Understanding The Theatre Experience

Students viewing live theatre can experience feelings of joy, sadness, anger, wonder and empathy. It can engage their imaginations and invite them to make meaning of their world and their place within it. They can consider new possibilities as they immerse themselves in familiar and not so familiar stories.

Watching theatre also helps students understand the language of the theatre. It is part of the holistic approach to developing student literacy. They learn to ‘read’ the work by interpreting the gesture and movement of a performer; deconstructing the designers’ deliberate manipulation of colour, symbol and sound; and reflecting on the director’s and playwright’s intended meaning.

While viewing the show, students’ responses can be immediate as they laugh, cry, question and applaud. After the performance, it is also extremely valuable to provide opportunities for discussion, encouraging students to analyse and comprehend how these responses were evoked by the creatives through the manipulation of production elements and expressive skills.

Having a strong knowledge and understanding of theatre terminology will assist students with this process. Therefore, before coming to see Grug and the Rainbow with your students, explore the different roles involved in making a performance happen, from writing, directing and performing, to lighting, projection, set and costume design and construction.

Preparing for the Theatre

Visiting the theatre is very exciting. There are some guidelines that students can follow regarding appropriate behaviour in the theatre and during the performance that will make their visit even more memorable.  Prior to visiting the theatre, prepare students for what they will experience as an audience member using the following questions:

Where can you sit?

• An usher (front of house – FOH) will help you find your seat so you need to follow their directions.

How do you know when the performance begins?

• The lights of the auditorium will dim and you might hear a voice-over. That’s your cue that he performance has begun and it is time to settle and be quiet.

How is going to the theatre different to going to the movies or watching television in your lounge room?

• Something unique to theatre is that it is ‘live’ and the actors are real. You can hear and see the actors, and they can hear and see you.

What is the relationship between the audience and the performers?

• The actors can see and hear you, so it is important that you show your appreciation and enjoyment of the performance.

Final points to remember:

• turn off your mobile phone (even the vibration of a phone or lit screen is distracting);
• avoid eating in the theatre and rustling paper;
• cover coughs and sneezes;
• don’t film or photograph the performance due to intellectual ownership.

Before The Show

INTRODUCTION AND APPLAUSE

What you’ll need:

N/A

Activity:

Children stand in a circle and take turns taking one step into the circle and saying their name loudly and proudly. After each child has had a turn, everyone gives them a huge round of applause. You can extend this activity by:

• Adding a gesture
• Adding a sentence about something they love
• Saying their name in an interesting way
• Saying their name with particular dynamics (gently, loudly etc.)
• Saying their name and adding a descriptive word that starts with the same letter (eg. Fantastic Felix!)

This builds confidence and can lead to discussions about how to be a supportive audience member. Ask the children how it made them feel to receive applause?

Learning Outcome Elaborations:

1.1 Children feel safe, secure and supported
1.3 Children develop knowledgeable and confident self-identities
1.4 Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect

After The Show

PHOTO ALBUM

What you’ll need: 

Camera/iPad/iPhone, printer, computer, stationery.

Activity:

Take photographs of your children preparing for their visit to the theatre, in the foyer before the show, and at the end of the performance when the actors invite the audience to view the set.

Collate the photos into a book or develop a slide show on a computer or screen in a central, accessible location. Provide opportunities for children/family members to view, interact with, and respond to the photos. Ask children what the difference was between the foyer and the theatre? What did they notice about both spaces? Did they feel comfortable?

Children could choose a photo of themselves to ‘frame’. Use ready-made paper frames which they can decorate, or paste the photo onto a piece of cardboard, allowing the children to decorate the ‘frame’.

Learning Outcome Elaborations:

1.3 Children develop knowledgeable and confident self-identities
1.4 Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect

Before the Show

BEING A MEMBER OF AN AUDIENCE

What you’ll need: 

Stationary

Activity:

Have discussions about attending live performance. This can include music and dance, as well as theatre. What shows, if any, have they seen performed? What were their reactions when they saw these shows? Did they laugh or cry? Were they scared? What was the difference between seeing something live and watching a film or a television show?

What rules did they have to follow? What were their responsibilities? Create a ‘respectful audience’ chart. Remember that children do not have to be quiet at live performances, but their responses need to be respectful to the performers and other audience members.

Learning Outcome Elaborations:

2.1 Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation.

After the Show

GRUG AND HIS FRIENDS

What you’ll need: 

Stationery

Activity:

Learning Outcome Elaborations:

2.1 Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation.

Before the Show

GRUG’S EMOTIONS

What you’ll need: 

A copy of “Grug and his Bicycle” or another Grug title that contains a variety of emotions. Craft gear for puppet making.

Activity:

3.1 Children become strong in their social and emotional wellbeing

After the Show

GRUG’S HOUSE

What you’ll need: 

Craft materials, stationery.

Activity:

3.1 Children become strong in their social and emotional wellbeing

3.2 Children take increasing responsibility for their own health and physical wellbeing

Before The Show

GRUG HAS A PROBLEM

What you’ll need: 

A selection of Grug books

Activity:

4.1 Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
4.2 Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating

After the Show

CREATING A RAINBOW

What you’ll need: 

Paint – primary colours. Paint palettes, paint brushes. Copies of a rainbow print out, outline only. Plastic cups, food dye, flowers.

Art Activity:

4.3 Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another

Before the Show

MAKING GRUG

What you’ll need: 

A selection of Grug books. Craft items, glue, tape.

Activity:

Have a range of the Grug books available for children to look through. Discuss the characters in some of the books, focusing particularly on Grug. What do we know about him based on his appearance, body language and facial expressions? Have children physically explore the different facial expressions/body language that correlate with different emotions/reactions (e.g. happy, sad, angry etc.)

