Visual Literacy for Learning: Samuel Taylor Gill prints teach History

S.T Gill: Diggers on the Way to Bendigo-State Library Vic.

http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/australian-sketchbook

Courtesy of The State Library of Victoria, the Seniors classes have been inspired to make use of the lithographs of Samuel Taylor Gill and other artists to assist their learning about the Goldrush. Using a Core Routine of Visible Thinking: See, Think, Wonder- a routine especially effective for exploring artworks, the students examined a series of Gill's lithographs to prepare for their imminent trip to Sovereign Hill.


Stephanie
SEE: old and young, no women, grassy trail, fishing rod, panning trays, kettle, hats, bags and a dog!
THINK:  walking to look for gold, it's humid and hot because of the light sky and clouds, they are tired because their backs are not straight when they are walking, clothes all seem clean so they are "going" not "returning"
WONDER: What's in the bags? Why have they brought a dog? Are they carrying their food? How long was the trip to the gold fields? Did anyone die on the journey?

 Elisa and Ciaran

Charles A. Doudiet: Eureka Riot 1854

SEE: the Eureka Hotel, town, wind, fire, dust, soldiers, crowd, hills, rioting
THINK: The hotel has caught fire!  The townspeople are angry because of what has happened! There's a battle going on!
WONDER: What's happening here? Who has caused this? What are the soldiers doing? How did the fire start and why is there rioting?

HISTORY AT OUR FINGERTIPS-SOVEREIGN HILL

Sovereign Hill from Marg Yore on Vimeo.
Lizzy says, "To sum up, Sovereign Hill has been my favourite excursion yet and was a life-changing experience. I feel very lucky to have been able to learn in a really fun, interesting and exciting way."

Eureka!

Ivan thought, "It was very hard to find the speck of gold but, once you found it you felt really good!"

Daniel reflected, "I enjoyed the day because I learnt a lot including how the Eureka Stockade was penetrated and invaded."

Madeline reported, "Gold, news, people, crowds, mines,finds, Eureka! At Sovereign Hill you are given a door into 1850's Australia, at the heart of the Gold Rush....panning for gold was fun and was the thing I was most looking forward to. It is quite a skill and was much harder than I expected....what I enjoyed most about the lesson was the "Detective Box." My group had Samuel Taylor Gill. We discovered from the clues that he was English, an artist and an alcoholic."

Luke added,"I thought it was a good idea to have a person down at the creek to tell us how to pan for gold and then we got to try for ourselves....the mine tour was a real eye-catcher and seeing all the old shops such as the blacksmith and the lolly shop was a real reminder of the olden days."

 Simon, "For me, it was stepping back into the past. I was amazed at how great all the volunteers were at acting and some were quite funny and very entertaining. Walking into the lolly shop was spectacular, as it was just like a land of lollies."