Lest We Forget

Resources for the 100th Anniversary of the ANZAC Landings at Gallipoli: Enabling a modern generation of primary students to make connections with the experiences of ANZACs in World War 1

Children in sunshine and holding Australian flgs look outward at a paradeLest We Forget comprises six literature-based units of work for PETAA members. The units support the study of contemporary picture books and novels and twentieth century poetry, as well as primary source materials (such as photographs, newspapers, letters and diaries) so that students can explore representations of WW1, analyse quality texts and use them as a model to develop personal responses to aspects of the war. Students are invited to share their responses by submitting work samples.

Each classroom unit of work represents approximately five weeks duration in four teaching and learning sequences, with worksheets, a summative assessment task, supporting teacher resources for background on the ANZACs and the Gallipoli campaign, and links to the Australian Curriculum: English and New South Wales and Victorian syllabus outcomes.

Above: Children at an ANZAC Day Parade in Palmerston NT 2013

Foundation to Year 2

Red poppies under a blue sky

Objects and Memories

Through an exploration of the books Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and ANZAC Biscuits students will be given an introduction to concepts related to WW1 and an understanding that objects can have symbolic meaning and provoke strong memories. View unit >

Years 3 and 4

Old black and white photo with wounded soldier on a donkey and private Simpson to his right

Who Tells the Story?

This unit explores the idea that stories of the same event can be told from different perspectives and points of view. Via the study of two key texts My Grandad Marches on ANZAC Day and Simpson and his Donkey, as well as documents from the time, students examine a range of points of view. View unit >

Years 3 and 4

Drawing of a young soldier: detail from book cover illustration

Changing Contexts

This unit supports students to explore the idea that the cultural, historical and social contexts surrounding WW1 affected the point of view from which texts were written and how they were read. Texts include WW1 newspaper articles and photos, and books Gallipoli, In Flanders Fields and The Beach They Called Gallipoli.  View unit >

Years 5 and 6

Oil painting of vivid blue sea and Turkish coastline looking towards Anzac cove- detail

Remembering through Word and Image

This unit will provide opportunities for students to work with hybrid texts, along with primary sources and case studies to engage with the ANZAC spirit. Word and image will be explored in Meet the ANZACs, Light Horse Boy, Zero Hour and Archie’s War. View unit >

Years 5 and 6

Lone Pine over gravestones at Gallipoli Cemetery and War Memorial

Remembering the Past through Symbols

This unit will explore how memorials help us remember the past, and how these are connected to symbolic images and words used in literature. Texts include the books Memorial, A Day to Remember and Lone Pine. View unit >

Years 5, 6 and 7

Broze WW1 soldier statue atop a plinth with his open hand and face to the sky

The Images of War

This unit focuses on the use of imagery to convey the experience of war. Using the books One Minute’s Silence, The Beach they Called Gallipoli and poems ‘Futility’ and ‘In Flanders Fields’, students explore the use of figurative language and visual devices. View unit >

About the writers of this resource

Photo credits  for images above

Submit and view Work samples