Will Wonders Never Cease? Wobbly Wonders

Learning Intention:

I am learning to assess information from a non-fiction source so that I can incorporate it into my imaginative writing.

Success criteria:

• I can understand and communicate information I have learned from an article
• I can imagine the point of view of another creature based on this information
• I can create an imaginary scenario based on information from the article

Essential knowledge:

Information about points of view can be found in the English Textual Concepts video Point of View.

After reading the article, discuss what we know about the life of the jellyfish in Jellyfish Lake. Points mentioned should include:

• They are surrounded by millions of other jellyfish
• They do not eat food
• They get their energy from the sun
• They swim across the lake from one side to another over the course of a day to follow the sun
• They only have a mild sting
• They sometimes encounter tourists who swim in the lake with them

Ask students to think about what a day might be like for them if they were one of these jellyfish. Have them consider the following questions:

• How would you feel swimming around with millions of other jellyfish? Would you like having all that company or would you find it too crowded?
• Would you enjoy swimming across the lake to follow the sun? Would you be happy drifting leisurely in the warmth or would you feel anxious trying to keep up with the sun as it moves?
• What would your reaction be to see a human diving into your lake? Would you be scared and try to sting them to protect yourself or would you be curious and try to swim closer?

Students should use their ideas on what their life may be like as a jellyfish to create 2 – 3 short diary entries in their own ‘Jellyfish Journal.’ This may be written in their books or on paper.

Remind students that diary entries are created to reflect on their experiences and feelings of that day. Therefore, diary entries should include:

• The date of the entry (these should be made up to pretend they are written on different days)
• Past tense (e.g. It was fun when we went swimming)
• Emotive language (e.g. I felt lonely, I was excited)
• Time conjunctions (e.g. At first, then, after that)
• Observations (e.g. I saw a big splash, I noticed everyone moving around)

To assist students with structure, model a diary entry, such as:

I was feeling bored this morning while I floated along the western bank of the river, so I bounced along to find my best friend, Jibbly. She was playing with her little brother, Jubbly making rings of bubbles around each other and gliding through them. We were having a lot of fun with our game, but after a while everyone started to move across to keep warm in the sun and they were getting in our way, so I started to become annoyed. There just was not enough room to play. We decided to play follow the leader instead as we headed east. Just as we were getting close to the other bank, we noticed some big creatures on the outside of the water looking down at us. They had a lot of stuff with them and they were loud and scary. I hope they do not come back tomorrow.