Flood

Connecting to prior knowledge

Flood

Introduce Flood by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Discuss the front and back covers and record observations and things the students are wondering about. Conduct a ‘book walk’ by turning through the pages without reading the words. Engage students in a discussion about the pictures and invite them to predict what the text might be about.

Read the text to the whole class. Model how to make a text-to-world connection (e.g. local flood, news item). Then invite students to ‘make a connection with the text’.

Students share their connections with a partner using a think-pair-share and then share with the whole class.

Exploring the text in context of our community, school and ‘me’

Floods in Queensland

Refer to the information about floods on the imprint page of the book.

Re-read Flood. List any unfamiliar vocabulary. If your school is located away from water, words like ‘torrent’, ‘jetty’, ‘surge’, or ‘boardwalk’ may need clarifying.

Identify how Jackie French uses language to represent people in the text (e.g. ‘heroes searched the water’, ‘strangers offered shelter’).

As a whole class, brainstorm sensing words (i.e. looks like, sounds like, feels like) to describe the people. Use evidence from the text. You might like to create a chart like the one below (mark each column with a visual symbol, e.g. an eye, an ear, a hand or heart):

Watch a video about the 2011 Queensland floods. Students work in pairs to brainstorm words they could add to the class sensing chart, recording their ideas on sticky notes.

Invite students to share their words with the whole class. Compare and/or refine, then add the sticky notes to the class chart. Develop this as a ‘word wall’ for future reference.

Floods in our community

Relevant resources will need to be sourced for this activity depending on your location. Examples could include:

• pictures of your local area
• news reports
• video clips
• personal stories from community members

Support students to explore appropriate resources about floods in their local area. This could be done as a whole class OR in smaller reading/viewing groups.

Invite students to consider how people are represented in the resources they have explored. Discuss their observations as a class. Use the sensing chart to aid discussion.

NOTE: This activity presents opportunities to explore the impact of floods and other natural disasters. If your local area has not experienced a flood, focus on an area that has. Alternatively, focus on a different natural disaster that is relevant to your community (e.g. drought, bushfire, cyclone). Be mindful of students who may have close connections with these experiences. It is essential that you understand your class context so you can approach these topics sensitively and modify where appropriate.

(AC9E2LA03)   (AC9E2LY05)

Rich assessment task

Students work in pairs to develop ONE OR BOTH of the following collages:

1. A collage that explores how people in their community are represented
2. A collage that explores how the characters in Flood are represented

Students can draw, use craft supplies, or cut out pictures from magazines. The pictures might include people, landscapes, or other objects that connect with the words from the sensing chart. For example, ‘people looking around’ might be represented with glasses or binoculars. Students can also write or cut out relevant words.

The collages can be displayed in the library or another space in your school community.

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Responding to the text 

Figurative language

Re-read Flood to students. Identify an example of figurative language, e.g. ‘they offered hands and homes’. Model how to paraphrase the meaning of these words:

When Jackie French says ‘They offered hands and homes’, she doesn’t mean that the people actually gave away their hands. What she means is that they offered to help by using their hands to clean up.

List some other examples of figurative language from the text (e.g. ‘the kindness of strangers bloomed like flowers’, ‘it was a town of mud and friendship’). Students work in groups to explain the meaning of these examples in their own words. They can use a range of tools to represent their thinking, e.g. written, visual or dramatic responses.

Groups share their ideas with the whole class. Monitor their responses for understanding.

(AC9E2LA03)

Exploring plot, character, setting and theme

Heroes

Re-read Flood if required. Define the word ‘hero’. Discuss who the heroes are in the story and list some of their characteristics on the board.

Encourage students to identify a ‘real life’ hero. This could be a public figure or celebrity, OR someone in their own lives. Students brainstorm ideas in pairs.

Introduce mind-mapping to the whole class. On sheets of paper OR individual whiteboards, students will write the name of their chosen hero and create a mind map of their characteristics. Alternatively, they can use an online tool such as Popplet.

Monitor students’ work and encourage them to share with a partner and/or the whole class.

Compare characters

Introduce Venn diagrams. Model how to use a Venn diagram to make comparisons. Demonstrate this with a simple concept like cats and dogs. Invite students to suggest similarities and differences and note these on butcher’s paper or the board.