Tell the children that they are going to create Grug and that they need to choose an emotion to portray in their work. Provide string/wool, dried leaves/grasses, paper, paints and other craft items available in the colours of Grug so that children can have a go at creating their own version of him. This could be in the form of a collage on cardboard or an upright model, perhaps using clean, household recycling items as the base.

Once complete, children can discuss the different meaning they get from the work of others.

5.1 Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes
5.2 Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts
5.3 Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media

After the Show

REFLECTION

What you’ll need: 

Stationery/art materials.

Activity:

Talk/draw/write about the performance of Grug. Use open ended questions such as:
• What did you enjoy about the performance? Why did you enjoy this aspect?
• What was your favourite bit?
• Who was your favourite character? Why? Take a vote!
• What do you remember about the performance?
• Did Grug have a colour that is your favourite?
• What colour did he paint the house, and why?
• What happened when he went to the beach/the snowfields?
• Who were his friends and how do we know that they were his friends?
• Do they know of any other books that have been made into a live performance or film? (eg. Matilda, Wizard of Oz etc.)
• Is there another book or book series you would like to see adapted into a live performance?

5.1 Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes
5.3 Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media

This unit includes activities and possible assessment tasks linked to The Arts: Drama (Australian Curriculum 9.0) across Foundation to Year 2. Teachers can choose to use individual activities to complement existing drama units or complete the entire unit of work with their students. Many of the activities include extensions or modifications.

The learning activities will encourage students to explore Grug and the Rainbow as a live performance, with the possibility of creating and performing. This guide will help to generate whole class discussions and the sharing of different interpretations of the play and the characters, as well as provide opportunities for students to work independently in small groups to create moments of performance.

Achievement Standards

FOUNDATION

By the end of the Foundation year, students describe experiences, observations, ideas and/or feelings about arts works they encounter at school, home and/or in the community. Students use play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to create and share arts works in different forms.

YEARS 1 AND 2

By the end of Year 2, students identify where they experience drama. They describe where, why and/or how people across cultures, communities and/or other contexts experience drama. Students pretend and imagine as they create roles and situations in improvised drama and/or dramatic play. They perform their drama in informal settings.

Content Descriptions Addressed

EXPLORING AND RESPONDING

F: Explore how and why the arts are important for people and communities (AC9ADRFE01)
1-2: Explore where, why and how people across cultures, communities and/or other contexts experience drama (AC9ADR2E01)

DEVELOPING PRACTICES AND SKILLS

F: Use play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to discover possibilities and develop ideas (AC9ADRFD01)
1-2: Use the elements of drama and imagination in dramatic play and/or process drama (AC9ADR2D01)

CREATING AND MAKING

F: Create arts works that communicate ideas (AC9ADRFC01)
1-2: Create and co-create fictional situations based on imagination and/or experience (AC9ADR2C01)

PRESENTING AND PERFORMING

F: Share their arts works with audiences (AC9ADRFP01)
1-2: Share their drama in informal settings (AC9ADR2P01)

Exploring and Responding

Title: Going to the Theatre.

What you’ll need: N/A

Activity #1:
Talk about theatre performance. Consider the following questions:
• Talk about other performances students may have seen (professional, school concerts, etc.).
• Use these examples and others to explore the questions ‘Why do people make theatre?’ and ‘Why do audiences go to the theatre?’
• What are the titles of people who make theatre and work in theatre (e.g., actor, director, front of house, usher, etc.)? What do they do?

Activity #2:
Show the students a small clip or photo of a stage production. Use it to see what the students know of theatre vocabulary and then add to this knowledge. Vocabulary should include actor, stage, performance, audience, clapping, lighting, sound, costume, set, the different jobs involved (e.g., actor, director, writer, front of house, usher, stage manager, set and costume designer, sound designer etc.)

Extension:
Students can draw a scene from a live performance, using their imagination or memory. Ask them to include some of the elements discussed above.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9ADRFE01
1/2  AC9ADR2E01

• Literacy
• Intercultural understanding

Developing Practices and Skills

Title: Becoming Grug!

What you’ll need: A selection of Grug books.

Activity:
After reading some of the Grug stories, ask students to close their eyes and imagine that they are Grug. Prompt them to answer character questions such as:
• How old do you think Grug is?
• Where did he come from?
• What is his favourite colour?
• What is his favourite food?
• Does he have any hobbies or interests?
• How would Grug walk? Do it.
• How would he talk? Introduce yourself to another Grug.

Extensions:
• Students could complete the above exploration with Cara the Carpet Snake or Snoot in mind. They could compare them.
• Create three groups with one group exploring each of the three main characters each. Then you can put students into groups of three (Grug, Cara and Snoot) and they could act out one of the stories or create their own.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9ADRFD01
1/2 AC9ADR2D01

• Literacy
• Critical and creative thinking
• Personal and social capability

Creating and Making

Title: A Postcard from Grug

What you’ll need: N/A

Activity:

Make a list of all the locations that the students saw during the performance (beach, snowy mountain, school, Grug’s home, hospital). Explain that you are going to create a 3D postcard of one of these locations using only their bodies. Their bodies must make up parts of the landscape, objects, people and animals.

Send students into the performance area one by one and ask them to create an element from the postcard (e.g., the beach) and to freeze (e.g., seaweed, wave, shark, lifeguard). Once the image is complete, take an actual photo of the image. Ask the remaining students if they can tell it is a beach? Why, why not? Repeat this, using the other locations on your list.

Extension:
You can explain to your students that this kind of 3D image is called a tableau, and it is a device used in theatre.

Activity #2:

Discuss the idea of a climax. What does it mean? What was the climax of the story ‘Grug at the Beach’? What were the climactic moments of the other stories? In small groups, ask the students to create postcards/tableaux of a chosen climactic moment using only their bodies. You can do a show-and-tell at the end with students guessing which moment it is.

