Learning About Australian Legends: Thematic Unit Lesson Plans

Australia is a land that in some ways is very new, as the first European settlers arrived with the First Fleet in 1788. But with an Aboriginal history stretching back to between 40 000 to 60 000 years ago, it is also incredibly ancient. It is against this backdrop of ancient and new that this book by Tom Baddeley and Tracey Gibbs has been created. 'Aussie Legends' shares some of the colourful stories and tales of a number of Australians who fall into the 'legend' category. Written in verse and with full colour illlustrations, this book brings to life characters such as the bush ranger Ned Kelly, opera legend Dame Nelly Melba, cricketer Don Bradman (our Don), early explorers Burke and Wills, as well as tennis player Evonne Goolagong-Cawley. And last but not least in the land where the whole country stops for a horse race in November comes the most famous horse of them all - Phar Lap. Reputed to have a heart twice the size of any normal horse, Phar Lap was truly the stuff of legends, and has gone down in Australian history as the one horse name that everyone knows.

Aussie Legends is ideal to use as a base for working on thematic unit lesson plans. In a middle primary (elementary setting) the book is written in language that will appeal to readers aged around 8-11 years. It is written in rhyming verse and so is suited to reading in small groups, by a single student, by groups sharing the reading (try doing one verse each) or by a group of students listening to a teacher reading the sections.

There are many cross curriculum links that can be established with Aussie Legends as the base. Here are some ideas to get you started, which will then be further developed in a follow up article on thematic unit lesson plans based on Aussie Legends.

Art - create a bulletin board display of 'photo snapshots' of other Aussie legends, or other famous people in different countries in the Aisa Pacific region, using the same format as those shown in the book at the start of each new chapter.

Society and the environment - develop focus questions individually about particular people depicted in the book, and then conduct library or online research to learn more about each one, with a focus on how society views each person.

Physical Education - as a class, learn about the game of tennis (played by Evonne Goolagong Cawley) and organise a few drills and a mini game or tournament.

Maths - create a map of the journeys taken by Burke and Wills in their travels and calculate the distances they covered.

Music - count the beat of each line of a verse in one of the poems and use percussion instruments to set it to music as it is read aloud.

Learning about Aussie legends is an important part of studying Australian history and learning about Australia and its people. A book such as this one provides a valuable insight into Australian culture and is a useful starting point for thematic unit lesson plans that can take Australian learning in a multitude of directions. You might even discover some brand new legends in the process!