My Place: Episode 24: 1788 Dan
Dan is on his second patrol to the Botany Bay area when he’s asked to capture a
native dog to take back to the colony’s Governor. Only trouble is, the dog in
question – Lapa – belongs to Waruwi, the girl Dan befriended last time he was in
the area. Dan protests that it’s stealing but his commander overrules his objection
and orders him to stand guard over the dog. At first Dan thinks he can pay Waruwi
for her dog but when he sees that all she wants is Lapa back, he decides to disobey
orders and return the dog to her. Now Dan is caught in a trap: he can’t stay with
Waruwi and he can’t go back unless he wants to be flogged for disobedience.
Clip: First contact
Dan tries to warn Waruwi that the marines plan to capture her native dog, Lapa, and
give it to the governor. Waruwi attempts to get Lapa back by attacking the marines
with stones, and causing the marines to be on the alert.
Curriculum links:
This is an extract from the Australian Curriculum V3.0: English
Year 5 Content Descriptions
ACELT1608 – Identify aspects of literary texts that convey details or information about
particular social, cultural and historical contexts
ACELA1512 – Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning,
and know that words can have different meanings in different contexts
ACELY1698 – Show how ideas and points of view in texts are conveyed through the use of
vocabulary, including idiomatic expressions, objective and subjective language, and that
these can change according to context
ACELT1610 – Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different
viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses
© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2012.
© Australian Children's Television Foundation 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.
Useful resources:
Australian Children’s Television Foundation, The Learning Centre
My Place online resources
http://www.actf.com.au/teaching_resources?srch=&Yearlevel=&Curriculum_Study_Areas=&Themes
=&show=55&Search=Search
My Place for Teachers: http://www.myplace.edu.au
The My Place for Teachers website offers a large collection of more than 500 teaching strategies
and student activities aligned to the 78 clips taken from My Place, Series 1 & 2. The education
support material was written for middle and upper primary classes but is also suitable for higher
levels. The education support material includes historical information for each decade of Australian
history, 2000s to 1770s and before time. Other information includes a stills gallery, behind the
scenes information about the production, interviews with the producer, writer and illustrator, teaching
ideas, aligned with the Australian Curriculum for English and History, and an online teacher forum.
There is a Themes section which tags all of the content into a folder for you. Some of the themes
include: Australians at war, beliefs, character, gender roles and stereotypes, historical events,
Indigenous perspectives, language and scripting, multiculturalism, politics, relationships and social
order and education. The website also lists other aligned resources and provides hyperlinks to more
than 360 annotated websites, and the curriculum digital objects from The Learning Federation (TLF).
The Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) – www.actf.com.au/education distributes
the TV series to schools and has produced a DVD Rom containing all of the content of the My Place
for Teachers website plus 120 Media Literacy teaching strategies, and a whole section on
Geography aligned with the Australian Curriculum.
ABC3 – My Place
http://www.abc.net.au/abc3/myplace/
‘The Rabbits’ by John Marsden & Shaun Tan
http://www.thearrival.com.au/downloads/TG_TheRabbits.pdf
This picture book for middle and upper primary contemplates the same theme of
invasion/settlement. Nancy Mortimer has provided nine pages of teacher notes for this resource.
She considers the alternative interpretations of the images and lists other sophisticated allegories
and picture books.
A review of ‘The Rabbits’ by John Marsden & Shaun Tan
http://www.kaycarroll.org/uploads/3/0/4/6/3046475/picture_pedagogyfinish.pdf
Dr Kay Carroll from the Australian Catholic University provides 24 pages of teacher notes for using
this resource. Her focus is on using picture books to teach History in the middle and upper primary
years.
Visual Literacy – K-8
http://k-8visual.info/
This site provides a definition of visual literacy and a host of examples. It also has some ideas about
assessing students’ visual literacy capabilities.
Teaching Tips: Reading comprehension strategies
http://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes/1777
This website harvests and brings together reading comprehension strategies suitable for
primary/middle years classes.
© Australian Children's Television Foundation 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.
This is an extract from the Australian Curriculum V3.0: English
ACELT1610 – Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can
lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses
© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2012
Teaching activity A: Pre-reading and reading activity
Anticipation guide – five provocations:
Resources:
o Student activity sheet 35.1: Anticipation guide (enough copies for individual or
small groups)
o Student activity sheet 35.2: 1778: Barangaroo
o A copy of My Place by Nadia Whealtley and Donna Rawlins
1. Initiate a class discussion on the theme ‘belonging’. Have students consider different
perspectives of ‘belonging’: global, public, private, community, and personal. The discussion
may also include aspects of physical, spiritual, emotional, cultural and historical ‘belonging’.
2. As a class, view the clip, First contact (My Place, Episode 24, 1778 Dan) and discuss how
evidence of ‘belonging’ and ‘not belonging’ are portrayed in the clip.
3. Divide the class into small groups or have them work individually. Each individual student
should have a copy of Student activity sheet 35.1: Anticipation guide. As a small group
have students discuss the five provocations and come to a consensus of understanding for
each question. As individuals, the students can respond on the activity sheet to the
provocations.
