last assignment ETL402 picture books used

Have finally and hopefully finished my masters degree Was required to add fiction used in assignment to the ETL402 wiki but thought I'd explain reasons for fiction chosen here. NSW draft syllabus HISTORY Early Stage One Personal and Family Histories I chose a range of books to try and cover the sort of families we are working with. The family unit of mum, dad, children and grandparents is increasingly less the norm. We have a significant increase in divorced families, single parents and foster care. We recently had a family go through separation followed by the father committing suicide. I tried to select a range of themes in the picture books to cover the backgrounds from which children now come. Gray, K & Milgram, D. (2006). My mum goes to work. London: Hodder Children’s Books This is a picture book with short text. It shows a child undertaking a variety of activities while mum is at work. Curiously there is no other adult around while the child plays. When mum comes home the pair play together at a frenetic pace. The child is pleased when mum goes back to work. Told with humour but indicating the changing lives of children as there is no mention of dad. Theme of ability to look after oneself and independence but still have need of adult who cares. Kingston, J. (2004). A very important story. Sydney, N.S.W.: Hodder Children’s Books. Grandpa reads to his grandson and the little boy asks question about grandpa's past - goes through stages in his life and shows developments in history both globally and personally. Theme of reflection on the past and all the great/grand things one might do or be but the most important is being part of a family and comfort in that certainty. Moundlic, C. & Tallec, O. (2011). The Scar. London: Walker Press. Originally French and translated into English and published worldwide. Sensitively written as the boys mother died during the night - told from first person account according to a 5/6 year old's view of the circumstances. Colour of red suggests grief throughout the story. Grandma finally tells him his mother is still with him but in his heart. Wisdom of age is particularly touching as grandma's daughter has died. Focuses on her son in law and her grandson. Theme or resilience and courage in adversity - realisation that others are worse off than you but that even the worst situation can be overcome. Poulter, J. & Davis, S. (2010). Mending Lucille. Sydney, N.S.W: Hachette Australia. Also chosen because while there could be debate as to whether the mother has gone away or died, the girl is left without her. Symbolism of the girl's doll being torn and being mended by another adult woman who subsequently becomes her stepmother. Sense of loss expressed in a number of ways - comfort in finding a new kind of mother with whom one can share life. Reece, G. & Cencic, V. (2009). What does your daddy do? Sydney, N.S.W.: Hachette Australia. Imaginative story about different dads and what they all do - focus on narrators own dad being the best dad in the world. Everyone is different but everyone has a role to play - familiarity with one's own parent is important. Ractliffe, J. & Glassby, C. (2012). Dads : a field guide. North Sydney, N.S.W.: Random House Australia. Different dads have different characters - all pictured with something relevant to their type. Great for going down memory lane for the adult reader as there is much to remember from the past that is unlikely to be relevant to the child. Theme similar to the above book but this one has less text and the focus is on the visual. Wllis, J. & Parsons, G. (2008). There’s an ouch in my pouch! London: Puffin. Story told with some rhyme and repeated text - kangaroos specifically a joey who has been kicked out of his mother's pouch because it was uncomfortable. He seeks another animal with a pouch but eventually comes to find that his own mother (kangaroo) has a new joey in the pouch. Themes around acceptance of new arrivals in the family - generosity of others offering help, and sense of independence when joey realises he likes being out on his own. I used dialogic teaching strategy Jigsaw from Reading rockets www.readingrockets,or/strategies/jigsaw/ and book raps during dialogic reading Simpson, A. (2010). Dialogic teaching in an online environment: book raps. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 9(2), 32-46

ETL402 Sally RIppin presentation Monday

Went to hear Sally RIppin speak about her experiences as an illustrator and author and found her fascinating. I noted the following points: She writes for herself that is she does not compose her thoughts by thinking that she is writing for children. She puts herself into the writing using her imagination combined with her experiences in life. Her stories are based on her own memory of her childhood from her early years. She is running out of "B" ideas for Billie B as she thought there would only be 8 or so books and she is now up to 20. She was a tomboy herself so she wrote the character of Billie as something other than a fairy or princesses. Hey Jack! Was written in response to her own son being a reluctant ready unlike her daughter. She felt boys needed to be encouraged to read - the font is large to help the with the skill of recognising the words easily and with themes related to everyday issues boys would face. The sentences are short which she said is a challenge to ensure that the intention of the meaning is maintained. While she is an illustrator she did not want to draw for Billie B And so the illustrator is a Japanese Kiwi! whose drawings look remarkably similar to the lady herself but who has matched the image of what Sally wanted for Billie. Sally's background is so much part of her purpose as an author and illustrator. She talked of being in awe and wonder at the world around her. She lived in various parts of Asia as a child and subsequently went to China (Shanghai) to study art for three years. She spoke Hokkien as a child and learned Mandarin in China. She witnessed political history and started to write about the events. She then returned to Australia and became an English tutor for a Chinese girl whose parents wanted her to continue to speak Chinese while still becoming proficient in English. So she writes Speak Cinese Fang Fang hoping to be able to help children solve their own problems in a constructive way and to provide guidance for those found in sometimes complicated circumstances. Her desire to write for children comes from believing that she will not just entertain them but that she can make a difference to them to encourage them to grow in character and help them to realise that they have the strength to grow wisely.

ETL402 professional development opportunities

Saturday 8th September. Local Geography and History Teachers Association of the NT provided a great opportunity for teachers of history (or interested parties including me) to gather to explore the skill of analysing sources of historical information. Points of interest: While sources can be written or nonwritten (coins, photographs, letters, gravestones, architecture) no mention was made of literary sources as evidence of information. Discussed with some teachers the possibility of using literary sources of information as being of value in exploring historical events. Emphasis in pd was on prescribed texts. Oral histories are valuable. There was considerable discussion about this area of evidence as many students are community indigenous and much culture is passed down through very prescribed oral accounts of events of the past and why nature/seasons/environment are the way they are today as well as the reason for familial relationships being structured in a particular way - those of us from primary schools thought this was important for examining who we are today being influenced by the past. Discussion about being careful to ensure evidence is not of a single source - that analysing multiple sources is critical to the outcome of determining the value of the evidence. History is revised over and over according to interpretations of different parties uncovering further information. My view would be that literary sources of historical material would be of interest to children and teachers to encourage exploring the evidence.

return - August 2012 ETL 402

Have been away a long time. Have started last subject. Feeling very rusty academically but enjoying the readings. Whatever grade I always learn a great deal