Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up

Connecting to prior knowledge

Before reading

Share with students that Sally Morgan is one of Australia’s best-known Aboriginal artists and writers. Ambelin Kwaymullina is also a celebrated artist and writer. They both belong to the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Use a map of Australia, along with the AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia or Gambay First Languages Map, to locate the Pilbara region and Palyku Country.

Dramatic play

Look at the front cover of Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up and read the title. Ask the class what animals they see. Create finger puppet characters of the different native animals identified. This will encourage creative thinking, fine-motor skills and social development as well as thinking about the animal and its attributes.

Useful tutorials include:

• Access Art – Making Finger Puppets
• Art With Amita – DIY Finger Puppets | How To Make Finger Puppet Animals Step by Step
• Easy Crafts DIY – DIY Finger Puppets | How To Make Finger Puppets For Kids

Encourage students to use their puppets to tell their own story. Each student will begin to create different narratives that they will share in groups of three or four. Research the names of animals in different First Languages. These may include languages from the Pilbara, such as Ngarla or Kuruma, but you should also look for examples from your own local language group (e.g. Dharawal or languages from the Greater Brisbane area). Then try to create a class story using the puppets and the language words students have learned.

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Sensory play: categorising objects

This activity will introduce students to the problems the characters may encounter in the book.

Collect a variety of materials such as plastic bottles, bits of plastic bags, straws, bottle caps, string, gum nuts, grass, and leaves. Place the mixed materials into tubs and create stations so the students can sort the natural objects from the human-made objects.

During the activity, move between the stations and prompt group discussion with the following questions:

• Where would you find these objects – in the school playground, in parks, in the bush, etc.?
• Is it safe for animals to play with or eat these objects? Why or why not?
• Do all the different objects belong in the animals’ homes?
• What would happen if there were too many of the human-made objects in the animals’ homes?

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During reading

Return to the front cover and ask:

How might these animals clean up the bush?

Record the predictions to refer to later. Then read Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up aloud to the whole class, using appropriate inflection and tone. Encourage the students to use their finger puppets to follow along, changing their puppets as each new character is introduced.

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

Connecting to the school environment

Ask what animals might be found in the school playground. Have students draw their answers on sticky notes and place them on the board.

Display and read out the following statement:

Our school does a good job at keeping the playground clean and looking after the animals who live in it.

Have students move to either side of the room to show whether they agree or disagree with the statement. Allow them to take turns defending their position.

Take a walk around the school grounds to look and listen for different animals. Have the students observe how clean the playground is and record any human-made objects that they see that could harm the animals in the playground.

Once you have returned to the classroom, reread the above statement and have the students vote once more. If they have changed their mind, provide an opportunity for them to talk about why they have done so.

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Rich assessment task

Read the text once more, discussing the beginning, middle and end details. Afterwards, model a retelling of the story using the appropriate language and detail. Explain that retelling is not memorising the words but using your own words. In groups of three or four, have the students retell the story with their finger puppets, using a different voice for each character. They should work together to use the puppets to sequence the story.

Send students to independently work on retelling the story using the retell template (PDF, 221KB). You might like to record the oral retellings on an iPad to view later. Provide feedback as to how well each retelling captured the main ideas of the book.

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Responding to the text

Readers’ response

Before reading Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up again, display the following prompts with some visual cues:

• I wonder …
• I am surprised …
• I have a question …
• My favourite part …

Explain what each prompt means and model a response by referring back to the text. Do a think-pair-share so students can brainstorm each prompt. Then provide time for students to individually write their responses in full sentences (see examples below). Call upon students to share their responses with the class.

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Text-to-world

Display a range of Aboriginal art, taking care to select authentic images. Note that art styles and traditions vary widely all over Australia (e.g. Western Desert art, Kimberley art). Try to locate artists and artworks from the Pilbara (e.g. Yinjaa-Barni Art, Martumili Artists) as well as your own state or Territory. Prompt students to discuss the use of colour and the subjects in different examples. Discuss what else they notice about the artworks. Then flip through Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up, pausing at each page. Ask students if the illustrations remind them of anything they have seen.

