Transformation: FOUNDATION - HASS - Elaborate

Little J finds a Hawk Moth caterpillar on the Tar vine in the backyard that he names ‘Sausage’. He wants to take it to school but the caterpillar has other ideas and disappears underground. Nanna teaches Little J the story about the Yeperenye caterpillar of the Arrernte people from central Australia. Sausage finally returns to give Little J a further lesson on life cycles. Sissy wants to perform a dance for the school with Big Cuz, but Big Cuz feels ‘shame’.

Elaborate - Present narratives, information and findings in oral, graphic and written forms using simple terms to denote the passing of time and to describe direction and location

Theme - PEOPLE

After viewing Little J & Big Cuz, Episode 10 ‘Transformation’, and ask students to identify parts of the story focused on place and perspective in the many individual stories about each character.

Informational report on the Arrernte people

(In pairs or groups)

Introduce students to the Arrernte people of central Australia. Using the AIATSIS Map of Aboriginal Australia, find where Arrernte country is (Central Northern Territory).

In the report, have students select some or all of the following points to present:

  • Compare the size of the Arrernte country to their own local Aboriginal lands and/or Torres Strait Islander lands. (Is it bigger or smaller?)
  • Find images and/or maps of the country of the Arrernte.
  • Identify the animals that Arrernte people hunted, and bush food that they harvested.
  • Identify the totem/s of the Arrernte,(names in English, and in Arrernte dialects).
  • Retell a traditional story.
  • Find image/s of artworks created by Arrernte artists, such as Emily Kame Kngwarreye.

Suggested resources (see more in the Resources & References list)

Invite each group to present their report to the class and upload reports for others to view.

Using the same format of the above report, have students research information about their own local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples.