sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Teacher Tuesday: Eight Great Poetry Titles for Your Classroom

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It’s Teacher Tuesday – though, if you are a regular visitor her you might notice that my Tuesday posts have been a little lax. Apologies: I have been busy with many things, but the good news is that a lot of those things centre around books and writing and poetry.

Speaking of poetry, there is still plenty of time to encourage your students to enter the annual Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards, open to school aged students from anywhere in Australia.  A writing contest is a brilliant  way of motivating young writers to write – and, whether or not they win a prize, their poetry is written by a new audience, and every entrant is recognised with a certificate.

If you are wondering where to start, why not begin my just reading – and sharing – lots of different poetry in your classroom?  Here are eight wonderful poetry books that you can access in Australia  and that I personally own and thus am able to recommend.

1. Poems from a Green and Blue Planet, Poems from a Green and Blue Planet, edited by Sabrina Mahfouz (Hodder, 2019).  This anthology is stunning. The cover art (by Aaron Cushley) is supplemented with internal spot illustrations, and the range of poetry is outstanding Including original poems, contemporary poems and classics, the theme is celebrating life on Earth. Suitable for primarya nd secondary readers – and adults too.

2.Untangling Spaghetti: Selected PoemsUntangling Spaghetti: Selected Poems, by Steven Herrick (UQp, 2009). Steven Herrick is the best poet for children and teens in Australia so, while I’ve chosen this collection for this book, any of his other collections or his verse novels could equally have been on this list. Humour, pathos, wry observations and more in accessible free verse with a lot to offer middle and upper primary students especially.

3.Guinea Pig Town and Other Animal PoemsGuinea Pig Town and Other Animal Poems, by Lorraine Marwood (Walker Books, 2013) . Another eminent and accessible Australian poet, and again there were several titles I could recommend, but I have chosen this one because it is a themed collection, which can provide a lot of food for thought and opportunities to consider the different ways a topic can be explored in poetry. Suitable across the primary grades.

4. Common WealthCommon Wealth, by Gregg Dreise (Scholastic, 2021). This is one of my favourite picture books for classroom use at the moment, but is also a slam poem, and so a wonderful poetry resource – modelling the slam style as a tool for persuasive writing. In your classroom it could be used to cover a range of writing and curriculum areas.

5. What Snail KnowsWhat Snail Knows, by Kathryn Apel (ill. by Mandy Foot) (UQP, 2022). This is a verse novel – a story told using free verse, and again, I could have chosne any one of Apel’s verse novels to include in this list. Verse novels offer a wonderful way to explore narrative and poetry at the same time, and this one provides many opportunities to inspire poetry writing, including shape poetry.

6. Roar Squeak Purr: A New Zealand Treasury of Animal Poems Roar Squeak Purr: A New Zealand Treasury of Animal Poems, edited by Paula Green & illustrated by Jenny Cooper (Penguin, 2022). I know I have already included an animal themed collection, but this anthology is stunning, and one my favourite books of 2022. Poems about all kinds of animals – from New Zealand and beyond. Eevery library should have htis – and evry classroom and home too.

7 What Is Poetry?: The Essential Guide to Reading and Writing Poems, What is Poetry? by Michael Rosen (Walker Books, 2017). English poet and amazing person Michael Rosen is THE go to for children’s poetry and only falls so far down this list because I wanted to finish the list with two how-to books. This one is about both how to read and how to write poetry, and can be read by children but also by teachers. It is brilliant, but also check out Rosen’s other poetry and his website and his YouTube and…

8.  Teaching Poetry for Pleasure and Purpose, by Sally Murphy (PETAA, 2021).  I am really proud of this book because it is the book I wished I had when I was classroom teaching.  It unpacks the Australian curriculum as it relates to poetry and for every Primary School year level it then gives a range of lesson ideas, both reading and writing, and a selection of poems (mostly Australian) and other resource suggestions.  I’d be recommending this one even if I didn’t write it.

 

I could go on and on listing books here, but sometimes lists can be overwhelming – so here are eight wonderful books for you to get started – but if you need a recommendation for a specific age group or topic, contact me, or comment here, and I will have a suggestion.   And if there is a topic you would like me to cover in a future Teacher Tuesday post, hit me up!

