Exploring the 2014 CBCA Short List

Introduction and advice on using the 2014 teachers' guide

‘Exploring the CBCA Short List’ is again provided as a concise teaching resource online.

Literature from contemporary authors and illustrators is a powerful tool for teaching. Using especially selected Australian titles in your classroom adds authenticity and excitement to discovering literature at all ages and stages of learning. Our 2014 Guide offers rich learning in a collection with activities for students from Foundation to Year 8 that cover 160 content descriptions of the Australian Curriculum: English with links to Art, Geography, History, Mathematics and Science.

We hope you'll agree, when you come to use these materials to support the discovery of new books in class, that every unit of work in this guide pays a compliment to the book and all the love and work and imagination each book holds and shares.

A note on the Older Readers category: A number of titles across categories (Younger Readers, Information Books) are suitable for older readers (Year levels 6–8), while most 2014 shortlisted titles for Older Readers are suitable for young adult readers (they have referring links to publisher's pages).

Supporting the Australian curriculum online

The guide has links to more than 160 content descriptions of the Australian Curriculum: English; to relevant year levels, and extends those links to Art, HASS, Mathematics and Science. The hover text on links tells you at a glance the Year level for curriculum codes (and additional information about websites, etc). Curriculum content descriptions for activities function both to underpin and extend the activities, and to support your teaching to curriculum. Links are also provided where teaching units address cross-curriculum priorities in themes. Links for NSW teachers correspond to outcomes in NSW syllabuses for the Australian Curriculum (the code contains the Stage level, such as Stage 3 in EN3-3A).

Year levels in units (and Stages)

Year levels for activities range across two to three adjacent years in each unit, enabling you to choose levels or content descriptions appropriate to individual students. The Australian Curriculum website has good information on the implications for teaching assessment and reporting which can be used to further support the use of teaching activities and the practice of differentiation in teaching.

The learning journey in 2014

While the three Australian Curriculum: English strands of Literature, Literacy and Language are covered, a more flexible approaches used with headings for activities under:

  • Field and context (Building field knowledge and Exploring the context of the text, which can include links from across curriculum areas)
  • Responding and exploring (Responding to the text and Exploring plot character and setting, in fiction, and Creating texts in non-fiction)
  • Examining (Examining text structure and organisation, Examining grammar and Examining visual and multimodal features when relevant)

Literature in the classroom — a broader context for teaching

A Literature Companion for Teachers, coverThe Shape of Text to Come book coverDr Lorraine McDonald, author of the PETAA title A Literature companion for teachers reflects on children’s literature and teaching in a three-part video interview, ‘Literature as the key to imagination, language and meaning ’, accompanied by an essay with contributions from Libby Gleeson and Maurice Saxby. One of five Project 40 ‘video essays'.

Exploring multimodality

Dr Jon Callow, author of PETAA’s The Shape of Text to Come: How image and text work, provides supplementary resources as additional support for educators using the book.

Authors and illustrators in schools

PETAA in collaboration with the Copyright Agency has produced a comprehensive guide for authors and illustrators visiting and presenting in schools , which is also a valuable reference for teachers. See especially a list of author and illustrator websites for contact and booking details for CBCA shortlisted and winning authors.

ICT in teaching

PETAA’s Website resources page has links to a range of tools, portals, repositories and open content for using ICT in education.

Login or become a PETAA member to access all CBCA shortlist units of work and a rich range of other resource from PETAA.

Find Acknowledgments for the 2014 guide — with special thanks for the support of publishers.     |     2014 CBCA Guide Terms of use