or have any suggestions or comments, do leave a comment. And, if there is a particular book or year level or topic that you would like covered in a future edition of Teacher Tuesday, let me know.

Throwback Thursday: On the Pyramid

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This week for Throwback Thursday I thought I’d share a very old photo. In fact, this photo is over 100 years old.Australian 11th Battalion

It’s a photo that, like many other Australians, I’ve seen many many times., I knew that this was a photo of Australian troops taken in Egypt during WW1, but when I began my research for my book 1915, this photo became for a me a starting point.

The photo was taken in January 1915, and features the men of the 11th Battalion of the AIF who were in Egypt preparing to join the war. They didn’t know it then, but in April those men would land at Gallipoli. Many of them would never leave.

As I researched WW1, looking for a place to start my story, I realised that if my character was from Western Australia (which he was) then he would have been in the 11th and, therefore, in this photo. So, at the start of 1915 I have my character, Stanley, climbing the pyramid with his mates, ready to have their photo taken.

Writing that scene was both a joy and a torment. A Joy because I knew that young men like Stanley were excited to be off on an adventure, seeing the sights of Egypt, climbing pyramids, being outside of Australia for the first times in their lives, excited about having their photo taken. But a torment, because while Stanley was fictional, the harsh realities of what later befell those very real young men in the photograph was something they could never have predicted, but which I, with 100 years of separation, knew and could hardly bear.

I have a copy of this photo which I take with me when I go to speak about 1915. Like me, people young and old are fascinated by the quality of photography from a century ago, and fascinated by the many details they can see – the looks on faces, the poses of the men, the things they are holding and wearing. And, like me, when they realise the future these men faced, their emotions are mixed.

This photo, and stories like 1915, remind us of the past in the hopes we can make a better future.

A Picture That Paints a Thousand Names (Well, Almost)

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When I was researching for and planning 1915, I realised that a famous photo which I had looked at many times was, in fact, of the 11th Battalion of the AIF and, as such, would form a perfect starting point for my book. Stanley, my main character, is a member of the 11th and,as such, would have been in that  photo (were he, of course, not fictional).

So, a photo that I had already loved become even more treasured as I wrote. The photo is of the 11th in front of, and on, the Cheops Pyramid, in January 1915, a few months before they landed at Gallipoli. It’s an amazing photo because it features over 700 men, and  although it is a formal shot, the poses of the men, their faces, and the items they are holding give a glimpse into the many different personalities of the men.

Last week,  I took my son to the Curtin University  Open Day and, when he went off with some friends, I found myself wandering a little aimlessly. Something called me into the John Curtin Gallery. I thought perhaps I might see some art. But what I saw as I walked through the door took my breath away. There was my photo – the Cheops photo – blown up to almost  lifesize proportions on a wall. I burst into tears and then smiled, amazed at what I was seeing.

curtin 4

The reason the photo was there was because in this, the centenary of the year it was taken and the men pictured in it fought in the Great War, a project is underway to identify the men in the photo. Anyone who has a family member who might be in the photo is encouraged to try to identify them within the photo. You can find out more about this project here or contact  WAGS

I sat in front of the photo for ages, amazed at just how much more can be seen with it enlarged. The clarity is amazing. I chatted to other viewers, and had a wonderful conversation with a young boy who pointed out an Aboriginal soldier related to a class mate, and told me both how proud he was of him, but also his sorrow at the difficulties faced by Aboriginal soldiers on their return to civilian life.

Afterwards, I sat at a nearby table and made a red felt poppy, which I placed with others in front of the picture. I hope nobody minds that I dedicated mine to Stanley, who is very very real to me.

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