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Celebrations and Commemorations

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Celebrations and Commemorations

Read the information carefully. Celebrations can be joyful, while commemorations help people remember people or events. Some occasions include both remembering and coming together. You do not have to share private family or cultural information.

Read: The surf club calendar

Grace and Dylan are helping Layla prepare a noticeboard at their local surf lifesaving club. The club holds a summer welcome barbecue so members and neighbours can meet. It also joins National Volunteer Week to thank people who give their time to help others. On Anzac Day, some club members attend a local dawn service to remember Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in wars and conflicts. People may remember in different ways, and not everyone marks the day in the same way. The club also shares information during NAIDOC Week, which celebrates the histories, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Grace says, “These occasions are not all the same. Some are celebrations, some are times to remember, and some do both.”

Think like a history helper

Use the reading to answer questions 1–8. For questions 9–10, use your own ideas or draw a plan.

1.Choose the best explanation of the difference between a celebration and a commemoration.

A celebration is always at a club; a commemoration is always at home.
A celebration often marks a happy or important occasion; a commemoration helps people remember a person, event or experience.
They mean exactly the same thing.

2.Name the event in the reading where club members meet neighbours and welcome the summer.

3.What do some club members do on Anzac Day, and what is the purpose of the occasion described in the reading?

4.The reading says that everyone marks Anzac Day in the same way.

TrueFalse

5.National Volunteer Week is a chance to thank people who their time to help others.

6.Match each occasion to the description from the reading.

Summer welcome barbecue
Anzac Day
NAIDOC Week

B. Welcomes members and neighbours
A. Celebrates the histories, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
C. Remembers Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in wars and conflicts

7.Grace says the occasions are not all the same. Give one example from the reading that supports her idea.

8.Layla wants the noticeboard to be welcoming and respectful. Which action is best?

Write that every family celebrates in exactly the same way.
Share accurate information and remember that people may observe occasions differently.
Leave out any occasion that is unfamiliar to her.

9.Imagine the surf club is holding a community occasion. Write one welcoming sentence for its noticeboard. It could be a celebration, a commemoration, or both.

10.Draw a simple symbol that could help people remember an important community occasion. Add a caption explaining what your symbol represents. Choose a respectful idea; it does not need to show a real cultural or family tradition.

Draw your symbol here.