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© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users. Y1/2 Sum F 1B Traditional tales from other cultures

Traditional Tales

If the children are struggling to suggest some traditional tales, here are some examples: Main characters are animals: The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the Bears, The Gingerbread Man, Little Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs, Chicken Licken, Little Red Hen, The Ugly Duckling, The Frog Prince, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, Puss in Boots. Main characters are not animals: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow-white and the Seven Dwarfs, The Princess and the Pea, Rumpelstiltskin, Piped Piper of Hamlin, Hansel and Gretel, The Elves and the Shoemaker. Enormous Turnip, Jack and the Beanstalk (hen that lays golden eggs). Week 1 Monday: Comprehension 1


Week 1 Monday: Comprehension 1

Who is this?

1. Look at each picture. Do you know the name of this animal? 2. Describe the animal. What will it feel like, sound like and smell like? 3. Write the name of the animal. Can you use the wordbank to help you write the

name?

Week 1: Monday: Comprehension 1

kangaroo crocodile frog

emu koala bear kookaburra


Sequencing The Rainbow Bird

Long ago in the Time of Dreams, there lived a rough, tough Crocodile Man. He was huge and mean and scary. He had fire! He held it with his feet, balanced it on his head and breathed it from his throat.

Time passed. Bird Woman watched Crocodile Man and waited. One afternoon he opened his mouth very wide to yawn and Bird Woman flew down and snatched a firestick, and flew back into the air.

Crocodile Man wouldn’t share the fire with anyone! Bird Woman pleaded with him to let her have fire, but he told her to eat her food raw. She asked about sharing fire with the people, but he said no!

Feeling proud of herself she decided to give fire to people. She flew around the country putting Fire into the heart of every tree. From that day on people could make Fire using dry sticks and logs from a tree.

To this day Crocodile lives down in the swamp. His Fire is gone now. Rainbow Bird still lives in the air and sometimes you can see her taking fire to the trees, in a blaze of feathers rainbow bright.

Then Bird Woman did a dance and put the firesticks into her tail. She became the beautiful Rainbow Bird. She told Crocodile Man that he must stay down in the wet water, while she flew high and dry in the air.


What makes a good performance?

The Rainbow Bird

The best performance will include:

Clear speaking which everyone can

hear.

Fluent reading.

Eye-contact with the audience.

Agreement on how you will perform.


Decoding Strategies

When you come across a word you don’t know,

use these strategies to help you read it!

Use the pictures Look for smaller words within words

c-at Break words into

syllables e.g. cat-er-piller

Sound out the word

Skip the word and read the rest of the sentence to try and

work out what it says

Did the sentence you read make

sense?


Why Frog can only croak (adapted from Stories from the Billabong page 17-19)

Every morning, Lyrebird came down to the stream to sing. He had the most beautiful voice. He could imitate the sound of all the other birds. One day, while Lyrebird was singing he noticed something unusual in the stream. The water was flowing fast, and there were lots of bubbles in it. Most of the bubbles were white. But, one bubble looked dark and there seemed to be something inside it. Lyrebird watched, the dark bubble burst and out fell a little green frog. Little Green Frog swam to one of the water-lilies. He climbed on to it and looked this way and that. Lyrebird flew down to talk to Little Green Frog. He asked if he could sing or talk, but the frog shook his head. He was just about to fly away when he heard the voice of the Spirit of the Creator say to him “This little frog is your brother. Teach him to sing!” Lyrebird started to give frog singing lessons. Frog was a quick learner. He could sing so well that Lyrebird thought he was a better singer than him! Lyrebird asked the other animals to come and listen. They were very impressed by how well he could sing, imitate the other animals and even make noises like the sounds from nature. That night, when all the animals had gone home, the frog climbed on to his favourite lily-pad. He puffed out his chest and shouted “I can sing better than the Lyrebird! I am the greatest singer in the world!” The other frogs told him not to be so boastful. But he wouldn’t listen and kept on shouting. “I am so great a singer, I could make the moon come tumbling out of the sky to listen to me” he shouted. So, he took a deep breath and started to sing. He sang so beautifully that all the other frogs came out of the water to listen to him. But, the moon took no notice at all. The next night he tried again. He sang louder and longer and even more beautifully. But still the moon took no notice. Frog couldn’t believe it! Next night, he tried again. He sang on and on. He sang louder and louder and louder. But the moon just kept sailing along among the clouds. Suddenly, to his horror, his voice gave out. He had strained his vocal cords to breaking point. He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a croak. And from that day to this, when the moon is bright, you will find frogs coming out of the water, and gathering together. But when they try to sing, all they can manage is “Croak! Croak! Croak!”


