Connecting to prior knowledge
NOTE: Be aware of your students as you work through some of the sensitive content in this unit. There are links throughout to help you build your own understanding of the pearling industry and the mistreatment of divers. It is recommended that you take some time to explore these prior to commencing the unit.
Before you begin, have students create a journal (digital or hardcopy) where they can collect and organise their ideas throughout this unit. Possible tools include PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, Padlet or similar.
Introduce the book Free Diving, written by Lorrae Coffin and illustrated by Bronwyn Houston, by explaining that it is set along the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of northwest Western Australia. Ask students to research these regions and then, using words, photos and/or illustrations, record their findings of:
- the landscape
- the local Aboriginal groups (locate these on either the AIATSIS or Gambay map)
- the cultural understandings of these groups, e.g. their connection to the land and relationships with one another
Work together to devise a class Acknowledgement of Country. It should include a reference to the Traditional Owners/Custodians of your area and a statement of respect for Elders past and present. If students are unaware of the Country on which your school is located, you can locate it using the AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia or Gambay First Languages map.
Help students connect with Free Diving by showing them various real or photographed artefacts such as:
- rope
- sand
- pictures of the moon
- pearl shell
- luggers
In groups, ask students to share their experience and knowledge of each of the items, noting what it is and how, when and where it is used/found. They can record key points from the discussion in their journals.
Students will then carefully view the front cover of Free Diving. What do they see, think, wonder and feel? Look at the inside front cover and note the reverse embossing. Why would the designer choose this technique for this book? Ask students to record their ideas in their journals.
Read the back cover as a shared reading experience, demonstrating the think-aloud strategy. Check if students have answered any of their wonderings from the front cover. Have they developed further questions? Discuss as a class. Students can record any individual thoughts/questions in their journals.
Exploring the text in context of our community, school and ‘me’
Ask students to explore the idea of being sent to an unknown place where you know no one. How would you feel? What would be your concerns?
Exploitation is one of the themes evident in Free Diving. Look up the definition of this term and, as a class, discuss any forms of exploitation that they may have heard of.
NOTE: Be aware that resources about exploitation often contain mature references. Vet content ahead of time and use your discretion when deciding what to present and how.
Read aloud this 2013 CBS News article about free diving. With your students, discuss the perils of this sport and the precautions that need to be taken.
Rich assessment task
Involve students in designing an assessment rubric focusing on predictions and justifications and the use of appropriate metalanguage to discuss points of view.
Then, in groups, have students discuss, predict and justify what they think Free Diving will be about, using all the ideas explored so far. Explain that there may be many predictions to be made.
Responding to the text
Free Diving is based on a song by Lorrae Coffin. Display the lyrics at the back of the book or provide enough copies for students to read along. Demonstrate how they might use the think-aloud strategy to respond to or ask questions of the text. Gradually have students take over this task (Reading Rockets’ think-aloud checklist may be useful here). Ask students to share some of their questions/responses in small groups.
Now read the book aloud to the class, pausing to view the illustrations. Jointly discuss how the students’ interpretations of the text changed when they viewed the pictures alongside the words. Discuss how these work together to create meaning.
Were any of the think-aloud questions answered? Do your students have new questions?
If possible, explore the significance of the moon on the front cover by reading Staircase to the Moon, also set in Broome and illustrated (as well as written) by Bronwyn Houston.
Ask students to discuss how the notes on the final two pages contribute to their overall understanding of Free Diving.
Using the following resources, invite students to work in small groups to see if they can answer any of their remaining unanswered think-aloud questions:
- ABC iview – Broome: The tourist hot spot with a confronting past (03:05)
- National Film and Sound Archive of Australia – The Pearlers (10:32)
- NITV – Pearl Luggers (02:59)
- This short film (1949) could be used as a springboard for discussion. Further research will reveal that pearling happened across the north of Australia, not just in the Pilbara and Kimberley. There is also a history of pearling in the Torres Strait.
- National Museum of Australia – Dangerous diving
- Tourism Western Australia – How Broome became the pearl of the North West
- Australian Museum – Our Global Neighbours: Pearl-shelling in Australia
(AC9E5LE01) (AC9E5LY04) (AC9E5LY05)
Exploring plot, character, setting and theme
Characterisation
Have students develop an insight into the characters in Free Diving using the STEAL method. This focuses on a character’s speech (if used), thoughts, effects on others, actions and looks.
Guide students to jointly create a monologue for one of the characters in the book (other than the diver). Discuss key elements of a monologue and tone of voice for the speaker. Discuss also the purpose of cue cards.
Setting
Have students search for clues in the words and illustrations that suggest what the environment above and below the water could be like. It would be beneficial to provide multiple copies of the book for this purpose.
Theme
In small groups, ask students to consider a day in the life of a pearl shell diver. They can then create a Y-chart to explore what this looks, feels, and sounds like.
Plot
Ask students to create their own story map or select a suitable template from Reading Rockets. Discuss the fact that many narratives have a happy ending while others, especially those based on true events, may not. Can students think of an example of a narrative that does not end well?
