famous australians HSIE/SOSE Connections Identity and Values Text Type Information report Text Organisation Chronological order Text Synopsis This book is about the people on the fronts and backs of the Australian dollar notes. It follows their lives chronologically and describes the attributes and achievements that earned them their places on the dollar notes. Overall Learning Opportunities Reflect on and respond to text and justify interpretation Read and reflect on a ballad as a group Explore prefixes and relate words with the same prefix Create a note of currency to illustrate understanding Write biographies Activity Menu Guided Reading, pages 2 and 3 Students are matched to text and grouped for like-learning needs. The teacher introduces the book with preliminary discussion, then guides the students through a preview of the pictures and graphics. After independent reading, students revisit for subsequent discussion. As a Group, page 4 Poetry Reading Students will read and illustrate Waltzing Matilda. Biographies and Other Bios Students will relate words with the bio prefix and write autobiographies for famous Australians. Independent Work, pages 5 and 6 BLM 1 Students match the names of famous Australians to their descriptions. BLM 2 Students design their own five-hundred-dollar notes. 1
Guided Reading Learning Opportunities Become familiarised with the features of the Australian dollar notes Make predictions about based on prior knowledge and the contents page Respond to and make inferences from photos, illustrations and captions Discuss personal interpretation of Recall specific information from Book Orientation Show the students the cover of the book and read the title aloud. To help students activate prior knowledge, show a five-dollar note and invite students to discuss the features such as the watermark, the identification number and the Southern Cross. Ask: Do you know who the people are on the note? Why do you think they were selected to be on the note? Have the students turn to the contents page to find out more about what is in the book. Ask: What do you think we are going to read about? Reading the Text Read the introduction to the students while they follow their own text. Then lead them through the book by prompting with questions and comments about the photos, illustrations and graphics using the language structures and vocabulary from. Have the students look at the photos on pages 4 5. Say: Sir Henry Parkes advocated for federation in Australia. Look at the photo of him on the fivedollar note. Can you see him in the photo of the Australasian Federal Convention? Turn to pages 6 7. Say: Catherine Helen Spence is the woman on the back of the five-dollar note. What is the name of her third book? Turn to pages 9 11: Ask: Who is on the front of the ten-dollar note? What do you think he contributed to Australia? Turn to page 12. Say: The woman on the back of the ten-dollar note was awarded a Dame Commander of the British Empire for her literary works and her work in the fields of welfare and prisoners and women s rights. What is her name? Turn to pages 15 17. Ask: Who is on the front of the twenty-dollar note? Mary Reibey was an exception in colonial Australia as she rose from humble beginnings to become an astute businesswoman. Look at the photo and caption on page 16. How do you think she started out in Australia? Turn to pages 18 19. Ask: Who is the man on the back of the twenty-dollar note? What is he famous for? 2
Guided Reading Vocabulary Some students may need help with the following words: apprenticeship constitution demobilisation federation parliament political proportional reformer repatriation scholarly underprivileged unofficial Assessment Ideas To accurately track students development, look for these established behaviours. Students can: Read and identify the main ideas and main purpose of Connect pieces of factual information and ideas Identify indicators of gender or race context implied in Identify the organisational structure of the text and use the structure to locate information Use questions to focus reading Turn to pages 19 20. Say: David Unaipon is on the front of the fifty-dollar note. He was the first Aboriginal person to have his work published in English. He was also a known inventor. Turn to pages 22 23. Ask: What is the name of the woman on the back of the fiftydollar note? Look at the photo of the note and try to work out what she contributed to Australia. Turn to pages 24 26. Ask: How do you think Nellie Melba might have earned her place on the hundred-dollar note? Turn to pages 27 29. Say: The person on the back of the hundred-dollar note was a civil engineer, soldier and public administrator. What was his name? What do think his contribution to Australia was? Independent Reading Invite the students to read independently. While they are reading, observe and support selected students to monitor their ability to gain meaning from the text. After Reading Use the following open-ended prompts to engage the students in discussion. Ask: What are some of the changes these Australians bought into effect socially, culturally and politically? Who do you think made the most significant contribution? To encourage recall of specific information, ask: What did Helen Spence contribute to Australia? (pages 6 8) Why did Andrew Barton Paterson use the name Banjo? (page 10) Why was Mary Gilmore given a Dame Commander of the British Empire? (page 13) What did Mary Reibey achieve after her husband died? (page 16) How did John Flynn help Australians in remote areas? (page 18 19) What did David Unaipon try to achieve? (pages 20 21) What were some of Nellie Melba s achievements? (pages 24 26) Have the students complete BLMs 1 and 2 to reinforce and extend what they have learnt in. 3
As a Group Learning Opportunities Practise reading a ballad Illustrate written text You Will Need Copies of Waltzing Matilda by Banjo Patterson Activity 1: Poetry Reading Hand out copies of Waltzing Matilda by Banjo Paterson to the students. Model the first reading of the poem with clear and enthusiastic recitation. Then have the students read the poem aloud as a group. After the reading, encourage discussion about the story within the poem and what happened to the swagman. Have the students work in twos or threes to write and illustrate the poem on A3-sized paper. They can then each present the poem to the group as an oral presentation. Learning Opportunities Learn the differences between biographical and autobiograhical text Translate third-person text into the first person Explore the relationships between words that start with or include bio Activity 2: Biographies and Other Bios Explain to the students that bio is a prefix meaning life. Discuss with students the meaning of the word biography and compare it to an autobiography. Say: A biography is the story of a person s life, written by someone else. An autobiography is the story of someone s life written by them. Model the beginning of an autobiography of Banjo Paterson: I was born in 1864 on my aunt s grazing property near Orange in New South Wales. In spite of my father s fluctuating fortunes, I had a comfortable enough upbringing in the country, which gave me an abiding love for the land and first hand experiences of the creatures, people and spirit of the bush. Invite students to select one of the people on the notes and imagine that they are that person. Have them write an autobiography of that person emphasising their contribution to Australia. Build a word web of other words that include bio. Discuss their meanings and link words that are related. biography biographer biographical autobiographical bio biology autobiography biological Display the word web in the classroom and encourage students to add to the web as they find new bio words. 4
Who Am I? BLM 1 Name Match the people to the descriptions and write under their names which note they are on. Edith Cowan Dame Mary Gilmore Andrew Barton (Banjo) Paterson Mary Reibey Catherine Helen Spence Dame Nellie Melba Sir John Monash David Unaipon John Flynn Sir Henry Parkes Wrote Waltzing Matilda. Worked in the fields of welfare and prisoners and women s rights. First Aboriginal author to have his work published in English. Founder of what has become the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Father of Federation. An Australian military leader and commanding officer. Shipped to Australia from England after being found guilty of stealing a horse. Feminist, social worker and politician. Opera star who helped raise money for wartime charities. Helped establish the first secondary school for girls. 5
Name Design a Note BLM 2 Create your own five-hundred-dollar note. Select and illustrate two current famous Australians to include on your note. Cut out the two sides and paste together to display as a mobile in the classroom. Write short biographies of the lives and achievements of your famous Australians and hang from your mobile. 6