Stage 1
Theme: Aboriginal Culture
Time Frame
Key Concept
3-5 weeks
Stereotypes, Language forms
and Features, Culture, Visual literacy,
aracterisation
Focus for this unit - learning intention
During this unit students will be summarising, visualising, making connections and visual representations and predicting through the study of texts related to
Aboriginal culture, along with the study of the narrative text type and its conventions.
Text Set
 Dust Echo: The Mermaid Story

TOM-TOM Rosemary Sullivan / Dee Huxley
 Shake a Leg
 Kootear the Echidna retold by Cindy Laws
 Why the Emu Cant Fly by May L O’Brien
Film
Didgescape
DustEcho: www.abc.net.au/dustechoes
Speeches (youtube)
Images
Objective A
Objective B
Use language to shape and
make meaning according to
purpose, audience and
context.
Objective C
Think in ways that are
imaginative, creative,
interpretive and critical.
Objective D
Express themselves and their
relationships with others and
their world.
Speaking and Listening 1
Speaking and Listening 2
Reflecting on Learning
EN1-6B Recognises a range of
purposes & audiences for spoken
language & recognises organisational
patterns & features of predictable
spoken texts
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
Thinking Imaginatively & Creatively
EN1-10C Thinks imaginatively and
creatively about familiar topics, ideas
and texts when responding to and
composing texts.
 Engage personally with texts
Expressing Themselves
EN1-1A Communicates with a range of
people in informal & guided activities
demonstrating interaction skills and
considers how own communication is
adjusted in different situations.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
EN1-11D Responds to and composes a
range of texts about familiar aspects of
the world and their own experiences.
EN1-12E Identifies and discusses
aspects of their own and others’
learning.
Communicate through
speaking, listening, reading,
writing, viewing and
representing.
•
understand that
language varies when
people take on
different roles in social
and classroom
interactions and how
the use of key
interpersonal
language resources
varies depending on
context (ACELA1461)
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
•
•
understand that there are
different ways of asking
for information, making
offers and giving
commands (ACELA1446)
identify, reproduce
and experiment with
rhythmic, sound and
word patterns in
poems, chants,
rhymes and songs
(ACELT1592)
•
explore different ways of
expressing emotions,
including verbal, visual,
body language and facial
expressions (ACELA1787)
• understand that spoken,
visual and written forms of
language are different modes
of communication with
different features and their
use varies according to the
audience, purpose, context
and cultural background
• recognise the way that
different texts create different
personal responses
 Understand and apply knowledge
of language forms and features
•
(ACELA1460)
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
•
identify language that
can be used for appreciating
texts and the qualities of people
and things (ACELA1462)
•
 Respond to & compose texts
Writing & Representing 2
• discuss some of the different
purposes for written and visual
and texts
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
•
compare different kinds
of images in narrative and
informative texts and discuss
how they contribute to meaning
(ACELA1453)
 Develop and apply contextual
knowledge
 Understand and apply knowledge
of language forms and features
•
•
•
recognise similarities
between texts from different
cultural traditions, eg
representations of dragons in
traditional European and
Asian texts
recognise the place of
ancestral beings in Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander
Dreaming stories
respond to texts drawn from
a range of cultures and
experiences (ACELY1655)
 Understand and apply knowledge of
language forms and features
•
identify features of texts from
a range of cultures, including
language patterns and style
of illustration
 Respond to and compose texts
•
discuss the place of
Dreaming stories in
Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander life
•
identify, explore and
discuss symbols of
Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander culture
and recognise recurring
characters, settings and
themes in Dreaming
stories
 Respond to and compose texts
•
retell familiar stories and
