Ziba came on a boat Before reading activities
1‐Build Bridges to Meaning – examining the
front cover and first two pages to establish
student’s understandings about the topic.
Identify unfamiliar vocabulary prior to
reading. Link prior knowledge to new
understandings.
2‐Discuss the title with the students and why
the author has chosen to write it as a wave.
Identify a description in the story that could
also be written in this way – e.g. ‘she ran with
her cousins down the rocky slope’.
3‐Skim and scan – students are given the
opportunity (as a class/ individually) to flick
through the book, talking about the pictures,
skimming for words that they don’t recognise
(e.g. ‘tandur’) and predicting what the story
will be about.
Justification
1‐Students are making use of text decoder practices as they examine
vocabulary to create meaning when reading the text (Winch & Holliday,
2010).
QSA (2010) identifies the importance of students connecting experiences
and familiar ideas with new understandings.
2‐In grade 6, according to the Australian Curriculum, (ACARA, 2011),
students explore the way that authors innovate on text structures and
play with language features to achieve particular aesthetic, humorous
and persuasive purposes and effects’.
3‐The Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2011) outlines that students should
be satisfactory at ‘predicting and confirming, monitoring meaning,
skimming and scanning’ by the end of grade 5. It is intended that the
students will be able to gain a sound understanding of the context of the
story through their peer’s understandings prior to reading the story.
‐Semantic cueing system – create meaning from the text (text decoder)
During reading activities
4‐Identifying describing words while reading
the story and why the author has chosen to
use these to develop an image. (e.g. ‘cool
mountain air’, ‘heavy clay pots). List these and
have the students collaboratively think of
additional describing words that are
appropriate for the context of the story.
Justification
4‐Marzano and Pickering (1997) identify the importance of students being
given the opportunity to extend and refine understandings. This is applied
in this text as students evaluate the language used in the text and make
adjustments and additions with use of describing words.
‐Text decoder‐ examining language and how this creates meaning (Winch
& Holliday, 2010).
After reading activities
5‐Identify use and purpose of similes
throughout the story. Students work in small
groups to produce their own similes to
describe elements from the story with use of
‘like’ or ‘as…as’.
6‐Cloze activity – removing pronouns from
pg.6:
In _ mind, _ sat with _ father playing with the doll had given ___.
7‐Gaps in text – students identifying gaps
such as the absence of explanation of what
happened to Ziba’s father. Discussion
surrounding different student’s
interpretations of the text in relation to their
experiences and knowledge about the topic.
Justification
5‐ Australian Curriculum – Year 5 – ‘Understand, interpret and
experiment with sound devices and imagery, including simile’
‐Students begin to make sense of the reasons why the author chose
particular language – text participant –‘understand how methods of
image‐making contribute to the text’s meaning (Winch & Holiday, 2010).
6‐Developing grammatical information in order to understand how texts
are structured and how different words create meaning in texts (Winch,
Johnston, March, Ljungdahl & Holiday, 2010). This will assist as their
decode texts and their meanings (text decoder)
7‐Australian curriculum (ACARA, 2011) identifies that in grade 5, students
should be able to ‘recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed
from different viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of
interpretations and responses’.
‐Students are using text‐participant practices in this instance as they
make sense of ‘inferential meanings of the text’ (Winch & Holliday, 2010).
Questions from Bloom’s (revised) Taxonomy
‐How do the images give additional information that the text does not provide? Bloom’s –Comprehension
‐Why does the author more between Ziba’s experiences in her home country and those on the boat? Bloom’s –Evaluating
‐How would you feel if you were Ziba, running with her mother away from gunfire? Bloom’s –Comprehension, Gardner’s
Multiple Intelligences –Intrapersonal
‐What changes to the book would you recommend to the author? Bloom’s ‐Evaluating
Before reading activities
1‐Build Bridges to Meaning – examining the
front cover and first two pages to establish
student’s understandings about the topic.
Identify unfamiliar vocabulary prior to
reading. Link prior knowledge to new
understandings.
2‐Discuss the title with the students and why
the author has chosen to write it as a wave.
Identify a description in the story that could
also be written in this way – e.g. ‘she ran with
her cousins down the rocky slope’.
3‐Skim and scan – students are given the
opportunity (as a class/ individually) to flick
through the book, talking about the pictures,
skimming for words that they don’t recognise
(e.g. ‘tandur’) and predicting what the story
will be about.
1‐Students are making use of text decoder practices as they examine
vocabulary to create meaning when reading the text (Winch & Holliday,
2010).
QSA (2010) identifies the importance of students connecting experiences
and familiar ideas with new understandings.
2‐In grade 6, according to the Australian Curriculum, (ACARA, 2011),
students explore the way that authors innovate on text structures and
play with language features to achieve particular aesthetic, humorous
and persuasive purposes and effects’.
3‐The Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2011) outlines that students should
be satisfactory at ‘predicting and confirming, monitoring meaning,
skimming and scanning’ by the end of grade 5. It is intended that the
students will be able to gain a sound understanding of the context of the
story through their peer’s understandings prior to reading the story.
‐Semantic cueing system – create meaning from the text (text decoder)
4‐Identifying describing words while reading
the story and why the author has chosen to
use these to develop an image. (e.g. ‘cool
mountain air’, ‘heavy clay pots). List these and
have the students collaboratively think of
additional describing words that are
appropriate for the context of the story.
4‐Marzano and Pickering (1997) identify the importance of students being
given the opportunity to extend and refine understandings. This is applied
in this text as students evaluate the language used in the text and make
adjustments and additions with use of describing words.
‐Text decoder‐ examining language and how this creates meaning (Winch
& Holliday, 2010).
5‐Identify use and purpose of similes
throughout the story. Students work in small
groups to produce their own similes to
describe elements from the story with use of
‘like’ or ‘as…as’.
6‐Cloze activity – removing pronouns from
pg.6:
In _ mind, _ sat with _ father playing
with the doll had given ___.
7‐Gaps in text – students identifying gaps
such as the absence of explanation of what
happened to Ziba’s father. Discussion
surrounding different student’s
interpretations of the text in relation to their
experiences and knowledge about the topic.
5‐ Australian Curriculum – Year 5 – ‘Understand, interpret and
experiment with sound devices and imagery, including simile’
‐Students begin to make sense of the reasons why the author chose
particular language – text participant –‘understand how methods of
image‐making contribute to the text’s meaning (Winch & Holiday, 2010).
6‐Developing grammatical information in order to understand how texts
are structured and how different words create meaning in texts (Winch,
Johnston, March, Ljungdahl & Holiday, 2010). This will assist as their
decode texts and their meanings (text decoder)
7‐Australian curriculum (ACARA, 2011) identifies that in grade 5, students
should be able to ‘recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed
from different viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of
interpretations and responses’.
‐Students are using text‐participant practices in this instance as they
make sense of ‘inferential meanings of the text’ (Winch & Holliday, 2010).
‐How do the images give additional information that the text does not provide? Bloom’s –Comprehension
‐Why does the author more between Ziba’s experiences in her home country and those on the boat? Bloom’s –Evaluating
‐How would you feel if you were Ziba, running with her mother away from gunfire? Bloom’s –Comprehension, Gardner’s
Multiple Intelligences –Intrapersonal
‐What changes to the book would you recommend to the author? Bloom’s ‐Evaluating