My Two Blankets
Teachers’ Notes for Years 7-8 (Set 2)
Introduction to text
My Two Blankets (2014) is a contemporary picture book composed by Irena Kobald, illustrated by
Freya Blackwood and published by Little Hare. It was the Children’s Book Council winner of
Children’s Book of the Year 2015 and this accolade is one of many reasons that make this text worth
sharing with students.
This story sensitively tackles issues of culture, fitting in and migration as experienced between two
young girls, one new to a culture and the other girl already established. Each girl comes to an
appreciation of their own differences and this text develops empathy in readers of all ages.
Some students may have experiences similar to the main characters in the book and sensitivities
surrounding this may need to be considered.
Learning Opportunities
Language Strand
Language for interaction
Have students reflect on the power of language for humans to communicate with each other via
one/combination of the experiences below:
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Students have to organise themselves into a line from youngest to oldest (taking into
account the date, month and year of birth) without speaking a word
The teacher (or a student) speaks in a language that is foreign to others and tries to
communicate key instructions.
Based on this process drama experience, students write a reflective journal entry from the viewpoint
of a new migrant who has just arrived to settle in a new country.
Expressing and developing ideas
Read My Two Blankets. Have students consider how the two girls become friends throughout the
text and what evidence there is of their friendship (for example what specific words, phrases and
images are used to show friendship). Students can make particular notes about the symbolism of the
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cartwheel and how this represents self-identity and self-efficacy, especially at the end of the picture
book when the red girl teaches the blue girl and together they cartwheel.
Ask students to form small groups of three to four and create a short drama around the theme of
‘making others feel welcome in a new country’. They can then present these dramas back to the
class. Following all presentations, de-brief in a whole class circle. The debrief should focus on aspects
that were similar/different in the dramas and how feelings and mood were created.
Organise students into two even circles as a whole class – an inner circle and an outer circle so that
all students are facing each other. Students ask each other questions in quick succession (questions
that relate to their experiences about being in a new culture, travel experiences or experiences in
foreign lands). After a short amount of time (1 minute), students in the inner circle rotate left and
interview the next student in the outer circle. Continue this circular rotation until all students have
had an opportunity to share their thinking and experiences.
Literature Strand
Literature and context
• Have students move into small groups and discuss the statements and questions listed.
• What do you think the author means in her dedication: “Never give up; make your blanket
grow”?
• Discuss the blurb on the back of the book, “This is a story about new ways of speaking, new
ways of living, new ways of being”.
• Ask the groups to find evidence in the book to prove or disprove the statement: The girl in
the park was just as lonely as Cartwheel.
• Finally ask the groups to respond to the question: Was there an actual blanket?
• Follow up with a whole class discussion.
Responding to literature
Individually, or in pairs or small groups, have students conduct visual literacy analysis of some pages
in My Two Blankets, considering key techniques such as colour, symbolism, reading path, salience
and modality.
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Colour: students can identify the colours used for the characters and consider their effect on
the reader (for example red for the new girl and blue for the established girl). Students can
track how the colour changes as the girls develop in their friendship and feelings of mutual
respect. Look at the locations in the opening and how red has been used as a warm
connected colour to the landscape in contrast to the colder pale blues of the city. The last
page of My Two Blankets includes more red with the blue to reflect acceptance and change.
Modality: Students conduct a close reading of the opening double page spread of the red
dirt and how this juxtaposes with the next page over of the pale blue cityscape. Have
students make notes on the degree of modality (realism) used and to what effect.
Symbolism: Throughout My Two Blankets symbols are used instead of words to show the
confused and overpowering nature of communication on the new girl. Have students
identify that the blanket and umbrella are symbols, and ask what the individuals in the city
are communicating via symbols (forks, planes, banana etc.). Students consider, write and
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discuss what effect symbolism has on the migrants and what feelings this conveys to the
reader.
Have students create a Venn diagram for the two main characters, looking at their similarities and
differences in costuming, body language, interests and other character features. Have students
answer the focus question by writing in the Venn diagram: “What can we learn about these two
characters in terms of the wider human experience?”
Culminating Task
The title of the picture book is My Two Blankets and the blanket in the text becomes an extended
metaphor (an idea that is built upon throughout the text). Just as the two characters’ blankets
become a representation for themselves, their interests and their story, students are to create their
own blanket in the form of an A3 visual poster. Students are to choose symbols, colours and design a
layout that reflects them and their story.
