1. Erika Rimes
M/Teach (Primary)
Weekend Mode
9th June 2007
English Integrated Unit Stage 3
‘Flytrap’
By Meme McDonald & Boori Monty Pryor
‘Big rain coming’
By Katrina Germein and Illustrated by Bronwyn
Bancroft
1

2. Contents
Part 1: Situational Analysis pp 3
Part 2: Rationale for my unit pp 4
Part 3: Overview of outcomes and indicators
& teaching & learning experiences pp 5
Part 4: Reflection pp 16
Part 5: References pp 17
Appendix pp 18
2

3. Part 1: Situation Analysis
Beverly Hills North Public School is situated in Sydney’s South west region and the
population is usually 600 students and includes approximately 80% children from non-
English speaking backgrounds (NESB), the majority of who are of Chinese origin.
The 20% of students range from Indian, Arabic, and Pacific Islander, African, Greek
and English origin.
Information in Acknowledgment of Country and Working with Aboriginal communities will
help you provide a supportive environment for all students learning about Aboriginal
culture and perspectives, and Aboriginal students in your class. Selected sections from
these documents could be shared with your class.
As indicated in Working with Aboriginal communities, and also the Aboriginal education
K–12 resource guide, the word ‘Aboriginal’ is more appropriate to use than ‘Aborigine’
when referring to Aboriginal people and their culture. Note also that the NSW
Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) requests the use of ‘Aboriginal’ rather
than ‘Indigenous’ when talking about Aboriginal people.
3

4. Part 2: A rationale for my unit;
2.1 Choice of text as relevant to theme and topic
”Flytrap” – Meme McDonald & Boori Monty Prypor
“Big Rain Coming” – Katrina Germein & Illustrations by Bronwyn Bancroft
I choose ‘Flytrap’ and ‘Big Rain Coming’ because they share similar themes and topics in
regard to the environment and Australian identity. Both narratives look at the human
relationships with the environment and Aboriginal themes and culture.
2.2 Theoretical basis for action as relevant to stage 3
The COGS Unit – The Environment is part of the Stage 3 Scope and Sequence. This Unit
covers Creative Arts, PDHPE & HSIE in the KLA. Currently the school is integrating the
COGS units,
Aims of unit:
• Understand and discuss elements in a story (Narrative, orientations, setting &
character development)
• Understand and discuss the purpose of language and structure in a narrative text
• Connect themes and language
• Understand and look at diversity in Australian culture and language
• Address explicit teaching of grammar
• Increase the students involvement in class discussions
Text Type Focus
Narrative
Grammar Focus
Adverbial phrases, imagery and symbolism, noun groups, sensing verbs, opinion
adjectives, and the linguistically feature.
2.3 Duration and hours per week
9 weeks – 1 ½ hour lessons – split into two 45 minute lessons
2.4 Integrations of literacy with KLA
Activities:
• Create their own picture book about a story of their own (Visual Arts)
• Act out an aboriginal dream time story (Drama)
• Research Environment Issues and what we can do to protect our environment from
harm (HSIE)
4

5. Part 3: Overview of outcomes and indicators & teaching and learning experiences
3.1 Outcomes and indicators
English – Stage 3 Outcomes and Indicators
RS3.7 Critically analyses techniques used by writers to create certain effects, to
use language creatively, to position the reader in various ways and to construct
different interpretations of experience.
*discusses the similarities and differences between spoken and written language
*Recognises the structure of a text is related to its purpose
RS3.8 Identifies the text structure of a wider range of more complex test types
and discusses how the characteristic grammatical features work to influence
readers’ and viewers’ understanding of texts.
*Identifies how noun groups are useful resource for condensing information about
peoples, places, things and ideas.
*identifies figurative language such as a simile, metaphor and personification in texts
and discusses the effect.
T3.1 Communicates effectively for a range of purposes and with a variety of
audiences to express well-developed, well organised ideas dealing with more
challenging topics.
*engages in discussions involving more than one point of view about characters and
events
*Explores ideas and topics in a group set up by teacher or peer
TS3.3 Discusses ways in which spoken language differs from written language and
how spoken language varies according to different contexts.
*Talks about and identifies and interprets ideas, themes and issues in literary texts.
*recognises that written texts, as they will be read by people distant in time and space,
are written with an expected response in the author’s mind.
3.2 Assessments
Ongoing alternative assessment Focused Assessment tasks
Weeks 1, 2 , 5, 6, 9 1. Week 3 Lesson 6 – ‘Flytrap’
Ongoing alternative assessment
Anecdotal notes – Notes about students 2. Week 4 Lesson 8 – ‘Big rain coming’
progress, interesting observations
Ongoing observations – Observing
individual and group questions and 3. Week 8 lesson 15/16 – Tall tale
responses to tasks
5

6. 3.3 Teaching and learning experiences
Week 1 – “Flytrap”
Lesson 1 & 2 – “Flytrap”:
Introduction: – Orientation to the text
Look at the cover of ‘Flytrap’.
Question & discuss what a Venus Flytrap is – what is it? What does it do? Has anyone seen a
venus flytrap?
Look at the girl on the cover
Questions: What do you think happens in the story? Who is the story about?
Note: Think about what Nancy might be feeling, describe using similes
Read the blurb from the back of “Flytrap” and show the little illustrations on the back and
inside the book.
Questions:
Student:
Using the cover illustration and illustrations in the book
1. Write a description of the girl and the flytrap (Question: What is she thinking?)
Questions: Where might she live? Where is the story set? Does she have a family?
2. Write a scene, one paragraph describing the event taking place as they imagine it.
Teacher:
Use page 8 and 9 “‘Very good Nancy’. Miss Susan smiled back and Nancy felt as if the sun
had rise over the horizon just to shine on her…. Nancy watched, her sunflower-face lifted
towards her teacher….’ to help students develop their descriptions and scenes using simile a
big bubble-gum of worry balloons out ready to burst, to stick all over someone, using
adverbial phrases ‘Nancy rolls her eyes towards the sky’, ‘tears spurt out in all directions’,
‘…her mum says vaguely, tapping away at the keyboard’.
Display the quotes and ask students to think about what they want to express. Ask them to
use the same grammatical features as McDonald and Pryor.
Ask the class to share some of their ideas, write them up.
adverbial phrases & simile “A grammar companion” Beverly Derewianka
“Flytrap” pages 10, 11 & 13
6

7. Week 2 – “Flytrap”
Lesson 3 “Flytrap”:
Ask students to record as many different types of English that they can recall finding in
books, movies or on television.
As a class look at Examples; Examples: Cockney English – The bill (TV) Aboriginal English –
Message stick (TV) Indian English – a Bollywood movie, or Apu in The Simpsons (TV)
Discuss with students how cultural practices are expressed through language.
Questions: How do you talk to your friends? What words do you use express emotions? What
words are considered ‘slang’?
Questions: Do you talk another language at home? Do your parents/grandparents tell
stories? Can you remember stories from when you were younger?
In groups students record sources and make a presentation to the class about
• the different types of English used in Australia;
• important values from stories and cultures in Australia
Lesson 4 “Flytrap”:
Jointly construct a list of similarities or differences between the two cultures
Teacher & Students:
Compare these two statements
1. Gee’s story: He didn’t want to share nothing. In our lore it’s important that you
share things.
2. Nancy’s Mum’s story: My heart was pounding, thumping ready to burst. A lamb all
of my own.
Jointly construct a list of similarities or differences between the two cultures. Read Gee’s
story about the echidna. Listen to and read Nancy’s Mum’s story about ‘lambo’. Use BLM 1
Appendix 1.1 to record differences and similarities.
As a class, discuss the differences between home language and school language.
Questions: Why are they different? How do they reflect cultural practices? Discuss how
speakers make language choices based on both the cultural context and the situation in
which they are speaking.
Create a word bank, which shows the difference between home language and school language.
Depending on the cultural backgrounds of students, this list may contain recognisable English
words, some with different meanings, colloquialisms and, words from another language.
7

