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The 52-Storey Treehouse

Teacher’s Notes & Student Activity

Booklet

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CDP proudly presents

a play by Richard Tulloch

adapted from the book by Andy Griffiths & Terry

Denton

Artistic Director: Julian Louis

Director: Liesel Badorrek

Set / Costume Designer: Mark Thompson

Lighting / AV Designer: Nicholas Higgins

Sound Designer: Ross Johnston

Original cast (in alphabetical order): James Elliot

Sophie Kesteven

Drew Livingston

Johnny Nasser

This teacher resource kit was compiled by Andy Griffiths and Jill Griffiths.

The Australian Curriculum Outcomes and Including Students with Special Needs

sections of this Teacher Resource Kit were compiled by Catherine Threlfall (BMus, BTeach, MEd) and NSW curriculum links added by Elaine Smith (BArts, BTeach).

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13 Treehouse-based activities for you to try

1 DRAW and LABEL your own treehouse 2 WRITE about a memory

3 INVENT a crazy machine

4 DRAW an un-safe situation 5 ASK some ‘What if …?’ questions

6 DRAW an amazing journey 7 CREATE a special event day

8 DRAW and LABEL a map 9 CREATE a warrior

10 SOLVE a wordsearch ,

11 OBSERVE up close

12 ANSWER a 52-storey treehouse trivia quiz 13 DRAW and WRITE a postcard

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1 DRAW and LABEL your own treehouse

Andy and Terry’s amazing treehouse has 52 storeys, including a chainsaw

juggling level, a remembering booth (to help you remember important stuff you’ve forgotten), a high-tech detective agency, a rocket-powered

carrot launcher and a ninja snail training academy.

Now it’s your turn

If you could have a treehouse of your own what would it have in it? Draw and label a picture of your dream treehouse.

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2 WRITE about a memory

In The 52-Storey Treehouse Andy puts Terry in the remembering

booth to try to make him remember that it’s Andy’s birthday. It doesn’t work, but Terry does remember a lot of other things.

Now it’s your turn

Pretend you are in the remembering booth and see what you can

remember. Here are some starters you could use to help jog your memory:

• A time I lied was …

• The best day of my life was …

• The most dangerous thing I ever did was …

• A time I learned from a mistake was …

• The dumbest thing I ever did was …

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3 INVENT a crazy machine

In The 52-Storey Treehouse Andy and Terry travel by flying

fried-egg car.

Now it’s your turn

Mix and match from the list below (or make up your own) to create

your own crazy form of transport. What special features does your vehicle have? Draw and label a picture of yourself going for a ride.

pie car

cake boat

hot dog bike

sandwich plane ice-cream chariot

chocolate bar skateboard

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4 DRAW an un-safe situation

In The 52-Storey Treehouse we learn that Terry has never had a birthday

because his parents thought they were too dangerous to celebrate.

Now it’s your turn

Do a labelled drawing showing the potential dangers in one of the

following situations:

• having a sleepover at a friend’s house

• doing your homework

• playing fetch with your pet dog in a park

• eating dinner with your family

• visiting your grandparents

• watching TV

• reading a book

• cleaning your room

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5 ASK some ‘What if … ?’ questions

The 52-Storey Treehouse explores the question ‘What if vegetables didn’t

like the way they were treated by humans and they wanted revenge?’

Asking ‘What if?’ questions is a good way to come up with a story idea.

Now it’s your turn

Either on your own or in a group come up with 10 entertaining ‘What if?’

scenarios. They don’t have to be longer than one sentence. You could use

your ‘What if?’ questions as story starters, or just to make an entertaining list. Here are some examples to get you started.

• What if you discovered that your parents were zombies? • What if you woke up and found yourself changed into a giant insect? • What if you accidentally un-invented gravity in your science class? • What if fruit didn’t like the way they were treated and wanted

revenge?

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6 DRAW an amazing journey

In The 52-Storey Treehouse Andy and Terry go on a wonderful tram

journey.

Now it’s your turn Draw a tram (or bus, car, train, bike, boat etc.) going on a journey through

a range of amazing landscapes.

