Isabella’s Garden

Connecting to prior knowledge

Discuss the cover of Isabella’s Garden written by Glenda Millard and illustrated by Rebecca Cool.. Make predictions about the story, characters, setting and plot. Ask:

• What is the main colour on the cover? How does green make you feel? Why do you think the book’s designer and illustrator chose to use green?
• Where do you think this story will happen? What evidence can you find to support your prediction?
• If this is a book about a garden, what might happen in the story?
• What things do you do with your friends in gardens?

Assist students to make connections with the text by discussing the following questions:

Conduct a picture walk through the book. Ask the students to focus their attention on the things they see (e.g. seeds, shovel, umbrellas, watering cans, ladder, birds) and the actions that can be seen (e.g. reading, swinging, watering, digging, climbing).

Brainstorm a list of items that would be needed to build a garden

Explain to the students that seasons play a part in the growth of gardens. Construct a retrieval chart listing the characteristics of Australia’s four seasons with emphasis on plant growth, outdoor activities and clothing. Refer to other texts that provide examples of this, e.g. Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germain, illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft; All Through the Year* by Jane Godwin, illustrated by Anna Walker.

* Reading Australia title

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

Generate questions to ask your school’s groundskeepers. Nominate students to ask the questions in an informal interview with relevant staff. Later, discuss and record the findings on a wall chart or in a class book.

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Rich assessment task

Explore the gardens in your school. Students record their observations (in words or drawings) on a retrieval chart with five headings: ‘Feel’, ‘See’, ‘Smell’, ‘Touch’ and ‘Hear’.

Students may use cameras to take photos for later discussion and use in class.

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Responding to the text

Create a chart with four quadrants describing what it would feel like, look like, sound like and smell like in Isabella’s garden. This could be completed as a class or individually depending on students’ knowledge.

Discuss students’ preferences for different season and activities. Ask students to elaborate by providing reasons for their preferences.

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Exploring plot, character, setting and theme

Discuss the pages in Isabella’s Garden that focus on character, setting and theme.

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Rich assessment task

Students construct a physical mind map of Isabella’s Garden using materials that represent each item in the story. For example:

Cardboard arrows can also be provided to show relationships between objects. Observe the students’ abilities to make connections and use new vocabulary while describing the mind map. Draw further conclusions about their learning through questioning. For example:

• Why have you put these objects next to each other?
• Is there another way that you could arrange the items?

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Examining text structure and organisation

Discuss the use of a direct gaze to invite the reader into the story as an observer, as shown on pp. 1–2. Direct gaze involves the characters seeming to look straight out to the reader.

Discuss the changing background colours on the pages detailing the mantis and birds. Why might the illustrator have made the choice to change these colours?

Compare the narrative structure of the book to a non-fiction text outlining the life cycle of a plant. Discuss the structures and purposes of both text types.

Little expression is shown on the faces of the characters; instead it is shown through gestures. Experiment with different ways to show emotion using the body, e.g. how would we show that it is a rainy/windy/hot/cold day? Photograph and label for further discussion.

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Examining grammar and vocabulary

Conduct another reading of the book with the following prompts around grammar and vocabulary:

• On pp. 3–4 the author writes about ‘the clouds that cry rain’. Discuss the use of this term to describe something that is a scientific phenomenon. Why might the author have chosen to describe rain in this way?
• The author uses alliteration in places (e.g. ‘soaked the seeds that slept in the soil’). Discuss the effect of this on the way the text sounds when read aloud. Create sentences using alliteration based on examples from the text.
• The text contains examples of irregular past tense verbs. These could be discussed and placed on a word wall, e.g. sleep/slept, sing/sang, weep/wept, seek/sought.

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Rich assessment task

Students construct a story map for Isabella’s Garden showing the sequence of events and the main character from the story. Observations of learning will focus on the students’ ability to sequence the ideas from the story, provide details to any events identified, and answer questions about the characters’ actions and feelings at different points in the text. Ask students to share their story maps in small groups and encourage them to ask and answer questions to clarify understandings.

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Freeze frames

Allocate different double-page spreads to small groups of students (four to five). Allow the groups to discuss their pages, including what is happening, why it is happening and how the characters would be feeling at this point in the story.

Each group will plan and create a freeze frame demonstrating what they think happened immediately after the events depicted in their spread. They should consider what the characters are thinking and/or feeling at that exact moment.

The groups present their freeze frames, which will be photographed and printed on paper.

Each student will then write (with assistance if needed) the thoughts/feelings of their character(s) on a thought bubble or sticky note. This can be placed on or around their freeze frame.

Sketch-to-stretch (visualising)

Fold a piece of A3 paper into four segments. Ask students to visualise the story of Isabella’s Garden from the beginning to the end. You may like to darken the room, ask students to close their eyes, and/or play sounds associated with gardening while they do this.

The students then have five minutes to draw (and label if appropriate) four different events or happenings in the story – one for each square on their page – that they consider important. Encourage students to consider the visualisations that they had and include as much detail as possible.

With a partner, the students describe the events taking place in their drawings.

Puppet play

Construct simple paper and popsicle stick puppets for the characters and items in the book (e.g. Isabella, bird, tree, flowers). Build a simple puppet theatre and make the text of Isabella’s Garden available to the students.

Prompt students to retell the story using their puppets. Allow students to record their performances for later self-assessment. Alternatively, students could use Puppet Pals.

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Rich assessment task

Hot seating

Divide students into seven groups and ask them to brainstorm questions they’d like to ask Isabella, her friend, the mantis, a bird, a tree, a flower and Jack Frost. Also choose or ask students to volunteer to take on these roles.

The students in the hot seat will answer questions from the class in character, detailing their understanding of the story. Recordings can be made for later consideration, or for students to complete self or peer assessments based on their ability to stay in the role and answer in a way that is relevant to the text. Other students can also choose to have a turn.

Questions for the hot seat could include:

• Tell us what happened to you in Isabella’s garden.
• How did you feel? Did your feelings change throughout the story?
• What made you happy/sad/worried/scared?
• What event did you like the most and why?
• What happened to you after the story ended?

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