8. Example:
Home School
See Ya Goodbye
Ciao (Italian
Fully sick Wonderful
(Colloquial)
Deadly
(Aboriginal English)
Cultural Diversity
From lesson 3 and 4 discuss the role of story telling both written and spoken, across all
cultures and times.
Questions: What are the differences you noticed? What are the similarities? Do you think
stories and language are important in Australian Cultures? Why?
Week 3 - “Flytrap”
Lesson 5 “Flytrap”
Character development
Student:
Use the storyboard and develop the characters and their relationships with one another.
Use BLM 2 Appendix 1.2
Teacher:
Point out to the students that the events are not what constitutes the story; it is also about
the development of feelings both the readers’ and the characters’.
Students can read a particular chapter/pages and concentrate on one character, for
instance;
• Gee
• Nancy’s Mum
• Nancy
Follow the story board through with the chosen character
If you fill in the whole story board…..
Questions: Do any questions arise that you can’t answer? Does the story flow smoothly?
(Note to students: Think about the importance/relevance of each characters story’s or
actions)
Look at Nancy’s Mum story on pages 30 – 31;
Questions: What do we understand about Nancy’s Mum? What do the descriptions express
about Nancy’s Mum? How does Nancy react to her mum’s story?
Nancy’s Mum remembers certain feelings from talking and listening to Nancy. Nancy’s mum
continues to talk about her past from pages 32 – 38. The descriptions evoke sensing verbs
(feeling and thinking)
“Flytrap” Page 30 – 31
‘Yuck!’ Her mum looks up. ‘That smell was so bad, wasn’t it?’ She can’t help giggling. ‘They
probably smell it from across the other side of Melbourne!’
‘Further!’ Nancy squeals, clapping her hands, thrilled that she’s lured her mum away from the
computer again. The Sound of her mum’s laughter is sweet as raspberry spider on a hot day.’
Nancy Drinks it in. ‘ Flies flow for days to get here…form…maybe from….’
8

9. Nancy’s Mum squirms, remembering the feeling of flies squatting on the back of her sweat-
soaked shirt, in the corner of her eye, up her nose, on the edge of her mouth, sucking the
moisture. The feeling carries Nancy’s Mum back to when she was a kid mustering sheep……
Lesson 6 – “Flytrap”
Character Relationships
Ask questions about the text. Use the questions in BLM 3 Appendix 1.3 to prompt
discussions on whom and what is valued and the relationship between people in the book.
(These questions were derived from Leonie Rowan's approach of transformative analysis
outlined in ‘Write me in’).
Student and Teacher: ASSESSMENT TASK
Use the text as a starting point to discuss identity. Focus on the character of Nancy and
jointly develop a sociogram (‘Flytrap” Bookrap 22 May 2006), which shows who she interacts
with and what she does or says in those interactions.
Refer to these scenes:
Miss Susan p.8
‘Very good, Nancy.’ Miss Susan smiled back and Nancy felt as if the sun had risen over the
horizon just to shine on her
Gee p.18
He brings all kinds of things home in plastic bags. Mainly birds…..
Mum p.39
By the time Nancy’s mum noticed, it was covered in flies… ‘That’s one-two-three business to
clean up,’ she grumbled.
Gran pp.58-59
Next time she goes to her Gran’s place, she’s going to spin enough wool to make her own
beanie……
Nanna p.54, p.59
Story of the two yams
Student:
Use BLM 4 Appendix 1.4 to record the sociogram and ask students to independently add
information about how Nancy’s interactions with others make her feel.
Week 4 – “Big Rain Coming”
Lesson 7 – “Big Rain Coming” - Before reading the book
Visual literacy
Orientation to the text
Show students the cover, tittle, author and illustrator.
Questions: Who/what do you think the story is about? What happens in the story?
“Big rain coming”
Show Page 11 and 12 where two dogs are keeping cool
“The panting dogs at Roberta’s camp dug themselves dusty holes to keep cool.”
Ask the students about the demand, salience, realism, vectors and framing of the pictures.
9

