teacher resource - museum of brisbane · 2015-03-05 · students use all the evidence they...

THE VIEW FROM HERE — TEACHER RESOURCE 1

Teacher Resource


INTRODUCTION

This resource provides a context for learning opportunities associated with The view from here: The photographic world of Alfred Elliott 1890–1940. The resource contains a brief overview of the exhibition, curriculum links as well as suggested pre-visit, in-gallery and post-visit activities. Materials associated with the in-gallery activities are located at the back of the resource.

The content within this resource is written at an adult level. The activities are related to the exhibition content but are neither prescriptive nor exhaustive. You may freely adapt and reproduce them to meet your curriculum and classroom requirements.

In this teacher resource you will find

Exhibition Overview 3 Map 5 National curriculum links and pre and post activities Years 1–3 6Years 4–6 9Years 7–9 14Years 10–12 17

Study resources 20

Information and contacts 21

‘Citizens’ Welcome’ arch, Queen Street, on the route of the procession to welcome the Duke of York, 1927


WHAT IS IN THIS EXHIBITION?

The view from here provides an intimate view of Brisbane through the eyes of Alfred Henrie Elliott. Elliott arrived with his family at Moreton Bay in 1875. From 1890 to 1940 he photographed life in Brisbane, revealed through a collection of negatives found under a house in Red Hill in 1983.

During the 1880s Elliott witnessed the rapid transformation of the city from a frontier town of wooden buildings to substantial brick and stone structures worthy of Australia’s then fourth-largest city. So by the time Elliott was photographing Brisbane it was physically well-formed, but about to experience the impact of rapid population growth, advances in technology, significant global

events and social change. Like most amateurs, Elliott directed his camera according to his interests. The images convey a carefully composed view of his life in and around Brisbane for 50 years.

Elliott has left us with snapshots of a life in Brisbane spanning five decades. They evoke nostalgic memories of a past way of life. City scenes, special events and family portraits reveal insights into his personality, through a selective view of life in a developing city. Glimpses of other people’s lives are captured on the fringes of his compositions as he presents a unique perspective of life in Brisbane for five decades — a modern city, inextricably linked to the British Empire, adapting to meet the needs of a changing world.

The exhibition contains:• Over 50 large-scale photographic

reproductions organised into a number of themes: Elliott’s family, Sightseeing, City structures, King and Country, City life

• A 12m sweeping vista of Brisbane taken in 1895 from the Windmill on Wickham Terrace, animated to identify key landmarks

• An interactive containing over 40 of Elliott’s other images placed within his sweeping vista, allowing the user to explore the Brisbane that Elliott experienced

• Elliott’s original tailboard camera, a selection of glass-plate negatives and original prints

• A selection of stereograph images, allowing visitors to see 19th Century Brisbane in 3D

EXHIBITION OVERVIEW

People watching the Henley on Brisbane regatta, New Farm Park, 1922


WHY IS THIS EXHIBITION AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS?

Students from lower primary to lower secondary will be intellectually stimulated by the sheer range of an exhibition that depicts their city. This is Brisbane but not as they know it. There are clues to be found and compared and questions to ask, such as: what has changed and what has stayed fairly much the same? Causes of change can be investigated and student thinking extended well beyond comprehension.

In accordance with the Australian Curriculum students will be able to explore perspectives and viewpoints and make judgements about the importance of historic sites. They will see impacts of

changing technology, especially the arrival of the motor car. The emphasis is on the History curriculum but opportunities can be found for developing knowledge and skills related to the English, Art and Technology curriculum.

Students will enjoy the challenge offered by knowing that one person took all of these photographs. They can personalise their inquiries by asking questions about Alfred Elliott, such as: Why might he have taken this image? What does he seem to have valued? Can visual texts communicate a point of view?

Students can develop their creativity and multiple literacies. They can consider matters of light, angle and size of shot, just as Alfred Elliott would have done. A useful website explaining links between photography and literacy can be found at http://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-through-photography-for-ells-tabitha-dellangelo

This exhibition is a record of one man’s life and provides an opportunity to explore the personality of an individual solely through his photographs. Elliott presents a unique perspective of life in Brisbane for five decades.

Brisbane, from the Windmill, 1895


EXHIBITION MAP

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ALFRED ELLIOTT

CITY LIFEABC

MEMORY BOOTH

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ELLIOTT’S FAMILY

EXPLORE

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BRISBANE

INTERACTIVE

EXPLORE ELLIOTT’S

BRISBANEINTERACTIVE


The view from here offers many opportunities for students to demonstrate the following contact and skills from the Australian National Curriculum.

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM

YEAR 1–3

ENGLISH

YEAR 3

ACELA1483 Identify the effect on audiences of techniques, for example shot size, vertical camera angleand layout in picture books, advertisements and film segments

ACELT1601 Create imaginative texts based on characters, settings and events from students’ own and other cultures using visual features, for example perspective, distance and angle

ACELY1677 Plan and deliver short presentations, providing some key details in logical sequence

ACELY1685 Use software including word processing programs with growing speed and efficiency to construct and edit texts featuring visual, print and audio elements

HISTORY

YEAR 1

ACHHK029 Significance, such as birthdays, celebrations and seasons ACHHK030 Understanding of differences and how the present, past and future are signified by terms indicating time such as ‘a long time ago’, ‘then and now’, ‘now and then’, ‘old and new’, ‘tomorrow’, as well as by dates and changes that may have personal similarities between students’ daily lives and life during their parents’ and grandparents’ childhoods, including family traditions, leisure time and communications.

YEAR 2

ACHHK044 The history of a significant person, building, site or part of the natural environment in the local community and what it reveals about the past.

ACHHK045 The importance today of an historical site of cultural or spiritual significance; for example, a community building, a landmark, a war memorial.

ACHHK046 The impact of changing technology on people’s lives (at home and in the ways they worked, travelled, communicated, and played in the past).

ACHHS047 Sequence familiar objects and events.

ACHHS049 Pose questions about the past using sources provided.

ACHHS052 Explore a point of view.

YEAR 3

ACHHK061 ONE important example of change and ONE important example of continuity over time in the local community, region or state/territory; for example, in relation to the areas of transport, work, education, natural and built environments, entertainment, daily life.


ACTIVITY

Today nearly everyone has a camera, in their phone. Use the library and the internet to find out how common it was for people to have a camera like these in the 1890s and 1920s.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q= history+of+camera&biw=1366&bih=643& tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei= 19ZtVPKEKqPcmAWkzoLAAw&ved= 0CCcQsAQ

Show images of a film-based camera from the 1920s and surround it with the following questions:

• In the 1920s were these:• As common as bread – very common• As uncommon as motor cars, which

were mainly owned by the wealthy — rare

• As uncommon as television, which in the 1920s had not been invented yet — impossible

• These cameras were expensive and people had to wait for the film to be developed. How might taking photographs have been different at this time?

The first camera was invented in 1840 by Alexander Wolcott. The Elliott family arrived in Brisbane in 1875. Is it possible one of the Elliott family could have had a camera by 1875?

ACTIVITY

Google/show a photograph of Brisbane Town Hall and ask students if they recognise it.

Show an image of City Hall and surround it with following questions

• Do you think it is an old building or a new building? Why?

• Do you think it would have taken a long time to build?

• What equipment do you think might have been used to build it?

Think. Pair. Share.Have the students think about the questions then share their ideas with one other person. Have them talk about it and decide what both of them think are the correct answers. Then have each pair share with two other people and see if the four of them can agree.

ACTIVITY

Ask students to bring a photo of a building being built. Have each student explain how long they think it took/will take to complete. Review all the requirements for a building. Return to the photograph of the Town Hall and ask how long that may have taken to build, then discuss how we could know. What evidence is left from the past? Hopefully photographs will be suggested and images like the following can be shown:http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/photogallery/queensland/brisbane-city-hall-through-the-years-20121219-2bm4s.html

This sequence reveals that while the foundation stone was laid in 1920, Brisbane City Hall building began in 1926 and was completed in 1930. Ideally provide the photographs to students electronically and have them search for answers related to such puzzles.

Create a display of other building photographs from around Brisbane, such as Victoria Bridge and the Treasury Building. Ask students to discuss if these are attractive buildings. Perhaps they could draw a part of the structure that they thought most attractive. This will prepare them for Alfred Elliott’s photographs which often celebrated the aesthetic rather than the functional. Nonetheless explain the function of a City Hall and what its arrival reveals about the past.

PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIES


ACTIVITY

Explain that when we visit Museum of Brisbane it will be like going back about 100 years in time. We will be trying to understand how one person, Alfred Elliott, thought about himself, Brisbane and events occurring at the time.

These are the in-gallery activities most suited for Year 1 – 3:• History Detective• Travelling in time• Photographs as evidence

Teacher notes and student resources for these activities can be found at the end of this resource kit.These can be printed out before your visit, or when you book your visit you can request a specific number to be made available upon your arrival at the Museum.

You may freely adapt and reproduce them to meet your curriculum and classroom requirements

ACTIVITY

Students use all the evidence they collected at the gallery to write summaries of what they learnt about Brisbane and Alfred Elliott between 1890 and 1940.

They could create drawings labelled with dates and including some printed photographs. Sharing of different perspectives should be encouraged. In an electronic environment they could create interactive visuals such as via https://www.thinglink.com/.

They could give talks or role play in groups.

They could write sentences incorporating certain vocabulary. The form of the communication will depend on current literacy learning objectives desired by the teacher.

IN-GALLERY ACTIVITIES

POST-VISIT ACTIVITIES



ENGLISH

YEAR 4

ACELA1489 Understand differences between the language of opinion and feeling and the language of factual reporting or recording

ACELA1492 Recognise how quotation marks are used in texts to signal dialogue, titles and quoted (direct) speech

ACELA1494 Investigate how quoted (direct) and reported (indirect) speech work in different types of text

ACELA1496 Explore the effect of choices when framing an image, placement of elements in the image, and salience on composition of still and moving images in a range of types of texts

ACELA1498 Incorporate new vocabulary from a range of sources into students’ own texts including vocabulary encountered in research

ACELY1689 Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations incorporating learned content and taking into account the particular purposes and audiences

ACELY1692 Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning to expand content knowledge, integrating and linking ideas and analysing and evaluating texts

YEAR 5

ACELA1502 Understand how to move beyond making bare assertions and take account of differing perspectives and points of view

ACELA1511 Explain sequences of images in print texts and compare these to the ways hyperlinked digital texts are organised, explaining their effect on viewers’ interpretations

ACELT1608 Identify aspects of literary texts that convey details or information about particular social, cultural and historical contexts

ACELT1611 Understand, interpret and experiment with sound devices and imagery, including simile, metaphor and personification, in narratives, shape poetry, songs, anthems and odes

ACELY1700 Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations for defined audiences and purposes incorporating accurate and sequenced content and multimodal elements

ACELY1703 Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources

YEAR 6

ACELA1516 Understand that strategies for interaction become more complex and demanding as levels of formality and social distance increase

ACELA1524 Identify and explain how analytical images like figures, tables, diagrams, maps and graphs contribute to our understanding of verbal information in factual and persuasive texts

ACELT1613 Make connections between students’ own experiences and those of characters and events represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts

YEAR 4–6


ACELT1616 Identify, describe, and discuss similarities and differences between texts, including those by the same author or illustrator, and evaluate characteristics that define an author’s individual style

ACELY1708 Compare texts including media texts that represent ideas and events in different ways, explaining the effects of the different approaches

ACELY1710 Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements for defined audiences and purposes, making appropriate choices for modality and emphasis

ACELY1713)Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing content from a variety of textual sources including media and digital texts

HISTORY

YEAR 4 & 5

ACHHS081 and ACHHS098 Sequence historical people and events

YEAR 4

ACHHS082 Use historical terms

ACHHS083 Pose a range of questions about the past

ACHHS216 Identify sources

ACHHS084 Locate relevant information from sources provided

ACHHS085 Identify different points of view

ACHHS087)Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies

YEAR 5

ACHHS099 Use historical terms and concepts

ACHHS100 Identify questions to inform an historical inquiry

ACHHS101 Identify and locate a range of relevant sources

ACHHS102 Locate information related to inquiry questions in a range of sources

ACHHS103 Compare information from a range of sources

ACHHS104 Identify points of view in the past and present

ACHHS106 Use a range of communication forms (oral, graphic, written) and digital technologies

YEAR 6

ACHHK116 Consider the contribution of individuals and groups, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and migrants, to the development of Australian society, for example in areas such as the economy, education, science, the arts, sport.

ACHHS117 Sequence historical people and events.

ACHHS119 Identify questions to inform an historical inquiry

ACHHS121 Locate information related to inquiry questions in a range of sources.


ACTIVITY

Describe that the exhibition is about one man’s photographs of Brisbane between 1890 and 1940 and ask students to pose some hypotheses about what they may see in photographs taken by a keen amateur in public places. Prompt them with reminders about historical events that occurred during the period 1890 to 1940. For example mention Australian Federation, World War 1, the 1930s Depression and World War 2.

Introduce the idea of interpretation. Use the web to locate photographs of Brisbane during this era and have students ‘read’ the images for what they reveal about the photographers.https://library.brisbane.qld.gov.au/ client/BrisbaneImages/?rm=BRISBANE+ IMAGE0%7C%7C%7C1%7C%7C%7C1%7 C%7C%7Ctrue

Help them to do this by starting with comprehension questions and then ‘reading between the lines’ questions. Discuss and have students add to their list of hypothetical ideas of what that they expect to see in the exhibition photographs.

Students should be thinking about:• How might the federation movement

be depicted?• How might Australian-ness be

depicted? • How might the British Empire

be depicted?

Allow students to make erroneous assumptions. For example they might expect Elliott to take photographs of Federation celebrations and of troops marching before heading off to fight for their country. Provoke their curiosity. Note that they will see the following text panel at the museum exhibition:

Throughout Elliott’s life there is one subject that consistently features in his photographs, providing one of the strongest indicators as to what was important to him — the British Empire. Royal visitors were welcomed by thousands of residents, with the streets decorated by bunting, garlands and lavish arches. Elliott walked the streets after each parade, documenting the transformation of the city into a stage.


ACTIVITY

By now students should be motivated and curious but they will benefit most if they see the exhibition in an historical context. Therefore have them complete the following exercise.

Use the internet to locate images of an eighteenth century quill pen, an 1870s steam locomotive, an 1890s glass plate camera, a 1900 motor vehicle, a 1940 telephone box, a 1950’s television set, a 1980’s computer and a 1990’s+ high rise building. Provide these, without the dates, to students in print or on screen and ask them to complete a ‘think, pair, share’ exercise to place the images in order of when they think they first appeared.

Use timeline activities, eg http://www.commoncoresheets.com/Timelines.php to encourage more thinking about measurement and recording of time.

Treasury Building, William Street, 1895


ACTIVITY

Review the term ‘contributor’ to society. Ask if some people contribute to our society more than others. How? In small groups have students complete this table:

Share and ensure that the idea of contribution is established before focusing more on how a photographer might make a contribution. Have students in small groups discuss how a photographer might make a contribution to society.

Using the Photographs and society table, which can be printed from this resource, have the students assess how the listed types of photographs would be a contribution to society. Then have students consider their own photographs, asking them to mark which type of photographs they have taken. Students record their conclusions using ticks in the table.

Share, discuss and allow groups to change their decisions in the light of discussions.

PERSON POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTION TO BRISBANE

Architect

Artist

Photographer

Stone mason

Builder

Teacher

Parents

Politicians

Owners of big businesses

Shop Assistants

[add one of student’s choice]


ACTIVITY

Explain that when we visit Museum of Brisbane it will be like going back about 100 years in time. We will be trying to understand how one person, Alfred Elliott, thought about himself, Brisbane and events occurring at the time.

Students will be mainly focused on trying to understand how one person, Alfred Elliott, thought about himself and Brisbane and the extent that he made a contribution. They will have already thought about what photographs tell us about people and places, how we can ‘read’ a photograph and how photographers might contribute to society.

These are the in-gallery activities most suited for Year 1 – 3:• Photographs and society• Photographs as evidence• History Detective

Teacher notes and student resources for these activities can be found at the end of this resource kit.These can be printed out before your visit, or when you book your visit you can request a specific number to be made available upon your arrival at the Museum.

You may freely adapt and reproduce them to meet your curriculum and classroom requirements.

