Using INDIJ Readers: Our Lives, Our Stories
(Indij Readers for Little Fullas - http://www.indijreaders.com.au/)
Please note: Indij Readers for Little Fullas have been levelled approximating Reading Recovery levels, by classroom teachers. The boomerang on the back cover of each book should only be used as a very general guide and should never replace the classroom teacher’s judgement as to the appropriateness of a text for a student. (Teachers’ Guide pg ix)
Why is this focus important?
Reconciliation involves building mutually respectful relationships between Indigenous and other Australians that allow us to work together to solve problems and generate success that is in everyone's best interests.
Achieving reconciliation involves raising awareness and knowledge of Indigenous history and culture, changing attitudes that are often based on myths and misunderstandings, and encouraging action where everyone plays their part in building a better relationship between us as fellow Australians.
(Information sourced from:
http://www.reconciliation.org.au/home/reconciliation-resources/what-is-reconciliation)
Learning about Australia and Australians is about developing students’ capacity to find out about and understand the places, people and events that make up Australia and the interrelationships among them. This learning recognises Indigenous peoples and their cultures as the first Australians and as critical to understanding Australia and Australians.
Important information:
Please ensure that all teachers using the Indij Readers for Little Fullas series make themselves very familiar with the cultural information provided for each text to ensure the learning experiences provided for students are authentic, culturally sensitive and appropriate.
Within this series and text the use of Aboriginal artefacts is used rather than Indigenous artefacts or cultures.
The following is an example of how teachers might use the Indij Readers Series to:
· provide opportunities to include an Indigenous perspective across the curriculum
· support schools in the development of a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)
· align practice with the ACT Curriculum Framework Every chance to learn P-10.
Information to support school’s in developing a RAP can be found at:
http://www.reconciliation.org.au/home/reconciliation-action-plans/raps-for-schools
What will the students learn?
· We develop things (artefacts and practices) to help us live within our particular environment.
· These ‘things’ can be the same or different from artefacts and practices that other people use in their environment.
· There are traditional Aboriginal artefacts and practices that continue to be used by Aboriginal people and all people today.
Please note: Indij Readers for Little Fullas have been levelled approximating Reading Recovery levels, by classroom teachers. The boomerang on the back cover of each book should only be used as a very general guide and should never replace the classroom teacher’s judgement as to the appropriateness of a text for a student. (Teachers’ Guide pg ix)
Why does this learning matter?
Using Indij Readers for Little Fullas provides opportunities to engage students with essential content from the following ELAs:
8 The student listens and speaks with purpose and effect
9 The student reads effectively
10 The student writes effectively
11 The student critically interprets and creates texts
Essential content from the following Interdisciplinary ELAs may also be explicitly taught, depending of the focus taken for further learning:
1 The student uses a range of strategies to think and learn
2 The student understands and applies the inquiry process
3 The student makes considered decisions
5 The student contributes to group effectiveness
6 The student uses Information and Communication Technologies effectively
Specific essential content from the following ELAs has been identified to demonstrate the links beyond literacy.
15 The student communicates with intercultural understanding
21 The student understands about Australia and Australians
22 The student understands and values what it means to be a citizen within a democracy
What are the students going to do (or produce)?
The following is a sample of a teaching sequence that might be used when exploring the ‘Indij Readers for Little Fullas’ as part of the class daily reading program.
Sample text: What we Count, Then and Now by Helen Empacher, Bianca Briggs, Tu Roper, Nioka Doolan, Erine Blackmore and Bronwyn Bancroft
What will the students learn? / We develop things (artefacts and practices) to help us live within our particular environment. / These can be the same or different from artefacts and practices that other people use in their environment. / There are traditional Aboriginal artefacts and practices that continue to be used by Aboriginal people and all people today.Essential content / Sample Teaching & Learning experiences
(depending on the selected text)
4.EC.7
appreciate the
diversity of their family, school and locality
4.EC.8
demonstrate respectful behaviours towards people whom they identify as different
15.EC.1
similarities and
differences in the ways individuals and families live according to their cultural
backgrounds
15.EC.2
the cultural
background of people they know in their local community
15.EC.4
features of other
cultures (e.g. dress,
food, dance, songs)
15.EC.5
events that celebrate
different cultures in
their school and
community
15.EC.6
describe cultural
practices and
traditions in their own
family and compare
them with those of
their peers
15.EC.7
identify aspects of
cultural diversity within the community
21.EC.8
the diversity of
Australians
21.EC.5
Indigenous people as the first Australians and aspects of Australia’s history
predating British
colonisation
21.EC.11
find out about people’s lives in the past by asking questions of people they know / The following sequence of tasks have been taken and adapted from Indij Readers for Little Fullas Teachers Guide pg 19 with some additional tasks.
Coming to the text
Book orientation - Talk with students about the:
· cover (front and back)
· title
· illustrations
· bold print
· Who do you think might have written this book and for whom (audience and purpose)?
Support students’ understanding of the range of cultural items in the text. Discuss the relationship between everyday living – past, present and future (making predictions and comparisons).
High frequency words - here, is, are, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten
Vocabulary - drumstick, saxophone, parkas, fishing rod
Grammatical features
Nouns - corroboree, disco, coats, parkas, campfires, heaters, boomerangs, supermarkets, ochres, paints, dillybag, backpacks, didgeridoos, saxophones, spears, rods, clapsticks, drumsticks, coolamons, buckets.
Singular/Plural - is, are
Getting into the text
Phonological Patterns
Syllables
Draw attention to the one, two, three and four syllable words. Clap patterns, for example, boom-er-ang.
Visual Information
Contrast the Aboriginal items with the others.
Print conventions
Capital letters
Full stops
Going beyond the text
Picture sort: Sort and categorise pictures from both the text and other sources according to what students see as part of traditional Indigenous cultures.
Categories could be – meetings, celebrations, clothing, food, bags, heating, music, art.
Collectors: Collect examples of each item from the text for further discussions.
Source artefacts from National Museum of Australia / school library / community members – discussion to explore what they are, what they are were traditionally used for, would they still be used today – why/why not? Where might they be used today?
Exploring: Complete a retrieval chart (see appendix 1)
Ask students to work with a partner to think about each item, what do they think it is? Conduct some mini research activity together to find out what the purpose of each item was/is.
Using examples of items from the text, use questions to prompt thinking:
· This is a coat I have, what type of coat do you have?
· What does your heater at home look like?
· How do you get your food?
Create class Venn Diagram to show the differences among students. Discuss the similarities and differences. For example:
Look at the traditional Aboriginal page and then make a new page that is relevant to the class group today.
E.g.
Here are four boomerangs.
(Teacher) A boomerang is like a car in my life because…
(Student) A boomerang is like a …. in my life because…
Create a survey with the students to find out family origins. Focus on where their family came from and types of meetings, celebrations, clothing, food, bags, heating, music and art that reflect their backgrounds.
Students discuss the survey with parents / family and fill it out together. Report to the class some of their findings.
Using a variety of maps (Aboriginal Languages*, world and Australian) teacher labels each student's country of origin with a flag. Each flag has a student’s name on it.
Based on discussion with parents / family and study of the labelled map, students talk about their own family origins.
Indigenous visitor: If possible, invite an elder from the local Aboriginal community to come to your school to do a ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony and/or visit your classroom. Work with the students to develop an Acknowledgement of Country at all whole class gatherings / meetings / functions. Share with the class some of the traditional artefacts and things and what most Aboriginal people would do today.
*The Australian Aboriginal languages Map can be purchased from the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (www.aiatsis.gov.au)
Assessment
Look at a collection of pictures of artefacts or actual objects. Sort the collection into traditional and contemporary. Students explain their choices.
Ask students to think about the artefacts and ‘things’ they have been looking at. For example: meetings, clothing, food, bags, heating, music or art. Draw pictures of what artefacts and ‘things’ look like traditionally and today.
Ask the student to say where they might see a traditional artefact or ‘things’ today? (e.g. at the museum, a traditional performance, at their uncle’s house). Where might Indigenous people today use these traditional artefacts and ‘things’, what would they most likely use?
Are students able to identify the differences and similarities between traditional and contemporary? Can students explain that traditional Aboriginal people and Aboriginal people today have changed some of the ‘things’ they use? For example Aboriginal artists’ don’t necessarily use traditional paints but may also use acrylic paints.
Can students compare ‘things’ from their own families and experiences that are similar to those used by others?
(Appendix 1) Retrieval Chart
Corroboree
Possum coat
Campfire
Boomerang
Ochres
Dillybag
Didgeridoo
Spear
Clapsticks
Coolamons
Please note: Indij Readers for Little Fullas have been levelled approximating Reading Recovery levels, by classroom teachers. The boomerang on the back cover of each book should only be used as a very general guide and should never replace the classroom teacher’s judgement as to the appropriateness of a text for a student. (Teachers’ Guide pg ix)