Students can either reflect with a partner or record/write their responses to the following:

• This story makes me think of … because …
• My favourite things about the illustrations in Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up are …

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Exploring plot, character, setting and theme

Character concertina

Identify all the characters in Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up. Have a brief discussion about what each character is like on the inside and the outside.

For each suggestion ask:

What makes you think that?

Use this prompt to encourage the students to find clues in the book to support their opinion.

Have each student choose a character from the text and then form groups based on their choice. Prompt the groups with the following questions:

• What was the character feeling?
• What do they look like?
• What did they do in the story?

Here is an example based on Colin Crow:

Have students make a concertina. They should write the name and draw a picture of their chosen character on the front, then write keywords and phrases that describe what the character is like on the inside and the outside. Prompt students to think about the actions of the animals throughout the book.

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Hot seat

Introduce this activity by inviting students to move like each of the characters. Call out a character’s name and invite students to move like that character. For example:

• Walk like Benny Bungarra
• Slither like Olive Python
• Fly like Colin Crow
• Hop like Kathy Kangaroo.

Next, ask students to find a voice for the characters. Go around the class and ask each person to speak when you point at them. The rest of the class should guess who the character is.

Now place a chair in the middle of the room. Ask the students to approach the chair one at a time, sit on it comfortably and then get up and move off.

Explain the concept of hot seating. Have students sit in a circle, leaving space for the chair. Have each student choose a character from the book in advance. Prepare by telling them the questions they will be asked when they sit in the hot seat:

• Who are you?
• Where are you?
• How did you feel when …

One at a time, invite students to rotate into the hot seat and respond to the questions posed by their classmates.

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Rich assessment task

Pose the questions:

• How are you like the main character Benny Bungarra in the story?
• How are you different?

Using play dough, students will mould three faces to show how Benny felt at the beginning, middle and end of the story. Next to the faces, they will draw a picture of what Benny did at the beginning, middle and end of the story.

Ask students if they would feel differently or do anything differently to Benny at each stage of the story. Take photos of the faces and drawings, and take note of each student’s verbal response to the previous questions.

Come together as a whole class and discuss Benny Bungarra’s qualities. What do we know about Benny from his actions? Answers might include:

You might prompt students with some of these qualities and support them to find evidence in the text of the quality suggested.

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Examining text structure and organisation

Illustrations

Flip through Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up. Ask students what they notice about the illustrations. This might include:

• Bold and bright colours
• Borders on the pages
• Outlines on the illustrations
• The design of the illustrations

Revisit the structure and process of a yarning circle in preparation for a class discussion. Arrange students in a large circle to talk about the illustrations. Use an artefact to signal when they can speak. Ensure that students understand that they may not speak without the artefact, and there should be no conversation across the circle. Pass the artefact clockwise or anti-clockwise so that everyone can have a turn. When the speaker is holding the artefact, everyone must listen. They should take in the speaker’s words and think about what they mean.

Prompting questions for the discussion may include:

• How has Kwaymullina made the characters stand out in the book?
• Why would she do this?
• Why is Benny Bungarra outlined with two colours?
• What would you do to make the characters stand out in the book?

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Sounds

All the characters (except for Benny) are introduced by the sound they make when they are in trouble.

Make the following sounds and have students guess which character they belong to:

• ERK UGH ERK UGH
• KAAR OW KAAR OW
• THUMP WAH THUMP WAH

Discuss:

• What other animals might be found in the bush?
• What could happen to them if they come across rubbish?
• What sound would they make when they are in trouble?

Have students draw a picture of an animal getting caught up in rubbish. Have them write the sound the animal would make if it was in trouble.

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Examining grammar and vocabulary

Alliteration

Read Animalia by Graeme Base. Prompt students to notice the words that all start with the same letter. Explain that when words begin with the same consonant sound, it is called alliteration. Continue reading Animalia to the end.

Ask a student to choose a letter. Verbally model the process of creating a sentence using words that start with that letter. Ask the students if they can find any examples of alliteration in Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up. The characters Benny Bungarra, Kathy Kangaroo and Colin Crow are good examples.

Have students imagine a sibling or friend for Olive Python. This character’s name should start with the letter ‘P’ (e.g. Penny Python). Work together to write an alliterative sentence about this new character. Also write sentences about Benny Bungarra, Kathy Kangaroo and Colin Crow.

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Verbal charades

Define a verb. As a class, brainstorm all the action words in Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up:

Write each word on an index card, accompanied by a picture, and place the cards in a container face down.

Have each student pick a card and silently act it out to the class. When their classmates guess the action, prompt them to recall the part of the story where the verb was found.

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Rich assessment task

Invite students to create an additional page for the story featuring the python character they created earlier. Provide prompts to help students get started, e.g. ‘Penny Python is helping with the big bush clean-up’ or ‘Peter Python is rescuing a friend from rubbish’.

Remind students of the earlier discussion about the illustrations. Look again and prompt them to notice if the illustrations provide any details not in the text. Then ask students to illustrate their page in a style that would suit the story, i.e. using bright colours, outlines, and borders. Guide students to use alliteration in their sentences.

Students can use oil pastels, crayons, pencils and paint to illustrate their page.

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Act it out

In pairs, invite students to act out a scene that takes place after the ending of Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up. The scene is to be a conversation between two characters from the book. Through the conversation the characters can tell their audience:

• What life is like for them after the big bush clean-up
• How they are feeling
• How they feel about humans and rubbish

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Alternate ending

In groups of three or four, students can brainstorm ideas for an alternate ending to the story. Once they have had some time to do so, each group should share their ideas with the class. They may wish to act out their alternate ending using their finger puppets.

Ask students to provide each group with feedback in the form of two stars and a wish.

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Benny Bungarra’s guide to a waste-free lunch

Start by brainstorming how the class can help clean up the playground or make sure it stays clean. Walk around the playground and make a list of the types of rubbish found, both on the ground and in the bins. Talk about ways to fix this. One answer might be to encourage waste-free lunches.

As a class, research ways that you can pack waste free lunches. There are a variety of resources available online, such as:

• Healthy Kids Association – Packing a waste free lunch
• Singleton Reduce Waste – Waste-free lunches
• Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District – Waste-free lunches
• Waste Authority WA – Waste-free lunch toolkit

Working in small groups or pairs, students can write their ideas on sticky notes and place them on the board.

Using a shared writing approach, ask students what information should be included on a class poster about waste-free lunches (this can also be conducted as a group activity). Write the information on the board. Read out each sentence and have the class read along with you.

Have students prepare the class poster and add their own pictures inspired by Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up. Photocopy the poster and display it in the classroom or around the school. Students might also like to take a copy of the poster home.

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Rich assessment task

Invite each student to share with the class one thing they learnt from Benny Bungarra’s Big Bush Clean-Up.

Brainstorm all the reasons why a waste-free lunch will help the environment and even some animals. Ask students how they might persuade their parents or caregivers to help them make a waste-free lunch. Strategies might include explaining:

• Less plastic might save money
• Some foods that don’t need packaging are also healthy (e.g. fruit)

Next, review how to write a letter. Bring some letters from home (or write one as a model) to show the format. Invite students to write a letter to their parents or caregivers to accompany the poster on waste-free lunches. Prompt students to:

• Write about the impact of rubbish on the environment and the animals who live in it
• Ask their parents or caregivers to help them pack a waste-free lunch box for a week and explain why this is a good idea

Assess by observing each student’s use of the letter format and the use of persuasive language.

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