Extension:
Ask students to create a minute of action before and/or after the tableau to create a scene.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9ADRFC01
1/2 AC9ADR2C01

• Literacy
• Critical and creative thinking

Presenting and Performing

Title: Scene Building

What you’ll need: Some ‘character’ cards (Grug, Cara, Snoot), ‘object’ cards (e.g., sticky tape, alarm clock, frozen peas etc.) and some ‘place’ cards (e.g., a supermarket, a jungle, a swimming pool etc.), paper, pencils.

Activity:

Split the class into small groups and give each group a card from each set (character, object, place). The groups must create a small scene that uses all three things, with the object causing a problem that the character must solve (e.g., a bag of frozen peas spilling all over the floor). They can add other characters from their imaginations. You can ask them to think about what happens at the beginning of the story? What happens in the middle? How does it end? Other questions might include how do we know that you are Grug? Give the groups time to rehearse and perform for one another, or for another class.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9ADRFP01
1/2 AC9ADR2P01

• Literacy
• Personal and social capability

This unit includes activities and possible assessment tasks linked to English (Australian Curriculum 9.0) across Foundation to Year 2. Teachers can choose to use individual activities to complement existing English units or complete the entire unit of work with their students.

The learning activities can provide a structure to explore ‘Grug and the Rainbow’ as a performance and the original series of books it is based on.  This guide will provide opportunity for students to interpret the text, analyse plot and characters and create their own responses using language features with purpose in mind.

Achievement Standard

FOUNDATION

By the end of Foundation, students listen to texts, interact with others and create short spoken texts, including retelling stories. They share thoughts and preferences, retell events and report information or key ideas to an audience. They use language features including words and phrases from learning and texts. They listen for and identify rhymes, letter patterns and sounds (phonemes) in words. They orally blend and segment phonemes in single-syllable words.

They read, view and comprehend texts, making connections between characters, settings and events, and to personal experiences. They identify the language features of texts including connections between print and images. They name the letters of the English alphabet and know and use the most common sounds (phonemes) represented by these letters (graphs). They read words including consonant–vowel–consonant words and some high-frequency words.

They create short written texts, including retelling stories using words and images where appropriate. They retell, report information and state their thoughts, feelings and key ideas. They use words and phrases from learning and texts. They form letters, spell most consonant–vowel–consonant words and experiment with capital letters and full stops.

YEAR ONE

By the end of Year 1, students interact with others, and listen to and create short spoken texts including recounts of stories. They share ideas and retell or adapt familiar stories, recount or report on events or experiences, and express opinions using a small number of details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They sequence ideas and use language features including topic-specific vocabulary and features of voice.

They read, view and comprehend texts, monitoring meaning and making connections between the depiction of characters, settings and events, and to personal experiences. They identify the text structures of familiar narratives and informative texts, and their language features and visual features. They blend short vowels, common long vowels, consonants and digraphs to read one-syllable words. They read one- and two-syllable words with common letter patterns, and an increasing number of high-frequency words. They use sentence boundary punctuation to read with developing phrasing and fluency.
They create short written and/or multimodal texts including recounts of stories with events and characters. They report information and experiences, and express opinions. Ideas in their texts may be informative or imaginative and include a small number of details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They write simple sentences with sentence boundary punctuation and capital letters for proper nouns. They use topic-specific vocabulary. They write words using unjoined upper-case and lower-case letters. They spell most one- and two-syllable words with common letter patterns and common grammatical morphemes, and an increasing number of high-frequency words.

YEAR TWO

By the end of Year 2, students interact with others, and listen to and create spoken texts including stories. They share ideas, topic knowledge and appreciation of texts when they recount, inform or express an opinion, including details from learnt topics, topics of interest or texts. They organise and link ideas, and use language features including topic-specific vocabulary and features of voice.

They read, view and comprehend texts, identifying literal and inferred meaning, and how ideas are presented through characters and events. They describe how similar topics and information are presented through the structure of narrative and informative texts, and identify their language features and visual features. They use phonic and morphemic knowledge, and grammatical patterns to read unfamiliar words and most high-frequency words. They use punctuation for phrasing and fluency.

They create written and/or multimodal texts including stories to inform, express an opinion, adapt an idea or narrate for audiences. They use text structures to organise and link ideas for a purpose. They punctuate simple and compound sentences. They use topic-specific vocabulary. They write words using consistently legible unjoined letters. They spell words with regular spelling patterns, and use phonic and morphemic knowledge to attempt to spell words with less common patterns.

Content Descriptions Addressed

ENGAGING WITH AND RESPONDING TO LITERATURE

F: Respond to stories and share feelings and thoughts about their events and characters (AC9EFLE02)
1: Discuss literary texts and share responses by making connections with students’ own experiences (AC9E1LE02)
2: Identify features of literary texts, such as characters and settings, and give reasons for personal preferences (AC9E2LE02)

EXAMINING LITERATURE

F: Recognise different types of literary texts and identify features including events, characters, and beginnings and endings (AC9EFLE03)
1: Discuss plot, character and setting, which are features of stories (AC9E1LE03)
2: Discuss the characters and settings of a range of texts and identify how language is used to present these features in different ways (AC9E2LE03)

TEXT STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION

F: Understand that texts can take many forms such as signs, books and digital texts (AC9EFLA03)
1: Explore how texts are organised according to their purpose, such as to recount, narrate, express opinion, inform, report and explain (AC9E1LA03)
2: Identify how texts across the curriculum are organised differently and use language features depending on purposes (AC9E2LA03)

INTERACTING WITH OTHERS

F: Interact in informal and structured situations by listening while others speak and using features of voice including volume levels (AC9EFLY02)
1: Use interaction skills including turn-taking, speaking clearly, active listening behaviours and responding to the contributions of others, and contributing ideas and questions (AC9E1LY02)
2: Use interaction skills when engaging with topics, actively listening to others, receiving instructions and extending own ideas, speaking appropriately, expressing and responding to opinions, making statements, and giving instructions (AC9E2LY02)

Literature

Title: Grug’s Library

What you’ll need: A selection of Grug books.

