Unit 1: Turtles and Wombats
The LittleyTurtle
by Vachel Lin dsa
turtle.
le
t
t
li
a
s
a
w
re
e
Th
.
He live d in a box
ddle.
He swam in a pu
e rocks.
He climbe d on th
mosquito.
a
t
a
d
e
p
p
a
n
s
e
H
flea.
He snappe d at a
minnow.
a
t
a
d
e
p
p
a
n
s
e
H
e.
He snappe d at m
osquito.
m
e
h
t
t
h
g
u
a
c
e
H
ea.
He caught the fl
innow.
He caught the m
ch me!
But he didn’t cat
2
Weary Will
by A. B. “Banjo” Paterson
The strongest creature for his size
But least equipped for combat
That dwells beneath Australian skies
Is Weary Will the Wombat.
He digs his homestead underground,
He’s neither shrewd nor clever
For kangaroos can leap and bound
But wombats dig forever.
3
In the texts
1 Read the poem on page 2.
a What is the title? ___________________________________________________________
b Who wrote the poem? _____________________________________________________
c What is the poem about? Tick your answer.
a mosquito
a flea
a turtle
2 Look at the photograph of the boy and the turtle.
How do you think the boy feels about the turtle?
_________________________________________________________________________________
3 Read the poem on page 3.
a What is the title? ___________________________________________________________
b Who wrote the poem? _____________________________________________________
c Who is the poem about? Tick your answer.
Banjo
a wombat
a kangaroo
d Is the wombat equipped for combat? Write yes or no. __________________
e What makes a wombat good at digging?
_______________________________________________________________________________
4 Complete the table.
4
The Little Turtle Is it a rhyming poem?
How many lines are there?
How many stanzas are there?
Is the first letter of each line a capital?
Weary Will
5 Choose one of the poems and practise reading it aloud.
The poem I have chosen is: ___________________________________________________
a Ask a partner to listen to you read the poem. Done
b Clap the beat of the poem with your hands. Done
c Tell your partner how the poem makes you feel. Done
Read and learn
1 Read the poems again and listen for the words that rhyme.
a What parts of words tell you if they rhyme? Circle your answer.
beginning
middle
end
b Find the words that rhyme with these words in The Little Turtle.
box __________________ mosquito __________________ me __________________
c Draw lines to match the words that rhyme in Weary Will.
size
wombat
clever
bound
underground skies
combat
forever
d Circle the rhyming parts of the words in part c.
Done
2 Turn to the dictionary on page xi and find out what a verb is.
a A verb is ____________________________________________________________________
b Write all the verbs from The Little Turtle.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
c Circle the verbs in Weary Will.
Done
5
3 Draw a picture of the turtle. What can a turtle do? Write verbs around
your picture.
eat
_____________________________
_____________________________
swim
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
sleep
_____________________________
_____________________________
dive
_____________________________
4 Tick a box to show what each word means.
a minnow:
rabbit
fish
fly
turtle
b weary:
excited
happy
tired
sad
c combat:
playing
digging
leaping
fighting
d shrewd:
smart
silly
fast
fat
e dwell:
dig
live
sleep
fly
5 Complete the table.
6
punctuation name
Is it used in mark
The Little Turtle? Weary Will?
comma
no
,
.
“ ”
!
?
’
Is it used in
yes
Your turn
1 Make up some poem titles. The adjective, the
Poetry shows feelings and
thoughts about people, things
and experiences. It works
through our emotions and
imaginations. It may also rhyme.
Poetry uses:
• rhythm
• stanzas
• different text types, such as
recount and description.
name and the animal start with the same letter.
adjective
name
the
animal
Weary
Will the
Wombat
2 Draw one of the animals from your poem titles, and write words to
describe it around the outside.
_____________________________
______________________________
_____________________________
______________________________
_____________________________
______________________________
_____________________________
______________________________
_____________________________
______________________________
3 Write a rhyming poem about the animal.
Title: ___________________________________________________________________________
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___
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Adjectives
An adjective is a describing word.
It describes the colour, size, number or feel of something.
Examples: orange eyes, huge beak, two legs, soft feathers,
skinny neck, wobbly knees
1 Draw a picture of yourself. Write some adjectives to describe yourself.
___________________ hair
___________________ eyes
___________________ nose
___________________ mouth
___________________ fingers
___________________ legs
___________________ knees
2 Draw a picture of Weary Will the Wombat.
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Write some adjectives to describe him.
___________________ nose
___________________ ears
___________________ eyes
___________________ fur
___________________ body
___________________ legs
___________________ claws
3 Circle the adjectives.
a There was a little turtle.
b The green turtle swam in the muddy lake.
c I held the slimy turtle.
d Weary Will
e The huge wombat went into the underground burrow.
f The strongest creature for his size
4 Write an adjective to describe these nouns from The Little Turtle.
a ______________________ box
b ______________________ puddle
c ______________________ rocks
d ______________________ mosquito
e ______________________ flea
f ______________________ minnow
5 You can use more than one adjective to describe a noun.
Example: Wombats have strong, sharp claws for digging.
Write two adjectives for each noun.
a She put the turtle in a __________________ , __________________ lake.
b Turtles have a __________________ , __________________ shell.
c Wombats dig __________________ , __________________ burrows.
d I saw a __________________ , __________________ wombat.
6 Read your sentences from question 5 aloud to a classmate.
Check that they make sense.
Done
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