Connecting to prior knowledge
Wilam: A Birrarung Story is set on Wurundjeri Country. Start the lesson by viewing the following videos:
- Wurundjeri Welcome to Country by Jacqui Wandin (01:29)
- Wurundjeri | Welcome to Country by Aunty Di Kerr (at least 00:26–03:33)
In the first video, Wandin mentions the landmarks that form the boundaries of Wurundjeri Country (Mount Baw Baw, the Werribee River, the Great Dividing Range, and the Mordialloc Creek). Ask students to plot these on a map of Australia.
Both Wandin and Kerr use some words from the Woiwurrung language. Ask students to listen for them and start to make a list of Woiwurrung words and their meanings. Why might Wandin and Kerr be speaking in two languages?
In the second video, Kerr wears a ceremonial possum skin. Why might she be wearing this?
NOTE: If students are interested, they can also watch a Welcome to Country delivered by Aunty Joy Murphy, one of the authors of Wilam.
Exploring the text in context of our community, school and ‘me’
Possum skin cloaks were once widely used by Aboriginal people in southeastern Australia. AIATSIS has a useful entry on their website (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that it may contain the images, voices, and names of deceased persons). Note the introductory sentence at the top of the page, next to the title:
Incised and painted with ochre, possum skin cloaks map the identity of their owner, holding stories of clan and Country.
From ‘Possum skin cloak’ © The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
For this activity, you will need to prepare 20 small cards (approximately the size of playing cards) for each group of students. The focus of the activity is to help students break down the complex sentence about possum skin cloaks while developing context for Wilam.
Organise students into groups of three and give each group a set of cards. Display the AIATSIS entry on possum skin cloaks, drawing attention to the sentence at the top of the page. Ask students to copy down the sentence, writing one word on each card and arranging them in the correct order.
This complex sentence has three clauses, made up of three ‘happenings’. Ask students for the definition of a clause. According to the Australian Curriculum, a clause usually contains a subject and a verb/verb group.
Ask students to identify the three clauses in this sentence, underlining the verb and identifying the clause as either a main (independent) clause or a subordinate (dependent) clause:
| Clause | Words in clause | Type of clause | Reason |
| 1 | Incised and painted with ochre | subordinate/dependent clause | Needs Clause 2 to make sense |
| 2 | possum skin cloaks map the identity of their owner | main/independent clause | It can stand alone; it makes sense on its own |
| 3 | holding stories of clan and Country | subordinate/dependent clause | Needs Clause 2 to make sense |
Discuss the vocabulary in each clause:
| Incised |
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| ochre |
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| map | a verb meaning ‘to represent’; the word ‘map’ can also be a noun, but in this sentence it is a verb |
| identity |
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| clan | meaning ‘family group’ |
| Country |
|
To help students grasp the difference between dependent and independent clauses, ask them to use extra words to turn Clause 1 (a dependent clause) into a sentence that can stand on its own (an independent clause). They can borrow word cards from the other clauses, or use spare cards to write new words. An example of an independent clause would be:
Possum skin cloaks were incised and painted with ochre.
Repeat this process for Clause 3. An example of an independent clause would be:
Possum skin cloaks hold stories of clan and Country.
Rich assessment task
Return to the entry on possum skin cloaks. Read out the first five paragraphs while students follow along. Show them the picture of the Ngarrindjeri woman wearing a possum skin cloak, as well as the picture of the AIATSIS possum skin cloak.
Invite students to work in groups of three to complete a set of literal, inferential, and evaluative comprehension questions about the text. Share the questions before you re-read the text; this will give the second reading a greater sense of purpose and focus.
| Literal questions (answers stated in the text) |
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| Inferential questions (answers inferred from the text) |
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| Evaluative questions (answers based on the reader’s opinion) |
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Depending on their level of independence, you can either re-read the text to students OR give them time to re-read the text themselves. They should be able to skim the text for the answers to the questions and identify the parts that confirmed their answers. If any students have difficulty with this, create an anchor chart for support and repeat the activity.
