Australian History : Federation and the White Australia Policy

Australia became a country in 1901. The colonies became states. This was called Federation. The first policy of the new Federal government was to make sure that "non-white" people did not come to Australia. This was called "The White Australia Policy."

Why do you think Australians in those times did not like non-white people?

What is racism? What is prejudice?

Can you think of other examples of racism?

Was there racism in the country you came from?

Watch the video above.

Now try this dictation (and find out more about the White Australia Policy) ...



Print out this dictation (fold, listen, write and check)


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ROMAN CATS

Rome is full of cats! The volunteers at Torre di Argentina cat shelter take care of them. Which cat would you choose?



Click here to meet (and choose) a Roman cat you can write about in the exercise below

ACCESS 1 : Read and Write Simple Information Texts : Design a Poster

A LOST CAT

In class we have been reading and writing descriptions of people, places, animals and things.

1) Use this poster to help you design your own.

2) Print this blank poster.

Let's pretend you adopted a Roman cat. Use your Roman cat to write your own LOST CAT poster.

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Reading (Level 1)

Easy Dialogues (short conversations + audio)


Super-Easy Reading (stories, audio, vocabulary, cloze and sentence writing)


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Listening (Access 1 Practice Test)

An Accident in the Bakery



We have been listening, reading, writing and speaking about accidents and scary experiences.

1) Watch the video above.What happens?

2) Watch again.Print and complete this PRACTICE TEST about the video.


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Australian History : Immigration

Look at the painting. It is called The Last of England by the artist Ford Madox Brown. He migrated to Australia in 1852 during the Gold Rush.

Exercise 1 : Discuss these questions with a friend.

Who are the people in the painting? Where are they? Where are they going? What are they wearing? What are they thinking? How do they feel?



Exercise 2: Complete this reading exercise about The Last of England




Access 2 : Information Texts : Report on a Country

Use the New Zealand story from class to help you. Collect information (location, size, population, languages spoken, cities, attractions, climate, other interesting facts) about one of the following countries:

Argentina

... more info & pictures

Poland

... more info & pictures

Japan

... more info & pictures

Botswana

... more info & pictures

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Australian History : Gold : Hero or Villain? Peter Lalor and Eureka

WANTED - £200 REWARD

Name: Peter Lalor
Height: 5 ft 11 inches
Age: 35

Hair dark brown, whiskers dark brown and shaved under the chin, no moustache, long face, rather good looking


This is how they described the leader of the Eureka Stockade miners ... read more about Peter Lalor and Eureka.








The Southern Cross Flag.

This was the flag of the miners at Eureka. How is it like the Australian flag? How is it different? What is missing from the Southern Cross flag? Do we need a new Australian flag? Should we change our flag? Why? Why not?

Flags of the World

Do you know these flags? Do you know the name of the country and nationality? (eg. Australia / Australian, Greece / Greek)

How well do you know the different flags of the world. Try this fun quiz.









Describing People

Here are some faces of the world ... young, old, rich, poor, happy and sad

Download this worksheet about describing people (PDF)

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Australian History : Gold : Eureka

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What is this document? Could it be ... money? ...a cheque? ... a certificate? What was this document used for? Why was this document important for goldminers? What are shillings? How much is five shillings in today's money? What is a colony? Where is Bendigo? Where is Ballarat? What is the Bendigo Petition? Who was Governor La Trobe? What was the Eureka Rebellion? Read on if you want to know more ...

A license to mine for gold was very expensive on the gold fields. Every month miners had to pay about $137 just for their license.

The cost of living was very high. Here are some prices from the goldfields in today's money:

*a pair of socks = $65
*a shovel = $200
*1 kilo of flour $30
*a packet of tea $20

Read more and do some exercises. Click here.

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Grammar: Unless

In the story about Gold the German miner said,

"You do not go out at night unless you have a gun."

Watch this video and learn how to use UNLESS ...




Level 2+ : Grammar Exercises - Unless

Exercise 1

Exercise 2



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Australian History : Gold

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Introduction



Who are these men? Where are they from? Where are they going? What are they carrying? What year was this?

What about the men below? Who are they? Where are they from? What are they doing?














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Reading

The first gold was found in 1823 at Bathurst, N.S.W but the "Gold Rush" did not start until the 1850s.

Gold was found in Victoria in 1851, Queensland in 1858, Tasmania in 1886 and in Western Australia in 1886.

Hundreds of thousands of people came to Australia. They came from Britain, Ireland, Europe, North America and China.

Click here to read more about the Gold Rush

Click here for the Gold Rush Criss Cross Puzzle (PDF)

Dictation

Print the exercise sheets, fold (only use the full story to check your answers AFTER you listen to the Dictations below)

Print out Level 1 Dictation cloze exercise

Listen to the Level 1 Dictation ...




Print out Level 2+ Dictation Cloze exercise

Listen to the Level 2+ Dictation ...




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Online Game




Level 2+: The Gold Rush

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Australian History : Exploration 2

The First Europeans to Explore Australia

A. Read about Willem Janszoon and Louis Vaez de Torres

B. Read about Abel Tasman

C. Read about James Cook

D. Read about Arthur Phillip


Above picture: Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman

Exercise 1: Read the above stories about the European Explorers . Can you match the map below with the Explorer?

















Exercise 2: Can you match this painting with the Explorer?




















(Creative Commons reproduction, Wikipedia)

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ACTIVITY : Let's Make a Time Line of European Explorers


1606 <-------------------------------------------------> 1788


Join three pieces of paper together (landscape). Copy the time line above (from 1606 to 1788).

Read the stories above.

On the time line you should mark :

Year:
Name of Explorer:
Country:
Ship name:
Part of Australia they explored:

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