Ruby’s Wish
Speaking and Listening
Before reading
•
Ask the children to guess what Ruby’s wish might be after showing them the cover.
Read the Story
•Listen to the story of Ruby’s Wish read aloud. Think about what life would have been like living in China in a house with over one hundred other children.
•Discuss how life would be different to student’s life in Australia today.
•Find China (The People’s Republic of China) on a globe or world map. It is an immense area in central and eastern Asia. Can you find and note down the names of all the countries that border China. Chinese civilisation is believed to date from the Xia dynasty (2200-1700BC) This story is set in the 19th Century. Through looking at Chong Ling’s Chinese video (Curriculum Corporation) students could gain an insight into the differences between traditional China as portayed in this story and contemporary China as in the video of Chong Ling’s China.
The images of Ruby’s Wish The book was illustrated by Sophie Blackall.
•The distinctive architecture of traditional China; the sloping curved roofs, the moon shaped gates, the traditional bridges, the interesting walls that enclose the courtyards are all present in this wonderful picture book
Literacy Activities
Writing poetry can be so much fun. Using the red images in the book create a red poem using the structure similar to the one below. The first line is simply red red red. The second line must be three one syllable things and the third line three two syllable things and the third line has three three syllable words. The last line repeats the beginning red red red.
Red
Red, red, red,
Shoes, bows, doors
Lanterns, roosters, jackets
Envelopes, abacus, Grandmother,
Red ,red, red.
Create a similar structured poem using students favourite colour.
Mounted on coloured cardboard and illustrated with coloured objects these poems will make a wonderful display.
Vocabulary Activity
Use the shape of the trees in the story to create tree images on which new vocabulary such as terrapin, prosperity, porcelain, calligraphy can be written.
Calligraphy.
The story has many wonderful examples of Chinese calligraphy. Teach your class the art of Chinglish as created by Xu Bing. Then create beautiful calligraphy screens with their spelling words on it.
History
Spend time interviewing grandparents asking them what they wished for when they were Ruby’s age. Are these wishes similar to what we would wish for today?
Art
Consider the many Chinese patterns in this story. Try to copy these patters and create a lantern with a collage of these exciting patterns.
http://www.chroniclebooks.com/Chronicle/excerpt/0811834905-e0.html
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/chinese-new-year/kids-books/rubys-wish.html