And, again, don’t forget that the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry  contest is now open for entries. It’s a wonderful opportunity for the young poets in your classroom or your home.  Australia-wide.

Teacher Tuesday: Using A Picture Prompt to Write a Story

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It’s Teacher Tuesday – the third one for 2023. After I shared a poem last week, I realised I tend to do lots of sharing of poetry, and poetry writing ideas, but less often other forms and genres.

So, today, I’m sharing a strategy for using a photo as a writing prompt for a story. Note that I prefer the word story over narrative – but given the use of ‘narrative’ in curriculum and in testing, I strongly encourage that you make sure every writer knows that a story IS a narrative.  This helps to connect the classroom/curriculum term to what they might experience outside of school.

Using photos and other images is a wonderful way to inspire writing – and also can help prepare your students for tasks such as those in the annual NAPLAN assessments. However, not every writer can look at an image, have a eureka moment and start writing. In fact, I’d argue most of us can’t.

Duck

What goes wrong? I’m going to use the above  duck image for  an example. Often, young minds can be very literal. You are showing me a picture of a duck. Therefore, I must describe the duck. There was once a brown duck and it had a beak. It said quack a lot. The end.

Other times, overthinking happens. I have to write a good story. I need an amazing beginning, lots of action and dialogue. But gosh, I know nothing about ducks, or what can happen to them. I’ve never even met a duck….

A third thing that happens is an attempt to write the same story over and over. I only like stories with goodies and baddies. But you’re asking me to write about a duck? Hmmm. There was once a robber duck. It wanted to steal all the duck food from the other ducks. But the sheriff duck stopped it. The end. No one will notice that this is just like the story I wrote the other day, but this time with ducks instead of people.

How do we avoid these and other pitfalls? By using image prompts regularly, but also giving some structure to how we use them. Here’s one way of doing that.

  1. Show the picture. If possible, have multiple copies so that, as well as being on a screen, writers can also hold the image in their hand. Turning it, pointing to it, manipulating it.
  2. Allow talk. Even though in those terrible testing conditions that isn’t possible, building a community of writers involves chances to talk.
  3. Guiding questions. These are not questions every child answers out loud, but are prompts to think about – and may be discussed with group members. Try to stress that there are no right answers – this is about possibilities.
  • What can you see? If you were there in the image, what would you hear? Smell? Feel? Taste?
  • What place do you think this is? Is it real, or imaginary? What exists outside the boundaries of the picture?
  • Who is in the image? What might their name be, how old, what do they want? (If there is no character (person, animal or otherwise) – rephrase the question to ask who does this object/building etc belong to?)
  • What might that character want? Need?
  • What is stopping them from getting that? (These two questions are helping to think of a conflict, or complication)
  • How might they overcome that obstacle/problem?

By answering these questions a writer can have all they need to develop a narrative – they have a setting, a character and a conflict with a possible resolution. But, along the way, they may have developed several possibilities.

  1. Encourage writers to jot down a one sentence plan (character, conflict, resolution) for their story before they start writing – eg Florence the  duck  wants a worm for breakfast, and finds one under a rock.   Under that sentence, have them write the three things that happen before the  problem is resolved – Looks in the pond, looks up a tree, looks over the fence.
  2. Start writing. This is the time where the talk can be reduced. Try to build this as something ‘real’ writers do – they plan first, which can be noisy, then they write quietly so they can only read their own thoughts. A writer who is stuck can look back at their very simple plan.
  3. Stop and share. A big step that is often missed in writing is giving writers a chance to share their work with each other,. So at the end of the writing session – or at points during it, depending on how long you have – it is vital that young writers get to share their masterpieces with each other. This makes their work purposeful – and fun, too.  Structure this sharing has you see fit, but I really encourage it to be not about assessing or scoring.

This is a very basic set of steps. You can build them into a lesson, and you can adapt depending on the age group of your class. But you can also use and reuse these steps, so that your writers become really  comfortable with the concept of using an image (or some other prop or prompt) to  plan a and write.

