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Farmer Schulz’s Ducks (Colin Thiele)
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Note: This book study is not yet in its final form, but I include it here in case anyone would like to help us to test it out. If you do so and have feedback you are able to give, I would very much appreciate it. I can be contacted at wonder@riverwillow.com.au. |
Farmer Schulz’s Ducks is a wonderful book by one of
our favourite Australian authors.
It was shortlisted by the Children’s Book Council of Australia for the 1987
award as Book of the Year for Younger Readers.
Colin Thiele, Farmer Schulz’s Ducks, Illustrated by
Mary Milton
First published 1986, republished 1988
Various ISBNs: 073227216 5; 006026182X; 0060261838
30 pages
Colin Thiele was born in South Australia in 1920 of
German ancestry. Apart from service in the RAAF during World War II, he was a
teacher for all of his working life. In addition to this he was a prolific
writer, with over 100 books to his credit.
In one interview he said “I loved interesting words and unusual language”, and
this is something that is apparent from his writing: he has a wonderful gift
with words, and his descriptions can be almost poetical at times, as we will see
as we read Farmer Schulz’s Ducks.
Mary Milton is a South Australian artist. The illustrations in Farmer Schulz’s Ducks are pen-and-ink and watercolour, produced on a textured background.
This book study was written for use with children from preschool up to grade 3. The main goal of the study is to enjoy the book together, and to foster a love for words and the English language as we go. Please don’t feel that you have to do everything listed here: some of the activities are quite optional, but they would fit in nicely with this particular book study, and they are included for the sake of anyone who would like to do more.
 | Read the book together. Do this several times, though not necessarily on consecutive days, and not necessarily on those days when another major activity is planned. |
| After the first reading, talk about what happened in the story (this may be a formal narration or not, as you prefer) |
| Discuss the setting of
Farmer Schulz’s Ducks – where does the story take place? Find South
Australia on a map. Find the Onkaparinga River on the map (you will probably
need a large-scale map for this – or search on the Internet). Which city is the Onkaparinga River near?
Write down each of these place names. Where is the Onkaparinga River in
relation to where you live? Optional extra – Name all of the Australian states and territories and their capital cities. Mark them on a blank map of Australia. |
| Discuss the characters – What are the names of the people in Farmer Schulz’s Ducks? What can you say about each of them? Make a list of their names, either in the order they appear in the book, or in alphabetical order. |
| Punctuation – Point out that people’s names, place names, and the names of government departments always begin with capital letters. | ||||||||
| “Let's look it up”:
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| Literary devices: Find examples of:
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| Choose one of the following topics to research and write about: |
A. South Australia
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B. Another Australian state
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C. Ducks
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D. Building a bridge or a tunnel
Alternative Option 1:
Alternative Option 2:
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| Seasons – What season is it now? Tell some of the things that make this season different from the other seasons in the year. Use descriptive language (similes or metaphors or personification) in your account. |
| Farmer Schulz’s Ducks talks about some of the
night-time dangers to the ducks, including “slinking foxes”.
Write a story based on the picture below, of the fox and the ducks. First, look at the picture and talk about what you see in it. Then write (or dictate) the first draft of a story about the fox and ducks. Add in descriptive elements – e.g. tell what season it is and describe it; describe what things look or sound like; use similes or metaphors. (Don’t overdo the descriptive side of things!) Edit the story together and make copies to give to interested friends and relatives. |
(Click on the thumbnail to see picture
full-size.
When you have finished, click back to return to this page.)
| Make a lap book for all the work in this book study. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Talk about different duck sayings, and explain what
they mean:
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| Tie-ins for smaller brothers and sisters:
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| Read other books and poems about ducks, e.g.
