Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge

Written by Mem Fox Illustrated by Julie Vivas

This is a beautiful story about a little boy who lives next door to a nursing home, who tries his best to help Miss Nancy find her memory. He asks all the other residents of the nursing home what a memory is and then collects different items from around his home to help Miss Nancy remember her past.

Teaching PointsMake a list of all the things you would put in a box Have children make their own memory box Organise an excursion or regular program to spend time with residents in a nursing home Write a class book about children's favourite memories Have children write what memory each object Wilfred collects would make them think of Make a puppet like the ones in the story Brainstorm what makes a good friend These are the few that I have come up with, however there are many more ideas online.

Introducing Names - Paper craft

I first made these when I was teaching in Japan and the kids loved to see 'themselves' up on the wall. 

It is very easy and you only need paper and string.

You need an A5 piece of paper to make a folded fan.

Fold the paper in half and staple, to keep both sides of the fans together. Children then draw their own face and cut out. You may want to use a photo instead.

Use sticky tape to attach this to the back of the fan.

Write their names or have them write their name.

Attach both the fan and the name tag to a string.

Tiddalick: The Frog who caused a flood

I read the Aboriginal story Tiddalick and then asked the children to draw what they would do to make him laugh. 

If you don't know the story, Tiddalick is a frog who was so thirsty he drank and drank until the billabong was dry. There was no water left for the other animals, so they all tried to make him laugh so when he opened his mouth, the water would come pouring out.