Literacy Strand
Interpreting, analysing and evaluating:
Cartwheel says at the end of the text, “I felt warm inside”. Using the thinking routine of
think/pair/share, ask students to reflect on the different ways that we make others feel welcome
and warm. These ideas can be shared as a class and then students can brainstorm how they can
apply this to their own context (such as welcoming those who are new in the community, making
friends, including others in the playground).
Ask students to consider the setting of the text. Ask: From what part of the world do you think
Cartwheel originates and what clues are given from My Two Blankets that indicates this? Similarly,
have students make notations on sticky notes about the setting for the other girl. Invite students to
consider the reasons why Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood have kept the text free from a specific
location?
Creating texts
Have students compose an extended response to the question “What does My Two Blankets tell us
about the human condition and human nature?”. In particular, students are to consider the role of
characters in the text – would My Two Blankets be as powerful as it is if the main characters were
two adults? Students are to refer to the text in their answer.
Have students research Australia’s history with multiculturalism. Alternatively, students could
choose another country in the world and research their responses to multiculturalism. Student
research information could be presented back to the class using PowerPoint, Prezi, a speech, drama,
video or any other media format.
Themes
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Relationships and friendships
Language and culture
Migration
Refugees
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Sense of self
Human nature
My Two Blankets explores a range of themes relevant to modern Australia. These include the
experience of dislocation, multiculturalism in Australia, belonging, diversity and the importance of
language to individual identity.
Exploring such themes through activities related to the text present opportunities for students to
develop several of the Australian Curriculum’s General Capabilities.
Links to General Capabilities
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Literacy
Critical and Creative Thinking
Personal and Social Capability
Ethical Understanding
Intercultural Understanding
Although the central character in My Two Blankets appears to be a refugee from an African nation,
several of the themes can also be considered in relation to another cross-curriculum priority of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures, especially with regards to the
importance of language, land/home and culture to perceptions of personal identity and feelings of
belonging.
Outcomes
Language
• Understand the way language evolves to reflect a changing world, particularly in response to
the use of new technology for presenting texts and communicating (ACELA1528)
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Understand how accents, styles of speech and idioms express and create personal and social
identities (ACELA1529)
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Understand how modality is achieved through discriminating choices in modal verbs,
adverbs, adjectives and nouns (ACELA1536)
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Analyse how point of view is generated in visual texts by means of choices, for example
gaze, angle and social distance (ACELA1764)
Literature
• Identify and explore ideas and viewpoints about events, issues and characters represented
in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1619)
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Reflect on ideas and opinions about characters, settings and events in literary texts,
identifying areas of agreement and difference with others and justifying a point of
view (ACELT1620)
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Discuss aspects of texts, for example their aesthetic and social value, using relevant and
appropriate metalanguage (ACELT1803)
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Create literary texts that adapt stylistic features encountered in other texts, for example,
narrative viewpoint, structure of stanzas, contrast and juxtaposition (ACELT1625)
Literacy
• Use prior knowledge and text processing strategies to interpret a range of types of texts
(ACELY1722)
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Consolidate a personal handwriting style that is legible, fluent and automatic and supports
writing for extended periods (ACELY1727)
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Use a range of software, including word processing programs, to confidently create, edit and
publish written and multimodal texts (ACELY1728)
These resources are aligned to the Australian Curriculum v 8.2.
Additional resources and links to other texts
Parents and teachers can build upon student interest, thinking and research on this topic of
migration, settling in, refugees and cultural diversity by exploring some of the texts below. All of
these texts are connected to the theme of My Two Blankets.
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Mariannth’s Story (1998) by Aliki
The Refugees (2005) by David Miller
The Arrival (2006) by Shaun Tan
The Rabbits (2000) by Shaun Tan and John Marsden
My Dog (2001) by John Heffernan
Home and Away (2009) by John Marsden and Matt Ottley
Ships in the Field (2012) by Susanne Gervay and Anna Pignataro
My Place (2012) by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins
The Little Refugee (2012) by An and Suzanne Do and Bruce Whatley
The Matchbox Diary (2013) by Paul Fleischman
Flight (2015) by Nadia Wheatley and Armin Greder
Engage students in thinking about the topic of refugees without pushing your own opinion. Ask them
how My Two Blankets has helped their understanding on this topic. Parents can brainstorm with
their child the different ways they can help others in and amongst their local community.
Writer
Alex Wharton is an English Teacher (5-12) at William Clarke College, NSW. Alex is passionate about
literature that affords students the opportunity to think more deeply about themselves and the
world in which they live.
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