My Father's Shadow

Suggested level: Years 8-10

Learning areas: English; Health and Physical Education

Cross-curriculum priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, with connections to Culture and People through family, identity, trauma, memory and contemporary First Nations experience.

🧭 Suggested Australian Curriculum V9 content descriptions:
AC9E9LE01: analyse representations of people and places in literary texts drawn from historical, social and cultural contexts
AC9HP10P01: analyse factors that shape identities and evaluate how individuals influence the identities of others
AC9HP10P06: evaluate emotional responses in different situations and refine strategies for managing emotions

These are suggested starting points. Teachers should confirm the selected year-level content descriptions against their local program and student needs.

Learning focus: narrative tension, memory, trust, trauma and point of view.

Practical lesson sequence

1. Before: Introduce the learning focus and essential vocabulary. Invite prior knowledge without requiring students to disclose personal or family experiences.
2. During and after: Create a non-spoiler evidence board as the narrative unfolds, examine how limited memory shapes reliability, then write an analytical paragraph on how suspense is constructed.
3. Evidence of learning: A claim-evidence-reasoning paragraph about narration or suspense.

Curriculum reference: Use the suggested connections to select the most appropriate content descriptions for your year level and local program. See the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority.