ACTF News

FOUNDATION – YEAR 2

Kangaroo Beach Teaching Toolkit

Curriculum links: Health and Physical Education, Media Arts, Personal and Social Capability

In Kangaroo Beach, four young animal friends spend an action-packed summer training as junior cadets with their lifeguard heroes. Endorsed by Surf Life Saving Australia, this resource corresponds to learning areas in the National Swimming and Water Safety Framework. It contains eight lesson plans and worksheets to use alongside school swimming lessons or class inquiries, consolidating students’ knowledge of safe behaviours around water.

Light and colour resource

Curriculum links: English, Media Arts, Visual Arts

The use of lighting and colour in television has the power to influence both the mood of the story and the audience’s responses to it. This resource builds students’ understanding of these concepts through a 25-minute virtual workshop recording plus warm-up and follow-up activities.

YEAR 3 – YEAR 6

Digital music composition learning resource

Curriculum links: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, Music

Join the deadly artists from the Digital Lab, on Ngarluma Ngurra in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region, to learn the process of making music for a television series. The factual series Red Dirt Riders features original digital beats composed by 16 First Nations artists working with music mentor, Mark Leahy. This co-created resource introduces students to digital music production as a contemporary mode of composition. The music making process for Red Dirt Riders is explored through student-facing videos which reference the elements of music, theory and processes, empowering students to create their own digital music productions.

MaveriX learning resource

Curriculum links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social Capability

In MaveriX, six young motocross riders come together to form a team, to make the national titles – or crash out trying. This resource draws on the teamwork and leadership portrayed in the series as the basis for a 10-lesson unit of work. Lessons include curriculum links, a relevant clip from the series, discussion starters to prompt classroom conversation, and learning tasks aimed at developing students’ teamwork and leadership knowledge and skills.

Media representations resource

Curriculum links: Media Arts

This resource guides students in examining representations and points of view in children’s television. Students will learn from industry experts, then view and respond to clips drawn from children’s television programs. The short learning tasks encourage students to critically reflect on their roles as audience members and content creators.

The PM’s Daughter Teaching Toolkit (Years 5-8)

Curriculum links: Critical and Creative Thinking, English, Humanities and Social Sciences, Media Arts, Personal and Social Capability

Set in Canberra, The PM’s Daughter tells the story of Catalina Parkes Pérez, a teenager who’s like any other, but with one difference: her mother is the new Prime Minister of Australia. This resource includes student-facing multimodal slideshows on Effective Campaigning, Issues that Matter, and the Influence of Media on Audiences, championing student voice, agency and youth leadership.

Red Dirt Riders Teaching Toolkit

Curriculum links: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, Humanities and Social Sciences, Intercultural Understanding, Media Arts

Red Dirt Riders is a factual children’s series, showcasing Ngarluma Ngurra in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region. It follows young adventurers as they learn about the history of place through living memory and oral histories. This resource includes student-facing multi-modal slideshows with clips, sound files, images, prompts and printable worksheets. It champions First Nations perspectives, inviting students to experience the rich and layered histories of the Pilbara.

Sound design resource

Curriculum links: English, Media Arts

This student-facing resource shares interviews with creatives and behind-the-scenes footage to explore sound design through the children’s series, Hardball. After working through the short learning tasks and video interviews, students can download our Foley kit and create their own soundscape.

YEAR 7 – YEAR 8

The PM’s Daughter Teaching Toolkit (Years 7-10)

Curriculum links: Civics and Citizenship, Critical and Creative Thinking, English, Humanities and Social Sciences, Media Arts, Personal and Social Capability

Set in Canberra, The PM’s Daughter tells the story of Catalina Parkes Pérez, a teenager who’s like any other, but with one difference: her mother is the new Prime Minister of Australia. This resource provides learning prompts for each of the 10 episodes which directly link to students’ real-world contexts on both a local and global scale.

Story building and screenwriting resource

Curriculum links: English, Media Arts

This resource shares interviews with creatives and learning tasks to explore the processes of story building and screenwriting in the teen series, MaveriX. Students discover the collaborative nature of storytelling for the screen first-hand from MaveriX creators Rachel Clements, Sam Meikle and Isaac Elliot, then work together to develop an original story and script.

YEAR 9 – YEAR 12

More Than This resource

Curriculum links: English, Health and Physical Education, Media Arts

Teen drama More Than This (which is M-rated) portrays the emotions and challenges that high school students face, exploring identity and belonging, gender identity and sexuality, relationships, family and academic pressures and taking risks. This resource provides students and teachers with classroom materials including scene excerpts, learning tasks, and podcast discussions to support the framing and exploration of these issues through five lessons.

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