ACTIVITY

In their two main groups students share the evidence they collected. They complete list-group- label activities, where they first combine their findings by creating a list all of the clues/evidence that were found. Then they need to group and classify it in some way. For example ask groups to look at their now long list of clues and identify those items that seem to have something in common. Small group discussions should ensue and groups feel comfortable about changing the items they have identified as a result of discussions.

Once there is some agreement about the grouping then classification can occur. What does the group think the identified items could be called? Again after discussions labels can be changed. There is no absolutely right or wrong answer. Given the pre-visit activities however it is very likely that students investigating Elliott will classify information according to ‘contributions’, but they may equally decide that ‘public events’ and ‘private life’ are suitable classifications for evidence, and hence organisers to be used in a subsequent report. The Brisbane focused group may prefer time periods as classifiers.

Now students should have a list of evidence classified into 3 or 4 categories related to the key question of either:• What can we learn about Alfred

Elliott?OR• What can we learn about Brisbane

between 1890 and 1940?

Individuals can now generate a report about the main question they investigated. Reports could be a short written piece, an oral presentation, a short video, a contribution to an on-line forum, a photographic collage or a labelled drawing. The emphasis, criteria and standards will depend on the school but will be derived from some of the expected national curriculum learning outcomes.

After seeing the photographs of Alfred Elliott, students can now update their Photographs and society table, marking which sorts of photos Elliott took and adding in a different colour how they would assess Elliott as a photographer has made a contribution to society for each of the listed types of photographs.




Students interested in the making of the modern world from 1750 to 1918 will find enough evidence about the effects of industrialisation and urbanisation as to be able to reach tentative conclusions about the nature and significance of the Industrial Revolution. There are clues about the extent of European imperial expansion and different responses, in Brisbane, to it. The global becomes local in this exhibition, but, as for the impact of World War One, which began when Alfred was 44 years old, it does not feature at all in his photographs. Perhaps he was just more interested in family at this time than global events or perhaps photographic materials were too expensive or perhaps for him the war did not seem relevant to his subject — life in Brisbane. Whatever the explanation the gaps are as intriguing and surprising as the content.

THE EXHIBITION ALSO PROVIDES MATERIAL FOR LITERACY PROGRAMS.

The photographs offer stimulus for on demand writing, particularly Year 9 students preparing for Naplan. There are a range of topics covered that can be used for persuasive writing/speaking. These include: Benefits of Federation; Involvement in foreign wars; Relevance of monarchy; Use/impact of cars; Nature of marriage; Art critique/review. The exhibition lends itself to activities like piecing together a narrative from a sequence of photographs either across settings or times within the photographer’s life that could be applied to model various digital story opportunities. While there is so much material to work with for creative writing.


HISTORY

YEAR 9

ACOKFH016 Investigate the nature and significance of the Industrial Revolution and how it affected living and working conditions, including within Australia

ACOKFH019 Understand the emergence and nature of significant economic, social and political ideas in the period, including nationalism

ACHHS166 Identify and select different kinds of questions about the past to inform historical inquiry

ACHHS170 Process and synthesise information from a range of sources for use asevidence in an historical argument

ACHHS171 Evaluate the reliability and usefulness of primary and secondary sources

ACHHS172 Identify and analyse the perspectives of people from the past

ACHHS174 Develop texts, particularly descriptions and discussions that use evidencefrom a range of sources that are referenced

YEAR 7–9


ACTIVITY

Use timeline activities, eg http://www.commoncoresheets.com/Timelines.php to review key events between 1890 and 1940. Include 1901, the year federation of the Australian colonies was proclaimed and Australia’s national government began. Perhaps have students locate this fact using other time lines such as http://www.peo.gov.au/learning/closer-look/federation-cl/federation-timeline.html. This will enable the emergence of Australian nationalism to be plotted as beginning around the 1880s. Ensure students include other key events on their timelines: the Boer War and the introduction of votes for women, in 1902, 26 years before Britain, http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/overview/thevote/

Have students add other events to the timeline such as the passing of court decisions to introduce the first minimum wage in the world (Harvester Judgement 1907), the introduction of the world’s first Old Age Pension (1908), the beginning and end of World War One, the 1920s, when motor vehicles first become very common Brisbane streets, the 1930s Depression and the 1939 outbreak of World War Two.