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7 CREATE a special event day

In The 52-Storey Treehouse Terry imagines what it would be like if

there were such a thing as ‘Wear your underpants on your head day’.

Now it’s your turn Create a special event day and draw and label a picture showing what

that day might look like.

Or

Draw your own picture of ‘Underpants on Your Head Day’.

Or

Draw individual portraits of different sorts of people (e.g. people

of different ages, people with different occupations) celebrating

‘Wear Your Underpants on Your Head Day’.

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8 DRAW and LABEL a map

In The 52-Storey Treehouse Andy and Terry fly to Mr Big Nose’s office in

their flying fried-egg car. Their journey through the sky looks like this.

Now it’s your turn

Draw a map of yourself (or a made-up character) going on a journey.

Or Imagine you’ve just done the most amazing kick of a football ever. Show

the path of the football as it leaves your foot and takes off into the world.

Don’t forget to include the reactions of humans and animals as the football

passes by.

Or

Draw a map called ‘The day my boomerang didn’t come back’ and show the boomerang’s path.

Or

Come up with your own crazy idea for an entertaining map.

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9 CREATE a warrior

In The 52-Storey Treehouse Andy and Terry meet the vegetable-fighting

warrior Vegetable Patty who, to their amazement, hates vegetables even

more than they do. Vegetable Patty tells them that the reason she hates

vegetables so much is because her parents were killed by giant vegetables,

and she has dedicated her life to ridding the world of vegetables once and

for all.

Now it’s your turn

Create a warrior of your own (they don’t have to be a vegetable fighter).

Give your warrior a name and tell his or her personal story. Who are they?

What is their mission in life? Who or what are they against? Why?

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10 SOLVE a wordsearch

See if you can find all the words in this 52-Storey Treehouse wordsearch.

When you have finished there should be 13 letters left over that spell out

something to do with the story.

Word list

ANDY

BIG

BUTTERFLY

DETECTIVES DISGUISE

EGGPLANT

NINJA

NOSE

PATTY POTATO

PRINCE

REMEMBER

SNAILS

TERRY

D E T E C T I V E S

E P E C N I R P Y E

G O N B I G D A L R

G T S O T V I P F E

P A N N S E S A R M

L T A I Y E G T E E

A O I N D G U T T M

N E L J N T I Y T B

T A S A A B S L U E

E T E R R Y E S B R

Solution: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

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WORDSEARCH SOLUTION

Solution: EAT VEGETABLES

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11 OBSERVE up close

When Andy and Terry are trying to solve the mystery of what has

happened to Mr Big Nose they get out their magnifying glasses and go

looking for clues.

Looking at things closely and noticing details is not only how detectives work—it’s also a good skill for writers and illustrators to

develop. Sometimes the easiest way to start writing is not to try to ‘think

something up’ but simply to ‘write something down’—and what better

place to start than with what is right in front of your eyes?

Now it’s your turn

Look at something closely and try to describe it in as much detail as you

possibly can. Or, you could do a close-up drawing. The idea is to look …

really look … and notice. Things to look at closely:

• your finger

• a leaf

• the carpet

• a flower

• a shoe

• your desk

• or anything else that takes

your interest

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12 ANSWER a 52-storey treehouse trivia quiz

In the book The 52-Storey Treehouse Andy and Terry have a high-tech

detective agency, which has some pretty high-tech security. One of the

things they have to do to gain entry is answer some really hard trivia

questions.

Now it’s your turn

See if you can answer the following treehouse trivia quiz:

1. What is the name of the ruler of the vegetable kingdom? 2. What is the name of the vegetable warrior who rescues Andy,

Terry, Jill and Mr Big Nose?

3. What does Jill prick her finger on?

4. How do Andy and Terry get home from the vegetable kingdom?

5. What animals is Terry training to be ninjas?

6. Why did Terry’s parents never celebrate his birthday? 7. What sort of soup are the vegetables making?

8. What sort of car do Andy and Terry have?

9. Who delivers Andy and Terry’s book to Mr Big Nose?

10. What happened to Vegetable Patty’s parents?

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TRIVIA ANSWERS

1. Prince Potato

2. Vegetable Patty

3. A very sharp carrot with a curse on it

4. They catch the tram 5. Snails

6. They thought they were too dangerous

7. Human Soup (they also call it ‘You Soup’)

8. A flying fried-egg car

9. The ninja snails 10. They were squashed and killed by giant vegetables at a fair

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13 DRAW and WRITE a postcard

In the book The 52-Storey Treehouse Jill shows Andy and Terry a postcard

she has received from Silky and her catnary friends who are on holidays in the Catnary Islands.