Ready for another picture prompt?  Here’s one of my own photos which might inspire a story or three in your classroom. I’d love to hear if you use it, or the duck image, and how it goes.

 

See you next Teacher Tuesday.

 

 

Teacher Tuesday: Using Meet Mary MacKillop in a Year 4 Classroom

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Welcome to the  eighth edition of Teacher Tuesday, where I match one of my books to a year level, and offer some activities for sharing the book in the classroom. In previous weeks I shared activities for Pearl Verses the World, Looking Up, Toppling,  Roses are Blue, Do Not Forget Australia, Snowy’s Christmas and The Floatingest Frog.

This week, I am focusing on my picture book, Meet Mary MacKillop which can be used to meet objectives in both  both the History and English curriculum areas.

Using Meet Mary MacKillop in a Year Four Classroom

Meet Mary MacKillop, by Sally Murphy, illustrations by Sonia Martinez

Published by Random House, 2013
ISBN: 9781742757216
Format 32page  Hardcover, RRP $19.99

Blurb:  Mary MacKillop, Australia’s first saint, was born in the 1800s and devoted her life to teaching children. Mary believed everyone should have the chance to learn, no matter how rich or poor they are. In 1866 she set up her first school and founded an order of nuns called the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. This book tells the story of that first school.

Sally’s Recommended Grade Levels: Year 1 – Lower Secondary, but these suggestions focus on Year 4.

Themes/Topics:

  • Famous Australians
  • Education/Schools
  • History
  • Women
  • Religious Education
  • Self-belief

Publisher teaching notes available HERE

This unit of work uses Meet Mary as the basis for examining both the life of Mary MacKillop, and examining the roles and significance of other famous Australians.

Curriculum Links:

Year 4 History and English

  1. Pose questions to investigate people, events, places and issues (ACHASSI073)
  2. Sequence information about people’s lives and events (ACHASSI076)
  3. Present ideas, findings and conclusions in texts and modes that incorporate digital and non-digital representations and discipline-specific terms (ACHASSI082)
  4. Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations incorporating learned content and taking into account the particular purposes and audiences (ACELY1689)
  • Before reading: discuss the word ‘famous’. Ask students what it might mean to be famous. Brainstorm a list of famous Australians.
  • Show students the book cover. Ask students who Mary MacKillop was and/or what the cover suggests about her.
  • Read the Story (apart from timeline).
  • After Reading: group work. Groups to complete table identifying words and images which show this book is set in the 1800s. Subheadings: Words/Language Used; Transport; Dress; School Equipment; Other. One column to identify what is portrayed in the book, and a second column to identify how these things might be today.
  • Discuss what a timeline is. Students to compose simple timelines of their lives so far. Share
  • Examine back of book timeline. In groups, students to identify which events are included in the story. Discuss: Why did Sally Murphy choose only part of Mary MacKillop’s life for the story? Can you understand Mary’s life without the addition of the timeline?
  • Students to choose another famous Australian – either from earlier list or from a list fo teacher suggestions, of a particular time period. Using library/class resource collections and/or internet research, students to research their chosen person and compile their own timeline. Additionally, have them answer the following: Why is this person famous? Where were they born? Which part of Australia did they live in? What was their main achievement?  How are they commemorated today (eg are they on a banknote, have buildings or roads named after them, memorialised in stories/songs etc). Why did you choose this person?
  • Students to compile a visual presentation about their chosen Australian: either digitally or as a poster presentation.

 

  1. Createliterary texts by developing storylines, characters and settings (ACELT1794)
  2. Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features (ACELY1694)
  3. Re-read and edit for meaning by adding, deleting or moving words or word groups to improve content and structure (ACELY1695)
  4. Use a range of software including wordprocessing programs to construct, edit and publish written text, and select, edit and place visual, print and audio elements (ACELY1697)
  • Read other books in the ‘Meet’ series. If enough available, this could be done in groups, with each group examining a different book in the series. Identify key events in each person’s story, and also explore similarities and differences between the different books (each book has a timeline, for example, but the writing and illustrations styles vary. Some of the books cover a single episode in the person’s life, while others cover more of the person’s lives). Encourage students to elaborate which hones they like, and why.
  • Identify common features in adapting biographies to fiction (the term here is historical fiction): creating characters, use of dialogue, key details, use of details to set scene (time and place).
  • Students to use information from their timelines/presentations to craft a narrative telling their chosen person’s story – either one episode, or an overview of their life. This could be extended to create a picture book version.