Activity:
Read some of the different Grug books with your class. Ask students to comment on the stories.
• Which are their favourites?
• Do they have a favourite character?
• Does Grug experience any problems that your students can relate to? How did they manage that problem?

Curriculum Links:
F AC9EFLE02
1 AC9E1LE02
2 AC9E2LE02

• Literacy
• Critical and creative thinking
• Personal and social capability

Literature #2

Title: Out of order, Grug!

What you’ll need: Copies of the Grug illustrations. Stationery such as paper, glue, scissors, pencils.

Activity:
Mix up the illustrations from one of the Grug books. Ask your students to respond to the following tasks:
• Identify the images that belong to the beginning, middle and end of the story and put them in order.
• Re-tell the story verbally during this process or once it is complete.
• How many settings are there in the story? How do you know? What are the clues?
• Who are the characters? What do the illustrations tell us about who they are? Do the illustrations tell us anything about what they think of one another?

Extensions:
• They could do this activity before or after they read the book which might result in different outcomes.
• Come up with alternative endings or different ways of solving the problems that Grug experiences.
• Mix up the order and ask students to create a new story. They could verbally deliver these new stories or write them with original illustrations.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9EFLE03
1 AC9E1LE03
2 AC9E2LE03

• Literacy

Language

Title: Come to Grug’s Party!

What you’ll need: Examples of invitations, computers and/or stationery

Activity:

Grug is going to have a party. Your students are tasked with creating the party invitation! The use of images and text must be considered.

Explicit teaching of the purpose, language features, text organisation and layout of an invitation can occur here.
Model a class version or look at examples before allowing students to create their own.

Extension:
• Use a computer program to create a digital invitation or create a hard copy version out of craft materials and pens.
• Post the invitations to other students or teachers that require a response. A real post-box could be used, or a play version.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9EFLA03
1 AC9E1LA03
2 AC9E2LA03

• Literacy

Literacy

Title: A day in the life of Grug.

What you’ll need: Stationery

Activity:

Remind the students of Grug’s home. Consider the moment you saw him wake up and go to sleep. How many activities did he get up to in-between?

In small groups, co-create a story called “A Day in the Life of Grug”. Students choose two activities that Grug might experience in his day. It can’t be the ones they saw in the play! Allow them to brainstorm ideas.

Once they have decided on their activities, guide them to come up with a problem that Grug might experience while doing that activity. Allow your students to collaborate to come up with the problem. How does Grug solve it?
Have students write their stories as a series of sentences, exploring the moments Grug experiences from the moment he wakes to the moment he sleeps. Encourage lots of descriptive language. Students can then discuss their story with you for feedback and make appropriate changes. Students can divide the sentences between them so that they can learn them and present the story orally to the rest of the class.

Extension:

• The story can be written down, or made into a mini-book
• The groups can act out their story, playing different characters.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9EFLY02
1 AC9E1LY02
2 AC9E2LY02

• Literacy
• Personal and social capability

This unit includes activities and possible assessment tasks linked to The Arts: Dance (Australian Curriculum 9.0) across Foundation to Year 2. Teachers can choose to use individual activities to complement existing dance units or complete the entire unit of work with their students. Many of the activities include extensions or modifications.

The learning activities will encourage students to explore ‘Grug and the Rainbow’ as a live performance, with the opportunity to create and perform, using the elements of dance and fundamental movement skills. There are opportunities to collaborate in small groups and as a whole class, to create dances based on characters, and exploring the spaces Grug inhabits.

Achievement Standards

FOUNDATION

By the end of the Foundation year, students describe experiences, observations, ideas and/or feelings about arts works they encounter at school, home and/or in the community.

Students use play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to create and share arts works in different forms.

YEARS 1 & 2

By the end of Year 2, students identify where they experience dance. They describe where, why and/or how people across cultures, communities and/or other contexts experience dance.

Students use the elements of dance to structure dance sequences. They demonstrate fundamental movement skills and safe dance practice. They perform their dance in informal settings.

Content Descriptions Addressed

DEVELOPING PRACTICES AND SKILLS

F: Use play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to discover possibilities and develop ideas (AC9ADAFD01)
1 & 2: Experiment with ways to move safely and expressively using fundamental movement skills and the elements of dance (AC9ADA2D01)

CREATING AND MAKING

F: Create arts works that communicate ideas (AC9ADAFC01)
1 & 2: Use the elements of dance to choreograph dance sequences (AC9ADA2C01)

Developing Practices and Skills

Title: Dance like Grug!

What you’ll need: A selection of Grug books.

Activity:
Choose a selection of books that show the three main characters – Grug, Snoot and Cara.
Write a list of descriptive words for each character . E.g. Cara is slippery and slithery, Grug is round and bushy, and Snoot is spiky and moves close to the ground. Use the words to prompt students to move in different ways. Encourage them to explore space, including levels, time, dynamics and quality of movement.

Extensions:
• In groups, students can create a movement sequence by coming up with 6-8 movements based on their favourite character.
• Any number of sequences can be connected to create one long sequence.
• The movements could be re-organised by using structures such as processions, canons, call and response and so on.

Curriculum Links:
F: AC9ADAFD01
1 & 2: AC9ADA2D01

• Critical and creative thinking
• Intercultural understanding

Creating and Making

Title: Dancing adventure

What you’ll need: Music

Activity:

As a class, create a map that shows all the places Grug visited (e.g., home, a snowy mountain, a beach, a school, an old house). Choose areas on the floor to represent these places. Move between these places in the same order, creating a pathway, and remember it.