events in logical sequence,
including in home language
EN1-7B Identifies how language use in
their own writing differs according to
their purpose, audience and subject
matter.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
identify creative
language features
in imaginative
texts that
enhance
enjoyment, eg
illustrations,
repetition
Objective E
Learn and reflect on their
learning through their study of
English.
discuss some of the ways
that story can be reflected in
a variety of media, eg film,
music and dance
 Respond to & compose texts
• use role-play and drama to
represent familiar events and
characters in texts
Writing & Representing 1
EN1-2A Plans, composes and reviews
a small range of simple texts for a
variety of purposes on familiar topics
for known readers and viewers.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
•
understand how
planning, composing
and reviewing
contribute to effective
imaginative,
informative and
persuasive texts
H’writing & Digital Technologies
EN1-3A Composes texts using letters
of consistent size & slope & uses digital
technologies.
 Respond to & compose texts
•
use appropriate strategies
when writing, eg
maintaining correct body
position, holding/using
writing tools or using
assistive digital
technologies
Reading & Viewing1
EN1-4A draws on an increasing range
of skills and strategies to fluently read,
view and comprehend a range of texts
on less familiar topics in different media
and technologies.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
• discuss different texts on a
similar topic, identifying
similarities and differences
between the texts (ACELY1665)
 Respond to & compose texts
•
discuss the characters
and settings of different texts and
explore how language is used to
present these features in different
ways (ACELT1584, ACELT1591)
Reading & Viewing 2
EN1-8B recognises that there are
different kinds of texts when reading
and viewing and shows an awareness
of purpose, audience and subject
matter.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
• discuss possible author
intent and intended audience of
a range of texts
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
•
understand simple
explanations in
diagrammatic form,
including flowcharts,
hierarchies, life cycles
 Respond to, read & view texts
•
select a widening range
of texts for enjoyment
and pleasure and
discuss reasons for their
choice
Grammar, Punctuation & Vocab
EN1-9B Uses
basic
grammatical
features, punctuation conventions and
vocabulary appropriate to the type of
text
when
responding
to
and
composing texts.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
• begin to understand that
choice of vocabulary adds to the
effectiveness of text
The MERMAID STORY VIDEO
DUSTECHO SERIES
Objective A
Communicate through
speaking, listening,
reading, writing, viewing
and representing.
Teaching/Learning Activities
Speaking and Listening 1
Making Connections:
 Teachers can introduce students to the concept of stories through reference to
their own lives:
Have students brainstorm to list stories they know. As they are given, the teacher can list them
in categories: fairy tales, Bible or Koran stories, stories from television or books or films, personal
family stories, other types. The main point to establish is: all students know some
stories; they are part of their lives.
Who tells stories? Ask students to identify different ways they receive these stories. They may
be by the written word, the spoken or sung word, by pictures. Ask students to identify two of
each that they know about.
Now ask what the message or meaning or purpose of some of these stories is. For example,
students might decide that a story is to teach them some proper way of behaving; or just to
entertain; or to warn or scare children so they do not do dangerous things; or to explain the
origins of something.
SCREEN
Making Connections:
 Discuss ‘Dreamtime’ and how important it is to aboriginal people.
Aboriginal stories may exist to:
• teach young people about natural events
• warn them about dangers
• explain relationships and identity
• teach them about the law and right behaviour
Making Connections:
 What are mermaids ? Investigate mermaids on internet
Summarising before watching video ( background knowledge)
Have the students reorganize the summary sentences on the Student Worksheet ( in teaching
notes) to tell a coherent story.
H’writing & Digital Technologies