Responding to the text
Before reading Wilam: A Birrarung Story, show students the following videos from Melbourne Water:
- Yarra River at Melbourne CBD (01:17)
- Along the Yarra River (03:20)
These videos depict Birrarung, which students might know by its European name: the Yarra River. The first video shares some facts about Birrarung and footage of the river from Melbourne CBD. The second video follows the length of Birrarung as it flows through Warburton, Yering, Warrandyte, Pound Bend, Studley Park, Dights Falls, Abbotsford, and Melbourne.
Invite students who have visited Birrarung to share their experiences. Others might like to discuss rivers from their local area that are in some ways similar to Birrarung. For example, they might know how First Nations peoples have used the river over time; how others use the river now (e.g. for food or recreation); and whether a dam has been added to the river, and what effects this has had.
NOTE: For the purpose of tracking page numbers, the first double-page spread of the story (featuring Bunjil, the creator spirit) is considered pp. 1–2.
Now read Wilam to the class, noting the use of words from the Woiwurrung language. Explore the glossary on pp. 25–27 so that students can see the written words alongside their phonetic spelling. Discuss the fact that the bold parts indicate emphasis or stress, while the non-bold parts are de-emphasised or unstressed.
Identify some words where the pronunciation deviates from the typical phoneme/grapheme patterns. For example:
| wallert | woll-ert | the letter ‘a’ does not make the typical /a/ sound |
| djerang | jer-ang |
|
| buath | boo-ath |
Exploring plot, character, setting and theme
Read the synopsis of Wilam from the publisher’s website.
Revisit what students know about Birrarung (the Yarra River) and share any information you can find explaining that the river and its surrounds provide the setting for the story (you might like to share some information from Melbourne Water’s website). The writers and illustrator take the reader on a journey along this river.
Form groups of four to five students and give each group a copy of the text. Invite them to search for more clues about the setting and note the words used. Afterwards, have each group join up with another group to share and compare their word lists. Remind students to use the glossary at the back of the book if needed.
Rich assessment task
Re-read Wilam to the class. Read slowly, allowing the text, visuals, languages, and sounds to wash over the students once again.
Focus on the different and similar perspectives/points of view on land usage and activities on Country. Go through the text again, noting how First Nations people, non-Indigenous people, native animals, and domestic animals orient to the environment: sometimes supporting one another, sometimes putting each other at risk. The balance is a delicate one. Focus on the following double-page spreads:
| pp. 7–8 | The curvature of the grey dam wall (for strength) separates cool colours and life on one side, and bare concrete on the other side. |
| pp. 9–10 | The woven baskets used by First Nations women contrast with the farmlands and farmhouse. |
| pp. 11–12 | The family sitting on the park bench with their domestic dog, observing what is on top of the land and water, contrasts with the serpentine pattern* and the flora and fauna living peacefully and breeding under the earth’s surface.
* This may be a reference to the Rainbow Serpent, an important creator figure in many Aboriginal language groups. Peoples of the Kulin Nations also recognise Mindye or Mindi, a serpent that punishes lore-breakers. |
| pp. 21–22 | The gathering of First Nations people near a scar tree, some wearing possum skin cloaks, contrasts with the recreational activities being undertaken along the river (e.g. sculling, cycling).
There is similarity between this gathering and the gatherings of family groups near the river, albeit on the opposite bank. |
These illustrations show that First Nations and non-Indigenous cultural activities and ways of living can co-exist. These groups are not mutually exclusive; First Nations people can exist and co-exist both ways.
Finish by focusing on pp. 21–22 and reflecting on another point of view. Ask students to imagine that they are standing on the bridge in this double-page spread, looking across the river. Ask them to describe what they see, using words in Woiwurrung language where possible (refer them to the glossary on pp. 25–27). They should then draw the scene from their perspective on the bridge.
Examining text structure and organisation
Turn to p. 28 and read the text that introduces the authors and illustrator: Joy Murphy Wandin AO, Andrew Kelly, and Lisa Kennedy. Discuss the following question:
This section of the book does not have a subheading. If it did have a subheading, what might it be?
