“It is only through engagement and critical thinking that we can tackle the complex issues of our human-animal relationship and navigate pathways to real and lasting change.”
(Ondine Sherman, 2019)
These two 8-week units of work have been developed for a Stage 4, Year 7 English class and use Ondine Sherman’s coming of age novels; Sky and Snow, as the primary texts. All proceeds from these books help Voiceless to continue our education work. You can buy Sky here and Snow here.
Students will explore a wide range of themes including; animal protection, family, rebellion, heroism, truth, tragedy, the power of language and how one person can make a difference in the world.
In studying these novels, students will follow the protagonist, Sky, from rural Australia to the wilderness of Alaska – where she navigates the challenges of family, adolescence and the importance of staying true to oneself.
Students will learn:
- To think critically about animal protection issues;
- How the study of English and the power of language can be used to cultivate awareness about current social justice issues;
- The importance of acting with ethical integrity;
- The need to create a sustainable future.
Resources include:
- Unit overviews;
- Classroom activities and lesson plans;
- Opportunities for extension;
- Glossaries;
- Quizzes;
- Formative and summative assessment tasks.
- Animal Protection Encyclopedia
Which book will you teach?
About the author
Ondine Sherman is the author of the Animal Allies’ series (Pantera Press) which includes; Sky (April 2019), Snow (July 2019) and Star (coming in 2020). Her first book, The Miracle of Love, was published in 2013 by Murdoch Books.
A passionate advocate for the protection of animals, Ondine Sherman is the co-founder and managing director of Voiceless, ambassador for Action for Dolphins and director of conservation organisation ‘This Is My Earth’.
All proceeds from the sale of the books go to Voiceless, so just by reading you’ve helped make the world a better place for animals.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.