10. Questions: Demand –What is the text and image trying to do? Informing? Pursuades?
Salience – What stands out in the picture? What did you notice first?
Realism – What can you tell from the illustration? Is it real, Why? Is it symbolic, why? To
the characters interact with one another?
Model reading: Read “Big rain coming” to the class
After reading through the book (maybe more than once) ask the students some questions to
get them discussing the story, characters, setting, themes etc…
Questions handed out to class BLM 4 Appendix 1.4
Questions: How long did it take the story to happen? Where did the story happen?
Which character interested you the most? Who was telling – who was narrating – the story?
Did we ever know what the characters were thinking about?
Discuss the answers as a class and always refer back to the book to help the class
understand the story, characters and themes etc…
Theme: Direct students to the illustrations;
Who are the characters? Direct students to how the sun, clouds and rain are represented,
through use of human features (faces), but not on every page.
Question: How do you know there is an Aboriginal theme in the illustrations?
What particular thing/object/character is on every page?
Briefly discuss the story of the “Rainbow serpent”.
Questions: Does anyone know about the rainbow serpent?
What happens in that story that is related to “Big rain coming”?
What happens to the rainbow serpent in “big rain coming” when the rain finally comes?
Is old Stephen predicting ‘big rain coming’ from the sky or from the rainbow serpent?
Can the people and animals see the rainbow serpent? Why? Why not?
Lesson 8 – “Big rain coming”
Teacher:
Discuss with the students as a class what feelings were evokes when reading the story
(Suspenseful, expectation, disappointment…)
Questions: What words or phrases affected they way you felt?
What pictures affected they way you felt?
Students:
Characters
Get students to go through the story in pairs/groups and answer questions about the
characters in “Big rain coming”
Questions:
• Who is the most important character in “Big rain coming”, why?
• Can you find a page that shows the importance of this character? If not, why?
Example: The rain – everyone and everything is relying on the rain and this is represented
through predictions of when the rain is coming, the animals and children trying to keep cool
waiting for the rain etc…..
10

11. Students may get different answers but may be able to support their opinion.
Discuss their answers as a class.
Students: ASSESSMENT TASK
The Environment
As a class complete BLM 5 Appendix 1.5 showing the relationships between all the
characters in the book
Use the story outline BLM 6 Appendix 1.6 and the book to complete the sociogram
Questions: How do the characters interact with one another?
Is there one character that other characters are all dependant on?
As a class discuss and compare the way the way people interact with the land in ‘Big Rain
Coming’ and ‘Flytrap.
‘Flytrap’ ‘Big rain coming’
• Echidnae story • The rain
• Nancy’s necklace • The environment e.g. billabong, dirt,
• ‘Lambo’ story leaky tap
• Gee’s gift to Nancy – The Two Yams • ‘Rainbow serpent’
story • Old Stephen informing the children of
• Elders passing on stories the weather
Week 5 - “Flytrap”
Lesson 9 – “Flytrap”
Language and Culture
Teacher:
Question: Why is language and story so important to culture and identity?
Discuss the different stories told in Flytrap by the various characters and the reasons for
telling them.
Students:
The response should be at least three paragraphs long and should address the first two
parts of the question in separate paragraphs.
Ask students to think about stories from their own families or cultural backgrounds. Discuss
how emotion is developed in spoken texts by a speaker using pause and repetition for effect
or tone, volume, intonation and body language to emphasise a point or build tension. Ask
students to consider these aspects of the text when listening to the telling of this story.
Encourage students to share their stories with the class and ask for positive feedback from
peers relating to these aspects of the presentation.
Play Gee’s story: ‘Long time ago this one fulla was really greedy. …strung together with
beautiful red seeds.”
11

