Recently we had a visitor from Australia who led a writing session about Australian animals.

In July we welcomed Teacher Debbie who brought with her some Australian animal toys and books. She read books about wombats, koalas and kangaroos. Our favourite was 'Koala Lou', about a koala who loves her mother very much.

Teacher Debbie reading 'Koala Lou' with the junior students.

Teacher Debbie reading 'Kangaroo Island' with the senior students.

After reading about Australian animals we each got an toy wombat, koala or kangaroo to keep. We learned about what each animal looks like, eats and how they move. We played a game called 'Wombat, Koala, Kangaroo'. When we heard the animal name we had to do an action to match the animal. For wombats we would dig, for koalas we slept and for kangaroos we hopped.

Then we had to write about the animal that we had been given. First, we brainstormed some words that we might use. Teacher Debbie wrote the words on the board so that we could use them in our writing.

After we finished writing we had time to share our work. It made us really happy to share what we had written with the class. We were proud of the work we had done and excited to take the animals home to show our parents.

Salama R (Standard 4) and Miriam (Standard 3) sharing their writing

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Beatrice (Standard 1) and Laura (Prep) with their toy animals

Global Classroom Questions:

1. What are some animals you have in your country?

2. List some verbs that tell what animals do. (E.g. roar, dig and hop)

3. What is your favourite animal? Why?

4. Write about an animal that you like.

5. Find a copy of Koala Lou in your library. Write a review of it. Is it a good book? Why or why not?