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