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Introduction

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Intro duct lines a ion ‹ nd Pr oces Data ses ‹ Collec tion F orms Englis ‹ h Ove r view Scien ‹ ce Ov er vie w‹

Guide

Consistency of Teacher Judgement 2009 INTRODUCTION A consistent judgement is the coherent application of a common standard, such that judgements hold true over time on both individual and collective levels. (CTJ, A training and development CD-Rom for Teachers, Commonwealth of Australia 2000) For 2009, the Early Years Curriculum Guidelines and the current QSA KLA syllabi, along with the QCAR Essential Learnings provide a reference point for making judgements about students’ achievement. The alignment of the learning statements of the Essential Learnings and the core learning outcomes of the KLA syllabi is included in the Audit Tool in the Curriculum E-Library. This framework: • provides descriptions of student development • describes typical pathways of learner progress for all KLAs • is the basis for generating learner achievement data • guides dialogue between teachers and their colleagues. Consistency of Teacher Judgement relates to: • common interpretations of learning against standards • shared understandings of how standards of learning are demonstrated.

PURPOSE Consistency of Teacher Judgement (CTJ) supports the: • development of teachers’ assessment practices • making of consistent and comparable judgements about standards of learning achievement within and between schools. CTJ is an ongoing process embedded in the learning and teaching cycle. In BCE schools this is focused on four strategies: • sharing understandings about standards • collaborative planning of units of work • collaborative development of assessment opportunities and associated criteria • moderating teacher judgements within and between schools. (See CTJ Information Kit [2004], Part 2, p8)

Information Kit 2009

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Moderation ProcessES Requirements and Focus for 2009

All teachers of English and Science in P-7 plan, teach, assess and engage in intra and inter-school moderation around the following: English – Expository Genre: the construction of expository texts • Early Years Curriculum Guidelines (EYCG) - Language learning & communication: Oral Language Learning Statement • KLA English syllabus – Speaking, Writing and Shaping sub-strands • Essential Learnings – Speaking, Writing and Designing, Language Elements and Literary and Non-Literary Texts organisers

Science P-3 • Early Years Curriculum Guidelines - Active learning processes: Investigating the natural world Learning Statement • KLA Science Syllabus/Essential Learnings - Earth and Beyond and Life and Living stands/organisers Years 4-7 • KLA Science Syllabus/Essential Learnings – Science & Society/Science as a human endeavour, Earth and Beyond and Energy and Change strands/organisers

All Year 8 & 9 English and Science teachers plan, teach, assess and engage in intra and inter-school moderation around the following: English: Expository Genre: the construction of expository texts • KLA English syllabus – Speaking, Writing and Shaping sub-strands • Essential Learnings – Speaking, Writing and Designing, Language Elements and Literary and Non-Literary Texts organisers

Science: • KLA Science Syllabus/Essential Learnings – Science & Society/Science as a human endeavour, Earth and beyond, Energy and change, Natural and processed materials strands/organisers

Expectations for Year 8 & 9 English and Science teachers are that: 1. Each secondary school will ‘cluster’ with at least one other (probably geographically proximate) secondary school. (Note: Schools choosing to participate in English and/or Science QCATs are best served by ‘clustering’ together) 2. Year 8 & 9 teachers of English and Science within each school will participate in intra-school moderation of student work from each of the class groups 3. Five (5) work samples from each year level (i.e. Year 8 and Year 9) indicative of each achievement standard on a 5-point scale (e.g. A-E) will be provided to the cluster school/s for their perusal and comment. (Note: Students’ work samples will need to be mailed to the relevant cluster school(s) unless face-to-face teacher meetings are arranged) 4. Each school will forward to BCEC copies of their student work samples (with a Work Sample Information Sheet attached to each work sample) and a copy of their Interschool Cluster Feedback Form(s). Both the Work Sample Information Sheet & Interschool Cluster Feedback Form are contained in this resource package. (Note: The student work samples and the cluster feedback forms are to be forwarded to BCEC by Friday November 6 2009)

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Conferencing Model of Moderation BCE has identified the Conferencing Model of moderation when encouraging schools to engage with the moderation process when making judgements about student work. Using the conferencing model, teachers use their annotated work samples to guide discussion and deliberate when making their judgements about the quality of student work. Teachers make judgements on several criteria to reach an ‘on-balance’ holistic judgement. This is not a procedural approach but one that is based on teachers’ professional knowledge in shared and collaborative decision making. Teachers mark student responses individually, and then select assessment samples representative of their application of a standards scale (Very high – Well below). They meet with other teachers to discuss their judgements by sharing the annotated samples of student work. Teachers reach a consensus on the interpretation and application of the standards.

Moderation Dialogue This year there is focussed support for the enhancement of the moderation dialogue between teachers with a particular focus on applying a model of standards.

SUPPORT MATERIALS The 2009 CTJ Kit contains:

Requirements and Focus Guidelines and Processes

The CTJ cycle Process for moderation group facilitators “What if …?” scenarios for group facilitators Questions to support engagement in conversation with colleagues Tips on reaching consensus Action plan for CTJ Coordinator Action plan for CTJ Site Facilitator Teacher preparation checklist Discussion guide

Data Collection Forms

Nomination Form: Consistency of Teacher Judgement 2009 Data Collection Form A: English: Expository text Data Collection Form B: Science Data Collection Form C: Assessment Student Work Sample Cover Sheet (Years 8 and 9 only)

Support Resources Resources to support the teaching and assessing of expository genre in English Resources to support the teaching and assessing of Science DVD: to support facilitation of the moderation dialogue including the use of a model of standards between groups of teachers.

Information Kit 2009

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Guidelines and Processes

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Introd lines uctio and P n‹ roce Data sses Collec ‹ tion F orms Englis ‹ h Ove r view Scien ‹ ce Ov er vie w‹

GUIDELINES and PROCESSES

CTJ Moderation Process

CTJ Cycle

WHO P-9 Teachers of English and Science P-9 Teachers of English and Science

Data Collection and Feedback

Roles within the CTJ Process

Principal

DESCRIPTION

WHEN

Plan, teach, assess and engage in intra and inter-school moderation.

Terms 1-4

Meet to compare samples of student work using criteria as a reference. Identify the standard of learning evident in the student sample. Discuss and reach consensus about judgements of standards of student work.

Intraschool moderation – Term 3/4. Interschool moderation 19 October 2009 (or other nominated date). By Friday April 24 2009

Determines how CTJ will be coordinated within and across schools. Sends nomination form to BCEC. CTJ School representative who coordinates all activities associated Coordinator with CTJ (See Action Plan for CTJ). Responsible for disseminating information to all teachers. Facilitates practice in teacher participation in moderation dialogue. Organises training of group facilitators. See ‘Process for moderation group facilitators’. Organises and facilitates Intraschool moderation. Site School representative from the site of the interschool Facilitator moderation cluster who organises all preparations associated with that day. See Action Plan. Group Facilitates group moderation dialogue. See ‘Process for Facilitator moderation group facilitators’. Facilitates collection of student samples that are representative of a range of standards in the group at the end of the moderation session. P-9 Teachers Table annotated student work samples for each of English of English and and Science representative of a range of standards with Science accompanying criteria. Provide additional copies for group discussion. Outline assessment context and evidence of standard of learning in student sample. Engage in dialogue with other teachers in the group to reach consensus about teachers’ judgements against standards. Participate in selecting student samples that reflect the range of standards tabled for collection. Complete electronic teacher voice feedback form (if randomly selected). Site Provide group facilitators with data collection sheets and Facilitator processes. and CTJ Collect data at the end of the process. Coordinators Moderate collected student samples to provide one sample within each phase of the Early Years; one sample for each standard (where available) within each Juncture (Junctures 3, 5, 7 and 9) across the cluster. Complete electronic teacher voice feedback form. Send requested work samples and collated cohort data to BCEC by November 6 2009.

Terms 2, 3 and 4

Terms 3 and 4

19 October 2009 (or other nominated date)

19 October 2009 (or other nominated date)

October 23 2009 19 October 2009 (or other nominated date)

November 6 2009

Information Kit 2009

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PROCESS FOR MODERATION GROUP FACILITATORS Introduction Group facilitator provides teachers with an outline of the process to be followed as described on this page.

During the process Group facilitator calls on each teacher to lead the discussion (as detailed in the ‘Dialogue process’ below) tabling student samples. In turn, each teacher tables annotated samples of student work with accompanying criteria to share judgements. (Additional copies of the annotated student sample are provided for other participants to share). Please note: Group facilitator needs to keep an eye on time to ensure the engagement and contribution of other group members.

Dialogue process Teacher: 1. briefly describes the learning context, outlines the assessment task used and the conditions underpinning the assessment performance e.g. scaffolding, explicit teaching 2. describes how the student samples provide evidence of meeting the criteria for demonstration of learning at a particular standard 3. comments on differences in evidence of demonstrations that relate to the standards represented in the samples. Colleagues: 4. compare student samples and how they reflect evidence of learning at the stated standard 5. ask clarifying questions to more clearly establish how the evidence in the student sample is reflective of the stated standard. Group facilitator: 6. seeks consensus from teachers about the consistency of their judgements compared with the judgements of colleagues around the table 7. calls on assistance from cluster leaders when consistency of judgement is not able to be reached among the group 8. ensures equal opportunity for participation from each teacher.

(For additional support see the CTJ 2008 DVD)

Conclusion A. Group facilitator thanks the group for their participation and brings the dialogue to a close B. Group facilitator leads a discussion about which student sample (with accompanying assessment and criteria) is most reflective of the range of standards tabled during discussion and then submits selected items to CTJ Site Facilitator. C. Teachers if randomly selected, complete electronic ‘Teacher Voice’ form.

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“What if …?” Scenarios for group facilitators (Adapted from CTJ 2008 DVD) 1. Someone has forgotten to bring work samples • facilitator stresses the importance of still being a part of the professional conversation because the information they all have about the work samples is the same 2. Someone prolongs their discussion • teacher is not succinct in presentation and talks over other group members • group facilitator recaps main point and redirects to another speaker 3. Someone is making judgements about their students and not the work samples • group facilitator reminds group members to make judgements against the work sample not the student 4. Someone is making judgements about the assessment task and not the work samples • group facilitator reminds group members that their task is to moderate the work samples not make judgements about the assessment task 5. A teacher loses focus and shifts to sharing class experiences rather than moderating • group facilitator refocusses discussion 6. The group cannot reach consensus • be positive – affirm all points of view • refer the discussion to site facilitator 7. No one wants to go first • before the session begins ask someone to go first.

Questions to support engagement in conversation with colleagues The questions below are examples of clarifying and probing questions that may support teachers in engaging in dialogue with colleagues.

Clarifying questions: The purpose of these types of questions is to thoughtfully consider and make points clearer. • Can you explain a bit more about …? • When you say … do you mean …? • I’m not sure I understand, could you explain …? • So what do you think the differences are between …? • What was the challenge for you with …? • What is the issue we are trying clarify here …? • Let me see if I understand you; do you mean _____ or _____?

Information Kit 2009

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Probing questions: The purpose of these types of questions is to help the presenter understand their judgement, their thinking and articulate this to their colleagues. • Have you considered …? • Help me understand your thinking when you say …? • Explain how you arrived at …? • What was the process you used …? • Can you tell me more about …? • So what are you thinking now …?

TIPS ON REACHING CONSENSUS • • • • •

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Maintain the focus of conversation on the actual evidence in student work sample. Refer to the criteria sheet and matching what is described in it with what is presented in the student’s work. Focus discussion back onto matching task specific descriptors with the evidence available for each assessable element. If the on-balance judgement is an issue, refer to the purpose of the assessment which indicates where the strength/major focus for judgement should go. When focussing on achieving agreement on the overall judgement, it is not necessary to reach agreement on every assessable element or product. CTJ refers to on-balance judgements across all assessable elements.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Action Plan for CTJ Coordinator PREPARING FOR CTJ Action

Who

When

Check list

Discuss the guidelines for CTJ ’09 with staff identifying the focus areas for all teachers of English and Science. Make decisions about when learning and teaching in these focus areas will occur. Make decisions about the schools that will form the interschool CTJ cluster for 2009 and confirm these arrangements with the leadership of each of the participating schools. Complete and send in Nomination Form by Friday 24 April 2009. Nominate intraschool (within school) moderation dates for English and Science. Identify planning dates for the development of assessment, criteria and learning and teaching for focus areas for each year level. Identify and plan for professional learning needs arising out of the focus areas.

INTRASCHOOL (WITHIN SCHOOL) MODERATION SESSION Establish within and/or across year level groups for intraschool moderation sessions, identifying a leader for each group. Conduct a staff meeting for all teachers on the moderation process prior to intraschool moderation session. (Support Resources are available on BCE Intranet (KWeb)). Conduct a meeting of group facilitators who will facilitate the dialogue in each group to clarify role and process and address issues. Engage in intraschool moderation process. Reflect on the intraschool moderation experience at a staff meeting.

INTERSCHOOL (BETWEEN SCHOOL) CTJ Prepare for interschool CTJ session by providing teachers with an agenda for the day, process for moderation and list of moderation groups. (See Teacher Preparation Checklist). Identify group facilitators for Interschool CTJ process. Ensure that group facilitators are adequately trained and prepared for the facilitation of interschool moderation process within groups.

REFLECTING ON CTJ School CTJ Coordinator collects data to complete Data Collection Forms A and B. CTJ Coordinators meet at the end of the interschool moderation dialogue with the Site Facilitator to decide which annotated student samples (with accompanying criteria) are most reflective of a range of standards within each juncture including the Early Years. Send requested work samples to BCEC by Friday 6 November 2009 with Form C to BCEC. Collate cohort data from teachers about standards of learning in English and Science. Complete electronic forms (Data Collection Forms A & B available at https://staffportal.bne.catholic.edu.au/docushare/dsweb/Get/ Document-15661/Data+Collection+2009+Document.xls ) and email to Judy Raphael ([email protected]) by Friday 6 November.



Information Kit 2009

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Action Plan for CTJ Site Facilitator Action

Who will take responsibility for this?

1. List the schools attending. 2. Identify the TOTAL number of teachers for the day. 3. Nominate the room/hall that will hold all participants for the introductory sessions. 4. Organise teachers into groups of four (4). 5. Identify breakout rooms for moderation dialogue and prepare a site map. 6. Prepare an agenda for CTJ Day and disseminate to participating schools. 7. Identify who will prepare prayer for the start of the day. 8. Identify Coordinator/Principal to lead the introductory session. 9. Organise: • for an OHP and/or data projector • extension cord, screen and possible sound system as required • seating. 10. Organise catering arrangements: • tea/coffee facilities • morning tea • lunch • payment. 11. Organise collection of: • requested data • sample assessment items.

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:

Follow up needed

Check list

Teacher Preparation Checklist What to bring:

English Five copies each of • 3 annotated samples of student work representative of different standards e.g. a Very High, High, Sound with a criteria sheet representing teacher judgements.

Science Five copies each of • 3 annotated samples of student work representative of different standards e.g. a Very High, High, Sound with a criteria sheet representing teacher judgements.

Assessment context Briefly describe: • the explicit learning and teaching that preceded the assessment • the conditions under which the assessment occurred • scaffolding that supported student demonstration for the samples provided.

English

Science

Information Kit 2009

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Discussion Guide Briefly note: • how evidence in the sample of work relates to criteria that guided your teacher judgement • points you would like clarified through group discussion.

