Snow

OVERVIEW

In this unit of work, students will explore human/animal relationships by reading, analysing, debating and reflecting on societal views on the treatment of animals raised within Ondine Sherman’s coming of age novel Snow.

YEAR LEVEL

Year 7.

TEXT SUMMARY

As the sequel to the first novel Sky, the story continues in Snow, where teenage fictional character Sky travels to Alaska to meet her father for the first time. Along the way, she makes new friends and navigates the difficulties of family, adolescence, and the wilderness. However, just as Sky feels as though she has the chance of having a real family again, a secret her father holds threatens everything that Sky holds dear. Sky is now left questioning whether this secret will mean she will have to choose between family and her love for animals.

Snow explores a range of thematic concerns, including; animal protection, family, forgiveness, rebellion, heroism, truth, and the power of language. The novel has a strong focus on ethical understanding and sustainability, encouraging  students to consider their actions and attitudes and how these can be harnessed to create a better world.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This unit of work invites students to consider:

• How actions and attitudes can make a difference in the world through small acts;
• The power of language and communication on both a private and public level;
• Global and personal perspectives across a range of topics with supporting fiction and non-fiction texts;
• The different perspectives regarding the hunting of animals;
• How actions and attitudes reflect societal views on the treatment of animals.

The novel itself, and the activities designed in this unit, have a strong focus on ethical understanding which encourages the development of personal values and attributes such as honesty, resilience, empathy, respect for others’, as well as the capacity to act with ethical integrity.

RESOURCES

•  8-week Unit of Work featuring  5 focus areas,  complete with teacher instructions;
• Engaging student worksheets and handouts;
• Opportunities for extension;
• Student Glossary and Quizlet;
• Formative and summative assessment tasks;
• A range of additional resources including; videos, blogs, websites, and other literary sources work to complement the core text.
• Verbal, written, analytical, creative, research, and reflective tasks.
• Animal Protection Encyclopedia.

To access lessons and worksheets see the box on the right hand side of this page.

Read a preview of the text below:

Download the full Unit of Work HERE

Voiceless has Loan Kits of Snow (each containing up to 30 copies of the novel) available to  Australian high school teachers free-of-charge.

Please email  education@voiceless.org.au  to apply for a Loan Kit of  Snow.

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