Text: Tomorrow When the War Began (‘TWTWB’) (Marsden 2002) . Year: Nine. Context: 4 weeks, 5 hours per week (5 hours reading + 15 hours analysis). This unit of work surrounds the text, ‘Tomorrow When the War Began’ by John Marsden; a book regularly on the year nine syllabus. While many outcomes associated with this text involve an essay, this unit utilises the wide variety of characters and their development to achieve a (summative) creative writing response. This unit has been designed to facilitate independent and small group discussion and activity, allowing students to draw from their own experiences. While supportive of a mixed ability class, this pedagogy also supports their authentic engagement with the text. In terms of the Australian Curriculum, this unit is helpful in that it addresses issues of Asia and sustainability. This is achieved through analysing Lee and the war/land of Wirrawee. While this unit has been designed for approximately one month, there exists scope to address these issues in depth and incorporate additional thematic concerns. These may include the importance of self discovery, the author’s intent and/or strength of Ellie’s voice. In contrast to the creation of an essay, an imaginative response may induce fear within some students. For this reason, this unit plan encourages students to write on a consistent basis. In light of VCE English, this unit therefore foreshadows and encourages student participation with the expectations demanded of outcome 2 – creating and presenting a piece on a particular context. I give permission for this unit to be used/altered for publication. Learning Goals (see Appendix A for addressed standards) AUSVELS cross curriculum priorities Links: • ACELT: 1634 • ACELY: Theoretical and Pedagogical frameworks • Piaget’s disequilibrium
/formal AUSVELS content Assessment tasks descriptors Links: • ACELT: 1634, 1771 • ACELA: 1552, • ACELY: 1744, 1746, Resources •
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Answer literal, inferential and evaluative questions. Read aloud with increasing confidence. Identify and define new words. Create succinct summaries Identify and describe ‘The Secret Seven.’(speaki
ng/listening, writing). Locate textual evidence to support these representatio
ns (reading/viewi
ng). Work cooperatively (speaking/liste
Activities: • Predict story from book cover. • Read aloud in class. • Create glossary of new words. • Create chapter summaries. • Students to present a summary of an assigned chapter. • Complete comprehension questions. • Brainstorm quote from book (pg 44). • Create/present character profiles. • Create friendship chart. • Present favourite/least favourite TWTWB friendship to peers. • Write reflective poem/prose about personal maturation since year 7. • Create a •
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Chapter summaries (F). Comprehension questions (F). Presentation (F). Teacher observations (F). •
Character profiles (F). Friendship chart (F). Presentation (F). Fakebook profile (F). •
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Novel, TWTWB. Comprehensio
n questions. General classroom supplies. TWTWB Quote. Student netbooks. Fakebook website. 7 x Character profiles (A3). 28 x Friendship Charts. Student photos. Projector/spe
aker. Teacher •
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ning). Identify the friendships between ‘The Secret Seven’. Provide textual evidence to support these friendships. Use ICT in a productive, ethical manner. Identify characters that have matured. Provide textual evidence to support this maturation. Reflect critically upon their personal maturation. Develop reflective writing skills. character’s Fakebook profile. laptop. •
Develop note-­‐
making skills. •
Effectively utilise graphing tools. Compare/cont
rast perspectives regarding invasion. Identify the key elements of the reflective journal genre. Critique characters actions. Reflect upon the importance of word-­‐choice in text creation. Develop public speaking skills. •
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Rank/plot the group’s survival tactics. Create/explain a character’s survival kit. Creation of checklist for diary/journal entry. Begin assessment. Create Prezzie/PowerPoint
, describing the war in Wirrawee and comparing/contrast
ing to a historical war/invasion. •
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Collate word bank describing locations within text. Write about a school location, utilising these/other strong words (prose/poem). •