English Very high sample

High sample

Sound sample

Below sound sample

Well below sound sample

Science Very high sample

High sample

Sound sample

Below sound sample

Well below sound sample

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Nomination Form: Consistency of Teacher Judgement 2009 Please complete one form per cluster listing the schools who will be participating in Interschool CTJ. Cluster Schools CTJ Coordinator

Cluster meeting site: Interschool CTJ Cluster meeting date:  OR ___________________________ (Alternate date)

Interschool CTJ Activities Learning Area

English

Science

Strand

Consistency Strategy

Language learning & communication: Oral language learning statement of the EYCG; Speaking/ Writing and Shaping/Designing substrand/organiser Active learning processes: Investigating the natural world learning statement of the EYCG;

Moderation

Science strands (whichever are applicable): Science as a human endeavour; Life & Living, Earth & Beyond; Energy & Change; Natural & Processed Materials

Moderation

Please complete this form and return it by 24 April 2009 to: Brisbane Catholic Education, GPO Box 1201, BRISBANE 4001 Attn CTJ Secretarial Coordinator Fax: 3844 5101

This form is also available on: BCE Intranet, eLibrary/Curriculum/B Curriculum Management/08 Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Information Kit 2009

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Introd uctio lines a n‹ n d P roces Data Colle ses ‹ ction Form Englis s‹ h Ove r view Scien ‹ ce Ov er vie w‹

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Data Collection Forms The purpose of this data collection is to gain a broad picture of student achievement in this area and to inform future professional learning and curriculum support. Collect data and fill in the tables following Interschool CTJ. Collate data and complete electronic forms (Data Collection Forms A & B where applicable) and email to Judy Raphael ([email protected]) by Friday 6 November. Please note: The data recorded represents what the students’ performance is ‘most like’ on the assessment task. The forms are available at https://staffportal.bne.catholic.edu.au/docushare/dsweb/Get/ Document-15661/Data+Collection+2009+Document.xls

School Name: Data Collection Form A(1): English: Oral Language/ Speaking & Listening

Year Level

Becoming Aware

Exploring

Making

Applying

Level 1

Year 3 Juncture English Essential Learnings

Level 2

Number of students in the year level

Prep 1 2 Total number of students

Data Collection Form A(2): English: Speaking or Writing & Shaping/Designing Essential Learnings

Year Level

Year 3 Juncture

2

Year 5 Juncture

4

Year 7 Juncture

6

Year 9 Juncture

8

Very high

High

Sound

Below sound

Well below sound

Number of students in the year level

3

5

7

9

Total number of students achieving each standard

Information Kit 2009

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The purpose of this data collection is to gain a broad picture of student achievement in this area and to inform future professional learning and curriculum support. Collect data and fill in the tables following Interschool CTJ. Collate data and complete electronic forms (Data Collection Forms A & B where applicable) and email to Judy Raphael ([email protected]) by Friday 6 November. Please note: The data recorded represents what the students’ performance is ‘most like’ on the assessment task. The forms are available at https://staffportal.bne.catholic.edu.au/docushare/dsweb/Get/ Document-15661/Data+Collection+2009+Document.xls

School Name: Data Collection Form B(1): Science

Year Level

Becoming Aware

Exploring

Making

Applying

Level 1

Level 2

Year 3 Juncture English Essential Learnings

Number of students in the year level

Prep 1 2 Total number of students

Data Collection Form B(2): Science Essential Learnings

Year Level

Year 3 Juncture

2

Year 5 Juncture

4

Year 7 Juncture

6

Year 9 Juncture

8

Very high

High

3

5

7

9

Total number of students achieving each standard

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Sound

Below sound

Well below sound

Number of students in the year level

Data Collection Form C: Assessment

There are some changes to the way in which clusters are requested to provide annotated student work samples and accompanying criteria sheets representative of the standard of learning. Clusters will be notified as to which student work samples they are asked to provide. An example is that Cluster A consisting of four (4) schools will be asked for work samples from P-1 students; Cluster B, consisting of five (5) schools could be asked to submit samples from students in Years 2 and 3; and so on. More information regarding the requested samples will be forwarded to the CTJ Co-ordinators of the specific schools in each cluster. The materials requested should consist of one (1) annotated student sample, accompanying assessment item and criteria that is representative of each level/standard of achievement tabled during the moderation session. Typically for Primary clusters, this will be: • a student sample representing the Applying Phase (EYCG), Level 1 and Level 2/Year 3 Essential Learnings (if applicable) • a student sample representing each of the different standards (Very High, High, Sound, Below Sound, Well Below Sound (where available)) for each year level, Years 2 - 7. Typically Secondary Clusters will provide a student sample representing each of the different standards (Very High, High, Sound, Below Sound, Well Below Sound (where available)) for each year level, Years 8 and 9. Primary school CTJ Co-ordinators, please attach a copy of this form to each assessment item, student sample (removing student identification) and related criteria sheet and return it by Friday 6 November 2009 to: Brisbane Catholic Education, GPO Box 1201, BRISBANE 4001 Attn CTJ Secretarial Coordinator Fax: 3844 5101 Secondary school co-ordinators, please use the Student Work Sample Cover Sheet on the following page and return to the address above.

KLA: Cluster site: Level/Standard: Comment: (optional)

Information Kit 2009

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Student Work Sample Cover Sheet Years 8 & 9 English or Science Note: Please attach a cover sheet, together with a copy of the task and criteria sheet to each student work sample

School: Year Level:

Year 8

Year 9

Work Sample Standard:

{Please check one}

Very High

Term in which work was completed:

High

Term 1

Sound

Below

Term 2

Term 3

Context of Task:

Time for task completion: Class time allocated to task: Mode:

Individual

Teacher Input:

Pair

Group {Please check one}

Draft(s) Sighted

Opportunity for student access to:

Feedback provided  Books Notes Library resources

Any Other Information:

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ICLTs

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Introd uctio lines a n‹ nd Pr oces Data ses ‹ Collec tion F orms Engli ‹ sh Ov ervie Scien w‹ ce Ov er vie w‹

Guide

English Overview

Infor

OVERVIEW ENGLISH FOCUS FOR 2009 Expositions

This resource package provides support materials for teachers of English in P-9. These materials have been prepared to assist teachers in planning, teaching, assessing and moderating using the Early Years Guidelines, QSA English syllabus and the English KLA of the Essential Learnings. The materials cover the range of learning phases from Early Years to Year 9.

REQUIREMENTS FOR 2009 1. All teachers of English in P-9 select a learning context that is developmentally appropriate for the phase of learning. 2. They plan, teach, assess and make judgements about students’ achievement in the focus context. 3. They use this data to participate in moderation activities within and between schools.

ASSESSMENT In P-1 teachers: • identify a negotiated context that provides students with an opportunity to purposefully engage with an opportunity to construct a text type for the purpose of explaining, or commenting and giving opinions • gather evidence of children’s learning through everyday classroom experiences • annotate student work samples/demonstrations of work • make judgements about children’s learning and development using EYCG set of rubrics and Year 1 Learning Statements/Year 3 Juncture Essential Learnings.

In Years 2-9 teachers: • identify a context (connected or English specific) that provides students with an opportunity to purposefully engage with an opportunity to construct a text type for the purpose of explaining, analysing, arguing, persuading and giving opinions • develop assessment criteria that support the making of teacher judgements about the standard of achievement • annotate a student sample of a spoken/signed, written or multimodal expository text • make judgements about the standard of each student’s learning and development. The resources in the Information Kit are provided for teachers to: • use as models to support the design their own learning activities and assessment tasks • adapt to suit their particular student group/s and learning context • implement as presented. The support materials for English are organised into the following sections: Early Years P-3; Years 4 and 5; Years 6 and 7; Years 8 and 9. Each section includes information about: • Expository Genre • Distinguishing features of text types within the Expository Genre • Annotated text models • Annotated student work samples with accompanying criteria • Guide to analysing student texts • Focus of assessment • Using an Inquiry Approach • Planning an English inquiry • Teaching the Expository Genre • Working at the grammatical level of the text Information Kit 2009

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EXPOSITORY GENRE Traditional, contemporary and everyday non-literary texts use language in precise and accurate ways to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions. This genre category of Expositions includes a wide range of text types which can be presented in spoken/signed, written, or multimodal modes. Types of Expository texts include: • Explanation – used to explain scientifically how or why things (phenomena) or processes occur • Discussion – used to look at an issue from a range of perspectives, before making a judgement or recommendation • Analytical Exposition – used to support and reiterate a point of view (thesis) with logical arguments and evidence • Persuasive text – seeks to argue or persuade and intended to convince readers to accept particular perspectives or points of view • Reflective text – reflects on events and experiences and may also be persuasive.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

English focus for 2009 Teachers in: • Years P- 1 will focus on the Language learning & communication: Oral language learning statement of the Early Years Guidelines. • Years 2 and 3 will focus on the Essential Learnings for the Year 3 Juncture/Level 2 English syllabus. • Years 4 and 5 will focus on the Essential Learnings for the Year 5 Juncture/Level 3 English syllabus. • Years 6 and 7 will focus on the Essential Learnings for the Year 7 Juncture/Level 4 English syllabus. • Years 8 and 9 will focus on the Essential Learnings for the Year 9 Juncture/Level 5 English syllabus. The Essential Learnings listed on the following pages are aligned with the corresponding core learning outcomes from the KLA English syllabus (draft). The full text of the core learning outcomes is available in the Audit Tool in the Curriculum e-Library. Teachers are asked to engage with learning contexts and assessment tasks that align with these aspects of the Essential Learnings in the specific junctures for their year levels.

Early Years – P & 1 LLC 1: Language Learning & Communication: Oral language Children expand their oral language by: • using spoken language (including home language or signed or augmentative communication) for a range of purposes • exploring the patterns and conventions of spoken, signed or augmentative language • interacting with peers and familiar adults using, with support, the conventions associated with formal and informal group settings, including attentive listening. The learning statements for Years 2 & 3; Years 4 & 5; Years 6 & 7; Years 8 & 9 and the corresponding core learning outcomes are listed on the following pages.

Information Kit 2009

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

•

• The purpose of writing and designing includes reporting and conveying simple messages and information. CU2.3.1 • Writers and designers can adopt different roles for different audiences. CU2.3.3 • Words and phrases, symbols, images and audio have meaning. OP2.3.3; OP2.3.6 • Text users make choices about grammar and punctuation. OP2.3.2; OP2.3.4 • Common spelling patterns of monosyllabic words, two-syllable words and high-frequency words, are used to spell familiar and unfamiliar words. OP 2.3.7 • Writers and designers use a number of active writing strategies, including planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting, and by referring to authoritative sources. CU2.3.4; OP2.3.7

• The purpose of speaking and listening includes exchanging information, sharing and exploring ideas, entertaining, supporting relationships, giving opinions and getting things done. CU2.1.1 • Speakers can adopt different roles in formal and informal situations. CU2.1.3 • Spoken texts are different from written texts. CU2.1.9 • Statements, questions and commands contribute to making and clarifying meaning during discussions and conversations. CU2.1.3 • Words and phrasing, volume and pitch can add interest and emphasis, clarify meaning and be monitored by listeners. OP2.1.3 • In presentations, speakers make meaning clear by sequencing ideas and information and using visual aids, including objects and pictures. OP2.1.1; OP2.1.4 • Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, questioning, identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting. CU2.1.7

Literary and Non-literary Texts: Students develop an awareness of purpose, audience, subject matter and text structure of expository texts. Statements provide information; questions seek information; • Texts are produced for particular audiences and commands give orders; and exclamations emphasise or their interests. CU2.2.3; express emotions. CU2.1.3; 2.2.4; 2.2.3 2.3.3 A sentence can be a single clause or a combination of • Formal and informal texts clauses. OP2.1.1; 2.2.2; 2.3.2 are ways of communicating Text connectives are used to link and sequence things, ideas for different purposes. and events. OP2.3.4; 2.3.5 CU2.1.1; CU2.1.3 Tense is used to indicate time in sentences. OP 2.2.3; 2.3.3 Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases, • Non-literary texts inform, report on events and develop and elaborate ideas and portray people, characters, issues, explain, explore places, events and things in different ways. OP 2.1.2; 2.2.3; ideas, express opinions, 2.3.3; CR2.1.1; 2.2.1; 2.2.2; 2.3 conduct transactions and Pronouns take the place of nouns to which they are negotiate relationships, referring. OP2.1.2; 2.2.3; 2.3.3; 2.3.4 goods and services, and Conjunctions are used to join two phrases or clauses. give directions. CU2.1.1; OP2.1.2; 2.2.5; 2.3.2 2.2.1; 2.3.1 Punctuation marks, including capital letters, full stops, • Non-literary texts can commas, exclamation marks and question marks, clarify convey an opinion that may meaning. OP2.2.5; 2.3.2 be positive or negative. Vocabulary describes, labels and sequences, and can CU2.1.1; 2.2.1; 2.3.1 represent people, characters, places, events and things. • Main ideas and events OP2.1.2; 2.2.3; 2.3.3; CR2.1.1; 2.1.2; 2.2.2; 2.3 can be sequenced and Auditory, spoken, visual and nonverbal elements provide subject matter described, details necessary for making meaning about the including supporting ideas representations of people, places and things. OP2.1.3; 2.1.4; and details. CU2.1.2; 2.2.2; 2.2.4; 2.3.6 2.3.2

Language Elements: Interpreting and constructing texts involve exploring and using grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, audio and visual elements, in print-based, electronic and face-to-face modes in familiar contexts.

Writing and designing involve using language elements to construct nonliterary texts for familiar contexts.

Speaking involves using oral, aural and gestural elements to interpret and construct texts that achieve purposes in familiar contexts.

Knowledge & Understanding

By the end of Year 3, when constructing expository texts, students are able to: • identify audience, purpose and text type • identify main ideas and the sequence of events, and make simple inferences • recognise and select vocabulary to describe subject matter • construct simple non-literary texts by planning and by using prior knowledge and experience to match an audience and purpose • reflect on and identify how language elements in texts represent people, characters, places, events and things in similar and different ways.

Ways of Working

Early Years 2 & 3

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• The purpose of writing and designing includes entertaining, informing and describing. CU 3.3.1 • Writers and designers can adopt different roles, and make language choices appropriate to the audience. CU 3.3.5 • Words and phrases, symbols, images and audio affect meaning and interpretation. OP 3.3.2. OP 3.3.3, OP 3.3.4, CR 3.3 • Text users make choices about grammar and punctuation, to make meaning. OP 3.3.3, OP 3.3.4, OP 3.3.5, OP 3.3.7 • Sound, visual and meaning patterns, including word functions, are used to spell single-syllable and multisyllable words. OP 3.3.6 • Writers and designers refer to authoritative sources and use a number of active writing strategies, including planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting. CU 3.3.1, CU 3.3.2, CU 3.3.3, CU 3.3.4, CU 3.3.5

• The purpose of speaking and listening includes informing, presenting simple arguments, negotiating relationships and transactions, and seeking opinions of others. CU 3.1.1, CU 3.1.4 • Speakers can adopt different roles, and make language choices appropriate to the level of formality. CU 3.1.1, CU 3.1.4 • Spoken texts have different structures from those of written texts. CU 3.1.1, CU 3.1.4 • Statements, questions and commands generate and maintain discussions and conversations. OP 3.1.3 • Words and phrasing, modulation of volume, pitch, pronunciation and pace enhance expression of ideas, can be adjusted to match the purpose, audience and context, and are monitored by listeners. OP 3.1.5, OP 3.1.8. • Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, questioning, identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting. CU 3.1.1, CU 3.1.2, CU 3.1.3, CU 3.1.4, CU 3.1.5, CU 3.1.6.

Literary and Non-literary Texts: Making choices about literary and non-literary texts involves identifying the purpose, audience, subject matter and text structure. • Aspects of subject matter Paragraphs separate ideas in texts and contain a topic can be included or omitted to sentence. OP3.2.4, OP3.3.5 present a point of view. CR 3.1.1, A sentence can be simple, compound or complex. OP3.2.2, CR 3.1.2, CR 3.2.1, CR 3.2.2, CR OP3.3.3 3.3 Subject and verb must agree in terms of person and • Main ideas are established by number. OP3.2.5, OP3.3.3 identifying who, what, where, Text connectives signal how things, ideas and information when, how and why. OP 3.2.4, are related. OP3.2.4, OP3.3.1, O 3.1.2 OP 3.3.3 Time connectives and tense are used to locate characters • Reports and arguments or action in time. OP3.1.2, OP3.2.4, OP3.3.1 have structures, including Sentences can indicate what is happening (verbs), who or an introduction or a general what is taking part (nouns), what it looks like (adjectives), and statement, elaboration of the circumstances surrounding the action (prepositional information or reasons, and a phrases and adverbs). OP 3.1.2, OP3.2.2, OP3.2.3, OP3.3.3 conclusion. OP 3.1.2, OP 3.2.1, Pronouns refer to nouns within and across sentences. OP OP 3.3.1 3.1.2, OP 3.2.4, OP 3.3.1, OP 3.3.3 Conjunctions signal relationships between things, ideas and events. OP 3.1.2, OP 3.2.4, OP 3.3.1, OP 3.3.3 Punctuation marks, including commas, apostrophes and speech marks, signal meaning in texts. OP3.2.6, OP3.3.7 Vocabulary is chosen to express ideas and information in a commonsense or technical way. OP 3.1.2, OP 3.1.4, OP 3.2.4, OP 3.2.5,OP 3.3.2, OP 3.3.3 Meaning can be made more specific by extending or changing the form of a word OP 3.3.3 Auditory, spoken, visual and nonverbal elements add meaning to the subject matter and focus the audience’s attention. OP3.1.5, OP3.1.8, OP3.2.4, OP3.3.4, OP3.3.6

Language Elements: Interpreting and constructing texts involve making choices about grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, audio and visual elements in print-based, electronic and face-to-face modes in personal and community contexts.

