On Friday, 10 September our Year 8 students participated in a Living Books Incursion. It was hosted in the library as part of our unit on historical fiction. Historical fiction focuses on telling stories of the past to a new audience. The past is brought to life through the words of characters, their families and their adventures; some bad, some good and some very, very ugly. The ‘Living Books’ incursion focused on students hearing the stories of real-life “characters”. These people were volunteers from the local Kalamunda community who visited our students to tell their life story. Students had the opportunity to read a biography of each character prior to meeting them and brainstormed a series of questions that they could ask them during the interview. Students visited the library to hear their designated “character” talk. Upon returning to their classroom, students completed an activity that asked them to transform the story they heard orally into a written story, focussing on creating realistic dialogue. The Living Books were from many different walks of life including; war veterans, authors, local business owners, volunteers and the students showed great interest in hearing their stories. Thanks to Jorge Raphael in the library for creating this opportunity or our students, English teacher Rosie Walker for creating excellent resources for the students and the Year 8 English teachers for leading their students through this experience.

Nicolee McNally
English Teacher