Then come up with all the ways Grug travelled (e.g., walking, running, biking, skiing, rolling down the hill, being taken in an ambulance).

Layer these modes of travel onto the pathways, creating a repeatable sequence. Start students on different locations so that students are constantly moving.
Add music, of course, and then perform for another class!

Extension:
• Ask students to mime an activity in the location that gives the audience more information about where they are (e.g., going to bed at home, setting up a tent on the mountain)
• Allow some students to watch after completing the sequence, before starting again so there is always a rotating audience.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9ADAFC01
1 & 2 AC9ADA2C01

• Critical and creative thinking

This unit includes activities and possible assessment tasks linked to The Arts: Music (Australian Curriculum 9.0) across Foundation to Year 2. Teachers can choose to use individual activities to complement existing music units or complete the entire unit of work with their students.

The class can use the books and live performance of ‘Grug and the Rainbow’ to inspire small group and whole class compositions, exploring the elements of music. This guide will provide opportunities for students to work on listening skills, improvisation and performance. They will also identify music in context and re-interpret moments from the play.

Achievement Standard

FOUNDATION

By the end of the Foundation year, students describe experiences, observations, ideas and/or feelings about arts works they encounter at school, home and/or in the community.

Students use play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to create and share arts works in different forms.

YEAR ONE/TWO

By the end of Year 2, students identify where they experience music. They describe where, why and/or how people across cultures, communities and/or other contexts experience music.

Students demonstrate listening skills. They use the elements of music to improvise and/or compose music. They sing and play music in informal settings.

Content Descriptions Addressed

DEVELOPING PRACTICES AND SKILLS

F: Use play, imagination, arts knowledge, processes and/or skills to discover possibilities and develop ideas (AC9AMUD01)
1 & 2: Develop listening skills and skills for singing and playing instruments (AC9AMU2D01)

CREATING AND MAKING

F: Create arts works that communicate ideas (AC9AMUFC01)
1 & 2: Select and combine elements of music when composing and practising music for performance (AC9AMU2C01)

Developing Practices and Skills

Title: Build a Soundscape

What you’ll need: A selection of Grug books.

Activity:
Select a Grug book which contains environments and activities that would make lots of sound (e.g., wind, digging in the dirt, a bike crash, the ocean). Read this with the students and make a list of all the possible sounds they can imagine would be in the ‘world’ of the book.

Explore ways of making these sounds with students’ voices. Create a soundscape to the book and perform it while either the teacher or student(s) reads the story.

Extensions/Modifications:
• Percussion instruments could also be used here.
• Older students could be given different Grug books to inspire group performances.
• This could be recorded, much like an old-fashioned radio play.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9AMUFC01
1 & 2 AC9AMU2C01

• Literacy
• Intercultural understanding

Creating and Making

Title: Percussion dance

What you’ll need: N/A

Activity:
Discuss the role music had in the show. Brainstorm moments where music was important. Highlight the interactive dance sequence the children took part in during the show. Explain that you will be creating your own piece of music using body and object percussion so that they can dance to it.

Allow students to experiment with different ways of making noise with their bodies and objects (clapping, slapping knees, stomping feet, banging tables, sliding chairs etc.) and create repeated rhythms that are easy for all to sustain. Play with the elements of music (duration/time (including beat, rhythm), pitch, dynamics and expression, form or structure, timbre and texture).

Build on this by adding movement, matching them to the music (louder parts in the song could have larger movement like jumping, and softer parts could have smaller movements like tiptoeing). Half the class could make the music and the other half could dance or you could record their music and have the whole class dance together.

Extensions:
• Layer rhythms to make it more complex or make more changes.
• If possible, combine the music and movement. Can you make a huge movement while you make a huge noise?
• Allow a student to conduct by arranging students in such a way that the conductor can point to start or give the stop signal to stop the different sounds. They can also raise and lower their hand to play with volume. This can be modelled by the teacher first.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9AMUFC01
1 & 2 AC9AMU2C01

• Literacy
• Critical and creative thinking
• Intercultural understanding

This unit includes activities and possible assessments linked to Health and Physical Education (Australian Curriculum 9.0) across Foundation to Year 2. Teachers can choose to use individual activities to complement existing Health and PE units or complete the entire unit of work with their students.

The learning activities can provide a structure to explore healthy choices and physical activity, using the character of Grug and some of his adventures as a starting point. There are opportunities here to work in small groups and as a whole class.

Achievement Standard

FOUNDATION

By the end of Foundation, students describe similarities and differences between themselves and others, and different emotions people experience. They demonstrate personal and social skills to interact respectfully with others. They identify and demonstrate protective behaviours and help-seeking strategies to keep themselves safe. Students identify how health information can be used in their lives. Students apply fundamental movement skills to manipulate objects and space in a range of movement situations. Students identify the benefits of being physically active and how rules make play fair and inclusive.

YEARS 1 AND 2

By the end of Year 2, students explain how personal qualities contribute to identities. They describe how emotional responses affect their own and others’ feelings. They demonstrate skills and describe strategies required to develop respectful relationships. Students apply protective behaviours and help-seeking strategies to keep themselves and others safe. They explain why health information is important for making choices. Students apply fundamental movement skills in different movement situations and explain how they move with objects and in space effectively. They describe factors that make physical activity beneficial. Students develop and apply rules while collaborating with others in a range of movement contexts.

Content Descriptions Addressed

MAKING HEALTHY AND SAFE CHOICES

F: Identify health symbols, messages and strategies in their community that support their health and safety (AC9HPFP06)
1 & 2: Investigate a range of health messages and practices in their community and discuss their purposes (AC9HP2P06)

MAKING ACTIVE CHOICES

F: Participate in a range of activities in natural and outdoor settings and explore the benefits of being physically active (AC9HPFM03)
1 & 2: Participate in a range of physical activities in natural and outdoor settings, and investigate factors and settings that make physical activity enjoyable (AC9HP2M03)

Making Healthy and Safe Choices

Title: Grug and the Sunscreen!

