July 27, 2021
I was recently chatting to a teacher from Mt Isa in Queensland, whose class is studying Black Snake: The daring of Ned Kelly by Carole Wilkinson. One of the students’ tasks is to write a recount of an event in the book from the perspective of an individual character. Hearing about the class researching Ned […]
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June 1, 2021
I recently ran a workshop for a group of local year 8 students to help them make connections and links between books, both the ones they “have” to read at school and those they are choosing to pick up outside the classroom. At the end of the workshop, I left them with the choice of […]
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May 6, 2021
Aiden and Ashleigh live a privileged existence in a futuristic Sydney that is radically different to the city as it exists today. The thirteen-year-old twins are largely protected from the ravages of climate change thanks to advances in technology and AI, even as socio-economic divisions widen, and medical care is available only to those who […]
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May 4, 2021
Welcome to Six Degrees of Separation, where we all start with the same book title and link it to six others in any random way our mind chooses to create connections. It’s fun and it’s free, so join in! This month the starting book is Beezus and Ramona, in honour of author Beverly Cleary, who died recently, […]
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April 3, 2021
Welcome to 6 Degrees of Separation. Six degrees of separation is the idea that we are only six connections away from an introduction to anyone else in the world. The term ‘six degrees of separation’ was originally inspired by Hungarian writer and poet Frigyes Karinthy, who coined the phrase in his 1929 short story ‘Chains‘. […]
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March 23, 2021
A group of women in stylish dresses and high heels are sipping champagne in elegant glasses under a marquee. The men accompanying them wear suits and make polite conversation. Elsewhere, two young women, carrying the shoes they discarded sometime earlier, stumble their way to the exit gate of Flemington Racecourse. Several guys sit on an […]
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March 10, 2021
Six degrees of separation is the idea that we are only six connections away from an introduction to anyone else in the world. Apparently the theory is almost correct (the answer is 6.6 degrees of separation according to one article). Now, there is also a bookish version of 6 Degrees. Originally created by authors Annabel […]
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February 2, 2021
After months of relative freedom in Western Australia, we’ve just entered a snap lockdown after a security guard tested positive to COVID-19. I’m staying positive at this stage, as it’s initially only for five day, but I know I’m fortunate enough to be able to continue much of my work and study from home with […]
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