Classroom activities

1. Ask students to complete an entry in Ray's diary the day after he gets his prized photograph. Encourage students to reflect on how Ray might be feeling about everything that happened.
2. Use the Olympic correspondent BLM (PDF 312kb) and ask your students to take on the role of journalists. Their task is to recreate the front page of the Herald as it might have looked during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
3. Use the Different stories BLM (PDF 288kb). This activity encourages students to develop alternative storylines for Ray's Olympics.
4. The photo of Ray with his 'cousin' becomes a very special possession for Ray. Invite students to bring in a photograph from home that captures a special moment for them. Students should write about the photo and share their stories with the class.
5. Ray's teacher involves his students in 'Olympic projects'. Your students could complete their own projects on the history and significance of the Olympic Games.
6. Ask your students to look at the illustrations created by David Cox for Ray's Olympics. They should develop two lists headed '1956' and 'Now' and compare and contrast items in the pictures that have changed over time.
7. Students can complete an engaging interactive activity about the ABC outdoor broadcast van by clicking on the interactive below.

> Interactive on the ABC van
(requires Flash version 8, see link below)
> Purchase book