Sylphie's Squizzes: Gobblers on the Go

article by Zoë Disher , photo by Alamy

Outcomes

Learning intention:

I am learning to read and use vocabulary in context so that I can develop greater precision in my writing.

 

Success criteria:

  • I can define the term droving.
  • I can use the term droving in context.
  • I can apply the term droving to my own writing.

 

Before reading the article, write the word DROVING on the board and ask students to think about a possible definition. Have them write their definition in their books. Then, display the sentence ‘Farmers are droving their cattle to new pastures’ on the board and again ask students to write a definition, using new contextual understanding to change their answers if necessary.

 

Define the term droving as ‘To move farm animals on foot from one place to another’ (from Cambridge Dictionary). Highlight the words farm and foot and discuss the specificity of the definition. Display the title of the article on the board, ‘Gobblers on the Go’, and ask students to predict what the article will be about.

 

Read the article as a class. Ask if anyone was surprised by the content of the article after learning what droving meant. Did anyone expect turkeys to be the farm animal moved on foot?

 

Hand out a page with the below questions and view ABC’s video Historic Cattle Droving Journey, with students answering the questions as they watch.

 

Questions for Historic Cattle Droving Journey:

  • How many cattle are being moved?
  • Where did the cattle come from?
  • Where are the cattle going?
  • Why are the cattle being moved?
  • How far did the cattle walk?
  • What are the challenges of droving?
  • What are the benefits?

 

Answers:

  • How many cattle are being moved? 18,000
  • Where did the cattle come from? Western QLD and NT
  • Where are the cattle going? Southern NSW (Riverina)
  • Why are the cattle being moved? Lack of rain
  • How far did the cattle walk? 1500km
  • What are the challenges of droving? Cattle at the back don’t get much food, traffic, wellbeing of cattle.
  • What are the benefits? Education for cattle, they’ll not stress, be easy to muster, easy to handle.

 

Students write a short article in the style of ‘Gobblers on the Go’ about the video, using the information from their answers. Ensure they use the term droving in their article. Give students the below checklist for writing their article.

 

  1. Has a heading
  2. Has a by-line (who the article is written by)
  3. Has interesting and relevant subheadings (Moving out! A long walk; Dangerous droving)
  4. Has at least one relevant paragraph under each heading
  5. Can include photographs/illustrations