My Two Blankets By Irena Kobald And Freya Blackwood

Books offer children a variety of learnings sometimes with hidden messages that are not explicit in nature. The book ‘My Two Blankets’ by Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood (2014) is a good example of a story that touches on many modern day issues (societal issues). Such as displaced persons due to war, emotions that children are sometimes exposed to, acceptance of diversity and friendship. This multimodal text is a great medium for being able to open up conversations in the classroom around any or all of these important topics. The lesson is motivated by the Australian Curriculum learning area, English with the content descriptor, “discuss literary experiences with others, sharing responses and expressing a point of view (ACELT1604)” (ACARA, 2014).

The multimodal text, ‘My Two Blankets’, was specifically chosen in terms of its suitability for supporting the development of students’ deep understandings. There are two levels of understandings, simple understanding and deep understanding. Fitzallen states that simple understanding is being “able to make sense of something” while deep understanding is the ability to “use information in new ways” (Fitzallen, 2015). My Two Blankets emphasises students’ deep understandings by allowing them to express their ideas and perspectives through acceptance and emotions. The Australian Curriculum English states that during year four, students “listen to, read, view and interpret spoken, written and multimodal texts in which the primary purpose is aesthetic, as well as texts designed to inform and persuade” (ACARA, 2014). The author positions the readers thinking to interpret the text themselves. For example, instead of saying the main character felt alone, she expresses the emotions more in depth...

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...terpretations of the literary experience the book provided. From the chosen evidence the ‘planning for learning experiences’ and instructions could begin.

For students to share responses and express a point of view they must have a deeper understanding of the literary experiences that the text delivers. This understanding and learning can be developed though a class discussion with key guiding questions. Marzaro states that a teachers role during a critical-input experience is to “ask students questions that require them to elaborate on the content, engage students in activities that require them to summarise and re-present the content, and engage students in activities that require them to reflect on their learning” (Marzaro, 2007, p. 184). Students learn best when engaged, therefore the multimodal text is the primary source of engagement, the hook of the lesson.