Drawing of the Kabool by Oodgeroo Noonuccal, from Historic North Stradbroke Island (1994, p11).
Topic: Exploring Ballad of the Totems by Oodgeroo Noonuccal; an enhanced poetry e-book
Platform: CANVA
Rationale: The intended purpose of this task is to create an enhanced poetry e-book, to support the Years 5-6 English curriculum topic of Poetry, while also embedding the cross-curriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures. While Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s humorous poem isn’t currently included as an example of poetry to be explored in curriculum documents, I hope that educators and schools could be persuaded to share this great example of a local ballad. The latest version of the English curriculum (v9), emphasizes texts written by First Nations Australians, and literature which explores characters and concepts in ballads from different times, by a variety of Australian authors (ACARA, 2022).
I intend to create an enhanced poetry e-book, which would include an audio recording of the poem (narrated alongside the text), information about the text structure of ballads, poetry analysis, and hyperlinks to information about Oodgeroo and her Quandamooka culture and country (Minjerribah/Stradbroke Island). I’d like to include Jandai language, as well as information/links about Indigenous Australian totems – specifically the carpet snake/Kabool. The use of hyperlinks for poetry analysis, definitions and vocab building, would be embedded on pages separate to the poem, so as not to interfere with the comprehension of the ballad, nor overload students’ cognitive resources (Furenes et al., 2021, p.507). The Quandamooka region (Stradbroke & Moreton Islands) is a familiar holiday location for many Brisbane families, so Oodgeroo’s work, life, and culture has local relevance for my school community.
Canva is free for educators, is user friendly, and has a range of relevant features for multimodal presentations. As well as quality images and graphics, multiple audio tracks can now be inserted into one presentation. I’d like to include a comments tab to encourage online student discussion about the poem, but I’m not sure if this is something I can do with Canva.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2022). English. Australian Curriculum. https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/learning-areas/english/year-5_year-6?view=quick&detailed-content-descriptions=0&hide-ccp=0&hide-gc=0&side-by-side=1&strands-start-index=0&subjects-start-index=0
Furenes, M. I., Kucirkova, N., & Bus, A. G. (2021). A Comparison of Children’s Reading on Paper Versus Screen: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 91(4), 483–517. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654321998074
Carter, P., Durbidge, E., Cooke-Bramley, J. (Eds.). (1994). Historic North Stradbroke Island. North Stradbroke Island Historical Museum Association Inc.