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| Read poems that express the enjoyment of words. Two poems are included below, but there are many, many more you could choose. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Draw (or colour) pictures of ducks. Can you copy one of the illustrations in Farmer Schulz’s Ducks? | ||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Play Fox and Geese. This game isn’t strictly to
do with ducks, and it certainly has nothing to do with learning about the
English language – unless you count reading and following the rules! But it
is fun, and is a good logic game. Fox and Geese is a very old board game, dating back to about the time of the Vikings. It requires two players, one of whom is the fox, and the other the geese. See here for the rules: http://www.mastersgames.com/rules/fox-geese-rules.htm, and here for a picture of the board: http://www.mastersgames.com/cat/board/fox-geese.htm This page gives instructions for making your own Fox and Geese game (with a printable game board): http://www.plimoth.org/learn/education/kids/make.asp | ||||||||||||||||||
| Another game is Ducks and Drakes. This involves throwing a flat stone almost horizontally across the surface of a body of water to see who can make the stone skip the most times before it sinks. See here for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ducks_and_drakes |
A Jingle of Words
Elizabeth Alden Scott (Betty Stam, 1906-1934)Don’t you love the common words
In usage all the time;
Words that paint a masterpiece,
Words that beat a rhyme,
Words that sing a melody,
Words that leap and run,
Words that sway a multitude,
Or stir the heart of one?Don’t you love the lively words—
Flicker, leap and flash,
Tumble, stumble, pitch and toss,
Dive and dart and dash,
Scramble, pirouette and prance,
Hurtle, hurdle, fling,
Waddle, toddle, trot and dance,
Soar and snatch and swing?Don’t you love the lengthy words—
Subterranean,
Artificial, propagate,
Neopolitan,
Revelation, elevate,
Ambidextrous
Undenominational,
Simultaneous?Don’t you love the noisy words—
Clatter, pop, and bang,
Scrape and creak and snarl and snort,
Crash and clash and clang,
Crackle, cackle, yowl and yap,
Snicker, snare and sneeze,
Screech and bellow, slash and howl,
Whistle, whine and wheeze?Don’t you love the colourful—
Amber, rose and gold,
Orchid, orange and cerise,
Crimson, emerald,
Purple, plum and lavender,
Peach and Prussian blue,
Turquoise matrix, jade and jet,
Hazel, honeydew?Yes, with just the common words
In usage everywhere,
You can capture incidents
Beautiful and rare.
In words you have a weapon
More mighty than a gun;
You can sway the multitude
Or stir the heart of one.
The Cataract of Lodore
Robert Southey (1774-1830)“How does the water
Come down at Lodore?”
My little boy asked me
Thus, once on a time;
And moreover he tasked me
To tell him in rhyme.
Anon, at the word,
There first came one daughter,
And then came another,
To second and third
The request of their brother,
And to hear how the water
Comes down at Lodore,
With its rush and its roar,
As many a time
They had seen it before.
So I told them in rhyme,
For of rhymes I had store;
And ’twas in my vocation
For their recreation
That so I should sing;
Because I was Laureate
To them and the King.
From its sources which well
In the tarn on the fell;
From its fountains
In the mountains,
Its rills and its gills;
Through moss and through brake,
It runs and it creeps
For a while, till it sleeps
In its own little lake.
And thence at departing,
Awakening and starting,
It runs through the reeds,
And away it proceeds,
Through meadow and glade,
In sun and in shade,
And through the wood-shelter,
Among crags in its flurry,
Helter-skelter,
Hurry-scurry.
Here it comes sparkling,
And there it lies darkling;
Now smoking and frothing
Its tumult and wrath in,
Till, in this rapid race
On which it is bent,
It reaches the place
Of its steep descent.
The cataract strong
Then plunges along,
Striking and raging
As if a war waging
Its caverns and rocks among;
Rising and leaping,
Sinking and creeping,
Swelling and sweeping,
Showering and springing,
Flying and flinging,
Writhing and ringing,
Eddying and whisking,
Spouting and frisking,
Turning and twisting,
Around and around
With endless rebound:
Smiting and fighting,
A sight to delight in;
Confounding, astounding,
Dizzying and deafening the ear with its sound.
Collecting, projecting,
Receding and speeding,
And shocking and rocking,
And darting and parting,
And threading and spreading,
And whizzing and hissing,
And dripping and skipping,
And hitting and splitting,
And shining and twining,
And rattling and battling,
And shaking and quaking,
And pouring and roaring,
And waving and raving,
And tossing and crossing,
And flowing and going,
And running and stunning,
And foaming and roaming,
And dinning and spinning,
And dropping and hopping,
And working and jerking,
And guggling and struggling,
And heaving and cleaving,
And moaning and groaning;
And glittering and frittering,
And gathering and feathering,
And whitening and brightening,
And quivering and shivering,
And hurrying and scurrying,
And thundering and floundering;
Dividing and gliding and sliding,
And falling and brawling and sprawling,
And driving and riving and striving,
And sprinkling and twinkling and wrinkling,
And sounding and bounding and rounding,
And bubbling and troubling and doubling,
And grumbling and rumbling and tumbling,
And clattering and battering and shattering;
Retreating and beating and meeting and sheeting,
Delaying and straying and playing and spraying,
Advancing and prancing and glancing and dancing,
Recoiling, turmoiling and toiling and boiling,
And gleaming and streaming and steaming and beaming,
And rushing and flushing and brushing and gushing,
And flapping and rapping and clapping and slapping,
And curling and whirling and purling and twirling,
And thumping and plumping and bumping and jumping,
And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing;
And so never ending, but always descending,
Sounds and motions for ever and ever are blending
All at once and all o’er, with a mighty uproar, -
And this way the water comes down at Lodore.
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