4. Ask students to sit in circle to discuss the main ideas raised in the anticipation guide. The
purpose of an anticipation guide is to prepare the students for reading and for multiple points of
interpretation.
5. As a class, introduce and read the story of Barangaroo in the picture book, My Place, by Nadia
Wheatley and Donna Rawlins. Discuss with students how Barangaroo would interpret
‘belonging’. Have students reflect on the similarities and differences of their own and
Barangaroo’s ideas about ‘belonging’.
6. Distribute Student activity sheet 35.2: 1778: Barangaroo (one copy for each student) and
have students individually complete the questions.
© Australian Children's Television Foundation 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.
This is an extract from the Australian Curriculum V3.0: English
ACELT1610 – Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can
lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses
ACELT1608 – Identify aspects of literary texts that convey details or information about particular social,
cultural and historical contexts
ACELA1512 – Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning, and know that
words can have different meanings in different contexts
© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2012
Teaching activity B: Responding activity
Traffic light viewing questions:
Resources:
 Student activity sheet 35.3: Traffic light viewing questions (red, orange and green)
 One pair of scissors per group
1. Divide the class into groups of four and ask them to complete the comprehension questions on
Student activity sheet 35.3: Traffic light viewing questions. Provide each student with a copy of
the text, 1778 Barangaroo, from the book My Place. You may wish to project the text onto a screen
for viewing by the class, or provide copies of the book to the class. Allow students to re-read to
build familiarity with the text.
2. Distribute the ‘red’ coloured questions to each group. Have students cut the sheet into four strips so
each student has their own question. Red questions are ‘stop right there questions’; have students
re-read the text and ‘stop’ when they find the answer. The answers are explicit in the text. As each
student in the group will have a different question, students also need to discuss their questions and
answers with their group members. As a class, evaluate responses to the red questions.
3. Distribute the ‘orange’ coloured questions to each group. Have students cut the sheet into four
strips so each student has their own question. Orange questions are ‘arrange a connection
questions’ (a play on the word ‘orange/arrange’); have students re-read the text and find two points
of meaning and ‘arrange a connection’ to make a new meaning from the text. The answers are
implicit in the text. The focus is on forming judgements about the characters in the text. As each
student in the group will have a different question, students also need to discuss their questions and
answers with their group members. As a class, evaluate responses to the orange questions.
4. Distribute the ‘green’ coloured questions to each group. Have students cut the sheet into four strips
so each student has their own question. Green questions require students to ‘go beyond the text’;
students have to connect the ideas in the text to ideas in the real world. The answers are not in the
text but they are consistent with it. As each student in the group will have a different question,
students also need to discuss their questions and answers with their group members. As a class,
evaluate responses to the green questions. The focus is on understandings of culture and society
from a different time period.
© Australian Children's Television Foundation 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.
This is an extract from the Australian Curriculum V3.0: English
ACELT1610 – Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can
lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses
ACELT1608 – Identify aspects of literary texts that convey details or information about particular social,
cultural and historical contexts
ACELA1512 – Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning, and know that
words can have different meanings in different contexts
© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2012
Teaching activity C: Viewing and responding activity
Monitoring viewing through thinking about context
Resources:
 Clip: First contact (My Place, Episode 24: 1788 Dan)
 Student activity sheet 34.4: Still sequence (1 copy printed on single-sided A4 paper
per class)
 Sheets of card, stuck together to make 300cm x 15cm (one per class)
 Glue stick
 Three colours of post-it notes – approximately 20 of each colour (if using paper version)
1. As a class, view the clip, uninterrupted. The purpose of an uninterrupted viewing is to allow the
students to build knowledge of the context. You may wish to play the clip more than once.
Have the class identify the characters, the scene/s and what happens, and discuss the
relationship of the clip to what may have actually happened in 1788.
2. Arrange students into a large circle, sitting on the floor. Give each student a copy of one of the
still shots from Student activity sheet 35.4: Still sequence. As a class, discuss [i] the shot
sequence; [ii] what action is evident form the sequence; and, [iii] what dialogue was spoken.
3. Have students negotiate the sequencing of their still shots on the large strip of card. Once
agreement is reached, replay the clip so that the students can confirm their placements. This
process may take a few viewings to ensure similar shots are differentiated.
4. Ask the students to ‘think aloud’ to demonstrate how they monitor their viewing of each screen
shot. Focus on links to particular social, cultural and historical contexts. Students should also
compare this clips to what happens in the clip ‘My Place: 1788 Waruwi, The Encounter’.
a. Social context = a very specific context, usually particular to a smaller group of people,
for example of a social group of teenagers, habits of one particular family, etc.
b. Cultural context = a more general habit of an entire cultural group, for example,
Indigenous culture or European culture.
c. Historical context = context from a previous time that is no longer identified as being
‘regular’ in the current time, for example, having young children as servants/cabin
boys.
5. For example, the students might say:
a. Social context - ‘It looked like Captain Roberts had white cuffs on his blazer and lesser
© Australian Children's Television Foundation 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.
ranking marines had coloured cuffs.’
b. Cultural context – ‘Europeans feel a need to own nature, to have it in their possession.
