RIC-6277 I can dance the Barramundi

ROTTNEST
Preparation
• Collect pictures of Rottnest Island and quokkas.
Presentation
• Share and discuss the pictures with the
class.
• Say the rhyme with the actions for the class.
Additional activities/information
• Rottnest, a holiday island, is 19 km from
Fremantle off the west coast of Western
Australia. It takes about 30 minutes to get
there by ferry.
• Rottnest is 11 kilometres long, 4.5 kilometres
at its widest point and the land area
measures 1900 hectares.
• The quokka is a small Australian marsupial
that lives on Rottnest Island. It is a quiet,
furry little creature with gentle dark eyes,
a small round head, a short thick tail and
strong hind legs and bounds along in long
and short hops.
• The quokka is a herbivore and eats grass,
leaves, shrubs and succulents. It is active at
night and shelters during the day in small
groups in dense low scrub.
• Share the following story with the class, then
discuss being a friend or buddy.
OCKER THE QUOKKA
Little Ocker the Quokka lived in the quokka retreat on Rottnest,
a holiday island. One night he decided to have an adventure.
He saw some bright lights in the distance and hopped towards
them.
Humans were everywhere. Ocker hopped up to a doorway and
peeped inside. Humans were sitting together laughing and
talking. Ocker took one step inside, then another step and
another—and suddenly he was tangled up in two long legs!
The legs belonged to a human who was carrying a large tray.
Cups and cakes and the tray and the human went fl ying through
the air and there was a terrifi c CRASH!
‘Oops!’ said Ocker. He grabbed a cake from the fl oor, hopped out
the door and back to the retreat as fast as he could.
‘You have cake crumbs on your whiskers’, said the quiet voice of
Elder Quokka. ‘Where have you been?’
Ocker licked his whiskers and told Elder Quokka all about his
adventure.
• The class claps the beat while saying the
rhyme.
• The class says the rhyme with the actions.
‘Do not wander away again’, said Elder Quokka.
Ocker meant to obey Elder Quokka, but two nights later while
he was foraging for food, he found a ‘Boogie Bug’ three-wheeled
trike on a path that led down to the beach.
He hopped on the seat and the wheels began to turn faster and
faster until the Boogie Bug bumped into a sandhill and Ocker
fl ew over the handlebars.
‘Wow!’ said Ocker as he brushed himself off. ‘Wow!’
The sun was coming up and Ocker watched sea lions ducking and
diving through the waves. A family of dolphins frolicked past and
waved their fl ippers and Ocker waved back. He decided to have a
quick paddle in the rock pools when ... Ouch! A crab made a grab
at Ocker’s paw with its claw. His paw hurt and it took him a long
time to hobble home.
Trusty, a little girl quokka who always smiled at Ocker and said
‘Hello’, hopped up to him.
‘Elder Quokka’s looking for you’, she said. ‘He’s worried about you.’
But Ocker was already planning his next adventure. Would he
climb the Wadjemup Lighthouse or explore the guns and tunnels
at Battery Point?
The next night, Ocker set off but his paw hurt and he curled up
in a quiet place and fell asleep. A loud noise woke him. It was
morning and an aeroplane was circling round and round overhead
and men were running towards him ...
Ocker had fallen asleep on the airport runway! The men caught
him, wrapped him in a blanket and drove him to the quokka
retreat.
‘Does this quokka belong to you?’ one of the men asked Elder
Quokka and Trusty.
‘He does’, said Elder Quokka. ‘I hope he hasn’t been troublesome.’
The men told him what had happened at the airport. Then they
drove away. Ocker stood there looking very foolish and ashamed.
‘Ocker’s real name is Oscar’, Elder Quokka told Trusty. ‘It is a
grown-up name and I think Oscar has grown up at last. What
Oscar needs now is not an adventure but a buddy.’
‘I’ll be Oscar’s buddy’, said Trusty. ‘If he wants me to.’
‘Yes, please’, said Oscar.
And Oscar Quokka and Trusty Buddy lived happily ever after in
the quokka retreat on the holiday island of Rottnest.
©R.I.C. Publications
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Display Copy
I can dance the barramundi
74 R.I.C. Publications ® www.ricgroup.com.au
ISBN 978-1-74126-424-1