Discuss the word ‘biography’, meaning ‘an account of someone’s life’, made up of two Greek words: bios (meaning ‘life’) and graphia (meaning ‘record, account’). Also discuss the plural spelling of dropping the ‘y’ and adding ‘ies’ to make ‘biographies’.
You might like to explore the following ideas with the class:
| Aunty Joy Murphy | Point out the post-nominal ‘AO’ after Murphy’s name. This stands for Officer of the Order of Australia. It is considered the second-highest honour within the Order of Australia, and is awarded to people who have made a significant contribution to Australian society. You can learn more about Murphy’s achievements from the Victorian Honour Roll of Women.
The words ‘Aunty’ and ‘Uncle’ do not necessarily refer to blood relations as they do in European families. Rather, these terms are a sign of respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Discuss the use of capital letters for proper nouns such as ‘Senior Aboriginal Elder’, ‘Wurundjeri People’, ‘Melbourne’, etc. The word ‘conduit’ means ‘to guide, show the way, or carry’ (e.g. a pipe can carry water from one place to another; a person can carry information from one person to another). Break down the syllables (con/du/it) to assist with pronunciation and spelling. |
| Andrew Kelly | In 2021 Kelly appeared on the ABC’s Gardening Australia program. You can watch a clip from this episode online (06:41).
The word ‘Riverkeeper’ has a capital letter. Investigate the role of the Yarra Riverkeeper Association by visiting their website. |
| Lisa Kennedy | Kennedy was featured in Latrobe Regional Gallery’s 50 Years: 50 Artists exhibition. You can see samples of her work on their website.
The word ‘descendant’ means ‘someone who has descended from (or is an offspring of) an earlier form’. The base word is ‘descend’, which means ‘to move in a downward direction’. Another related word is ‘descent’, which means ‘moving from a higher position to a lower position’. The words ‘restoration’, ‘regeneration’, and ‘reclamation’ all use the prefix ‘re’ (meaning ‘again’) and the suffix ‘tion’ (meaning ‘the action of’). Discuss base words, prefixes, and suffixes, as well as how spelling differs between base words and built-up words (e.g. ‘store’ to ‘restoration’ – no ‘e’ at the end of ‘store’; ‘generate’ to ‘regeneration’ – no ‘e’ at the end of ‘generate’; ‘claim’ to ‘reclamation’ – no ‘i’ in ‘claim’). |
Discuss how the text on p. 28 differs from the rest of the book.
In these biographies, the narrator is talking about other people, NOT themselves. That is, instead of using the first person (‘I’, ‘me’) or the second person (‘you’, ‘your’), they are using the third person (‘he’, ‘she’, someone’s name), which makes the text less personal and more formal.
These three short biographies help signal the authors’ and illustrator’s important social roles and relationships, and how they relate to the context and content of Wilam: A Birrarung Story. Discuss how knowing something about the authors and illustrator helps readers to engage with the book.
Examining grammar and vocabulary
Ask students to open the book to the epigraph, featuring a quote from a Wurundjeri man named William Barak. Read the quote and ask students to comment on the structure of the message. Draw attention to the variation from Standard Australian English (AusE), which is the variety of English used in law, media, politics, and education in Australia. Aboriginal English (AbE) is a dialect of English with its own rules of grammar and pronunciation. It is a sophisticated language spoken by more than 80% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, some of whom can speak both AbE and AusE.
Explore and discuss Barak’s biography as a class (Deadly Story, Visit Victoria, and First Peoples – State Relations are all good options). He was a Ngurungaeta (a highly respected and authoritative Elder) who was very connected to Wurundjeri lands and waterways.
Return to Barak’s quote and discuss his reference to ‘my country’. This phrase holds different meaning compared to a non-Indigenous understanding of ‘country’. The ‘my’ is not a possessive pronoun for the individual, but refers to Country that is shared by many. When Aboriginal people say ‘this is my Country’, the meaning is actually reversed: ‘we belong to this Country’.
Re-read pp. 13–14 and ask:
- Who are the brothers?
- Whose brothers are they?
