Unit+of+Work+Overview

** Unit focus HSIE Outcome ** ** ENS2.5 ** Describes places in the local area and other parts of Australia and explains their significance ** English Outcomes ** **TS2.1** Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes of a variety of topics across the curriculum. ** TS2.2 ** Interacts effectively in groups, adopting a range of roles, uses a variety of media. ** TS2.3 ** Identifies the effect of purpose and audience on spoken texts and distinguishes between different varieties of English.
 * I've been everywhere man: A Stage 2 Unit of Work **

RS2.7 Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes RS2.8 Discusses the text structure of a range of text types and the grammatical features that are characteristic of those text types. **WS2.9 ** Drafts, revises, proofreads and publishes well-structured texts that are more demanding in terms of topic, audience and written language features. **WS2.10 ** Produces texts clearly, effectively and accurately, using the sentence structure, grammatical features and punctuation conventions of the text type. **V1** Enjoys creating a range of spoken and written texts ** V2 ** Enjoys experiencing and responding to a range of spoken and written texts **V3** Experiments with different aspects of spoken and written language **V4** Shows confidence in using language in a variety of contexts **V5** Shows independence in using and learning language **V6** Chooses to reflect on and share experiences of texts ** Additional Cross-Curriculum Links ** __ Creative Arts Outcome/s __ **DRAS2.1** Takes on and sustains roles in a variety of drama forms to express meaning in a wide range of imagined situations. __ Science and Technology Outcome/s __ **IC S2.2** Creates and evaluates information products demonstrating an understanding of the needs of particular audiences. **UT S2.9** Selects and uses a range of equipment, computer-based technology, materials and other resources with developing skill to enhance investigation and design tasks. **VA1** Demonstrates confidence in their own ability and a willingness to make and implement decisions when investigating, designing, making and using technology. **VA2** Exhibits curiosity and responsiveness to scientific and technological ideas and evidence. **VA3** Initiates scientific and technological tasks and challenges and perseveres with them to their completion. **VA4** Gains satisfaction from their efforts to investigate, to design, to make, and to use technology. **VA5** Works cooperatively with others in groups on scientific and technological tasks and challenges. ** Unit Aim ** __ HSIE: __ Students identify, locate and describe natural, heritage and built features in the local area and in other parts of Australia and explain their significance. They locate the four compass points and other significant features on a map and develop skills to locate and evaluate information from a variety of sources (Adapted from Board of Studies, 2006b, p.17). __English:__ Students communicate proficiently ideas and information in classroom, school and social situations for a range of purposes. They explore a range of roles when interacting in pairs and groups, using various listening strategies to gather general ideas from conversations, reports or spoken presentations. Students identify the effect of purpose and audience on spoken texts and they shape and present ideas accordingly. They identify common organisational patterns and language features of predictable spoken texts.Students independently read and view familiar and challenging texts and justify interpretations of ideas, information and events, using a range of skills and strategies. They integrate a range of skills and strategies efficiently when reading and interpreting texts and visual images. Students recognise and explore the relationship between writers and readers and how writers use language to create different worlds and achieve a range of purposes. They explore the structure and grammatical features for a range of written and visual texts.Students produce a well-structured factual, multimodal text (video) in terms of topic, purpose, audience and language by drafting, revising and editing (Adapted from Board of Studies, 2007, p.13). ** Unit Overview ** In this unit, students in groups of four will create an advertising video to encourage people from overseas and in Australia to travel around Australia, on behalf of a fictional travel company. Each group will be assigned a particular state and research significant places within that state to include in their video. Over the course of ten lesson, students will be introduced to information about significant places in Australia and develop knowledge, understanding and skills in analysing and using written and visual grammar in order to gain further content knowledge relating the focus outcome (ENS2.5). They will also use their understanding of verbal and visual grammar, and develop skills in using video technology, to create their videos. In final task encouraging students to reflect on and use their learning, students will choose to write either an information report or a letter relating to significant places in Australia. **__Lesson 1__** Students are introduced to the focus outcome of the unit as the teacher explains that they will be learning about significant places in Australia. They learn that they will create advertising videos to encourage people to travel around Australia. Students share their experiences of travel in Australia and explain why the places they have been are special. The students take on imaginary trip in a 'campervan' (rows of chairs) around Australia as the teacher reads //Are we there yet?// by Alison Lester. Students learn about places in Australia, name them, locate and mark the places on a map, take notes about these places and evaluate their significance. Students take on roles as travellers and book characters to encourage deep reflection about significant places in Australia. At the conclusion of the lesson, students discuss what they have learned about the places mentioned in the book, and explain why these places are significant. **__Lesson 2__** The second lesson follows up on Lesson 1 with a focus of building up students' HSIE content knowledge of this unit. In this lesson, students will learn about the written features and purpose of a narrative. Students will further their content knowledge from "Are we there yet", by Alison Lester (as introduced in lesson 1) as they use the book as a resource when researching their particular state. The content knowledge that will be the focus is Australia and significant sites across the country and within each state respectively. Students will be seated in their groups from lesson 1 and concentrate on recording what they learn about their state and it's significant sites. As a stimulus, the class will receive the first letter of a series from a fictional student overseas who is doing a project on significant sites in Australia. The overseas student's letter will contain questions about Australia and significant sites within each state. Students will research these questions in groups in the library and on computers to answer the students’ enquiries on a worksheet. At the conclusion of the lesson, each group will come up with 3-4 key words that describe their chosen significant site within Australia. They will then write it on an outline