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Young children have a natural
curiosity about their physical, social and technological
world. They have a strong desire to make sense of their
world...
They construct and review their understandings through
interaction with others, direct and vicarious experiences...
It is important that learning experiences build upon each
child's understandings, skills, values and experiences.
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| Teachers read a wide range of texts
to students to develop an understanding of story, conventions
of print, imagination and critical literacy skills. |
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Through discussion and reflection, students
become increasingly aware that visual texts are constructed
by people to represent real and imaginary experiences.
- With very young students begin with the
familiar by discussing the idea of a journey in the literal
sense of travelling from one place to another to go on a
family outing, a holiday, to school or kindy. Share a selection
of family stories or books that feature anthropomorphic
animal characters who go on a journey.
- To extend students' creativity and to stimulate
thought about the difference between real and imaginary
journeys, explore treks of the imagination through tales
of quests and travels in fantasy.
Click on the approaches listed below
for learning ideas and fiction titles to get you started.
- Learning Ideas
- Stories About
- Search Journeys
- Fiction in the CMIS Resource Bank
for a complete list of related stories. [Use the Early
Childhood restrictor to just see titles appropriate
for this phase]
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| Students respond to texts
in many different ways. These provide the
means through which students can demonstrate
understanding and interpretation of texts. |
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Students could reflect on their own experiences
of journeys and compare them to those in the texts
through talking, drawing, role-play, dramatising
and writing thus developing their reading, viewing,
speaking, listening, writing and thinking skills.
For example students could:
- Sequence a journey in a story,
or describe their route to a familiar place
orally, or in writing;
- Draw a simple map of Rosie's
Walk or Let's
go Visiting or use felt
or model characters to retell these journeys;
- Dramatise or read in Reader's
Theatre form We're
Going on a Bear Hunt
or A
Nice Walk in the Jungle;
- Write and illustrate their own
story about a fantastical journey;
- Draw, write or talk about
a time when they felt as homesick as Frog in
Frog
and the Wide World;
- Present a short talk to
the class about a family outing describing where
they went, method of transport, what they saw
along the way, what they did on arrival following
a reading of Highway.
- Find out more about Whales
after reading Gandali
the Whale and present
information on group posters;
- Brainstorm a list of other animals
that migrate and make a collage mural to show
migrating animals.
- Demonstrate their Viewing
skills and understanding of the text by making
a model (in pairs or small groups) to show the
snail's journey in Snail
Trail
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BALL, Duncan and RAWLINS, Donna. Jeremy's
Tail
Scholastic, 1990
Picture Book. Jeremy is is at a birthday party and it is his
turn to 'pin the tail on the donkey'. His attempts to locate
the donkey take him all the way around the world before successfully
returning and pinning the tail accurately. Jeremy's adventures
lend themselves to sequencing activities and also to a simple
lesson in geography as he treks across continents in search
of the elusive donkey.
BRADSHAW, Gillian and COX, David.
Shock
Monday
Lothian, 1999
Picture Book. Tom has never walked to school until one Monday
his mother decides it is better to walk than drive the car.
On the way they discuss all the advantages of walking. Eventually
Tom realises that walking is wonderful because he notices things
he has never noticed before and he makes a new friend. This
is a visually appealing book that combines big, bold print with
colourful, almost cartoon style illustrations. The story is
humorous and students will easily identify with the routine
and sentiments.
HATHORN, Libby and FLEMING, Garry. Magical
Ride
Hodder Headline, 1999
Picture Book. Luke has to be very creative when trying to entice
his young brother to walk home after a birthday party by making
the piggy-back ride home an imaginative journey. Rhyming prose
and exuberant illustrations are very appealing.
SMYTH, Gwenda. A
Pet for Mrs Arbuckle
Penguin, 1989
Mrs Arbuckle travels the world in search of the perfect pet.
WHEATLEY, Nadia and McLEAN, Andrew.
Highway
Omnibus, 1998
Picture Book. The family enjoy a holiday with dad as he goes
on a delivery run along the highway. Andrew Mclean's line drawings
catch the holiday spirit and the essence of the characters.
The idea of a journey down a highway is maintained using a child's
map representation of the route taken.
Honour Book CBC: Picture Book of the Year 1999.
WILLIAMS, Sue and VIVAS, Julie. Let's
Go Visiting
Working Title, 2000
Picture Book. Follows a young child as he visits different animals
in the farmyard. The simple repetitive, rhyming text and appealing
watercolour drawings stimulate student interaction. Children
can further develop the pattern and predicability of the text
and draw a map, individually or as a group, of the child's journey
through the farmyard.
BROWN, Ruth. Snail
Trail
Andersen, 2000
Board Book. Slimy Snail sets out on a trail but where exactly
does he go? Younger children can follow him up a hill, through
a tunnel and into the forest. Marginal text written in simple
language is enhanced by glorious illustrations that are a riot
of colour.
