Reading   

This term students are reading two texts which invite them to reflect on Australian history, resilience, and connection to sea and Country.  As background knowledge and vocabulary are crucial factors that underpin a student’s ability to comprehend what they read, we are explicitly teaching students to actively think about the ideas in the texts through engaging in vocabulary instruction during and after reading. 

Through both teacher and student read aloud opportunities, we will develop fluency, prosody and accuracy. To support students in their comprehension we will pause during our reading of the text to explain, model and guide them, including, but not limited to, assisting them to identify key ideas, ask questions to clarify thinking, provide reasons or evidence, and analyse how the authors have made the texts interesting by using figurative language. 

Our first text we are reading is a historical fiction novel, Us Mob Walawurru by David Spillman & Lisa Wilyuka. 

This novel follows the life of Ruby, the narrator, from when she is a young girl in school in the 1960s in Central Australia, up until when she becomes a mother herself. 

Along the way, Ruby reflects about her life and deepens her understanding of her connection to her Country.

The second text we are reading is the children's picture book Free Diving by Lorrae Coffin and Bronwyn Houston.

This text  tells the story of Australia's Aboriginal pearl divers, and their dangerous and courageous task of free diving, to collect pearls from the ocean floor to support the pearling industry. 

Through poetic language and illustrations, Free Diving celebrates the strength, resilience, and cultural heritage of Aboriginal Australians, highlighting a significant part of Australia's history.