Digital Classroom | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Digital Classroom

Explore Australia's history at the National Library's Digital Classroom, aligned with the Australian Curriculum. With over 10 million items, we support diverse learning styles, fostering inquiry-based learning for students to analyse sources and draw conclusions about the Australian story.
Showing 1 - 12 of 17 results
Woman sitting on a stool looking thoughtful in front of a red banner with the words 'The Sell: Australian Advertising 1790s to 1990s'
The Sell: Australian Advertising 1790s to 1990s

Module

Examples of advertising and media drawn from the National Library of Australia’s exhibition The Sell: Australian Advertising 1790s to 1990s and looks at their influence over time.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
Engineering faculty, interior with students

Wolfgang Sievers, Engineering faculty, interior with students, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology 1969, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-161377160

The message

Topic

The advent of the Internet has transformed the way advertising and consumers interact with each other. Because of the personal information we share either voluntarily or involuntarily online, advertising can now be targeted to a degree that would have boggled the minds of early advertisers.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
A collage of green and purple plant matter, aluminium and perspex, lit from above by a warm, yellow internal light.

Jeannie Baker, Hidden Forest, Endpapers, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-971313378

The creative process

Topic

Writing and illustrating a children’s book involves many steps. Sometimes one person takes on both tasks, while at other times an author and an illustrator work together to bring a story to life.

English
Year 4
Literature and writing
simpson washer flyer

Simpson (Firm) (issuing body.) (1950). Hooray! It's washday! - my day off!. [Australia] Simpson

Selling modernity

Topic

The postwar era saw advertising reflect notions of the ideal Australian home, of masculinity and feminine beauty and of health.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
A black and white portrait photo of an elderly woman with short white, wavy hair wearing a black roll neck jumper and a small floral brooch just below the collar, with her interlaced fingers resting in the foreground.

Jacqueline Mitelman, Portrait of Judith Wright, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136372491

Poetry: Judith Wright - 'Bora Ring'

Topic

These activities introduce students to the poem Bora Ring, as well as to the poem’s background and author. They also develop students’ understanding of how an author’s perspective can change and enhance the meaning of a text.

English
Year 7
Literature and writing
A photo of a map of Victoria with pastel colour shaded areas of green, pink, purple, orange and yellow

George Philip & Son, Victoria, 1885, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232528783

Literature: Joan Lindsay - 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'

Topic

This activity provides students with context and background information about the physical location and cultural environment in which Picnic at Hanging Rock is set.

English
Year 7
Literature and writing
Cover of book All Among the Fairies

Ethel Jackson Morris, All among the fairies, 1909, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-22387121

Imagination and fantasy

Topic

Authors and illustrators of children’s books bring imaginary and distorted worlds to life, creating works inhabited by curious creatures and magical beings. These works include fairy tales and fantasy books.

English
Year 4
Literature and writing
fan depicting king parrot eating an Arnott's cracker

[Food industry - biscuits and cakes : trade catalogues ephemera collected by the National Library of Australia], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-84640628

Iconic brands and early ads

Topic

Advertising campaigns for iconic Australian brands and early ads.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
Cover of book Us Three Outback

Ruth Hawker & Nora Young, Us three outback, 1932, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3589536

Family, friends and identity

Topic

Children develop their sense of self through relationships with friends and families. Many early Australian children’s novels depict families on the move from Britain to Australia. Some struggled to establish a life in the harsh outback.

English
Year 4
Literature and writing
Poster for movie Storm Boy

(1976), Every year has its special film - this year it's... [picture] : Storm Boy, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-133752089

Environment and animals

Topic

Authors have used the beauty, harshness and problems of our land to tell their stories, often basing their stories in familiar locations and using their reaction to a particular environment as the central theme.

English
Year 4
Literature and writing
Colourful Billy Tea advertisement

(1930). The famous Billy Tea : with the distinctive flavour, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138235161

Cup of Tea?

Topic

British tea culture, imported with the arrival of the British in Australia in 1788, has been adapted by Australians into something distinct from its roots. One of the key early differences is the use of the ‘billy’, a lightweight metal can used most commonly for boiling water or cooking over a campfire.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
A yellowed typewritten page saying 'Foreword' and some hand written words saying 'or both?' next to fact or fiction.

Joan Lindsay & Andrew Fabinyi, Typescripts, [ca. 1967], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-573778720

Cultural perspectives in literature

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: English for Year 7 students. The module is designed to introduce students to a variety of texts on the theme of cultural perspectives and to enable them to understand how authors, poets and cartoonists reflect their own cultural perspectives through their chosen medium.

English
Year 7
Literature and writing

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