What you’ll need: Grug at the Beach by Ted Prior (you can use our Windmill resource – Grug Storytime: Ezra Juanta reads Grug at the Beach)

Activity:

Read ‘Grug at the Beach’. What happened to Grug’s nose?! Discuss sun safety with the students. What things do they have to do to stay safe in the sun, and why? What did Grug do right (hat, sunglasses)? What did he forget and what was the consequence?

Role-play situations where someone hasn’t been prepared and compare the consequences to someone who has taken the right precautions. Use this to create a television advertisement that encourages people to buy a particular type of hat or sunscreen. Encourage them to be imaginative here. Is it a special type of sunscreen, for example? Perform these for each other.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9HPFP06
1 & 2  AC9HP2P06

• Literacy
• Critical and creative thinking
• Personal and social capability

Making Active Choices

Title: Steal the Beanie/Sunhat

What you’ll need: Two large hula-hoops, a beanie and a sun hat.

Activity:

Discuss the parts in the performance when Grug goes to the snowfields and the beach. What things do we need to keep us safe in cold and warm environments? Split the students into two even teams and place the two hats in the middle of the space. Line the teams up shoulder to shoulder, facing each other, at either end of the space. Place one large hula-hoop two meters in front of each team. Number the students in each line, so that each student has a corresponding number on the opposing team. The teacher calls out a weather condition (snow or sun) and a number and the two students with that number can run out and try to get the correct hat for that environment.

The student to get to the correct hat first puts it on and runs to the other team’s hula-hoop without getting tagged by the opposing team member. They must stand in the hula hoop to be safe. If the opposing team member tags the student with the hat, the student must drop the hat where they are standing. As soon as the hat has been dropped, the teacher calls out a new number. The two previous students run back to their lines as fast as they can, and the two new students run out to continue the game. A point is scored each time a hat wearing student reaches the safety of the hula-hoop. Play for a predetermined amount of time or until a specific score has been reached.

Modifications:
• You can use one hat or numerous hats, leaving the ‘saved’ ones in the hoop.
• Ask your students to create a new – or adapt an existing – game to incorporate ideas from ‘Grug and The Rainbow’.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9HPFM03
1 & 2 AC9HP2M03

• Personal and social capability

This unit includes activities and possible assessments in the areas of Science Inquiry and Understanding, (Australian Curriculum 9.0) across Foundation to Year 2. Teachers can choose to use individual activities to complement existing Science units or complete the entire unit of work with their students.

The learning activities can provide a structure to explore physical and biological sciences inspired by Grug’s world and the things he gets up to in the production of ‘Grug and the Rainbow’. There are opportunities here for whole class discussions, group work and independent research.

Achievement Standard

FOUNDATION

By the end of Foundation students group plants and animals based on external features. They identify factors that influence the movement of objects. They describe the observable properties of the materials that make up objects. They identify examples of people using observation and questioning to learn about the natural world.

Students pose questions and make predictions based on their experiences. They engage in investigations and make observations safely. With guidance, they represent observations and identify patterns. With guidance, they compare their observations with their predictions. They share questions, predictions, observations and ideas about their experiences with others.

YEAR 1

By the end of Year 1 students identify how living things meet their needs in the places they live. They identify daily and seasonal changes and describe ways these changes affect their everyday life. They describe how different pushes and pulls change the motion and shape of objects. They describe situations where they use science in their daily lives and identify examples of people making scientific predictions.

Students pose questions to explore observations and make predictions based on experiences. They follow safe procedures to make and record observations. They use provided tables and organisers to sort and order data and information and, with guidance, represent patterns. With guidance, they compare observations with predictions and identify further questions. They use everyday vocabulary to communicate observations, findings and ideas.

YEAR 2

By the end of Year 2 students identify celestial objects and describe patterns they observe in the sky. They demonstrate how different sounds can be produced and describe the effect of sound energy on objects. They identify ways to change materials without changing their material composition. They describe how people use science in their daily lives and how people use patterns to make scientific predictions.

Students pose questions to explore observed patterns or relationships and make predictions based on experience. They suggest steps to be followed in an investigation and follow safe procedures to make and record observations. They use provided tables and organisers to sort and order data and represent patterns in data. With guidance, they compare their observations with those of others, identify whether their investigation was fair and identify further questions. They use everyday and scientific vocabulary to communicate observations, findings and ideas.

Content Descriptions Addressed

PLANNING AND CONDUCTING

F: Engage in investigations safely and make observations using their senses (AC9SFI02)
1: Suggest and follow safe procedures to investigate questions and test predictions (AC9S1I02)
2: Suggest and follow safe procedures to investigate questions and test predictions (AC9S2I02)

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

F: Observe external features of plants and animals and describe ways they can be grouped based on these features (AC9SFU01)
1: Identify the basic needs of plants and animals, including air, water, food or shelter, and describe how the places they live meet those needs (AC9S1U01)

CHEMCICAL SCIENCES

2: Recognise that materials can be changed physically without changing their material composition and explore the effect of different actions on materials including bending, twisting, stretching and breaking into smaller pieces (AC9S2U03)

Science Inquiry

Title: Make a rainbow experiment

What you’ll need: Grug and the Rainbow by Ted Prior (or you can use Windmill resource Grug Storytime: Lizzie Hay reads Grug and the Rainbow), a glass of water (about three quarters full), white paper, and a sunny day

Activity:

Read (or watch a reading of) ‘Grug and the Rainbow’. Lead a discussion about rainbows. Key questions could be:
• Have you seen a rainbow?
• How is a rainbow made?
• If you were to make a rainbow, how would you do it?
As you carry out the below experiment, ask students to predict what might happen at every step. At the end, ask them to come up with a theory before telling them the scientific facts.

