Story Summary:
'Betty the Yeti lives up where it snows...' and she really doesn't like it. Her whole world is all boring and white, so one day she decides to go in search of colour...with hilarious, calamitous results. From getting ‘donked on the head’, freezing in the ocean, and being covered by snow, Betty goes through it all in her search. Will she ever be able to find colour and be free of her boring, white existence?
Creator Biographies:
Emily S. Smith- Author
Emily S. Smith is an Early Childhood Educator who has a degree (with Honours) in Teaching and Early Childhood Studies from the University of Newcastle, as well as 12 years’ experience in the Early Childhood industry.
She is an imaginative and fun-loving author, who is passionate about storytelling and all things literacy, and has a keen interest in helping young children to develop a love of reading.
Graham Davidson- Illustrator
Graham Davidson has nearly forty years’ experience as a creative professional in advertising, film and television. He has extensive experience as an animator (character and effects), illustrator, storyboard artist, script writer, and director.
In 2017, he placed second in the Creative Kids Tales illustration competition, was shortlisted in the Writers Unleashed picture book competition, and had a 10000 word fairy tale re-telling published in the YA anthology “Wish Upon a Southern Star.”
Extension Activities and Ideas for Classroom Discussion:
Reading:
Teachers- On the first reading, show the children the illustrations instead of reading aloud to them. Have them come up with their own ideas for the text. You can prompt their learning with questions such as, what do you think she might be thinking in this picture?
On one of the later readings, don’t show the children the illustrations. Have the children close their eyes to visualise the pictures. Explain to the students that the word "visualisation" means to use all of our senses to help us imagine or picture something in our minds. Briefly review with students the five senses. When we use our imagination, we are visualising. Explain to students that to practice visualising, we will be using all of our senses and our imagination. Read the story with the children’s eyes closed.
After reading, re-read a few select pages and ask the children to tell you what they could see in their “mind’s eye”.
When you read the story, ask children to think about the pictorial elements. Prompt their discussion with questions like, what do we learn from this picture? How do we know she is mad? Why does Betty have her eyes closed? Why does the snow fall on Betty? How does the owl know about different colours?
Characters, Setting, Event-
Ask the students if the story would be as good if it was “Betty the Yeti’s Normal Day’? Discuss “Characters: Who?”, “Setting: Where?” and “Events: What happened?” When the story is finished, use a sheet of large chart paper to create a chart with three columns labelled "Characters: Who?," "Setting: Where?," and "Events: What happened?" Ask the students to list who was in the story. Write the names of the characters in large bold colours. Draw simple pictures with the names if possible. Go through and fill in Setting and Events.
Give children cards with S, C and E on them, teacher labels different things from the story eg “Betty the Yeti”, “the ocean”, “donked on the head”, children hold up corresponding cards to demonstrate if they think it is the setting, a character or an event- write this in the chart
K-2 Teacher Notes
K-2 Teacher Notes
Speaking and Listening:
Tell your teacher everything you can remember about the story so that he or she can write it on the board. Place all the events on the board in the order they happened in the story.
What are some of the ways Betty the Yeti tries to find colour? If you were Betty the Yeti, where would you look, or what would you do, to find colour?
How did you feel while you were listening to the story? Did you think any parts of the story were funny? Which parts? Can you find the pages?
Most of the pictures in the book are in black and white. Every now and then there are pops of colour. When do you see colour? Why do you think the creators did this?
What colours have been used to represent Betty’s feelings? Tell your classmates about a time when you have been angry/disappointed/sad/happy/jealous.
'Betty the Yeti’s Disappointing Day’ is filled with rhyming words. Examine the book find all of the rhyming words. With a partner, list as many rhyming words as you can in ten minutes. Display your words around the room. Use these rhyming words to write your own rhyming story.
Discuss the illustrations of Betty the Yeti and the different Arctic animals she comes across (compare size, appearance etc.) Have children write on different coloured sticky notes descriptions of each character based on what they see in the illustrations. Using information from the sticky notes, compare Betty and the different animals on Venn diagrams –appearance, characteristics, qualities.
Students retell the story of “Betty the Yeti’s Disappointing Day” with their partners using key words from their graphic organiser. Teacher can scribe sentences to create a full retell to be elaborated on during modelled writing.
Recap the main points of the story (Very Important Points).Using selected illustrations, students sequence the story. Ask students to identify key words and write them on a graphic organiser:
Who
What
When
Where
Writing:
Make a large poster of the different emotions Betty feels and display it in the room.