Writing and designing involve using language elements to construct nonliterary texts for audiences in personal and community contexts.

Speaking involves using oral and gestural elements to construct texts that achieve purposes in personal and community contexts.

Knowledge & Understanding

By the end of Year 5, when constructing expository texts, students are able to: • identify the relationship between audience, purpose and text type • identify main ideas and the sequence of events, and make inferences • construct non-literary texts by planning and developing subject matter, using personal, cultural and social experiences that match an audience and purpose • reflect on and describe the effectiveness of language elements and how the language choices represent people, characters, places, events and things in particular ways.

Ways of Working

Years 4 & 5

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Language Elements: Interpreting and constructing texts involve selecting and controlling choices about grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, audio and visual elements, in print-based, electronic and face-to-face modes across wider community contexts.

• Paragraphs sequence information and arguments, and include topic sentences that emphasise a point or argument. OP 4.2.1; 4.3.1 • Dependent clauses require independent clauses to make meaning in a sentence. OP 4.1.1; 4.2.1; 4.3.4 • Pronoun–noun agreement, subject–verb agreement and maintaining tense support cohesion across a paragraph. OP 4.1.1 • Cohesive devices and other text connectives within and between sentences signal relationships between ideas, including causeand-effect and comparison and contrast. OP 4.1.4; 4.2.1; 4.3.4 • Noun groups and verb groups are used to provide specific descriptions of subject matter, express degrees of certainty and uncertainty, and develop characterisation, setting and plot. CU 4.2.3; 4.3.3; OP 4.1.2; 4.1.5; 4.2.2; 4.2.3; 4.2.4; 4.3.3; 4.3.4 • High-frequency words are replaced by more complex forms of vocabulary and give more specific descriptions. OP 4.1.2; 4.1.5; 4.2.2; 4.2.3; 4.2.4; 4.3.2; 4.3.3 • Evaluative language, including adjectives, can appeal to certain groups, express opinions, and represent people, characters, places, events and things in different ways. OP 4.1.5; 4.2.2; 4.3.2 • Punctuation, including quotation marks and brackets, signals meaning. OP 4.3.6 • Vocabulary is chosen to establish relationships, persuade others, describe ideas and demonstrate knowledge. OP 4.1.2; 4.2.4; 4.3.2; CR 4.2.1; 4.3 • Auditory, spoken, visual and nonverbal elements add meaning, interest, immediacy and authority to multimedia texts. OP 4.1.3; 4.1.6; 4.2.5; 4.3.5

Writing and designing involve using language elements to construct non-literary texts for audiences across wider community contexts.

• The purpose of writing and designing includes evoking emotion, persuading and informing. CU 4.3.1 • Writers and designers establish roles, make assumptions about their audience and position them through language choices. CU 4.3.1; CR 4.3 • Words and phrases, symbols, images and audio affect meaning and position an audience. OP 4.3.2; CR 4.3 • Text users make choices about grammar and punctuation, to establish meaning. OP 4.3.2; 4.3.3; 4.3.4; 4.3.6 • Knowledge of word origins and sound and visual patterns, including base words, prefixes and suffixes, syntax and semantics, is used by writers and designers when spelling. OP 4.3.5 • Writers and designers refer to authoritative sources and use a number of active writing strategies, including planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting

Speaking involves using oral and gestural elements to construct texts that achieve purposes across wider community contexts.

• The purpose of speaking and listening includes advancing opinions, discussing, persuading others to a point of view, influencing transactions, and establishing and maintaining relationships. C4.1.1; 4.1.5 • Statements, questions and commands can use language that positions and represents ideas and information. CR 4.1.1 • Words and phrasing, syntax, cohesion, repetition, pronunciation, pause, pace, pitch and volume establish mood, signal relationships, create effect and are monitored by listeners. OP 4.1.2; 4.1.3; 4.1.5; 4.1.6 • Nonverbal elements, including facial expressions, gestures and body language, establish mood, signal relationships, create effect and are monitored by listeners. OP 4.1.3; 4.1.6 • In presentations, speakers make meaning clear by organising subject matter, identifying their role and selecting relevant resources. CU 4.1.3; 4.1.4; OP 4.1.3 • Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, questioning, identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting. CU 4.1.1; 4.1.2 – 4.1.8

Knowledge & Understanding

By the end of Year 7, when constructing expository texts, students are able to: • identify and demonstrate the relationship between audience, subject matter, purpose and text type • recognise and select vocabulary • construct non-literary texts to express meanings and messages, to identify causes and effects, and to state positions supported by evidence • reflect on learning, apply new understandings and identify future applications.

Ways of Working

Years 6 & 7

Literary and Non-literary texts: Evaluating literary and non-literary texts involves understanding the purpose, audience, subject matter and text structure. • Texts present subject matter from a particular perspective. CR 4.1.1; 4.1.2; 4.1.3; 4.2.1; 4.2.2; 4.2.3; 4.3 • Non-literary texts evaluate, inform, present arguments and persuade. CU 4.1.1; 4.1.5; 4.2.1; 4.3.1 • Arguments have a particular structure, including an introduction that identifies a position, a body with details and further evidence, and a conclusion that restates the position. OP 4.1.1; 4.2.1; 4.3.1 • Main ideas, issues and events are selected and organised to sustain a point of view and to project a level of authority that matches a purpose and an intended audience. CU 4.1.2; 4.1.3; 4.1.4; 4.1.8; 4.3.2; CR 4.1.2; 4.1.3; 4.2.1; 4.3

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Writing and designing involve using language elements to construct non-literary texts for audiences across local, national and global contexts. • The purpose of writing and designing includes parodying, analysing and arguing. CU 5.3.1 • Writers and designers establish and maintain roles and relationships by recognising the beliefs and cultural background of their audience, and by making specific language choices. CU 5.3.2; CR 5.3.1, 5.3.2 • Words and phrases, symbols, images and audio affect meaning and establish and maintain roles and relationships to influence an audience. CU 5.3.2 • Text users make choices about grammar and punctuation, to affect meaning. OP 5.3.4, 5.3.6 • Writers and designers draw on their knowledge of word origins, sound and visual patterns, syntax and semantics to spell. OP 5.3.7 • Writers and designers refer to authoritative sources and use a number of active writing strategies, including planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting.

Speaking involves using oral and gestural elements to construct texts that achieve purposes across local, national and global contexts.

• The purpose of speaking and listening includes examining issues, evaluating opinions, convincing others, and managing relationships and transactions. CU 5.1.1 • Speakers make assumptions about listeners to position and promote a point of view, and to plan and present subject matter. CR 5.1.1 • Spoken texts have a range of structures and can be delivered in a number of mediums. CU 5.1.3; OP 5.1.1 • Statements, questions (including rhetorical questions) and commands can be used to identify the main issues of a topic and sustain a point of view. • In presentations, speakers make meaning clear by organising subject matter, and by selecting resources that support the role they have taken as the speaker and the relationship they wish to establish with the audience. OP 5.1.2 • Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, questioning, identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting.

Knowledge & Understanding Language Elements: Interpreting and constructing texts involve manipulating grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, audio and visual elements, in print-based, electronic and face-to-face modes across local, national and global contexts. • Paragraphs build and sustain cohesion and develop a central idea. Op 5.2.1; OP 5.3.2 • Active voice and passive voice change the subject and the focus in a sentence. Aspects of OP 5.2.2 • Relationships between ideas in texts are signalled by connectives to sequence and contrast ideas, show cause and effect, and clarify or add information. OP 5.2.1; OP 5.3.5; OP 5.1.1; OP 5.1.3 • Adjectives and adverbs are used to express attitudes and make judgments and/or evoke emotions. OP 5.2.2; 5.3.4; OP 5.1.2; OP 5.1.3 • Modal auxiliary verbs are selected to convey degrees of certainty, probability or obligation to suit the text type. OP 5.2.2; OP 5.3.4; OP 5.1.1; OP 5.1.3 • Nominalisation (turning verbs into nouns) can be used to compress ideas and information, and to add formality to a text. Aspects of OP 5.2.2 • Punctuation, including colons and semicolons, signals meaning. OP 5.2.1; OP 5.3.6 • Vocabulary is chosen to establish roles and relationships with an audience, including the demonstration of personal authority and credibility. CU 5.2.3; CR 5.2.2; CR 5.3.2 • Auditory, spoken, visual and nonverbal elements, including the use of sound fades, dissolves, cuts, hyperlinks, camera angles and shot types, can be combined to position an audience. Aspects of OP 5.3.8; OP 5.2.2; OP 5.1.2; OP 5.1.4

By the end of Year 9, when constructing expository texts, students are able to: • demonstrate and analyse the relationship between audience, subject matter, purpose and text type • construct non-literary texts by planning and organising subject matter according to specific text structure and referring to other texts • reflect on learning, apply new understandings and justify future applications.

Ways of Working

Years 8 & 9

Literary and Non-literary texts: Manipulating literary and non-literary texts involves analysing the purpose, audience, subject matter and text structure. • Audiences can be positioned to view characters and ideas in particular ways and these views can be questioned. CR 5.1.1; CR 5.1.2; CR 5.2.2; CR 5.3.2 • Texts can reflect an author’s point of view, beliefs and cultural understandings. CR 5.1.1; CR 5.1.2; CR 5.2.1; CR 5.3.1 • Comparison, contrast, exaggeration and juxtaposition are used to create emotional responses. Aspects of OP 5.1.1; OP 5.1.3; OP 5.2.1; OP 5.3.3 • Non-literary texts analyse, inform, argue and persuade. Aspects of CU 5.2.3; CU 5.1.1 • Non-literary texts can focus on a major point that is supported by elaboration. Aspects of OP 5.1.1, OP 5.1.3, OP 5.2.1 & OP 5.3.1 • Reasoning, points of view and judgments are supported by evidence that can refer to authoritative sources. • Non-literary texts can conclude with recommendations, restating the main arguments or summarising a position.

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OVERVIEW SCIENCE FOCUS FOR 2009 This resource package provides support materials for teachers of Science in P-9. These materials have been prepared to assist teachers in planning, teaching, assessing and moderating using the Early Years Guidelines, QSA Science syllabus and the Science Key Learning Area of the Essential Learnings. The materials cover the range of learning phases from Early Years to Year 9.

REQUIREMENTS FOR 2009 1. All teachers of Science in P-9 select a learning context that is developmentally appropriate for the phase of learning. 2. They plan, teach, assess and make judgements about students’ achievement in the focus context. 3. They use this data to participate in moderation activities within and between schools.

ASSESSMENT In P-1 teachers: • • • •

identify a negotiated context that provides students with an opportunity to purposefully engage in learning gather evidence of children’s learning through everyday classroom experiences annotate student work samples/demonstrations of work make judgements about children’s learning and development using EYCG set of rubrics and Year 1 Learning Statements/Year 3 Juncture Essential Learnings.

In Years 2-9 teachers: • • • •

identify a context that provides students with an opportunity to engage in learning develop assessment criteria to support the making of teacher judgements about the standard of achievement annotate student responses make judgements about the standard of achievement of student work samples using criteria.

Please note: The resources in this kit are provided for teachers to: • use as models to support the design of their own learning activities and assessment tasks • adapt them to suit their particular student group/s and learning context • implement as presented. The support materials for Science are organised into the following sections: • Early Years o Prep and Year 1 o Years 2 and 3 • Years 4 and 5 • Years 6 and 7 • Years 8 and 9. Each section includes: • focus of assessment in Science 2009 • possible related Science enquiries •. annotated work samples and accompanying criteria sheets • teaching Science using an Inquiry approach • planning a Science Inquiry • implementing a Science Inquiry • ways of working: investigating, communicating, and reflecting.

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Science focus for 2009 Teachers in: • Years P-1 will focus on the Active Learning Processes organiser of the Early Years Guidelines • Years 2 and 3 will focus on the Essential Learnings for the Year 3 Juncture/Level 2 Science syllabus • Years 4 and 5 will focus on the Essential Learnings for the Year 5 Juncture/Level 3 Science syllabus • Years 6 and 7 will focus on the Essential Learnings for the Year 7 Juncture/Level 4 Science syllabus • Years 8 and 9 will focus on the Essential Learnings for the Year 9 Juncture/Level 5 Science syllabus. The Essential Learnings listed below align with those targeted in the 2009 Queensland Comparable Assessment Tasks (QCATs) for Science in Years 4, 6 and 9. The core learning outcomes that align with the Knowledge & Understanding learning statements are indicated alongside the corresponding learning statements. This can be used in conjunction with the Audit Tool. Teachers are asked to engage with learning contexts and assessment tasks that align with these aspects of the Essential Learnings in the specific junctures for their year levels.

Early Years Curriculum Guidelines (Prep – Year 1) Active learning processes: Investigating the natural world Children think and enquire by: • investigating their ideas about phenomena in the natural world • developing shared understandings about these phenomena.

By the end of Year 3 (Year 3 Juncture) Ways of Working Students: • identify and collect data, information and evidence • use identified tools, technologies and materials • draw conclusions and give explanations, using data, information and evidence • communicate scientific ideas, data, information and evidence, using terminology, illustrations or representations. Knowledge and Understanding Earth and Beyond Changes in the observable environment influence life. • Earth and space experience recurring patterns and natural cycles of events, including seasons, weather and moon phases, and these can affect living things. (EB 2.1, EB 2.2) Life and Living Needs, features and functions of living things are related and change over time. • Change occurs during the life cycle of living things. (LL 2.2) • Living things depend on the environment and each other. (LL 2.3)

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By the end of Year 5 (Year 5 Juncture) Ways of Working Students: • evaluate information and evidence to support data gathered from activities and investigations • draw conclusions that are supported by evidence, reproducible data and established scientific concepts • communicate scientific ideas, data and findings, using scientific terminology and formats appropriate to context and purpose • reflect on learning to identify new understandings and future applications. Knowledge and Understanding Science as a Human Endeavour Science relates to students’ own experiences and activities in the community. • Scientific ideas can be used to explain the development and workings of everyday items. Earth and Beyond Changes and patterns in different environments and space have scientific explanations. • The earth, solar system and universe are dynamic systems. (EB 3.1) Energy and Change Actions of forces, and forms and uses of energy, are evident in the everyday world. • Forces may act at a distance or may need to be in contact with an object to affect it. (EC 3.1)

By the end of Year 7 (Year 7 Juncture) Ways of Working Students: • evaluate information and evidence and identify and analyse errors in data • draw conclusions that summarise and explain patterns in data and are supported by experimental evidence and scientific concepts • communicate scientific ideas, data and evidence, using scientific terminology suited to the context and purpose • reflect on learning, apply new understandings and identify future applications. Knowledge and Understanding Science as a Human Endeavour Science impacts on people, their environment and their communities. • Scientific knowledge has been accumulated and refined over time, and can be used to change the way people live. (SS 4.1) Earth and Beyond Interactions and changes in physical systems and environments can be explained and predicted. • Gravitational attraction between objects in the solar system holds them in fixed orbits, and has predictable effects on the earth. (EB 4.1) Energy and Change Forces and energy can be identified and analysed to provide explanations that benefit community lifestyles and decision making. • The motion of an object changes as a result of the application of opposing or supporting forces. (EC 4.1)

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By the end of Year 9 (Year 9 Juncture) Ways of Working Students: • research and analyse data, information and evidence • evaluate data, information and evidence to identify connections, construct arguments and link results to theory • draw conclusions that summarise and explain patterns, and that are consistent with the data and respond to the question • communicate scientific ideas, explanations, conclusions, decisions and data, using scientific argument and terminology, in appropriate formats.

