Connecting to prior knowledge
Before reading
Begin by playing a game of ‘stop the bus’. Ask students to list SIX facts they know about bees. Whoever reaches six facts first calls out, ‘Stop the bus!’ Upon hearing this, the rest of the class stops writing. The student that stopped the bus will then read out their facts. The other students can check their lists and borrow some ideas if they don’t already have six. Have some resources on hand to do a quick fact check. Then ask students to illustrate their facts by drawing and labelling a bee.
Observe what type of bee the students draw. A striped honey bee? A native bee? Discuss any similarities and differences. Also take note of the facts; what prior knowledge do students have?
Show students the front cover of Just One Bee, written by Margrete Lamond and Anthony Bertini and illustrated by Christopher Nielsen. Read out the title. Ask students to turn and talk to a partner about why they think the book is called Just One Bee. Then ask two or three students to share their ideas with the group.
Discuss the illustrated bee on the front cover and compare it to the labelled diagrams students produced. What are the features of each that suggest it is a narrative OR an information text?
NOTE: For the purpose of tracking page numbers, the first double-page spread (One-bee in the desert) is considered pp. 4–5.
Show students the first double-page spread (pp. 4–5). Ask them what they see, what they think, and what they wonder. Record their answers. This could be done as a think-pair-share.
Now explore the endpapers, which contain clues about the characters in the book. Margrete Lamond, one of the authors of Just One Bee, has shared some interesting observations about endpapers on her blog.
During reading
Read Just One Bee to the class, stopping at the pages listed below.
| Page | Prompts |
| pp. 4–5 (One-bee in the desert) | Where do you think One-bee is?
How do you think she is feeling? Where do you think she is going? What do you think will happen in the story? |
| pp. 6–7 (One-bee finds a flower) | Why is One-bee surprised to find the flower?
What do the words ‘frail’ and ‘fragile’ mean? Can you think of something that is frail and fragile? Describe how the illustration reinforces the description of the flower as ‘frail’ and ‘fragile’. Why does One-bee think the flower is no use? |
| pp. 10–13 (One-bee meets Other-bee) | Why is One-bee surprised to see another bee?
Why does the author describe Other-bee as ‘skinny’, ‘shabby’, and ‘stay-away-from-me’? Is Other-bee a friendly bee? Describe the visual differences between the two bees. Why does Other-bee not want to help One-bee? Do you think the two bees will become friends? |
| pp. 12–13 (One-bee asks for help bringing ‘it’ to an end) | What does One-bee mean when she says this?
What does she want to change? |
| pp. 16–17 (Other-bee says that one plus one is not much) | Why does Other-bee say this?
Why does One-bee think that Other-bee’s flower can help? Why does Other-bee still not want to help? |
| pp. 18–19 (One-bee tries to remember where she saw the flower) | What picture does the word ‘whirl’ create in your mind? What other things might whirl? A dancer can whirl; water can make a whirl pool; what else?
What sound do you imagine when you read the word ‘howl’? What other things might make a howling sound? |
| pp. 26–27 (One-bee brings back pollen) | What do you think will happen with the pollen One-bee brings back? |
| pp. 28–31 (Other-bee watches the flower grow) | Other-bee says, ‘So what?’ a couple of times. What does this mean? What can we tell about Other-bee’s character based on these words? |
| pp. 36–37 (One-bee tells Other-bee that one is all it takes) | What does this mean?
Has One-bee made a difference? Were any of your predictions correct? |
Exploring the text in context of our community, school, and ‘me’
Read the ‘About Bees’ section at the back of the book (pp. 38–39). Ask students if they have seen any bees at school or home. What kinds of bees have they seen? Is there more than one kind? Draw attention to the many types of bees around the world.
What do bees need to survive? This fact sheet explains the difference between nectar (used for making honey) and pollen (used for pollination and feeding larvae). Together explore the Aussie Bee website and highlight some points for discussion:
- Learn to read the number 1,700 (referring to the number of native Australian bee species).
- Read some of the names of the different bee species.
- Click on ‘Common Questions’ and ask students which question they’d like to explore. Walk students through the technical vocabulary, scientific facts, measurements, and numbers.
- Click on ‘Bees in Your Area’ and discuss how to read the table.
Find out if there are any threats or dangers to bees. Discuss what students could do to protect their local bee population. Work together to come up with a list of ideas.
Rich assessment task
Re-read Just One Bee, paying attention to the facts in the ‘About Bees’ section. Then, if possible, read Betsy Buglove Saves the Bees written by Catherine Jacob and illustrated by Lucy Fleming. Discuss any similarities and differences between the two books.
Invite students to create an advertisement/poster for their school newsletter educating the school community about the importance of bees. The advertisement/poster should tell people what they can do to protect bees (e.g. using less bug spray, planting more native flowers).
Once they have completed their advertisement/poster, ask students to identify which word choices and multimodal elements make their text effective.
Responding to the text
Introduce the term ‘growth mindset’. Explain why having a growth mindset is important. Explain that someone with a growth mindset will say things like ‘I haven’t learnt that yet’, ‘I’m going to keep trying’, and ‘I won’t give up’. Show students the ClassDojo video about a friendly monster who discovers that having a growth mindset can help his brain. Ask students if they can remember a time when they found something hard and wanted to give up, but didn’t. Have them turn and talk to a partner to share their experience.