Why Frog can only croak Is this story a traditional tale?

How do you know?

What animals are included in the story?

Who is the hero of the story?

What does this story teach us about being good?

Where did Lyrebird go every morning?

Why did she go there?

What unusual thing did Lyrebird see one morning?

Why was Lyrebird surprised to see Little Green Frog?

Do you think Little Green Frog wanted to learn to sing?

Why did Lyrebird teach Little Green Frog to sing?

Why did the other animals tell Little Green Frog to stop

boasting?

What was the consequence of Little Green Frog boasting? Week 1 Wednesday: Word Reading 1 Week 1 Wednesday: Word Reading 1


How Kangaroo got her pouch

Long ago the kangaroo was grooming her joey on the bank of a brook. They liked to listen to

the water burble as the mama combed her baby’s fur. On this day, an old wombat staggered

toward them.

“Oh dear,” the kangaroo whispered to her baby. “This wombat is old and sick. He must have

great-great-grandchildren already.”

The mother kangaroo thought she heard the sound of weeping. As the wombat veered closer,

she heard him say, “Useless and worthless, worthless and useless.”

“What’s the trouble, friend wombat?” she asked.

“Huh?” he said, startled. “Who said that?”

“I did,” said the kangaroo. “A kangaroo and her joey.”

“I’m blind,” the wombat replied. “Nobody wants me around. Nobody thinks about me. I’m

no good any more. They’ve abandoned me, all of them.”

The kangaroo, who had a tender heart, said, “It’s not as bad as all that. I’ll be your friend. My

joey and I will show you where the tastiest grass grows.” She let the wombat hold her tail.

Then, slowly, she led him over to the juiciest grass and cleanest water. The old wombat

sighed with pleasure. It made the kangaroo happy to see him feeling better.

Suddenly she remembered her joey! She had told him to stay close, but he had wandered off

again. She raced back to look for him. So many times this had happened. She’d look for food,

and when she looked up, he had wandered off. It scared her terribly.

She found her joey asleep under a gum tree. Not wanting to wake him from his nap, she

decided to go back and check on the old wombat. Something was moving in the bush. An

Aboriginal hunter, silently stalking the wombat! Already his boomerang was raised above his

head, its smooth edges ready to slice the air. The kangaroo froze. She couldn’t even breathe.

She wanted to run, but the wombat was like her joey—she had to protect him!

The kangaroo began to stomp on the branches and twigs under her feet. Thump, thump,

crack, crack, she pounded the earth. The hunter turned toward her. “Run,” she screamed to

the wombat, “Run, there’s a hunter.” The wombat took off crazily, not knowing where he

was going. The hunter didn’t care. Now all he wanted was the kangaroo!

She hopped as hard and fast as she could into the bush, away, away from where she had left

her joey asleep. Her heart thumped wildly in her throat as she ran for her life. At last she

came to a cave. She was too tired to go farther, and collapsed on the dirt floor inside. At least

he would have to kill her in the cool dark, not out in the open where other animals would be

forced to watch.

The hunter ran past the mouth of the cave! The kangaroo stayed inside, listening for his

return. She was afraid to go out. Finally, she saw him walk past the mouth of the cave again,

his boomerang hanging from his hand. She waited until it was safe, then ran as fast as she

could back to the gum tree. There was her joey, awake and ready to play. Together they went

to look for the wombat, but he had gone.


What the kangaroo mother didn’t know was that the wombat wasn’t a wombat. He was

actually the great god Byamee who had put on a disguise. Byamee had come down from the

sky world to find out which of his creatures had the kindest heart. Now he had an answer that

pleased him greatly: the kangaroo. Byamee wanted to give her the gift that would help her

most of all. So he called the sky spirits together and said, “Go down below to where the

eucalyptus grow tall. Peel the long strips of bark and make a dilly bag apron. Give it to the

kangaroo mother and explain that she must tie it around her waist.”