The blurb on the back of the book often tells the reader what the story is about or makes people want to find out more. Write a new blurb for Betty the Yeti’s Disappointing Day that will encourage others to read it.
Create new titles for Betty- for example “Betty the Yeti’s Fun-filled Day”, or “Betty the Yeti’s Dripping-Wet Day” or “Betty the Yeti’s Dangerous Day”- write a story that goes with the new title.
This story is written in rhyming verse. Rewrite the story in different forms such as a narrative or a report. For example- write a news report about Betty’s search for colour and everything that went wrong, or an interview with Mother Nature who would have watched Betty’s entire adventure.
At the end of the story, Betty uses her imagination to “see” colours, and then opens her eyes to find the Aurora Borealis in the shape of Mother Nature. What other possible endings can you think of?
Creative Arts:
What do you like about these illustrations? What do you dislike? What do you notice especially about them? How is the action of the story shown?
Recreate the illustrations using charcoal and soft pastels.
Create costumes and props that depict the story and the characters. In small groups create the various scenes from the book and put them into action. Take photos of the “scenes” to turn into a book. Children to re-write the text to go with their books.
In groups, adapt the book for a performance in your classroom. Devise a script and create costumes to represent each animal. Act your adaptation out for your class. If you have access to a video camera, tape it.
After discussing Character, Setting and Events, split the class into three groups to draw the beginning, middle and end of the story. Have each group discuss their artwork and what is represented.
Science:
Source photographic images of the various elements of the Arctic environment and compare them to the illustrations in the book. How are they the same? How are they different? Discuss what it would be like to live in the Arctic.
Draw the animals featured in the book and name them. Pin the pictures up around the room as the basis for a unit of study on each animal.
For each of the animals featured in the story make a poster or Power Point presentation showing:
-
areas in which they live
-
habitat
-
diet
-
endangered status
-
predators (if any)
Explore the Aurora Borealis. What is it? How does it happen?
Geography
Make a map depicting the different environmental features and animals Betty encounters. Show the path Betty walks on her journey in the order of events that take place.
Curriculum Links
National Curriculum Focus
Foundation
Language
ACELA1429
ACELA1431
ACELA1432
ACELA1433
ACELA1434
ACELA1439
ACELA1786
ACELA1440
Literacy
ACELY1646
ACELY1647
ACELY1648
ACELY1651
ACELY1784
Literature
ACELT1575
ACELT1577
ACELT1587
ACELT1580
ACELT1783
ACELT1785
ACELT1578
ACELT1579
Creative Arts
Foundation
ACAMAM054
ACAMAM055
ACAMAM056
ACADRM027
ACADRM028
ACADRM029
Science
Foundation
ACSISO14
Technology
Foundation
ACTDIK001
Year 1
Language
ACELA1447
ACELA1448
ACELA1449
ACELA 1450
ACELA1451
ACELA1453
ACELA1787
Literacy
ACELY1655
ACELY1656
ACELY1658
ACELY1661
ACELY1664
Literature
ACELT1581
ACELT1582
ACELT1583
ACELT1584
ACELT1585
ACELT1586
ACELT1832
Year 1
ACAMAM054
ACAMAM055
ACAMAM056
ACADRM027
ACADRM028
ACADRM029
Year 1
ACSIS024
Year 1
ACTDIK001
Year 2
Language
ACELA1463
ACELA1465
ACELA1469
Literacy
ACELY1667
ACELY1671
ACELY1674
Literature
ACELT1587
ACELT1591
ACELT1592
ACELT1593
ACELT1833
Year 2
ACAMAM054
ACAMAM055
ACAMAM056
ACADRM027
ACADRM028
ACADRM029
Year 2
ACSIS037
Year 2
ACTDIK001
Curriculum Links
New South Wales Curriculum- English
English
Early Stage 1
ENe-1a- communicates with peers and known adults in informal and guided activities demonstrating emerging skills of group interaction
ENe-2A- composes simple texts to convey an idea or message
ENe- 3A- produces most lower case and upper case letters and uses digital technologies to construct texts
ENe-4A- demonstrates developing skills and strategies to read, view and comprehend short, predictable texts on familiar topics in different media and technologies
ENe-6B- recognises that there are different kinds of spoken texts with specific language features and shows an emerging awareness of some purposes for spoken language
ENe-7B- recognises some different purposes for writing and that own texts differ in various ways
ENe-8B- demonstrates emerging skills and knowledge of texts to read and view, and shows developing awareness of purpose, audience and subject matter
ENe-11D- responds to and composes simple texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences
ENe-12E- demonstrates awareness of how to reflect on aspects of their own and others’ learning.