Indigenous people belong to the land.’
c. Historical context – ‘In this historical time, there was no electricity, so cooking is done
outdoors with an outdoor fire pit.’
6. If using paper, use one colour paper for each of the contexts (social, cultural and historical). If
using the interactive whiteboard, use a different coloured font. Students in the circle are
encouraged to add to the discussion, especially if their interpretation of an event differs. The
teacher’s purpose is to create a safe space for conversations about points of difference.
© Australian Children's Television Foundation 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.
This is an extract from the Australian Curriculum V3.0: English
ACELT1610 – Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can
lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses
© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2012
Teaching activity D: Exploring activity
Identifying the big ideas and supporting detail:
Resources:
 Clip: First contact (My Place, Episode 24: 1788 Dan)
 Student activity sheet 35.4: Still sequence
 Student activity sheet 35.5: Big ideas and supporting detail
 ‘talking’ ball (any special ball that can be passed around to indicate who is talking)
1. Have the class sit in circle on the floor. Explain that the ‘talking’ ball will be passed around from
student to student at random. As each student gets the talking ball, they are to recount (in
sequence) the ‘First Contact’ clip. For example, the teacher might start: ‘The clip opens with
Captain Roberts asking Dan if a native dog was following him back from the creek.’ The
teacher then passes the ‘talking ball’ to a student who continues to recount the next event or
dialogue. Continue until all students make at least one contribution. The purpose is to build
familiarity with the clip and encourage students to articulate their understandings. It also
focuses them on minor details of the plot.
2. Display the sequenced screen shots from the previous activity (refer to Student activity sheet
35.4: Still sequence).
3. As a class, discuss their understanding of what is required for ‘big ideas and supporting detail’.
Review the sequenced screen shots and nominate which event/dialogue was a ‘big idea’ and
which was ‘supporting detail’. Glue the arrows onto the strip and annotate justification (as
supplied via the discussion with students). The arrows are included on Student activity sheet
35.5: Big ideas and supporting detail. For example:
a. Big idea (red double headed arrow 1) = Waruwi and Dan are forming a friendship
despite their language and lifestyle differences.
b. Supporting detail (green single headed arrow 1) = Waruwi teases Dan about the
way the marines march.
4. Initiate a class discussion about the author’s purpose for this sequence of ‘big ideas and
supporting details’. The focus is on the theme of ‘belonging’ and how it varies across social and
cultural groups. Students may also refer to their understandings from Barangaroo’s recount in
the My Place book.
© Australian Children's Television Foundation 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.
This is an extract from the Australian Curriculum V3.0: English
ACELA1512 – Understand the use of vocabulary to express greater precision of meaning, and know that
words can have different meanings in different contexts
© Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2012
Teaching activity E: Applying activity
Connections:
Resources:
 Student activity sheet 35.6a: Text to self (one A3 copy per class)
 Student activity sheet 35.6b: Text to world (one A3 copy per class)
 Student activity sheet 35.6c: Text to text (one A3 copy per class)
 Student activity sheet 35.1: Anticipation guide
 3 x coloured ‘post-it notes’, one of each colour for each student
 Glue stick if not using sticky post-it notes
1. Ask students to sit in a circle on the floor. Using Student activity sheet 35.6a: Text-to-self
ask students to think about how the First contact clip text connects to them. Text-to-self
connections occur when students link the ideas in the clip to their own lives. For example, ‘I
remember when I told Mum I needed a soccer ball and she said ‘need?’ or ‘would like?’. She
wanted me to understand there’s a difference between ‘needing’ and ‘liking’ something. Tell
students to share their explanation with a partner. Once students have rehearsed their
explanation with a partner, have the students write their individual contribution on one of the
coloured post-it notes. Once everyone has something to contribute, the teacher invites each
student to announce their connection and glue their contribution to the activity sheet. Allow
discussion to bring out the divergent viewpoints and points of connection.
2. Repeat the same activity for Student activity sheet 35.6b: Text-to-world. Text-to-world
connections occur when students link the ideas in the clip to world knowledge. For example,
‘Dogs sniff people to remember who they are.’
3. Repeat the same activity for Student activity sheet 35.6c: Text-to-text. Text-to-text
connections occur when students link an aspect of the clip to another text, for example, a
movie clip, a book or something else produced by the ‘My Place’ writing team (e.g. ‘The dog in
Barangaroo’s recount looks just like Lapa. You can tell Barangaroo and her dog have a close
relationship, just like Waruwi and Lapa.’ As a class, evaluate how the students responded to
the activities. Which connections did they find easier to answer and why? Share and display
the completed work.
4. Refer the students to their original Student activity sheet 35.1: Anticipation guide.
Reintroduce the discussion on the theme ‘belonging’. Ask students to work in small groups
and consider each of the five provocation questions and consider if their opinion has changed.
Ask students to fill out the ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ columns on the right hand side, noting any
differences to their original line of thought.
© Australian Children's Television Foundation 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). You may use, download and reproduce this
material free of charge for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the
material.