Dawns Surprise - ACT Museums and Galleries - ACT Government

Dawns SurpriseTeacher BookletExtra Activities andInformation about the Program24 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

ContentsProgram Summary p. 3Curriculum information p. 4Information about Calthorpes’ House p. 5Information about the program Dawn’s Surprise p. 6Checklist for planning your excursion p. 6What will happen during the program? p. 7Recommended pre visit activity: Dawn’s Suitcase p. 8-11Recommended post visit activity: French Knitting p. 11-12References p. 13Dawn’s Surprise bookingThank you for booking your students into the Calthorpes’ House education program,Dawn’s Surprise.Calthorpes’ House is a wonderful venue to learn about how people lived in the past. Thehouse was built in 1927 and is incredibly significant as an almost intact collection of objectsfrom the period which, with the gardens, allows students to enter a time capsule. Exploringthe house, in the footsteps of the seven year old Dawn Calthorpe, is a wonderful way forstudents to engage with how the past is different or similar to today.The programs include a tour of the house and gardens. Students will also play oldfashioned games.The following information is provided to assist teachers in making the most of their visit toCalthorpes’ House. Please note the checklist for planning your excursion is on page 6.224 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

Program SummaryName of ProgramTheme/sObjectives:Students will haveTarget AudienceLength of ProgramAvailability of ProgramSize of GroupCostDawn’s SurpriseTo provide students with an insight into Calthorpes’ Housethrough the eyes of a child – how did the seven year old DawnCalthorpe live in the 1930s?To provide students with an opportunity to learn about thelives of children in the past by comparing Dawn’s life withthe students’ own.Empathised with a seven year old from the past and beingintroduced a slice of Calthorpes’ history (1931) through theeyes of Dawn Calthorpe.Participated in an experiential, differentiated learningenvironment – discovery, hands-on, sensory,interconnected experiences.The opportunity to compare the experiences of a real childliving in the past with their lives today.Insights into a way of family life that is clearly recognisablebut different from their daily experience.Interacted with and explored an historic site.Local studentsYears K-2 [Early Childhood band of development]1½-2 hoursTuesday, Wednesday, Thursday30 students maximum as a single program.60 students maximum as a double program,combined with At the Garden Gate at Mugga Mugga.Maximum group size: 12 students, at least 1 adult per group$5.50 per student for single program$8.00 per student if combined as a double program withAt the Garden Gate at Mugga Mugga.Accompanying adults free324 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

Curriculum InformationThe program is designed for students in the Early Childhood band of development and isframed by three Essential Learning Achievements (ELAs):1. The student uses a range of strategies to think and learn.2. The student understands and applies the inquiry process.21. The student understands about Australia and Australians. (Australian CapitalTerritory Department of Education and Training (ACTDET) 2007: 12-13).The program addresses ELA 1 and ELA 2 through the educational approach in which theprogram is undertaken. The program provides opportunities for the essential content, 1.EC.2 asstudents are encouraged to ‘ask questions and look for answers’ (ACTDET 2007: 28). One of thestrategies used in this program is experiential discovery. Students are encouraged to engagewith the site through the hands on activities like old fashioned games.Calthorpes’ House is an ideal museum for young children to visit and experience the life of aseven year old in the past. The house museum gives insights into a way of family life whichcan be clearly recognised by your students, but which is different from their daily experience.A major focus of the program is the consideration of similarities and differences. Encouragingstudents to compare and contrast their lives with those of children from the 1930s. Theseconnections allow students to build on their own knowledge. ELA 2 requires that students‘make observations about what is happening around them using their senses’ (ACTDET 2007:34). The experiential nature of the program, closing their eyes and smelling the polish in theentrance hall, playing games and shelling peas are all allowing and encouraging students tomake those observations.ELA 21 is addressed in the program both in the opportunities to understand and learn aboutgeographical and historical essential content. Through visiting Calthorpes’ studentsunderstand and learn about a significant place in their local community (ACTDET 2007: 204).The book, Dawn’s Surprise, creates a narrative for the house tour and provides a focus for21.EC.4 as both the book and the tour tell a story of a child’s life at a different time period,between the two wars.424 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