Now it’s your turn

Make a postcard. Think of a place (it can be real or imaginary—nice or

horrible) and draw a picture of it. On the back of the picture write a short

message to someone, telling them about what you have been doing on your

holiday. Don’t forget to write the person’s name and address and draw a stamp.

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Many of the activities in this resource kit are based on activities from the

book Once Upon a Slime: 45 fun ways to get writing … FAST! by Andy

Griffiths and Terry Denton (Pan Macmillan Australia, 2013)

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The 52-Storey Treehouse Curriculum Links

– Australian Curriculum

- NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum

The 52-Storey Treehouse Student Activities and Performance

Including Students with Special Needs

Students with special needs can be fully involved in enjoying and learning with the 52 Storey Treehouse

performance and education activities. All learners enjoy being challenged and thrive on high

expectations. Take an open approach to different modes of participation, and create a teaching

environment where all contributions are valued. Students with special needs have a right to access high

quality arts and education experiences, and to learn along with their peers. Given the right supports

these students will rise to the challenge.

English Foundation Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6

Literature –

Creating literature ACELT1586

EN1-10C

ACELT1593

EN1-2A

ACELT1601

ACELT1791

EN2-2A

ACELT1607

EN2-10C

ACELT1794 EN2-2A

ACELT1798

EN3-2A

ACELT1618

EN3-7C

Literacy – Creating

texts

ACELY1651

ENe-2A

ACELY1661

EN1-2A

ACELY1671

EN1-2A

ACELY1682

EN2-2A

ACELY1694

EN2-2A

ACELY1704

EN3-2A

ACELY1714

EN3-2A

Literature –

Examining literature

ACELT1578

ENe-8B

Literacy –

Interacting with

others

ACELY1646

ENe-1A

ACELY1676

EN2-6B

Language – Sound

and letter

knowledge

ACELA1474

EN1-4A

Literacy –

Intepreting,

analysing,

evaluating

ACELY1650

ENe-4A

ACELY1660

EN1-4A

ACELY1670

EN1-4A

ACELY1680

EN2-4A

ACELY1692

EN2-4A

ACELY1703

EN3-3A

ACELY1713

EN3-3A

The Arts Visual Arts

ACAVAM108

ACAVAM111

ACAVAM115

Mathematics

Location and

transformation

ACMMG023

MA1-1WM

MA1-16MG

ACMMG065

MA2-1WM

MA2-17MG

Technologies

Design and

Technologies –

Processes and

Production Skills

ACTDEP006

ACTDEP015

ACTDEP025

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Differentiating The 52-Storey Treehouse Student Activities for Students with Special Needs

The 52-Storey Treehouse is an engaging, imaginative, outlandish and energetic story that appeals to all

ages and abilities. The 13 activities can be adapted to provide many entry points for students with a

wide range of extra needs – physical, sensory, socio-emotional, intellectual disabilities, communication,

behavioural and medical needs, and students with profound and multiple disabilities.

These 13 activities are generally based on reading and comprehending written and pictorial texts, and

responding through writing or drawing. A list of ideas and examples for differentiating this type of

learning task for a range of special needs is provided below.

Physical Disabilities

Students with physical disabilities may have difficulty expressing their ideas through drawing, writing or

speaking.

• Record responses or ideas as an audio or video file, using an iPad or similar technology. Make a

video of you sitting in the remembering booth, remembering out loud the craziest thing you ever did,

the funniest holiday you ever went on, the silliest thing your Dad ever did.

• Share responses and ideas as a spoken presentation. Be a storyteller. Tell your class your own “What

if?” story. What if you discovered a secret cave under your house? What if your pets started to talk?

What if all the plants in your garden came to life?