12. Lesson 10 – “Flytrap”
Discuss the importance of language in creating and maintaining culture.
Question: Ask students to think of a story they know that depicts and shares cultural values
in a community, e.g. Noah’s ark in Genesis, Shrek, Beauty and the beast, Toy story, or a
family story or saying.
Teacher:
Ask students to think about how these stories have been shared over time.
Remind students that many stories have been passed down orally and finally written down.
Ask students to share their stories with the class. Record the names of the stories and
display in the classroom.
As a class, discuss why stories and language are so culturally important. Illustrate your
answer by referring to the stories told in “Flytrap”.
Jointly construct a class answer to; How is traditional Aboriginal life and modern Australia
represented in Flytrap through the stories told by its characters? Discuss how Aboriginal
and non-Aboriginal readers might react to these stories in different ways.
Question: Do you understand words? Find words you don’t understand – how is it used?
Week 6 - “Flytrap” & “Big Rain Coming”
Lesson 11 & 12 “Flytrap”
Character Nanna
Ask students how and where they think Nanna might have learnt the skills necessary to
handle the echidna carcass and to make the jewellery. Point out to students how Gee is
learning these skills and passing them on to Nancy.
Ask some of the questions suggested by Aidan Chambers in “Tell me more”. Examples:
• the story of Flytrap is told in the third person. Who is this person?
• were there any words or language in this story that you liked or disliked?
• who was your favourite character? Why?
Read Nanna’s story (pp.19-23). Jointly construct a description of Nanna. Use these questions
to support students:
• How does she speak? (p.19)
• What is she like? (p.21 & p.45)
• What experiences has she had in life?(p.20)
• What is she good at? (p.19 & p.45)
How does Nanna’s story reflect the story of the two yams? (pp.55-57).
12

13. Week 7 - “Flytrap”
Lesson 13 – Character Profile
Write a character profile including the following information.
Name, age, and family details – names of family members, occupations, and peculiar character
traits.
• Appearance – Height, hair colour, eye colour, build
• Behavioural Traits
• Character traits
• Job/Hobby
• Where living and why
• What type of transport – describe how they get around car, train, horse
• Favourite things and why they are enjoyed
Any other personal background relevant to the story
Teacher:
With the whole class do a joint construction character profile, encourage students to write
as well as offer their suggestions orally. Then ask students to attempt their own work.
Opinion adjectives pg.35 “A grammar companion” Beverly Derewianka
Lesson 14 – “Flytrap” and “Big rain coming”
Get into the head of the characters
“Flytrap”
Questions:
• How does your character get information? – By using direct questions, actions,
intuition/feeling
• How does your character work things out?- by thinking and feeling
• How does your character relate to other characters in the book? By being protective of
others, don’t take much notice of others, spiritual connection, caring, understanding,
guidance of others…
“Flytrap” and “Big rain coming”
Teacher:
Use paragraph to see the different relationships people have with the land in “Flytrap” and
“Big rain coming”
“Flytrap”
Gee’s story: He didn’t want to share nothing. In our lore it’s important that you share
things.
Nancy’s Mum’s story: My heart was pounding, thumping ready to burst. A lamb all of my
own.
“Big rain coming”
“On Sunday afternoon Old Stephen nodded to the dark clouds spreading in the south”
“The children swam in the billabong after school.”
“The fat green frogs huddled around the leaky tap on the rain-water tank.”
13

14. Week 8 -“Flytrap”
Lesson 15
Tall Tale
Teacher:
Ask students to read Nancy’s tall tale (“Flytrap” pp.10-11) and Nancy’s Mum’s tall tale
(“Flytrap” pp.13-15).
Ask students to consider the different reasons that Nancy and her Mum were telling tall
tales. Read the tall tale on p.59 (“Flytrap”) about Nancy’s Mum swallowing flies.
Questions: Who do you believe told this tale first: Nancy, her Mum or her Grandfather?
Why was it told?
Student: ASSESSMENT TASK
Ask students to share a tall tale they have heard or told themselves. As each student shares
their tale ask them to think why it was told to them or why they told it. Tall tales are always
meant to entertain an audience but ask students to consider if their tale is meant to amuse,
frighten, comfort, tease or please the audience.
Student:
Ask students to choose their favourite tale in Flytrap and write a response which includes a
justification of their choice.
Teacher and Student: ASSESSMENT TASK
Jointly construct a class answer to BLM 7 Appendix 1.7
Questions: Who told this story? Why was this story told? To whom was it told? What is the
story about? What is the most unbelievable part of the story? Is it a true story?
How does this story make you feel?
Ask students to contribute what they found out about their favourite tale and its real
meaning.
Lesson 16 “Flytrap”
What is a tall tale? While this book has fun telling tall tales, there are deeper messages and
themes. What are they? Explain how you came up with your answers.
Theme “Flytrap”
The use of stories, language and culture which influences the way we tell stories and the
value of stories.
Gee gives the story to Nancy. Nancy must follow rules, Nancy’s mums story of ‘Lamb of God
Nanna passing on how to make, Nancy herself tells the two Yam’s story...
Motif
The importance of family, culture and truth.
Throughout the whole story Nancy tries to make up stories herself about not having a
flytrap. Nancy continues to come back to ‘making up a story’ about her flytrap throughout
listening to her mum’s stories of her childhood, throughout listening and doing things with
Gee. Nancy receives a necklace from her Nanna and Gee ‘brings her a story’ and she re-tells
the story of the two yams to the class. Her mum even tells her (pp. 45) to tell the truth.
14