Knowledge and Understanding Science as a Human Endeavour Responsible and informed decisions about real-world issues can be made through the application of science knowledge. • Responsible, ethical and informed decisions about social priorities often require the application of scientific understanding. (minor aspect of SS 5.3) Earth and Beyond Events on Earth and in space can be explained using scientific theories and ideas including the geological and environmental history of the earth and the universe. • Geological evidence can be interpreted to provide information about past and present events. (EB 5.1, EB 5.2) Energy and Change Forces and energy are identified and analysed to help understand and develop technologies and make predictions about events in the world. • Energy is conserved when it is transferred or transformed. (EC 5.2) Natural and Processed Materials The properties of materials are determined by their structure and their interaction with other materials. • Chemical reactions can be described using word and balanced equations. (NP 6.2)

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Science Inquiries The inquiries in this resource allow students to: • apply scientific knowledge to explain and predict events and to reconstruct their understandings of the physical and biological worlds • use the practices and dispositions of scientific investigation, reflection and analysis to refine knowledge and pose new questions • use scientific language to communicate effectively through engagement with the following organisers and learning areas:

Active Learning Processes (EYCG) The focus in Active learning processes is on thinking, investigating, imagining and responding. In this area, children develop investigative processes, positive dispositions towards investigating, and understandings about natural, built, social, technological and virtual environments. Children also develop their abilities to express ideas creatively using a variety of experiences, media and artistic forms related to dance, drama, media, music and visual arts. Thinking processes are embedded in all early learning areas. Teachers need to consider explicitly what types of thinking are included in learning experiences when planning for, interacting with, monitoring and assessing, and reflecting on learning across the curriculum. Some important thinking processes evident in the learning statement overviews include inquiring, exploring, investigating, challenging, planning, evaluating, considering alternative strategies/ways, analysing, reflecting, predicting, designing and comparing.

Science as a human endeavour (Science & Society) This organiser is about the way science influences society through its way of thinking and world view as well as the way societal challenges or social priorities influence the development of scientific research. It highlights the need for informed, evidence-based decision making about current and future applications of science that impact on society and the environment and on other social and ethical issues. It acknowledges that science has advanced through, and is open to, the contributions of many different people from different cultures at different times in history and offers rewarding career paths. It acknowledges that in decisions about science and its practices, moral, ethical and social implications must be taken into account.

Earth and Beyond The universe, of which the Earth is a part, has many components. Students explore ideas about the dynamic nature of the Earth, solar system and universe. They develop an understanding of the scales of time and space over which events on the Earth and in the universe occur. They investigate the many ways in which living things use the Earth, solar system and universe as resources and recognise the effects of this use.

Life and Living Living things have great diversity of structure and lifestyle; they interact with each other and with the world in which they live. Students collect information about the ways organisms live in order to develop an understanding of those structures which enable living things to function effectively in their environments. Students identify patterns of interactions within environments. They recognise that these interactions contribute to the dynamics of environments.

Energy and Change The world in which we live has been moulded by forces which influence the motion, shape, behaviour and energy of objects. The efficient control of energy transfer and transformation is integral to the organisation and development of life. Students explore the effects of forces in their lives. They consider methods of harnessing energy, the way energy is used, and the social and environmental consequences of energy use.

Natural and Processed Materials Properties of materials are determined by their underlying structure. Materials can be grouped according to different properties. Students study the ideas that scientists have about the structure of materials. They investigate the properties of materials, how these properties can be changed, and the effect of changes on the usefulness of materials. They interpret data on factors which affect the rate at which materials react. Information Kit 2009

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P-3 Resources

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EARLY YEARS P-3 ENGLISH FOCUS FOR 2009 Expositions

CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Expository Genre............................................. 34

Resources to support learning and teaching This resource package provides support materials for teachers of English in Prep and Years 1, 2 and 3. These materials have been prepared to assist teachers plan, teach, assess and moderate in the Key Learning Area of English based on the following documents: Early Years Curriculum Guidelines Language learning & communication: Oral Language

Distinguishing features of text types within the Expository Genre ......... 35 Mentor Texts.................................................... 38 Annotated Text Models............................... 38 Annotated student work samples with accompanying criteria....................... 42 Analysing student texts............................... 46

English Syllabus 1-10 Sub-strands • Speaking and Listening • Writing and Shaping

Focus of assessment................................... 47 Using an Inquiry Approach......................... 50 Teaching the Expository Genre................ 51

English Essential Learnings - QCAR framework Organisers • Speaking and Listening • Writing and Designing • Language Elements • Literary and Non-literary Texts

Planning an English Inquiry......................... 52 Working at the grammatical level of the text ............................................... 57

Please note: The resources in the following pages of this kit are provided for teachers to: • use as models to support the design of their own learning activities and assessment tasks • adapt them to suit their particular student group/s and learning context • implement as presented.

Requirements for 2009 1. All teachers of English in P-9 select a text type from the genre category of Expositions (see Figure 1, Page 30) that is developmentally appropriate for the phase of learning. 2. Teachers plan, teach, assess and make judgements about students’ achievement in the focus text type. 3. Teachers use this data to participate in moderation activities within and between schools. Teachers of P-1: o identify a negotiated context that provides students with an opportunity to purposefully engage in constructing a spoken text for the purpose of explaining, or commenting and giving opinions o gather evidence of students’ learning through everyday classroom experiences o annotate student sample/demonstration of a spoken expository text o make judgements about students’ learning and development using EYCG set of rubrics and Level 1 Learning Outcomes/Year 3 Juncture Essential Learnings. Teachers of Years 2-3: o identify a context (connected or English specific) that provides students with an opportunity to construct a text type for the purpose of explaining, or commenting and giving opinions o develop criteria that support the making of teacher judgements about the standard of achievement o annotate student sample of a spoken/signed, written or multimodal expository text o make judgements about children’s learning and development.

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EXPOSITORY GENRE Traditional, contemporary and everyday non-literary texts use language in precise and accurate ways to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions. This genre category of Expositions includes a wide range of text types which can be presented in spoken/signed, written, or multimodal modes. Types of Expository texts include: • Explanation – used to explain scientifically how or why things (phenomena) or processes occur • Discussion – used to look at an issue from a range of perspectives, before making a judgement or recommendation • Analytical Exposition – used to support and reiterate a point of view (thesis) with logical arguments and evidence • Persuasive text – seeks to argue or persuade and intended to convince readers to accept particular perspectives or points of view • Reflective text – reflects on events and experiences and may also be persuasive. Figure 1 indicates the text types that students in P-3 can engage with. A full diagram indicating all the text types covered from P to 9 is included in the English Overview in the introductory section of the CTJ Information Kit.

Early years P-3

speaking listening reading viewing writing designing

*explanation (s, l, r, v, w, d )

d) w, *o p

v, l, r, (s, ) w, d

*ob ser

t en

l, (s,

n io in

vat ion co m m

s: l: r: v: w: d:

Traditional, contemporary and everyday non-literary texts use language in precise and accurate ways to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions

M i d dl -5

Midd l e Ye a rs

6

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

4 rs

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Figure 1

e Y ea

-9

To Senior Years

Distinguishing features of text types within the Expository Genre (Materials in this section are adapted from English in Years 1 to 10 Queensland syllabus materials, A guide to genres in English, Department of Education, Queensland, 1994) The purpose of this material is to describe the distinguishing features of text types within the Expository genre. It is for teacher reference. It assists teachers become familiar with the range of text types to enable them to identify and select features that will help their students to interpret and construct texts. Teachers use their professional knowledge of their students’ level of language development to model the text appropriately and scaffold the acquisition of a shared language for talking about the features of the language within the genre.

Explanation

Important aspects

Explaining is a fundamental language process that children are exposed to from an early age. Young children frequently ask both quite challenging questions and are given explanations that generally satisfy their thirst for knowledge. The act of explaining outlines how things work; how tasks are done; and the way events occur. It also involves giving reasons why events occur and why things work as they do. The explanation involves a logical sequence of events. For students it is an essential genre for accumulating knowledge about the world and demonstrating that knowledge. Teachers need to ask the correct questions to provide children with the opportunity to respond with an appropriate explanation of what they know and understand. • • •

can be part of procedures and report genres can contain descriptions can be accompanied by visuals such as drawings or diagrams

Social Purposes

•

t o give an account of how something works or to give reasons for how something occurs e.g. How does it work? Why does it happen?

Aspects of social context

Explanations are a widely-used text type in the community as well as across all learning areas in the Early Years context.

Subject Matter

•

the thing being explained and the processes involved. Young children use the process of explaining for personal experiences and concrete knowledge.

Roles

• •

the person explaining as an expert the audience could be a learner or another expert

•

 xplanations written for young children frequently adopt a friendly tone, avoiding e technical language and addressing the reader as in You can see in the diagram… children present explanations in familiar informal contexts for a familiar audience and their language reflects this

Significant textual features

Context

Relationship with other genres

Relationships

•

Mode

Explaining can be a complex operation for young students, because it requires the organisation of a sequence of processes (verbs). Students first need to develop in their oral language and cognitive processing, before they can move from their spoken explanations towards the process of writing explanations effectively. • spoken & visual (Years P-1) • spoken, written & visual (Years 2-3)

Medium

•

a wide range including encyclopaedias, books, internet, TV programs

title

- In P-3, the title tends to be a question such as How does your toy work? How do you play…? - In 2-3, How and Why questions are used such as Why does Cinderella need her fairy godmother’s help to go to the ball?

a general statement

-

which lets the audience know what is being explained

a sequenced explanation

-

a simple sequence of events

Cohesion

• •

Connectives Conjunctions

- -

linking words to indicate time e.g. first, then signal words to indicate cause and effect e.g. because

Vocabulary

• •

everyday language can be subject-specific e.g. skateboard, helmet, wheels

Generic Structure

Participants

- noun groups and pronouns that usually refer to general participants as in wind, computers, living things, they, them

Processes

- mainly action verbs and verb groups as in changes, explodes, goes down creating a simple sequence

Grammar

Visual language

•

diagrams, drawings and other visuals can carry all or part of the message. Information Kit 2009

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Observation Comment

Important aspects

This early childhood text type capitalises on children’s ability to express their ideas, thoughts and feelings about their personal experiences or creative endeavours. In response to someone’s interest, the child talks about the experience and makes a comment such as I didn’t like that movie. It was scary. The child knows how to express an opinion and to give a reason for a particular point of view. The comment is an early example of an argument. • • •

c omment can lead on to opinions and simple arguments where the student expresses an individual point of view often occurs in conjunction with creating artworks, constructions and in play can contain elements of description, recount, and explanation

Social Purpose

•

to interpret and comment on experiences and on responses to them

Social context

This text type occurs in the home or classroom when opportunities arise for a child to share his/her ideas. This may occur incidentally or be planned for by the teacher. Sometimes a scribe records the observation comment. Genuine interest and a warm, accepting environment encourage this expression of ideas.

Subject Matter

• •

is related to the child’s experience can be related to an artwork, construction, experience or text

Roles

• •

child: an information giver, commentator audience: who sometimes scribes at the child’s direction

•

 udience can be a parent or teacher or less frequently, another child. The child a has the knowledge about the experience and a point of view and so is the authority. However, the other person, if an authority figure, is in a position to shape the amount and type of information given, for example by the type of questioning.

•

spoken, visual, written (dependent on child’s level of development)

•

face-to-face communication – can include scaffolding and interpretation of a child’s expression of a point of view writing – can be the child’s, or the scribe’s written under the child’s direction

Context

Relationship with other genres

Relationships Mode Medium • • •

a brief description a comment reflecting on the experience and giving an evaluation/opinion such as I liked the dog. The child may need encouragement to speak or to elaborate.

•

pronoun reference as in I didn’t like that movie. It was too scary; links the ideas. This reference can be unclear although a face-to-face situation allows for clarification and feedback.

• •

is informal and depends on the language background of the child can be scaffolded by adult comments

•

 ersonal opinions are often expressed using thinking and feeling verbs ( these are p mental verbs) as I think the big dog is funny and jumpy; I like that happy song.

Pronunciation

•

varies according to the child’s background and development

Intonation and rhythm

•

r ising intonation from the child can indicate that he/she hasn’t finished speaking; falling intonation indicates the end of the speaker’s turn and can be a cue for further questions.

Significant textual features

Generic Structure

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Cohesion Vocabulary Grammar

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Opinion

Relationship with other genres

At this stage of development, opinions often resemble explanations. This is because arguments and explanations of why, both deal with causes. The distinguishing feature is that the opinion is concerned with persuasion. The purpose of explanation is to outline a process which may involve some level of interpretation. • can be part of a description or explanation • can be accompanied by visuals such as drawings or diagrams

Significant textual features

Context

Important aspects

An opinion is a point of view on a topic based on a personal judgment. An opinion is not necessarily a fact, even if it is supported by a reason. When the child responds by giving an opinion of a story or giving reasons for their point of view, they are providing an early example of the genre of arguing. The resources used in the genre of arguing (persuading), especially in speech, are very much part of a child’s everyday life. The aim in the early years of schooling is to develop this oral proficiency in giving opinions. In time the students can apply these skills to the written form of the genre.

Social Purpose Aspects of social context Subject Matter Roles Relationships

•

to express an opinion and to give reasons for a particular point of view

•

opinions are a widely-used text type in the community

•

is related to the child’s experience and interests

•

the person putting forward an opinion and giving reasons to support it (expert)

•

the audience being informed of that opinion

Mode

• •

spoken & visual (Years P-1) spoken, written & visual (Years 2-3)

Medium

•

a wide range including magazines, internet, children’s TV programs

an opening statement

- which lets the audience know what is the viewpoint or proposition as in I think we should save water and protect our environment.

an elaboration

-

s imple statement/s providing evidence for the viewpoint as in: Many places in Australia have a drought and there is not much water in the dams. The dams dry up quickly if we use too much water and the environment will get damaged.

conclusion

-

c an be included if the speaker/writer chooses to sum up their viewpoint as in This is why we should save water and help our environment.

•

Conjunctions

- Conjunctions can be used to link points in the argument as in and, because.

• •

everyday language related to the topic as in Australia, drought, dams

Generic Structure

Cohesion Vocabulary

Grammar Visual language

Pronouns (voice)

- at this level the personal voice is used for a personal opinion as in the first person pronouns I, we

Processes

- Mental (thinking) verbs are used when expressing opinions as in think, believe

•

diagrams, drawings and other visuals can carry all or part of the message.

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MENTOR TEXTS Mentor texts are published texts. They are quality examples of the kind of writing and designing being required of students. As authentic texts they demonstrate writing for an authentic purpose and intended audiences and serve to show the students how to construct the text type well. The students are introduced to the text as readers. They are then helped to identify the writing skills and strategies the author is using to achieve a particular purpose within particular stages of the text. This engagement with the mentor text is highly-focused and short and does not need to deal with the whole text at a particular ‘reading’. The use of mentor texts demonstrates for students the power of the connection between reading and writing. Reference: Dorfman L.R. & Cappelli R. (2007) Mentor Texts. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

annotated TEXT MODELS If students are to write successfully in a particular genre, they need to become familiar with its purpose and features through immersion in the genre by exploring sample texts. The teacher as a writer composes a text which is similar to the one to be written later as a joint construction by the class and then independently by the students. This text is a model of criteria at an A standard. In the Modelling Phase, when students are being exposed to examples of the selected genre and text types, the teacher is able to plan explicitly and use the metalanguage, the language for talking about language and texts, with students. This explicit teaching develops students’ understanding of the genre category and the particular text type – its purpose, structure, text organisation, language features and the crafting of writing to influence readers. The focus of Modelled writing (5-10 minute session) is on the explicit planning and demonstration of selected writing behaviours. Each modelled writing session builds on students’ experiences, current understandings and prior knowledge. Students might need many repeated demonstrations before they can apply the understandings to their own writing. It is important to explicitly model all aspects of writing. It may be benefical to work on the same text over several Modelled Writing sessions, demonstrating all aspects of writing.

