Resource 10 Possum Magic

Title	Author /Illustrator
Possum Magic	Mem Fox/Julie Vivas
Publisher	Date of publication
Omnibus books	1983
Overview of text Grandma Poss uses her best bush magic to make Hush invisible. But when Hush longs to be able to see herself again, the two possums must make their way across Australia to find the magic food that will make Hush visible once more. The whimsical illustrations are a wonderful complement. Grandma Poss, is no ordinary possum – she makes bush magic. Blue wombats, smiling dingoes and shrinking emus are all in her repertoire. But her best piece of magic makes young Hush invisible. This is all very well until one day Hush decides she would like to see what she looks like. Grandma Poss and Hush embark on an adventure to find the right magic to make Hush visible again. Along the way they sample all the best of Australian foods – but will they find the answer to Hush’s problem?
Language features Possum magic uses many verbs and also focuses on opposites. It is also rhythmic and repetitive in some parts, allowing the reader to gather a sense of story and make predictions. It would be a good book to help young readers identify known words, discuss opposites and could be used to teach basic sentences, grammar and punctuation.
Other textual features (e.g. format, illustrations) The format is a large picture book with illustrations on each page. This helps readers to make predictions using illustrations as a guide
Audience	Genre
Prep- Year 3. The activities suggested are suitable for year 2/3	Fiction- picture book

Title of text Possum Magic
Before reading activities	Justification*
1. Have a look at the book cover and make predictions. Some students may be able to read the title 2.Flick through the book to look at the illustrations and make more predictions about the story 3.Look at the map of Australia at the back of the book. Ask students if they can identify what this is a map of? 4.Ask students if they know what possums are and what country they are native to? 5.See if students can identify any words while flicking through the book 6.Have a look at who the author is- ask students if they have read any Mem Fox books before? What is special about this author and her books	1.CB -use and integrate semantic, grammatical and phonological/graphological cues 2.CB - use and integrate knowledge about images 3.TP -be able to understand how illustrations, diagrams, graphs and other pictorial features present meaning in the text 4.TU -know about the different social and cultural functions that texts perform 5.TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 6.TA -talk about an author's purpose in constructing a text
During reading activities	Justification*
1.Identify verbs in the text ( make a list) 2.Make note of the opposite words in the text 3.Make reference to the pictures that depict the text for specific characters 4.Stress the main characters names whilst reading 5.Ask students if they have had any of the food mentioned in the book. What is so special about this food? 6.Have a quick look at the map of Australia, pointing out places of interest/major cities	1.TU -know about the different social and cultural functions that texts perform 2.TP -understand how layers of meaning are constructed in a text 3.CB -use and integrate knowledge about images 4.TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 5.TA -understand how a text's structure and features contribute to the way the text portrays ideas or issues 6.TU -use texts as part of social action
After reading activities	Justification*
1.Examine the list of verbs used and order them alphabetically 2.Complete the sentence with your own ending “ because she couldn’t be seen……” 3.Complete oral cloze activity to further aid understanding and remember the story- ( see reference section for details) Justification- this was used as it tests the childrens memory and contributes to semantic skills development. 4.Write a paragraph about a holiday you have taken in Australia- how is it similar to Hushs’ holiday. Make sure you include the types of food you had on your holiday. 5.Complete your own story which begins with “ once upon a time, but not very long ago” 6.Cut out parts of the text and the matching pictures and have the students sequence the events. Then students could orally retall the story and record same. Then they can ask a friend to listen and state whether it is correct or not 7.Copy a picture of a map of Australia- students use magazine pictures to identify where the characters in the story visited and what food they ate/alternatively they could create a collage of Australian items using pictures and images 8.Design a menu for an Australian café- find a name for your café and write a list of the food and drink that you will provide 9.Ask the students to identify verbs, nouns and adjectives in text. Present them with a worksheet and ask them to circle the appropriate response (this would need to be made by the teacher)	1.TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 2.TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 3.CB - use and integrate semantic, grammatical and phonological/graphological cues 4.TA -understand how a text's structure and features contribute to the way the text portrays ideas or issues 5.TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 6.TU -interact with others around a text 7.TP -be able to understand how illustrations, diagrams, graphs and other pictorial features present meaning in the text 8.TU -use texts for a range of purposes 9.TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text
Questions from Bloom’s (revised) Taxonomy Remembering Understanding Applying Analysing Evaluating Creating Remembering Write a list of events that happened in the story? Can you recall what parts of Australia were visited in the story? What animal did Poss shrink in the book? What colour did she make kookaburras?  Understanding Draw an illustration to match the text (random selection by the teacher) Who is the key character in the story and what message is she trying to portray to the reader? Applying If you were made invisible what are some of the things that you would do? What questions would you ask Grandma Poss if you had the opportunity to speak to her? Analysing Why didn’t Grandma Poss leave Hush invisible for ever? Design a questionnaire to ask your classmates about whether they would or would not like to be invisible Evaluating Would it be good or bad if all grandmas had magic powers? Conduct a class debate about which character has the better role- Grandma Poss or Hush Creating How would the story be different if it was about Bears in America? Create a sequel to the story using different Australian animals?