Explicitly teach foundation handwriting in relation to student skill level – Focus ‘Mm’
Reading & Viewing1
 Students watch the video.
 Discussion questions:
Speaking and Listening 2
Objective B
Use language to shape and
make meaning according
to purpose, audience and
context.
 Discuss how effective the video is without words ( could the story be followed)
 Shared reading of the story from the teacher’s guide ( smartboard)
Monitoring:
 Vocabulary understanding
 What does it mean ‘walkabout’ ‘ ……lured by ther land’ ‘ song man’
Resources

The Mermaid Story video from
DustEcho series
Reading & Viewing 2
 Monitoring: Students watch video 2nd time – teacher reads the story at the same time.
Stop video at specific point the clarify understanding. ‘ Who can tell me what happening here?”
 Highlight any misunderstandings.
Grammar, Punctuation & Vocab
Objective C
Think in ways that are
imaginative, creative,
interpretive and critical.
Objective D
Express themselves and
their relationships with
others and their world.
Objective E
Learn and reflect on their
learning through their
study of English.
Thinking Imaginatively & Creatively
Questioning: while watching
Here are some more questions about the story. To answer these, you will sometimes need to
look carefully at how the animators have depicted the scene.
• Why does the man leave his family group?
• Are the mermaids friendly or evil spirits?
• Do the mermaids try to harm the man?
• What does he discover during his journey?
• Why does he decide to return to his family group?
• How do his family react to his return?
• What does the son see that is different about the father?
• How does he feel about this?
• Write a conversation between the father and his son
about the journey, or between mermaids who tell their version of the story.
Expressing Themselves
 Discuss the use of the music. Is it modern or aboriginal music.
 How does the music influence your feelings.
 What happens to elderly people in our society and other cultures.
Reflecting on Learning
Summarising:
 In groups discuss the main theme of the story.
Is there a message ?
 In pairs student reconstruct the story using storyboard / cartoon panels.
TOM-TOM
Teaching/Learning Activities
Resources
Rosemary Sullivan, Dee
Huxley
Objective A
Communicate through
speaking, listening,
reading, writing, viewing
and representing.
Speaking and Listening 1
 Ask children to tell stories about a day in their own life.
Writing & Representing 1
 Explain the use of Ellipsis eg The water in Lemonade Springs tasted just like …water.
Reading & Viewing1
 View map on inside cover. Ask students to identify the river, springs, roads, trees, buildings.
 Students can draw a map of the school grounds and use colours as well as shapes to convey
meaning.
 Explore a map of Australia and point out the Northern Territory and type of landscape in the
area.
Spelling


