Reading Wandi

Learning Area:

English

Relevant Content Descriptions:

Year 5: AC9E5LA02 AC9E5LE02 AC9E5LE03 AC9E5LY05 AC9E5LY06

Year 6: AC9E6LE01 AC9E6LY03 AC9E6LY05 AC9E6LY06

Learning Outcome:

Read and respond to a novella and deliver a speech on an animal.

Learning Areas:

English, Science

Prompt Text:

Favel Parrett, Wandi (2021). This chapter book follows the story of a dingo pup who is taken by an eagle and raised by a human.

For EAL/D Students

Before Reading

Introduce the difference between Literal, Inferential and Applied comprehension. Show the students pictures of one of the characters (a dingo, an eagle, a human).

Example: Explore what can be literally understood from these pictures (i.e. an eagle has feathers). Ask students what could reasonably be inferred (e.g. and eagle eats fish). Ask again for applied comprehension - what else does the class know about eagles? (eagles have sharp beaks, are strong, eat meat…)

Ensure students understand the Three-Cueing System The three cueing system - Five from Five

During Reading

Chapters 6-10 – Mini teaching and learning cycle on animal sanctuaries (TESMC Module 3 Teaching in English in multilingual classrooms - Lexis Education) both in Australia and in other countries.

Before Reading

• Introduce the novella and prepare journals or notebooks for responses.

During Reading

Journal Responses

These questions can be discussed as a class and/or students can write their own response in a reading journal or similar. There are 13 chapters in the book, as well as an author interview and some information at the end of the book. The journal responses are broken into reading blocks of around 20 minutes.

Prologue to Chapter 3:

• Write a short piece about one of the animals you’ve been learning about. Tell a story about what their life might be like just after they are hatched or born. • What do you think will happen to Wandi? What makes you think this?

Chapters 4 and 5

• Imagine you have landed somewhere completely unknown like Wandi. What would you do, and what would you miss from home? You can write your response as a story or a summary.

Chapters 6 and 7

• How does the book encourage humans to interact with animals? Give one positive and one negative example from the book to support your answer.

• Experiment with re-telling part Wandi’s story from his point of view (in first person). How does this affect the language and your response as a reader?

Chapters 8 to 10

• Do you think the humans did the right thing by putting Wandi in a sanctuary? Give at least two reasons for your answer.

• How did Wandi change his behaviours to survive in the sanctuary?

Chapters 11 to 13

• How did you feel about the way the story ended? • Use full sentences to write three things you enjoyed about this story and the way it was told.

• Write down one way you think the story could have been improved.

All About Dingoes Resource

• Write down three things you’ve learnt about dingoes.

• Write down at least one thing you’re interested in learning more about or working on.

After Reading

Through Wandi’s story, Favel Parrett shows us how clever and important dingoes are, and encourages readers to learn more about them. Your task is to choose a native animal that lives in our local area, and which you think we should learn about and protect. You will then prepare a PowerPoint presentation about the animal and deliver a short speech to the class. Your presentation should cover:

1. What does your animal look like when it’s born? How do its parents care for it?

2. How long does it take for your animal to live independently?

3. Where does your animal live and what resources does it need to build its home?

4. Describe the ways your animal has evolved into its current form through adaptation.

5. Why is your animal important in the eco-system?

6. What are the threats or dangers facing your animal?

7. How can we protect your animal?

Extending Learning

Connect to Community

If there is a wildlife sanctuary in your local area, you may like to contact them to ask if they require donations of items such as animal food, bedding, first aid supplies, or funding. Students may like to run a donation drive or fundraiser. Alternatively, there are some suggestions in Wandi for supporting dingo conservation in Australia.

Local Organisations include:

• Yongergnow Australian Malleefowl Centre on Ongerup for information on conservation of malleefowl in the region https://yongergnow.com. au/centre/the-malleefowl-mound/

• The Australian Wildlife Conservancy http://www.australianwildlife.org/about/about.aspx has several sanctuaries that are natural homes for the lizards.

• Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre https://www.kanyanawildlife.org.au/ contributes to animal welfare in Western Australia, through rescue, rehabilitation, breeding, research, training, and education programs.