Credits

• Ask students to list the characters in the book (WS1.9). (Refer to Rap sheet 3.)
  
• Establish small groups and ask students to select a favourite character for each group. (TS1.1)
• Outline that each group will need to justify their choice in terms of their character’s impact; appearance; role in the story; personal appeal, or other factors. Encourage students to look closely at the illustrations as well as the written text, and to use characteristics from the text to justify their choices. (Refer to Rap sheet 3) (RS1.7).

Activity 2: Purpose and Audience

• Discuss the techniques that the author and illustrator have used (RS1.7)
• Julie Vivas uses pastel colours and soft rounded shapes to sensitively illustrate the special qualities of each character and the bonds of friendship between them.
• Mem Fox explores the themes of friendship, memory, old age and childhood, using dialogue and narrative.
• Mem Fox also repeats the use of ‘something’ and ‘remember’ to help the reader understand memory. She also utilises repetitive sound patterns, eg ‘…Miss Mitchell who walked with a wooden stick’, and rhyming verse eg ‘…with Mr Tippett who was crazy about cricket’.

Activity 3: Responding to text

• Design a process for a class selection to be reached as to which character will be selected and studied.

• Demonstrate how to locate and record information from visual and written cues presented in the text. Assist students to look for and include information about the character that is inferred in the text. Assist students to jointly construct a profile description of the chosen character, including their reasons for selecting this character. (WS1.9) (Refer to Rap sheet 4.) Revisit the qualities of a memory offered by the old people. ‘Something …’ and list possible reasons why each character might offer that description. (RS1.5) (WS1.13)

Posting response to Rap point 3

• prepare the response to Rap point 2 with the class.
• student/s (rap representative) may word process the response, edit and save.
• teacher facilitates the student/s use of the word processor and blogging procedures to post the response to Rap point 2 once the teacher has approved the final text.