LOTE
Kii, Deadly TPS community, biladu-njan wat/how are you all? And in the words of my Yawuru language...Ngaji gurrjin/Hello everyone!
What a great term of learning it has been! The focus this term has been on learning about the place our school is located and where we live, work and learn - Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Country! The purpose for this has been to ground the students in the Aboriginal Country upon which they learn; to connect their learning to this land; to continue deepening their knowledge and understanding of the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people’s unique history, culture and connection to their land; and for all students to continue developing a greater appreciation for this land on which we live, work and learn and to be more caring and respectful for Country.
The last half of the term was spent learning about a significant Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Creation Dreaming Story that tells of the creation of Birrarung (Yarra River) and Narrm Narrm (Port Phillip Bay). In 2015 and 2016, Grade 5/6 students at TPS and I were involved in a project organised by Sharing Stories Foundation in conjunction with the Wurundjeri community to help in the creation of an interactive iBook of this story. You can access this iBook via the link below, to learn this wonderful Creation Dreaming story and to check out the amazing artwork and digital animation the students put together for this story.
https://books.sharingstoriesfoundation.org/wurundjeri/index-standalone.html
Students in Yrs F-4 enjoyed creating their own illustrations of this story. Check out some of their work:
Students in Yrs 3-6 have been learning some Woiwurrung words associated with the story through the interactive Kahoot game.
Students in F1 learnt/reviewed the meaning of the word Wurundjeri - wurun: the White River Gum also known as the Manna Gum; and djeri: the witchetty grub that grows in or near this tree.
All students have continued learning and practising the Woiwurrung language used in the classroom such as greetings, instructions and introductions.