When B-Boy comes to stay overnight, Little J becomes envious of the attention he is getting from everyone. Out walking on Country, Nanna, Little J, Big Cuz and B-Boy find an injured joey. Uncle Mick, a Search and Rescue officer, tells them how to care for the joey that they name ‘Hopalong’. The children feed and look after Hopalong until Mick finds him a place in a wildlife shelter.

Explore - Describe ways to include others to make them feel they belong 

Theme - BELONGING

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 7 ‘Hopalong’ as a class, ask students to identify how little J takes on more responsibility for looking after B-Boy and Hopalong.

Ask the class to identify what responsibilities they have at home and at school. If students have older siblings, ask these students to identify what responsibilities their siblings have that are different from their own. If the students have younger siblings, have them identify the responsibilities they have for their younger siblings.

Have students suggest who gave them these responsibilities. Was it their parents/carers, teachers, extended family, etc? How did they learn responsibility?

As a class read and/or listen to the story:

• Kwaymullina, A. & Tobin, L. (2014). The lost girl. Newtown, NSW : Walker Books Australia: (reading)

Discuss the book using prompting questions:

• What actions did the girl take to keep herself safe when lost?
• Who/what does the girl mean when she refers to ‘mother’?
• How did the girl know what to do to survive?
• Do her actions or words show the audience that she was confident to find her way home?
• How do you know that she belongs to the family group she returns to?

Invite students to create their own identity ‘star’. Place an image or drawing of themselves in the centre of the star labelled with their name. On each point of the star (5–12 points), students add the name of a person or group of people who are responsible for them, and who teach them.

This template could be adapted for the activity:

• Star worksheet 

Ask students to list the skills they have learned from these people, e.g. mother – cooking; father – mowing the lawn; sister – dancing, etc. Once they have completed a star for themselves, ask students to select a character from Little J & Big Cuz, and design a similar star for the character.

**Teacher to note:  Use of the term family may be problematic for some Aboriginal families and/or Torres Strait Islander families, as communities don’t really differentiate between close and extended families. Children in kinship/care arrangements will still have these layers but they will be called something else, e.g. Layer one: immediate care givers, Layer two: extended care givers.

In these situations, refer to:

• Australian Government – Australian Institute of Family Studies