Bat's Big Blunder

story by Millie Lewis , illustrated by Cheryl Orsini

Learning Intention:

 

I am learning to identify the way character’s feelings can have an impact on the complication and resolution of a story so that I can consider this when writing my own narrative texts.

 

Success Criteria:

 

  • I can identify the way an author uses specific language techniques to make reading more interesting and enjoyable for the reader.
  • I can identify the way the author uses different outcomes to demonstrate the personality traits of different characters.

 

Oral language and communication:

1st Reading

  • Who visited the laundry? What were they there for?
  • What was Mr Bat’s ‘blunder’?
  • How was each animal affected by the blunder? How did they discover this? How did each of them feel when they were given someone else’s clothes?
  • How did the first three animals react the next day when Mr Bat opened his laundry again? What was different about Mr Chameleon’s reaction?
  • How did Mr Bat’s blunder give Mrs Bat a brilliant idea? How did customers react to this idea?

 

Understanding text:

2nd Reading

  • What is the significance of what’s written on the sign at the beginning of the story? Why is it amusing that:
  • It mentions attention to detail
  • It suggests customers let their clothes ‘hang out’ with Mr & Mrs Bat
  • What is different about the way each customer enters the laundry? How does this fit with the type of animal they are? Why would the author use these verbs instead of writing that they ‘walked’ or ‘wandered’ into the laundry?
  • What does Mrs Bat mean when she says they’ll have the clothes ‘spiffy in a jiffy’?
  • Why would Mr Chameleon’s clothes immediately disappear?
  • Why would  Miss Flamingo be aghast at seeing herself in a dull suit?

 

3rd Reading

  • In the opening paragraph, it says:
  • ‘The washing machines and dryers gamed brilliantly behind the shop windows, polished to perfection.
  • What does this tell us about Mrs Bat’s attitude towards the laundry? How might she be feeling about the grand opening?
  • Why might Mr Bat use the phrase ‘Don’t get in a flap, dear’ to his wife?
  • What does Mr Chameleon mean by he wanted to know how he would feel to ‘stand out in a crowd’? How did Bat’s Blunder change the way he felt about himself?
  • Why did Mrs Bat wrap her husband in a big embrace? Why was Mr Bat surprised by this?
  • What does Mr’s Bat mean when she wrote ‘Take a walk in someone else’s shoes … and socks!’?