Possum Magic

Written by Mem Fox Illustrated by Julie Vivas
Text copyright Mem Fox 1983
Illustrations copyright Julie Vivas 1983
An Omnibus Book from Scholastic Australia
ISBN 1862910952

On 31st March 2008 Possum Magic celebrated its 25th Anniversary. This means that for just over 25 Years Possum Magic has enchanted children and adults everywhere. It is a much loved and read picture book.
Possum Magic the Online Project is for teachers and students who want to help celebrate this wonderful book. You can join in and participate anytime.

Getting Started

Teachers:

• Please read "for the teacher"
• Create your profile with a description and an image (just click on your login name at the top right of the page)

Students:

• Try as many of the activities as directed by your teacher
• Upload and share your thoughts and work

Let's Celebrate

Some ideas to celebrate this wonderful book are

• Read the book again and again.
• Make a celebration feast for your class. Remember to make all the things that little possums love to eat.
• Sing some Australian songs you have been learning.
• Try playing and singing ‘Here we go round the lamington plate’ to the tune of 'Here we go round the mulberry bush'.
• View our celebration photo/drawing slideshow. Email digital versions (no more than 3) with a caption to ozprojects@edna.edu.au
• Add some comments to Mem Fox's Guestbook
  

Introductions:

Enter your school name in the Link called 'Introductions' below. Write about your group/class or your team. How old are you? How many in your class/group? Where is your school? Do you live near possums? What do you hope to learn from participating in this online project.

Lets go:

Lets go is all about getting to know about the picture book Possum Magic. Read the book lots of times. Listen to the story and look carefully at the pictures.

Discuss:

• What can you remember about the story?
• How does the story make you feel?
• What makes you feel happy or sad?
• Hush had such fun while she was invisible. She could slide down the back of a kangaroo. What would you do if you were invisible? Where would you go?

Share stories - have a sharing whiteboard where student comments can be put up. Add some of the students thoughts and feelings to the online forum.

Calling for photographs and drawings:

During the Possum Magic online project we want to celebrate the learning you are doing within your classroom. If you take any photos of possums or any activities that you may do you can put them into the shared photo database.

If you have trouble doing this you can send them to us at: ozprojects@edna.edu.au to put together in a celebration photo / drawing slideshow. Email no more than 3 digital images with 1 caption/sentence for each.

Being Creative:

Being creative is all about participating in making and creating things to do with possums and maybe being a bit magical. You are welcome to share your wonderful creations with other students by uploading the pieces below.

Try:

• Creating a possum mask and decorate it. Use the template available at http://www.australiaday.com.au/uploads/sheets/56/possum.jpg
  
• Can you compose music to accompany the story? Use a range of rhythmic and melodic instruments that you have available in your school or classroom, or even make your own. You may like to invent various motifs to play when certain characters or foods are mentioned and record them using pictures on a story map or a sound map.
  
• With masks on and music alive - make up a series of possum movements. Take digital photos and put within a powerpoint to tell the story of the students dance movements. Upload to the project site to share with others. (Note: please make sure that you have permission by the student’s guardian to do this.)
  
• Draw or paint a picture of what would happen if Hush and Grandma Poss visited your town. What would they see? What would they do? What special food would they eat? Share your local information so others can also learn more about the place you live. You could have a map and put up a marker of all the different schools that are involved in the Possum Magic Online Project.

Everything Australian:

Everything Australian gives us an opportunity to celebrate Australia and bring other great Australian icons and learning into your classroom.

• Read other stories by Mem Fox and other Australian Authors.
• Read poetry with an Australian flavour: http://www.mickleigh.com/children/1.html
• Can you make a Magic Australian story of your own? By yourself or as a class, write a picture book about another Australian animal going on an adventure that has a touch of magic involved. You could make it into a powerpoint presentation. Upload it into the Magic Australian Stories forum or make it and put in your library.

• Hush and Grandma Poss go on great adventures around Australia.

  • Which state is each city in?
  • Which state do you live in?
  • Did they come to your hometown?

• Each state has its own special flag and emblem. Try the Australia Day website at: http://www.australiaday.com.au/havingfun/activitysheets.aspx to find out about each flag, special plants and animals.

• Sing Australian songs to help celebrate the story of Possum Magic. Try "Home Among the Gum Trees", words at: http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=48&c=19
• To make Hush visible she had to try out various foods. Find recipes for the foods that are in the Possum Magic picture book.
  • Are there other foods that are celebrated in Australia?
  • What are your favourite foods?
    Try Making the foods out of real ingredients in class or use playdough or plastic containers.
  • Take some photos of the foods you make and put them alongside the recipes in the Australian Recipes glossary.

Possums:

We were lucky enough to have Helen bring in some possums and share with us stories and information about caring for these magical animals. Helen Manthorpe also wrote a picture book called: ‘Possums’.

• Learn lots of things about possums and their magical ways.
• View interview video footage (two parts) of the Possums when they visited the education.au office.
• View the photographs of possums - view these in the database. If you have photographs of possums you can add them to the photo database or send them in to us and we will be happy to highlight them on our project site.
  

About:

The two-part Ozpossums video series was created for Possum Magic - The Online Project on the OzProjects web site. It is suitable for primary school students. You can click on the links which take you to bliptv or click on the embedded videos to play within the ozprojects site.

In this first video, interviewer De Bullen talks with writer and native animal carer Helen Manthorpe. Vocabulary words are highlighted on screen and information is provided on what to do if a lost baby possum is encountered.

In the second video, a brushtail and two ring tail possums are displayed and the differences between brushtail and ringtail possums are discussed. Again, vocabulary words are highlighted on screen throughout the video.

A big thank you to Helen for bringing the possums, De for interviewing and Kerry J for doing all the hard work on editing and putting the videos together.

After you have listened to Helen you could:

• Make a display in your classroom of possums and how you care for them. http://www.faunarescue.org.au/possum.html
• Find out more about Possums by looking at the websites in the General Possum Resources list at the top left of the Possum Magic project site – where do they live? Habitat? diet? endangered status? Predators?
• Did you know that Possums are nocturnal animals? Nocturnal means that they sleep or rest during the day and come out at night to eat and play.
• What other nocturnal animals do you know?
• Do you you know of other animals that live in trees?
• What other Australian animals are highlighted in Possum Magic?
• What other new words did you learn from listening or viewing the interview.
• There is more than just one type of possum. Have a look that the different types of possums here: http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/Possums.htm
• What type of possum do you think looks most like Hush and Grandma Poss?
• Write your own possum story and add it to the Magic Australian Stories forum