Activities for Tomorrow When the War Begins Chapters 1-5. Includes issues in intertextuality and backstory.

Crossword to accompany John Marsden's novel Tomorrow When the War Began.

Word Search on John Marsden's novel, Tomorrow When the War Began.

Set of resources on handwriting that includes handwriting criteria and cross-curricular worksheets. I have used the resources in a New England NSW secondary school in my own classes and in a whole-school handwriting program. Bundle includes: + Handwriting criteria + Worksheet 1: Rise of sick internet trolls + Worksheet 2: Arctic ice melt + Worksheet 3: About grief + Worksheet 4: Facts about super trawlers + Worksheet 5: Body image worries plaguing young kids + Worksheet 6: Paying for your pet + Worksheet 7: Animated films + Worksheet 8: The Sapphires + Worksheet 9: The rise of tattoo remorse + Worksheet 10: Sexting + Worksheet 11: Does My Head Look Big in This? + Worksheet 12: Tiffs tagged as bullying + Worksheet 13: Big cat kingdom + Worksheet 14: How Facebook can land you in jail

Revision activity for Ruth Park’s novel, Playing Beatie Bow. Students decide if the statements about the text are true or false.

Possibly the most traumatised character in Stasiland, Frau Paul carries guilt and shame. The irony, as Anna Funder points out, is that others see her as a hero for standing by her principles despite Stasi retribution. This set of activities includes background information, quotes from the text and a task involving collating information on Frau Paul and her life.

This resource includes a map of central Victoria with the key places discussed in the text. A student activity asks students to write the events that take place in 9 of these locations. The next activity provides passages from the text that describe Baringhup and the influence of the setting on the author.

Activity applying the principles of visual literacy to book covers and images from the film, Romulus, My Father.

Romulus, My Father - Activities for Chapters 1-6

Analysis of a book review on Romulus, My Father.

Worksheet for the video, Former Stasi Agents Defend Their Deeds. Includes answers.

The Stasi used imprisonment and the threat of imprisonment to silence the people of East Germany. This set of activities includes information on imprisonment in East Germany, extracts from the text and an activity requiring students to make a mind map from the information provided.

Worksheet to accompany a 9-minute 2009 news item from Deutsche Welle television on efforts by the German Ministry of Information to piece together destroyed East German Stasi files and to allow citizens to access their files. Excellent resource for the teaching of the text, Stasiland.

Like Alice, Anna falls through the rabbit hole into the strange world of Berlin in 1990 and into the world of people’s memories of East Germany, 1945-1989. As a stranger in a strange land, she must question everything she thought was real to make sense of a society where suspicion, surveillance, double-speak and danger govern everyones life. This resource provides background on Anna Funder as author and as a character in her own text. It provides passages from the text and activities relating to the background and character of Anna.

Activity using the principles of visual literacy to analyse 6 different covers to the English language editions to Anna Funder’s Stasiland: colour, people, content, critical response and medium.

Research task on Erich Mielke, head of the East German Stasi. Questions focus on using the information gained through research to make an assessment of his contribution to East German society and impact as head of the Stasi.

This activity analyses the passage from Stasiland when Miriam Weber attempts to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin over the Berlin Wall. It focuses on language, building suspense, humour, effects of light and dark, style, juxtaposing the younger and older Miriams as storytellers, and the impact of the narrrator asking questions in her narrative.

Wired ezine article, Piecing together the dark legacy of East Germany’s secret police. Excellent resource for understanding the computerisation of destroyed Stasi records and the uses of these records. Supports the teaching of Anna Funder’s text, Stasiland. The last activity involves students evaluating whether the enormous cost involved in this reconstruction process is worth the result.

Charlie Weber appears as a character in Stasiland through the memory of his wife, Miriam and through physical remains of his existence: photographs and a poem. He is a victim of Stasi discrimination, surveillance, harassment, imprisonment and (we believe) brutality that led to his death. If Miriam is the principal interviewee, Charlie is her evidence. The ghost of Charlie haunts Miriam, although there is evidence is the last chapter that Miriam is at last coming to terms with his death. This set of activities includes extracts from the text and a profile proforma. The activity is designed for Year 12 students of the VCE and HSC.

Ezine article from Spiegel Online, East German Snitching Went Far Beyond the Stasi. the Article supports the teaching of the text, Stasiland, by providing examples of West Germans who reported to the East German Stasi and how information in Stasi files on children and young people could impact on their post-school options.