Year 1 Modelled Text: Opinion Generic Structure

Title: Context for opinion (can be negotiated with child/children) Main Point Point and elaboration

Conclusion

Text Model

Language Features

Litterbug I think we make a lot of litter at school. When we drop rubbish it can go into the gutter. The rain can wash it away. It can end up at the beach and in the bush. Don’t be a litterbug!

Cohesion: Use of related words as in litter, rubbish, gutter, rubbish Noun pronoun reference as in rubbish, it Simple conjunctions to link points as in because Grammar: Noun groups related to the topic Thinking verbs when giving an opinion Capital letters, full stops and use of an exclamation mark for emphasis

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Year 3 Modelled Text: Explanation Generic Structure

Text Model

The title is a question

How does Goldilocks make Baby Bear angry?

Description of the characters and event

Goldilocks goes into a house in the woods when the three bears are out for a walk.

Explanatory sequence of logical steps

First, she eats all of Baby Bear’s porridge because it tastes just right. Next, she tries out the three chairs. When she sits down on Baby Bear’s chair she smashes it to pieces. Finally, Goldilocks goes upstairs. She climbs on the neatly-made beds and chooses Baby Bear’s bed to sleep in.

Conclusion

Language Features Cohesion: time/sequence connectives as first, next, finally, when, and then, after Conjunctions: causal as in because Vocabulary: topic words as woods, three bears, Baby Bear, house, chair, bed… Participants: noun groups adding detail as little girl, the right temperature, neatly-made beds, cheeky intruder

Baby Bear comes home and he is angry because he has no breakfast. His favourite chair is just wood and bent nails.

Processes: Verb groups, many material/ doing/action as eats, tries out, sits down, goes, chooses

When he goes upstairs he sees the golden-haired girl in his room. She has messed his bed after he spent so much time making it.

Sentences punctuated with capital letters and full stops.

This cheeky girl has caused him a lot of trouble. Grrr!! Grrr!!

Commas and exclamation marks signal meaning. Words bolded for emphasis.

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ANNOTATED STUDENT WORK SAMPLES WITH ACCOMPANYING CRITERIA Prep: A spoken explanation of how a toy works Context: An informal conversation with the child about his favourite toy and how it works. The transcript of the student’s conversation illustrates student achievement across the Early Learning phases.

>

LLC 1: Language Learning & Communication: Oral language

Uses everyday terms related to the topic as in “Yep, Ah that’s the one, stair, sound, back” and some subject specific words as in “base, blasts, Thunderbirds” Relies on simple sentences/ statements as in “Ah that’s on that one; that’s from the back” Uses simple connectors to link ideas as in “ then blasts off to get you there; Gets on there and there’s a four on the base.” Uses strategies when speaking i.e. sound effects and actions to convey meaning when lacking the vocabulary Interprets simple questions Teacher’s annotations

>

Teacher: How does the Thunderbird’s phone work? Child: Yep, (sound from rocket) makes sound from those buttons out the back there Teacher: So you have to push the buttons to make the sound? Child: Ah (presses a button) Communicates Toy: “Times running out brother” using an Child: Ah that’s on that one (indicating a particular button. explanation Then presses a different button) in response Toy: “Thunderbird 3 to base. Stand by for blast off” (a to planned or noise from rocket) unplanned talk Child: That’s from the back. in a classroom context Teacher: How does the rocket get into the air from the island? Child: Ah well. There is stair. Goes oo oo oo then blasts off Assumes to get you there. Gets on there and there’s a 4 on a shared the base. (Referring to the bottom of the rocket) background with the Teacher: And is that up in space? teacher when Child: Yes speaking and Teacher: And how does it get back down from space once it is listening up in space? Child: Because it goes right in on there. (Attaches parts Teacher’s of the toy together) Gets people on there (points to annotations where the people go in the toy) and then goes pstsh…………… then this goes back there, (positions toy) then the end then goes Student’s text > chinoo…………… (Moves arms to demonstrate) then all the thunderbirds are coming out (gives a wide gesture). Makes sense of a spoken interaction with the teacher

Children expand their oral language by: • using spoken language (including home language or signed or augmentative communication) for a range of purposes • exploring the patterns and conventions of spoken, signed or augmentative language • interacting with peers and familiar adults using, with support, the conventions associated with formal and informal group settings, including attentive listening.

Becoming aware

Exploring

Making Connections

Applying

With explicit support, the child uses simple language patterns and limited vocabulary and listens to discussions about using language conventions in social and learning situations.

With support, the child tries out new language patterns and vocabulary and shares some ideas about language conventions used in social and learning situations.

With prompts, the child chooses appropriate language patterns and vocabulary for identified purposes and contributes to discussions about the appropriate use of language conventions.

The child uses vocabulary needed for classroom learning experiences and adjusts the use of language patterns, and conventions for familiar social and learning situations.

(Exploring Phase in Early Years Curriculum Guidelines) 40

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Prep: A spoken explanation in response to the question: “Why is that page your favourite?” Context: The child was asked to tell the teacher about the book she was reading. The child made a comment about her favourite page. The teacher asked for an explanation as to why it was her favourite page. The transcript of the student’s spoken explanation illustrates student achievement across the Early Learning phases. Makes sense of a spoken interaction with the teacher Communicates using an explanation in response to planned or unplanned talk in a classroom context

Child: Because I like bumble bees and it looks cute (laughs) because it’s looking that way and the honey makes a good background for it. Teacher: Do you know how bees make honey? (I don’t.)

>

Teacher’s annotations

Teacher:  …and why is that your favourite page?

Student’s text >

Child: They get nectar from flowers and then they stir it up or something and then they um… and then the bee man put in these little pots and they bring it to a little factory maybe and they get some pots and put the honey in the pots. (Maintains eye contact with teacher throughout explanation.) Teacher’s annotations >



Provides some background information by providing supporting ideas for the listener as in “I like bumble bees; the bee…..its loking that way and the honey makes a good background for it” Uses everyday terms related to the topic as in “It looks cute, looking that way” and some subject specific words as in “nectar, factory, honey in pot, bumble bees” Experiments with more complex sentence structures to provide some more information as in “Because I like…and it looks… because its looking.. and its near ..and the honey; Get nectar from flowers…and then …and then…and then…and they…and they..and put” Experiments with strategies when speaking i.e. makes eye contact, smiles at and laughs with the teacher Interprets simple questions

LLC 1: Language Learning & Communication: Oral language Children expand their oral language by: • using spoken language (including home language or signed or augmentative communication) for a range of purposes • exploring the patterns and conventions of spoken, signed or augmentative language • interacting with peers and familiar adults using, with support, the conventions associated with formal and informal group settings, including attentive listening.

Becoming aware

Exploring

Making Connections

Applying

With explicit support, the child uses simple language patterns and limited vocabulary and listens to discussions about using language conventions in social and learning situations.

With support, the child tries out new language patterns and vocabulary and shares some ideas about language conventions used in social and learning situations.

With prompts, the child chooses appropriate language patterns and vocabulary for identified purposes and contributes to discussions about the appropriate use of language conventions.

The child uses vocabulary needed for classroom learning experiences and adjusts the use of language patterns, and conventions for familiar social and learning situations.

(Applying Phase in Early Years Curriculum Guidelines)

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Year 1: A spoken explanation Context: The child constructed model machines using environmental materials and wrote the following response to the question: How does your machine work? This is the first draft scribed by the teacher as the child read back his writing. (Work Samples English K-6 Board of Studies N.S.W. 1998)

Transcript of student’s text

Language features Cohesion: use of related words as in whipper snipper, screw, blades, cut Grammar: Noun groups- related to the topic in whipper snipper, screw, blades, Verbs; action verbs to create a simple sequence as in holds, open, close, cut

Teacher’s annotations

>

I made a whipper snipper. The screw holds the blade together. You open and close the blades to cut the grass

>

Teacher’s annotations

I made a wepasnepa. The scroo holds the blaDs Togata u open and cLos The blaDs to cat The grs.

>

Generic structure The title is the teacher’s question: How does your machine work? A general statement which lets the audience know what is being described/explained. A simple sequence

LLC 1: Language Learning & Communication: Oral language Children expand their oral language by: • using spoken language (including home language or signed or augmentative communication) for a range of purposes • exploring the patterns and conventions of spoken, signed or augmentative language • interacting with peers and familiar adults using, with support, the conventions associated with formal and informal group settings, including attentive listening. The transcript of the student’s spoken opinion illustrates the student’s demonstration of learning in Level 1of English KLA Speaking & Listening or demonstration of aspects of the Year 3 Juncture of the English Essential Learnings.

Connections

Applying

With prompts, the child chooses appropriate language patterns and vocabulary for identified purposes and contributes to discussions about the appropriate use of language conventions.

The child uses vocabulary needed for classroom learning experiences and adjusts the use of language patterns, and conventions for familiar social and learning situations.



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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Level 1 English: Speaking & Listening

Aspects of Year 3 Juncture English Essential Learnings

Students: • construct brief texts for a small range of purposes Cu 1.1.1 • maintain a topic in a brief text by drawing on personal experience or knowledge of familiar texts Cu 1.1.2 • sequence information in intelligible ways and link ideas using simple conjunctions Op 1.1.1 • use patterns of simple sentences and some topic-related words Op1.1.2

Students: Describe/explain how something works. Describe subject matter and include supporting ideas and details. Sequence main ideas using supporting ideas and details. Use pronouns to take the place of nouns to which they are referring. Use conjunctions to join two phrases or clauses. Select vocabulary to describe the subject matter.

Year 1: A spoken opinion Context: Students talked about books they enjoyed and then gave their opinion of their favourite author. Discussing students’ opinions on topics or issues and asking them why they think that way can be the first steps in developing the skills of arguments.

My favourite author is Chris Van Allsburg because he makes good books and I like the way he draws and he teaches lessons.

Transcript of student’s text

Language features Cohesion: conjunctions are used to link points in the point of view as in the because, and Noun pronoun reference as in Chris van Allsburg …he…he Thinking verbs are used when giving opinions as in I like Action verbs in the present tense as in makes, draws, teaches Teacher’s annotations

>

Teacher’s annotations

>

Begins with a point as in My favourite author is …, which is supported by elaborations as in because he makes good books and I like the way he draws…

Transcript of oral text

>

Generic structure

LLC 1: Language Learning & Communication: Oral language Children expand their oral language by: • using spoken language (including home language or signed or augmentative communication) for a range of purposes • exploring the patterns and conventions of spoken, signed or augmentative language • interacting with peers and familiar adults using, with support, the conventions associated with formal and informal group settings, including attentive listening. The transcript of the student’s spoken opinion illustrates the student’s demonstration of learning in Level 1of English KLA Speaking & Listening or demonstration of aspects of the Year 3 Juncture of the English Essential Learnings.

Connections

Applying

With prompts, the child chooses appropriate language patterns and vocabulary for identified purposes and contributes to discussions about the appropriate use of language conventions.

The child uses vocabulary needed for classroom learning experiences and adjusts the use of language patterns, and conventions for familiar social and learning situations.

Level 1 English: Speaking & Listening

Aspects of Year 3 Juncture English Essential Learnings

Students: • construct brief texts for a small range of purposes Cu 1.1.1 • maintain a topic in a brief text by drawing on personal experience or knowledge of familiar texts Cu 1.1.2 • sequence information in intelligible ways and link ideas using simple conjunctions Op 1.1.1 • use patterns of simple sentences and some topic-related words Op1.1.2

Students: Convey an opinion that is positive. Describe subject matter and include supporting ideas and details. Make meaning clear by sequencing ideas and information. Use pronouns to take the place of nouns to which they are referring. Use conjunctions to join two phrases or clauses. Select vocabulary to describe the subject matter.

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Year 3 student sample text: A written opinion Generic Structure Title: Context for opinion (can be negotiated with child/ children)

Language Features

Protecting our Environment

Main Point (Thesis)

I think we should plant more trees.

Point and elaboration to express opinion

Trees soak up gas. It goes into their trunks and roots and branchs and leaves. Then they breath out clean air for animals and humans to breath in.

Conclusion (re-statement)

I think we should plant more trees to protect our environment and help animals and people.

Teacher’s annotations

Student’s text

>

Our wildlife needs to be protected. Trees attract animals to an area becuse they can find food and shelter there.

>

Point and elaboration to express opinion

Cohesion: Use of related words as in protect, environment, plant trees Use of word sets as in trees, trunks, branches, leaves Noun pronoun reference as in trees, animals, they Conjunctions to link points as in and, then Grammar: Noun groups related to the topic as in gas, air, wildlife, animals, environment Verb groups as in soak up, breathe out, attract in present tense Thinking verbs used when giving an opinion Personal pronouns when giving an opinion as in I & we Capital letters, full stops Spelling: correct spelling of high frequency and most topicspecific words

Teacher’s annotations >

The student’s written opinion illustrates demonstration of learning in the Year 3 Juncture of the English Essential Learnings at a Sound Standard as indicated on the criteria sheet on the next page.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

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The student : • makes changes to the text during the writing process to make it more effective • reflects on how the changes made to the text help achieve the purpose of the text

• uses writing processes of planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting in the construction of the text • reflects on how suggested changes to the text may make the meaning clearer for the audience

• attempts to identify some of the writing processes used during the construction of the text • reflects on any changes that have been made to the text .

The student: • follows the pattern of generic structure and provides more elaborating details • extends the noun and verbs groups to convey more information • uses language features to create a cohesive text • uses punctuation including some commas to signal meaning • spells familiar and unfamiliar words ( including some technical words) correctly

• r eplicates the generic structure including the main point as an introduction, further point/s and some elaboration • uses simple and compound sentences to build subject matter • uses language features to create an organised and sequenced text • uses punctuation to signal meaning • spells high frequency and topic specific words correctly

• • • • •

The student: • selects subject matter appropriate for a particular familiar audience • develops the subject matter by providing more elaborated details

• uses familiar subject matter • develops the subject matter by providing supporting details

• selects a topic • develops the subject matter by including brief supporting details.

states the topic and expresses an opinon with a brief explanation uses simple and some compound sentences uses some language features; as well as feeling verbs (e.g. I like) uses capitals and full stops to punctuate sentences spells some familiar words correctly.

Students reflect on the effectiveness of their language choices and ways of improving their use of English throughout the construction of the text.

 tudents construct an opinion about a topic of interest using: S • Generic structure: opening statement to identify the topic; the main point/s with elaborations • Language features: cohesive ties e.g. repeated or related words, simple pronouns and some simple conjunctions e.g. and, because, when, to sequence the text; short noun and verb groups; thinking verbs e.g. I think, I believe; personal voice e.g. personal pronouns - I and we

Students know and understand that an opinion expresses their point of view about a familiar topic of interest to a familiar and/or particular audience.

Reflecting

Constructing

Assessable elements

Evidence of Well Below standard

Evidence of Below Standard

Evidence of a Sound Standard

Evidence of a High Standard

Evidence of a Very High standard

Standards

Juncture 3 English Expository Text (Opinion)

Knowledge and Understanding

Student name:

Task specific descriptors

Descriptions of evidence of the standard of work

Guiding Questions for analysing student texts in the Early Years The Framework of Guiding Questions has been provided to assist teachers with their understanding of, and language for, analysing students’ texts. They are to help teachers annotate student work samples and to see where and how learning is demonstrated. MEANING MAKER/ TEXT USER

CODE BREAKER

TEXT ANALYST

Text Types

2. How has the student organized the text?

1. Has the student shown a link between the purpose of the text and the text type?

– used modelled structure

Subject matter

4. What vocabulary choices has the student used to develop the subject matter?

3. What subject matter has the student developed? – Has the student constructed the text with a small number of simple topicrelated ideas?

– replicated typical generic structure

– a small range of topic related words – short noun groups with adjectives, adjectival phrase

– through choice of images, simple fonts, typical facial and body movements

– simple verb groups

– Has the student sequenced two or more familiar events and ordered information using some detail and supportive illustrative material? Roles and Relationships 6. Has the student shown an awareness of audience in any way?

7. What type of sentences has the student used? – simple sentences constructed as statements, commands, questions and exclamations, some compound sentences and appropriate punctuation

Mode and Medium

9. How did the student link ideas in the text?

8. What mode of language did the student use (spoken, visual, written, or multimodal)?

– using modelled sentence structures, vocabulary, time referencing

What medium has been used by the student?

