My Two BlanketsTeachers’ Notes for Foundation
Introduction to text
My Two Blankets (2014) explores a variety of concepts and themes related to friendship, loneliness and belonging. It tells the story of a young girl who leaves her home to settle in a new land where she has no understanding of the language. The young girl metaphorically wraps herself in an old “blanket of my own words and sounds”, which provides feelings of safety. She makes a friend in the park who teaches her new words to weave into a new blanket.
Some students may have experiences similar to the main characters in the book and sensitivities surrounding this may need to be considered.
· Present a pile of blankets to the students and ask the question “What are these?” Discuss. Ask the students to describe what a blanket is and record their contributions on a T Chart with one column detailing how a blanket feels (e.g. soft and fluffy) and the other recording what a blanket does (e.g. keeps us warm and feeling safe).
· Direct students’ attention to the column describing what a blanket does. Can they think of anything else that can do these same things? From this discussion, guide the students to think about a blanket as a simile or metaphor for something else (although you need not use this terminology if it is unfamiliar to the students). For example, ask if they can finish the statement, “A blanket is like a…” or “A blanket is as …as a…” or “A blanket is…” Possible answers might be home, family, best friend, a pet.
· Show the front cover of the book. Ask the students to predict who the characters are, what the book may be about, and why the book may be called “My Two Blankets.” Read the book through once without stopping or commenting before undertaking some of the following activities. The intention of an uninterrupted first reading is to give the children an opportunity to build story grammar.
Learning Opportunities
Language Strand
· Ask if any students speak a language other than English. Keep a list of the different languages spoken by students in the class. Open to the third double page spread where Cartwheel says, “Nobody spoke like I did. When I went out, it was like standing under a waterfall of strange sounds. The waterfall was cold. It made me feel alone. I felt like I wasn’t me anymore.” Using the list, draw students’ attention to the fact that English is one of many languages spoken in Australia and different languages may be spoken by family, classmates and community. Ask the students to consider why Cartwheel may have felt cold, alone, and not like herself anymore when she heard the “waterfall of strange sounds” that is a new language.
· Search online for video and audio of waterfalls and show to students. Discuss the students’ prior knowledge of waterfalls and their attributes (e.g. noisy, scary, exciting, fast moving etc.). Consider how the third and seventh double pages share their meaning through a combination of words and images. How do the illustrations help the reader to understand the meaning of the “waterfall of strange sounds”?
· There are many high frequency words in the text including me, I, the, and, was, to, it, my, she. Select one of these words and ask the students to listen for it as you read the story again. The students could create a small “ear puppet” (a cut out in the shape of an ear added to a paddle pop stick) to hold up whenever they hear the focus word.
· Use any pages in the book to prompt students to segment sentences into individual words and orally blend and segment onset and rime (the phonological elements of a syllable) in single syllable spoken words, and isolate, blend and manipulate phonemes in single syllable words.
Literature Strand
Discussion prompts:
· How does colour help to tell the story? Consider the important use of colour in the book. Ask students what the colour orange reminds them of. Explain to students that orange is usually associated with happiness, enthusiasm, creativity and warmth. Orange can also be a colour of the landscape or the colour to represent a particular climate. Draw students’ attention to the blue colour change. What do they infer from this? What do they associate with the colour blue? Do they think this “blue” country is Australia? Why/why not? If not, what colour would Australia (and her new Australian blanket) be? Make sure the students have a clear notion that the orange blanket is related to the girl’s country of origin, while the blue blanket (with some clear orange symbols) is representative of her new home.
· What is the blanket? Ask the students what they think the blankets represent. Do they think that they are just blankets? Or more? Try to get the students to think about blankets as metaphors for holding onto a person’s experiences and culture when moving to a new country, learning a new language, or wanting a sense of belonging. For each contribution that students make, go back to the book and look for confirmation of the ideas.
· 1 blanket, 2 blankets, or a combined blanket? The girl feels happier once she has made a second blue blanket and can now choose and use both. Do the students think this is the best solution to her circumstances? Could the girl have continued to only use her orange blanket? Should she have two separate blankets, or one that is a combination of both the orange and the blue? Is the blue blanket only blue? What do the students make of the red shoes on the blue blanket? How do the students feel about Cartwheel’s experiences throughout the story? How do they feel about her blankets?
Literacy Strand
· Read the text again and this time, record all of Cartwheel’s feelings as they are identified throughout the book. Consider how the students will need to use QAR (Question-Answer Relationship) strategies in order to determine the different feelings. For example, some are Right There or stated in the text (“It made me feel safe”) and some are Author and Me (“Soon they didn’t sound so cold and sharp anymore”) and will require inference. To prompt the students to use the On My Own level of comprehension to make further inferences and to make connections with the book, ask them to consider the questions: Have you ever felt that you didn’t belong or that you don’t understand what is happening? How did you feel and what did you do?
· Discuss and compare with the range of feelings that Cartwheel demonstrated in the book.
Themes
· Non English speaking background
· Language and culture
· Immigration/refugees
· Sense of self
· Friendship
Links to General Capabilities
· Literacy
· Intercultural Understanding
· Critical and Creative Thinking
· Personal and Social Capabilities
Outcomes
These resources are aligned to the Australian Curriculum v 8.2.
Language
Language variation and change
· Understand that English is one of many languages spoken in Australia and that different languages may be spoken by family, classmates and community (ACELA1426)
· Share feelings and thoughts about the events and characters in texts (ACELT1783)
Expressing and developing ideas
· Explore the different contribution of words and images to meaning in stories and informative texts (ACELA1786)
Phonics and word knowledge
· Segment sentences into individual words and orally blend and segment onset and rime in single syllable spoken words, and isolate, blend and manipulate phonemes in single syllable words (ACELA1819)
· Know how to read and write some high-frequency words and other familiar words (ACELA1817)
Literature
Responding to literature
· Share feelings and thoughts about the events and characters in texts (ACELT1783)
Literacy
Interacting with others
· Listen to and respond orally to texts and to the communication of others in informal and structured classroom situations (ACELY1646)
Interpreting, analysing, evaluating
· Use comprehension strategies to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independently (ACELY1650)
Additional resources and links to other texts
· The Shape of Texts to Come by Jon Callow is an excellent resource about the visual elements of text. It can be purchased from the Primary English Teachers’ Association of Australia's website.
· Learn more about the 3 Levels of Questions, also known as the QAR strategy.
· Watch a real blanket being woven.
· I’m New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien tells the story of three children arriving at a new school from Spain, Korea and Somalia. Although set in a US school, the book demonstrates the challenges of communicating in a new language as well as feeling a sense of loss about their former homes.
· The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi tells the story of a young girl who has arrived from Korea, to find that people have difficulty pronouncing her name.
· Whoever You Are by Mem Fox and Leslie Staub is a celebration of the world’s diverse cultures.
Writer
Kylie Bradfield is a lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology in both the undergraduate and postgraduate Education courses. Spending many years as a primary teacher and then as the Head of Curriculum in a large school, Kylie’s main interest has always been with the teaching of English, and especially the use of children’s literature. She is currently undertaking a PhD investigating primary teachers’ understandings of the teaching of children’s literature.
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