Instructions:

1. Take the glass of water and paper outside to a part of the room with sunlight (near a window is good).
2. Hold the glass of water above the paper and watch as sunlight passes through the glass of water, refracts (bends) and forms a rainbow of colours on your sheet of paper.
3. Try holding the glass of water at different heights and angles to see if it has a different effect. Take photos of your students conducting this experiment to use in a report.

What’s Happening:

While you normally see a rainbow as an arc of colour in the sky, they can also form in other situations. You may have seen a rainbow in a water fountain or in the mist from a waterfall and you can even make your own, such as in this experiment. Rainbows form in the sky when sunlight refracts (bends) as it passes through raindrops and it acts in the same way when it passes through your glass of water. The sunlight refracts, separating it into the colours red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9SFI02
1 AC9S1I02
2 AC9S2I02

• Literacy
• Critical and creative thinking

Science Understanding

Title: Animal homes!

What you’ll need: Access to resources – books in the library, the internet, stationery.

Activity:

Have a discussion with your class about the blue part of the play. Remind them that there was a bird who had a blue feather in its nest. Where does Grug live? Where might Snoot live? What about Cara? Discuss homes of Australian animals and list all the different types of homes your students can come up with (nests, burrows, trees, etc.) Why do certain animals need types of homes? What are the differences and similarities between two or more types of animal homes and their inhabitants?
Ask your students to research different Australia animals, using picture books, information from computers or printed articles, etc. They can then create their own report or poster on that animal and its home. If they are confident enough, ask some students to present their report to the class.

Extensions/Modifications:
• You could limit it to the animals that appear in the book (snakes, birds, echnidnas)
• You could ask students to choose what type of animal home they would prefer to live in and why?
• If they were to live in a burrow, like Grug, what would it look like? What would it need for their survival? What would it need for their comfort? Draw it.
• For year 2’s you could extend this into Chemical Sciences and explore the varying behaviours of materials and how this make them perfect for particular types of animal homes.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9SFU01
1 AC9S1U01
2 AC9S2U03

• Numeracy
• Personal and social capability
• Intercultural understanding

Linking to Mathematics (Australian Curriculum 9.0) across Foundation to Year 2, these resources focus on the areas of space and statistics. Each activity is inspired by the production of Grug and the Rainbow and the books upon which it is based. Teachers can choose to use individual activities to complement existing mathematics units or complete the entire unit of work with their students.

The learning activities can provide a structure to explore Grug and the Rainbow with your students before the show to promote engagement and excitement, and also after, where they can experiment with the geometry of bicycles. There are opportunities for students to do some of the activities independently as well as in small groups and as a whole class.

Achievement Standard

FOUNDATION

By the end of Foundation Year, students make connections between number names, numerals and position in the sequence of numbers from zero to at least 20. They use subitising and counting strategies to quantify collections. Students compare the size of collections to at least 20. They partition and combine collections up to 10 in different ways, representing these with numbers. Students represent practical situations that involve quantifying, equal sharing, adding to and taking away from collections to at least 10. They copy and continue repeating patterns.

Students identify the attributes of mass, capacity, length and duration, and use direct comparison strategies to compare objects and events. They sequence and connect familiar events to the time of day. Students name, create and sort familiar shapes and give their reasoning. They describe the position and the location of themselves and objects in relation to other objects and people within a familiar space. Students collect, sort and compare data in response to questions in familiar contexts.

YEAR ONE

By the end of Year 1, students connect number names, numerals and quantities, and order numbers to at least 120. They demonstrate how one- and two-digit numbers can be partitioned in different ways and that two-digit numbers can be partitioned into tens and ones. Students partition collections into equal groups and skip count in twos, fives or tens to quantify collections to at least 120. They solve problems involving addition and subtraction of numbers to 20 and use mathematical modelling to solve practical problems involving addition, subtraction, equal sharing and grouping, using calculation strategies. Students use numbers, symbols and objects to create skip counting and repeating patterns, identifying the repeating unit.

They compare and order objects and events based on the attributes of length, mass, capacity and duration, communicating reasoning. Students measure the length of shapes and objects using uniform informal units. They make, compare and classify shapes and objects using obvious features. Students give and follow directions to move people and objects within a space.
They collect and record categorical data, create one-to-one displays, and compare and discuss the data using frequencies.

YEAR TWO

By the end of Year 2, students order and represent numbers to at least 1000, apply knowledge of place value to partition, rearrange and rename two- and three-digit numbers in terms of their parts, and regroup partitioned numbers to assist in calculations. They use mathematical modelling to solve practical additive and multiplicative problems, including money transactions, representing the situation and choosing calculation strategies. Students identify and represent part-whole relationships of halves, quarters and eighths in measurement contexts. They describe and continue patterns that increase and decrease additively by a constant amount and identify missing elements in the pattern. Students recall and demonstrate proficiency with addition and subtraction facts within 20 and multiplication facts for twos.

They use uniform informal units to measure and compare shapes and objects. Students determine the number of days between events using a calendar and read time on an analog clock to the hour, half hour and quarter hour. They compare and classify shapes, describing features using formal spatial terms. Students locate and identify positions of features in two-dimensional representations and move position by following directions and pathways.
They use a range of methods to collect, record, represent and interpret categorical data in response to questions.

Content Descriptions Addressed

STATISTICS

F: Collect, sort and compare data represented by objects and images in response to given investigative questions that relate to familiar situations (AC9MFST01)
1: Acquire and record data for categorical variables in various ways including using digital tools, objects, images, drawings, lists, tally marks and symbols (AC9M1ST01)
2: Acquire data for categorical variables through surveys, observation, experiment and using digital tools; sort data into relevant categories and display data using lists and tables (AC9M2ST01)

SPACE

F: Sort, name and create familiar shapes; recognise and describe familiar shapes within objects in the environment, giving reasons (AC9MFSP01)
1: Make, compare and classify familiar shapes; recognise familiar shapes and objects in the environment, identifying the similarities and differences between them (AC9M1SP01)
2: Recognise, compare and classify shapes, referencing the number of sides and using spatial terms such as “opposite”, “parallel”, “curved” and “straight” (AC9M2SP01)

Statistics

Title: What will be in Grug and the Rainbow?

