About

the Childrens Literature Text:

This text is about a family of Apatosauruss who
live and work on a farm. The family consists of
Poppa, Momma, Buck, Libby and Arlo. Arlo is the
smallest among his siblings and finds it difficult to
keep up with them, as he is not as tall or strong.
One day there was a storm and Arlo falls into a
river that sweeps him far away from his home and
family. Arlo is then forced to face his fears and call
upon his inner strength to help himself find his
way home. On his journey meets a human boy
called Spot and they develop a strange friendship.
The two boys are faced with obstacles and
challenges to help Arlo on his journey home to his
(Disney, 2017) loving family.
The Purpose of the E-Resource:
This E-Resource was created to stimulate the students about the new theme of
Dinosaurs and Pre-Historic times. The childrens literature text The Good Dinosaur
by Disney Pixar was chosen as the focus text because it is links clearly to the
theme. Furthermore, it shows the students the aspect of resilience and that
anyone can be strong enough to overcome their fears. The students will be given
the opportunity to actively engage with the characters and some of the themes
that are portrayed within the childrens literature text. The theme can cross over
into Humanities and Social Sciences, Mathematics, Science, the Arts and Religious
Education.
The application used for the Scavenger Hunt is called Actionbound which can be
downloaded onto Android or Apple portable devices. This application allows the
students to work individually or in a pair as is self-guided. All of the links, QR codes
and information about this E-Resource can be found on this website
http://thegooddinosauryr3.weebly.com/

West Australian Curriculum Links (E-Resource):
Literature and Context
- Discuss texts in which characters, events and setting are
portrayed in different ways, and speculate on the authors
reasons (ACELT1594)

Responding to Literature Scan the QR code to gain
- Draw connections between personal experiences and the access to The Good Dinosaur
worlds of texts, and share responses with others (ACELT1596) Scavenger Hunt.

Jade Rotondo & Brooke Thomas

Inquiry Process:
(Ideas for each stage of the process for the theme Dinosaurs and Pre-Historic Times)

Stage One: Engage Tuning In
Students will be participating in the E-Resource (Scavenger Hunt) around the classroom to engage
them with the new text and theme of the term, which will also encourage discussions about the
characters, settings and authors meaning for the text.
Complete the know section of the KWL chart of what they know about dinosaurs and pre-historic
times and allowing time to share their prior knowledge in groups.
Complete the want to know section of the KWL chart, composing questions individually or in
small groups.
Watch the trailer for The Good Dinosaur movie. Have students make predictions about the events,
settings, characters and authors intentions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-RgquKVTPE
Stage Two: Explore Finding Out
Read the childrens literature text The Good Dinosaur by Disney Pixar (PLEASE NOTE: There are
two versions, the movie version gives more detail into the storyline).
Students will select three characters from the text and create a character profile (dependent on the
level of students, the number of character profiles can be adapted).
From those character profiles, the students will select one to base their inquiry project on. For
example, if they chose Arlo they will be researching about the Apatosaurus.
Within this stage students can also generate more questions about their chosen dinosaur, to assist
in further inquiry.
Stage Three: Explain Sorting Out
During this stage students will be allowed to work independently to try and answer some of the
questions they generated about the dinosaurs.
They will be recording their information in multiple ways. Tables, graphs, note format on either
paper or using ICT.
Stage Four: Elaborate Going Further, Making Conclusions & Taking Action
Using the information collected and gathered in the third stage, students are going to work with a
partner with a different dinosaur to compare and contrast the two dinosaurs.
Have students complete a Venn-Diagram to show the similarities and differences of the two species
and present their findings to the class. Using this ICT program
https://www.canva.com/graphs/venn-diagrams/
As an assessment task, have students create a persuasive brochure on their original dinosaur, they
can link it to the character within the children literature text or another text that has been found.
This brochure can be created using ICT or with paper, and will be presented to the class in a
presentation style.
Pose the question from the text: If the asteroid did not wipe out all of the dinosaurs, what would
the world be like today? encourage the students to think beyond the norm.
Stage Five: Evaluate Reflection
This stage consists of teachers and students reflecting on what they have learnt over the unit of
work, in this case for the theme Dinosaurs and Pre-Historic Times.
Students will be encouraged to self-reflect and complete the learnt section of the KWL charts
started in the engage stage of the inquiry process.
Have the students work, their KWL charts and dinosaur brochures displayed around the classroom
to create a gallery walk. Students can peer assess, provide supportive feedback to the other
students about their work. This will allow the students to see what the others who had chosen
similar characters (dinosaurs) to compare their information and share resources.
References/Resources:

Actionbound. (2012). Actionbound. Retrieved from https://en.actionbound.com
Disney. (2017). Disney. Retrieved from http://www.disney.com.au
Disney. (2017). The Good Dinosaur [Image]. Retrieved from http://movies.disney.com/the-good-dinosaur
Disney Enterprises, Inc., Pixar Animation Studios (2015). The Good Dinosaur. UK: Parragon Books Ltd
Flint, A., Kitson, L., Lowe,K., & Shaw, K. (2014). Literacy in Australia: Pedagogy for engagement. Milton, QLD:
Wiley.

Jade Rotondo & Brooke Thomas