Flytrap welcome page
Focus outcomes
Linked outcomes
Program and planning for Introductions (week beginning Monday 29 May 2006)
Program and planning for Rap point 1 (week beginning Monday 5 June 2006)
Program and planning for Rap point 2 (week beginning Tuesday 13 June 2006)
Program and planning for Rap point 3 (week beginning Monday 19 June 2006)
Program and planning for Rap wrap up (week beginning Monday 26 June 2006)
Resources
Credits
This rap assists Stage 3 students to demonstrate aspects of the following outcomes:
Focus outcomes
HSIE K-6 syllabus
CUS3.3 Describes different cultural influences and their contribution to Australian identities.
CUS3.4 Examines how cultures change through interactions with other cultures and the environment
Indicators:
*examines the contributions of Aboriginal people to Australian culture and identity
*outlines attitudes and behaviours that contribute to social cohesion
*describes the cultural diversity that exists in Australia today, including the languages spoken
English K-6 syllabus
Learning about talking and listening – Context and text
RS3.3 Discusses ways in which spoken language differs from written language and how spoken language varies according to different contexts.
Learning about reading – Context and text
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.
Learning to read – Reading and viewing texts
RS3.5 Reads independently an extensive range of texts with increasing content demands and responds to themes and issues.
Indicators:
*recognises that English is the first language of many different cultural groups and is spoken in different ways within national boundaries and across them, e.g Scotland, England, America, Ireland, India, Australia.
*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.
*identifies and interprets ideas, themes and issues in literary texts.
Linked outcomes
Learning to write – Producing texts
WS3.9 Produces a wide range of well-structured and well-presented literary and factual texts for a wide variety of purposes and audiences using increasingly challenging topics, ideas, issues and written language features.
Learning to write – Skills and strategies
WS3.12 Produces texts in a fluent and legible style and uses computer technology to present these effectively in a variety of ways.
*discusses the similarities and differences between spoken and written language
*works with different text types using different channels of communication, eg poetry, dramatic performance, email
*uses computer software programs and associated technology to produce a variety of texts
Program and planning for Introductions
Term 2 Week 5: week beginning 29th May 2006
Learning about talking and listening – Context and text
RS3.3 Discusses ways in which spoken language differs from written language and how spoken language varies according to different contexts.
Learning about reading – Context and text
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.
*recognises that English is the first language of many different cultural groups and is spoken in different ways within national boundaries and across them, eg Scotland, England, America, Ireland, India, Australia.
*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.
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.
Here are some possible teaching activities for this week.
During the first week rappers send a short introductory message about their class or group, and give some information about their school and its location. This information would include an Acknowledgment of Country and perhaps the name of the Aboriginal Land on which the school stands. Suggestions included in the program will help rappers with this.
Rappers could then locate participating schools on their Rap map after reading each introduction.
During this week students could also become familiar with the text as a book, and an audio book where this is available. The downloadable files of extracts from the book, read by Meme McDonald, available in the Additional resources for this rap, will support this activity. Definitions of Aboriginal English, Standard Australian English and code-switching must be discussed to assist the understanding of key concepts in this rap. The Definitions information sheet will support this. Rap sheets to support these concepts are available and linked to teaching strategies in the program.
When preparing for the rap, teachers may wish to view the class email discussion from the 2001 rap, The Binna Binna man, in Additional support materials.
Choose from the following suggested activities to support meeting outcomes with your group. Students post the group introductory message to the rap once the teacher has approved the final text.
Syllabus content |
Possible sequence of teaching activities |
Learning about reading – Context and text
Learning about talking and listening – Context and text
Talk to students about how a speaker or writer composes with an audience in mind. Discuss the fact that a skilful writer or speaker creates texts, which position the audience in a certain way. A reader or listener can be made to feel emotion or agree with a point of view because of the way a character or event is presented. Also discuss how speaking face to face with a person makes it easy to assess how they are feeling and responding through observation of body language as well as what they say.
When writing a text message or an email, remind students that it is often more like writing down talk than it is like most other forms of writing. However, like writing, an email can be sent, as in this case, to an unknown, distant audience. Students therefore need to use all their composing skills to present themselves effectively to their audience. |
In order to construct a whole class introductory email, discuss the purpose of the email and its audience. Discuss appropriate greeting, signature, and email etiquette. Focus on the unknown audience and what they need to be told to help them understand your school and your students. The email message should include the school's name and location, the size of the rap class or group and any other interesting information, such as the cultural backgrounds of the students in the class.
Access and discuss email introductions from other rappers and locate these schools on the rap maps
Read and enjoy Flytrap and any other works either written by Aboriginal authors or which focus on Aboriginal culture.
Students make entries in rap journal.
Teachers subscribe to, and introduce themselves to the teacher rap. |
Program and planning for Rap point 1
Term 2 Week 6: week beginning 5th June 2006
Rap point 1: 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.
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.”
CUS3.3 Describes different cultural influences and their contribution to Australian identities.
CUS3.4 Examines how cultures change through interactions with other cultures and the environment
Indicators:
*outlines attitudes and behaviours that contribute to social cohesion
*describes the cultural diversity that exists in Australia today, including the languages spoken
Focus outcomes:
Learning about talking and listening – Context and text
RS3.3 Discusses ways in which spoken language differs from written language and how spoken language varies according to different contexts.
Learning about reading – Context and text
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.
Learning to read – Reading and viewing texts
RS3.5 Reads independently an extensive range of texts with increasing content demands and responds to themes and issues.
Indicators:
*recognises that English is the first language of many different cultural groups and is spoken in different ways within national boundaries and across them, eg Scotland, England, America, Ireland, India, Australia.
*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.
*identifies and interprets ideas, themes and issues in literary texts.
Choose from the following suggested activities to support meeting these outcomes. The group then posts a response to Rap point 1 once the teacher has approved the final text.
| Syllabus content |
Possible sequence of teaching activities |
Learning about talking and listening – Context and text
Learning about reading – Context and text
Talk to students about how a speaker or writer makes choices depending on the cultural context and situation in which they are composing their text. Support students to understand that the cohesion of communities and groups is reinforced through language. Use their own peer group as opposed to their parents’ as an example of language choice to promote cohesion.
Learning to read – Reading and viewing texts
Discuss the layers of meaning in this text. There are stories within the story and some carry important cultural messages but all are important within the family as story is a way of defining and supporting the concept of family across the generations.
Identities
Discuss the cultural importance of story as a way of initiating the young into a cultural group, as a way of sharing moral and cultural values, as a way of defining the members of a group with a shared heritage and way of understanding the world.
Cultural Diversity
Discuss the role of story telling both written and spoken, across all cultures and times. |
Ask students to record as many different types of English that they can recall finding in books, movies or on television. Students record sources and make a presentation to the class. 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. Compare these two statements.
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.
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 Rap sheet 1 to record differences and similarities.
As a class, discuss the differences between home language and school language. Why are they different? How do they reflect cultural practices? Discuss how speakers make language choices based on both the cultural context and the situationin 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, in some cases, words from another language. Example:
Home |
School |
See ya
Ciao (Italian) |
Goodbye |
Fully sick
(Colloquial)
Deadly
(Aboriginal English) |
Wonderful |
Examine the scene from the book Nancy telling Gee’s story to her class (pp. 53-57).
Ask students to develop a plot line recording the important events in Nancy’s story. For instance: Nancy stands in front of the class
She tells the story of the two yams
Ask students to identify and explain the metaphors in the story of the two yams.
Split the class into groups of four and ask them to develop a readers’ theatre presentation of this scene with dialogue for four participants. Use Rap sheet 2.
When developing the dialogue ask students to remember how Nancy was ‘given’ the story by Gee and how she had to promise to obey his rules about its telling and to ‘carry it safely’ in her heart.
Discuss the importance of language in creating and maintaining culture. 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.
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. Invite students to write their stories and display them as well.
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 the rap point.
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Program and planning for Rap point 2
Term 2, Week 7: week beginning 13th June 2006
Rap point 2: 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.
Once you have posted your class response you may wish to respond to one or more of the responses from other class groups. You can do this by posting your comments to the rap so all rappers can share your ideas.
Focus outcomes:
HSIE K–6 syllabus
CUS3.3 Describes different cultural influences and their contribution to Australian identities.
CUS3.4 Examines how cultures change through interactions with other cultures and the environment
Indicators:
*examines the contributions of Aboriginal people to Australian culture and identity
*outlines attitudes and behaviours that contribute to social cohesion
*describes the cultural diversity that exists in Australia today, including the languages spoken
Learning about reading – Context and text
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.
Learning to read – Reading and viewing texts
RS3.5 Reads independently an extensive range of texts with increasing content demands and responds to themes and issues.
Indicators:
*recognizes 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.
*identifies and interprets ideas, themes and issues in literary texts.
Choose from the following suggested activities to support meeting these outcomes with your group then post the group response to Rap point 2.
Syllabus content |
Possible sequence of teaching activities |
Learning about reading – Context and text
Discuss with students how the authors and the audience for this text are Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. The focus of this discussion could be the audience and the authors of this text. Use the information about the authors at the back of the book as a starting point.
Learning to read – Reading and viewing texts
Talk to students about how readers are positioned and how characters and their behaviour may reflect the author’s ideology and views.
Identities
Talk about Nancy’s relationships to the other characters. Focus on her relationship with Nanna. Discuss Nanna’s knowledge and skills in making jewellery and handling the echidna carcass.
Cultural diversity
Discuss Nanna’s ability to use the tools and language of modern multicultural Australia to perform the traditional work that expresses her culture. |
Ask questions about the text. Use the questions in Rap sheet 3 to prompt discussion on stereotyping and who and what is valued. (These questions were derived from Leonie Rowan's approach of transformative analysis outlined in Write me in).
Use the text as a starting point to discuss identity. Focus on the character of Nancy and jointly develop a sociogram, which shows who she interacts with and what she does or says in those interactions.
Refer to these scenes:
Miss Susan p.8
Gee p.18
Mum p.39
Gran pp.58-59
Nanna p.54, p.59
Use Rapsheet 4 to record the sociogram and ask students to independently add information about how Nancy’s interactions with others make her feel.
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. 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).
Nanna tells Gee to go to the hardware store and buy pliers to pull out the echidna quills. Use the Internet to get more information on some traditional tools Aboriginal people may have used. Create a class display of traditional Aboriginal tools.
Ask students to consider what they have learnt about Aboriginal culture from this book. Ask them to reflect on their own cultural backgrounds and what affect this has had on their response to the text.
Jointly construct a class answer to the rap point. |
Program and planning for Rap point 3
Term 2 Week 8: week beginning 19th June 2006
Rap point 3: 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.
As a class or group, post your conclusions to the rap in the form of an extended piece of writing or a short essay.
Once you have posted your class response you may wish to respond to one or more of the responses from other class groups. You can do this by posting your comments to the rap so all rappers can share your ideas.
Focus outcomes:
HSIE K–6 syllabus
CUS3.3 Describes different cultural influences and their contribution to Australian identities.
CUS3.4 Examines how cultures change through interactions with other cultures and the environment
Indicators:
*examines the contributions of Aboriginal people to Australian culture and identity
*outlines attitudes and behaviours that contribute to social cohesion
*describes the cultural diversity that exists in Australia today, including the languages spoken
English K–6 syllabus
Learning about talking and listening – Context and text
RS3.3 Discusses ways in which spoken language differs from written language and how spoken language varies according to different contexts.
Learning about reading – Context and text
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.
Learning to read – Reading and viewing texts
RS3.5 Reads independently an extensive range of texts with increasing content demands and responds to themes and issues.
Indicators:
*recognises that English is the first language of many different cultural groups and is spoken in different ways within national boundaries and across them, eg Scotland, England, America, Ireland, India, Australia.
*recognizes 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.