Objective B
Use language to shape and
make meaning according
to purpose, audience and
context.
Book TOM-TOM
by Rosemary Sullivan, Dee Huxley



Double letters=bottom, swimming, pannikin, snuggles, Granny, cubby, wallaby, bigger
Compound words=sunlight, riverbank, paperbark, stringybark, grandfather
Speaking and Listening 2
 Highlight words which are Aboriginal in origin, e.g. debil-debil, ku-tek, and unfamiliar terms
like sister-cousins, brother-cousins
Writing & Representing 2

Grammar, Punctuation & Vocab
Capital letters for place names and names of people
Apostrophe of possession- Annie’s house, Granny May’s house, Granny Annie’s camp,
Use of a prefix in words e.g. pre-school
Students highlight the adjectives used in the text
Thinking Imaginatively & Creatively

List of Aboriginal place names
e.g. Wagga Wagga, Parramatta

Printed text of story. Highlighters

Awesome Adjectives Game
Teach This website

Create an Aboriginal style art work
that uses symbols and patterns.

Simple family tree diagram
Objective C
Think in ways that are
imaginative, creative,
interpretive and critical.
Objective D
Express themselves and
their relationships with
others and their world.
Objective E
Learn and reflect on their
learning through their
study of English.
Map of Australia
Samples of Aboriginal art that were
used as maps
Compound words website
List the foods that are mentioned in the story. Use plasticine to make representations of the food.
Label each model.
Repeat the same activity, but list the animals in the story instead.
Expressing Themselves
 Decide on roles to be acted. Allow students to tell the story through drama.
 Discuss the role of extended family and the importance of relationships in the Aboriginal
community. Ask students to seek parent’s assistance in completing a family-tree.
Reflecting on Learning
 Students list at least two things they learnt about English and how it is recorded.
Assessment / Collecting Evidence
Observation
Anecdotal Records
Checklist / Matrix
Rubric (CTJ)
Self-Assessment
Peer Assessment
Student Teacher Conference
Journals
Assessment task
Pre and post reading of selected text
Peer assessment of role-play using prompts about performance, voice, interest
Completion of grammar worksheet, demonstrating understanding of apostrophes and adjectives
Possible Links to Other KLA’s
Mathematics
History
addition
Aboriginal
perspective
s
Mapping
position
Science & Technology
Australian animals,
plants and birds.
Building materials-brick,
sticks
Shake a Leg
Objectives
Teaching / Learning Activities
Communicate through speaking,
listening, reading, writing, viewing
and representing
Speaking and Listening 1
 In small groups children dramatise a
small sections of the text, focusing on
how the characters would speak and
move.
 Children listen to descriptions of the
Aboriginal dance and demonstrate it.
Writing and Representing 1
 Explaining speech bubbles in cartoons
and story injections about Aboriginal
life.
 Explain - a mobile is better than a
smoke signal on a windy day, you’re
trying to fly before you have wings, you
want to dance like the brolgas – you
spend time with the brolgas.
Handwriting and Digital Technologies
Reading and Viewing 1
 Read and visualise the crocodile story
and the bee story.
 Explain - It’s a tale with bite, a sweet
one (story)
Spelling
Homophones – sea/see (si), sauce/source
Use language to shape and
Speaking and Listening 2
make meaning according to
 Highlight words that are unfamiliar.
purpose, audience and context  Highlight words that are Aboriginal
words and find their meaning in the
Resources
book - binnagurri - deaf, meenyu
gooyu - crocodile, doongai - run,
warrima – shake a leg, ballare - dance,
yikki-yikki - didgeridoo, imbala butterfly, bora – gathering place.
 Retell the crocodile or the bee story.
Writing and Representing 2
Analyse the different layouts and images
used to show the boys eating pizza
(present), the aboriginal stories (past) and
when the boys start to dance. Discuss how
the layout changes to show the different
settings.
Reading and Viewing 2
Analyse and discuss:
Why students think the author wrote this
book?
What message was the author trying to tell
us?
How did they achieve this? What tools did
they use?
Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary
 Explain simile – you shake your legs
like the wings of a butterfly, slither silent
as a snake, spread your arms like
wings, laugh loud as a kookaburra.
Students make up own similes using
these models.
Think in ways that are imaginative,
creative, interpretive and critical
Express themselves and their
relationships with others and their
world.
Learn and reflect on their study of
English
Thinking Imaginatively and Creatively
Book/video that has Aboriginal
Using a Venn diagram analyse similarities dance in it.
and differences of Aboriginal dance in this
book and another book/video
Expressing Themselves
Internet.
Identify and explore symbols of Aboriginal
culture portrayed in the book. Find out
what these symbols mean.
Reflecting on Learning
Theme: Aboriginal Culture
Stage 1
Time Frame: 2-3 weeks
Key Concept: Dreaming Stories
Focus for this unit - learning intention
To develop deeper understanding about Aboriginal Culture and the importance of Dreaming
Stories in relation to the world, beliefs, environment and living things.
Text Set