15. Week 9 – “Flytrap” and “Big rain coming”
Lesson 17 & 18
“Flytrap” & “Big rain coming”
As a class reflect, discuss and put together a table showing the overall language, themes, and
characters in ‘flytrap’ and ‘Big rain coming’
Questions: What is the language like in Flytrap and Big Rain Coming? What were the most
important points in the stories? What did the stories tell us about culture, language?
Flytrap Big Rain Coming
Language & Descriptive language; Repetition -
Illustrations Nancy’s Mum ‘Lambo’ story “On Monday there was no rain”
Written in first person - Nancy “On Tuesday there was no rain…”
Colloquial language; “On Wednesday there was still no
Gee’s story rain….”
Suspense; What will happen at This creates suspense and creates a
school when Nancy won’t have the climax.
flytrap.
Climatic/important moment: When
Climatic/important moment: The the rain comes.
two yams, telling the story to the
class, and telling the truth Rainbow serpent – Aboriginal
illustrations throughout the story
p.p. 24,25 Aboriginal Illustration –
Echidnae story
Characters Characters are part of Nancy’s Characters are not all humans and
family and her school. animals but also the environment
(e.g. the rain, the clouds….)
The characters are connected with The characters in the book are all
main character Nancy connected through the rain and
where they live
Themes
”Flytrap” shows us how different “Big rain coming” shows us how
cultures can define the use of people and animals relate to the
language and stories and identity. environment and how people/animals
relate to the environment in
Identity – Aboriginal culture; different/similar ways.
passing stories /skills from
generation to generation
15

16. Part 4: Reflection on professional experience context with comments on how you
would need to amend your lessons, considering the school’s organisation of Literacy
and English.
• The stage 3 curriculum planning for Literacy and English is focused through out the
week, giving English 55 percent of the time. This would not affect my lessons too
much; however parts of the unit may take too long to cover in the term and may
need some changes.
• The students would need to look specifically at the use of Aboriginal language to
understand some of the words used in the book. The students at Beverly Hills North
Public School come from a variety of backgrounds; however I feel that the students
in Stage 3 would not find it very difficult.
• Overall I don’t feel that there would be any problems with the focus of this unit
with Stage 3 students at Beverly Hills North. I feel that they would thoroughly
enjoy the use of visual text and connecting it with grammar, character development
and relationships.
• Students from Beverly Hills North Public School would also enjoy the content of
‘Big rain coming’ and ‘Flytrap’ even though many students come from different
backgrounds. A lot of the themes are universal but also unique as part of the
Aboriginal culture.
16

17. Part 5: References
Rushton, K., Strategies for working with a narrative text “Blueback: By Tim Winton,
2002
Collaborative project of the School Libraries and Information Literacy team, the
Aboriginal Education and Training Directorate (AETD) and the English team, Curriculum
K–12 Directorate., Flytrap bookrap, 22 May 2006
P. Derewianka, Beverly, A grammar Companion , Primary English Teaching Association,
1998
Chambers, Aidan, Tell me more: children, reading and talk, Primary English Teaching
Association, 1993
K-6 Board of Studies Website, http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/, 1998
17

18. Appendix
18

19. BLM 1 Appendix 1.1
Similarities and differences
Gee’s Story p.g. 24 – 28 Mum’s story about
‘lambo’ pp.35-38
Who told this story?
To whom was it told?
Why was this story
told?
Is it a true story?
Does it have a moral
or a deeper meaning?
Does it explain our
relationship to nature?
Does it give advice on
how to behave?
What else does the
story tell you?
How does this story
make you feel?
NSW Department of Education and Training, 2006. Flytrap rap
19

