Active literacy: Bringing our story to life

CHRISTIE BARRETT, EL-3 LEADER OF LEARNING

Campbell House citizens were lucky enough to have been on a very special journey of stories with a very special author recently. Sue Lawson, author of ‘Respect’, ‘Family’ and ‘Sharing’, has been working with us as our Author in Residence on a project to create our own picture book to share the story of our school.

We are excited for the release of our picture book once it is complete. It will bring the story of the Junior School to life in a piece that can be held and cherished for years to come.

Our rich history has been intertwined with the story of the land that was here before us, and our new buildings hold the names of flora and fauna from this land. Sue is collaborating with students of the Junior School to develop the story of these creatures and plants. Over a series of sessions, both before and after COVID lockdowns, Sue met with groups of children to develop and document their ideas, and weave these over time into a rich narrative that could become a published text. Children will also work with Wadawurrung Artist and College parent, BJ O’Toole, to create the illustrations for the book. In art lessons this will run as a miniproject, with our Atelierista, Ms Burman, facilitating children’s work. Whilst we do not want to give too much away about the development of the final story, we can share with you a reminder about the characters and settings that feature. Our buildings carry these important titles, that link us to the land and the story of what came before them.

Our Early Learning starts with the multipurpose space named Yaluk - this gathering space, the river, brings all the water animals together. The four learning spaces in Early Learning are named after the inhabitants of Yaluk, Buniya (Eel), Perridak (Platypus), Barrabin (Turtle), and Kuwiyn (Fish). From here we move to the land with the Foundation to Year 3 learning spaces. Foundation symbolises the plants with its name of Garra (Golden Wattle). Year 1 represents the animals as Mon.gaark (Echidna). The birds are acknowledged as Year 2’s namesake, Bunjil (Wedgetail Eagle). This takes us to the leaders of Junior School, Year 3, shining as the element Mirri (Sun). Whilst working with Sue, children have been exploring issues of land custodianship and the interdependence of living things. Through the eyes of the animal characters, children have also discussed dispositions that can lead to more responsible land use, such as caring, respect, problem solving and sharing. This will be a collaboratively written shared piece once it is complete, and it has been a fantastic way for children to develop their skills in ideas generation, which is a huge part of the developing writing process.

The building blocks of writing

At the Junior School this year we have also been working on the building blocks of writing with a focus on sentence-level writing. This goes hand in hand with the rich ideas generation needed to develop a good piece of writing. We launched our sentencelevel writing Scope and Sequence for Foundation to Year 3 students at the start of this year, and this ensures that each week brings a new cumulative focus on a structural skill needed for writing, at each level. This is taught explicitly by teachers who model the skill to children, share in the co-construction of sentences using the skill and then facilitate children to develop this skill through independent practice. Children in Year 2 recently worked on their sentence level writing, linking to project work around their namesake Bunjil and other birds. This piece is an imagined conversation between the Moon and his bird friend.

Moon & Bird

Moon: “Hello little bird, how are you going?”

Bird: “Very well, it has been another good day of flying with my feathery friends.”

Moon: “Cool, I wish I could fly like you. It sounds awesome!”

Bird: “It is! You get to circle with the wind and find a welcoming tree. But you can make a pretty sunset in the stars!” Moon: “I do like glowing and whispering amongst the stars.” Bird: “Can you please make the sun go away now so I can see the stars?” Moon: “Sure, but that means you go to sleep.” Bird: “Fine. Goodnight Moon.” Moon: “Goodnight little bird.” Elsie Jones, 2B.