– using images and simple fonts – including music, transitions or sound effects – using repeated or related words, simple pronouns and some simple conjunctions – using borders and transitions – including some gestures, music or sound effects Textual Resources What strategies have been used to spell frequently used words and some unknown words? – commonly associated sounds of consonants and short vowels (phonics) – sound-symbol relationships and letter patterns (single and two letter consonants) – onset and rime – adding endings with no change to base word, hearing syllables – sound symbol relationships (e.g. single vowel and consonant sounds, blends, diagraphs, long vowels, silent letter) and visual letter patterns – base word and tense or plural endings.

Adapted from the State of Queensland (Queensland Studies Authority) Open Trial Conference (2005)

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5. Has the student chosen to represent people, places, events and things?



The focus of assessment in English in Years Prep and 1 The focus of assessment in Prep and Year 1 is based on the learning statements appropriate for the construction of an Expository text from the Early Learning Area, Language Learning and Communication: Oral Language Learning Statement. As students move through the Early Years phases of learning teachers can make connections with the Knowledge and Understanding learning statements of the Year 3 Juncture English Essential Learnings. The corresponding core learning outcomes of the English syllabus are indicated alongside these learning statements.

Early Years Curriculum Guidelines LLC 1: Language Learning & Communication: Oral language Learning statement: Children expand their oral language by: • using spoken language (including home language or signed or augmentative communication) for a range of purposes • exploring the patterns and conventions of spoken, signed or augmentative language • interacting with peers and familiar adults using, with support, the conventions associated with formal and informal group settings, including attentive listening.

Becoming aware With explicit support, the child uses simple language patterns and limited vocabulary and listens to discussions about using language conventions in social and learning situations.

Exploring With support, the child tries out new language patterns and vocabulary and shares some ideas about language conventions used in social and learning situations.

Making Connections With prompts, the child chooses appropriate language patterns and vocabulary for identified purposes and contributes to discussions about the appropriate use of language conventions.

Applying The child uses vocabulary needed for classroom learning experiences and adjusts the use of language patterns, and conventions for familiar social and learning situations.

Level 1 English KLA: Speaking Year 3 Juncture Essential Learnings

Level 1 English Speaking

English Year 3 Juncture Essential Learnings

Students: • construct brief texts for a small range of purposes Cu 1.1.1

The purpose of speaking and listening includes exchanging information, sharing and exploring ideas, entertaining, supporting relationships, giving opinions and getting things done. Formal and informal texts are ways of communicating for different purposes. Non-literary texts inform, report on events and issues, explain, explore ideas, express opinions, conduct transactions and negotiate relationships, goods and services, and give directions. Non-literary texts can convey an opinion that may be positive or negative. Cu1.1.1 Main ideas and events can be sequenced and subject matter described, including supporting ideas and details. Cu1.1.2

• maintain a topic in a brief text by drawing on personal experience or knowledge of familiar texts Cu 1.1.2 • recall significant clearly stated Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, information related to the topic including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, Cu1.1.7 questioning, identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting. Cu1.1.7 Information Kit 2009

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• sequence information in intelligible ways and link ideas using simple conjunctions Op 1.1.1 • use patterns of simple sentences and some topicrelated words Op1.1.2 • use volume to suit the social situation and audience size Op1.1.3 • use intonation appropriate for statement, question or command Op1.1.4 • experiment with different ways of representing people, places, events and things drawn from own experiences or from other texts, by changing: volume; facial expressions and gestures; music and sound effects Cr 1.1.1

In presentations, speakers make meaning clear by sequencing ideas and information and using visual aids, including objects and pictures. A sentence can be a single clause or a combination of clauses. Op1.1.1 Conjunctions are used to join two phrases or clauses. Vocabulary describes, labels and sequences, and can represent people, characters, places, events and things. Op1.1.2 Words and phrasing, volume and pitch can add interest and emphasis, clarify meaning and be monitored by listeners. Op1.1.3 Auditory, spoken, visual and nonverbal elements provide details necessary for making meaning about the representations of people, places and things. Op1.1.4 Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases, develop and elaborate ideas and portray people, characters, places, events and things in different ways. Vocabulary describes, labels and sequences, and can represent people, characters, places, events and things. Cr 1.1.1

The focus of assessment in English in Years 2 and 3 The focus of assessment in Years 2 and 3 is on the learning statements appropriate for the construction of an Expository text from the Ways of Working and Knowledge and Understanding components of the Year 3 English Essential Learnings. The learning statements from the Speaking and the Writing & Designing organisers are used in conjunction with the learning statements from the organisers of Language Elements and Literary and Non-literary texts. The core learning outcomes of the English syllabus are indicated alongside the corresponding learning statements.

Ways of Working By the end of Year 3, when constructing expository texts, students are able to: • • • •

identify audience, purpose and text type identify main ideas and the sequence of events, and make simple inferences recognise and select vocabulary to describe subject matter construct simple non-literary texts by planning and by using prior knowledge and experience to match an audience and purpose • reflect on and identify how language elements in texts represent people, characters, places, events and things in similar and different ways.

Knowledge & Understanding Speaking involves using oral, aural and gestural elements to interpret and construct texts that achieve purposes in familiar contexts. • The purpose of speaking and listening includes exchanging information, sharing and exploring ideas, entertaining, supporting relationships, giving opinions and getting things done. CU2.1.1 • Speakers can adopt different roles in formal and informal situations. CU2.1.3 • Spoken texts are different from written texts. CU2.1.9 • Statements, questions and commands contribute to making and clarifying meaning during discussions and conversations. CU2.1.3

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• Words and phrasing, volume and pitch can add interest and emphasis, clarify meaning and be monitored by listeners. OP2.1.3 • In presentations, speakers make meaning clear by sequencing ideas and information and using visual aids, including objects and pictures. OP2.1.1; OP2.1.4 • Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, questioning, identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting. CU2.1.7

Writing and designing involve using language elements to construct non-literary texts for familiar contexts. • The purpose of writing and designing includes reporting and conveying simple messages and information. CU2.3.1 • Writers and designers can adopt different roles for different audiences. CU2.3.3 • Words and phrases, symbols, images and audio have meaning. OP2.3.3; OP2.3.6 • Text users make choices about grammar and punctuation. OP2.3.2; OP2.3.4 • Common spelling patterns of monosyllabic words, two-syllable words and high-frequency words, are used to spell familiar and unfamiliar words. OP 2.3.7 • Writers and designers use a number of active writing strategies, including planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting, and by referring to authoritative sources. CU2.3.4; OP2.3.7

Language Elements – Interpreting and constructing texts involve exploring and using grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, audio and visual elements, in print-based, electronic and face-to-face modes in familiar contexts. • Statements provide information; questions seek information; commands give orders; and exclamations emphasise or express emotions. CU2.1.3; 2.2.4; 2.2.3 • A sentence can be a single clause or a combination of clauses. OP2.1.1; 2.2.2; 2.3.2 • Text connectives are used to link and sequence things, ideas and events. OP2.3.4; 2.3.5 • Tense is used to indicate time in sentences. OP 2.2.3; 2.3.3 • Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases, develop and elaborate ideas and portray people, characters, places, events and things in different ways. OP 2.1.2; 2.2.3; 2.3.3; CR2.1.1; 2.2.1; 2.2.2; 2.3 • Pronouns take the place of nouns to which they are referring. OP2.1.2; 2.2.3; 2.3.3; 2.3.4 • Conjunctions are used to join two phrases or clauses. OP2.1.2; 2.2.5; 2.3.2 • Punctuation marks, including capital letters, full stops, commas, exclamation marks and question marks, clarify meaning. OP2.2.5; 2.3.2 • Vocabulary describes, labels and sequences, and can represent people, characters, places, events and things. OP2.1.2; 2.2.3; 2.3.3; CR2.1.1; 2.1.2; 2.2.2; 2.3 • Auditory, spoken, visual and nonverbal elements provide details necessary for making meaning about the representations of people, places and things. OP2.1.3; 2.1.4; 2.2.4; 2.3.6

Literary and Non-literary Texts - Students develop an awareness of purpose, audience, subject matter and text structure of expository texts: • Texts are produced for particular audiences and their interests. CU2.2.3; 2.3.3 • Formal and informal texts are ways of communicating for different purposes. CU2.1.1; CU2.1.3 • Non-literary texts inform, report on events and issues, explain, explore ideas, express opinions, conduct transactions and negotiate relationships, goods and services, and give directions. CU2.1.1; 2.2.1; 2.3.1 • Non-literary texts can convey an opinion that may be positive or negative. CU2.1.1; 2.2.1; 2.3.1 • Main ideas and events can be sequenced and subject matter described, including supporting ideas and details. CU2.1.2; 2.2.2; 2.3.2

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USING AN INQUIRY APPROACH In inquiry-based learning environments, students are engaged in activities that help them actively pose questions, investigate, solve problems, and draw conclusions about the world around them. Taking ownership of the inquiry process allows students to become independent thinkers and to be engaged in meaningful activities that address and explore the questions they have posed. Questioning is at the core of inquiry learning and drives the teaching and learning The importance of process. inquiry learning is that students learn An inquiry approach to learning is a process that includes students: how to continue • formulating a problem or question learning, how to be • searching through and/or collecting information to address a problem or question lifelong learners. • making sense of the information • developing an understanding of, a point of view about, or an answer to a question. Through an inquiry approach students have the opportunity to: • build on their existing knowledge and skills • select topics of interest • explore a variety of resources (i.e., books, maps, primary source documents, websites, videos, audios, photographs) • select the best way to communicate their findings • share with real-world audiences • be evaluated on both process and product • evaluate themselves, their peers, their resources and the process.

AN ENGLISH INQUIRY A quality inquiry learning sequence in English is based around a key or guiding question. Students explore the key question, and some supporting questions if appropriate, through a range of texts and language in different contexts. Students who engage in an English inquiry into a text type within the Expository Genre could investigate and discuss connections between:

How the text is made • Questions can be about author, text, images, words, format and layout.

The structure of the text • Questions can be about text type, genre, structures and features, language style and choice, and grammar.

How the text relates to life • Questions can be about making connections with experience, ideas and issues, perspectives on ideas and issues.

How the author makes choices • Questions can be about texts as construction, linguistic choice, representation, cultural context.

How we might read the text • Questions can be about how people from different groups could read the text, including invited readings and multiple perspectives.

The literary techniques and devices operating in the text • Questions can be about language, images, point of view and/or layout.

How texts relate to each other • Questions can be about how other texts may deal with the same topic.

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• how to organise and record information.

• meaningful learning experiences

• students’ prior knowledge

• the field/subject matter

What are some of the language features?

Context of Situation

Students use the genre to challenge ideology, theory and practice.

Consultation with teacher and peers may occur during a draft. It may also include aspects of editing etc.

• critical evaluation of success

• editing, reworking of writing

• c onsultation with teachers and peers about writing

• individual writing of text in same genre in draft

Independent Construction of Text

Construction Teacher guides the students in jointly constructing a new text in the same genre.

How do we prepare for the joint construction of a new text? • build up subject matter knowledge through research • use guideline questions to scaffold inquiry

Joint Construction Preparation

Preparation for independent writing of a text in the same genre (as for joint construction)

What is the relationship between the writer and the reader?

Developing Control of Genre

What is the mode and medium of communication?

Who is taking part in the communication? (Roles and Relationships)

How do we know what the text is about?

What are the functions of the stages?

What is the social purpose of this genre? Who uses it? Why? What is the subject matter?

Text

Context of Culture

Critical Literacy

Before constructing a text we need to identify:

Developing Field Knowledge

Deconstruction

TEACHING AND LEARNING CYCLE

Once the text type has been selected, teaching occurs following the four interrelated stages illustrated below. This cycle is used throughout the years of schooling to support students to systematically develop control of increasingly complex genre patterns.

TEACHING THE EXPOSITORY GENRE

PLANNING AN ENGLISH INQUIRY Student engagement in learning is enhanced when planning in English is focussed around an inquiry into relevant aspects of text, language or literacy. What is the English problem to be solved, question to be answered, significant task to be completed or issue to be explored through the interpretation or construction of particular texts? This involves: • establishing a focus of investigation into the language used to create the texts to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions in precise and accurate ways • exploring connections between the purpose, text type, subject matter, author and audience, mode and medium in these texts • introducing students to a process that allows them to talk about the language in the texts they are interpreting and constructing. What the teacher may do

What the students may do

Negotiate a social context (subject matter and audience) for this unit with the students. Suggest options from appropriate text type/s within the genre category.

Brainstorm topics of interest and possible audiences. Participate in formulating a group decision. Decide on an appropriate text type for presenting the information Participate in discussion to identify possible directions for study.

Lead the development of an inquiry question that connects the text type and its purpose to the social context.

The teacher: • creates a task that enables students to demonstrate what they know and can do • decides on explicit criteria to guide student performance and teacher judgements of the spoken/signed, written or multimodal exposition • provides a fair and equitable opportunity for all students to demonstrate what they know and can do. What the teacher may do

What the students may do

Discuss the task requirements. Specify criteria for the standards of learning achievement. Indicate clear conditions for learning achievement. Scaffold the assessment requirements with explicit teaching and learning.

Ask questions to clarify the task demands. Discuss what this may look like. Discuss areas for negotiation.

Developing Field Knowledge

Developing Field Knowledge

Purpose: to investigate the concept/topic and the social context of the negotiated text/s. This stage involves: • establishing the students’ prior knowledge and understanding of the concept and social context to be explored in the expository text • identifying the information to be included – What information do we want to find out? • planning experiences that will provide the information – How will we find out the information?

Before constructing a text we need to identify • students’ prior knowledge • meaningful learning experiences • how to organise and record information.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Establishes the extent of the students’ current knowledge and understanding of the concept and build on it. Uses a KWL to record information.

Participate in a discussion around the concept. Think Pair Share in groups to initiate the discussion.

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• the field/subject matter

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Deconstruction The purpose of this stage is to provide experiences of the text types being studied. It has two parts – Deconstruction of Context and Deconstruction of the Text.

Deconstruction Context of Culture What is the social purpose of this genre? Who uses it? Why?

Deconstruction – Context of Culture & Context of Situation Context of Situation

This step provides an opportunity for students to become familiar with the text type, its social purpose, possible audiences, text structure and textual features, through immersion in the genre and exploring mentor/sample texts.

What is the subject matter?

The teacher adapts language to meet the learning needs of students in the early phases of learning.

What is the mode and medium of communication?

What the teacher does Selects a range and balance of texts that are models of the genre to be studied. Introduces a model/s of the genre to the class identifying audience and purpose. Asks questions from the point of view of the writer: • Who would write/design this kind of text? • Why would someone write/design this text? • Who is the intended audience for the text? • In what other situation would you need to write/design this text? Asks questions from the point of view of a reader: • Where might you see/find/read/view/listen to this kind of text? • Who would be interested in reading/viewing/listening to this text? • What information would you expect to find in this text? • What sorts of occupations would involve reading and writing this type of text? • Why might you need to read/view/listen to or write/design a similar text? Provides sample texts with headings and text titles. Provides pictures to support the titles for younger children. Provides sample texts and audiences.

Who is taking part in the communication? (Roles and Relationships)

What the students do Read and discuss the texts. Answer questions in small or whole groups.

Answer questions in small or whole groups.

Match headings with the text Match sample texts with possible audiences

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Deconstruction – Deconstructing the Text This step provides an opportunity for teachers and students to investigate the way the text is structured to achieve its purpose. Explicit teaching sessions include the way the text is organised – Written: e.g. paragraph structure, the use of headings, diagrams, graphs, page layout and distinctive language features of the genre; Multimodal: e.g. logos, symbols, storyboard, colours, framing, transitions, focal point, mood sound effects, body language, distances, speed and pace, editing

Deconstruction Text What are the functions of the stages? What are some of the language features? How do we know what the text is about? What is the relationship between the writer and the reader?

What the teacher does

What the students do

Cloze: Blanks out words that have a specific function: topic sentence in each paragraph, sentence beginnings or processes (verb groups). Models the activity.

Listen and observe teacher modelling task. Work individually, in pairs or small groups to complete the cloze. Listen and observe teacher modelling task Work individually, in pairs or small groups to complete the sorting activity. Answer questions in the whole class. Work individually, in pairs, small groups to answer questions on task cards.