Kootear the Echidna, retold by Cindy Laws.

Why the Emu can't Fly, by May L. O'Brien

Other Dreaming Stories...

Aboriginal stories for kids on Youtube.

Links to Aboriginal Artists,
http://www.youtube.com/aborigingal+dreami
ng+stories+for+kids
ie: Clifford Possum, Minnie Pwerle etc.
http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/

Dust Echoes. (interactive website for
Aboriginal Dreaming Stories.
Objective A
Objective B
Use language to shape and
make meaning according to
purpose, audience and
context.
Objective C
Think in ways that are
imaginative, creative,
interpretive and critical.
Speaking and Listening 1
Speaking and Listening 1
EN1-1A Communicates with a range of
people in informal & guided activities
demonstrating interaction skills and
considers how own communication is
adjusted in different situations.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
- Listen for specific purposes and
information, including instructions,
and extend students' own and others'
ideas in discussions (ACELA1461
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
- Explore different ways of expressing
emotions, including verbal, visual,
body language and facial
expressions.
 Respond to & compose texts
EN1-6B Recognises a range of
purposes & audiences for spoken
language & recognises organisational
patterns & features of predictable
spoken texts
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
- Understand that spoken, visual
and written forms of language are
different modes of communication
with different features and their
use varies according to the
audience, purpose, context and
cultural background.
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
 Respond to & compose texts
- retell familiar stories and events in
logical sequence, including in home
language.
Thinking Imaginatively & Creatively
EN1-10C Thinks imaginatively and
creatively about familiar topics, ideas
and texts when responding to and
composing texts.
 Engage personally with texts
- Recognise the way that different
texts create different personal
responses.
 Develop and apply contextual
knowledge
 Understand and apply knowledge
of language forms and features
 Respond to and compose texts
Communicate through
speaking, listening, reading,
writing, viewing and
representing.
- Engage in conversations and
discussions, using active
listening behaviours, showing
interest and contributing ideas,
information and questions.
Writing & Representing 1
EN1-2A Plans, composes and reviews
a small range of simple texts for a
variety of purposes on familiar topics
for known readers and viewers.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
- Experiment in all aspects of
composing to enhance learning and
enjoyment.
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
- Create short imaginative, informative
and persuasive texts using growing
knowledge of text structures and
language features for familiar and
some less familiar audiences. selecting
print and multimodal elements
appropriate to the audience and
purpose.
 Respond to & compose texts
-Compose texts supported by visual
information (eg diagrams visualisation, and maps) on familiar
topics.
Writing & Representing 2
EN1-7B Identifies how language use in
their own writing differs according to
their purpose, audience and subject
matter.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
- Discuss some of the different
purposes for written and visual texts
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
- Compare different kinds of images
in narrative and informative texts and
discuss how they contribute to
meaning.
 Respond to & compose texts
- Make inferences about character
motives, actions, qualities and
characteristics when responding to
texts.
Reading & Viewing 2
EN1-8B recognises that there are
different kinds of texts when reading
and viewing and shows an awareness
of purpose, audience and subject
matter.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
- discuss possible author intent and
intended audience of a range of
texts
- Recognise the place of ancestral
beings in Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Dreaming
stories.
Objective D
Express themselves and their
relationships with others and
their world.
Objective E
Learn and reflect on their
learning through their study of
English.
Expressing Themselves
Reflecting on Learning
EN1-11D Responds to and composes a
range of texts about familiar aspects of
the world and their own experiences.
EN1-12E Identifies and discusses
aspects of their own and others’
learning.
 Engage personally with texts
 Develop and apply contextual
knowledge
 Understand and apply knowledge of
language forms and features
 Respond to and compose texts
 Develop and apply contextual
knowledge
 Understand and apply knowledge
of language forms and features
 Respond to and compose texts
- Discuss the place of Dreaming
stories in Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander life
-Identify, explore and discuss
symbols of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander culture
and recognise recurring
characters, settings and themes
in Dreaming Stories.
- Discuss roles and
responsibilities when working
as a member of a group.
Identify helpful strategies during
speaking, listening, reading,
writing, and or viewing and
representing activities, eg writing
conferences, class charts
H’writing & Digital Technologies
EN1-3A Composes texts using letters
of consistent size & slope & uses digital
technologies.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
 Respond to & compose texts
- Write legibly and with growing
fluency using unjoined upper case and
lower case letters.
Reading & Viewing1
EN1-4A draws on an increasing range
of skills and strategies to fluently read,
view and comprehend a range of texts
on less familiar topics in different media
and technologies.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
- Discuss different texts on a similar
topic, identifying similarities and
differences between the texts.
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
- Understand how sentence
punctuation is used to enhance
meaning and fluency.
 Develop and apply graphological,
phonological, syntactic & semantic
knowledge.
- Use phonological, graphological,
syntactic and semantic cues to decode and
make meaning from written texts, eg using
an increasing repertoire of high-frequency
and sight words, segmenting words into
syllables.
 Respond to, read & view texts
Read with fluency and expression,
responding to punctuation and
attending to volume, pace,
intonation and pitch.
Spelling
EN1-5A Uses a variety of strategies,
including knowledge of sight words
and letter–sound correspondences, to
spell familiar words.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
- Know that regular one-syllable
words are made up of letters and
 Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
 Respond to, read & view texts
- Respond to a range of literature
and discuss purpose and
audience.
Grammar, Punctuation & Vocab
EN1-9B Uses
basic
grammatical
features, punctuation conventions and
vocabulary appropriate to the type of
text
when
responding
to
and
composing texts.
 Develop & apply contextual
knowledge
- Begins to understand that choice of