of a map of Australia which will consequently become the beginnings of the class’ unit word bank. **__Lesson 3__** The focus of this lesson is to engage students in a literacy activity about their own "Are we there yet?" experience using the children's book by Alison Lester in addition to a children's travel blog called, "Living on the Road" through a literary recount writing activity. The literary recount will address key grammatical features: using a variety of time connectives and using a range of adjectives to build descriptions. Students will identify the differences between a narrative and a recount as far as the purpose and features of both and compare each text type considering which will be most useful in gathering information and being able to describe their significant places in Australia in an interesting way. The teacher explains that students will use their recounts as a means to further their content knowledge about the particular significant site in Australia that they have been to and chosen to write a recount about. Students then research their site further (including books, CD-ROMs, Australia heritage web sites, blogs, brochures, etc.) to help enhance their recount with some factual information as a compulsory component of their recount. They must use a range of time connectives and adjectives as the key grammatical features of their written text. Students can choose to present their recount at the end of the class. **__Lesson 4__** In groups of four, students are assigned to research significant sites in a particular Australian state. Using resources provided by the teacher or found by students (including books, CD-ROMs, Australia heritage web sites, blogs, brochures, etc.), students search for information about significant sites in their assigned state. Some groups will use computers (for web sites and CD-ROMS) and others will use hard copy materials (e.g books). They may use information they found from the previous lesson if the significant site within Australia that they did their recount on applies to their Australian state. On an A3 map of their state, students locate and mark the location of the significant places. They take notes about what they learn about each site in columns on the back of their map. Students continue their group research and record new information. Groups using computers and hard copy materials will swap after a given period of time to ensure students use a range of sources. **__Lesson 5__** Teachers and students jointly deconstruct selected visual texts (some illustrations from //Are we there yet?// and some photographs from an information report about significant places in Australia) and learn about key concepts and metalanguage of visual grammar (e.g. salience, social distance, offers/demands, modality). They discuss the impact these visual techniques have on the text's meaning (e.g. how does the image make you feel, and what techniques has the composer used to make you feel that way?). They compare the features of illustrations and real-life images and discuss which type of image will be most effective for their advertising videos. Given a few excerpts with visual and written information from the texts they have discussed as a class, students work with a partner to discuss and record what they learned from the images and contrast and compare that to the information gained from the written text in each case. As a class, they discuss the relationship between written and visual information in multimodal texts. **__Lesson 6__** Students finalise their group research. In computer lab, students search online to find several images of the significant sites they have researched and save them in a class folder. Groups are instructed to select images that will encourage people to want to travel to those places, and therefore to consider, for example, offers and demands, social distance and salience and the impact these techniques have on the viewer and the meaning created by the image. Groups select one of the images they have chosen and type a paragraph justifying its use in their advertising video, with reference to visual techniques. **__Lesson 7__** Teacher invites the principal to come into class and introduces him or her as the CEO of the travel company the students by whom the have been employed. The 'CEO' reiterates the purpose of these videos, emphasises the need for high quality work and explains that each video need to be between 2-3 mins long. The 'CEO' shows students an example of an advertising video made by another company and asks the students what visual and language techniques (including persuasive language) the composer used to encourage people to travel. After the 'CEO' leaves, the teacher further discusses persuasive language. Teacher and students write a list of persuasive language and techniques (including voice techniques) used in the video and in an advertising brochure and discuss the impact of using this type of language. Students add to the list with their own suggestions of persuasive techniques they could use in their videos. In their groups, students write their script for their video. **__Lesson 8__** Students complete their scripts, edit them, bring them to the teacher for editing and practise reading them aloud (using vocal expression) to other groups. **__Lesson 9__** Teacher explains to students how to use the website [|www.jaycut.com] to make their videos. Students record their script using audio recording software, arrange the images they previously selected in order and align audio and images using the movie making software. Students are once again reminded of persuasive language, and recap over what makes a video persuasive to its viewers. Students use the program to make their videos. The videos, which are 2-3 minutes are completed in this lesson. The final parts of this lesson allow for a discussion of reasons as to why certain things were chosen in this video. Students prepare to present their video to the class and the 'CEO' (Principal) in the next lesson. **__Lesson 10__** The 'CEO' (principal) returns to view the work of his 'employees'. The class, principal and teacher watch all the videos. After each video the students share what they learned about the places mentioned in the video and identify some visual and verbal techniques the group used to encourage people to travel to those significant places.Note: If the principal is unavailable during class time, the teacher explains that she will be mailing the videos and the 'CEO' will give feedback to his 'employees' at a later date. **__Lesson 11__** Using the written notes and maps (displayed on classroom wall) and videos from all groups, students select one of the following two writing tasks:1. Write an information report about 5 places in Australia (all in different states) and evaluate their significance.2. Write a letter to your friend describing your recent trip around Australia. Describe at least three of the places that you went (each from a different state) and tell your friend why those places are special. Encourage your friend to go on a trip around Australia.
 * RS2.5 ** Reads independently a wide range of texts on increasingly challenging topics and justifies own interpretation of ideas, information and events.
 * WS2.14 ** Discusses how own texts have been structured to achieve their purpose and the grammatical features characteristic of the various text types used.