My Two Blanketsteachers Notes for Years 7-8 (Set 2)

My Two BlanketsTeachers’ Notes for Years 7-8 (Set 2)

Introduction to text

My Two Blankets (2014) is a contemporary picture book composed by Irena Kobald, illustrated by Freya Blackwood and published by Little Hare. It was the Children’s Book Council winner of Children’s Book of the Year 2015 and this accolade is one of many reasons that make this text worth sharing with students.

This story sensitively tackles issues of culture, fitting in and migration as experienced between two young girls, one new to a culture and the other girl already established. Each girl comes to an appreciation of their own differences and this text develops empathy in readers of all ages.

Some students may have experiences similar to the main characters in the book and sensitivities surrounding this may need to be considered.

Learning Opportunities

Language Strand

Language for interaction

Have students reflect on the power of language for humans to communicate with each other via one/combination of the experiences below:

·  Students have to organise themselves into a line from youngest to oldest (taking into account the date, month and year of birth) without speaking a word

·  The teacher (or a student) speaks in a language that is foreign to others and tries to communicate key instructions.

Based on this process drama experience, students write a reflective journal entry from the viewpoint of a new migrant who has just arrived to settle in a new country.

Expressing and developing ideas

Read My Two Blankets. Have students consider how the two girls become friends throughout the text and what evidence there is of their friendship (for example what specific words, phrases and images are used to show friendship). Students can make particular notes about the symbolism of the cartwheel and how this represents self-identity and self-efficacy, especially at the end of the picture book when the red girl teaches the blue girl and together they cartwheel.

Ask students to form small groups of three to four and create a short drama around the theme of ‘making others feel welcome in a new country’. They can then present these dramas back to the class. Following all presentations, de-brief in a whole class circle. The debrief should focus on aspects that were similar/different in the dramas and how feelings and mood were created.

Organise students into two even circles as a whole class – an inner circle and an outer circle so that all students are facing each other. Students ask each other questions in quick succession (questions that relate to their experiences about being in a new culture, travel experiences or experiences in foreign lands). After a short amount of time (1 minute), students in the inner circle rotate left and interview the next student in the outer circle. Continue this circular rotation until all students have had an opportunity to share their thinking and experiences.

Literature Strand

Literature and context

·  Have students move into small groups and discuss the statements and questions listed.

·  What do you think the author means in her dedication: “Never give up; make your blanket grow”?

·  Discuss the blurb on the back of the book, “This is a story about new ways of speaking, new ways of living, new ways of being”.

·  Ask the groups to find evidence in the book to prove or disprove the statement: The girl in the park was just as lonely as Cartwheel.

·  Finally ask the groups to respond to the question: Was there an actual blanket?

·  Follow up with a whole class discussion.

Responding to literature

Individually, or in pairs or small groups, have students conduct visual literacy analysis of some pages in My Two Blankets, considering key techniques such as colour, symbolism, reading path, salience and modality.

·  Colour: students can identify the colours used for the characters and consider their effect on the reader (for example red for the new girl and blue for the established girl). Students can track how the colour changes as the girls develop in their friendship and feelings of mutual respect. Look at the locations in the opening and how red has been used as a warm connected colour to the landscape in contrast to the colder pale blues of the city. The last page of My Two Blankets includes more red with the blue to reflect acceptance and change.

·  Modality: Students conduct a close reading of the opening double page spread of the red dirt and how this juxtaposes with the next page over of the pale blue cityscape. Have students make notes on the degree of modality (realism) used and to what effect.

·  Symbolism: Throughout My Two Blankets symbols are used instead of words to show the confused and overpowering nature of communication on the new girl. Have students identify that the blanket and umbrella are symbols, and ask what the individuals in the city are communicating via symbols (forks, planes, banana etc.). Students consider, write and discuss what effect symbolism has on the migrants and what feelings this conveys to the reader.

Have students create a Venn diagram for the two main characters, looking at their similarities and differences in costuming, body language, interests and other character features. Have students answer the focus question by writing in the Venn diagram: “What can we learn about these two characters in terms of the wider human experience?”

Culminating Task

The title of the picture book is My Two Blankets and the blanket in the text becomes an extended metaphor (an idea that is built upon throughout the text). Just as the two characters’ blankets become a representation for themselves, their interests and their story, students are to create their own blanket in the form of an A3 visual poster. Students are to choose symbols, colours and design a layout that reflects them and their story.

