Page
LESSON
INTRODUCTION
Copybook
4
1
Little Tommy Tadpole by C J Dennis
15
One
2
Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree by M Sinclair
16
One
3
Bound for Botany Bay
17
One
4
The Wonderland of Nature by Nuri Mass
18
One
5
Australian Legendary Tales by K Langloh-Parker
19
One
6
Click go the Shears
20
One
7
Spotty the Bower Bird by E S Sorenson
21
One
8
Farmer Shultz’s Ducks by Colin Thiele
22
One
9
Tiger in the Bush by Nan Chauncy
23
Two
10
A Book for Kids by C J Dennis
24
Two
11
Our Sunburnt Country by A Baillie
25
Two
12
James Ruse by Watkin Tench
26
Two
13
Six Little New Zealanders by Esther Glen
28
Two
14
A Bush Calendar by Amy Mack
29
Two
15
The Silver Brumby by E Mitchell
30
Two
16
King’s Narrative of the Burke and Wills Exploring Expedition
31
Two
17
The Wonderland of Nature by Nuri Mass
32
Two
18
Crowns of Fire
33
Two
19
Advance Australia Fair by Peter Dodds McCormick
34
Three
20
The Singing Wire by Eve Pownall
35
Three
21
Following the Equator by Mark Twain
36
Three
22
A Letter from Strzelecki
37
Three
23
Shearing at Castlereagh by Banjo Patterson.
38
Three
24
Naturecraft in Australia by Thistle Harris
40
Three
25
Valley of Heavenly Gold by Eve Sutton
41
Three
26
A Mothers Offering to her Children by Charlotte Barton
42
Three
27
Flynn of the Inland by Ion Idriess
44
Three
28
Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner
45
Three
29
Captain Cook’s Journal During the First Voyage
45
Three
30 & 31
Bligh’s Narrative of the Mutiny on Board H.M. Ship Bounty Part One and Two
47
Three
32
Old New Zealand: A Tale of the Good Old Times by A Pakeha Maori
49
Three
Appendix I Spelling Rules
50
Appendix II – Grammar and Literary Terms check List
52
Appendix III – Charlotte Mason Grammar Lessons
56
Appendix IV – Text types
60
Appendix V—Punctuation usage
62
Appendix VI—Lesson Planner and Word Study Chart
65
References
66
INTRODUCTION
Downunder Passages is a complementary resource to the Downunder Copy Work series. The
goal of this book is to teach you how to apply the useful method of dictation based on the
teachings of Ruth Beechick and Charlotte Mason. It also gives suggestions to help you
extend this resource to cover other areas of language arts study. The dictation lessons are all
based on the quotes used in the Downunder Copy Work series.
Excerpts from whole or ‘living’ books, dating from 1769-2007, have been used. They
include: classic fiction, poetry, songs, biographies, studies of nature and explorers’ journals.
Passages have been carefully selected from a broad range of good Australian and New
Zealand literature. These extracts introduce your student ‘mind to mind’ with the author.
They are educational, encouraging, uplifting and will bring delight to you and your
students.
We hope that, in using this material, you will be introduced to some wonderful books
and writings of which you were previously unaware. At times the extracts have stopped in
places that will leave your student ‘hungry for more’. If they want to read the whole book,
encourage them. Most of these books you should be able to find second hand or in a library.
Some are out of print, but with a little hunting you can find them. We did!
Many of the included works highlight what was happening in the era in which they
were written. For this reason, some of the literature may well be ‘politically incorrect’ by
today’s standards, but at the time of writing it was not. Please use anything that is
‘politically incorrect’ as an opportunity to teach your student about the culture of the times.
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DICTATION
Well-chosen passages expose children to good literature and a variety of writing styles
that help them recognise and use well-structured sentences, good grammar and correct
punctuation.
The dictation method that Charlotte Mason suggests is not what most of us would
remember from school. A great emphasis is placed on preparing the dictation passage
before they are required to write it. This can be done using copy work, word study and
careful examination of the piece to be written (more on this later). The goal is to get it right
the first time.
Charlotte Mason and Ruth Beechick suggest starting dictation during the primary
education years. To include children younger than this just use the passages for copy work,
and the Springboards for Further Study section. Most of the ideas can be modified to suit
multiple ages without too much trouble. The ideas and checklists are based on primary age
skills and competencies.
There are 32 dictation lessons. The passages can be quite lengthy, so individualise the
dictation for each student depending on their abilities. At first, just one line may be enough.
You can work on the same dictation lesson over several days. As they improve you can
increase the amount of dictation required in one sitting. Start simply, giving all the help
needed to get the extract correct and gradually give less prompts.
Presentation of the work is important. Instruct the student on using a margin,
indentation of paragraphs and a title for the work. Encourage the student to use self editing
skills and proofread their work. If they see something wrong allow them to correct it (using
an eraser or liquid paper) prior to handing it over for marking. Storage of the dictation can
be in a notebook, folder or book. A well presented work will make them proud of their
achievements.
Mark their dictation on the spot whenever possible, getting them to erase the mistake
and write the correction over it. This is a very important phase for imprinting the correct
image in your student’s mind. Resist the temptation to scribble in the corrections. We want
the students to be proud of their work. I use three indicators for marking: presentation,
spelling and accuracy. I take a half point off for each mistake and give an overall mark.
