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The Emu and The Jabiru - Discussion Questions
F 1 2 3 4 5 Pre & Primary Essentials Resources Presentations Indigenous Resources 14 Pages

The Emu and The Jabiru - Discussion Questions

This resource provides thought-provoking discussion questions to guide students through an in-depth analysis of the Indigenous Australian story of The Emu and The Jabiru. The questions encourage critical thinking, cultural appreciation, and social-emotional learning, focusing on themes of conflict, respect, and harmony in nature. This resource is ideal for class discussions, guided reading, or literature response activities.

•    Guided Reading Discussions: Facilitate meaningful classroom conversations about the story’s themes.
•    Literacy Lessons: Encourage students to analyse and interpret cultural messages in storytelling.
•    Social-Emotional Learning: Use the questions to explore conflict resolution, emotions, and empathy.

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Learning goals

  • We are learning to draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts and share responses with others.
  • We are learning to discuss literary experiences with others, share responses and express a point of view using metalanguage to describe the effects of texts, text structures and language features.
  • We are learning to present an opinion on a literary text, using metalanguage to describe the effects of literary devices, text structures and language features.
  • We are learning to draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts, and share responses with others.
  • We are learning to select and discuss texts that satisfy our personal preferences and providing reasoning.
  • We are learning to discuss literary experiences with others, sharing responses and expressing a point of view.
  • We are learning to use metalanguage to describe the effects of texts, text structures and language features of texts.
  • We are learning to present a point of view about literary texts and use metalanguage to reflect on the viewpoints of others.

Curriculum alignment

EN2-4A old Uses an increasing range of skills, strategies and knowledge to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on increasingly challenging topics in different media and technologies EN2-10C old Thinks imaginatively, creatively and interpretively about information, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts EN3-2A old Composes, edits and presents well-structured and coherent texts EN2-11D old Responds to and composes a range of texts that express viewpoints of the world similar to and different from their own EN2-12E old Recognises and uses an increasing range of strategies to reflect on their own and others’ learning EN3-1A old Communicates effectively for a variety of audiences and purposes using increasingly challenging topics, ideas, issues and language forms and features EN3-OLC-01 new Communicates to wide audiences with social and cultural awareness, by interacting and presenting, and by analysing and evaluating for understanding EN3-UARL-01 new Analyses representations of ideas in literature through narrative, character, imagery, symbol and connotation, and adapts these representations when creating texts EN3-UARL-02 new Analyses representations of ideas in literature through genre and theme that reflect perspective and context, argument and authority, and adapts these representations when creating texts EN2-UARL-01 new Identifies and describes how ideas are represented in literature and strategically uses similar representations when creating texts EN2-RECOM-01 new Reads and comprehends texts for wide purposes using knowledge of text structures and language, and by monitoring comprehension EN2-OLC-01 new Communicates with familiar audiences for social and learning purposes, by interacting, understanding and presenting
VCELT283 Describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features of literary texts VCELT306 Discuss literary experiences with others, sharing responses and expressing a point of view VCELT252 Develop criteria for establishing personal preferences for literature VCELT336 Present a point of view about particular literary texts using appropriate metalanguage, and reflecting on the viewpoints of others VCELT251 Draw connections between personal experiences and the worlds of texts, and share responses with others VCELT314 Use metalanguage to describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features on particular audiences

Australian Curriculum covers QLD / SA / WA / NT / TAS / ACT.

Differentiation

Modifications

•    Provide visual aids or storytelling prompts for students who need additional support.
•    Allow students to discuss their responses in pairs before sharing with the whole class.

Extensions

•    Have students rewrite the ending to show a different way the emu and jabiru could have resolved their conflict.
•    Compare this story to another Indigenous Australian Dreaming story that teaches a similar lesson.

Teach it your way

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