Working in pairs, invite students to discuss how they interpret the ending of Free Diving. Bring the pairs together in small groups to share their interpretations. Point out that typical postmodern picture books require the reader to be actively engaged in constructing the ending in their own mind. Encourage students to discuss the various interpretations the group members gave to the ending.
Rich assessment task
Work with students to design an assessment rubric focusing on monologue structure, ideas and delivery.
Then ask students to write a monologue for the pearl shell diver in Free Diving. Before they begin, they will need to reflect on and discuss elements such as plot, character, setting and theme (as explored earlier) to give insight to the life of the diver. Students can video or present the monologue directly to the class, making sure that their tone of voice is in character. An app like CuePrompter may be useful as it will allow students to read their script while it scrolls.
Examining text structure and organisation
Free Diving is described as lyrical, which is a form of poetry that can be sung. Have students research poetry forms, including lyric. Examine Free Diving‘s form and discuss why it is considered to be lyrical. Then have students listen to the song of the same name, written and perfomed by Lorrae Coffin.
Ask students to listen to another song called ‘Sayonara Nakamura‘ by Northern Territory folk singer and public servant Ted Egan. After listening, present students with the song lyrics and ask them to compare both songs by looking at their similarities and differences in terms of story, poetic techniques and mood.
Multimodal features
NOTE: An excellent teacher resource explaining the five semiotic systems is the First Steps Viewing Resource Book, Chapter 3, Section 2.
Explain to students that there are five semiotic (or meaning-making) systems that allow us to explain how meaning is created in multimodal texts. These systems are:
| 1. Linguistic | Comprising aspects such as vocabulary, generic structure and the grammar of oral and written language. |
| 2. Visual | Comprising aspects such as colour, vectors and viewpoint in still and moving images. |
| 3. Audio | Comprising aspects such as volume, pitch and rhythm of music and sound effects. |
| 4. Gestural | Comprising aspects such as movement, speed and stillness in facial expression and body language. |
| 5. Spatial | Comprising aspects such as proximity, direction, position of layout and organisation of objects in space. |
Ask students to find examples of how the semiotic systems have been used in Free Diving. For example:
| Linguistic | Words and phrases used by the author to create particular meaning.
Free Diving uses both literal and figurative imagery. This video may be useful for identifying the different sorts of imagery in the text. |
| Visual | How has colour and technique been used by the illustrator to contrast the atmosphere above and below the water; the land and the sea; night and day?
Consider the use of sepia on the first and last pages. What does the clothing tell us about the characters and their positions of power? |
| Gestural | Find examples of characters who are looking directly at the viewer (in multimodal viewing terms, a ‘demand’). What might each of the characters be saying to the viewer? Students can write speech bubbles and attach them to the illustrations.
Consider the facial expressions and body language of the characters. What does this tell us about the way they are feeling? |
| Spatial | Locate examples of how relationships between people are shown by their proximity to one another, as well as the orientation of their bodies.
On the final pages, who is missing from the scene? |
Ask students to create freeze frames of different events in the book, demonstrating how the use of gestural and spatial awareness can create meaning.
Using semiotic terms, ask students to consider:
- How feelings such as fear, loneliness, isolation and sadness, as well as concepts of beauty and wonder, have been created through the words and the pictures in the text.
- How the illustrator has subtly indicated that the diver has died.
Examining grammar and vocabulary
Have students create a word wall listing topic vocabulary from Free Diving, as well as any new words found in their research.
Rich assessment task
Involve students in designing an assessment rubric focusing on text structure, imagery and illustrations that show visual, spatial and gestural awareness.
In keeping with the structure and mood of Free Diving, ask students to create an additional page for the text using words and pictures. The page needs to include literal and figurative imagery. Invite students to add illustrations to demonstrate an understanding of visual, spatial, and gestural awareness.
Ask small groups of students to consider the perspectives of different characters in relation to the treatment of the pearl shell diver. Students might choose the diver’s mother/father/uncle/aunt, the Malay/Japanese diver assistant, the boss of the pearling lugger/industry, or the diver himself. Groups should record their opinions before regrouping to discuss as a class.
Ask students to pretend that they are journalists writing a newspaper article on why the pearling practices of the 1880s should be banned. They are to write a newspaper article that outlines the treatment of pearl divers, with accounts taken from the characters in Free Diving. Students may also draw on evidence they have found during their research (see Responding > Responding to the Text). A resource from BBC Bitesize, Teacher Professional Development or similar will support students to complete this activity.
Now view and examine former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples (2008). After discussing the significance of this historical speech with students, ask them to write a similar speech apologising to Aboriginal peoples whose ancestors were caught up in the Western Australian pearl shell industry in the 1880s.
Ask students to consider two questions:
- What would we have liked to have happened to the pearl shell diver?
- What did happen to the pearl shell diver?
Rich assessment task
Involve students in designing an assessment rubric focusing on student understandings of exploitation, letter-writing format, text structure and language features appropriate to purpose and audience.
Drawing on their research and discussions, students should write a letter to the Aboriginal peoples of the Pilbara and Kimberley regions apologising for the treatment of their ancestors, who were enslaved and used as free divers to collect pearl shell for European markets. Remind students that there is also a history of pearling in the Torres Strait.
This resource provides useful information about letter writing and may help students prepare for this task.
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