• Use talk to text technology such as Dragon Speak Naturally to record responses. Record your ideas

when you describe an object in fine detail to the Dragon Speak Naturally program so it can create a

text version of your observations.

• Work with a partner or small group to collaborate to complete tasks. Work with a team to invent a

new special event day, and make advertising posters. Assign roles such as Dreamer, Ideas

Man/Woman, Scribe, Illustrator, Artist, Designer, Event Planner, and Critic.

• Use the students' existing Assistive Technologies such as augmentative communication apps and

eye-gaze technology to collect and share responses. Create a holiday postcard message using the

existing vocabulary banks and images in the Proloquo2Go communication app.

Vision and Hearing Loss

Students with mild to moderate vision loss may have difficulty seeing the very detailed and visually busy

drawings of Terry Denton, especially those with detailed backgrounds. They may also have trouble reading

large amounts of small print text.

• Provide a significantly enlarged copy of drawings and text. eg. Make A3 copies of the ‘Wear

Underpants on your Head’ day illustration for easier viewing.

• Use a black border made out of A4 paper or smaller to focus in on particular sections of enlarged

drawings, and to reduce visual distractions. Use a black frame to focus on each segment of the ‘All the

different things that make birthdays dangerous’ illustration.

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• Utilise the sense of touch to assist in making observations and increasing understanding. Place a

range of objects in an opaque “feely” bag. Blindfold students and ask them to choose an object from the

bag and describe it in detail using their sense of touch. Is it rough, smooth, shiny, bumpy, jagged,

angular?

• Use magnifying glasses and magnifying sheets when examining illustrations and objects. Provide

each observation team with a magnifying glass when ‘Observing up Close’ so they can be detectives just

like Andy and Terry.

• Present images on a contrasting background to increase visibility. Cut out an enlarged copy of

Vegetable Patty and stick her on a piece of brightly coloured cardboard.

• Provide an audio recording of important sections of the text. Make an audio recording of the song the

vegetables sing when they have the humans cooking in the pot, starring students using their crazy

angry vegetable voices.

Students with hearing loss often have difficulty hearing and following spoken instructions and class

discussions.

• Provide clear step by step written instructions and examples for student activities. Create fantastic

drawings of unsafe situations by providing a template for the labelled drawing with written labels and

suggestions included.

• Conduct silent class discussions where all contributions and questions are shared through writing,

mime or drawing, much like Pictionary or Charades. Invent a crazy machine as a class using no

talking. Contributions could include drawings, mimes or written descriptions of the crazy machine’s

features. Extend your skills by describing your new machine to another class or class visitors using no

talking.

• Aid understanding through the use of signed English or Auslan. Conduct the trivia quiz using Auslan

or signed English. Split into teams. Research, learn and share the signs to ask and answer one trivia

question. A comprehensive video sign dictionary can be found on the online Auslan sign bank.

Socio-emotional and behavioural needs

Students with additional emotional and behavioural needs often find it difficult to complete challenging,

complex or lengthy desktop tasks. They may need additional supports to encourage positive participation

in class activities.

• Encourage students to work collaboratively to complete extensive written or drawn activities. Work

in duos to invent, describe and record details about a new warrior character. Complete the task in

short bursts over a couple of days. Record your progress on a visual scale.

• Provide alternative forms of sharing and presenting ideas that include movement, drama and dance

elements. Use movement to tell the story of an amazing journey. Create, rehearse and present the

different stages of the journey as a kids adventure TV show, travel documentary, choreographed dance,

or mime for the rest of the class.

• Create a safe learning environment where all students are treated with respect, and safe behaviour

is encouraged. Encourage safe fun and interactions with others by creating a new detective character

based on ideas from exploring Chapter 3 : Andy and Terry’s High-Tech Detective Agency.

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Intellectual Disabilities

Students with intellectual disabilities often have difficulty with comprehending and responding to complex

written, spoken and visual texts.

• Break the text down into very short sections and examine in depth to aid comprehension. There are

endless opportunities for exploration with such a fantastical text. Examine Chapter 3 : Andy and

Terry’s High-Tech Detective Agency in detail to aid comprehension. Are there any words we don't

know? What are detectives? What do they do? What is a disguise? Why do you need a disguise? What

are clues? How do they help solve mysteries? What are mysteries? Have fun with a magnifying glass. Go

on a hunt for clues in your classroom to find a missing object. Dress up in disguises.

