Why the emu cannot fly

Before Book Week, Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 students were investigating the Aboriginal Dreaming story, Why the emu cannot fly. We found many versions of this story, including the picture book, Winin: why the emu cannot fly by Mary Charles & Francine Ngardarb Riches, and translated by Bill McGregor from the original Nyulnyul language. In this version, Emu is in dispute with a brolga.

This first Youtube version involves a crocodile and some Aboriginal hunters:

Talking Country: Worla [Why the emu cannot fly]

The following variation of the tale involves a brush turkey, and was created in claymation by young students at another school (some spelling errors):

Dinewan the emu and Goomble gubbon the brush turkey [Why the emu cannot fly]

This week, the students are studying factual information about emus, using books such as Emus by Caleb Whitehorn, in the Springboardseries, Feathered giants: the way of the emu by Henry G Lamond, and Emu by Claire Saxby & Graham Byrne.

Our research will be enhanced by the following Youtube clips:


Running emu


Emu hatching from an egg – beautiful HD footage from start to finish

And, just for a bit of fun:

Rod Hull and Emu – How to groom an emu [Hudson Brothers’ Razzle Dazzle Show]

Pupils make most of web in storytelling adventure

Stage 1 students create digital stories

Stage 1 students are media stars again! The full article by Jessica Aquilina is HERE, courtesy of today’s Penrith City Star newspaper. Above photo courtesy of Gary Warrick, Penrith City Star.

Our digital stories are here:


Champions read!


Superheroes are champion readers!


How the whale got a hole in his head


Selby licks a lollipop: a Candyland adventure


Lovely library limericks


The elephant’s child


The three little pigs

More puppets! It’s an obsession!

Puppets 1

Bargain basement animal puppets at $3 each from The Reject Shop, Penrith Plaza. Not sure why the Dalmatian has a yellow nose. I originally rejected these four puppets as my least favourites, but at just $3 each they made a hard bargain to pass up.

Puppets 2

More cute animal puppets, this time from the online Sunshine Markets, Queensland. The parcel arrived today! These were an irresistible Internet find: crocodile, leopard and (what the online catalogue called) “the Big Good Wolf”. Really? With those eyes?

More digital stories roll in!

The book rappers in 2B at Caddies Creek PS created this digital story of “The terrific teacher and the twenty-two kids” for the Book Week 2011 book rap on Photo Peach. It is inspired by the shortlisted picture book, “The tall man and the twelve babies” by Tom Niland Champion, Kilmeny Niland & Deborah Niland.

Meanwhile, Class 2H at Caddies Creek PS created this great digital story of “Snappy the crocodile” for the Book Week 2011 book rap on Photo Peach. It is inspired by the popular picture book, “Edward the emu” by Sheila Knowles & Rod Clement.

The book rappers in 2P at Caddies Creek PS created their digital story, “My uncle’s donkey on holidays”, for the Book Week 2011 book rap on Photo Peach. It is inspired by the shortlisted picture book, “My uncle’s donkey” by Tohby Riddle.

The Secret Forest Hero by bpsbookworms on Storybird

Bankstown PS’s Book Rap Heroes (Year 3) created their amazing digital story, “The secret forest hero”, on Storybird. Click HERE to view their online eBook made for the Book Week 2011 book rap.

The book rappers at Kingswood PS also created a digital story, “My teacher’s gorilla”, for the Book Week 2011 book rap. Featuring a huge stuffed gorilla toy and other library friends, it was compiled in Photo Peach. They based it upon the CBCA-nominated picture book, “My uncle’s donkey” by Tohby Riddle.

The crocodile in the playground

Crocodile

Still working with Stage 1 on literacy projects this term, I was thrilled with our latest digital success story, again developed from a storyboard, a brainstormed narrative – and all photographed on my iPhone using local found objects and other existing props!

The main difference in approach this time was that the students weren’t currently studying one particular fairy tale in class. My first two batches of Stage 1 students this term took their inspiration from Goldilocks and the three bears, three groups used themes from The ugly duckling and an assembly item, and another group parodied Hansel and Gretel”.

This time, though, instead of deliberately setting out to create a sequel, prequel or parody, we brainstormed “characters you might find in a fairy tale”. We then paired each one up with another character on the list. Thus, one storyboard, for example, featured a princess, a mermaid and a pony. Another combined the characters of a walking tree and a talking cubby house. The strongest storyline seemed to be the one pairing a ladybug with a crocodile and this was the one the students selected for brainstorming their jointly constructed narrative. The ladybug who lost her spots is a digital fairy tale by Class 1S, partly inspired by a clever plot device from the 1963 picture book, “Swimmy” by Leo Lionni. This book was not read to the students. Rather, the students’ description of how a group of ladybugs might thwart a hungry crocodile began to remind me of the old picture book (a Caldecott Medal winner), and I suggested it as a partial solution. The result is perhaps more of a fable than a fairy tale, but ladybugs losing their spots, and being able to retrieve them again, is the “magical” quality, I guess.

What made this particular set of lessons so exciting is the feedback provided to our Reading Recovery teacher by one of our ESL students, and then relayed to me. This student was able to relate the entire plot of the story while it was still in pre-production, and the teacher had never seen him so animated and articulate about his learning before. A great result all round!

Our other digital fairy tales are here.