Little J feels lucky when he wears a new pair of yellow undies. After Old Dog destroys them, he loses his confidence. Big Cuz saves the day with the remnants of the undies made into a sweat band, and Little J finds confidence to play the basketball game and win the day.

Engage - Understand that language can be used to explore ways of expressing needs, likes and dislikes.

Theme - LUCKY CHARMS

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, episode 1 ‘Lucky Undies’, engage students with the following activities to support their understanding of Little J’s sense of luck and superstition.

Read a selection of picture books to the class about ‘being lucky’ and ‘lucky charms’. Make a list of the objects in the books considered to be lucky charms. As a class, discuss why each character in the stories considered their object lucky, and come to a consensus of the meaning of the words ‘lucky’ and ‘charm’. Have students suggest why the two words are combined to refer to the objects. Develop students’ understanding of the purpose of lucky charms and the superstitions attached to them.

Picture books or stories may include:

• Koda-Callan, E. (1990). The Good Luck Pony (Magic Charm Book), New York : Workman Publishing Company

Ask students to suggest synonyms that mean ’lucky’, e.g. fortunate, blessed, prosperous, privileged, etc. Also, have students suggest antonyms for these words, e.g. unlucky, unfortunate, and underprivileged, etc.

Organise the words into two lists: Positive and Negative.

Invite students to add words to this list as they discover additional words that relate to the concept. Discuss some traditional lucky charms, such as a four-leaf clover, a rabbit’s foot, a holy medal, a coin, a coloured ribbon, etc.

15 fascinating good luck charms form around the world

Invite students to tell their own stories about a time they consider was lucky for them or a member of their family. Ask students to bring from home an object that they consider a lucky charm.

Photograph each object. Upload or print the images and record students telling a story about the ‘lucky’ power in their object.

OR

Publish the images and match with words as a Pic-lit. Drag and drop words onto an image or freestyle to create a Pic-lit. Pic-Lit is a creative writing site that matches images with words to capture the essence, story and meaning of the picture: