Books and learning activities for younger (years 2–4) and older (years 5–8) readers

Getting Started

Overview

You may have seen Harriet, a Galapagos tortoise who lived at Australia Zoo on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. She died not long before Steve Irwin in 2006. The book Harriet describes what has been discovered about Harriet's origins in the Galapagos Islands, and where she lived when she was brought to Australia. Her story reflects some of the early history of Australia, especially of south-east Queensland.

One of the most interesting features of Harriet is that no one has yet discovered how Harriet actually got to Australia. She travelled by ship but it is still unknown if it was on Charles Darwin's ship, the Beagle,with Darwin or Captain Wickham, or on a whaling ship, or by some other means. Some primary sources show that Charles Darwin had a pet tortoise, but other papers of his imply that he didn't, or forgot that he did! Over time, missing papers and historical records have been discovered to fill in the gaps in Harriet's story, but more records still need to be found before the picture is complete.

Harriet's story is told as a mixture of fact and fiction. Several generations of a family, beginning with John and ending with Ellie and Zac, are fictional, but they help to show the long timespan of Harriet's life and more of Australia's history.

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Author profile

Anthony Hill is probably best known for his short novel The Burnt Stick, which tells a gripping story about stolen children. His other novels include Forbiddenand Spindrift.

In recent years, Anthony has specialised in writing historical non-fiction for young adults, such as Young Digger and Soldier Boy,which won the 2002 Ethel Turner Prize in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards and was shortlisted for the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year. He has also written both non-fiction and fiction about animals – Animal Heroes and Shadow Dog.

In Harriet, Anthony has combined his interests in history and animals with his skill in writing both fact and fiction.

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Illustrator profile

Coral Tulloch has illustrated more than 50 non-fiction and fiction books for children. She is best known for her non-fiction book Antarctica, the Heart of the World which she wrote and illustrated, and which won the Environment Award for Children's Literature in 2004. Her interest in the environment gave her the opportunity to visit Antarctica in 1999, providing a 'hands on' research experience.

Carol's fictional character, Barry the Burglar, has remained popular over the years with primary age readers.

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Useful websites

• www.darwinfoundation.org
• www.galapagos.to/maps/admiralty.htm
• www.crocodilehunter.com

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Focus questions

Before reading the book

• What age group does this book seem aimed at? What makes you think this?
• The blurb on the front cover says that this is a true story. How else can you tell that it is?
• Harriet is illustrated on the front and back cover. What do you learn about her from these illustrations?
• Harriet seems to be speaking or thinking on the back cover. What do you learn about her from these words, such as 'Wouldn't you like to know'?
• After skimming through the book, what parts seem to be fiction?

During and after reading the book

• What changes might Harriet have seen in the world during her 175 (or more) years?
• What sort of character is Harriet portrayed as?
• What have you learned about the early history of south-east Queensland?
• How did war impact on Australia during this period?

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Acticities

Responding to text

Obituary and epigraph

Individuals

Read the section 'Goodbye Harriet' farewelling Harriet at the start of the book, and also read 129.

1. Write an obituary for Harriet based on what you know about her life and character. See how an obituary is written by finding some examples in your daily newspaper.
2. Write a brief epigraph for Harriet on a model tombstone. Tombstones could be made of thick brown cardboard pieces taped together and the words could be written using permanent marker pens.

Stories in shells

Individuals

'There was a wise old tortoise called Harriet, who was full of stories from long ago. She carried them everywhere under her great domed shell. Funny stories. Sad stories. Secret stories that only she knew.' (p 1)

1. Write a funny, sad or secret story about Harriet.
2. Construct tortoises from clay or thin cardboard. The shell should be able to lift up. See Tortoise Shell template.
3. Keep your story under the tortoise shell.

Celebration of Harriet

Class

How could your class celebrate Harriet's life? Brainstorm ideas and select the best to end this unit of work with.

Small groups

As well as your class idea, in small groups create a tableau of scenes from Harriet's life in sequence.

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Responding to images

Cover

Class

There is a lack of variety in colour on the cover. Describe the colours used and why these might have been chosen.

Internal illustrations

Small groups

Give reasons why these are in black and white.

Select 6–10 illustrations from the book and critique them according to age appropriateness, content appropriateness, information given and artistic merit.

Illustration of Brisbane

Individuals

Look at the illustration on 33. How do you think this does and does not look like a convict settlement? After answering this, find other illustrations to see if Coral Tulloch's illustration is historically authentic or if it is an artist's interpretation without the benefits of background research.

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Events of the past

Time lines

Individuals

What changes might Harriet have seen in the world during her 175 (or more) years?

Organise this information as two concurrent time lines:

1. Harriet
2. The family

Records

Individuals

1. When the tortoises lived in the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, they weren't often noticed. In fact, the new head gardener did a survey which said, 'There is no livestock of any description' (p 48). How can records be inaccurate? How important is it that records are accurate? Create a written report about the importance of accurate records. Give examples.
2. In the Brisbane flood of 1893 the Botanic Gardens' records going back 40 years were lost (p 58). Some of these records may have proven how the tortoises arrived there. How are (and how should) records be stored to keep them as safe as possible? Add this information to your written report.
3. Information was written on the tortoises' shells (p 75). How accurate was this? (The sign was ambiguous, p 152.) Was this a valid way of recording history? Was it the 'right' thing to do, the 'right' thing at this time in history? What information would have been lost if the shells weren't written on? Add this information to your written report.

Oral History

Beyond the classroom

We can't rely on oral history to fill in the missing gaps in the Harriet saga, because the eyewitnesses are no longer alive. It is important to record people's stories while you have the opportunity. Write survey questions and interview retired or older people in your family or community about significant historical events that they have lived through directly or indirectly.

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Research skills

Mystery: virtual hunt through history

Small groups

Using the book (especially the chapters 'The unsolved mystery of who took Harriet', 'Hooray for Harriet!' and 'Australia Zoo') and other sources including the internet, try to solve the mystery about who took Harriet from the Galapagos Islands.

• Anthony Hill researched this book for 5 years and he hasn't discovered all the answers about Harriet. Some of the clues seem to have gone cold but you may be the one to discover them. Create a virtual hunt as a PowerPoint presentation to try to find out 'Who took Harriet?'
• Discover 1) what the facts are, and 2) what information is missing. For example, we don't really know where Harriet went in her early years aboard ship. You could use a retrieval chart to help organise your information.
• Complete an evidence chart to help you assess the reliability of the primary sources and secondary sources you use. (There are some primary sources on p 140 and quotes from Darwin and others at the beginning of each chapter.)
• Highlight the aspects of Harriet's life that historians are unsure about or that are not proven (or, instead of highlighting these, use a symbol such as a question mark or empty tortoise shell).
• Some missing papers may still be found. Hypothesise about what these missing papers may reveal (see p 131). Include some in your PowerPoint presentation, but make sure you label them clearly in an appendix as hypothetical material.

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Assessment

• Students self evaluate the research skills used to complete a research investigation. Adapt the example to reflect the requirements of the research task.
• Students reflect on their research abilities by completing the evidence gathering and analysis template.
• Self-assessment or peer-assessment of a writing task. Adapt the writing proforma as required.
• Self-assessment of an artwork task. Adapt the artwork proforma as required.
• Students evaluate their contribution to a group task. See example.
• Students choose a selection of work samples that they feel represents a high quality of work to put into a portfolio or ePortfolio. Students annotate each piece of work selected to explain or reflect on the piece.

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