Unit 1: Lesson 1

Read Aloud Chapter 1 The Great Southern Land
Have books on Aboriginal history/culture available to read aloud
or assign to your child for independent reading for this unit. See
Book List in the appendix.
A. Vocabulary
Fauna is animal life.
Flora is plant life.
Draw or paste pictures of Australian flora and fauna in the boxes below.
You can use Janette’s Pictures of Australian History (p. 1 & 2) if you
have them.
Fauna
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
Flora
Dictionary Work ~ Alphabetical Order
Write the alphabet down the following page and place these words next
to the letter they begin with. The words will then be listed in alphabetical
order.
spinifex, dyke, plateau, grotto, basin, perpetual
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Words in the dictionary are listed in alphabetical order. If you know
your alphabet, then you can find the above words in the dictionary. The
first one listed is basin. Go to the section for words beginning with b.
Go down the list until you find the words beginning with bas and keep
looking until you find it. Be careful not to go too fast and miss the
word. Read the meaning out loud or have your parent read it to you.
Do the same with all the other words in the list.
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
N ARRATION
9T
Who made the Great Southern Land? Can you describe any of the
kinds of dinosaurs living in Australia in ancient times?
Name some of the fauna unique to Australia. Do you know what a
marsupial is?
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
UNIT 1: LESSON 2
Dictionary Work
Place these words in alphabetical order: platypus, koala, Tasmanian
Tiger, crocodile, volcano, desert, eucalyptus.
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Putting words in alphabetical order is easy when every word starts with
a different letter, but what do you do when you have more words all
beginning with the same letter? In this case you need to look at the
second letter. These words are in alphabetical order:
baby, better, bone, bristle, butter
Place these groups of words in alphabetical order by looking at the
second letter in each.
Australia, aboriginal, artist, author, Adelaide
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cove, celebration, chief, captain, carved
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If the words start with two letters the same then you need to look at
the third letter and so on. Place these words in alphabetical order.
settle, sea, sent, September, second
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Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
MAP WORK
1. Mark north, south, east and west around the map.
2. Looking at the map in Our Australian Story and mark these
areas on the map: Eastern Highhlands, Great Western Plateau,
Central Lowlands, Torres Strait, Great Australian Bight.
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
Unit 1: LESSO N 3
POETRY ~ COPYWORK
9T
Every line of a poem begins with a capital letter.
Whenever a new line of poetry begins, you must start it on a
new line.
My Country
by Dorothea Mackellar
The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies –
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.
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Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
 Read
Aloud Chapter 2 Australians First
Indigenous Languages and People Groups
9T
Indigenous languages are languages spoken by the native people of a
particular land. There are many Australian Aboriginal languages spoken
throughout our land.
9T
With your parent’s help study a map of Australian Aboriginal languages,
fi nd the area where your state is and write three indigenous languages
that were spoken there. Begin each with a capital letter.
9t
9T
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Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
UNIT 5: LESSON 52
The Apostrophe
Read and study these sentences:
Captain Cook’s ship was the Sirius.
I picked up my sister’s bonnet.
The table’s legs were wobbly.
What belongs to Captain Cook? What belongs to my sister? What belongs to
the table? When something belongs to someone or something, we add an
apostrophe ’ and s to the noun. The ship belonging to Captain Cook is Captain
Cook’s ship.
Write these phrases using ’s to show ownership. The first one is done for
you.
1. The waters belonging to the Murray River
The Murray River’s waters.
2. The horse belonging to John Oxley
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3. The tail belonging to the kangaroo
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4. The plant collection belonging to Allan Cunningham
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5. The book belonging to mum
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6. The land belonging to John Macarthur
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Place the apostrophe in these phrases to make them show ownership.
1. Marys shop
2. Judahs tribe
3. the aborigines net
4. Captain Logans exploring party
5. dads computer
6. the chairs cushion
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
UNIT 5: LESSON 67
Practice with Quotation Marks
Place quotation marks around the direct quotations. Look back to Lesson 65 if
you need help.
Mum, I found a blue tongue lizard! said Dave. Can I keep him?
Do you know what to feed it? asked mum.
Dave smiled and said, Yes, I know they like bananas and snails.
Alright then, if you can get a nice enclosure for it, you can keep it for a while.
But you have to let it go in a few weeks, said mum.
Dictation - Quotation Marks
Study the following passage and be ready to write it for dictation on a
separate sheet of paper. Take note that each new speaker must begin a new
line.
“What a slow fellow you are!” said a hare to a tortoise.
“Slow as I am, I can beat you,” replied the tortoise.
“Let us race to that big tree,” said the hare.
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
UNIT 5: LESSON 68
 Read Aloud Chapter 53 Georgiana Molloy 1830
Writing Conversation
Write a conversation that Georgiana Molloy and her children might have had
while out collecting seeds and flowers in the bush. Remember to start a new
line for each new speaker. Draw some of the seeds and flowers.
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Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
UNIT 7: LESSON 97
Picture Study
The Pioneer
by
Frederick McCubbin, 1904
What can you see in the first picture? What is the man doing?
Why do you think they are there? What is in the background?
What has happened by the second picture? About how many years have gone
by? How can you tell? Compare the colour of the woman’s dress in the first
two pictures.
What can you see in the background in the second picture?
Tell what is happeing in the last picture. What do you see in the background?
How old is the man in the third picture? Who do you think he is?
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
unit 8: LESSON 134
Who’s Who at the Opening of the
First Parliament of Australia
Draw arrows pointing to three figures and write their names at the end of each.
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
Literature Study
The Little Black Princess

Read Aloud The Little Black Princess by Mrs Aeneas
Gunn Chapter 1 Bett Bett and Chapter 2 Shimmy Shirts
Narration
Tell why Bett Bett was separated from her tribe. What did she do to make
herself safe?
What does ‘piccaninny’ mean? How old was Bett Bett?
What did she do to protect herself from mosquitoes? Did it work?
What did the Missus give to Bett Bett to wear and how does she describe what
Bett Bett looked like?
Why did Bett Bett not want a red dress? Optional: What is ‘superstition’? Explain
the superstition of the Thunder debbil debbil and the colour red.
Did the Missus believe this superstition? What did she think of it?
What did Bett Bett want to do with all her new dresses? What is the Missus’
reason for her wanting to do this?
What is a lubra? What is a bluey?
Describe how Bett Bett made string, and where she got the threads from. Which
did Bett bett think was more useful: shimmy shirts or string?
What did the aboriginals call a bath? Why did they not put soap on their faces?
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016
UNIT 8: LESSON 135
Using Its and It’s
Its is a singular pronoun which shows possession.
e.g. The cat washed its paws.
It’s is a contraction for it is.
e.g. It’s a lovely day.
Circle its or it’s in these sentences to make them correct.
1. (Its, It’s) going to be a long war.
2. The General placed his pen in (its, it’s) holder.
3. “I wonder what (its, it’s) like for the fellows over in France, fighting the
Germans,” wondered Jean.
4. “(Its, It’s) a letter from Bill, mum!” cried Sarah.
5. “(Its, It’s) postmark is dated three months ago,” said mum.
6. The bee flew home to (its, it’s) hive.
7. The First Fleet made (its, it’s) way slowly across the globe to New South Wales.
8. (It’s, Its) a long journey.
9. My bag fell on (it’s, its) side and slid across the floor as the ship rolled on
the waves.
10. (It’s, Its) contents flew across to the other side of the cabin.
Language Lessons from Australian History: Level 1 © Joelle Grubb 2016