Stage 1
EN1.1A- communicates with a range of people in informal and guided activities demonstrating interaction skills and considers how own communication is adjusted in different situations
EN1.2A- plans, composes and reviews a small range of simple texts for a variety of purposes on familiar topics for known readers and viewers
EN1.3A- composes texts using letters of consistent size and slope and uses digital technologies
EN1-.4A- draws on an increasing range of skills and strategies to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on less familiar topics in different media and technologies
EN1.6B- recognises a range of purposes and audiences for spoken language and recognises organisational patterns and features of predictable spoken texts
En1.7B-identifies how language use in their own writing differs according to their purpose, audience and subject matter
EN1.8B- recognises that there are different kinds of texts when reading and viewing and shows an awareness of purpose, audience and subject matter
EN1.9B- uses basic grammatical features, punctuation conventions and vocabulary appropriate to the type of text when responding to and composing texts
EN1.10C thinks imaginatively and creatively about familiar topics, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts
EN1.11D- responds to and composes a range of texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences
Stage 2
EN2.1A- communicates in a range of informal and formal contexts by adopting a range of roles in group, classroom, school and community contexts
EN2.2A- plans, composes and reviews a range of texts that are more demanding in terms of topic, audience and language
EN2.3A- uses effective handwriting and publishes texts using digital technologies
EN2.4A- uses an increasing range of skills, strategies and knowledge to fluently read, view and comprehend a range of texts on increasingly challenging topics in different media and technologies
EN2.5A- uses a range of strategies, including knowledge of letter–sound correspondences and common letter patterns, to spell familiar and some unfamiliar words
EN2.6B- identifies the effect of purpose and audience on spoken texts, distinguishes between different forms of English and identifies organisational patterns and features
EN2.7B- identifies and uses language forms and features in their own writing appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts
EN2.8B- identifies and compares different kinds of texts when reading and viewing and shows an understanding of purpose, audience and subject matter
EN2.9B- uses effective and accurate sentence structure, grammatical features, punctuation conventions and vocabulary relevant to the type of text when responding to and composing texts
EN2.10C- thinks imaginatively, creatively and interpretively about information, ideas and texts when responding to and composing texts
Creative Arts
Early Stage 1
VAES1.1 Makes simple pictures and other kinds of artworks about things and experiences
VAES1.2 Experiments with a range of media in selected forms
VAES1.3 Recognises some of the qualities of different artworks and begins to realise that artists make artwork
VAES1.4 Communicates their ideas about pictures and other kinds of artworks
MUES1.2 Creates own rhymes, games, songs and simple compositions.
DRAES1.1 Uses imagination and the elements of drama in imaginative play and dramatic situations.
DRAES1.3 Dramatises personal experiences using movement, space and objects
Science
STe-8NE- develop knowledge of the Natural Environment through understanding about the Physical World, Earth and Space, and Living World
Geography
Early Stage 1
GEe-2 communicates geographical information and uses geographical tools
Creative Arts
Stage 1
VAS1.1 Makes artworks in a particular way about experiences of real and imaginary things.
VAS1.3 Realises what artists do, who they are and what they make
VAS1.4 Begins to interpret the meaning of artworks, acknowledging the roles of artist and audience.
MUS1.2 Explores, creates, selects and organises sound in simple structures
DRAS1.1 Takes on roles in drama to explore familiar and imagined situations.
DRAS1.2 Conveys story, depicts events and expresses feelings by using the elements of drama and the expressive skills of movement and voice.
DRAS1.3 Interacts collaboratively to communicate the action of the drama with others.
ST1-11LW- develop knowledge of the Natural Environment through understanding about the Physical World, Earth and Space, and Living World
Geography
Stage 1
GE1-3 communicates geographical information and uses geographical tools for inquiry
Geography
Stage 2
GE2-1 examines features and characteristics of places and environments
GE2-4 acquires and communicates geographical information using geographical tools for inquiry
Creative Arts
Stage 2
MUS2.2 Improvises musical phrases, organises sounds and explains reasons for choices
DRAS2.1 Takes on and sustains roles in a variety of drama forms to express meaning in a wide range of imagined situations
DRAS2.2 Builds the action of the drama by using the elements of drama, movement and voice skills.
DRAS2.3 Sequences the action of the drama to create meaning for an audience.