20. BLM 2 Appendix 1.2
Storyboard ‘Flytrap’
By Meme McDonald & Boori Monty Pryor
1. Nancy tells the teacher she has a Venus 2. Nancy goes home with her mum from
Flytrap school
3. Gee arrives home 4. Gee tells the story of the Echidna
5. Nancy makes up excuses for not having a 6. Nancy’s mum talks about her childhood
flytrap
7. Nancy gets a package from Nanna 8. Gee gives Nancy the story of the two
yams
9. Nancy tells her teacher about not having 10. Nancy tells her yam story to the class
a flytrap
20

21. BLM 3 Appendix 1.3
Asking questions
Questions Answers
What type of story is Flytrap?
Who is included in this story?
Who is excluded?
Who gets to do what?
What is presented as natural and
normal?
Who and what is valued?
How do you know this?
Find evidence in the text.
What language in this story is
very important to its impact?
Find evidence in the text.
How is this story different from
others you have read?
NSW Department of Education and Training, 2006. Flytrap rap
21

22. BLM 4 Appendix 4.1
Flytrap: Sociogram
Join the characters with arrows that show how they relate to each other.
Write the feelings on the arrows that lead from one character to another
Miss Susan (p.18) Gee (p.18)
Nancy
Mum (p. 39) Gran (p.58-59) Nanna (p.54,
p.59)
NSW Department of Education and Training, 2006. Flytrap rap
22

23. BLM 5 Appendix 1.5
‘Big Rain Coming’
As a group of 3 and a copy of ‘Big Rain Coming’ answer the following questions;
1. How long did it take the story to happen?
Think about: the order in which the events happened
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Where did the story happen?
Think about: did you think about the place as you were reading it, are there passages
especially about the place where the story is set?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. Which character interested you the most?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4. Is the character/s important in the story? Why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
5. Who was telling – who was narrating – the story? Do we know? And how do we know?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
7. Did we ever know what the characters were thinking about?
Note: Were we ever told what they were feeling? Or was the story told from the time
from outside the characters, watching what they did and hearing what they said?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Discuss your answers with the a class
Questions from Aidan Chambers, Tell me more: children, reading and talk
23

24. BLM 5 Appendix 5.1
‘Big Rain Coming’: Sociogram
Join the characters with arrows that show how they relate to each other.
Write the feelings or quotes from the book on the arrows that lead from one character to
another
Rosie’s kids Panting dogs
The Rain
Fat green frogs Old
Stephen
24

25. BLM 6 Appendix 1.6
Outline of Big Rain Coming
By Katrina Germein and Illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft
Page 1 & 2
On Sunday afternoon Old Stephen nodded to the dark clouds spreading in the south.
Page 3 & 4
‘Big rain coming’, he said
Page 5 &6
But on Monday there was no rain.
Page 7 & 8
The night was so warm Rosie’s kids dragged their beds outside to maybe feel some
breeze while they slept.
Page 9& 10
On Tuesday, there was still no rain
Page 11 & 12
The panting dogs at Roberta’s camp dug themselves dusty holes to keep cool.
Page 13 & 14
Wednesday came, and still no rain.
Page 15 & 16
The children swam in the billabong after school. The water was warm and still.
Page 17 & 18
By Thursday night there was still no rain.
Page 19 & 20
The fat green frogs huddled around the leaky tap on the rain-water tank.
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26. BLM 7 Appendix 1.7
Tall tales
Tall tales Nancy’s tall Nancy’s Mum’s Nancy’s Mum’s
tale tall tale pp.13- tall tale
pp.10-11 15 (swallowing
flies) p.59
Who told this
story?
Why was this
story told?
To whom was it
told?
What is the story
about?
What is the most
unbelievable part
of the story?
Is it a true story?
How does this
story make you
feel?
(sad, happy,
puzzled,
NSW Department of Education and Training, 2006. Flytrap rap
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