Re-read Just One Bee. Ask students to stop you if they notice any of the characters using a growth mindset. When you have finished, discuss One-bee and Other-bee. Create a T-chart to identify the mindset of each of these characters. For example, One-bee went back to find the flower; she didn’t give up when Other-bee said ‘no’; she had hope; she kept searching. Other-bee was pessimistic; she gave up; she was angry; she didn’t want to try; she had no hope.
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Exploring plot, character, setting and theme
Inside-outside
Ask students to choose one of the bees from the book: One-bee or Other-bee. Get them to draw a large outline of their character on a piece of art paper.
Have students record the bee’s physical attributes around the outline, like a labelled diagram (e.g. wings, antennae). They can then record the personal characteristics inside the outline (e.g. brave, caring, thoughtful, optimistic).
This can be done individually, in pairs/small groups, or as a whole class.
Bee-Bots
Introduce Bee-Bots and explain that they can be programmed to follow directions. Allow time for students to investigate what the Bee-Bots can do and how to program them. Explore the language of command and how this differs from both the language of asking for information and the language of making offers. Also explore the language of directions (e.g. forwards, backwards, clear, turn, go) and the language of sequencing.
- Using a Bee-Bot map, identify and plot the places One-bee went on her journey (e.g. in the desert, past the flower, meeting Other-bee, pollinating the flower, over the field of flowers).
- Have students work in pairs to help their Bee-Bot find its way from Other-bee to the flower; from Other-bee to the field of flowers; OR from the starting point in the desert to each of the places visited in the book.
- Bees communicate by dancing. Students can work in pairs to create a dance that One-bee and Other-bee might use to communicate. They can then program their Bee-Bot to dance with another pair’s Bee-Bot. Discuss what the bees might be saying to each other.
NOTE: If Bee-Bots are not an option for your class, students can still work in pairs or small groups to create a map representing the stages of One-bee’s journey. They can also create a bee dance and discuss what the dance might be communicating.
Rich assessment task
Hot seat character interview
As a class, discuss how to ask good questions (open-ended/thick versus closed/thin). Then ask each student to prepare three to five questions to ask either One-bee or Other-bee. If necessary, provide question stems such as:
- Why did you … ?
- How did you feel when … ?
- If you were in that situation again, would you … ?
- What is your opinion about … ?
Once everyone has prepared some questions, invite one student to take on the role of One-bee OR Other-bee. You might like to provide a prop (e.g. antenna headband, hat, coloured cloth) or name tag to help people get into character. The other students will then take turns asking questions, and the person in the ‘hot seat’ will respond in character. Students can also take turns sitting in the hot seat and responding as either One-bee or Other-bee.
Examining text structure and organisation
Where, where, where, what!
Re-read pp. 4–5 of Just One Bee and discuss the structure of the opening sentence. Ask students to identify the nouns (the words that name things) and record these on a whiteboard or butcher’s paper (e.g. wind, dust, sun, One-bee, bee).
Discuss the pattern of words at the start of the sentence (each phrase commences with ‘in the’). Why would the authors use this pattern?
Ask students to identify the job each word is doing. What does the word tell us about? This will be a teacher-led structured activity to explore how language works. It is quite complex, but it is always interesting to see how young children make sense of the function of language:
| in | tells us where |
| the | tells us which one |
| burning | describes or gives more detail about the sun |
| One-bee | tells us who |
| wonders | tells us what is happening in One-bee’s head |
| when | a question about time |
| how | a question about manner |
| where | a question about place |
| and | tells us there is something else to add |
| what | a question about the activity |
| can | a question of possibility |
| I | the speaker referring to herself (One-bee) |
| just | adds emphasis |
| me | the speaker referring to herself (One-bee) |
| one | a number |
Compare the opening sentence to a traditional story starter like ‘once upon a time’. Model creating a story starter like this one. For example:
| In the forest, | in the tangled vines, | away from the sun, | a lonely spider | plays. |
| [where] | [where] | [where] | [what] | [action] |
Now jointly construct a ‘where, where, where, what’ action statement with the class. Display both statements somewhere in the classroom.
Students can then have a go at creating their own ‘where, where, where, what’ action statements in their writer’s notebooks or literacy books. You can support this activity by brainstorming different ‘where’ options (including prepositions) and different ‘what’ action statements. For example:
| ‘where’ | in the jungle
across the mountain beside a lake |
| ‘what’ / action statement | a small mouse / shivered in the cold
a tiny light / flickered on and off a sad old man / sat crying |
Display the final statements on the whiteboard, on sentence strips, or as part of a classroom display. You might like to conduct a gallery walk so students can view each other’s work.
Examining grammar and vocabulary
Word cline
Re-read the description of Other-bee on pp. 10–11. Discuss what the word ‘shabby’ means. Give students four or five related words (e.g. ragged, grotty, tattered, scruffy) and discuss what each means and when it might be used. Write ‘shabby’ and the related words on individual cards/sticky notes, then draw a line on the whiteboard/butcher’s paper OR lay a large ruler on the floor. Students can then arrange the words on a cline based on their strength of meaning. Ask students to justify the placement of each word (e.g. ‘I think “tattered” is stronger than “scruffy” because “tattered” sounds like something is in tiny pieces, and “scruffy” just means it is a bit messed up’).
Now re-read the description of the flower on pp. 6–7. Repeat the word cline activity, this time working in small groups to arrange words that are related to ‘frail’ or ‘fragile’ (e.g. brittle, feeble, delicate, breakable, dainty, flimsy, weak).
Similes
Read the page where One-bee goes looking for the flower, and the dust is compared to a dry biscuit (pp. 22–23). Explain that when we compare two or more things using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’, we are using a simile.
Model creating a new simile to describe how dry something is. Invite students to make suggestions to complete the phrase: ‘as dry as a … ’. For example:
- as dry as a desert
- as dry as a drought
- as dry as a cracker
- as dry as a bone
Students can then have a go at writing their own similes using the stimulus: ‘as wet as a … ’. Ideas that students might come up with include:
- as wet as a fish
- as wet as a dish cloth
- as wet as a sprinkler
You can consolidate this lesson by changing the adjective and asking students to write even more similes (e.g. ‘as sticky as a … ’, ‘as smooth as a … ’).
Rich assessment task
Explain how a Venn diagram works using flowers and fruit (or other concepts/categories of your choosing). Ask students to suggest characteristics that are unique to flowers, characteristics that are unique to fruit, and characteristics that flowers and fruit have in common. For example:
- A flower has petals and seeds that can be seen. Some flowers don’t turn into fruit.
- Fruit starts as a flower. It has seeds on the inside (except for strawberries, which have seeds on the outside).
- Both flowers and fruit are colourful, have seeds, grow on plants, and can be eaten.
Students will then work in small groups to create their own Venn diagrams comparing One-bee with Other-bee. For example:
- One-bee is brave, determined, carries a balloon, and has hope.
- Other-bee is scared, rude, has a flower, has a Queen-bee, and has no hope.
- Both are bees, both live in a world with no flowers, and both need nectar and pollen to survive and grow.
Students can write these traits on sticky notes and place them in the relevant section of the diagram. Encourage them to discuss their ideas within their group and move the sticky notes around if required.
Six-sentence story
Organise students into small, mixed ability groups. Tell them that their task is to write a six-sentence story about One-bee OR Other-bee. They following scaffold may be useful:
| Sentence 1 | Begin with a ‘where, where, where, what’ action statement.
e.g. In the desert, in the heat, in the dry, One-bee flies. |
| Sentence 2 | Describe your character’s talent/personality.
e.g. One-bee is a very brave and determined bee. |
| Sentence 3 | Describe what the character is doing.
e.g. She is flying alone in the desert when she finds a flower. |
| Sentence 4 | Describe the character’s problem.
e.g. There are no more flowers in the world. |
| Sentence 5 | Describe what the character feels.
e.g. One-bee is sad. |
| Sentence 6 | Describe how the character solves the problem.
e.g. One-bee meets Other-bee, who also has a flower, and brings back some pollen to grow a new field of flowers. |
Students can share their completed stories with the rest of the class.
Important thing poem
Discuss what message the authors of Just One Bee want readers to take away from the story. Brainstorm ideas as a class and come to an agreement. Explain that one of the ways writers can convey a message is through poetry.
Introduce the concept of an ‘important thing’ poem. This poem is structured like a sandwich: the first and last lines are the same, but the last line also contains the words ‘But’ and ‘most’, turning ‘The most important thing’ into ‘But the most important thing’. Between these two lines is a list of things that are also important and related to the main topic.
Model how to write an ‘important thing’ poem about flowers. You can decide how many lines should go in the middle of the poem based on your students’ abilities. An example has been provided:
The important thing about flowers is that they make our world a better place.
Flowers need a place to grow.
Flowers need pollen so they can reproduce.
Flowers love bees.
Flowers smell very nice.
Flowers are different shapes, colours, and sizes.
But the most important thing about flowers is that they make our world a better place.
Students can then work in small mixed ability groups to write their own poems. These can be about flowers OR another topic of interest.
Comic strip
Provide students with a blank comic strip (PDF, 46KB). Explain the difference between speech bubbles and thought bubbles. Model creating a comic strip summary of a story students are familiar with. Then invite them to create their own comic strip inspired by Just One Bee. This can be:
- a direct retelling of the story; OR
- a retelling from Other-bee’s perspective (e.g. Other-bee is protecting her flower; One-bee comes along; Other-bee is scared and tells One-bee to go away; One-bee leaves but comes back with pollen).
Compare and contrast the finished comic strips.
Rich assessment task
Re-read Just One Bee and discuss the message of the story. Revise what students have learned about bees and why they are so important. Record students’ thinking and ideas on the whiteboard using a list or mind map.
Revise the structure of an ‘important thing’ poem and invite students to individually write their own, this time about bees.
Collect the poems and create a class anthology OR publish them in your school newsletter, with the idea of educating the school community about the importance of looking after bees.
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