 

Other suggestions for using Meet Mary MacKillop in your classroom include:

  • Mary wrote many letters to her mother and to other people throughout her life. Examine the elements of a letter, and draft and write a letter. the theme of letters is also part of my book Looking Up.
  • The work of Mary MacKillop continues through the sisters of St Joseph. There are various museums and centres across Australia and new Zealand which are open for school groups for different excursions.
  • Art: read the interview with the illustrator, Sonia Martinez in the official teaching notes. Create collage art using historical pictures, combined with the students own drawings.
  • Email the author(that’s me!) Your students can write to me through this website, and share their responses or ask questions.

Related Books

Mostly, I’d love to remind you that while I love to see my books used in classrooms, I also love to see kids just enjoying them. Reading a book should be pleasurable – whether it’s being used in the classroom or not.  So allow your students to enjoy reading Meet Mary MacKillop.

If you find this useful, or have any suggestions or comments, do leave a comment. And, if there is a particular book or year level or topic that you would like covered in a future edition of Teacher Tuesday, let me know.

Teacher Tuesday: Using Roses are Blue in a Year Four Classroom

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Welcome to the seventh edition of Teacher Tuesday, where I match one of my books to a year level, and offer some activities for sharing the book in the classroom. In previous weeks I shared activities for Pearl Verses the World, Looking Up, Toppling, Do Not Forget Australia, Snowy’s Christmas and The Floatingest Frog.

This week, continuing my focus on verse novels, I am focusing on my third verse novel, Roses are Blue.

Using Roses are Blue in a Year Four Classroom

Roses are Blue, by Sally Murphy, illustrations by Gabriel Evans

Published by Walker Books, 2014
ISBN: 9781922244376 (Paperback)
Format 112 page Paperback, RRP $16.99

Blurb:  “I have not got used to my new mum, even though I love her (I absolutely love her), but I miss my happy,  painting,  dancing,  gardening,  smiling mum.” Amber Rose and her family are dealing with tragedy and change. Her mum is different, her home is different and she has even had to start at a new school. Amidst all that change, Amber finds it is still possible to find hope.

Sally’s Recommended Grade Levels: Year 2 – Adult, but these suggestions focus on Year 4.

Themes/Topics:

  • Friendship
  • Belonging
  • Disabilty
  • Family
  • Coping with Change
  • Mothers Day
  • Empathy and Compassion
  • Art
  • School

Publisher teaching notes available HERE

Curriculum Links:

Year 4 English

  1. Discuss literary experiences with others, sharing responses and expressing a point of view (ACELT1603).
    • Before reading: set up individual journals OR a special section is students’ writing journals.  Ask students to write about their favourite book, or at least a book they have read recently. Why did they like it? Class discussion: what makes a good book. Create a chart with children’s responses and display in room, to be added to during this unit of work, and revisited.
    • During reading: after reading each section, have students write about their responses to the story so far. Although you could provide questions for guidance, if possible allow students to write about any aspect of the story that appeals to them. After each writing session, allow time for group/class discussion, encouraging links to students’ own experiences.
    • After reading: revisit the chart. In groups, students to discuss whether they thought Roses are Blue met their criteria for a good book. Why/Why not? Groups to report back, and discuss as class. (There should be no ‘right’ answers, but the focus should be on providing reasons for their stance, whether positive or negative)
    • After this discussion, again give time for students to write about their response to the book in their journals.
  1. Discuss how authors and illustrators make stories exciting, moving and absorbing and hold readers’ interest by using various techniques, for example character development and plot tension (ACELT 1605).
  2. Use metalanguage to describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features of literary texts (ACELT 1604).
  • During reading introduce students to the terms ‘free verse’ and ‘verse novel’. After reading use groups to establish similarities and differences between verse novels and prose novels. Discuss findings.
  • During and/or after reading, analyse key scenes, for example:
    • Stop after reading pages 7-9 (opening pages) and have students predict what might make Amber’s mum so different. Then read p. 10. Discuss students’ reactions to the revelation, and have them write about their responses in their journal (see above). After reading, discuss why the novel might have started this way – with Mum’s condition not revealed until the fourth page, and the reasons for it revealed gradually. Did this create interest? Did it highlight different aspects of Amber’s emotions?
    • Reread pp 36-39. Give each group a copy of the pages and ask them to look for repetition. Which words are repeated? Which phrases? What is the effect?
    • Read p. 47 and compare what we learn here about Mum with what we learnt on pp 36-39. Discuss: does this contradict what Amber has told us? Why do you think Amber calls this a ‘confession’? Journal writing/discussion: Are mums (or dads) supposed to be perfect?
  • Analyse the characters of Leroy Jamieson and Lola Jones. Groups to draw up a table listing what they learn from each one about the book. Report back and build a class list. Discuss: How are the two similar? How are they different? Do you think Sally Murphy deliberately gave them similar names? Why?
  1. Create literary texts that explore students’ own experiences and imagining (ACELT1607).
  2. Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features(ACELY1694).
  3. Re-read and edit for meaning by adding, deleting or moving words or word groups to improve content and structure (ACELY1695).
  4. Use a range of software including wordprocessing programs to construct, edit and publish written text, and select, edit and place visual, print and audio elements (ACELY1697).
  • Use the poem on page 10 as a mentor text for students to create their own poem about their own mum or another family member. It could even be themselves or a pet. As well as ‘different’, you could suggest other adjectives such as ‘special’, ‘wonderful’ , ‘silly’.
  • Rewrite one of the scenes in the book from the point of view of one of the other characters: Mum, Leroy, Saffron, Dad, Aunty Fi, Lola etc. Encourage children to have a go at doing this as a free verse poem – again they could use the scene as a mentor text.
  • If Mum could talk, what would she say? This might be a wonderful opportunity to work on speech and thought bubbles, with students drawing Mum and showing some of her thoughts.
  • Any or all three of these creative exercises can be revised, edited and published for class display, or as class book, or in writing portfolios.

 

Other suggestions for using Roses are Blue in your classroom include:

  • Create invitations to a Mother’s Day tea, as Amber’s class do. Or to any other class event, real or imagined.
  • The blue rose has been the aim of many plant breeders. Have students research whether blue roses exist, and report on this. And/or build a list of other blue flowers.
  • Craft: create paper roses, using this tutorial, or any other.

  • Email the author(that’s me!) Your students can write to me through this website, and share their responses or ask questions.

Related Books (these are all verse novels)

Mostly, I’d love to remind you that while I love to see my books used in classrooms, I also love to see kids just enjoying them. Reading a book should be pleasurable – whether it’s being used in the classroom or not.  So allow your students to enjoy reading Roses are Blue.

If you find this useful, or have any suggestions or comments, do leave a comment. And, if there is a particular book or year level or topic that you would like covered in a future edition of Teacher Tuesday, let me know.

 

Teacher Tuesday: Using Toppling in a Year 6 Classroom

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Welcome to the sixth edition of Teacher Tuesday, where I match one of my books to a year level, and offer some activities for sharing the book in the classroom. In previous weeks I shared activities for Pearl Verses the World, Looking Up, Do Not Forget Australia, Snowy’s Christmas and The Floatingest Frog.

This week, continuing my focus on verse novels, I am focusing on my second verse novel, Toppling.

Using Toppling in a Year Six Classroom

Toppling, by Sally Murphy, illustrations by Rhian Nest James

Published by Walker Books, 2010
ISBN: 9781921529429 (Paperback)
Format 128 page Paperback, RRP $16.99

US and UK Editions also available.

Blurb:  John’s friend Dominic becomes ill, John’s world begins to topple. A warm story about the importance of friendship.

Sally’s Recommended Grade Levels: Year 4- Adult, but these suggestions focus on Year 6.

