A free teacher resource created by Blacklines Publications, 4th January 2011

© Blacklines Publications 2011 www.criticalclassroom.com

Introduction

Many classrooms in the first weeks of the Australian school year will celebrate, commemorate or remember the 26th of

January as Australia Day. However, not all of your students will be in a celebration mood as they may see the 26th of

January as Invasion Day and/or Survival Day. The question then is: How can we explore the 26th of January in a way that

is inclusive and recognises many belief systems. Here are some suggestions:

● Lesson Preparation: Explore stimulus texts that focus on the activities of your own community on the 26th of

January. You might focus on: People who are celebrating, protesting, and/or working. We have compiled some

stimulus texts in a Google Doc at www.criticalclassroom.com.

● Lesson 1: TUNING IN: Have students recount how their family remembered Australia Day. Lead a discussion

about the history of Australia Day and how it has been celebrated and/or remembered over time. Draw out a

discussion about how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People might feel about Australia Day, using the

analogy of our homes being taken over by someone else. Ask students to consider that different people think

about the 26th of January in different ways. (Skills: Thinking, Researching, Discussing)

● Lesson 2: FINDING OUT: Have students research 1) what the 26th of January was/is about; and 2) what

happens in the school community on the 26th of January. Have students create a collaborative class survey by

interviewing other classes, teachers and their families. (Skills: Thinking, Researching, Mathematical, Literacy,

ICT)

● Lesson 3: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: Your students have used primary sources in their exploration of

the 26th of January. Now they can use their internet research skills to complete the cloze and comprehension

activities. (Go to www.criticalclassroom.com to download your free activity sheets). (Skills: ICT, Thinking,

Literacy, Writing)

● Lesson 4: PRESENTING AND SHARING FINDINGS: Students are now ready to present their learning by

creating a poster presentation. Students can create their own header, invitation and illustration. (Skills: Thinking,

Drawing, Creating)

● Lesson 5: REFLECTION AND THINKING FOR THE FUTURE: Before moving onto another unit, give

students an opportunity to reflect on their learning. Explore how we as members of society sometimes don’t

necessarily know how other people feel about things. Encourage students to explore personal events and

examples where other people’s points of view align (agree) and conflict (disagree). Have students draw out

conclusions about how these individual (micro) situations can be reflection in community and societal (macro)

situations.

Formative and Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment: Throughout this unit student’s literacy, numeracy, SOSE and creative arts skills and

knowledge will be monitored at a number of points. This includes participation in class

discussions and completion of:

● Researching the 26th of January on the web

● Cloze Activities

● Comprehension Activities

Summative Assessment: A poster presentation or blog post.

© Blacklines Publications 2011 www.criticalclassroom.com

Researching the 26th of January on the web

Question 1: Go to Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City at http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/barani/themes/

theme1.htm , click on the map and read the text. Who are the traditional owners of the Sydney region?

Your answer:

Question 2: Go to Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City at http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/barani/themes/

theme1.htm , the second paragraph starts with ‘With the invasion of the Sydney region, the Cadigal people.....’. Why do

you think the authors use the word invasion?

Your answer:

Question 3: Go to Australia Day National Network at http://www.australiaday.org.au/experience/ and click on

the ‘images’ link. What kinds of activities are featured?

Your answer:

Question 4: Go to Australia Day (Wikipedia) the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day, and

write down what the previous official names for Australia Day were (HINT: there were three)

Your answer:

Question 5: Go to Australia Day (Wikipedia) the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day, what

happened on the the 26th of January to make it a day to remember?

Your Answer:

© Blacklines Publications 2011 www.criticalclassroom.com

26th of January - Comprehension Activity

For tens of thousands of years, the Sydney City region was referred to as the Eora Nation. Eora means "here" or "from

this place". Central Sydney is often referred to as "Eora Country". With the invasion of the Sydney region, the Cadigal

people were decimated, through disease, violence and removal from lands, but there are descendants of the Eora people

still living in Sydney today. Captain James Cook travelled to the land we now know as Australia in 1770. On the 26

January 1788, the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove. The British flag was raised and the whole of the eastern seaboard of

New Holland was declared to be now owned by the Crown.

Australia Day was first proclaimed in 1818 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Aboriginal People have protested the

celebration of Australia Day since the National Day of Mourning was held in 1938. Many Aboriginal people and

communities call this day Invasion Day.

1. What happened on the 26th of January 1778?

2. Who first declared Australia Day and when?

3. Why do some Aboriginal People call the 26th of January Invasion Day?

4. Why do we celebrate National Days? Is it an important thing to do?

© Blacklines Publications 2011 www.criticalclassroom.com

26th of January - Cloze Activities

For tens of thousands of years the area we now know as Sydney was cared for and belonged to

the E _ _ _ N _ _ _ _ _ .

In _ _ _ _ Captain James Cook travelled to Australia.

In _ _ _ _ , the _ _ _ _ _ Fleet arrived.

They raised the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ flag and declared to to be part of Britain. Governor Lachlan _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ first declared the 26th of January a National Day in 1818.

Aboriginal People have been _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ the Australia Day celebration

since _ _ _ _ .

Many Aboriginal People call Australia Day _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Day.

1938 First Invasion Macquarie Eora

Nation 1770 protesting British

1778

© Blacklines Publications 2011 www.criticalclassroom.com

Poster presentation or Blog Post:

Students will create a poster presentation. Using a manila folder, the poster will be structured according to the template

(see image right) and will contain the following items:

1: Create a Header for your poster

Be inspired by the images you have seen so far (posters, logos, protest signs) and

be inspired by New South Wales student Jessie Du’s winning entry in the Australia

Day 2010 Doodle for Google competition (see image below) and create a header

about 26th of January. Think about what images you might include.

2. Create an invitation to a family friend to your own 26th of January event

Each family in our class and in our community remembers the 26th of January

differently. Some of our families paint up in Red, White and Blue and have BBQs;

some of our families spend the day protesting at the Invasion of Australia; while

other families simply spend the day together and spend it getting ready for school.

What do you do on the 26th of January? Create an invitation for your friend to

come along. You should include appropriate ‘invitation’ information including:

time, date, venue, what you will be doing, what your guest needs to bring along.

3. Create a visualisation of the survey findings

Surveys can be an important tool in finding information. Our class and school

survey helped us to understand what our school community does on the 26th of

January. On your poster presentation you are to include a ‘visualisation’ of the

‘data’. We have explored pie charts, line graphs, bar graphs. You can choose

one format. You could take time to use colour. Make sure that you neatly and

accurately feature the results. You will need to consult with your survey summary

to make sure you have the correct data.

4. Create an illustration for a colouring in page for Prep students for the 26th

of January 2012

To learn about the 26th of January, colouring-in pages are really useful. Create

a line drawing that is appropriate for the Prep students so that they can learn all

about the different ways that people remember the 26th of January.

This image was created by the Australia Day National Network and features happy

kids. Your colouring-in page may not be happy. That’s okay.

5. Peer presentation of your poster or blog post

You will present your completed poster to your peer group. Your presentation

needs to only be around 5 minutes. You do not need to use palm cards if you don’t

feel you need them. Tell your group about your ideas - the event your invitation is

for; describe and talk about your colour-in page and tell us about your header. You

can also tell us the graph you chose and why.

If you are creating a blog post to the class blog, make sure you save all your

illustrations as jpegs and don’t forget to comment on the classmate’s blogposts.

© Blacklines Publications 2011 www.criticalclassroom.com