Graph (F). Survival kit (F). Prezzi/PowerPoi
nte (F). •
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Description of school location (F). Debate (F). Journal entries from character’s P.O.V and justification (S). •
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TWTWB Student netbooks. Projector/spe
akers. Teacher’s laptop. List of websites for Prezzie/Power
Point. TWTWB Student netbooks. •
Demonstrate awareness of the characters/the
mes in TWTWB. •
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Debate, ‘Are these characters heroes?’ Finish Assessment. Unit Assessment: Creation of 1-­‐2 journal entries (poem/prose -­‐ 400 words) from a character’s point of view (other than Ellie), drawing from evidence within the text and 2-­‐4 themes discussed within the unit. 100 word rationale for choices made. Completed at home and school. Appendix A: Year Nine Standards addressed in this unit. (VCAA 2013). Reading and viewing By the end of Level 9, students analyse the ways that text structures can be manipulated for effect. They analyse and explain how images, vocabulary choices and language features distinguish the work of individual authors. They evaluate and integrate ideas and information from texts to form their own interpretations. They select evidence from the text to analyse and explain how language choices and conventions are used to influence an audience. Writing Students understand how to use a variety of language features to create different levels of meaning. They understand how interpretations can vary by comparing their responses to texts to the responses of others. In creating texts students demonstrate how manipulating language features and images can create innovative texts. They create texts that respond to issues interpreting and integrating ideas from other texts. They edit for effect, selecting vocabulary and grammar that contribute to the precision and persuasiveness of texts and using accurate spelling and punctuation. Speaking and listening They listen for ways texts position an audience. They understand how to use a variety of language features to create different levels of meaning. They understand how interpretations can vary by comparing their responses to texts to the responses of others. In creating texts, students demonstrate how manipulating language features and images can create innovative texts. They create texts that respond to issues, interpreting and integrating ideas from texts. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, comparing and evaluating responses to ideas and issue Works Cited Bolton, F. (2000). Responding to Literature. Classroom, 6, 30-­‐31. Fraser, D. (2012). Developing Classroom Culture: Creating a Climate for Learning. In McGee, Clive, Fraser, & Deborah (Eds.), The Professional Practice of Teaching (Fourth ed., pp. 1-­‐20). Cengage. Gonzalez, N., Moll, L. C., & Armanti, C. (2005). Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing Practices in Households, Communities, and Classrooms. New Jersey: L. Erlbaum Associates. Grover, P. (2008). Insights from Practice Two: Writing to Teach; Teaching to Write. The Australian Christian Education Forum, 66-­‐70. Kent, H., & Davies, L. M. (2011). From Literature to Literary Practice: Teaching Texts in the Australian Curriculum. (B. Doecke, G. Parr, & W. Sawyer, Eds.) Creating an Australian Curriculum, 99-­‐112. Loughran, J. (2010). What Expert Teachers Do. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. Love, K., Baker, G., & Quinn, M. (2008). LASS: Learning Across the School Subjects. Luke, A., & Freebody, P. (1999). A Map of Possible Practices: Further Notes on the Four Resources Model. Practically Primary, 4(2), 5-­‐8. Marsden, John. Tomorrow When the War Began. Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia PTY LTD, 2002.
O'Donnell, A. M., Deboozy, E., Bartlett, B., & Bryer, F. (2012). Educational Psychology (First ed.). Queensland: John Wiley & Sons. Quill, A., & Townsend, A. (2009). Think, Organise, Write: Turning Thinking into Writing Using Graphic Organisers. QLD: Farr Books. Sadker, D., Sadker, M., & Zittleman, K. R. (2010). Questioning Skills. In J. M. Cooper (Ed.), Classroom Teaching Skills (9 ed., pp. 109-­‐153). Belmont: Cengage Learning. Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). AUSVELS English Level 9 Curriculum. Melbourne: Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA), 2013. Wadsworth, Barry J. Piaget's Theory of Cognitive and Affective Development: Foundations of Constructivism. Fifth. New York: Longman Publishers, 1996.