Stories From the Billabong Study Part 1

Summary

Throughout a series of mini lessons, the students will complete a Google Lit Trip with a variety of activities that match the Language Arts state core. During this study, the students will explore the folklore of Australian Aboriginals while working on other literary skills such as: picking out the moral, writing their own version, rewriting a story from a different point of view, using the text to answer comprehension questions, and relating outside text to the story.

Part 1 specifically focuses on an overview of Australian Aboriginals, subcategories of folklore and answering a comprehension question.

Materials

Class set of Stories From the Billabong by James Vance Marshall and Francis Firebrace

Stories From the Billabong Google Lit Trip (necessitates computer access) Can be found attached below.

"The Aborigines of Australia" PowerPoint. Can be found attached below.

Reflective Journals for students to respond to writing prompts in

Pencil for each student

Student Prior Knowledge

This lesson plan was written with the understanding that the students are already familiar with doing Google Lit Trips. If this is not the case, the teacher will need to spend some time explicitly teaching the students how to use it.

Students also are already familiar with the subcategories of folklore.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Intended Learning Outcomes for all 10 parts of study:

Students will be familiar with the stories of the Aboriginal Dreamtime

Students will be able to apply a variety of reading and writing strategies to a single book

Students will be familiar with the characteristics of folklore (i.e. Fable, Parable, Mythology, Pourquoi, Legend and Fairytale)


Intended Learning Outcomes for Part 1 of study:

Students will be familiar with the different subcategories of folklore

Students will have an understanding of how Aboriginal Australians view the earth

Instructional Procedures

The teacher will introduce the students to Stories From the Billabong and explain as a class they will be exploring the book. The teacher will explain who the authors are and what the book is about (i.e. folklore from the Aboriginal Australians).

After the book is introduced, the teacher will present "The Aborigines of Australia" PowerPoint [see above attachment] to give the students some background knowledge. The PowerPoint file includes some specific points the teacher needs to make. After all questions are answered about the PowerPoint, do "Three Minute" writing excercise where students write 2 facts they found interesting from the PowerPoint.

Next, the teacher will read the first story, "The Rainbow Serpent and the Story of Creation" to the class. As the teacher comes to unfamiliar words, he/she will model for the students referencing the glossary at the back of the book. After the story is read, there will be a brief class discussion. What was the story about? Any questions?

After the discussion, the teacher will instruct the students to open the Stories From the Billabong Google Lit Trip and complete the first location. During this 15-20 minute period, the teacher will walk around and give individual help to those who need it. As students finish, encourage them to look through and review the whole book to find things that interest them.

Close this lesson with a class discussion. What were some things they learned about Aboriginal Australians today? Any lingering questions? Have them turn in their Reflective Journals.

Assessment Plan

In addition to the attached rubric, teacher will observe the students' actions to decide whether the concepts taught are being grasped.

Bibliography

Boyer, Barbara. What is Folklore? [Online] Available http://www.slideshare.net/barbara.boyer.sas/folklore-4th-grade-1361458, 2009.

Marshall, James Vance and Firebrace, Francis. Stories From the Billabong. c2008

tshepard. http://www.slideshare.net/TShepard/the-aborigines-of-australia