Digger Book Study Unit | Years 1–2

Create a purposeful, sensitive English book study around Digger by Mike Dumbleton and Robin Cowcher. Designed for Years 1–2, this complete unit guides students through character, setting, sequence, vocabulary, inference, theme and personal response.

Students meet Annie, James, Colette and the toy kangaroo Digger, retell major events, compare characters, use details from words and pictures, and discuss friendship, courage, care, remembrance and connection. Historical context is introduced respectfully and without graphic detail.

What’s Included

• 18-slide editable Digger teaching presentation
• Digger Vocabulary Display
• Story Sequence Station event cards and mat
• Character Clue Sort mat and cards
• Vocabulary Trail game board and challenge cards
• Two Quiet Reflection colouring pages
• Sequence and Retell worksheet and answers
• Digger Cloze Comprehension worksheet and answers
• Read, Think and Explain worksheet and answers
• Annie and Colette Compare worksheet and answers
• Letters Across the Sea planning and writing pages
• A Different Ending planning and writing pages
• Connections Across Time worksheet and answers
• My Digger Book Review
• The Patchwork Scarf assessment, answers and planning organiser
• Five-level rubric
• 22-slide editable quiz with 10 question-and-answer pairs

Learning Focus

• Retelling narrative events in logical order
• Characters, settings, actions and feelings
• Comparing characters using evidence
• Story vocabulary
• Inference from words and illustrations
• Themes and messages
• Short narrative and personal responses

Classroom Use

Use the teaching presentation for whole-class instruction, the card activities and game for literacy rotations, the worksheets for guided or independent practice, the quiz for review, and The Patchwork Scarf assessment with the rubric for evidence of learning. The colouring pages work well for quiet reflection or fast finishers.

Formats, Answers and Licence

Files are supplied as PDF and editable PowerPoint. The unit plan contains 31 printable pages and is supported by an 18-slide presentation and a 22-slide quiz. Meaningful answer pages are included for the sequence, cloze, comprehension, character-comparison, connections and assessment tasks. Open-ended writing tasks use planning scaffolds and the included rubric. This is a digital product; no physical item is shipped. Purchase permits use by one teacher with their own students. Do not resell, redistribute or publicly share the files.

Important: The picture book Digger is required to teach the complete unit and is not included.