Focus on nationalism. Have students discover who opened our first federal parliament and why we have the British flag in the corner of our flag. Ask students to discuss in groups and then compare findings as to whether it is possible to be proudly British and proudly Australian at the same time. Reflect upon the timeline. Read between the lines. What does it tell us about how it felt to live in Brisbane about 100 years ago? Ask students to speculate what an amateur photographer from that era may therefore have photographed.

ACTIVITY Students will be trying to identify and analyse the perspectives of people from the past; in particular those of Alfred Elliott, but they will also be trying to place events in Brisbane within the wider context of global events.

Students should arrive at the Museum with some hypotheses about what an amateur photographer may have photographed and a range of different questions about the past. If they have undertaken the suggested pre-visit activities they should bring their completed timelines.

These are the in-gallery activities most suited for Year 7 – 9:• Timeline• A question of history• Photographs and society• Sources of history

Research task descriptions may need to conform to school requirements but could be supported by the following checklist that students complete:

Reminder (Tick when completed)

A focused question has been created: eg about technology and its impact, how Australian nationalism may be manifest in local photographs or about Alfred Elliott




ACTIVITY

The emphasis has been on timelines and it seems appropriate that abstract ideas, such as Australian nationalism or the impact of technology can now be communicated on a timeline that also refers to Elliott’s images. Such a timeline will need to be more than a two-dimensional affair with date above a horizontal line and events below it. Rather columns might be used or one of the many electronic variations available on-line could be used, for example: http://www.softschools.com/teacher_resources/timeline_maker/

They should add photographs they consider relevant to different global events to their existing timelines (if created as part of pre-visit activities) or create a new timeline. They might do this by simply adding the caption of the photograph to a printed page or by adding a photograph they took in the gallery to an electronic timeline they have brought with them.

Some students will have been more reflective and generated questions about global events and Brisbane that mean links might be made with the Boer War, the mass production of cars or the arrival of the Great Depression. Encourage such individualisation. Create displays of timelines in real and virtual places.

Perhaps a whole class could synthesise what they learnt by conducting a discussion where the only person who speaks is the one holding a ball of wool. As soon as someone else finds a link with what the speaker is saying the speaker retains hold of a thread but throws the ball of wool to the next student. Debrief by discussing what is symbolised by the tangle of wool.

More formal synthesis could involve the construction of an argumentative paragraph or essay. After basic structures and formats are explained set an essay task that requires critique of the Elliott perspective. For example:• Was Elliott primarily an aesthete who

took ‘arty’ photographs but without any real sense of community or recognition of world affairs?

• To what extent was Alfred Elliott an Australian nationalist?

• By 1940 was Brisbane at heart still an overgrown country town and not really a sophisticated city?

How such arguments are communicated may vary. It could be via a traditional written essay or by an interactive, multi-modal device, based perhaps on an electronic tool with simple interactivity. Students are learning to develop texts, particularly descriptions and discussions that use evidence from a range of sources that are referenced.

At least 6 sources of evidence, relevant to the focus questions, have been found from within the exhibition

A Timeline has been created, to which additional information from the exhibition will be added

Gaps have been noted — what seems to be missing from Elliott’s photographs?

Perspectives identified — viewpoints from which photographs were taken




HISTORY

YEAR 10–12

ACOKFH018 Understand the inter-war years between World War I and World War II, including …the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, but of course they will be understanding these global events from a singular local perspective

ACOKFH024 Investigate developments in technology …during the twentieth century …

ACHHS187 Identify the origin, purpose and context of primary and secondary sources

ACHHS188 Process and synthesise information from a range of sources for use as evidence in an historical argument

ACHHS189 Evaluate the reliability and usefulness of primary and secondary sources

ACHHS190 Identify and analyse the perspectives of people from the past

Year 10 History and Year 11 and 12 Modern History students will find many points of relevance to themes derived from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority Syllabus. The local history theme is the most obvious.

THE EXHIBITION ALSO PROVIDES MATERIAL FOR LITERACY PROGRAMS.

The photographs offer stimulus for on demand writing, particularly Year 11 students preparing for QCS. There are a range of topics covered that can be used for persuasive writing/speaking. These include: Benefits of Federation; Involvement in foreign wars; Relevance of monarchy; Use/impact of cars; Nature of marriage; Art critique/review. The exhibition lends itself to activities like piecing together a narrative from a sequence of photographs either across settings or times within the photographer’s life that could be applied to model various digital story opportunities. While there is so much material to work with for creative writing.

