Activity: Covering the Kelly Trial

Journalists: Pretend you were in the press gallery during Ned Kelly's trial. Your job is to write an article
covering the trial for readers of the Argus.

• Print out a copy of the Concept map template and use it to identify the key issues you would 
  want to cover in your news article.
• Using the Information pages find information on the issues you have chosen to focus on. 
  • Try the Kelly page, and the Quotes page.
• Using the notes template make  brief notes under headings for each key issue. 

Staff Artists: The editor has told you he wants some dramatic sketches of the trial possibly including Ned, the judge, the Police Constable, the inside of the building and any other action. 

• Use the Information pages to learn as much as you can about the trial. Note the pictures others have drawn or taken of the key players. (Hint, try the Kelly page, the Quotes page and descriptions of what the bushrangers looked like.)

Curriculum Content:

Social Studies. Australian Hiltory.
English. Written expression.
Visual Arts. Drawing.

Age Level:

Ages 8-12

Preparation:

The activity assumes some background learning on the early colonial history of Australia, and the era of the bushrangers..

The students should be assigned roles of journalists and artists and the topics of the articles and subjects of the drawings selected so as to provide a wide spread of coverage in the combined "Edition". One of the artists may like to produce a banner header for the Argus front page.

Access to texts such as Rienits, and Boxall (see Reference List) would be essential if it is not possible to provide access to the Bushrangers Site. It may be useful to provide the artists with a few photocopied examples of 19th century newspaper illustrations from the Argus.

In preparing for the writing exercise, some discussion about news report writing, and the language and punctuation of quotations would be useful. If word processing facilities are available some of the students could prepare their 'copy' using a word processor.

For the artists blank paper, pencils, erasers and black finepoint markers are required.

Compilation of the Edition could achieve a very impressive result by word processing the stories, scanning in the drawings and front page banner heading and printing the newspaper out on A3 size paper. This would also make a nice classroom or Resource Centre display.

Skills:

Gathering data

Knowledge and Understanding: Material Resources

Attitudes, Feelings and Sensitivities: Examining different points of view on the same issue; Recognising the variation in attitudes from individual to individual.

Written expression of views and opinions.

Writing: newspaper report genre.

Thinking Process: Comparing

Drawing.