• Use physical and visual supports. Literally build your new warrior character. Dress a life size figure

drawn on a large piece of paper. Provide buckles and buttons, shiny and coloured fabrics, wool for hair,

chains, aluminium foil to make swords.

• Make use of strong structures, time and repetition to aid learning and comprehension. Complete the

trivia quiz as a detective team over 10 sessions, answering one question each time. Explicitly teach how

to scan the chapters and the book to find the clues to answer the questions. Introduce the activity in

the same way each time, using the same images, and the same language to give instructions. Make a

visual record of the clues you have found as you work through the questions. Track your progress

through the 10 questions on a visual scale, and celebrate your achievement when you have answered

them all.

• Offer many alternative ways of responding; speaking, talk to text, drawing, photography, drama,

videos, collage, air dried clay or plasticine models, song, musical improvisation. Work in teams to

make your own dream treehouse using plasticine or air dried clay. Create models of the amazing

things found on each level, and the people and other creatures who live in the treehouse. Take photos

of your models to create a book, poster or stop-motion animation about your treehouse.

Profound and multiple disabilities.

Students with profound and multiple disabilities will require a range of supports and

adaptations to participate these activities.

• Draw out the sensory elements of the text and pictures to engage learners with profound and

multiple disabilities. Create some of the sensory elements of The 52-Storey Treehouse. Brush arms

with some leaves and branches and listen to the crunch of the leaves and sticks. Experience the wave

machine by putting your hands or feet in a warm wavy bath or tub of water. Feel and hear a hairdryer

blowing on your face, arms and hands. Feel, smell and taste the pizza and the watermelon (before you

smash it!).

• Provide opportunities to make choices and indicate preferences. Work with a partner to build a

warrior character. Use eye gaze, sign or vocal sounds to choose between real objects or images. Should

the warrior have gold or silver armour, a sword or a spear, long or short hair?

• Use real life experiences in the environment and community for learning. Visit an old

prison to experience life in the dungeon. Go out into a vegetable garden to imagine the Vegetable Kingdom.

Visit a real life treehouse, or create your own. Smell, feel, hear, see what it’s like to live up in the treetops.

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Teacher Resource Kit: Video Components

For ages 6-12 years

Australian Classroom use only

CLASS LEARNING SESSIONS

V1 ANDY & TERRY: HOW DO THEY MAKE A STORY? (12mins 21secs) www.vimeo.com/133318085

Meet Author and Illustrator team Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton as they talk through their

writing and illustrating process. Watch the pair discuss and work through their creative process

and chapter development as they create characters for book, The 65-Storey Treehouse. Learning Suggestions:

• Work in pairs as author and Illustrator. Draw your own sea creature. How big will it be? What colour will it

be? Describe its house and surroundings. Does it have special powers?

Show the class and discuss.

• Provide students with an image - either postcard or from google images. In pairs students create a short story based on this image and then add illustrations (in Terry style) to support

their text. Encourage students to consider different perspectives in their writing and drawing.

V2 ANDY & TERRY: WE JOIN ANDY & TERRY AS THEY FINISH CHAPTER 12 (15mins 10secs) www.vimeo.com/133424638

Join Andy & Terry as they work through Chapter 12. Watch the process between writer and

illustrator as they storyboard together scene by scene. (Teacher Guidance required: language

warning at 2min mark)

Learning Suggestions:

• Teacher to create a simple story for the whole classroom. Read out to the class and ask the students to draw

what they see while reading. Compare the different drawing outcomes and discuss.

• As a class construct a simple story about an unusual event. The teacher then reads the story and students

draw what they visualise while hearing the story read out loud. Compare different drawings and discuss why

there are differences.

V3 ANDY & TERRY: WHERE DOES ANDY DO ALL THIS THINKING? (1min 50sec) www.vimeo.com/133938263

Andy Griffiths welcomes us into his study and talks through his writing process and see his very

own 52-Storey Treehouse model.

