Exploring Afghanistan

Australian Curriculum: English sub-strands: Literacy – Creating texts; Interpreting, analysing, evaluating

View resources to introduce students to the geography and history of Afghanistan, such as an ABC Behind The News Introduction to Afghanistan, and references such as this map showing Afghanistan in relation to Asia and Australia. Display collages created by students (as below) for reference during reading.

Students will: Use print and multi-modal resources to create a collage of photos and artworks of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Australian outback landscapes to show the similarities and differences between the key locations in the text.

Shared or guided reading

Introduce the novel Mahtab’s Story to students, in a shared or guided reading setting.

Students will: Begin reading the book as a shared or guided reading experience, depending on the number of copies available (preferably shared reading with each student having access to their own copy of the book).

Creating timelines

Australian Curriculum: English sub-strand: Literacy – Creating texts

Provide students with resources to create a timeline mural to visually represent the length of time the journey took as they read (as a classroom display). Alternatively, allow students to create individual timelines using Time Toast website.

Students will: Add events to timeline as they read to enhance their understanding of the time it actually took to complete each step of the journey. If using Time Toast, students add events to their timeline during reading.