Runt’s success in agility competitions can be partly attributed to his talent for evading capture as a stray dog in Upson Downs. Annie’s connection with Runt, her perseverance and her inventiveness also play a part in their wins.

However, Annie isn’t the only member of the Shearer family with a special passion or skill. Each character has knowledge and skills they could impart to others, such as cooking pies, growing flowers or inventing machines. In a class discussion, ask students to reflect on and identify the knowledge, passions and skills displayed by members of Annie’s family: her mother Susie, father Bryan, brother Max, grandmother Dolly, and also her grandfather who has passed away. 

Next, have students briefly ‘turn and talk’ to a partner, each reflecting on and identifying a personal skill they could share with others through written instructions. Explain to students that they will write a short instructional text to teach others how to perform this task.

Revisit the purpose and conventions of instructional (or procedural) texts, reminding students that these non-fiction texts provide instructions on how to do or make something. Examples include recipes, instruction manuals and directions. For an effective instructional text, students should:

• Use step-by-step, numbered instructions.
• Incorporate time phrases such as ‘first’, ‘next’ and ‘then’.
• Steps often start with verb commands, such as ‘mix’, ‘measure’ or ‘cut’.
• Refer to the reader directly with second-person nouns, such as ‘you’ and ‘your’.
• Write in the present tense.
• Use clear and factual descriptions.
• Diagrams or illustrations can help readers understand instructions.

Ask volunteers to share and reflect on their work in a class reflection. To extend this task in a subsequent lesson, students could assume the perspective of one of the Shearer family to write another instructional text. For example, Annie might provide instructions for making dog goggles, while Max might teach someone how to perform a daredevil stunt