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Penguin Books Australia

A story which revolves around Kerry's experiences in her first day at a new school, First Friend is an ideal springboard for talking about and exploring students' own school environment. This Aussie Nibble lends itself to a wonderful array of activities that readily integrate maths and language. Your classroom ideas section offers purposeful and enjoyable tasks which encourage children to research, report and share their learning. Ideas are simple and the theme is one of central importance and relevance in the world of children - SCHOOL!

Ideas for using this book in your classroom are set out in three sections.

  • General activities stimulated by this story
  • Chapter by chapter question/activity suggestions
  • Page Points – a suggested list of ‘critical’ pages where an event, situation or experience in the story is a particularly useful stimulus. ‘Page points’ can be explored through discussion, drama, artwork or writing to develop key skills (such as prediction, interpretation, reasoning, opinion-sharing, comprehension, deduction) and promote thoughtful reflection on the story.

a) General Activities

NAMES OF THINGS
Houses – What names are given to designate different groups in your school – eg: for Sports, Music, etc. (refer to p.5. points of compass)

Classes – How are the classes or classrooms identified? – eg: colours, teachers’ names, letters.

DESCRIPTIONS
Use written language and develop a broad vocabulary to describe your classroom or given parts of the school. Use illustration to show individual perceptions or collate a class picture.

MAPPING
The physical layout – of the classroom, the playground or the school

Groupings in the room – again map out or count using groups of things. (refer to p.8 classroom arrangement)

MATHEMATICAL VOCABULARY
The story contains much description of the school layout and how Kerry travels around. This is useful for helping students describe their own environment with directional language. eg: the canteen is next to the library; the oval is at the far end of the playground; turn right at the end of the long, gravel path and walk in between the office and the uniform shop.

SURVEYS
Arrange for small groups/pairs of students to visit other classrooms and find out something useful – eg: the number of children in each class or the number of boys and girls or how the tables are grouped. (refer to p.4)

INTERVIEWS
Students can interview other teachers – describe or draw them; find out one or two things of interest about them; list teachers’ names with grades they teach. (refer to p.6. Kerry’s teacher)

TIMETABLE
Daily routine – what you do, where you go, who you are with, etc. (refer to p.9 routine of the day)

FAVOURITE THINGS
Identify individual or class preferences about favourite parts of the school – aspects of the daily routine, the playground, subjects, etc.

 

b) Chapter by Chapter Question and Activity Ideas

Chapter One – New School

  • Feeling ‘new’ – What helps you to settle in? How does it feel seeing so many strange faces? How can we help new people?
  • What do you know about your classroom? – the teacher’s name, number of students, routines followed, etc.
  • How is your classroom set up?
  • Does your grade sing particular songs? What are they? (refer to p.11 Kerry’s grade sings new songs)
  • What was different about this school compared with Kerry’s old school?

Chapter Two – A long way

  • What other rooms in the school do you use? eg: art room, library, music room. Describe how you get to these rooms from your classroom.
  • Divide class into groups to present a) where – how we get to the music room/computer lab/library, etc; b) when we go; c) what we do there; d) who the teacher is; e) any special rules in that room (be quiet, put away instruments, turn off computers, etc.)
  • How does Kerry get to the library? Follow her path by reading it aloud and listing the parts of the school she discovers on the way.

Chapter Three – Old Friends

  • What happens in Kerry’s library? Is that how things work in your library (borrowing and book changing procedures)?
  • Kerry finds her favourite books (p.28). What are your favourite books? Can you find them in the library?
  • What do you think this means – ‘Kerry was among friends again’? Can books and stories be your ‘friends’? Explain why or why not.

Chapter Four – Which way?

  • Have you ever been confused in a new place – school, a shopping centre, your Mum or Dad’s work? How can we find out where to go? Who do we ask? What sensible things should you remember in case you get lost or are unsure where to go?
  • On p.40 Kerry meets Black Dog. What are her first feelings?
  • What would you do in Kerry’s situation? What did she do?
  • Where might the dog have come from?
  • What do you think is going to happen?

Chapter Five – Black Dog

  • Read the description of Black Dog. Can you describe a dog you know?
  • Why would Kerry be scared? Do you find any animals scary – why?
  • Black Dog is trying to tell Kerry something. How does he do it? What sorts of things can animals communicate with their body language?
  • What do you think the dog is doing?

Chapter Six – New Friend

  • So what was it that Black dog was trying to do? Why was he there?
  • Do Kerry’s feelings change? Why does she feel differently now?
  • Why do you think this is a happy ending? What has Black Dog done for Kerry?
  • Have you had any experiences like Kerry?

KEY ISSUES TO EXPLORE: School – Friendships – Fear – Good coming from Bad

c) Page Points

  • Kerry’s father changes jobs, Kerry’s family moves to a new town, Kerry has a new school. (p.2)
  • Kerry steps outside the library and is completely lost. (p.37)
  • Kerry meets Black Dog for the first time. (p.40)
  • Black Dog and Kerry join the children in the playground on Kerry’s first day. (p.61)