BURNINGHAM, John. Mr
Gumpy's Motor Car
Penguin, 1979
Picture Book. All his friends want to come when Mr Gumpy goes
for a drive.
DUBOSARSKY, Ursula and BROOKS, Ron. The Visit, in Honey
and Bear
Viking, 1998
The Visit is one of five short stories in this collection
ideal for independent readers in Year 2 or 3 looking for 'grown-up
chapter books' or to read aloud. The stories based around the
characters of Honey, the bird and Bear will enchant young students
and provide excellent scope for discussion of moral dilemmas
and character virtues. In The Visit Honey and Bear trek
to the other side of the lake to visit Bear's mother.
FIENBERG, Anna and GAMBLE, Kim. Minton Goes Sailing
Allen & Unwin, 1998
Picture Book. Minton is a beachcombing salamander who loves
to explore. There is an island that he wishes to visit so he
designs a boat and collects the necessary materials for its
construction. He is joined by his friend turtle on the great
journey.
GRAHAM, Bob. Buffy:
An Adventure Story
Walker, 1999
Picture Book. Buffy is a little dog who out performs his master,
Brillo the Magician, by juggling, tap dancing and doing amazing
tricks.Brillo, in a fit of jealousy, throws Buffy out on the
street to fend for himself. In search of love, a home and acceptance
Buffy wanders the world until finally, he is adopted by Mary
Kelly and her family. Bold, colourful illustrations ably tell
Buffy's tale and support the text. The vocabulary is varied
and interesting to extend young learners and the illustrations
are suitable to view in a group situation.
HOOPER, Meredith and MERTZLIN, Anita. Gandali
the Whale
Random House, 2000
Picture Book. This story tells of Gandali the humpback whale's
journey down the east coast of Australia to Antarctica. Fabulous
full-page illustrations are great for viewing activities and
the text is a good discussion motivator.
HUTCHINS, Pat. Rosie's
Walk
Bodley Head, 1968
Picture Book. Rosie the hen walks through the farmyard just
avoiding the fox at each turn. Useful for mapping activities.
FOX, Mem and VIVAS, Julie. Possum
Magic
Omnibus, 1983
Picture Book. When Grandma Poss makes Hush invisible the two
possums travel around Australia, tasting a variety of Aussie
foods in search of a magic spell to make Hush visible.
Highly Commended CBC: Picture Book of the Year 1984.
VELTHUIJS, Max. Frog
and the Wide World
Andersen, 1986
Picture Book. When Frog hears that Rat is off to see the wide
world he is desperate to join him. They have not gone far, however,
when Frog becomes homesick. The author presents his characters
with love and understanding and the story is told with a gentle
humour. Children will relate to Frog's desperate need not to
miss out on the excitement promised by Rat's journey, his overwhelming
sense of loneliness and misery at being away from home and his
exuberance and renewed enthusiasm as he is reunited with his
friends.
BODSWORTH, Nan. A
Nice Walk in the Jungle
Penguin, 1991
Picture Book. When Miss Jellaby takes her class on a nature
study walk into the jungle, the children are followed by a large
boa constrictor and eaten one by one, until Miss Jellaby rescues
them. This book is richly and vibrantly illustrated. Each-double-page
spread is alive with jungle life; the persistent boa constrictor
sneaks hungrily from page to page, providing wonderful continuity.
An audiocassette and book pack is also available.
LESTER, Alison. The
Journey Home
Hodder & Stoughton, 1994
Picture Book. Fantasy and adventure combine when Wild and Woolly
and their dog explore fantasy worlds for example in a forest,
a castle and at the North Pole before returning home to Australia.
ROSEN, Michael and OXENBURY, Helen. We're
Going on a Bear Hunt
Walker, 1989
Picture Book. Michael Rosen's wonderfully evocative, rhythmic
language ably supported by Helen Oxenbury's illustrations, lead
the reader/listener on a journey across fields, through all
kinds of weather and other obstacles on a bear hunt and safely
back home again. The book provides delicious repetitive phrases
to chant, sounds to make and actions to follow, all told with
rollicking good humour and fun. A particularly useful text for
sequencing, visual discrimination, ordering and patterning,
prediction and dramatisation.
Also available in big-book format for readers theatre, with
the story divided into four voices, designated by colour coding
so that each child can easily read his or her part.
SENDAK, Maurice. Where
the Wild Things Are
HarperCollins, 1967
Picture Book. One of the most highly acclaimed picture books
of all time this is the story of Max, who has been sent to bed
without his supper and 'sails away' to become King of all Wild
Things.
Winner Caldecott Medal 1964.
THOMPSON, Colin and OTTLEY, Matthew. Sailing
Home
Hodder Children's Australia, 1996
Picture Book. Peter and Alice are bored. It has been raining
for days and there is absolutely nothing to do. After a night
of wonderful dreams the family awakes to the reality that their
house has sailed out to sea. The family has a fantastic time,
relaxing and seeing different parts of the world.
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