Hello!
Huh?
Look!
Ha-ha-ha!
Yeah!
Hmm.
Oh, oh, oh!
Huh?
Look!
Oh!
I'm Sally.
And I'm Possum.
Hello.
Oh, hello, everyone.
Possum and I are doing some of our favourite things today.
I'm reading a book and Possum's drawing.
Are you enjoying it, Sally?
Is it a good book?
Oh, yes!
It was a great book!
I couldn't stop reading it but now I've finished it so I'll have to find another one to read.
Sally, you love reading books, don't you?
You have so many of them but why do you like reading them so much?
I love the people who write the books, and their ideas and the stories they come with.
It's so interesting!
Oh, that's great!
What are you drawing?
This is the top of my tree.
Ah, but where are you?
This morning, I went out to look for you.
I looked everywhere!
I even looked at the top of your tree, but you weren't there.
Where were you?
Oh, I was halfway up my tree.
Oh, I see!
Sally, I have an idea!
What is it?
Why don't WE write a book?
Oh, tell me more!
We could call it "Where Is Possum?"
Oh, yes and you could say, "Here I am."
"The end."
Huh?
You're funny!
What's funny?
Well, that would be a boring book.
We need to make it more interesting.
Do you really want to write a book, Possum?
Yes, I do.
Now…well, I'm a very good drawer, so I'll do the drawing and you could write the words.
Oh, yes, that sounds fair.
We can work as a team.
I'll write and you can draw the pictures.
Oh!
Can we change the title to "Where Is Sally?"
Oh, no, no, no!
We need to keep it as "Where Is Possum?", because I'm always looking for you.
So, we should keep it as that title.
Oh, ok.
Great.
Right.
Now, write, "Where is Possum?"
OK.
Ooh!
Hmm.
Right.
Now, "Is he here?"
Now, can you please draw the picture of the kitchen, but with no Possum in it?
No, no, Sally.
I can draw the pictures later.
Can you put, "No, Possum's not in the kitchen"?
OK.
I can write that.
Oh, is that the end?
Oh, no, no, no, no!
We need some more of the story.
You're right.
We do need to make it more interesting.
Hmm.
I have an idea!
When I'm drawing the picture, I can put my tail just going out the door, so the children will know that Possum has gone somewhere.
Oh, great!
I can write, "Where did he go?"
Great!
Oh Sally, I'm so excited!
I could jump like a kangaroo!
That's great!
Shall I write, "Possum can jump like a kangaroo"?
No, Sally!
That's not part of the story.
We're trying to find Possum.
Right.
I know what to write.
This is what I've written.
It says, "Is Possum here?
"Possum can jump but he's not with the kangaroos."
Oh, and next, we can write, "Where did he go?"
Great!
I can see a pattern in our story.
It starts with, "Is Possum here?"
Then we look for him in places he might be, and end with, "Where did he go?"
Oh, that's great!
So now, what would you like to write?
Hmm.
What else do I like doing?
Why don't you think about the things that you DO like and we can find an animal that does those things too?
I like water, Sally.
Oh, that's good. What animal should we have – a fish or a frog?
Hmm.
Oh, I know.
Is Possum here?
Possum likes water but he's not with the fish.
Where did he go?
Oh, that's good.
I'll write that now.
Great!
Ooh!
Ha-ha!
Hmm.
Oh, I know!
Why don't we go outside for a while and see if the fresh air helps us think up some more ideas for our story?
OK.
Let's go.
Let's go.
Hmm.
Mmm!
Oh!
Lovely fresh air!
Right.
Ready?
Yes.
What's next?
Hmm.
I do like dogs.
Hmm. What do dogs love doing?
Well, dogs love digging.
Perhaps we can write 'dog' and 'dig'.
OK.
Great.
I'll write the rest of the story later.
We'll just make notes for now.
Alright.
What's next?
Hmm.
Oh!
This is hard Sally.
Hmm.
Yes, it's hard to think about what to put in.
Writing a story can be quite difficult, but we've made a great start though Possum.
Maybe our brains just need a bit of a break and then, some story ideas will come to us, I'm sure.
First, why don't we watch some children learning how to tell stories?
Yeah!
Let's watch.
This one time, when I was with my family, we looked out the window and we saw a possum.
We tried to give it some food but the possum was just sitting there, looking around and it saw the food we were trying to give it and it quickly snatched it up and ate it all.
I went to the beach and I really, really enjoyed it.
It was a long ride to get there but it was such a beautiful day.
There were no flies and I really love going to the beach.