Return to the mind maps from the previous lesson. Ask students to consider how their chosen hero might be similar or different to the people depicted in Flood.

Students complete their own Venn diagrams (individually OR in pairs) to compare their chosen hero with a hero from the text.

Monitor students’ work and encourage them to share with a partner and/or the whole class.

(AC9E2LE02)   (AC9E2LE03)

Rich assessment task

Students create a reading portfolio. Here they will record their learning and thinking about the text so far. The portfolio can be used as evidence of the lesson objectives and learning outcomes identified throughout this unit.

Students can include their mind map and Venn diagram in the portfolio. They can also add information about floods and figurative language, new vocabulary, words from the sensing chart, and any connections between the text and their own experiences.

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Examining text structure and organisation

Haiku

Choose three to four haiku poems from KidZone, or use the examples below. Read the poems one at a time to students. Have them discuss their favourites through a think-pair-share. Encourage them to identify the elements that they liked, and anything they would change.

Identifying syllables

Haiku consist of three lines with a 5/7/5 syllable pattern. Choose ONE of the haiku from the previous lesson to model this for students:

The (1) sun (1) is (1) shining (2) = 5 syllables
Yet (1) grey (1) clouds (1) are (1) closing (2) in (1) = 7 syllables
Time (1) to (1) go (1) inside (2)

Define syllables and model how to identify them by placing your hand under your chin. Each time your jaw drops, a new syllable is isolated. Model this with the first line of your chosen haiku.

Support students to identify syllables. Practise as whole class with the rest of the haiku. You might ask students to repeat this process with another haiku. There is an opportunity here for guided reading and/or group work.

(AC9E2LA03)

Examining grammar and vocabulary

Nature words

Identify some lexical words from the model haiku. These are the words that carry meaning in the text. Examples for ‘Grey Clouds’ include ‘sun’, ‘shining’, and ‘grey clouds’.

Direct students to engage in a word hunt for ‘nature’ words. Students work in pairs or groups to hunt for words from magazines, books, websites, etc. They should record their nature words on sticky notes.

Discuss the found words and what they mean. Students can add their words to a ‘nature’ word wall.

(AC9E2LA09)

Rich assessment task

Arrange students into groups based on their favourite haiku. If numbers are uneven, you may need to assign the groups yourself.

Students work in groups to practise performing or reciting their assigned poem. They will initially present their poem to the class. Support and give feedback to students based on this initial presentation.

Then arrange a bigger audience, e.g. other Year 2 students, a school assembly, an open classroom visit. Students will present their poem to this second bigger audience.

Drawing and painting

Re-read Flood to students. Discuss the illustrations. Read the blurb about Bruce Whatley’s artistic style.

Revisit a page from the book and discuss how the illustration enhances the text. For example:

Here the text says ‘They offered hands and homes’, and the illustration shows people helping each other. Whatley’s decision to let the paint run suggests that it might still be raining, or that there is a sense of ‘muckiness’. The lines aren’t clean and neither is the situation.

Students select ONE key event in the story that they would like to illustrate. Have them discuss their idea with a partner. Check each student’s idea before they proceed.

Provide pencils, watercolours, and other art supplies so that students can depict their chosen event. Create a class gallery of the finished paintings and invite students to view each other’s work.

(AC9E2LA08)   (AC9E2LE05)

Writing a description

Model writing a descriptive sentence using a painting of your own OR an illustration from Flood. Revisit adjectives and highlight them in your model sentence. Use vocabulary from previous lessons, such as sensing words. For example:

My painting shows the caring and thoughtful people of Brisbane giving their dry homes to loved ones.

Encourage students to use sensing words to create a description of their painting. Use guided writing strategies to support students to develop their sentences.

Students should swap their sentence with a partner for feedback. They can then make any adjustments and share their final sentences with the class.

Provide positive and constructive feedback on students’ use of descriptive language.

(AC9E2LA09)   (AC9E2LY06)

Rich assessment task

As a class, develop a plan to exhibit students’ paintings and descriptions. Depending on your school community, this can be done in different ways (e.g. at a school fete, in the school library, a special display at your local community hall). If practical, arrange the exhibition and invite parents/caregivers and other members of the school community to view students’ work.