YEARS 10–12

South Brisbane polling location for the 1899 Federation Referendum, Birt & Co Brisbane Markets and Cold Stores, Stanley Street, 1899


ACTIVITY

Review the sort of timelines described for Years 7 to 9, but focus on the inter-war years between World War I and World War II, including the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. Add to the timelines events related to technologies, such as the arrival of radio, talkie movies, the first transatlantic flights and openings of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Brisbane’s Story Bridge.

Show segments of movies, such as The Great Gatsby, for the 1920s or some news film of dole queues for the 1930s. Particularly if the topic has not yet been studied in depth some over generalisation is acceptable at this point.

Expand vocabularies by asking student to summarise all this stimuli by listing suitable words to describe the 1920s as compared to the 1930s. Add these words to a shared glossary, an application that can be found in learning-management systems, such as Blackboard or Moodle used in most schools. Students could also

ACTIVITY

There will be two focus questions at the Museum:• To what extent are our conclusions

about the interwar years supported by the evidence contained in images taken by a single individual in a single location?

• What can we learn about Alfred Elliott?

These are the in-gallery activities most suited for Year 10 – 12:• Sources of history• Timeline• A question of history• Photographs and society

create visual summaries on, https://www.pinterest.com/ or https://www.thinglink.com/. Their new vocabularies could be included as captions on the visuals.

Students now challenge their generalisations. Ask them to use their findings so far and hypothesise as to the sorts of photographs an amateur photographer might take in the interwar years. Small groups make lists of possibilities as long as possible. Then they group and classify the results. Share results between groups. Draw a whole class conclusion to be stated in the form of: “It is most likely that an amateur Brisbane photographer in the 1920s and 30s would take photographs that involved …..” The Photographs and society activity could be adapted for this purpose.

It’s now time to head to the Museum and test these hypotheses as well as find out more about the man behind the camera.



Captain Roy King in front of his Sopwith biplane, Graceville recreation reserve, 1920


ACTIVITY

Back at school the processing and synthesising of collected information can continue until it is used as evidence in an historical argument. The collected information can be sorted according to the year created or level of reliability. The focus, as per the syllabus, is on the interwar years. The aim of post-visit activities is to determine the extent that Elliott’s images captured the spirit of the interwar years as represented by other primary sources and other historians. Some additional research into the interwar years will be necessary.

Conclusions will need to be generated that are still very clearly linked to the evaluated Museum evidence. The usual way of doing this in writing is via a referencing system but also by building reference to the evaluation into the prose. Generating conclusions from the visit provides a context for these skills to be taught or reinforced. Essays can be submitted for assessment, along with research notes. The latter will be needed particularly for Year 11 and 12 students where ‘research’ remains a separate criterion in the Queensland Syllabus.

Alternative ways of communicating conclusions can be considered. Some of these are described for younger students but in terms of creating a multi-modal presentation are eminently suited to Years 10-12.

POST VISIT ACTIVITIES


STUDY RESOURCES

You may find the following additional resources useful when researching Brisbane 1890-1940:

PUBLICATIONS

Lost Brisbane and surrounding areas 1860–1960, Royal Historical Society of Queensland

Brisbane in the 1890s, Ronald Lawson

Brisbane 150 Stories, Brisbane City Council

Brisbane 1859-1959, Gordon Greenwood and John Laverty

WEBSITES

Brisbane Images – Brisbane City Council Library Serviceshttps://library.brisbane.qld.gov.au/client/BrisbaneImages

Literacy through photography for English-language learners — Edutopiahttp://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-through-photography-for-ells-tabitha-dellangelo?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=blog-literacy-through-photography-ELL- blog-image

A selected history of Australia — ABChttp://www.abc.net.au/archives/timeline/history.htm


CONTACT

For more information on The View from Here visit Museum of Brisbane’s website: www.museumofbrisbane.com.au

For more information about education support or your booking, please contact

Education Officer T: 07 3339 0836F: 07 3339 0801E: [email protected]

Education Resources Author: Ian Gray

teacher resource - museum of brisbane · 2015-03-05 · students use all the evidence they...

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