vocabulary adds to the
effectiveness of text.
Understand & apply knowledge of
language forms and features
- Recognise that capital letters signal
proper nouns and commas
are used to separate items in
lists.

Understanding & apply knowledge of
vocabulary
-
 Respond to & compose texts
- Compose sentences effectively using
basic grammatical features and
punctuation conventions.
common letter clusters that
correspond to the sounds heard,
and how to use visual memory to
write high-frequency words.
 Respond to & compose texts
- Spell high frequency words and
common sight words accurately
when composing texts.
Teaching/Learning Activities
Objective A
Communicate through
speaking, listening,
reading, writing, viewing
and representing.
Resources
Speaking and Listening 1
 Introduce 'Dreamtime stories' to students by reading a variety of stories from the school library
and explain what the 'dreaming' is and how stories were developed by different groups of
Aboriginal people over time. Use 'think alouds' to show thought processes. Before, during and
after reading and discussions, use the Super Six Comprehension Strategies as applicable to the
story. Visualise, Predict, Summarise, Connect, Monitor and Question. Get students to sit with
their thinking partner so that they can speak about different aspects of the story and listen to
each others' responses then share as a whole class. ( You will need to teach how thinking
partners work - Modelled, Guided then Independent)
Writing & Representing 1
 Read the story Kootear The Echidna. Get students to visualise the events as you read. You may
need to teach the strategy through the Modelled and Guided process first, so that students can
work independently as you read. Show the text images and let students compare what they
have drawn. Using their pictures the students can write a retell of the story or a short summary.
(Modelled, Guided and Independent)
 Students can also use the VIP teaching strategy to record the "very important points" of the
stories using post-it-notes. These notes can then form a summary of the important points of the
story in sequence.
 Students can compose a sentence about their favourite part and create an artwork to go with
their sentence.
Library - Dreamtime Stories.
H’writing & Digital Technologies
 Students write their story summaries using NSW foundation style handwriting.
Reading & Viewing1
 View a map of the Hawkesbury area and let students know that this story comes from the
people from this area. Read other Echidna stories from other areas and compare and contrast
any differences. Read other dreamtime stories and use the Super Six comprehension strategies
to build meaning and comprehension. Select a text for students to read with a thinking partner.
Talk to students about nouns and proper nouns. Model how to find nouns and proper nouns in
a selected passage. This can be a whole class activity or in small groups or in pairs. Students
look for nouns and proper nouns and highlight with 2 colours. Share responses and add to class
'poster' on nouns.
Spelling
 Unpack the vocab in the story that students may not know or need consolidation to write. ( eg:
beautiful, special, himself, foraging, animals, asked, feathers, fur, skin, lazy...) Think of other
words that mean the same... build up a vocab list for writing.
Map of the Hawkesbury area.(Google)
Other Dreamtime Stories
Super six comprehension strategies
Teacher -Deep knowledge on Dreamtime.
(appendix A)
Partner Read and Think - grouping
Kootear the Echidna by Cindy Laws.
Focus On Reading - teaching strategies
Brushes,Paint, crayons, paper, etc,
Highlighters, copies of text.
Chart paper, textas
Objective B
Use language to shape and
make meaning according
to purpose, audience and
context.
Objective C
Think in ways that are
imaginative, creative,
interpretive and critical.
Objective D
Express themselves and
their relationships with
others and their world.
Objective E
Learn and reflect on their
learning through their
study of English.
Speaking and Listening 2
 Refer to the Darug Language glossary on last page for words and meanings in the story.
 eg: Kootear means Bad. Why did the echidna get that name?
 Identify unknown vocab and discuss meanings and spelling structure. Show how to chunk some
of the words into syllables for ease of spelling and reading.
Writing &Representing 2
 Use a printed copy of the text and as a whole class use highlighters to highlight the language
the author used to describe the coats and how the animals were feeling. (Adjectives) Create a
class poster of adjectives for use in writing.
 Choose an animal not represented in the story and Model how to write it in the authors style.
Eg; 'Claire the Cockatoo chose snow white feathers to make herself look special. ' Write a class
book, or students can write their own stories in pairs etc. Guide students in this process. They
can also draw pictures to go with their stories.
Reading & Viewing 2
 Read other stories and make a list of the language used by the author to create meaning in the
stories. Get students to think of other words that have similar meanings. Discuss authors intent
and intended audience. ( Accelerated Literacy process is good if you can do this.)
Grammar, Punctuation & Vocab
 Proper nouns, himself/herself, Capital letters and full stops.
 Vocab.....beautiful, special, chose, skin, feathers, fur, sticks, proud, foraging, dreaming,
receiving...
Copy of Kootear The Echidna.
Thinking Imaginatively & Creatively
 In pairs, students make an animal out of clay, scraps, recycling etc. They give it a name and
make up a 'Dreamtime' story about it. They can record their stories via iPad or other means
and play it to the class to listen to or make puppets.
 Students can sit in a circle and tell their stories around a pretend campfire (Torches and red
cellophane.) Rest of the students can ask them questions about their animal and their stories.
Students can also use 'Sketch to Stretch' (draw pictures) about stories they like and retell the
main parts.
iPads
Video recorders
Torches
Cellophane (red,yellow, orange)
Expressing Themselves
 Drama. In small groups of 4-6, students enact a Dreamtime Story from a book.
 They present the story to the class. The class has to work out who the characters are and what
the story was teaching us. Record the enactments on an iPad or some device for reflection at
the end of the unit.
 Discuss the importance of telling stories in Aboriginal culture and that stories were told not
written down like they are now.
Copies of text.
Chart paper and textas
Dreamtime stories.
Dreamtime stories
iPads
Reflecting on Learning
 After reading and listening to a variety of Dreamtime stories, students view the enactments the Class plays
created and record 2-3 VIP's on post-it-notes that they liked about Dreamtime stories. Share
their responses on a wall chart.
Assessment / Collecting Evidence
Observation
Anecdotal Records
Checklist / Matrix
Rubric (CTJ)
Self-Assessment
Peer Assessment
Student Teacher Conference
Journals
Assessment task
Contribution to discussions and participation in activities
Discussions with 'thinking partners'
Writing tasks
Check own writing for punctuation, spelling and meaning.
iPad recording students enacting stories
Write their own dreaming story or with a partner, or Orally tell their own story recorded on iPad etc.
Possible Links to Other KLA’s
Mathematics
Creative and
Practical Arts.
 Visual art
 Dance
 Drama
Science &
Technology