And so they did. At the very moment the kangaroo mother tied the apron around her waist,

Byamee transformed it into soft kangaroo fur. It grew into her own flesh. Now she had a

pouch in which to carry her baby joey. He could even sleep in there as she went about her

daily tasks.

The kangaroo mother was very happy with her gift. But because she was the kindest creature

of all, she didn’t want to keep it only for herself. She thought about the other kangaroo

mothers and about the wallaby mothers and the kangaroo rats and all the other marsupials.

Byamee loved the kangaroo’s generous heart. So he decided to make pouches for all the other

marsupial mothers. Ever since then, their babies almost never get lost.


How Kangaroo got her pouch Is this story a traditional tale?

What is your evidence?




Why did Mother Kangaroo help the old wombat?

What did she do to help him?

How did Mother Kangaroo distract the hunter?

How did Mother Kangaroo feel when she returned to find

wombat and Joey?

Who did wombat turn out to be?

What was left to Mother Kangaroo?

Why was Mother Kangaroo chosen to have a gift?

How did she feel?


What made Tiddalick laugh? Is this story a traditional tale?

What is your evidence?




How did Tiddalick feel when he woke up and what did he do?

What was the consequence of Tiddalick drinking all the water?

Why do the animals want to make Tiddalick laugh?

What makes you laugh?

How did Platypus feel when she heard that Tiddalick had drunk

all the water and what did she do?

What made Tiddalick laugh?

Why do you think Tiddalick decided not to drink all the water

again?


Why Frog can only croak? Find the contractions.

Lyrebird was excellent at singing. He didn’t know anyone who could

sing as well as him. He’d sing in the morning by the cool running

water of the stream. Lyrebird looked into the water. He couldn’t stop

looking at it. “Isn’t it beautiful,” he said.

Just then he saw something that shouldn’t be there, in the bubbles of

the stream. “I haven’t seen that before,” he whispered. He jumped

down to the edge of and stream and took a closer look. He mightn’t

have seen it except that it was a different colour to the other bubbles.

It was a Little Green Frog. “Do you sing?” he asked. But Little Green

Frog didn’t. “If you can’t sing, then I’m going to teach you!” said

Lyrebird.

Eventually Little Green Frog sang so beautifully that Lyrebird couldn’t

sing as well as him. “I shan’t be able to sing as well as Little Green

Frog,” said Lyrebird. He was sad.

“There’s nothing in the world that can sing as well as me!” boasted

Little Green Frog. “I haven’t found any animal as clever as me, even

Lyrebird can’t sing as well. One day I’ll sing so well that even the

moon won’t be able to stay away!” said Little Green Frog.

Little Green Frog sang. But the moon wasn’t interested and stayed in

the sky. “It isn’t working,” he said. He tried again. “It’s no good!” he

sobbed. The moon stayed in the sky. Eventually he tried so hard, all

that came out of his mouth was a croak! And until this very day, that

is the only thing that frogs can sing!


Apostrophe Snap

Read each contraction.

Draw a line between the contraction and words which form it.

Week 1 Thursday Word Reading 2

Contraction Full word/words

can’t

won’t

didn’t

couldn’t

shouldn’t

hasn’t

it’s

I’ll

haven’t

isn’t

let’s

I’m

I’ve

we’d

they’d

hasn’t

can not

has not

should not

will not

let us

I will

will not

could not

is not

I am

we had

did not

I have

it is

have not

they had


What made Tiddalick laugh?

Tiddalick woke up from a long sleep and was thirsty. He

didn’t know what to do! “I’m thirsty,” he said. “Where’s the

closest pond, and I will have a drink!” he thought. He didn’t

just drink the pond, he drank the water in the streams and

river as well. He couldn’t stop drinking.


Kangaroo didn’t know how to keep her baby safe. “I’m

worried he will get lost,” she said to herself. She’d tried

everything to keep him close by, but she couldn’t think of

anything that worked. “How’ll I ever be able to keep him

safe?” she thought. “He’s always hopping away to explore!”

she moaned.

One morning when she was feeding Joey she met a very old

wombat. “I’m sick and blind,” he said. “I’m hungry and

thirsty. And I haven’t a friend in the world.”

