Download - Australian Curriculum English
Deciphering The JargonWhat The Australian Curriculum Means For The English
Classroom
AusVels
• From 2013 AusVels is the mandated curriculum for Victorian Government and Catholic Schools and the recommended curriculum guideline for independent schools
AusVels
• AusVels for English is identical to The Australian Curriculum
• Why call it AusVels then?
AusVels
• AusVels takes the Australian Curriculum word for word and houses it within the Vels Domain Framework
• Physical Personal and Social Learning
• Discipline Based Learning
• Interdisciplinary Learning
What the....
• But I just worked out what VELs was all about - I have to start again....????
Assessment
?
Not Quite
• Pick a year level between 7-10
• Consider the units you currently do at that year level
• Which descriptors do these units meet?
But I’m Not Doing Everything
• The American Education Researcher estimated it would take the typical student 23 academic years to master state standards (What Works In Schools 2003)
It’s less means more
• The Australian Curriculum is an opportunity to do fewer things - and to do those things better
What to do?
• How can I do this efficiently?
• What skills in particular do students need to ‘master’?
• How can I meet curriculum priorities
Five Types of Units
• Context
• Creative
• Critical
• Communication
• Comprehension
Context Unit
• Big idea: What does this idea or topic mean?
• Explore: What are different examples and ideas on this topic? What do texts on the same topic or in the same genre do similarly or differently?
• Do: Create a text on a topic that represents a personal view on that theme. Or, create a text in a specific type of genre that utilises the features of that genre.
Different Context Units
Theme Units Genre Units
•Identity (Australian / Teen)•Community•Family•Heroes•Justice•Globalisation•The Environment
•Science Fiction•Fantasy•Horror•Fairytales•True Stories•Detective / Mystery Stories•Teen Texts
Hero Context
• What does it mean to be a hero in the movies?
• What does it mean to be a hero in sport?
• What does it mean to be a ‘real-life’ or ‘everyday’ hero?
• Who is a personal hero?
Hero Context
• Compare and contrast two different types of heroes
Horror Context
• At Year 9, a Horror Context Unit might cover...
December
SpectreCompare the ways that language and images are used to create character, and to influence emotions and opinions in different types of texts - LI - 7 - 14
Horror Context
• Create a text that uses or satirises horror conventions with an accompanying commentary
• Compare or contrast the horror conventions in two or more texts
Creative
• Big idea: How can we use different texts as models for creating our own texts?
• Explore: Look at three or more texts that are examples of the same text type to compare different features and style of the that text type.
• Do: Create our own example of the text type using features of the examples we looked at or innovating and modifying those features for our own purposes.
For example
• A unit on fairytales could include these descriptors
• Which ones would you want students to ‘master’? Which ones would you want to assess students on?
In particular
• Creative units that allow us to model use of language
• Creative units that link to comprehension units
Inanimate Alice
Context + Creative
• A context unit might have both a creative and analytical outcome
Critical Unit
• Big idea: What is my opinion about the worth, merit, accuracy or fairness of this text or perspective?
• Explore: How do others express their critical opinion effectively?
• Do: How can I express my critical opinion effectively?
Critical Unit
• How am I being asked to think or feel about something?
• Do I accept this?
Critical Unit
• Presentation of issues / media bias
• Embedded messages in texts - particularly teen films
• Critical evaluation of advertising
• Critical evaluation of webpages
Critical Unit
• At Year 10: Evaluate the social, moral and ethical positions represented in texts = What do I think about what this text has to say?
Critical Unit
• What is a text that you teach with a message that you don’t necessarily agree with?
Critical Unit
• At Year 9 - Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse texts, comparing and evaluating representations of an event, issue, situation or character in different texts = How do two different news reports present the same issue? Which is fairer?
Funny?In reality, the girl was standing on a ledge beneath her or had climbed into a safe position. But the cleverly-staged -- and hilarious -- photo, which made its way to the front page of Reddit last weekend, looks shocking enough to fool many viewers.
- Huffington Post
Smug: Despite almost giving her mother Rebecca, left, a heart attack, Samantha Busch, right, insisted the prank wouldn't be her last
- Daily Mail
Critical UnitEvaluate the impact on audiences of different choices in the representation of still and moving imagesLA - 10 - 8
Understand and explain how combinations of words and images in texts are used to represent particular groups in society, and how texts position readers in relation to those groups LI - 8 - 16
Critical Unit
• At Year 8 - Identify and evaluate devices that create tone, for example humour, wordplay, innuendo and parody in poetry, humorous prose, drama or visual texts = which is the more effective ad? Why?
Critical Unit
Critical Unit
Communication Unit
•How do we use language to represent who we are?
•How is language used to communicate formally and informally?
•How is language used to communicate functional ideas and abstract ideas?
•How have we changed the way we communicate formally and informally, functionally and abstractly?
Communication Unit
• Changing English
• Power of English / English & Identity
• Formal / Informal Language Conventions
Communication Unit
Communication Unit
• What unit are you doing at the moment where there is an opportunity for students to consider the changing nature, the power or formality/informality of English?
Comprehension Unit
•Big idea: What is a key message of a text?
