Aboriginal Families Today
James, Paul and Aku
Lift Off
Level: Kindergarten/Preschool to Year 4
KLA outcomes:

English; SOSE
Theme: Cultural Studies; Indigenous Issues
Description:
Students view short films of indigenous outback children engaging in everyday activities. They then discuss contrasts in lifestyles of rural and city children, and of indigenous and other cultures.

Resources:

Video: Give and Take Lift Off ep 06B ACTF - Pirili, who lives in the country, arrives to stay with her city cousins, Aku and Paul. She finds
that life in the city is quite different and difficult at first.

See also: A Load of Old Rubbish Lift Off ep 01B ACTF -Aboriginal children somersault and cartwheel down very large, red sand dunes.
The Wheel Turns Lift Off ep 09B ACTF - Aboriginal children catch turtles and snakes in wetlands.
Face Lift Off ep 16B ACTF - Aboriginal children paint each other's faces.
Threads Lift Off ep 25B ACTF - Aboriginal children swim and play in water.
All Together Now Lift Off ep 26B ACTF- Aboriginal children are painted and decorated by adults for the emu dance.
Would I Lie? Lift Off ep 05B ACTF - Yolgnu Aboriginal boys have their faces and bodies painted and dance on the beach.
Give and Take Lift Off 2 ep 06B ACTF - Aboriginal children look for yams in the bush, dig them up, roast them on an open fire and enjoy eating them.
Heroes Lift Off 2 ep 10A ACTF - Yolgnu Aboriginal children hunt for rock oysters, make a fire and cook and eat them.
In Your Shoes Lift Off 2 ep 11B ACTF - Yolgnu Aboriginal children make rock paste, paint their bodies and perform a ceremony.
We're Not Alone Lift Off 2 ep 12A ACTF - Yolgnu Aboriginal children spear fish in a tidal river.
We're Not Alone Lift Off 2 ep 12B ACTF - Yolgnu Aboriginal children chop mangrove tree branches, dig out worms and eat them.
First Day ACTF - First Day shows 11 children across Australia as they prepare for and begin school. Gurrupiya, of the Gumatj clan, is shown in her home setting and starting school at Yirrkala School, Arnhem Land. This is an example of two-way schooling.

See Education Catalogue for video purchasing details and order form.

Lesson plan:

View Give and Take

Watch the part A of this episode and focus on the similarities and differences between city and country life in Australia. List them on the board.

View and discuss

The Lift Off segments listed at left show examples of non-urban Aboriginal children's skills and activities. View as many of them as possible. Discuss what is similar and different to the games your students play.

If the students raise the issue of schooling in non-urban settings it may be useful to show excerpts from the ACTF documentary First Day. Contrast the experience of Gurrupiya with Paul and Aku's school setting in a metropolitan setting.

Watch part B of this Lift Off episode, especially Uncle Henry, the animated feature story. The story is recounted as Johnno writes letters home describing his stay with relatives in the country. At first apprehensive, his change of attitude is portrayed subtly and he ends up staying an extra week. Discuss Johnno's feelings and how they change. What is different about life with his relatives in the country and his life in the city?

Compare this to how Pirili felt when she says that "It's not friendly at all" in the city. Does she change her mind too?

Read some stories

Include some picture books about contemporary Aboriginal families living in both the city and the country in the class library and for reading aloud to groups of students.

Make a large wall mural Make a mural that shows everything the children know about the Jordan family in Lift Off and their surroundings. Contrast with a mural showing what Pirili's country home and family may be like.

Related lesson ideas

Aboriginal art
Aboriginal dreaming stories

 

Carol Allen