TEACHERS NOTES

The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie

The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie is an ideal class text (Years 5-8) for exploring the themes of family, magic, art and nature.

Teachers at Siena College in Camberwell, Melbourne, used this novel as a set text with their Year 7 students. Anna Apfelstedt and the English Department Year 7 Team provided materials to assist Allen & Unwin in producing a pdf of teachers’ notes.

Material Downloads

The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie - Teacher's Notes

Linked Resources

Avendale, the magical house on the Broken River that Lucy McKenzie goes to stay in is loosely based on the property Riversdale which is situated on the Shoalhaven River. Riversdale is part of the Bundnon Arts Trust. Kirsty worked on early drafts of the novel while she was writer in residence at Bundanon

Behind The Book: The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie

Featured

India Dark, The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie, The Lilliputians, Vulture’s Gate, Zarconi’s Magic Flying Fish, Bridie’s Fire, Becoming Billy Dare, A Prayer for Blue Delaney, The Secret Life of Maeve Lee Kwong, Walking Home with Marie-Claire, Children of the Wind Series, Strangers on Country, Kids Who Did, Topsy-turvy World, A Penny to Remember, The Red Camel, The Clever Cats Book Club, When Billy was a Dog, Eat the Sky

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India Dark, The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie, The Lilliputians, Vulture’s Gate, Zarconi’s Magic Flying Fish, Bridie’s Fire, Becoming Billy Dare, A Prayer for Blue Delaney, The Secret Life of Maeve Lee Kwong, Walking Home with Marie-Claire, Children of the Wind Series, Strangers on Country, Kids Who Did, Topsy-turvy World, A Penny to Remember, The Red Camel, The Clever Cats Book Club, When Billy was a Dog, Eat the Sky

Teachers on The Four Seasons of Lucy McKenzie in the Classroom

The novel provides a strong basis for researching family history and interviewing relatives to tell their stories, a multimedia approach to this using film to interview older relatives would be great, followed by reflective writing on the life journey and the choices that have been made. Students could also explore the role of natural disasters and the impact they have on changing lives and people’s choices and how they view both past and present, this is supported by education kit http://www.acmi.net.au/global/docs/living_with_disaster_education_kit.pdf which is published by the Australian Government -Attorney-General’s Department. This book would appeal to girls in an early high school setting.

Jillian Richardson, AST Hellyer College

TFrom a teaching perspective, I think this book would make a very interesting story writing prompt. Art can take us to so many places and imaginations can fill in the back story. I wonder how many more amazing stories might be inspired by reading this book?

Debbie Williams, Mountain District Christian School

This is a wonderful time slip story, where Lucy comes to realise that she has a real connection with her Aunt and the past. Her Aunt also discovers a connection with Lucy. It is a story of discovery and adventure with bushfires and floods and the coming war. I would recommend this book to all year 7 and year 8 readers and teachers.

Jan O’Sullivan, Library Technician, Mooroolbark