Literacy Strand

Interpreting, analysing and evaluating:

Cartwheel says at the end of the text, “I felt warm inside”. Using the thinking routine of think/pair/share, ask students to reflect on the different ways that we make others feel welcome and warm. These ideas can be shared as a class and then students can brainstorm how they can apply this to their own context (such as welcoming those who are new in the community, making friends, including others in the playground).

Ask students to consider the setting of the text. Ask: From what part of the world do you think Cartwheel originates and what clues are given from My Two Blankets that indicates this? Similarly, have students make notations on sticky notes about the setting for the other girl. Invite students to consider the reasons why Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood have kept the text free from a specific location?

Creating texts

Have students compose an extended response to the question “What does My Two Blankets tell us about the human condition and human nature?”. In particular, students are to consider the role of characters in the text – would My Two Blankets be as powerful as it is if the main characters were two adults? Students are to refer to the text in their answer.

Have students research Australia’s history with multiculturalism. Alternatively, students could choose another country in the world and research their responses to multiculturalism. Student research information could be presented back to the class using PowerPoint, Prezi, a speech, drama, video or any other media format.

Themes

·  Relationships and friendships

·  Language and culture

·  Migration

·  Refugees

·  Sense of self

·  Human nature

My Two Blankets explores a range of themes relevant to modern Australia. These include the experience of dislocation, multiculturalism in Australia, belonging, diversity and the importance of language to individual identity.

Exploring such themes through activities related to the text present opportunities for students to develop several of the Australian Curriculum’s General Capabilities.

Links to General Capabilities

·  Literacy

·  Critical and Creative Thinking

·  Personal and Social Capability

·  Ethical Understanding

·  Intercultural Understanding

Although the central character in My Two Blankets appears to be a refugee from an African nation, several of the themes can also be considered in relation to another cross-curriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, especially with regards to the importance of language, land/home and culture to perceptions of personal identity and feelings of belonging.

Outcomes

Language

·  Understand the way language evolves to reflect a changing world, particularly in response to the use of new technology for presenting texts and communicating (ACELA1528)

·  Understand how accents, styles of speech and idioms express andcreatepersonal and social identities(ACELA1529)

·  Understand howmodalityis achieved through discriminating choices in modal verbs, adverbs, adjectives and nouns(ACELA1536)

·  Analyse howpoint of viewis generated in visual texts by means of choices, for example gaze, angle and social distance(ACELA1764)

Literature

·  Identify and explore ideas and viewpoints about events, issues and characters represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts(ACELT1619)

·  Reflect on ideas and opinions about characters, settings and events in literary texts, identifying areas of agreement and difference with others and justifying apoint of view(ACELT1620)

·  Discuss aspects of texts, for example their aestheticand social value, using relevant and appropriatemetalanguage(ACELT1803)

·  Createliterary texts that adaptstylistic features encountered in other texts, for example, narrativeviewpoint, structure of stanzas, contrast andjuxtaposition(ACELT1625)

Literacy

·  Use prior knowledge andtext processing strategiesto interpret a range oftypes of texts (ACELY1722)

·  Consolidate a personalhandwritingstyle that is legible, fluent and automatic and supports writing for extended periods(ACELY1727)

·  Use a range of software, includingword processing programs, to confidentlycreate, edit and publish written and multimodal texts (ACELY1728)

These resources are aligned to the Australian Curriculum v 8.2.

Additional resources and links to other texts

Parents and teachers can build upon student interest, thinking and research on this topic of migration, settling in, refugees and cultural diversity by exploring some of the texts below. All of these texts are connected to the theme of My Two Blankets.

·  Mariannth’s Story (1998) by Aliki

·  The Refugees (2005) by David Miller

·  The Arrival (2006) by Shaun Tan

·  The Rabbits (2000) by Shaun Tan and John Marsden

·  My Dog (2001) by John Heffernan

·  Home and Away (2009) by John Marsden and Matt Ottley

·  Ships in the Field (2012) by Susanne Gervay and Anna Pignataro

·  My Place (2012) by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins

·  The Little Refugee (2012) by An and Suzanne Do and Bruce Whatley

·  The Matchbox Diary (2013) by Paul Fleischman

·  Flight (2015) by Nadia Wheatley and Armin Greder

Engage students in thinking about the topic of refugees without pushing your own opinion. Ask them how My Two Blankets has helped their understanding on this topic. Parents can brainstorm with their child the different ways they can help others in and amongst their local community.

Writer

Alex Wharton is an English Teacher (5-12) at William Clarke College, NSW. Alex is passionate about literature that affords students the opportunity to think more deeply about themselves and the world in which they live.

1