EDLA203 Melissa Gallo

Sara Sirianni S00122173

Assignment 1 Storytelling Program

a) Bibliographic Details of Text:
Walker, Anna. (2012). Peggy. Location: Scholastic.



b) Childrens Booklist Council Shortlist Details:
This picture book, Peggy by Anna Walker, was in the Childrens Booklist Council
early childhood short list category in 2013.

c) Rationale for Choice of Text:
I chose this particular text because at first I thought the story was very sweet,
but also had important underlying messages in it. It describes the story of a
brave chicken called Peggy on a big adventure. In beautiful water ink and collage
illustrations, the feeling of the little chicken lost and alone in the busy city
streets, ignored by the bustling workers with their sea of umbrellas will win the
hearts of the readers like it did mine, watching as Peggy tries to find her way
home. This book is aimed for early childhood. I liked how there was more
interaction from the illustrations than the words, which enables the children to
think beyond the picture and use their imagination. Furthermore, it is helpful for
young children and weak readers to get involved. This is a story to inspire
EDLA203 Melissa Gallo
Sara Sirianni S00122173
children everywhere to be brave and conquer their fears. Beck and McKeon
(2001) state that in order to enhance childrens developing language and
comprehension skills, read aloud texts should be conceptually challenging
enough that children must engage in constructing meaning. Peggy is
conceptually challenging for young children as it deals with themes such as new
experiences and friendship. Each of the things she does could initiate discussions
with children about being lost and keeping safe. Also about bravery and courage,
about trying something new, about adventure, and about not being afraid of the
unknown. Good childrens literature can provide children with models and
understandings of belonging, being and becoming. Books written from different
cultural perspectives can enhance a childs awareness of and tolerance for the
diversity in their world. (Fellowes & Oakley, 2010, pg. 473)

d) Activity 1
The first activity based on the picture book, Peggy, is a character profile of one of
the characters from the story. It could be a choice of Peggy the chicken, the
pigeons, or one of the people that stood out to them in the crowd. Once the
children have chosen one of the characters from the book they will write a
description about it. The criteria for the profile will include the following:
physical characteristics/appearance, behaviour, how the character is involved in
the story, and what the character is trying to do/goals.

Activity 2
The second activity I would get the children to do is to change the ending of the
story. This task requires them to use their imagination and make it as creative as
possible. In the picture book I chose, it ends with the pigeons helping Peggy find
her way back home and starting her daily routines again. She even sometimes
caught the train to the city where she got lost in the beginning. The children
might choose to have a twist in the ending, or a cliff hanger that may require a
sequel. Once this is completed the children will share their story endings by
reading them aloud to the rest of the class. This is good because it allows the
students to orally story tell and as a result practice their speaking skills.

EDLA203 Melissa Gallo
Sara Sirianni S00122173
Activity 3
The third activity is to use their creative writing experiences to create an
alternative story based on the book Peggy, where the children have to pick a
different main character and a different city for the story to be set in. In this book
the main character is a chicken and the story is set in Melbourne. The children
may choose to pick another animal or a person as the main character and
another country for the location. This activity will be set out using the narrative
genre. The main purpose of this genre is to entertain through storytelling and to
engage the reader in an imaginative experience. (PDST, n/a)

e) Value of Activity 1
This activity being the character profile gets the children to look closely at the
characters in the story and analyze one in particular in detail. This also helps
them understand the story from the characters point of view. Furthermore, it
will help them with future writing activities during the planning process where
they can design each character based on a profile, as the more you know, the
better you can write your characters and present them to your readers. These
things will come out in their actions, dialogue, and thoughts.

Value of Activity 2
By getting the children to think of an alternative ending to the story it is allowing
them to expand their imagination. Sharing their stories with the whole class at
the end of the task not only benefits the oral language skills of the teller, but also
benefits the listeners, Sharing storiespromotes not only the tellers skills but
also the listening skills of the other children in the group (Curenton, 2006, pg.
83). The children listening to stories use their knowledge of story grammar
and language features to construct meaning and provide feedback to the
storytellers (Dawkins & ONeill, 2011, pg. 304). Co-narration, being the act of
multiple children contributing to the story by asking questions, providing
feedback or adding to the story (Curenton, 2006, pg. 84) helps children to build
a language community within the classroom.

EDLA203 Melissa Gallo
Sara Sirianni S00122173
Value of Activity 3
By children creating their own story based on Peggy, it is encouraging them to
use their own experiences and adapting them to their story. It is allowing them
to retell the story in their own way. In order to compose a text that effectively
communicates meaning, the writer must: consider the purpose for
communicating, the information to be conveyed and the type of text to be used,
conceptualize ideas and translate them from oral to written form. Select,
combine, arrange and develop ideas into effective sentences and paragraphs.
(Fellowes & Oakley, 2010, pg. 326) These knowledge, skills and strategies are all
being applied in this writing activity.

Word count: 1100

f) References:

Anna Walker Illustration. (n/a). Peggy. Retrieved from:
http://annawalker.com.au/annas-books/item/peggy-3.html

Beck, I., McKeon M. (2001). Text Talk: Capturing the Benefits of Read-Aloud
Experiences for Young Children, The Reading Teacher, 55.1, 10-20.
Retrieved from:
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy1.acu.edu.au/education/docview/20
3275189/13FF5CF30593589805A/3?accountid=8194

Curenton, S. (2006). Oral Storytelling a Cultural Art that Promotes School
Readiness, YC Young Children, 61(5), 78-89. Retrieved from:
http://search.proquest.com/docview/197615180?accountid=8194

Dawkins, S., & O'Neill, M. (2011). Teaching Literary Language in a Storytelling
Intervention. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 34(3), 294-307.
Retrieved from:
http://ezproxy.acu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.informit.com.au/docu
EDLA203 Melissa Gallo
Sara Sirianni S00122173
mentSummary;dn=188515;res=AEIPT

Fellowes, J., Oakley, G. (2010). Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education.
Vic: Oxford.

Professional Development Service for Teachers. (n/a). First Steps Writing.
Retrieved from: http://www.pdst.ie/node/314

The Childrens Book Council of Australia. (2012). Book of the Year Short List -
2013. Retrieved from: http://cbca.org.au/