Discuss the fact that the term ‘brother’ does not necessarily refer to a sibling relationship (similar to the discussion about ‘Aunty’ and ‘Uncle’ above).
Re-read pp. 15–16 and ask:
- Whose pouch?
- Who is she?
Discuss the fact that ‘her’ and ‘she’ are the same character: the warin (wombat). Talk about when to use the word ‘her’ (i.e. identifying something she owns, such as her pouch or her young one) and when to use ‘she’ (i.e. a pronoun used in place of a name). Swap around ‘her’ and ‘she’ in the text and discuss why this doesn’t make sense.
Rich assessment task
There are a lot of animal groups/families in Wilam. Identify the animal groups/families and their collective nouns. Some have multiple collective nouns; the authors would have chosen which one to use based on the desired effect.
Discuss how the collective nouns listed below might align to the animals’ characteristics. Sometimes they mimic the animal’s sound or the way it moves. Invite students to work in small groups to coin some new collective nouns to achieve a particular authorial effect, such as using alliteration or drawing positive/negative attention to an animal’s characteristic.
| Pages | Animal | Collective noun | New suggestion and comment on authorial effect |
| pp. 1–2 | Bunjil (wedge-tailed eagle) | a soar of eagles
a convocation of eagles |
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| pp. 3–4 | wallert (possum) | a passel of possums | |
| pp. 5–6 | boroin (superb fairy-wren) | a flock of fairy wrens | |
| pp. 7–8 | yanggai (black cockatoo, yellow-tailed black cockatoo) | a crackle of cockatoos
a drift of cockatoos (in flight) |
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| pp. 9–10 | marram (grey kangaroo) | a mob of kangaroos | |
| pp. 11–12 | dulai-wurrung (platypus) | a paddle of platypus | |
| pp. 13–14 | Waa (raven, crow) | an unkindness of ravens
a conspiracy of crows a murder of crows |
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| pp. 15–16 | warin (wombat) | a wisdom of wombats | |
| pp. 17–18 | tadjerri (sugar glider possum) | a colony of sugar gliders | |
| pp. 19–20 | bathmu (wood duck) | a waddling of ducks
a raft of ducks |
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| pp. 21–22 | boggon (water rat) | a swarm of rats
a mischief of rats |
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| pp. 23–24 | wadjil (pelican) | a pod of pelicans
a pouch of pelicans |
Afterwards, invite each group to share and discuss their ideas with a neighbouring group. Regroup as a whole class and invite individual students to share the ideas that they considered to be particularly interesting.
Invite students to work in groups of three to complete an informative report on ONE native animal featured in Wilam: A Birrarung Story (see Examining > Rich Assessment Task for a list of animals mentioned in the text).
Each group will conduct research about their animal to locate the following information:
- Appearance (what the animal looks like)
- Habitat (where the animal lives)
- Survival strategies (behaviour to help the animal survive against the weather and predators)
- Diet (what the animal eats)
- Life cycle (the animal’s stages of growth)
- THREE interesting facts about the animal
Students will need to use appropriate text processing strategies, e.g. identifying search terms; predicting that a website will contain certain information; and skimming and scanning a website to confirm and/or monitor its usefulness for the task. They will need to review multiple websites to gather enough information to complete the task.
Students should record their research using dot points (NOT full sentences). If they are not familiar with this type of note-taking, you may need to model this skill and support them while they practise with a sample text.
Information reports use general nouns (NOT character names) and report on facts (NOT opinions). Students could use an online template to create their reports, making choices about the presentation and accompanying visuals.
Rich assessment task
Working in the same groups of three, and focusing on the same native animal, students will explore the Indigenous perspectives and symbolism involved in the depiction of that animal in Wilam.
Each group will prepare a two-minute presentation using PowerPoint (or similar) for the class. They should refer to the glossary on pp. 25–27 to learn the pronunciation of the native animals in the Woiwurrung language. They should also consider the following questions in relation to their chosen animal:
- What does this animal symbolise?
- What other lines/shapes can you see in the illustration? What might they symbolise?
Provide time in class for the groups to deliver their presentations.
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