Learning Suggestions:

• Use a grid to draw the layout of your dream study. How big is your desk? Describe your furniture? Is it messy

or clean? How big is it?

Andy finds inspiration from a variety of objects/toys in his study. Discuss some of the objects you saw in the

video and how you think they might spark Andy's imagination. ln small groups or pairs discuss objects/toys

that would inspire you to create a story.

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Teacher Resource Kit: Video Components

For ages 6-12 years

Australian Classroom use only QUICK CLASSROOM EXERCISES

QUESTION ONE: WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FOOD? (1min 20sec) www.vimeo.com/133938781 Andy & Terry answer popular reader questions through storytelling and illustration such as

‘What is their favourite food?’

QUESTION TWO: WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE? (1min 55sec) www.vimeo.com/133939404

Andy & Terry answer popular reader questions through storytelling and illustration such as

‘Where is your favourite place’?

QUESTION THREE: WHAT IS THE MOST FAVOURITE SENTENCE YOU’VE EVER WRITTEN?

(2mins 19sec) www.vimeo.com/134053104 Andy & Terry answer popular reader questions through storytelling and illustration such as

‘What is the most favourite sentence you’ve ever written? (Teacher Guidance required: “Dead” is

discussed).

QUESTION FOUR: WHAT IS YOUR MOST FAVOURITE ILLUSTRATION EVER DRAWN?

(2mins 13secs) www.vimeo.com/134067072

Andy & Terry answer popular reader questions through storytelling and illustration such

as ‘What is your most favourite illustration ever drawn?’

QUESTION FIVE: WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR? (1min 57secs) www.vimeo.com/134062083

Andy & Terry answer popular reader questions through storytelling and illustration such

as ‘What is your favourite colour?

QUESTION SIX: WHAT IS THE SCARIEST THING YOU’VE EVER SEEN? (2mins 34secs) www.vimeo.com/134062104 Andy & Terry answer popular reader questions through storytelling and illustration such

as ‘What is the scariest thing you’ve ever seen? (Teacher Guidance required: Terry

mentions the birth of child as his scariest thing - in context. Andy mentions a ‘gun’ in his

story telling)

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QUESTION SEVEN: WHAT IS THE WORST NIGHTMARE TO HAPPEN IN THE REMEMBERING

BOOTH? (2mins 26secs)

www.vimeo.com/134062111

Andy’s answer - Andy & Terry answer popular reader questions through storytelling and

illustration such as ‘What is the worst nightmare to happen in the remembering booth?

QUESTION EIGHT: WHAT IS THE WORST NIGHTMARE TO HAPPEN IN THE REMEMBERING BOOTH?

(4mins 41 secs)

www.vimeo.com/134067519

Terry’s answer - Andy & Terry answer popular reader questions through storytelling

and illustration such as ‘What is the worst nightmare to happen in the remembering

booth? (Teacher Guidance required: Refer to Question Six)

Learning suggestions:

In pairs, ask teams to ask each other the same questions and illustrate the answers. Choose some students to

work in front of the class selecting answers to illustrate on the board.

Curriculum Links – Australian Curriculum - NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum

English Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Literature – Examining literature

ACELT1596 EN2-11D

ACELT1605 EN2-10C

ACELT1610 EN3-8D

ACELT1616 EN3-7C

Literature – Creating literature

ACELT1601 EN2-2A

ACELT1607 EN2-10C

ACELT1612 EN3-7C

ACELT1798 EN3-2A

ACELT1618 EN3-7C

Literacy –

Interacting with others

ACELY1676 EN2-6B

ACELY1687 EN2-1A

ACELY1699 EN3-8D

ACELY1709 EN3-1A

Literacy – Intepreting, analysing, evaluating

ACELY1680 EN2-4A

ACELY1692 EN2-4A

ACELY1701 EN3-5B

ACELY1801 EN3-5B

The Arts

Visual Arts ACAVAM111 ACAVAM111 ACAVAM115 ACAVAM115

Mathematics

Location and transformation

ACMMG065

MA2‑1WM

MA2‑17MG

ACMMG090

MA2‑1WM

MA2‑17MG

ACMMG113

MA3‑1WM

MA3‑17MG