Sorting: Prepares cut up texts for students to reassemble. Orders paragraphs or sequence images, matching topic sentences, captions, dialogue. Reassembles blocks of text according to generic structure. Models the activities with text strips or blocks. Provides two texts - Discussing/Comparing Asks the following questions or provides task cards: • What is the text about? • How do we know what it is about? • What is the relationship between the writer/designer and the reader/ viewer/listener? • How can we tell? • How is the text/information organised? • How do the sentences/sequences begin? Is there a pattern? • How are the texts similar/dissimilar? • How is the text supported – diagrams, labels, headings, music, lighting, sound effects? Models locating and/or identifying: • language features– tense, conjunctions, process types and sequencing • sentence beginnings; topic sentences • emotions through facial expression; sound, use of place.

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Watch and listen to the modelling. Individual, pair, small group work on highlighting specific aspects of texts.

Joint Construction

Joint Construction

This stage has two steps – Preparation and Construction. It enables students to build a new text on the basis of shared experiences and knowledge of language features of the text type. The teacher scaffolds the process by modelling and reworking. Preparation This step allows students to build up their field knowledge and provides an opportunity for students to locate, extract, analyse and organise relevant information in a way that is appropriate to the genre.

Preparation How do we prepare for the joint construction of a new text? • build up subject matter knowledge through research • use guideline questions to scaffold inquiry.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Leads the students in Defining the task by asking questions such as: • What do we really want to find out? • What is our purpose? • What do we need to find this out? • What are the key ideas, the words/images that represent the topic? • What do we need to do? • What genres are appropriate to the topic? • Who is the audience? Leads the students in Locating the information by asking questions such as: • Where can we find the information we want? • What do we still need to find out? • What sources and equipment can we use?

Consider these questions when working individually, in pairs or small groups to help them define the task.

Consider these questions when working individually, in pairs or small groups to locate the information they need. Brainstorm and record a list of resources and sources. Create own set of resources. Consider these questions Leads the students in Selecting the Information by asking questions such as: when working individually, • What information can we use/ leave out? in pairs or small groups to • How relevant is the information we have found? select the information they • How credible is the information we have found? need. Provides models of ways to organise the information appropriate to the genre. Use the organisers to collate information. Tables Proformas Retrieval charts Storyboards

Notes Flow chart

Construction of Text

Joint Construction

This stage provides an opportunity for the teacher to scaffold the writing of the text through negotiation and interaction with students. At this stage the teacher can use ‘think alouds’ and questions to guide the students into understanding the text structure and language features as well as developing drafting, editing and proof reading skills. The teacher needs to be confident with the language features of the genre in order to guide the structure and wording of the text.

Construction Teacher guides the students in jointly constructing a new text in the same genre.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Scaffolds the writing of the text by asking questions, thinking aloud, suggesting, modelling language features, drafting and editing. Discusses the presentation of the text - diagrams, maps, video, chart, brochure, booklet, blog, website, photo story.

Participate with the teacher in whole class or groups to write the text. Make suggestions for presentation.

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Independent Construction This stage has two steps, preparation and individual writing. It also includes critical literacy. In this stage the teacher’s role is vital in providing demonstrations, guidance and support as the students move through the steps that were modelled during the joint construction stage, either individually, in pairs or in groups depending on their confidence with writing. Students’ attempts and approximations of the genre are important at this stage.

Independent Construction of Text Critical Literacy Students use the genre to challenge ideology, theory and practice.

Individual writing of text in same genre in draft Consultation with teachers and peers about writing Editing, reworking of writing

Preparation for independent writing of a text in the same genre. (as for joint construction)

Critical evaluation of success

Preparation In this step the students locate, extract and organise relevant information. What the teacher does

What the students do

Demonstrates and guides strategies for starting a new topic. • Brainstorming • Clustering • Concept mapping – identifying key words.

Select a topic, - independently construct a text using same information collected for the joint construction - with the same theme but a different subject matter - within the same broad theme. Use the strategies for locating, extracting and organising information.

Questions concept mapping.

Individual Writing of Text This step involves students drafting, consulting, editing and publishing text. What the teacher does

What the students do

Is available to work on drafting, consulting and editing with students. Uses learning statements and standards as a focus for the conversations. Identifies steps needed to achieve the standards. Keeps a checklist of student achievement and needs as an indication for possible whole class planned teaching/learning activities during this stage. Models the editing process.

Discuss drafts with the teacher, peers or other support staff. Reflect on the construction of the text when editing, redrafting, and rewriting.

Suggests tools for publication and supports students in publishing their work.

Publish.

Edit writing.

Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring How Texts Work. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association. DSP literacy Project. (1989). The Report Genre. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools’ Program. Murray, N. & Zammit, K. (1992). The Action Pack. Animals. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools’ Program. Hunt, I. (2004). Successful Joint Construction. Pen 96. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association.

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WORKING AT THE GRAMMATICAL LEVEL OF THE TEXT Explicitly teaching the grammar of the particular text type within the Expository genre assists students in improving their learning about how language works. In best practice in the teaching of English, the teacher and the student develop a language to talk about the language. In classroom interactions the teacher models the grammar to meet student learning needs

Grammar: Whole of Text Level Whole texts are comprised of clauses that are linked using a range of increasingly complex sentence structures and cohesive devices that suit the purpose and text type including: • grammatical patterns and features e.g. theme position and sentence structures • repeated or related sentence patterns, phrases or words across several clauses • conjunctions to join clauses • patterns of and particular choice of words.

Clause A clause is the basic unit of meaning in Standard Australian English. A clause: • conveys a message • usually contains a verb or verb group • usually provides information about: o what is happening o who is taking part o the circumstances surrounding the activity (when, where, how).

COHESION Repeated words Texts are held together by repeating words particularly nouns and verbs. Related words Texts are held together by the related words or word groups within a text. Pronouns Texts are held together by pronouns that refer back to nouns, noun groups or clauses e.g. The barn smelled of hay. It smelled of rope.

Grammar: Sentence and Clause Level Types of sentences: There are four basic types of sentences. STATEMENTS QUESTIONS COMMANDS EXCLAMATIONS The type of sentence used is often determined by the text type. An author can choose a particular type of sentence. The type of sentence used can indicate the mood of the text.

Simple sentence: A simple sentence contains a single clause. The clause is an independent clause because it can stand alone and make sense by itself e.g. Lester poked Clyde with a stick. Did Clyde get mad? Get out of here!

Compound sentence: A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses. Each clause in the compound sentence can stand alone and make sense by itself. The clauses may be linked together by conjunctions such as ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘or’ e.g. Clyde turned away and he would not speak. Lester could hide in the pond or he could find a new home. He set out at dusk but he really wanted to stay. Information Kit 2009

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Grammar: Word Group and Word Class Level WORD GROUPS Word groups are the smaller groups of words that have a particular function in a clause: • participant, process, attribute and circumstance • noun group, verb group and prepositional phrase.

Noun groups Noun Groups: • provide information about people, places, things and ideas that are involved in a clause • are built on or formed around a noun • contain a head noun and attributes to add meaning or description about the head noun • describe the participants in a clause. A noun group: • can be a single noun e.g. Mary had a little lamb. • can include an article, pointing word, or possessive (determiner) e.g. The boy was lazy. This little piggy went to market. The king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. • can include one or more adjectives e.g. Mary had a little lamb. Ten fat sausages were sizzling in a pan. • can include one or more prepositional phrases that describe the noun e.g. The girl with the ragged clothes was Cinderella. • can include one or more adjectival clauses that describe the noun e.g. There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. This is the house that Jack built. The adjectival clauses often begin with who, whom, whose, which, that and where, which refers to the preceding noun group. Sometimes the ‘wh’ or linking word (relative pronoun) is left out e.g. This is the house Jack built. Participants: • are the people, places, things or ideas in a clause • can be nouns, noun groups, pronouns. Attributes: • are used to describe participants • can be adjectives, adjectival phrases and adjectival clauses.

Verbs and verb groups Processes: • are doing or action, being, saying, or thinking parts of a clause • can be verbs or verb groups (including adverbs, modal adverbs and auxiliary verbs or modals). Circumstances: • are things that surround the event in a clause (how, when, where and why) • can be adverbs, adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses.

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WORD CLASSES Word Classes describe or name the word in a word group: Open word Classes: noun, verb, adjective, adverb Closed Word Classes: pronoun, preposition, conjunction and article or determiner Nouns are words that: • name people, places, things and ideas • carry information about singular or plural nature of the participants. Pronouns are words that: • stand in the place of a noun or noun group. Adjectives are words that: • add meaning or description to a noun • can carry information about possessive. Adjectival phrase is a group of words that: • begin with a preposition that adds meaning or description to a noun. Adjectival clause is a group of words that: • begin with a relative pronoun, who, whom, whose, which, that and where, that adds meaning or description to a noun. Determiners are individual or a group of words that: • are dependant on the noun they come before • determine which or whose related to the noun • may be an article, pointing word or possessive (this level of detailed terminology is not essential for students, but is included for teachers to develop understanding) - an article (which one): a, the, an - a pointing word (which one/s) this, these, those, that - possessive (who owns it): Mary’s, my, his, their, your. Verbs are words that: • are doing, being, having, saying or thinking words • may stand alone (finite verbs) e.g. I dance. • may need other words to be complete e.g. I want to dance. • must agree with the head noun in number that is the subject of a clause. Singular noun has a singular verb and a plural subject has a plural verb. - The boy is here. - The boys are here. - The horse with two red stirrups was running. The horses with two red stirrups were running. • must agree with the head noun in person: first, second or third person noun with the appropriate verb - I like ice-cream. (first person) - He likes ice-cream. (third person) • carry tense information - past tense e.g. Dinosaurs lived a long time ago. - present tense e.g. Dinosaur models are at Queensland Museum. - future tense e.g. More displays will be coming to the museum. - timeless present tense e.g. Dinosaurs are members of the reptile family. Adapted from: www.qsa.qld.edu.au/yrs1to10/kla/english/support_materials/open_trial/day_1_part_3_grammar.doc

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Years 4 & 5 Resources

Engli

Teac h

sh Re

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sourc

e ositio s n Gen re P-3 R Year esou s4& rces ‹ 5 Re Years sour ces ‹ 6&7 Reso Years urces 8&9 ‹ Reso urces ‹ e Exp

YEARS 4-5 ENGLISH FOCUS FOR 2009 Expositions

CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Expository Genre............................................. 62

Resources to support learning and teaching This resource package provides support materials for teachers of English in Years 4 and 5. These materials have been prepared to assist teachers plan, teach, assess and moderate in the Key Learning Area of English based on the following documents:

English Syllabus 1-10 Sub-strands • Speaking and Listening • Writing and Shaping English Essential Learnings - QCAR framework Organisers • Speaking and Listening • Writing and Designing • Language Elements • Literary and Non-literary Texts

Distinguishing features of text types within the Expository Genre....................... 63 Mentor Texts.................................................... 71 Annotated Text Models............................... 72 Annotated student work samples with accompanying criteria....................... 73 Analysing student texts............................... 75 Focus of assessment................................... 76 Using an Inquiry Approach......................... 78 Teaching the Expository Genre................ 79 Planning an English inquiry......................... 80 Working at the grammatical level of the text................................................. 85

Please note: The resources in the following pages of this kit are provided for teachers to: • use as models to support the design of their own learning activities and assessment tasks • adapt them to suit their particular student group/s and learning context • implement as presented.

Requirements for 2009 1. All teachers of English in P-9 select a text type from the genre category of Expositions (see Figure 1, Page 58) that is developmentally appropriate for the phase of learning. 2. Teachers plan, teach, assess and make judgements about students’ achievement in the focus text type. 3. Teachers use this data to participate in moderation activities within and between schools. Teachers of Years 4 and 5: o identify a context (connected or English specific) that provides students with an opportunity to construct a text type for the purpose of explaining, analysing, arguing, persuading and giving opinions o develop criteria that support the making of teacher judgements about the standard of achievement o annotate student sample of a spoken/signed, written, or multimodal expository text o make judgements about students’ learning and development.

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EXPOSITORY GENRE Traditional, contemporary and everyday non-literary texts use language in precise and accurate ways to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions. This genre category of Expositions includes a wide range of text types which can be presented in spoken/signed, written, or multimodal modes. Types of Expository texts include: • Explanation – used to explain scientifically how or why things (phenomena) or processes occur • Discussion – used to look at an issue from a range of perspectives, before making a judgement or recommendation • Analytical Exposition – used to support and reiterate a point of view (thesis) with logical arguments and evidence • Persuasive text – seeks to argue or persuade and intended to convince readers to accept particular perspectives or points of view • Reflective text – reflects on events and experiences and may also be persuasive. Figure 1 indicates the text types that students in Years 4 and 5 can engage with. A full diagram indicating all the text types covered from P to 9 is included in the English Overview in the introductory section of the CTJ Information Kit.

le Years 4-5 d d i M tion (s, l,

speaking listening reading viewing writing designing

na *expla

(s,

*ad ver ti s

, d) v, w , r l,

*info

rmal debate (s,

em en t

d) w,

l)

, r, v

*d isc

n io ss

r, v, w, d )

l, (s,

u

s: l: r: v: w: d:

ta cumen ry film ( r, v *do ) Traditional, contemporary and everyday non-literary texts use language in precise and accurate ways to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions

M

-9

Ear

ly y e a rs

Figure 1 62

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

s6

3 P-

i dd l e Y e a r

To Senior Years

Distinguishing features of text types within the Expository Genre (Materials in this section are adapted from English in Years 1 to 10 Queensland syllabus materials, A guide to genres in English, Department of Education, Queensland, 1994) The purpose of this material is to describe the distinguishing features of text types within the Expository genre. It is for teacher reference. It assists teachers to identify and select features of text types that their students need to learn.

Informal Debate Students who participate in debates have an opportunity to explore, listen, and enjoy learning. Debates give students additional opportunities to hear their classmates’ views and to express opinions regarding topics that matter to them. They also help students make important decisions and become critical listeners. The informal debate helps students to work together to understand common problems. Informal debate has a number of advantages: •

 ebating reflects the learning process. Debate establishes extremes, allowing the viewers and participants to see the D areas in between more clearly.

•

 ebating allows students to explore ideas and arguments in a non-threatening atmosphere, because presentational D guidelines are provided.

•

 ebating is an effective method of acquiring knowledge, as arguments need to be supported by relevant, accurate, and D complete information.

•

 tudents who debate informally learn to recognize the elements of a good argument and to develop further their S abilities to speak confidently.

Before an Informal Debate Some guidelines include the following: •

 eachers and students decide on a topic related to material being studied in English. Brainstorming is one way to T generate ideas.

•

 hen a number of ideas have been discussed and a topic has been chosen, two groups of students may be formed. W Within each group, individual students or pairs might be responsible for certain tasks (e.g. developing analogies or rebuttals). Students who watch the debate on one occasion will have a chance to be the debaters next time.

•

 raw up a checklist of guidelines for preferred debating practice (e.g. a suggested time limit for each speaker, the D importance of listening carefully to the other side’s arguments, the need for close cooperation within the group).

•

Research and learn some basic types of arguments often used in debate. For example: o

 he Straw Person Argument - the practice of supporting a weak viewpoint that is opposite to your own for the T purpose of revealing its weaknesses.

o Argument using “Definition” - the practice of persuading an audience that your definition of a particular term is the correct or accepted one, and then basing your argument on that definition. o Admission of Uncertainty - giving up “a little” where it will not harm your argument in order to win a more conclusive point where it will benefit you the most. o

 larifying through Analogy - describing a situation or event by comparing it to another situation or event which is C immediately relevant to your audience.

The goal of informal debate should be to achieve the fullest possible explanation of both sides of an issue. During an Informal Debate Some guidelines for informal debate: •

 tudents join groups of six or less people and take 15-20 minutes to prepare arguments. They should choose S presenters for each of the arguments. The presenters speak in turn, after each member on the other side makes a point.

•

 tudents should be sure not to repeat arguments previously presented, and ensure that a recorder is making a list of S all points being made.

•

Debaters must remember to focus on the arguments, not the participants, as they listen to the debate.

