Honey Ant Readers - Reader 3: Big Mob Ants

The Honey Ant Readers (HAR) is an exciting literacy program that Indigenous learners can relate to and succeed with.

It is the first ever early reading program in Australia to be developed in collaboration with, and at the request of, Indigenous elders and community and written specifically for speakers of Aboriginal English. It is underpinned by sound pedagogy and second language acquisition theory and supported by songs and rhymes which teach Standard Australian English.

Honey Ant Reader number 3, 'Big Mob Ants' is a story about a child who runs across the red, wet sand to dig for honey ants with her nana.

In 17 words, 8 of them repeated from HAR 2, the story tells how the wet sand makes it easier for them to collect 10 honey ants together.

At the end of the book there are seven rhymes, three to teach the sound(s) and three to teach the 'b' sound. The other, "the big wet red bus" is a revision of the book's vocabulary. In using only words from HAR 3, the learners are able to read it themselves.

All the other rhymes and songs in the books are intended to be used to teach certain aspects of Standard Australian English (SAE) orally, and to be read for the learner, by a more experienced reader.