Themes/Topics:

  • Friendship
  • Belonging
  • Childhood Illness
  • Family
  • Empathy and Compassion
  • Poetry
  • School

Publisher teaching notes available HERE.

Curriculum Links:

Year 6 English

  1. Make connections between students’ own experiences and those of characters and events represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1630)
  2. Analyse and evaluate similarities and differences in texts on similar topics, themes or plots (ACELT 1614)
    • Before reading: set up individual journals OR a special section is students’ writing journals. During reading: after reading each section, have students write about their responses to the story so far. Although you could provide questions for guidance, if possible allow students to write about any aspect of the story that appeals to them. After each writing session, allow time for group/class discussion, encouraging links to students’ own experiences.
    • Ask students to identify other books which deal with childhood illness from their previous reading, OR have a wide range of these available in the classroom. There is a list HERE you could use a starting point. In groups, have students brainstorm similarities and differences between Toppling and the books they have read. This could work either with each group working on a different book, or with each group allocated a book, or with reference to a book previously read as a class book. Students to then prepare a report back to the class, explaining similarities and differences.
    • Focus on hobbies. Toppling deals with some difficult topics. Some work on the lighter aspects of the book can help alleviate this and offer varied activities. Discuss John’s toppling hobby, view big topples on Youtube and, if possible, have dominoes available the classroom for either free time or for science and mathematics activities. Have students talk about their own hobbies- especially non-digital ones. Students can prepare mini-presentations which explain their hobby, or an unusual hobby they have learnt about.

http://t.dgm-au.com/c/328195/69171/1880?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.booktopia.com.au%2Ftoppling-sally-murphy%2Fprod9780763659219.html

  1. Identify, describe, and discuss similarities and differences between texts, including those by the same authoror illustrator, and evaluate characteristics that define an author’s individual style (ACELT1616)
  2. Analyse how textstructures and language features work together to meet the purpose of a text (ACELY1711)
  3. Analyse strategies authors use to influence readers (ACELY1801)
  4. Understand how authors often innovate on text structures and play with language features to achieve particular aesthetic, humorous and persuasive purposes and effects (ACELA1518)
  • During reading introduce students to the terms ‘free verse’ and ‘verse novel’. After reading use groups to establish similarities and differences between verse novels and prose novels. Discuss findings.
  • After reading, revisit and analyse key scenes: p. 9 (opening page), pp 43-46 and pp 15-17 contrasted with p.62-63. Have students focus on which techniques are used in these scenes which might be poetic rather than narrative techniques, and how these techniques influence our connection and reaction to the events. Report or journal writing: how has Sally Murphy used poetry to explore the difficult topic of childhood cancer?
  • A term unit could encapsulate reading of one or both of my other two verse novels, Roses are Blue and Pearl Verses the World, allowing time for examination of similarities and differences between the three books via group work, or class boards. A verbal or digital presentation examining Sally Murphy’s Individual Style could meet other learning outcomes in multiliteracies, technology or speaking.
  1. Identify the relationship between words, sounds, imageryand language patterns in narratives and poetry such as ballads, limericks and free verse (ACELT1617)
  2. Createliterary texts that adapt or combine aspects of texts students have experienced in innovative ways (ACET1618)
  3. Experiment with textstructures and language features and their effects in creating literary texts, for example, using imagery, sentence variation, metaphor and word choice (ACELT1800)
  4. Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with textstructures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1714)
  • During or after reading revise or introduce devices including simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, repetition, tricolon. Use examples from the book, or have students identify them in the book. Experiment with each form either in journals or on worksheets or display boards. If you have space on your pin up boards, have places where students can write examples of each device on strips of paper or sticky notes and build up a bank of examples.
  • Examine the elements of free verse poetry (this link here is a simple starting point). Write lots of poems: there are many great lesson ideas on this site, from Australian poets.
  • After reading and examining author style, have students experiment with writing about their own lives in free verse. Draw on journal writing tasks completed during reading. Structure this activity by allowing time for discussion ingroups of possible topics, experimenting with how to tell veracious parts using poetic devices, then drafting and revising poems.
  • Have students write poems mimicking my style to tell a key event from the point of view of another character: Tess, Dominic, Mum, Miss Timms etc. Produce a class collection entitled Toppling: The Untold Story.

