Resource 5 The Sign of the Seahorse

Title	Author /Illustrator
The Sign Of The Seahorse: A Tale of Greed and High Adventure in Two Acts	Graeme Base
Publisher	Date of publication
Puffin Books	1996
Overview of text Sign of the seahorse is a poetry book, broken up into scenes. Initial identification of the characters in the book are listed as ‘ CAST’, and the book is written in Acts. Illustrations take up the majority of the page, as the language is technical and differs from a traditional story. Excerpt from the blurb: “ Beyond the ken of mortal men, beneath the wind and waves, There lies a land of shells and sand, of chasms, crags and caves, Where coral castles climb and soar, where swaying seaweed grow, And all around without a sound the ocean currents flow…… The story follows the adventures of Pearl Trout and her underwater friends in their search for a new home. The coral reef in which they live has been poisoned, so Pearl follows a vision of a red seahorse to lead them to safety. The story contains elements of humour, drama, action and romance, as well as the underlying message that environmental pollution is threatening the existence of beautiful coral reefs.
Language features This is a poetry book, using rhyme, rhythm and repetition, which can be expressed verbally to construct meaning whilst reading. The language is highly developed, and students will need assistance to decipher some of the hidden and literal meanings of the text. It uses some old fashioned language such as chasms, crags, which students will need to understand the meaning of to understand the poem. (dictionary use)  Students could use this text to construct a rhythmic poem. This type of text could be used to demonstrate and compare narratives, reports etc. The book would also help students with rhythm and rhyme and could be used to teach prefixes and suffixes.
Other textual features (e.g. format, illustrations) Each page is monopolised with illustrations, as this will help students to decipher the meaning of some of the difficult language used in the poem. I feel that this is not a book that could be read continuously, but would need to be read over one to two weeks. There would need to be lots of discussion surrounding the meaning of each act or scene due to the difficult and unfamiliar language choices.
Audience	Genre
Upper primary- Grades 5, 6 and 7	Fiction-poetry

Title of text The Sign Of The Seahorse: A Tale of Greed and High Adventure in Two Acts
Before reading activities	Justification*
1.Look at the front cover and make predictions- focus on  ‘two acts’ what does this mean? 2.Examine further that there are two scenes in this text as well as a prelude and epilogue- examine language features of each and meanings for same 3.Look at the pictures in the text and make predictions based on this.	1.TP -understand how the grammatical structures in the text and the punctuation contribute to it's meanings 2.TU - understand that these functions influence the way texts are structured 3.CB -use and integrate knowledge about images
During reading activities	Justification*
1.Ask students what some of the words mean, or if they can infer what the meaning is based on the storyline 2.On each page make a list of unusual words to be followed up after reading. Create a word wall 3.Identify verbs, nouns and adjectives in text. Discuss how they create meaning 4.Ask students to describe the underlying theme or message of this text?	1.CB -self correct by searching for more information and trying different options and by using strategies such as re-reading, reading ahead and checking illustrations 2.TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 3.TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 4.TA -talk about what the writer of the text believes
After reading activities	Justification*
1.Write a list of the characters in the story (then refer to the cast section at the beginning of the book to check for accuracy) 2.As a whole class write a timeline of events 3.Students will work in pairs to write their interpretation of a particular scene. They will need to examine the specific language used and understand it’s meaning 4.Students will then act out their scene, and put the story in sequence 5.Students will write their own four line poem (in place of one of the paragraphs in the text) 6.Students will read out and record a particular page of the text. Students will be asked to identify which act it belongs to 7.Decide which character you would like to be and draw a picture to represent same 8.Make a list of five words with their rhyming partners. 9.Who you think was the kindest character? State why? 10.Write a class poem in the same style, which portrays the ocean as a wonderful object, free of all negativity draw illustrations to match text 11.Teach the structure of poetry, and how it differs from narratives and reports (Teacher guided activity)	1.TP -. understand how conventions of image making contribute to the texts meaning 2.TU -use texts for a range of purposes 3.TA -compare texts on the same topic from different viewpoints 4.TU -interact with others around a text 5.TA -compare texts on the same topic from different viewpoints 6.TP -participate in unpacking the literal and inferential meanings of the text 7.TP - be able to understand how illustrations, diagrams, graphs and other pictorial features present meaning in the text 8.TP -understand how the grammatical structures in the text and the punctuation contribute to it's meanings 9.TP -participate in unpacking the literal and inferential meanings of the text 10.TA -compare texts on the same topic from different viewpoints 11.TA- understand how a text's structure and features contribute to the way the text portrays ideas or issues
Questions from Bloom’s (revised) Taxonomy Remembering Understanding Applying Analysing Evaluating Creating Remembering Choose a character and describe their role in the text? Write a timeline of events Describe what the poison is and how it affected the creatures in the ocean? Understanding Provide examples of pollution on our oceans Explain what is happening in a particular scene? Make inferences about the ending of the story Explain what is meant by the term ‘poison’ in the text? Applying  Can you apply your knowledge about pollution to illustrate how the ‘poison’ affects the ocean- this could be drawn, make a diorama or creating a depiction of the ocean ruined by various types of pollution (e.g. picture, dimensional object depiction) Can you identify the characteristics of this particular text type? Analysing What was the underlying theme of the story? What do you see as other possible outcomes? What are some of the problems with pollution in our oceans? Evaluating Write how the animals would feel by living in a polluted ocean, as compared to an ocean free from pollution. What are some of the effects on the wildlife Is this a valid way to represent pollution to students of this age- why/why not? Creating How else could this message be made to readers Create a diorama detailing a polluted ocean and one that is not, and decide which environment you would like to live in. Explain what factors need to be addressed to ensure that we do not pollute our oceans?