Mother Kangaroo felt sorry for him. “’I ’ll be your friend!” she

said.

Week 1 Friday Transcription 3


Why Platypus is Special.

Why Platypus is Special In the Dreamtime all the creatures on earth thought

that they belonged to the most important group of creatures. Each group had

their own special meetings: all the animals had their own special meeting; the

birds had their own special meeting and at the very same time all the water

creatures had their own special meeting. The animals thought that they were

the most special because they had fur on their bodies and could run across the

land. The birds thought that they were even more special because they could fly

and lay eggs. And the water creatures thought that they were even more special

still because they could swim and explore all the water-ways on earth and

because “There is more water than land anyway.” they said. But then someone in

each group remembered that shy Platypus belonged to no group at all and each

one of them resolved to ask Platypus to join their own Very Special Group. First

the animals went over to ask Platypus to join their Most Special Animal Group.

Soon after the animals left, the birds went over to Platypus’ place to see if he

would join their Even More Special Bird Group. But as he had done with the

animals, Platypus asked them to come back after he had thought about their

offer. Now Platypus asked his friends and family whose group he should join,

but no one could help him, not even his friend Echidna. After thinking hard

about it for some time, Platypus called all the animals and birds and water

creatures to his place. They all gathered around, all wondering which group

Platypus would join. Platypus came out of his home, climbed a log and when all

the creatures were quiet, Platypus spoke. “Thank you all for coming today. I

have decided not to join any group at all.” All the creatures were shocked. “You

have to join someone’s group,” they cried. “Please listen,” said Platypus patiently.

“Everyone is special in their own special way and I don’t have to join any group to

prove that. After all, I have a bit of animal in me because of my fur and because

I like running across the land, but I have a bit of bird in me too, because my

wife lays eggs and we both have beaks. And if that’ s not enough, I also have a

bit of water creature in me because my home is near the water’s edge and I like

swimming and exploring the underwater world. So you see, I don’t have to join

any special group to be special. But it’s not only me – everyone of us has

something that makes us special in our own very special way.” All the creatures

agreed and from that time onwards, Platypus has been considered very wise and

very special indeed.


Is this a traditional tale or not? Use pictures, words, phrases and sentences to record your ideas.

Your group must agree on the ideas you record.

You must use evidence from the story to support your ideas. The Rainbow Bird Why Frogs can only

croak What made Taddalik laugh?


Why is the Platypus such a special creature?

Animal characters

Hero

Villain

Moral

What good behaviour does this story teach?

Is this a traditional tale or not?

Week 2 Monday Comprehension 3


Oral Story of How the Crow Became Black.

The Hawk and the Crow make a pact. They will each go out hunting for the day and whatever they catch, they will bring it back and share it. That way they will be certain to have a good supper together.

Crow goes out. First he decided to catch some ducks. He goes to a water hole.

He breaks off some water reed so that it makes a tube through which he can breath when hiding under the water. He also ties a bag around his waist.

He creeps into the water and submerges himself. He breaths through the water reed tube.

The ducks swim over him. He reaches up and grabs one and drags it into the bag. He does this three times so he has caught three ducks.

Crow leaves the water hole and goes to the river. There he uses a sharp stick of thorn to spear several fish. He adds these to the bag.

Then Crow goes home. The Hawk is still out and so Crow quickly builds a fire and cooks his duck and fish. What he can’t eat, he hides away in a dip in the ground.

Hawk finally arrives home. He has hunted all day and caught nothing. He tracked a kangaroo but it escaped. He hovered over possums but they hid from him. He is tired and hungry.

Hawk can smell the cooked duck. He asks Crow where the food is that Crow had agreed to share.

Crow says that he has eaten it and laughs at Hawk. He says that Hawk is lazy and a rubbish hunter.

Hawk asks if there is any more food. Crow lies and says no.

Hawk is so angry that he holds Crow in his beak and rolls him in the ashes of the fire. Crow gets all covered in charcoal and turns black. Ever afterwards Crow is black as a sign to everyone that he broke his promise.

Also Crow eats mouldy dead things that lie on roads or in the hollows of the land as a punishment for being greedy and hiding the food he hadn’t eaten from Hawk.

Week 2 Tuesday Spoken Langugae 2


Oral Story of How the Crow Became Black.

