LITERACY / UNIT PLANNER Lynda Ferrara s00112512

Topic: My Place: Johanna 1848: Episode 17 Year Level: 5 Term: 1 Week: 3-5 Date: Commencing 29
th
April 2013
GRAMMAR FOCUS: (3 levels)
1. Whole text structure of a persuasive piece of text
An opening statement
A statement of opinion
Background Information to support the opening statement
Arguments to support opinion
Evidence and facts to support each argument
A concluding statement that sums up the argument, suggesting a solution or
possible action.
Language features for the text-type:
2. Sentence level
Present tense
Persuasive voice
Use of connectives (Firstly, secondly)
3. Word level
Emotive words
Use of first person (I, we, us)
Use of conjectures (therefore, furthermore)
(Wing Jan, 2009, pp. 166-168).
Text type and
mode
Listened to Spoken Read Written Viewed Produced
Persuasive
argument text
x x x x x x
Steps in Teaching and Learning Cycle: (adapted Derewianka, 1990/2007)
1. Building topic knowledge
2. Building text knowledge/Model the genre
3. Guided activities to develop vocabulary and text knowledge
4. Joint construction of text
5. Independent construction of text
6. Reflecting on language choices
Frequently used Literacy Instructional Strategies:
Think Aloud Language Experience Approach (R/W) Read to Shared R/W Guided R/W
Modelled writing Interactive writing Independent R/W Literature Circles Reciprocal
Teaching Mini lesson Roving conferences
Reading Interviews Cloze
Topic-specific vocabulary for the unit of work:
Chores, thesis, school, business, responsibilities, employment, gender
roles, stereotypes, social order, evidence, statement, education, eras,
decade, timeline, rights, expectations, aspirations, entitlements,
history, Indigenous Australians, evidence, proof, justify, support,
reason, equality, duties, routines, tannery, paragraphs, key words,
abbreviations, persuade, rhetorical question, opinion, closure,
argument, ownership, control, discussion, debate, During the
decade, country, majority, evidence, proof, justify, support, reason,
linking and conclusion.
Thinking Tools/techniques to support childrens thinking before/during/after an activity:
Graffiti wall, flashcards, modelling, guided writing, refering to other sources, discussion, think aloud time, role play,
think/pair/share, debate, reflecting circles, making text to text/text to world connections, graphic organisers, share
time, peer assessment, read aloud, word cline and conferencing.

Comprehension Strategies: Predicting; Visualising; Making connections; Questioning; Inferring; Determining
important ideas; Summarising; Finding evidence in the text; Understanding new vocabulary; Synthesising;
Comparing and contrasting; Paraphrasing; Recognising cause and effect; Skimming and scanning;
Question types: self-questioning; 3 levels; (literal, inferential, evaluative)
Resources:
Wing Jan, L. (2009). Write ways. South Melbourne: OUP.pp. 68-71, 94-95, 202-207; EPISODE 17 | 1848:
JOHANNA English teaching resources downloaded on 2nd October 2013 from www.myplace.edu.au/. My Place
website www.myplace.edu.au Video clip Episode 17 (1); ABC3 MyPlace http://www.abc.net.au/abc3/myplace/
Analysing
Checking
Classifying
Cooperating
Considering options
Designing
Elaborating
Estimating
Explaining
Generalising
Hypothesising
Inferring
Interpreting
Justifying
Listening
Locating information
Making choices
Note taking
Observing
Ordering events
Organising
Performing
Persuading
Planning
Predicting
Presenting
Providing feedback
Questioning
Reading
Recognising bias
Reflecting
Reporting
Responding
Restating
Revising
Seeing patterns
Selecting information
Self-assessing
Sharing ideas
Summarising
Synthesising
Testing
Viewing
Visually representing
Working independently
Working to a timetable

Section 3
In Australia, the education of EAL/D students has frequently been seen as a minority issue and as the responsibility of specialist teachers. However, this
is no longer the case, as in numerous homes and communities across Australia there are many languages other than English being spoken. Research
states that around 20 25% of students attending schools in Australia are from backgrounds where English is an additional language (Hammond, 2012).
As a result of this, generalist teachers are required to scaffold learning and provide linguistic support to ensure that all members of their class become
successful learners and members of the community (Gibbons, 2009). The five planned sessions provided attempt to cater for all students within a
Grade 5 class, with particular support for EAL/D students (English as another language or dialect).
It is now believed that traditional approaches to language acquisition are not adequate for the latest new arrivals to Australian schools (Garcia, 2000)
and as a result teachers are required to differentiate within lessons to cater for every student in their grade. You will discover within these lessons that
EAL/D students are not learning something different. Instead they are all learning the same thing, but in different ways (Trujo, 2004). This is due to
studies suggesting that as a teacher raises their expectations of what their students can achieve, their EAL students educational achievements [will
rise] within them (Hammond, 2008). For the EAL/D students in these sessions, particular focus has been on using second language principles, visuals,
meaningful contexts and an appropriate assessment.
Session 2 begins with a real life scenario where students are made to believe that the principal is cancelling sport for the week. This scenario was used as
the context immediately becomes relevant and meaningful to the students on a personal level. This is important because when children are engaged with
a debate that is realistic and relates to them, the vocabulary becomes meaningful, authentic and contextualised (Bowers, Fitts, Quirk & Jung, 2010). It
is suggested that for some students that when they engage in role-plays with their peers it provides an opportunity for sustained talk (and then often
reading and writing). This is because if they make a mistake it is the character that made the error and not them. Another aspect of this kind of
motivation to encourage EAL/D students to become involved is encouraging all students to not only write why they think sport should/should not go
ahead next week but also draw it. There is a plethora of research that suggests students benefit from visuals, illustrations and being allowed to respond
using not only words but also drawings (Gibbons 2003). By allowing a small group of EAL students to have further guidance from the teacher, they are
able to work with a greater amount of support. This ensures that they are completely understanding what is being asked of them and that all the
vocabulary that was raised in the discussion can be re-explained if necessary (Farr, 1993). By allowing the teacher to have two forms of assessment
students in the grade are able to provide him/her with a range of information as to how effective this session was.
Session 4 encourages students to take care in their writing by allowing them to revisit it with a peer prior to them publishing it. Students begin by
listening to the teacher read aloud which promotes speaking and listening skills within the entire class. The Australian Curriculum reinforces the
importance of this not only within younger year levels but also levels approaching secondary school (Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting
Authority (ACARA), 2012). It is suggested by research that students should engage with rubrics from a young age across a range of curriculums. When
the teacher encourages students to come up and assist in the marker of their work students automatically become more engaged and generally would
find the experience more enjoyable. This is important as students learn from becoming involved with the demonstration not from passively absorbing
information (Barrentine, 1996). The students in the teacher focus group for this activity are given specific requirements to check if their work in on
track which assist them in focusing on their work. This teaches them how to edit their own work and what to look for. These students would benefit if
this checklist were made into a poster for future reference. Studies show that visual displays make a tremendous difference to children learning English as an
additional language. They are a key source of support when working on a learning task and can offer crucial opportunities for reinforcing recent learning (Dewey,
2013).

To conclude, allowing students to engage with the same task in different ways promotes inclusion and motivates students to become involved with
lessons. These tasks have been designed with EAL/D learners in mind however the key to genuine and lasting school improvement must be developing
the quality of teaching (Hughes, 1999).