What you’ll need: A range of Grug books, 3-4 from the show (Grug and the Rainbow, Grug and the Green Paint, Grug and the Bicycle and Grug at the Snow for example) and 3-4 books that aren’t included in the show (Grug learns to Cook, Grug the Superhero, Grug meets a Dinosaur, Grug and the Bushfire for example), computer, stationery.

Activity:

Leading up to the activity, read a range of Grug books and have others available for students to read. Prior to seeing the show, explain that it has been created from a range of books. Take a vote in class of which books your students think will be included in the show. Using a simple Excel table, record the votes and teach your students how to create a graph from this data. They can experiment with what type of chart they wish to present their findings with. After the show, they can compare the results.

Extensions/Modifications:

• The graphs can be created using stationery or pro-forma.
• For younger students, use cut-out objects from the books to stick onto a ready-made graph (e.g.. a crab for ‘Grug at the Beach’.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9MFST01
1 AC9M1ST01
2 AC9M2ST01

• Numeracy
• ICT capability

Space

Title: Grug’s Bike!

What you’ll need: A copy of ‘Grug and his Bicycle’ by Ted Prior, various shapes cut out of cardboard, other stationery, possibly computers.

Activity:

Discuss the yellow part of the play when Grug gets his first bicycle. What shapes come to mind when you think of a bicycle? Examine images of different bikes. Ask students to trace over the various shapes on photocopies of bikes.
The students can then name, classify and describe different 2D shapes either using a computer program or cut-outs.

Using paper cut-outs of shapes, pop stick & other materials, ask the students to create a collage of a bike focussing on which shapes go where.

Extensions/Modifications:
• Students can create a crazy bike where the wheels are no longer circles, but a shape of their choice.
• Students can draw, paint of create a digital image of their design.
• Explore spatial concepts (parallel, opposite, curved, straight etc.), particularly for year 2’s.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9MFSP01
1 AC9M1SP01
2 AC9M2SP01

• Numeracy
• Critical and creative thinking

This unit focusses on process and production, inspired by some of the solutions dreamed up by the Grug and the Rainbow artistic team. Activities and possible assessments linked to Design and Technology (Australian Curriculum 9.0) across Foundation to Year 2 , allow students to consider the use of materials and joining techniques to create puppets and settings and can be used as individual activities to complement existing Design and Technology units or they can be used as a complete unit of work. The unit encourages whole class conversation and brainstorming followed by small group or individual making tasks.

Achievement Standard

FOUNDATION

By the end of Foundation students identify familiar products, services and environments. They create a designed solution for a school-selected context. Students create, communicate and choose design ideas. They follow steps and use materials and equipment to safely make a designed solution.

YEAR 1 AND 2

By the end of Year 2 students describe the purpose of familiar products, services and environments. For each of the 2 prescribed technologies contexts they describe the features and uses of technologies and create designed solutions. Students select design ideas based on their personal preferences. They communicate design ideas using models and drawings and follow sequenced steps to safely produce designed solutions.

Content Descriptions Addressed

DESIGNING AND MAKING

F: Generate, communicate and evaluate design ideas, and use materials, equipment and steps to safely make a solution for a purpose (AC9TDEFP01)

PRODUCING AND IMPLEMENTING

1 & 2: Use materials, components, tools, equipment and techniques to safely make designed solutions (AC9TDE2P02)

EVALUATING

1 & 2: Evaluate the success of design ideas and solutions based on personal preferences and including sustainability (AC9TDE2P03)

Processes and Production

Title: Making Grug!

What you’ll need: A whole range of craft items, including sticks, wool, cardboard, tubes, material etc., joining materials (e.g., tape, glue guns etc.). A copy of “Grug goes to Hospital” by Ted Prior.

Activity:

Read “Grug goes to Hospital” and consider how these characters might come to life in the show. Will they be actors dressed up, animations or could they be puppets? Brainstorm how you might make puppets of the three characters – Grug, Snoot and Cara. Think about materials and how you might be able to make the puppet move, or even talk. Collect materials. Students design their puppet on paper first, and plan what they need and how they will join their materials. Students can then design their puppets. Do they work? How can they be improved? Evaluate them, using the original design. You could pose questions such as: was the design followed exactly? Were changes made along the way? Does the puppet move well? How could it be improved? Once the puppets are made, students can make scenes in groups of three.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9TDEFP01
1 & 2 AC9TDE2P02 & AC9TDE2P03

• Numeracy
• ICT capability

Processes and Production

Title: Building a burrow.

What you’ll need: Craft materials

Activity:

Remind the students of the parts in the show where they see Grug’s house. Explain that they will be designing a house for one of the characters. We know that Grug lives in a burrow, but where would Snoot and Cara live? They also live underground! Consider how you might create a cutaway of an underground house (a box could be used for example). Where is the entry? Where do they sleep? Think of any personal specifications, keeping in mind they are making their underground houses for fictional characters, not real animals and they might need objects for comfort or to make it look attractive! Use a whole range of craft materials. Paper mache could be used here to create the underground structure, or to fill in the parts around the home.

Curriculum Links:
F AC9TDEFP01
1 & 2 AC9TDE2P02 & AC9TDE2P03

• Literacy
• Critical and creative thinking
• Personal and social capability

Rainbow Template

Print out this template and get your students to use it to create their own rainbow, and draw their own Grug.