Information about Calthorpes’ HouseThe following information provides both an introduction to Calthorpes’ House and to DawnCalthorpe. This may be information you would like to share with your students inpreparation for their visit to Lanyon.Calthorpes’ House was built in 1927, the year the Provisional Parliament House opened inCanberra. Dawn Calthorpe was three years old when they moved from Queanbeyan into thebrand new house in the brand new city. Dawn lived at Calthropes’ House until she grew upand got married, during the Second World War.Dawn’s parent’s names were Harry and Del. Dawn also had a sister whose name was Del.The Calthorpe family also lived with their maid, Mary. Dawn and Del had many pets to feedand play with, the cat’s name was Tiddles, the canary was Glad, and the dog was calledJohnson.In the book, Dawn’s Surprise, it is Del’s twelfth birthday. Dawn is not quite seven. Del’sbirthday is the 29 September and Dawn’s is the 15 December. Del now lives in Queenslandand Dawn still lives in Canberra.The truly unique feature of Calthorpes’ House is that everything in the house actuallybelonged to the Calthorpe family. The question of what is real and what is a reproduction isnot a factor. The connection between the story, Dawn’s Surprise and the studentsexploration of the house is immediate, for example, the pianola really is the one Del andDawn played when they were children.524 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

Information about the Dawn’s Surprise programPlease Note: Dawn’s Surprise relies on the students being familiar with the book, available athttp://www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/calthorpes/pdf/Dawns_Surprise.pdf . Pleaseread the book to your students. You are welcome to request that extra copies are send toyour school.Checklist for planning your excursionClothing: Calthropes’ House programs are indoor and outdoor excursions that involvewalking. Warm, waterproof attire is important in the cooler months and sunprotection is also a priority throughout the year. Calthorpes’ House backs onto RedHill, due to snakes long pants and closed toed shoes are required. Calthorpes’ Houseretains the right to refuse entry to students who are inadequately dressed.Weather: The programs are offered in all weather, some alternative activities can beprovided indoors. The decision to postpone lies with the school. If you do decide topostpone your booking due to inclement weather, please ring 6207 9943 and0423 828 873 as soon as possible so we can notify the presenters.Student preparation for the excursion: Discourage students from bringing backpacksas they will not be allowed to carry anything on the program. Divide the classinto smaller groups (10-12) with at least one adult for each of these smaller groups.Please ensure that every students wears a name tag. This makes it much easier forthe Presenters to communicate effectively with the students.Morning Tea and/or Lunch: Please bring everyone’s lunch in a separate box. Onarrival your presenters will show you where to put your food. There are no binsprovided, please take your rubbish away with you.First Aid Kit: Please bring your First Aid Kit.Special Needs: Please advise the bookings officer at the time of booking if there arestudents in your group with particular needs so that staff can be prepared to assist inappropriate ways and vary the program as necessary.Risk Management Plan: Please check the Risk Management Plan for Dawn’sSurprise, available from out website at the following link -http://www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/calthorpes/education.html624 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

What will happen during the program?Arrival: Your bus will not be able to enter the grounds of Calthorpes’ House, as the drivewayis too narrow. Please disembark on the nature strip on the Calthorpes’ House side of thestreet (the road is quite busy and we are just below a crest, it is best that students do notcross this road). When you have disembarked, please make your way to the garage at therear of the house. You will be met by a presenter who will introduce the program to theclass.During the program: The introduction to the program will occur in the garage. After theintroduction the students will be divided into smaller groups. Each group should beaccompanied by at least one adult. The group will all do the same program in a differentorder.There are three rotations:The House:· The focus of this rotation is the book, Dawn’s Surprise. The students tend torecognise rooms and items from the book and will visit the same rooms as Dawn.· Before entering the house, students and accompanying adults will be required to putshoe covers over their shoes. This helps to protect and conserve the floor coverings.· The Presenter will wear white gloves and handle collection items. Students willhandle one or two items from the Education Collection and it will be made clear at alltimes which items may be handled and which may not.The Garden: The garden at Calthorpes’ House simply invites exploration. Students willbe conducted around the different sections of the garden, including the formal garden,play areas, vegetable garden and two orchards. This rotation is significant given thestrong sensory focus on smells and physical observation of the Calthropes’ garden.Games: Students will play the same games that Del and Dawn played when theywere young. These could include:o skipping;o marbles;o hopscotch;o sack races; ando egg-and-spoon races.Please note: the year of this program is 1931 – the year Dawn turned seven. Therefore, theAir Raid Shelter is not an intrinsic part of the program, as it was built about ten years later. Ifyou particularly wish your students to visit the Air Raid Shelter, please mention this whenyou make your booking, and it will be accommodated at the end of the program.724 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

Recommended Pre-Visit Activity: Dawn’s SuitcaseDawn’s suitcase is available free of charge to local schools. Please ring 6207 9943 toorganise your loan. Bring the suitcase back with you when you come with your class toCalthorpes’ House.Dawn’s suitcase contains objects that relate to her childhood in the late 1920s and 1930s.Unlike the collection at Calthorpes’ House these objects can be handled and used by yourclass as they are objects from our Education Collection, representative of their time, ratherthan objects from Calthorpes’ House. They offer an excellent link to the objects your studentswill see at Calthorpes’ House.Please note: Some of the items in the suitcase are SHARP – such as the razor, hat-pins andthe money box. Please supervise your students at all times.Suggestions for use:· When you first open the suitcase, ask your students to work out what all the differentitems are for. The answers range from the very easy, like the book, gloves etc to moredifficult, like the hat-pins and the soap saver.· Encourage your students to handle the items and experiment with their use – undersupervision and as appropriate.· Discuss all the items in the context of program concept, the same, yet different.Items in the suitcase may include:Yoyo: Dawn remembers that yoyos were very popular at school. She and her friends spentmany hours practising in order to impress each other. How is this yoyo the same yet differentfrom the ones of today?Knucklebones: Knucklebones was another popular children’s game. But these are real bones.Watch out for the knucklebone next time you have a leg of lamb. How is this different fromthe knucklebones of today?Picture puzzle: While your students try to piece the different pictures together, suggest thatthey look out for a similar one in Dawn’s bedroom at Calthorpes’ House.Jig-saw: This jig-saw is typical of the ones Dawn loved as a child. How is it the same yetdifferent from the jig-saws of today?Map puzzle: This one is a copy of the original one in Dawn’s bedroom at Calthorpes’ House.What places can your students identify on the map?824 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

9Commonwealth Bank Money Box: There are lots of opportunities to discuss the same yetdifferent here. The Commonwealth Bank still makes similar money boxes, but with onesignificant difference. The money boxes today have a hole and a replaceable seal on thebottom, so savings can be taken out at any time. The money boxes in Dawn’s time couldonly be opened with a tin-opener (this encouraged children to be more vigilant with theirsaving). Has this one been opened? Could you re-use it as a money box?Please note: SHARP EDGES.Embroidered apron: Young girls were taught to embroider at school. Dawn remembersembroidering an apron similar to this one. It shows the kind of stitches she was required tolearn and practise.Tea infuser: Seven year old Dawn would never have heard of a tea bag. This is because teabags are quite a recent concept. How do you think tea was made with the infuser? Theinfuser was the only alternative to making a whole pot of tea for just one person.French Knitting, hair-pin and wool: This will be particularly useful if you do the post-visitFrench Knitting activity. Your students are welcome to add a few stitches – you may need toadd extra wool.Soap saver: Soap savers were used before the development of dishwashing liquid. Leftoverpieces of soap were placed inside and swished around in the washing-up water to make itsoapy. Watch out for the soap saver hanging over the kitchen sink at Calthorpes’ House.Book – Among the Horses: This is a children’s story produced in Great Britain. Note thestructure of the book: black text and pictures with occasional coloured prints. Look at thequality of the illustrations as well as what is depicted in them, e.g. clothing, changes intechnology, etc. How does it compare with the books of today?Hat-pins: Hat-pins were used to hold a woman’s hat firmly to her head. The pins wentthrough her hat to attach to her hair, and stopped it falling off when it was windy. They alsoallowed the hat to be placed at a jaunty angle without falling off. Maybe this could bedemonstrated with a school hat. How do we keep our hats on today?Please note: SHARPGloves: Women like Mrs Calthorpe would never have left the house without gloves. Theseones are made of kid, and would have been worn on special occasions. Watch out for theglove stretchers in the laundry at Calthorpes’ House.Embosser: There is an embosser just like this one in the dining room at Calthorpes’ House.The one in the suitcase actually belonged to another family, and we had the addresschanged to the Calthorpes’ address – 24 Mugga Way, Red Hill. No post code, Why not?24 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

Metal billy and ¼ pint measure: During Dawn’s childhood, milk was delivered by a milkmanwith a horse and cart. Dawn remembers hearing their arrival every morning as they passedher bedroom, going up the drive to deliver the milk at the back door. The milk was measuredout into the Calthorpes’ billy using a pint scoop. How do you get your milk today? How muchis a pint?School satchel: Compare it with school backpacks. How much could you carry in this one?Razor: This one is similar to Mr Calthorpe’s. How do men shave today?Please note: SHARPWriting implements for school:Dipping pen: Try writing with it. Which way up does the nib go? Why would it be difficult towrite left-handed?Please note: THE NIB IS SHARPPenny bottle: Ink was made up from a powder mixed with water. Once the ink had beenmixed, it would be stored in a little bottle like this one so that the dipping pen could bedipped easily.Blotting paper: Why do you need to blot the page?Box Brownie camera: Mr Calthorpe took most of the photographs in the album that isincluded in the suitcase. The Kodak Box Brownie was a popular camera of the time. How doesit compare with the way we take photographs today? This is probably the best opportunity todiscuss just how much and how fast technology is changing.1024 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

Photograph AlbumThis album contains photos that relate to the childhood of Del and Dawn at Calthorpes’House.1. Del and Dawn standing outside the brand new house in 1927. Del is eight and Dawnis three.2. Calthorpes’ House in 1927, when it was brand new. Notice that so far there is nogarden or driveway.3. Dawn on her tricycle.4. The opening of Parliament House, May 1927. The whole Calthorpes family attendedthe ceremony at the opening of Parliament House, when the Duke and Duchess ofYork opened the building.5. Building the house next door. This house was completed one year after theCalthorpes’. You can see the Calthorpes’ house in the background.6. On the steps outside the house. Dawn is sitting on the left-hand wall and hergrandmother is on the right. Del is the right-hand child sitting cross-legged on thesteps.7. This is the family car – a Buick – crossing the bridge over the Cotter River. Del isopening the door of the car.8. Del has just won the sand-castle building competition, and is sitting proudly in frontof her masterpiece. Dawn’s sand-castle is on the left.9. Del and Dawn under a sprinkler in the garden. There is lots of opportunity tocomment here on how things have changed. Do children still play under sprinklers,or are we more aware of wasting water? And look at the togs. (That’s what Del andDawn called them. What do you call them?)10. Snow falling on the garden. How is the new garden getting on?11. Shopping at Kingston – at J. B. Young’s. Look at the interior of the shop and talk aboutthe differences between shopping then and now.Recommended post-visit activity: French KnittingOn the next page are some instructions for French Knitting. Dawn and Del were both veryfond of this activity.Suggestions:· Why not get your class busy knitting?· Or simply discuss the last paragraph of the instructions! Would you write similarinstructions today?1124 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

1224 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943

ReferencesACT Department of Education and Training. 2007. Every Change to Learn: CurriculumFramework for ACT Schools Preschool to year 10. ACT Government, Canberra.ACT Heritage Council. 20011 Calthorpes’ House Entry to the ACT Heritage Register.Downloadable from:http://www.tams.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/13359/232.pdf.Bickford, Anne. 2003. Calthorpes’ House. Cultural Facilities Corporation, Canberra.Burness, Elizabeth Pickhaver. Illustrations. Jo Pillinger, Dawns Surprize. ACT Museums andGalleries. Downloadable from:http://www.museumsandgalleries.act.gov.au/calthorpes/pdf/Dawns_Surprise.pdfGibbney, James. 1986. Calthorpes’ Canberra The Town and Community in 1927. Calthorpes’House Museum: occasional series no. 1. Australian Government Publishing Services,Canberra.Lawson, Elaine. 1993. Calthorpes’ House Notes on the house, contents and Conservationphilosophy.Waterhouse, Dawn. 2002. Chortles, Chores and Chilblains Cameos of Childhood in Calthorpes’House, Canberra. ACT Historic Places, Cultural Facilities Corporation, Canberra.1324 Mugga Way, Red Hill ACT / Enquiries 6207 9943