Literature to support the Geography curriculum by Fran Knight and Pat Pledger

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Pledger Consulting, 2014. ISBN: 9781876678418 (book) Also available as an ebook
(Age: Teacher reference) Highly recommended. This comprehensive annotated bibliography is a great reference tool for school libraries, school teachers and History and Social Sciences faculties.
Pat Pledger and Fran Knight have carefully selected picture books, junior novels and age appropriate fiction and nonfiction and aligned these with the Australian Curriculum. Each section explores resources suited to different year levels from Foundation to Year 2, Years 3-4 and continuing to Year 10. The authors have drawn on their breadth of literary experience and the extensive range of resources and reviews available from ReadPlus.
Each of the key geographical concepts is explored with both familiar titles, My Place, Are we there yet?, favourite authors - Rosanne Hawke, Bob Graham, Jacki French and newly published titles - Ambelin Kwaymullina's First Flight included.
Arranged alphabetically by author's surname, with a concise description included, this is an easy to use bibliography. Books listed in one section can be utilised by a broader group of students, sharing picture books with older readers provides opportunities for research stimulus and inquiry-based learning. Jeannie Baker's Window is included in the Year 8 topic - Changing Nations. The individual title's suitability for classroom use needs to be gauged by the teacher or teacher-librarian.
This is an insightful curriculum tool for HASS educators. It highlights resources from a broad range of genres and acknowledges the wealth of literature available to support and engage students within the geography curriculum.
Rhyllis Bignell

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