 

Other suggestions for using Toppling in your classroom include:

  • Toppling can be used as a springboard to building empathy, and to understand differences between sympathy and empathy, outside of the literacy classroom.
  • Show students the cover and blurb for the UK edition of the book, which is titled John and Dom, and the US, still titled Toppling but with some cover differences. Explain that the story inside is the same: itis only the cover that has changed. Discuss students’ preferences. Have them design a new cover for the book, or a different cover for another book they have read.
  • Email the author (that’s me!) Your students can write to me through this website, and share their responses or ask questions.

Related Books (these are all verse novels)

Mostly, I’d love to remind you that while I love to see my books used in classrooms, I also love to see kids just enjoying them. Reading a book should be pleasurable – whether it’s being used in the classroom or not.  So allow your students to enjoy reading Toppling.

If you find this useful, or have any suggestions or comments, do leave a comment. And, if there is a particular book or year level or topic that you would like covered in a future edition of Teacher Tuesday, let me know.

Teacher Tuesday: Using Pearl Verses the World in a Year Five Classroom

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Welcome to the fifth edition of Teacher Tuesday, where I match one of my books to a year level, and offer some activities for sharing the book in the classroom. In previous weeks I shared activities for Looking Up, Do Not Forget Australia, Snowy’s Christmas and The Floatingest Frog.

This week, per a request from a year 5 teacher, I am focusing on my verse novel, Pearl Verses the World.

Using Pearl Verses the World in a Year Five Classroom

Pearl Verses the WorldPearl Verses the World, by Sally Murphy, illustrations by Heather Potter

Published by Walker Books, 2009
ISBN: 9781921150937 (Paperback)
Format 80 page Paperback, RRP $14.95

US and UK Editions also available.

Blurb: At school, Pearl feels as though she is in a group of one. Her teacher wants her to write poems that rhyme but Pearl’s poems don’t. At home, however, Pearl feels safe and loved, but her grandmother is slowly fading, and so are Mum and Pearl.

Sally’s Recommended Grade Levels: Year 2- Adult, but these suggestions focus on Year 5.

Themes/Topics:

  • Belonging
  • Family
  • Aging/Dementia
  • Death
  • Empathy and Compassion
  • Poetry
  • School

Publisher teaching notes available HERE.

More wonderful teaching ideas HERE.

Curriculum Links:

Year 5 English

The following ideas can be used separately, choosing just those which fit your classroom needs. However, this unit offers an opportunity for regular journal writing activities. As such, setting up a special writing book (or section of an existing daily writing book) for each child before reading begins, and then using it throughout reading could add an extra dimension to a novel study.

  1. Understand how texts vary in purpose, structure and topic as well as the degree of formality (ACELA1504)
  2. Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students’ own experiences and present and justify a point of view (ACELY 1699)

Before reading:

  • Journal writing. In the days/weeks before introducing the book, have students write on one or more of the following questions: What kinds of books do you like to read? Do you like reading poetry? What does it mean to be lonely? After each journal writing activity, provide opportunities for sharing in groups or in class discussion.
  • Show students the cover of the book. Discuss reactions to the title, the front cover illustrations and the blurb. The blurb includes the word ‘poignant’. Discuss what this might mean. Journal writing:  Make a prediction. What do you think Pearl Verses the World might be about?