*identifies and interprets ideas, themes and issues in literary texts.
Linked outcomes:
Learning to Write – Producing texts
WS3.9 Produces a wide range of well-structured and well-presented literary and factual texts for a wide variety of purposes and audiences using increasingly challenging topics, ideas, issues and written language features.
*discusses the similarities and differences between spoken and written language
Learning to Write – Skills and strategies
WS3.12 Produces texts in a fluent and legible style and uses computer technology to present these effectively in a variety of ways.
*discusses the similarities and differences between spoken and written language
*works with different text types using different channels of communication, eg poetry, dramatic performance, email
*uses computer software programs and associated technology to produce a variety of texts
Choose from the following suggested activities to support meeting these outcomes with your group then post the group response to Rap point 3.
Syllabus content |
Possible sequence of teaching activities |
Learning about talking and listening – Context and text
Talk to students about how some stories are meant to be told to an intimate group of close friends and family and that these sorts of stories are the oldest tradition in all cultures.
Learning about reading – Context and text
Talk to students about how traditional stories often have morals or messages, which explain the relationships between humans and the natural world or how human beings should behave.
Learning to read – Reading and viewing texts
Talk to students about how the meanings in texts are not always on the page but are often found between the lines. Encourage students to predict what the text might be about and to confirm their predictions by clarifying unknown words and making sure the text makes sense when they are reading.
Learning to Write – Producing texts
Encourage students to write for a specific audience using a particular channel of communication and then edit their texts for a different audience. Support students to explore the differences between spoken and written texts and how some texts, like emails and text messages may be more like spoken, than written texts because they are written for an audience that shares the cultural context and situation with the composer.
Learning to Write – Skills and strategies
Talk to students about how text messaging and emailing are technologies which provide channels of communication similar to speaking over a phone or to a friend face to face. Therefore, even though the composer is writing the message, language choices are often more like those made when speaking.
Identities
Reflect with students on how most of the important aspects of Aboriginal culture have been passed from one generation to another for thousands of years through dance, song, painting story and language.
Cultural diversity
Flytrap shows us how all cultures are defined by their use of language and story. |
Ask students to read Nancy’s tall tale (pp.10-11) and Nancy’s Mum’s tall tale (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 about Nancy’s Mum swallowing flies. Ask students who they believe told this tale first: Nancy, her Mum or her Grandfather? Why was it told?
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.
Look again at all the tall tales the students have shared. Even though some have been written down they are really a spoken tales, tales for telling to family or friends. Ask students to write a tall tale suitable for emailing to a friend.
Ask students to use their draft emails and edit them to produce written tales to be read by an unknown audience. Use Rap sheet 5 for some editing tips.
Look again at all the tall tales in the story. Use Rap sheet 6 to analyse the stories to find their deeper themes or meanings.
Ask students to choose their favourite tale in Flytrap and write a response which includes a justification of their choice.
Jointly construct a class answer to the rap point. Ask students to contribute what they found out about their favourite tale and its real meaning. |
Program and planning for Rap wrap up
Term 2, Week 9: week beginning 26th June 2006
Having participated in the book rap, share your experiences with other rappers. What did you learn about and enjoy during the rap?
What has been the highlight of this book rap for you and your class? What skills or insights have you learned during this rap that you would like to tell others about?
Post your final group response to the rap as a short comment once the teacher has approved the final message.
Credits
Thanks to Ian Munn (English Teacher, Delroy Campus, Dubbo College); Kathy Rushton (Belmore Boys High School); Rod Wright (Aboriginal Education Assistant, Delroy Campus, Dubbo College); Micheal Peachey (Teachers Aid, Delroy Campus, Dubbo College); Kevin Shipp (Aboriginal Education Assistant, Dubbo North Public School); Raylene Saunders (Team Leader, AETD); Bernadette Thorne (Coordinator, NIELNS, AETD); Yvonne Hill (Aboriginal Education Consultant, Dubbo); and Allan Hall (Aboriginal Education Consultant, Dubbo).
This rap is a 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.
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