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SPELLING AND WORD STUDY
Knowing how to spell is essential in getting a dictation passage correct and
dictation is a useful aid for teaching correct spelling.
When you and your students are preparing a dictation passage, have the student
look for words that they may find difficult and have them do a word study. This can
involve: carefully copying out the word; visualizing the word in their mind with their eyes
closed; practice writing the words (make sure they are practising the correct spelling).
After the word or words have been identified, allow time for the student to learn
the spelling. When the student feels confident that they can spell the word correctly, begin
the dictation. Look at your student’s dictation and see where the errors are. From this you
can make individualised spelling lists. You may also wish to introduce some spelling rules
to help them with the word (see Appendix I).
Remember to correct misspelt words as soon as possible so that you don’t risk the
student memorising the incorrect spelling.
‘The gift of spelling depends upon the power the eye possesses to “take” (in a photographic
sense) a detailed picture of a word; and this is a power and habit which must be cultivated in children
from the first. When they have read “cat”, they must be encouraged to see the word with their eyes
shut, and the same habit will enable them to image “Thermopylae”. This picturing of words upon the
retina appears to be to be the only royal road to spelling; an error once made and corrected leads to
fearful doubt for the rest of one's life, as to which was the wrong way and which is the right. Most of
us are haunted by some doubt as to whether “balance”, for instance, should have one “l” or two; and
the doubt is born of a correction. Once the eye sees a misspelt word, that image remains; and if there
is also the image of the word rightly spelt, we are perplexed as to which is which. Now we see why
there could not be a more ingenious way of making bad spellers than “dictation” as it is commonly
taught. Every misspelt word is in image in the child's brain not to be obliterated by the right spelling.
It becomes, therefore, the teacher's business to prevent false spelling, and, if an error has been made,
to hide it away, as it were, so that the impression may not become fixed.’ Charlotte Mason. Home
Education.
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Lesson Three
Bound for Botany Bay
Who is this song about? Do you know it?
Where are they going? What period of
Australian history is this song about?
What is the lesson they have for you?
Author Unknown
Farewell to old England forever,
Farewell to my old pals as well.
Listen to the rhythm. Can you find the
rhyming words?
Pretend you are an editor and proofread
this song for mistakes., or samples of nonstandard English.
Farewell to the well-known Old Bailey,
Where I used to cut such a swell.
There’s the captain who is our commander.
There’s the bo’sun and all the ship’s crew,
There’s the first and the second class passengers,
Knows what we poor convicts goes through.
Taint leaving old England we cares about,
‘Taint cos we misspelt what we knows.
But because we all light-fingered gentry
Hops round with a log on our toes.
Now, all my young Dookies and Duchesses,
Take warning from what I’ve to say—
Mind all is your own as you toucheses,
Or you’ll meet us in Botany Bay.
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Downunder Dictation and Teachers Guide by M Morrow © 2007
Lesson Twelve
James Ruse
Watkin Tench from A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson ©1793
‘My land I prepared thus,’ he told Captain Tench. ‘Having
burnt the fallen timber off the ground, I dug in the ashes,
then hoed it up, never doing more than eight or perhaps nine
rods in a day, by which means, it was not like the government
farm, just scratched over, but properly done—then I clod
moulded it and dug. I then let it lie as long as I could, exposed
to air and sun and just before I sowed my seed, turned it up
afresh. When I shall have reaped my crop, I purpose to hoe it
again, and harrow it fine, and then sow it with turnip-seed,
which will mellow and prepare it for next year.’
Can you split the compound sentences into simple
sentences?
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Lesson Twenty-Nine
Captain Cook’s Journal (1769)
James Cook (1728-1779) Captain Cook’s Journal During The first Voyage ©1893
Tuesday 15th August 1769: The farthest Island to the
Southward that Tupia hath been at, or knows anything of, lies
but 2 days’ Sail from Ohetiroa, and is called Moutou, but he
says that his father once told him that there were Islands to
the Southward of it; but we cannot find that he either knows
or ever heard of a Continent or large Track of Land. I have no
reason to doubt Tupia’s information of these Islands.
Saturday 7th October: Gentle breezes and settled weather. At
2p.m. saw land*. From the Masthead bearing West by North,
which we stood directly for, and could but just see it off the
deck at sunset.
Monday 9th October: Gentle breezes and clear water. P.M.
stood into the Bay and anchored on the North-East side
before the entrance of a small river.
Tupia spoke to them in his own language, and it was an
agreeable surprise to us to find they perfectly understood him.
After some little conversation had passed one of them swam
over to us, and after him 20 or 30 more; these last brought
their Arms, which the first man did not. We made them every
one presents, but this did not satisfy them; they wanted
everything we had about us, particularly our Arms, and made
several attempts to snatch them out of our hands.
*The North Island of New Zealand).
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APPENDIX I
Spelling Rules
You will need to teach the following vocabulary to your students so that they can
understand spelling rules:

Vowels

Consonants

Suffix

Syllable
Basic Spelling Rules.
1. ‘I’ before ‘E’ except after ‘C’.

Write i before e, except after c or when sounding like ‘a’ as in neighbour or
weigh.
Exceptions to the rule have to be learnt: either, neither, caffeine, codeine, counterfeit, foreign, forfeit, height, heir, leisure, weird, seize, and seizure, their .
2. ‘s’ or ‘es’

Add es if a word ends in ch, sh, ss, x or z.
march — marches, ash — ashes, bless — blesses, fox — foxes,

Add es for most words that end in o.
tomato — tomatoes, hero — heroes, go — goes, do — does, echo — echoes
3. Change ‘y’ to an ‘i’ before adding an ending

For words ending in y preceded by a vowel, retain the y when adding ‘s’ or a
suffix.
monkey — monkeys, donkey — donkeys

For words ending in y, retain the y when adding ‘ing’.
try — trying, justify — justifying, certify — certifying, mystify — mystifying

For words ending in y, preceded by a consonant, change the y to i before any
other suffix
cry — cried, multiply — multiplies, fly — flies.
EXCEPTIONS: Words such as dryness and slyness,
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APPENDIX II
GRAMMAR & LITERARY TERMS CHECKLIST
The Parts of Speech
Nouns
What is a noun?
Define the different types of nouns
Common
Proper
Collective
Abstract
What is a plural or singular noun?
What do we mean by ‘gender of nouns’?
Pronouns
What is a pronoun?
What is a personal pronoun?
What is a relative pronoun?
What is an interrogative pronoun?
What is a demonstrative pronoun?
Verbs
What is a verb?
What must every sentence have?
What is a finite verb?
Verbs and their subjects.
Verbs and their objects.
What are direct/indirect objects?
Tense and verbs.
Can you change the tense of a piece
of writing?
What are regular verbs?
Name some regular verbs? Are there
any in your copywork piece?
What are irregular verbs?
Name some irregular verbs? Are
there any in your copywork piece?
Auxiliary verbs (helping verbs).
Underline all the verbs including the
helping verbs like 'was' and 'had'.
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APPENDIX IV
TEXT TYPES DEFINITIONS
AND EXAMPLES
EXPOSITION or PERSUASION:
Purpose: To put forward an argument or particular point of view.
Structure: Point of view is stated, justifications of arguments in a logical order, summing up
of argument. Example: Lesson 30.
DISCUSSION
Purpose: To present the information and opinions about more than one side of an issue.
Structure: Opening statement presenting the information. Arguments or evidence for the
different points of view. Concluding recommendations. Example: Lesson 31
REPORT
Purpose: To present factual information about a class of things, usually by classifying them
and then describing their characteristics.
Structure: Opening definition or classification. Sequence of related statements about topics.
Concluding statement.
PROCEDURE
Purpose: To show how something is accomplished through a series of steps.
Structure: Opening statement of goal or aim. Materials required listed in order of use.
Series of steps listed in chronological order.
EXPLANATION
Purpose: To explain how or why things are as they are, or how things work.
Structure: A general statement; a series of events in chronological order; concluding statement. Examples: Lesson 4 and 12
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APPENDIX V
COMMON PUNCTATION RULES
The following list gives some general usage using the open style of punctuation. For a more
comprehensive list consult an Australian style manual or punctuation resource.
CAPITAL LETTERS

Capital letters must be used at the beginning of proper nouns.

Start a sentence with a capital.

‘I’ is always capitalised.

Start direct speech with a capital.

Capitalise the first letter in the main words in a book title, film, play etc.

Capitalise days of the weeks, months or holidays.
FULL STOPS

Every sentence must end with either a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

Most abbreviations are followed by a full stop, except when the last letter of the word is at
the end of the abbreviation.
QUESTION MARK

Use a question mark at the end of a question.
EXCLAMATION MARK

This is used at the end of a sentence or exclamation when you want to convey strong emotion.

This punctuation mark should not be used too often and only use one exclamation mark
at a time.
COMMA

Commas are separation marks and they are used to indicate a short break in a sentence.
The current accepted style is to use them as little as possible and only when they are
needed to help the reader understand the meaning more clearly.

Sometimes the use of the comma is optional; you can decide whether or not it is needed.

A comma should be placed in a sentence when a slight pause is indicated.

Use a comma before direct speech.

Use a comma to separate items in a list or series of names. A comma is usually omitted
before ‘and’.
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