Call me 'Commodore' - or else!
Topic: Community and remembrance
This is the student activity 1 of 1 of the Billy Blue learning activity.
Task No. 1
Draft of my story - Billy Blue
Billy Blue, 1834
The Old Commodore, Billy Blue. Drawn from Life and on Stone
Billy Blue "The Old Commodore"
[Chinese export ware punchbowl featuring a scene of Sydney Cove before 1820]
Listen to the story of the life of Billy Blue as told by your teacher
- remember three important things about the life experience and personality of Billy Blue; talk about them with the person next to you and/or write them down.
- think about what it would have been like to be Billy Blue at this time in history and discuss what life would have been like in the colony from his perspective.
- use the scaffold provided to write the story of the life of Billy Blue from Billy’s perspective.
- include the three important things you remembered from the story.
Task No. 2
The life of Billy Blue
Historical sources tell us that Billy Blue was illiterate. When asked to sign his name all he could do was draw an ‘X’. This means that everything we know about Billy Blue was written by other people.
Let’s imagine what it would have been like to be Billy Blue. What would he have written about his life if he had been able to write?
Write the story of Billy Blue’s life from his perspective using the attached template. Start with some ideas.
- Who am I?
- When was I born?
- Where was I born?
- How did I end up in Sydney Cove? When did I arrive?
- Why am I writing about my life? Why is it important?
- What did I look like? What was my personality like?
- Name three things that happened in my life.
- How would I like to be remembered?