(prompts for children)

Hawk and Crow make a promise to share the food they catch. Hawk and Crow go hunting. Crow hides in the reeds, with water-reed in his mouth and a bag around his waist.

Crow goes under the water, breathing through the water reed. Ducks swim over to him and he grabs one and puts it in his bag. He has three ducks in his bag. Crow goes to the river and catches fish with a spear. He has fish and ducks in his bag.

Crow goes home and builds a fire. Hawk is not there. Crow eats the ducks and fish. Hawk comes home empty handed. He has tried to catch food, but was not able to.

Hawk is cross that Crow ate all of the food and broke their promise. Crow teases Hawk. Hawk is cross and rolls Crow in the ashes of the fire. His feathers are black.

He is now black as a sign to everyone that he broke his promise. Week 2 Tuesday Spoken Langugae 2


Oral Story for The Lizard-Man and the Creation of Uluru

Alinga, the Lizard-Man was a mighty warrior. His favourite weapon was the boomerang. He could throw a boomerang so far that it sometimes took days to return.

One day he made a special boomerang, and threw it as far as he could to see how long it took to return.

He collected the branches of eucalypt trees and tied them together with the sinews of kangaroo tails. He made glue with seeds of spinifex grass and sealed the cracks in the boomerang. Finally he polished it with the wax of wild bees.

Alinga used all his strength and threw the mighty boomerang into the sky.

He waited for hours, days, weeks, months and year… but the boomerang did not return!

He went looking for it and asked everyone he met if they had seen it. No one had. He journeyed on and on, through desert, forest and mountain but he couldn’t find his boomerang.

Finally he saw a great red dome rising out of the desert. It was shaped like an enormous boomerang. As he got closer, he saw it was his boomerang. It had crashed into the desert and over time it had been covered with layers of red dust and sand until it turned into a huge red block of rock.

Alinga was happy; he had found his boomerang. He tried to lift it. But, it was too heavy. He struggled for days but the boomerang was too deep in the ground.

Alinga didn’t want to be parted from his boomerang so he settled down to live beside it.

It is said the lizards who now live in the caves at the foot of the red rock known as Uluru are his spiritual descendants.



Oral Story of The Lizard-Man and the Creation of Uluru. (prompts for children)

Alinga, the Lizard-Man, was a mighty warrior, who often threw his boomerang so far it took days to return. One day he made a special boomerang and threw it very far into the sky. He waited until it came back. It did not come back! He asked if anyone had seen it. No one had.

Alinga journeyed far and wide over the mountains, plains and forest looking for his boomerang. Finally he saw a great red dome rising out of the ground. It was his boomerang. It had crashed into the ground and the sand had covered it completely. The Lizard-Man was happy he had found his boomerang. He tried to lift it, but it was stuck. He struggled to lift it, but he couldn’t! Eventually he decided that as it had settled in the ground, so would he. He would live at the base of the great red dome. It is said that the lizards that live in the cracks around Uluru are his descendants!



Past and present tense Pairs

Cut out each word.

Place the words upside down and spread them out in front of you.

Turn over two words. Read the words and see if they match. If they don’t put them

back.

If they do match, read them aloud to the group. Which is the past tense? Keep them

and have another turn.

threw tied ran tie

gather turn throws collected

collect ask asked gathered

climb passed run turned

journeyed showed pass climbed

journey show decide decided

Week 2 Wednesday Grammar 1


Past-tense tales Read each sentence.

Identify the past-tense verbs and highlight them.

Find the past-tense verbs in a thesaurus and select a better word.

Write the sentence again, and include the new verb.

1. Lizard-Man made a boomerang.

2. He found branches on the dusty floor.

3. Alinga tied them together.

4. He threw the boomerang into the air.

5. Lizard-Man waited for the boomerang to fall to the ground.

6. Alinga went looking for the boomerang.

7. He went over mountains and plains but couldn’t find the boomerang.

8. Lizard-Man saw a big red rock, the same shape as his boomerang.

9. He tried to pick the boomerang up but it was too heavy.

10. Alinga decided to live next to his boomerang.


Story map for How the Crow Became Black

Week 2 Thursday Comprehension 4 (example of a Story Map)

did you know€¦ · how do you know? what animals are included in the story? who is the hero of...

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