This poster was part of a series made for a New England NSW high school to promote the importance of visual literacy across the curriculum and to scaffold how a visual image (in this case an advertisement) can be used to elicit short- and long-responses from students. The techniques of visual literacy are outlined in the diagram on the second page.

Background notes, passage from the text and student activities on the theme of the relationship between animals and people.

Activity requiring students locate the chapter that various events that place in the text, Stasiland.

Set of activities exploring the theme of childhood trauma, its impact on later life and the concept of resilience.

Activity requiring students to locate the chapter that key events occur in the text, Romulus, My Father.

Activity requiring students locate which chapter key events occur in the text, Romulus, My Father.

Activity requiring students to identify the character from Stasiland from the profile description provided.

Playing Beatie Bow - Crossword

Key words and concepts mix and match activity for Ruth Park’s novel, Playing Beatie Bow.

Key word and concepts mix and match activity for the text, Mister Pip.

The authors mother, Christine is a complex character who suffers increasingly from a serious mental illness as the narration of the memoir proceeds. At times she is highly depressed and neglects her children. At other times she is promiscuous and manic. 1950s rural Australia is neither the time nor the place for others to understand her condition, nor provide support. This set of activities includes background notes and passages from the text that relate to Christine’s true personality, her relation with Romulus, her interraction with members of the Anglo-Celtic community, the effects of her illness on her life and relationship and the views of Christine from other character’s hindsight. Students are asked to list the positive and negative influences of Christine on the author, Raimond Gaita.

Word Search using metalanguage from the novel Mister Pip.

Romanian migrant, Hora is arguably the strongest character in Raimond Gaita’s memoir. he is certainly the most loyal family friend. This set of resources includes background notes on Hora, key passages from the text and student activities based on these. the last activity asks students to develop a mind map of incidents from the text in which Hora is a friend and mentor to Romulus and Raimond.

Another tragic character whose choices in life become his ultimate undoing. This set of resources and activities on Mitru includes background notes, passages from the text and student activities relating to his personality, his respect for Romulus and love for Raimond, his troubled relationship with Christine and his death. The last activity asks students to describe his relationship with the four main characters in the text.

Vacek is a highly traumatised migrant and friend of Romulus and Raimond. He falls into homelessness, mental illness and the inability to care for himself. Whilst his story is tragic he is described as a person with a solid character and he possesses an empathy for animals. His influence on Raimond’s childhood ultimately leads to Raimond’s interest in moral philosophy. This resource includes background information on Vacek, select passages from the text and short answer questions.

This set of activities on the metalanguage of Stasiland includes a mix and match exercise, finding words or phrases that mean the same as given terms and concepts and writing specific metalanguage in a sentence.

Both narrator and child/teen character, Raimond Gaita’s relationships with family and friends form the basis of this tragic memoir, along with the almost unreal objectivity in which the text is narrated. This set of activities includes background notes on Raimond, passages from the text and student activities

Information Report on the text, Romulus, My Father. Students select one of the following themes: mental illness, moral philosophy, relationships between humans and animals, inter-personal relationships, experiences of migrants and write an information report. The task includes elements, language and structure of an information report and a marking guide (rubric).

Quotes activity for the memoir, Romulus, My Father.

Word search on the text, Romulus, My Father.