Wombat Stew Vocabulary

Overview

In this lesson, students explore rich vocabulary from Wombat Tales: A Story Adventure and practise using descriptive words to improve simple sentences. Students connect story language to their own writing, preparing for later retelling and sentence-building.

Learning intentions

WALT use descriptive words to enhance writing by:

• identifying new vocabulary from the story (e.g., character, setting, actions, feelings)
• using descriptive words to make simple sentences more interesting
• writing and re-reading short sentences using correct word spacing and simple punctuation

Success criteria

Students can:

• list at least 5 new vocabulary words from today’s word bank
• use 2–3 descriptive words in their own sentences
• read their sentences back to check meaning

Curriculum links

• Language: AC9E1LA07 — understand that words represent people, places and things (nouns), happenings/states (verbs) and qualities/details (adjectives/adverbs)
• Literacy: AC9E1LY06 — create and re-read short written texts using grammatically correct simple sentences, with sentence boundary punctuation and correct spelling of some one- and two-syllable words
• Literacy: AC9E1LY14 — read and write an increasing number of high-frequency words
• Literature: AC9E1LE05 — retell/adapt a familiar story using vocabulary and structure (through speaking, drawing or writing this lesson’s sentences)

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (Wombat Stew!) Teacher shows a labelled picture of a “wombat stew” scene and reads aloud 2–3 sentences from the story that include strong descriptive words (e.g., muddy, sleepy, crunchy, crackled, hurry, wobble). Students chorally repeat the descriptive words and do a quick thumbs check: “That word helps me imagine…”.

2. 5–12 min · Explicit vocabulary teaching Teacher displays a word bank on the board, teaches each word with a simple definition and action/gesture, and models sentence stems. Students turn-and-talk to choose one word for a “stew sentence” and then share one idea with the class.

3. 12–20 min · Guided sentence building (I do / We do) Teacher models writing 2 sentences on the board using the sentence stems:

• “The wombat is ___.” (adjective)
• “The stew smells ___.” or “It is ___ and ___.” (two descriptive words) Teacher underlines the descriptive words and briefly points out that they make the sentence clearer. Students write one shared sentence on mini whiteboards using the teacher’s model, then re-read it to a partner.

4. 20–28 min · Word hunt (hands-on, play-based) Teacher spreads picture-word cards around the room as a “stew ingredient hunt” (words and pictures matched). Students work in small groups to collect 6 cards, then sort them into two columns: “Describes (quality)” and “Does/Is (action/state)”—with teacher guidance and prompts.

5. 28–38 min · Independent writing: Descriptive sentence set Teacher gives each student a writing strip with 3 lines and a dyslexia-friendly option: a printed word bank plus sentence stems. Students write 2–3 sentences about the “wombat stew” using at least 2 descriptive words and one action/state verb; teacher circulates for conferencing and quick checks.

6. 38–43 min · Share & quick feedback Teacher selects 3–4 students (or volunteers) to read their sentences aloud; classmates give one specific “You used a great descriptive word!” comment. Students listen and point to the descriptive words in the shared examples.

7. 43–45 min · Exit ticket Teacher asks students to complete one final stem on a small card: “My stew is ___.” (choose a descriptive word from the bank). Students turn in cards for a rapid check.

Resources

• Picture cards of the wombat stew scene
• Teacher word bank (descriptive words + action/state word options) with matching pictures
• Sentence stem strips (e.g., “The wombat is ___.”)
• Mini whiteboards and markers
• “Stew ingredient” word/picture cards for the hunt
• Student writing strips (3–4 lines)
• High-frequency word cards relevant to current classroom scope
• Dyslexia-friendly supports: clear fonts, large spacing, word banks at point of use

Assessment

• Formative during guided practice: check students’ mini-whiteboard sentence for correct use of descriptive words
• Observation during word hunt: students’ sorting into “Describes” vs “Does/Is”
• Exit ticket: verify each student uses at least one descriptive word accurately in a simple sentence

Differentiation

• Support: provide a printed word bank, sentence stems with blanks, and optional tracing/underline of target descriptive words before writing
• Support (dyslexia-friendly reading): allow students to choose a partner or teacher read-aloud option for the story extract; use audio playback if available
• Targeted scaffolds: use colour-coding (e.g., descriptive words in one colour) and provide a model sentence they can copy for the first line
• Extension for advanced learners: write 3 sentences using 3 different descriptive words and include one “where” or “when” detail (e.g., “in the burrow”, “at night”) to make sentences more specific