I can remember when I went swimming, I got splashed and dumped three times.
It was so funny.
My sister, who is Deaf, and my mum and I went up to Cairns, and we all went to the zoo there.
We saw lots of crocodiles but my favourite animal was the kookaburra because we could pat it and it was so soft and tame.
We had the best time!
This one weekend, my family drove a long way to a sea park.
We watched the dolphin show and saw the dolphins do their tricks and I was looking around, and to my surprise, I saw a friend of mine, so we moved our chairs together and sat down and had a lovely chat.
Oh!
Oh!
That was fantastic, the way they told their stories.
They were so interesting.
Oh, yes.
Those children have really learnt how to tell stories in Auslan.
It was fantastic.
OK.
What's next, Sally?
Hmm.
Hmm.
Hmm.
Oh, good.
Oh, I do love digging in my garden!
It makes me quite hot, but I really enjoy it and I know Possum loves to dig too.
So, it gave me the great idea of including it in the story but then, I remembered it was already there.
Silly me.
I'll tell Possum what I've done and he will laugh too.
I'll go find him.
Hmm.
Where's Possum?
Hmm.
See?
Possum is missing again.
He's always disappearing and I have to look for him.
That's why we're calling the book "Where Is Possum?"
Have you seen him?
Oh!
Where were you?
Oh Sally, you know I love to climb my tree.
Yes.
Well, I was up in my tree, having a break, and I had an idea.
What?
I saw a spider.
Sally, can we put that in the story?
Oh, yes, of course we can!
Great, and Possum, I had a great idea too.
I was so excited because I thought we could add 'dig' into our story but then I remembered it was already in there!
Never mind but we do need one more thing.
What could it be?
When you were at the top of your tree, did you see any other animals?
Oh!
I saw a bird.
Well, that's good, but I can't fly.
Oh, that doesn't matter.
We can change the pattern to end the story.
If we have read through the story and the last part is different, then we know the story is coming to an end.
Oh!
Why don't we go into the kitchen now?
Hang on Sally!
We started the story in the kitchen.
That's where the first page was and we can finish the story in the kitchen too.
Oh, great idea!
I'll do all the writing and you can draw the pictures but then, there will be one more thing to do.
What is it, Sally?!
Oh, I'm so excited!
Well, we're going to have a book launch.
That's where we showcase our brand-new book and our friends can come see us read it and they can tell us how much they loved it, and we'll get lots of applause.
What do you think?
Oh, yeah!
Let's go!
Let's go.
Oh, I'm so excited!
Oh, I'm nervous.
Ooh!
Here they come.
Let them in.
OK.
Hello!
Hi.
Come in, come in, take a seat.
Hi!
Hello.
Sit down.
Hi, Possum.
Hi.
Hi, Possum.
Hi, Sally.
Have a seat.
Hello!
Oh, hello!
Yes, sit down.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for coming here today.
Possum and I have written a book and now we would like to launch it.
Oh!
The book is titled Where Is Possum?
Oh!
Ooh!
I'll read it for you today.
"Where is Possum?"
Hmm.
"Is he in here?
"No.
He is not in the kitchen.
"Where did he go?"
Hmm.
"Is Possum here?"
Oh!
Possum can jump.
Yeah, but he is not with the kangaroos.
No!
Where did he go?
Oh!
Hmm.
Look, there he is!
Is Possum here?
Ooh!
Possum likes water.
Yes, but he is not with the fish.
No!
Where did he go?
Look!
Is Possum here?
Possum can dig.
Yes, but he is not with the dog.
No!
Where did he go?
Look.
Oh, yeah!
Is Possum here?
Possum can climb, but he is not with the spider.
Where did he go?
Look!
Is Possum here?
No.
Possum cannot fly like a bird.
No.
Where did he go?
Hmm.
Look!
Is Possum here?
Yes!
Yes!
Possum, where have you been?
I've been here.
Yay.
Oh, yay!
That was wonderful!
Wait, wait, wait!
I have a book for each of you.
Oh, wow!
Yes, he does!
Wow!
Wow!
That's for you, Pauline.
Oh, and you, Tracey.
Ohhh!
Wow and you, Amanda.
Thank you.
Thank you, Possum.
Thank you.
What a lovely story.
Oh, thank you.
I loved your book!
I'm going to keep this.
Can you sign my book for me, please?
Oh, of course.
Ooh!
Possum?
Well, our time is up.
Thanks for watching.
See you next time.
Bye.
Bye!
Right.
Oh, they're lovely.