Punting

• Ask students to investigate information about the Melbourne Cup using a variety of websites and books. Have students list as many facts they can find about the history, people and special events relevant to the Melbourne Cup. They could visit the following websites:

1. Australian Government Culture Portal, 'Melbourne Cup', http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/melbournecup
2. Melbourne Cup 150, 'Melbourne Cup Carnival 2010', http://www.melbournecup.com
3. Victorian Racing Club, 'About the Melbourne Cup', http://www.vrc.net.au/melbourne-cup-carnival/melbourne-cup-statistics.asp

• Ask students to provide one fact each from the evidence they collected as a class. Each fact should be presented on a separate horse template.

Student Activity Sheet H8.7 Horses

• Ask students to respond to the following question; What is an icon? Have them devise a list of Australian icons and organise them into common categories, such as language, sport, food and customs. Think about why these concepts are considered iconic in Australia.

• Divide the class into teams of six students. Each team selects an icon to sell to an international audience. They are to devise an advertisement for television about the selected icon and produce it for broadcast to the class. This can be an actual re-enactment of a filmed advertisement.
• Refer to websites below for assistance.

1. Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) for information on the 'Live Action Teaching Kit', http://www.actf.com.au/learning_centre/title_pages/lia_tp.php
2. Screen Australia, 'DIY DOCO', http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/learning/diydoco

Student Activity Sheet H8.9: Identifying icons

• As a class, find out the winning horses and, if possible, the names of the trainers and jockeys of each Melbourne Cup winner. While they are researching, have students find out some interesting stories about selected cup winners, such as Phar Lap and Rainlover, and the horse that won the 1938 Melbourne Cup named Catalogue. Ask students to evaluate how many mares, women owners, trainers and women jockeys have been successful at winning the cup. Also find out what prize money was offered and how it has increased over time. The students could create bar charts and graphs of specific information to represent different percentages and compare statistics.

• Ask students to design their own Melbourne Cup winner and prepare a brochure about the horse. They will need to name it, list its lineage, and write about the jockey, trainer and owner. They could design and draw the colours the jockey would wear in the race.
• Once all students have designed their horse and jockey, conduct a race to see who wins. The race could be conducted as a quiz about the Melbourne Cup, or a race around the school oval where the students are dressed as the jockeys.

Student Activity Sheet H8.8: Horse brochure

• As a class, discuss the way this episode is set at the time of the running of the 1938 Melbourne Cup. Brainstorm what the class knows about the Melbourne Cup and discuss why it is called 'The race that stops a nation'. List all the facts and ideas that come forward.
• As a class, revisit the list and divide it into either 'for' (positive) or 'against' (negative): What is good about the Melbourne Cup and what is bad about it?

• Ask students to select a side in the debate and develop their argument for or against. Once the students have completed a 1–2 minute persuasive text, organise a class debate on the topics 'Horseracing should be banned' or 'The Melbourne Cup is harmless fun'.

Student Activity Sheet E8.8: The great debate

• Ask students to bring some examples of horseracing reports from the sports section of a newspaper. Deconstruct the texts with the class, looking at the structure of this text type or genre, the style of writing and the sort of information included.
• Source an old newspaper report about the Melbourne Cup, either online or from the library, which includes descriptions of the horses and of the fashions. Deconstruct this text with the class and use the information to create an outline of the features of this text type. Use this model to create a jointly constructed newspaper report of a mythical horse race.

• Ask students to write their own newspaper report on the 1938 Melbourne Cup, using information from old newspaper reports, books or online. They should include the names of the horses, the jockey's colours, the owners, events on the day and of course, fashion. What were women and men wearing?

Student Activity Sheet E8.9: It's a winner!

• As a class, look at some of the colloquial expression or 'sayings' used in this clip, for example, a 'grandfather of a hiding'. Read the script for Episode 8: 1938: Colum to find other examples. Discuss the meaning of these.

• Ask students to discuss the concept of 'corporal' punishment. What is the origin of this term and what is involved in corporal punishment? Ask students to jot down other terms that mean the same as 'a hiding'. As a class, evaluate if 'a grandfather of a hiding' is better or worse than another sort of hiding. Ask students, 'Do you think people still view corporal punishment today as they did in 1938? Why or why not?'
• Another saying used is 'Not a word to your mother.' Ask students to discuss the context in which this is used and what it means. Have students think of sayings of a similar nature, such as 'Mum's the word,' or 'Keep it under your hat,' or 'Don't tell a living soul,' and 'Sit on it.'
• Ask students to create an ongoing 'sayings' file where they list the phrases with their meanings. Students could read though the My Place scripts to find examples more quickly.

Student Activity Sheet E8.10: Ways of saying