•Explore: What are a range of things an author does to show us what this text is about?
•Do: What are they key things I need to refer to to represent my understanding of what this text is about?
Comprehension UnitDifferent Texts
•Identify and explore ideas and viewpoints about events, issues and characters represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts - LI - 7 - 12
Techniques
•Compare the ways that language and images are used to create character, and to influence emotions and opinions in different types of texts - LI - 7 - 14
Break Time
Types of texts
• Multimodal Texts
• Digital Texts
• Satirical Texts
• Graphic Novels
• Texts From Other Cultures
• Asian and Indigenous Texts
A basic guide
• At Years 7, 8 & 9:
• 1 traditional multimodal text (i.e a film)
• 1 non-traditional multimodal text
• 1 text from a different cultural context
• 1 novel
• 1 satirical text
Multimodal Texts
• The Australian Curriculum’s Glossary defines a multimodal text as a “combination of two or more communication modes (for example, print, image and spoken text, as in film or computer presentations).” According to this definition texts that we already traditionally study, such as film, tv shows or advertisements, qualify as a multimodal text.
Multimodal TextsTraditional Multimodal Texts
(Traditional Literacies)New Multimodal Texts
(New Literacies)
•Feature films•Documentaries•Picture books•Magazines•Print Advertisements•TV Advertisements•TV Shows
•Multimodal Short Films•Interactive digital non-fiction•Interactive digital fiction•Animated digital picture books•Web pages•Web advertising (including viral advertising)•Web shows•Mash up texts
Multimodal Texts
Multimodal TextsExplain how authors creatively use the structures of sentences and clauses for particular effects
-LA - 9 - 7
Web Pages
Satirical
Graphic Novels
Texts From Different Cultural Contexts
The Sapphires
Asian & Indigenous Texts
Satire
Plot Device
Quick text audit
• Technique
• Ideas
• Genre
• Satire
• Other Cultures
• Traditional
• Non traditional
What can you take out?
• What do students need to master?
• How much time is spent on core skills?
Year Planner
• Different Types of Units
• Links between units
Unit Planner
• Measurable learning targets
Unit Planner
• There are three parts to a well written skill statement: measurable verb, target and descriptor:
• Compare in writing 3 elements, line, stanza, meter, using traditional / non traditional forms of poetry
• From: A Guide To Curriculum Mapping by Janet A. Hale
Focus on a unit
• What is a measurable learning objective?
• What elements of The Australian Curriculum can be used?
Planning for effective feedback
• Three stages for input:
• Planning
• Producing / Revising
• Reflecting
Planning for effective feedback
• Describe language features used in the created text taken from a modeled text and explain their purpose.
Planning for effective feedback
• 1 thing I’m doing well
• 1 thing I’m uncertain of
• 1 thing I know I need to improve
Break Time
• Think Christmas
• Write a sentence with a dash, colon or set of brackets in it
Core skills
• What are the core skills in English?
Maximise learning
• Write a sentence about the anaphylaxis training this morning
Maximise learning
• Write once = assessment
• Write twice = learning opportunity
Maximise Learning
• Add more detail - by adding parentheses
• Add more detail - by adding a relative clause (who, which, that)
• Add more detail - by adding an adverbial clause - (while, although, even though, despite)
Linking Grammar / Writing
• Adverbs - poetry
• Adverbs - instructional writing
• Prepositions - narrative writing
• Colons / dashes - text response writing
• Commas - persuasive writing
Five Elements of Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Spelling
• Parts of Speech
• Sentence structures
• Punctuation
Grammar Lesson Phases
• Students explore grammar concept (read material, look at examples, reciprocal summarisation)
• Think about grammar concepts (what do they have in common, compare/contrast, group, associate)
• Apply
• Explain back
Explore
Punctuation Example• Explore: Look at punctuation video /
punctuation picture book / punctuation examples
• Think: Put these punctuation marks into two or more groups (. , : “ “ () ? ! - )
• Apply: Punctuation Edit 1-2-3 (delete one punctuation mark, add two new punctuation marks, change three punctuation marks)
• Explain back: This punctuation mark is like...
Handout 1
Parts of Speech / Vocabulary
Noun Verb Adjective Adverb
Friend befriend/s friendly friendlily
Danger endanger/s dangerous dangerously
Protection protect/s protective protectively
Instinct - Instinctive instinctively
Opposite oppose/s - -
Action act active actively
Transformation transform transformative -
Friendsheep
Happiness,Happily,Happy
FindAction,
Act
Opposite,Oppose
Friend, Friendly, Befriend
Danger,Dangerous, Endanger
Protection,Protect
Instinct, Instinctively
Change,Changes
Grammar Focus
• What is your grammar focus for each unit?
• How will students demonstrate their mastery of this?
Recognising Effort
• High: All words spelt with the correct number of syllables
• Medium: Most words spelt with the correct number of syllables
• Low: Some words spelt with the correct number of syllables
Grammar Assessment
• Used at least four different ways to start a sentence
• Used at least two different types of internal punctuation and two different types of terminal punctuation
• Revised the structure of at least five sentences during the drafting stage
In a nutshell
• What unit type?
• What text types?
• What core reading and writing skills?
Thank you