Cracker night

• Discuss a number of special events that students and their families celebrate today that are a reflection of past customs and traditions from other countries and ethnic communities.

• Ask students to create a scrapbook page based on an Australian celebration such as Australia Day or Anzac Day. They are to find images, historical facts and information and present a personal recount of the event.
• Look at The Scrap Album, 'Guy Fawkes Day', http://www.scrapalbum.com/agfp1.htm Students can use the page on Guy Fawkes as a template for their own work.

Student Activity Sheet H11.12: Celebration scrapbook

• Research and discuss information on the celebration of Guy Fawkes' infamy. Who is Guy Fawkes and why is he celebrated?

• Ask students to research Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot on the internet. They can use the information collected to create a fact poster about him and his rebellion.
• Ask students to design a life-size silhouette of Guy Fawkes. They can cut it out of card and add facts by writing them on the cut-out figure. Ask students to draw and colour around the facts with designs representing fireworks. Alternatively, ask students to create an animation or slideshow presentation. Kahootz 3 is an ideal 3-D animation software program to use here. The software is available for purchase from the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) website at http://www.kahootz.com

Student Activity Sheet H11.11: All about Guy Fawkes

• Divide the class into small groups and ask them to discuss Evelyn's demeanour in this clip. Compare this with the way Evelyn was portrayed by the filmmaker in the earlier clips, particularly in 'Chores and punishment'. She has changed considerably.
• Ask students to record what they think has caused this change. Encourage them to look carefully at the evidence in the clip to work out how her problem might have been solved. For example, ask these questions:

1. Who is the other important character in this clip?
2. Who does the filmmaker keep drawing our attention to?
3. Why might Miss Müller be of interest in the story at this point?
4. Who is she connected to?
5. Look at the editing of shots between Miss Müller and Evelyn. What effect does this have?
6. What is the filmmaker trying to tell the audience here?

• The faces of those at cracker night (especially the children) express awe, wonder, excitement and anticipation. Ask students how they would feel if they attended a cracker night. Ask students to create song lyrics about a cracker night celebration, to be sung to the music of 'Waltzing Matilda'.

Student Activity Sheet E11.10: Problem solved!

• Ask students to write a newspaper report describing the atmosphere of the cracker night celebrations and including an interview with Evelyn or Edward. Students should 'ask' the characters to describe the highlight of the night for them. Include some quotes from the character to conclude the story.

• Draw a picture of the cracker night to include with the article.
• Ask students to design an advertisement for Mr Wong's store and his fireworks, to be included as part of the newspaper page. The advertisement needs to have a slogan, an image and some details of the products.

Student Activity Sheet E11.11: Newspaper report

• Until the late 1970s the ritual called Guy Fawkes Night, was celebrated each year on 5 November in backyards and vacant blocks of land all over Australia. Children could buy fireworks at variety stores, and old tree branches and dry wood would be gathered to build the bonfire. At the event an effigy built from hay, straw and hessian bags, called a guy, might be put on the bonfire and set alight. Have students research the Gunpowder Plot and find out who Guy Fawkes was.

• Some cultures still practise letting off fireworks to celebrate certain events. Ask students to find out about some of these celebrations. Collect images of fireworks from your research and use them to create a photomontage.

Student Activity Sheet E11.12: Celebrating with fireworks