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Talking dino - app for iPad

This is an iPad app. Design a talking dinosaur to present at show and tell. Create your dinosaur by selecting from a range of elements such as mood, size and colour. Choose a voice and background picture for your dinosaur. Decide on a name that suits your talking dinosaur. Select a note about your dinosaur. Watch the animation. ...

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Riddle of the black panther: the search

Track down a black panther reported to be prowling around a town. Interview witnesses and gather information from sources such as a website, advertisement and newspaper article. Notice that some of the statements may be wrong and the opinions may be biased. Choose the evidence most likely to be accurate. Rate reliability ...

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Responsible fishing in Western Australia: write an article

Go fishing in Western Australia. Look at how and why laws restrict people from taking certain fish. Identify cases where laws apply: size limits, bag limits and closed seasons. Build a magazine article explaining the fishing laws. Use a model structure and persuasive text to support a responsible position. For example, ...

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My day: Li: level 1

Help Li by selecting the best texts for different parts of his day. Choose the correct text in a range of activities such as helping Li make up his mind about which bus to take to school, and what to choose for a healthy lunch from the menu. This learning object is one in a series of six objects.

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My day: Jeneka: level 2

Help Jeneka by selecting the best texts for different parts of her day. Choose the correct text in a range of activities such as helping Jeneka make up her mind about what to pack in her school bag and what to choose for a healthy lunch from the menu.

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Read between the lines: neighbourhood

Read signs around a neighbourhood to gather information that will help you answer a question about pets. Analyse the information in each sign to work out the implied meaning, and to determine the opinions, feelings and ideas about pets in the neighbourhood. Record your opinion of what each sign means. Review the information ...

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Read between the lines: park

Read signs around a park to gather information that will help you answer a question about the park. Analyse the information in each sign to work out the implied meaning, and to determine people's opinions, feelings and ideas about the park and whether it is a healthy place for children. Record your opinion of what each ...

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Riddle of the black panther: evidence against

Build a TV report for a current affairs program. Tell the story that there is a false rumour of a black panther roaming around a town terrorising the people. Make the viewers feel that people in the town are safe. Examine photos, sounds, witness reports and video clips. Choose footage to fit your storyline. Edit and arrange ...

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World heritage: Kakadu information display

Look at descriptions of Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. Help a park ranger to sort facts and pictures for an information display. Use a model structure, sample text and images to build a description for visitors. Include sections on the park's location, wildlife and cultural importance.

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Ready to race: wheels, jets, tyres and gears

Go to a race track and collect information from different kinds of visual texts to make your kart the fastest on the track. First, add important kart parts and choose the style of kart you want. Then collect information about the time and place of your race. Next, go to the garage to set up your kart before doing a starting ...

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Rainforest: read a brochure

Read a six-page brochure about the climate of a temperate rainforest in Victoria. Look at maps of Australia showing patterns of temperature and rainfall. Find out what clothing to bring and how to get to the rainforest from the airport. As you go, look up the meaning of tricky words.

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Finding 'closure' in Michael Gow's Away

What does it mean to 'find closure'? Characters in Michael Gow's Away struggle with accepting unpleasant truths and letting go of the past. Coral finds closure when she finally accepts her son's death. How is this symbolised in the play?

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ABC Open: Welcome to Shelly Beach, Port Lincoln

Watch and listen as local Parnkalla (Barngarla) boys Darnell and Kaiden Richards take you to their special place: Shelly Beach in Port Lincoln, South Australia. Learn some local Parnkalla words as the boys share a story about what connects their family and community to this beach.

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Where did English come from?

This short video for students traces English from the present day back to its ancient roots, showing how English has evolved through generations of speakers

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ABC Open: Using descriptive language to evoke mood and feeling

Is there a particular place or time of day that you love? How would you describe this place and time to someone to convey how you feel? What sort of mood would you want to create? The narrator in this video tells us she loves sunrise. How does she communicate this through the language she uses? What is the mood created?

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Developing characters with Leigh Hobbs

How can drawings of characters give readers clues about who they are? What are some of the clues Leigh Hobbs gives us about Old Tom's character through his drawings of him? Do you have a character in your head that you've been thinking about for a while? As you draw or write about your character, remember what Leigh says ...

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Ways to tell stories

In this video, student writers Noa and Francis discuss the creative choices they made when writing the short stories they've recently had published. Why might structuring a story as a letter be a good way to tell a story about a personal experience? Why was it important for Francis to use a first person narrative voice ...

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How to be funny

What is the key to being funny? As Tim Ferguson explains, if you can laugh, you can write comedy. Has something funny happened to you lately? Or is there something in particular that you find puzzling or amusing about the world around you? Put your thoughts on paper and experiment with telling your story in different ways. ...

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Hannie Rayson on the Australian voice in theatre

How important do you think it is to hear Australian stories told on stage? Listen as Hannie Rayson explains her early beliefs about where great drama comes from. After watching this clip, try writing a dramatic scene that takes place at a family barbeque.

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Narrative structure with Gary Crew

Listen as Gary Crew talks about the narrative structure of his book, Strange Objects. What are the reasons he gives for incorporating so many different sorts of texts (from newspaper articles to diaries and archeological reports) into his narrative?