During Reading

  • Read pages 7 to 11, finishing with “Which made her poor teacher go hurl.” Discuss what has happened so far. Why is Pearl lonely? How does she feel about poetry? Does poetry have to rhyme? The last five lines are a limerick. Discuss whether that part rhymes. Who is speaking/writing the limerick?
  • Journal writing: Pearl is in a group of one. Do you belong to any groups at school? Do you think your own class has groups?
  • Read pages 11 to 17. Recap events. Discuss the revelations about what is happening at home. Focus on what we now know about Pearl’s life. Encourage connections to children’s own lives re family structures, illness, loneliness, but also the happy stuff like spinning.
  • Journal Writing: Which part of Pearl’s story so far do your feel reflects your own life? How does that make you feel? Pearl loves spinning. What is your favourite movement: running/jumping/skipping/standing still? Write about that movement and how it makes you feel.
  • Read pages 18 to 26. Recap events. Discuss, again encouraging responses and connections to students’ lives and experiences. Explore Pearl’s relationship with Prudence Jones and with Mitchell Mason. Other areas to highlight in discussion include the swimming and library scenes. Discuss how Pearl feels about poetry. In groups or as a class discuss what makes a poem, building on earlier discussion.
  • Journal writing: Do you like poetry/ Why/why not? What kinds of poetry?  What makes a good book? Write about your favourite book.
  • Read pages 27 to 35. These are some difficult pages so, before reading, have students ready their journals and writing materials. Tell them that, after you have read the pages you want them to write their responses in their journals FIRST and then discuss them after. After reading the pages, repeat the instruction. Give time to write about how they feel about what is happening to Granny, Pearl and Mum. After writing, group of class discussion about what has happened.
  • Repeat this process for pages 37 -50, 51-64 and 65 to 73.
  • Read pages 74 to 74. Discuss ending. Discuss: Is this a happy ending, or not? Could it have ended differently? How did students feel about the ending?
  • Journal writing: Do stories need to have happy endings? Why/Why not.  Write a new scene, either changing the ending, or showing a scene in Pearl’s life a month/year after the story ends.
  1. Present a point of viewabout particular literary texts using appropriate metalanguage, and reflecting on the viewpoints of others(ACELT1609)
  2. Use metalanguageto describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features on particular audience (ACELT 1795)
  3. Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations for defined audiences and purposes incorporating accurate and sequenced content and multimodal elements (ACELY1700)
  • During reading introduce students to the terms ‘free verse’ and ‘verse novel’. After reading use groups to establish similarities and differences between verse novels and prose novels.
  • In groups, students to decide which form they prefer and prepare a presentation to class explaining why.
  • As a follow up, brainstorm arguments from both sides.(In my ideal world, class would arrive at the realisation that one form is not better than another, but offer different strengths). Discuss whether pearl verses the World might have been as effective written in prose.
  • Journal writing: Rewrite a scene in prose. Write a book review of Pearl verses the World.
  1. Understand, interpret and experiment with sound devicesand imagery, including simile, metaphor and personification, in narratives, shape poetry, songs, anthems and odes (ACELT1611)
  2. Createliterary texts that experiment with structures, ideas and stylistic features of selected authors (ACELT1798)
  3. Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing textstructures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY 1704)
  • Either during reading or after, examine the limerick on p. 11, and limericks from other sources. Us a worksheet like this one HERE  to establish how limericks work. Focus on rhyme patterns, rhythm patterns and content before having students create limericks of their own.
  • During or after reading revise or introduce devices including simile, metaphor, personification, onomatopoeia, repetition, tricolon. Use examples from the book, or have students identify them in the book. Experiment with ach form either in journals or on worksheets or display boards. If you have space on yoru pin up boards, have places where students can write examples of each device on strips of paper or stickynotes and build up a bank of examples.
  • Examine the elements of free verse poetry (this link here is a simple starting point). Write lots of poems: there are many great lesson ideas on this site, from Australian poets.
  • Have students create a class poetry book OR individual chapbooks

    Other suggestions for using Pearl verses the world in your classroom include:

  • Pearl Verses the World can be used as a springboard to building empathy, and to understand differences between sympathy and empathy, outside of the literacy classroom.
  • Pearl Verses the World is wonderful for reading aloud. Use an extract in the drama classroom for students to memorise and perform.
  • Email the author (that’s me!) Your students can write to me through this website, and share their responses or ask questions.

Related Books (these are all verse novels)

Mostly, I’d love to remind you that while I love to see my books used in classrooms, I also love to see kids just enjoying them. Reading a book should be pleasurable – whether it’s being used in the classroom or not.  So allow your students to enjoy reading Pearl Verses the World.

If you find this useful, or have any suggestions or comments, do leave a comment. And, if there is a particular book or year level or topic that you would like covered in a future edition of Teacher Tuesday, let me know.

sallymurphy.com.au