•

 tudents from both sides continue the rounds of debate until no new arguments can be made. S When all arguments from both sides have been presented, a teacher-led discussion should take place.

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Some of the suggested topics for discussion are as follows: •

Of what quality were the presented ideas?

•

Which arguments seemed most convincing?

•

What ideas were raised that individuals may not have considered?

•

Which ideas may have changed certain students’ thinking?

It is not necessary, and in many cases not advisable, to declare a “winning” group for an informal debate. However, if the teacher and students decide they will declare a winner, then the following way of establishing a winner could be followed: •

every valid and original argument made by each group should receive a mark

•

no marks are gained for repeating an argument

•

the group with the greatest number of marks wins.

Teachers and students could negotiate on the criteria to establish a winner. After the Informal Debate Students may reflect on the debating activity in an individual manner. This might best be done in written form, because much discussion will already have taken place. Students might: •

compare what they learned during the debate to what they knew before

•

research a topic of interest that has arisen due to hearing the debate

•

comment on the advantages or disadvantages of the informal debate

•

write a letter to a teacher or friend explaining the concerns they have after listening to the debate.

English Language Arts A Curriculum Guide for the Middle Level http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/mla/listen.html#debate

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Debate Important aspects

Relationship with other genres

Context

Social Purpose

• • • •

builds on informal spoken discussion which does not always lead to a decision can lead to competitive debating is similar to public and persuasive speeches in its persuasive techniques can be a feature of formal meetings

•

t o express opinion, to persuade others to a point of view, to come to a decision, can also include to entertain

Aspects of social context

Debate, a form of public persuasive speaking, is part of a culturally valued tradition of decision making. It is widely used in schools and as part of conflict resolution. Successful speakers have good rhetorical skills and can use the genre for their own purposes. Its formal context can exclude groups who have not learnt how to participate in it.

Subject Matter

• •

issues affecting the organisation/group concerned business of the organisation/group

Roles

• • •

are well defined speakers are advocates for a point of view chairperson has the guiding hand

•

 re formal for the chairperson who has power to choose who speaks within the a rules of the organisation, and to ensure that the rules are kept, and that votes are taken according to approved conventions speakers choose to be friendly or more formal according to what suits their purposes and a particular audience

Relationships

Significant textual features

Debate is a formal way to come to a decision using rules and protocols established by an organisation, such as parliament, or by other conventions. It is mediated by a chairperson. The essence of debate is that speakers, within set limits, have the opportunity to speak for or against a proposal, trying as they do so to convince others to accept the argument of a particular point of view before a decision is made.

•

Mode

• •

is spoken can be written, transcribed

Medium

• • •

in Hansard, interviews usually face-to-face communication in groups such as the classroom, parliament can be videoconferencing, teleconferencing, online

Generic Structure

• selection of speaker • speaker supports or opposes proposal • vote/decision The first two stages are repeated until all who want to speak have spoken, or until the chairperson or the regulations governing debate calls a halt. Includes: • use of related words. A technique is to paraphrase another speaker’s words using synonyms with negative connotations. • use of repetition of own and others’ words and phrases for emphasis • can be conventional in formal debates, for example, addressing a member of Parliament as the honourable member • can be factual but tends to be mainly emotive as it is used to support the point of view of the speaker • Mood Modality

Intonations and Rhythm

Grammar Nonverbal language

• • •

• •

interrogative: rhetorical questions are a feature of persuasive speaking as in What do we want for our children’s future? imperative as in Vote for Dave, your local candidate expresses strong obligation as in We must act now an experienced speaker’s language sounds more written than spoken, with longer sentences, embedded clauses and nominalisations (secondary students)  re used for rhetorical purposes as in rhythmical a patterns accompanied by table thumping for emphasis exaggeration of these is a feature of public speaking

• includes facial expressions, gesture and stance, often exaggerated for effect.

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Discussion (written) Important aspects

The discussion text type is important in our democratic society as part of decision making. It is meant to examine all sides of the issue before coming to a conclusion. However it is important to remember that all texts reflect a particular point of view. •

Relationship with other genres

Context

Social Purpose

• • •

Business and government often require specialist advice and discussion before making decisions based on evidence. Students can be asked to write a discussion to explore a topic from different points of view or to assess whether they have understood all aspects of a topic.

Subject Matter

•

is varied — usually a topic where there are different points of view

Roles

• •

the writer as expert, a researcher or as a person interested in a topic the reader as an information seeker

•

 sually formal, although it does depend on the audience. The writer has power u to choose the information and recommendations they want to present and the reader can reject them.

•

written

•

a wide range from school tasks to published documents

Mode Medium

Generic Structure Significant textual features

t o examine issues fully and make recommendations depending on opinion or based on evidence

Aspects of social context

Relationships

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is a development of the spoken discussion, where the topic is explored but not always resolved can contain descriptions and explanations can involve research skills including notemaking

Cohesion Vocabulary

issue

-

arguments for

- consisting of a point and an elaboration of it with some details, evidence, examples

arguments against

- consisting of a point and an elaboration of it with some details, evidence, examples

•

conjunctions

- -

•

factual, can include some technical language depending on the subject and the audience

can include a preview

time/sequence such as secondly, finally causal such as because, so

Participants

- mainly generic non-human as in computers and human as in families

Processes

- present-tense verbs tell about actions that are happening now, or all the time - modality gives information about the certainty involved (high, medium low) as in must, ought to, should, I think, may, might

Grammar

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Documentary Film (Viewing) Important aspects

The most common documentary films are usually begun by a television channel with a certain budget wanting to fill a particular timeslot for a particular audience. Although the finished product may seem to be factual, these and other factors mean that it is constructed from a particular angle or point of view. The viewer needs to be aware the text is constructed and not accept the documentary as absolutely factual. • •

• •

is flexible and complex can be based on an exposition, a discussion, a recount, or any genres which suit the subject matter and the maker’s processes can contain many genres including explanations, descriptions, recounts, anecdotes, interviews is the audiovisual equivalent of the feature article involves research, note-taking, interviewing

Social Purpose

• •

to explain, analyse, expose and explore events, phenomena and issues can also include to entertain

Aspects of social context

The social context strongly influences the range and scope of documentaries. Documentaries that are entertaining, educational or enlightening set excellent standards for the life-long movie watching habit that begins in childhood. Subjects and the content need to be appropriate for children, but they don’t always have to gloss over hardships and problems.

Relationship with other genres

•

•

Subject Matter

•

Context

• •

Roles

• • • •

Relationships •

 wide range which includes topical issues, nature, people, events, trends, history, a science can be selected for its topical interest, universal appeal to an age group, the interest of the filmmaker as it is a visual medium, the availability of visual material influences the final shape of the documentary t he documentary-maker/producer, though, as in filmmaking, this is usually a collaborative activity the presenter/narrator the people in the documentary as subjects, witnesses or experts the viewer as information - or entertainment - seeker t he television channel or documentary-maker makes choices based on the target audience and how they are to be positioned in relationship to the documentary, for example educated, entertained some viewers will accept the main messages of the documentary; other viewers will be aware of its point of view and how it tries to influence the viewer

Mode

- - - -

visual spoken auditory written, including title, credits, subtitles, written information, labels on diagrams

Medium

-

television, DVD, online, movie

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Documentary Film (Viewing) cont’d The generic structure is varied. Each documentary will have to be analysed individually to see what genre/s the makers used and why. The following is an example of how exposition might be used:

Generic Structure

title

- can indicate a point of view, as in Rainforest, our vanishing heritage - can be eye-catching rather than informative as in Invisible enemies

*background

-

title sometimes follows this

thesis

-

 ften given by presenter/narrator as a voice-over or talking o head can be implied in the visuals

-

arguments

- in selected and sequenced visual material with or without voiceover and music - in interviews - in images, such as computer graphics, maps, graphs, diagrams

conclusion

- - -

c an be a restatement of the point of view, in images and/or spoken or written words can include summing up of evidence, in images and/or spoken or written words can include recommendation/s.

Significant textual features

* An optional stage of the genre

Visual cohesion

•

Repetition

- of techniques such as the handheld camera - of images such as sea creature images in a Barrier Reef documentary

•

Conjunctions

- the type of transition that often denotes time, for example a slow fade shows passing of time - parallel editing or cutaways where two events are running parallel, and the film cuts from one to the other to show contrast

Some features are mentioned above. Others are: •

 echnical T codes

•

Symbolic Codes - - -

Visual language

- lighting which can contribute to the atmosphere - different camera techniques such as time-lapse photography - camera angles, for example a low angle makes the subject seem more imposing - selection and ordering of shots can give powerful messages - composition and type of shot such as close-up, medium or long shot titles and written information their style such as graphics, type of print, background placement, at the beginning or after a segment of film

See Constructing Realities: Media Curriculum Guide for Years 1 to 10 and Using visual texts in primary and secondary English classrooms for more details.

Nonverbal language

• • • •

Vocabulary

Grammar Intonation and rhythm Pronunciation 68

• •

looking straight at the camera gives the presenter authority smiling, and other facial expressions convey the participant’s attitudes other nonverbal language such as folded arms, can also indicate the participants’ attitudes where actors are used, their body language conveys certain meanings can be technical, informative or everyday depending on the subject can be emotive or factual, depending on how the relationship between the viewer and the image and the image-maker is to develop

Mood

-

interrogative: questions involve the viewer as in What future do you want to have?

Modality

- -

where the presenter expresses own opinions as in I think… sometimes the origin of the opinion is hidden as in It seems…

•

 atural, unrehearsed conversations contrast with the more regular intonation and n rhythm of the presenter’s script, even if it is written in a more spoken style

•

varies with the different people in the documentary.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Explanation Important aspects

Explanations account for how and why things came to be as they are. Explanation is a foundational genre, and is found as part of a wide variety of texts and contexts. • • • •

can be part of procedures and report genres can contain descriptions can also be called describing a process can be accompanied by visuals such as diagrams or flowchart

Social Purpose

•

to explain how and why things came to be as they are

Aspects of social context

Explanations are a widely-used genre in the community as well as across all subject areas in the school context, especially in science, the social sciences, health and physical education.

Subject Matter

•

the thing being explained and the processes involved

Roles

• •

the writer as expert the reader, who could be a learner or another expert, depending on the context

•

 egree of formality depends on the audience and their expertise, for example, d explanations written for children frequently adopt a friendly tone, avoiding technical language and addressing the reader as in You can see in the diagram…. Students at this level are beginning to move to more objective, factual language.

Mode

• • •

spoken written visual

Medium

•

a wide range including encyclopaedias, textbooks, online sites

Context

Relationship with other genres

Relationships

title

-

for these students how/why statements are used, as in How to use a classroom blog.

a general statement

- which positions the reader and can have the function of classifying and describing the particular phenomenon or process to be explained

a sequenced explanation

- a sequence of logical steps in a process developed in paragraphs

Cohesion

•

Conjunctions

- -

Vocabulary

• •

usually factual subject specific as in download links moving towards the technical HTML. This depends on students’ level of knowledge and the audience and subject matter.

Generic structure

Grammar

Visual language

time/sequence such as secondly, finally causal such as As a result …

Participants

- can be non-human and generalised such as mountains rather than Glasshouse Mountains

Processes

-

Timeless present tense

- as in walks, explores because the action is seen as going on all the time - If the explanation is historical, the past tense is used.

•

many Material/doing verbs such as Peaks tower above the eucalypt forests

diagrams, flowcharts and other visuals can carry all or part of the message.

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Persuasive Text (Advertisement) Important aspects

Context

Relationship with other genres

We are targeted at an early age by advertisers and this continues throughout all stages of life. We need to be aware of the persuasive power of advertisements, and have the tools to analyse them critically so that we do not buy things we do not need, and choose wisely the things we do. The display advertisement or commercial: • builds on buying and selling genres • can adapt other genres including instructions, for example Buy now. Don’t delay. Go to…and save, and signal procedures as in Three steps to a healthier you. • is placed on billboards, magazines and websites by the advertiser who buys that space • has the same purpose as commercials seen on TV, DVDs and before movies

Social Purposes

• •

Aspects of social context

A great deal of money and research goes into campaigns to persuade us to buy one product and not a rival one. Groups in society have become more critical of advertisements when they use stereotypes or exploit people.

Subject Matter

•

products and services, and the environment in which they are used

Roles

• •

advertiser as promoter of a product and a lifestyle potential buyer

•

t he advertiser has a target reader group and the advertisement is designed to appeal to them, offering to fill a need, which can be genuine or created by the advertisement itself the potential buyer can give in to the appeal of the advertisement, or resist its persuasion

Relationships

Significant textual features

•

to persuade people to buy a product or a service can also include to create a need, to entertain, to inform, to make money

Mode

• • •

written visual multimodal

Medium

•

magazines, newspapers, billboards, online and digital texts

Generic structure

A display advertisement has usually one or more of the following basic features, in words and/or images: o headline o name of product or service o description of product or service o price of product or service o seller of the product or service. The layout has to be eye catching and simple, with easy to read large bold print and images.

-

Save! Save! Save! is an easily recognisable slogan

•

r epetition of words

• •

words related to product, image and selling point can be factual, emotive, technical, everyday, inventive as in made-up words, play on words: it depends on the audience and on the advertising strategy can use many superlatives such as biggest, best, cheapest

•

Participants

- You and we can be used to involve the reader as in We know you expect the best - attributes such as funky, never-before-price-busting music package are used frequently

Mood

- imperative: commands are frequently used as Buy now, Hurry on down to… - interrogative: questions are often used to involve the reader, as in Is it true what they say about Aussie kids?

Modality

- often expresses certainty and urgency, as in You must act now, It won’t last.

Tense

- present-tense verbs tell about actions that are happening now, or all the time

Grammar

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the product such as music, hip hop artist, beat, rhythm the image such as fun, funky, kids the selling point such as cheapness, popularity, fashion

 se of words u related to

Cohesion

Vocabulary

- - -

•

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Spelling

•

can be phonetic, especially in advertisements, for example kreepy, skool

Punctuation

• •

exclamation marks are used often is not always standard and is often omitted

Significant textual features

Graphic design •

Typeface

- varied size, style as in bold typeface, italics, and font - varied for special effects, for example old English font often used for Christmas messages - used unconventionally, for example small print in the middle of a large white space - graphics - boxes, shading and colours - indenting and dot points often where there is a long written text

•

Layout

- the top left-hand side is a position of importance because we look there first - often the picture is at the top, then the caption, then the text

•

Images

- in logos - colour used for associated meanings, for example green may be restful and associated with nature - can be drawings, photographs, art reproductions - angle at which the viewer sees the image, for example a low angle makes the image imposing - the framing of the shot, for example, what the focus is, what is cropped.

Visual language

For further information see Constructing Realities: Media Curriculum Guide for Years 1-10 and Using visual texts in the primary and secondary English classroom.

MENTOR TEXTS Mentor texts are published texts. They are quality examples of the kind of writing and designing being required of students. As authentic texts they demonstrate writing for an authentic purpose and intended audiences and serve to show the students how to construct the text type well. The students are introduced to the text as readers. They are then helped to identify the writing skills and strategies the author is using to achieve a particular purpose within particular stages of the text. This engagement with the mentor text is highly-focused and short and does not need to deal with the whole text at a particular ‘reading’. The use of mentor texts demonstrates for students the power of the connection between reading and writing. Reference: Dorfman L.R. & Cappelli R. (2007) Mentor Texts. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

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annotated TEXT MODELS If students are to write in a particular genre successfully, they need to become familiar with its purpose and features through immersion in the genre by exploring sample texts. The teacher, as a writer, composes a text which is similar to the one to be written later as a joint construction by the class, and then independently by the students. This text is a model of criteria at an A standard. In the Modelling Phase when students are being exposed to examples of the selected genre and text types, the teacher is able to plan explicitly and use the metalanguage, the language for talking about language and texts, with students. This explicit teaching develops students’ understanding of the genre category and the particular text type – its purpose, structure, text organisation, language features and the crafting of writing to influence readers.

Year 4/5: An explanation Generic Structure Title: as a statement A general statement to position the reader

A sequenced explanation – a sequence of logical steps in a process

Text Model How to use a classroom wiki A wiki is a type of collaborative website. It lets students communicate online and work together to plan a group project in their class or with other classes. First a class wiki is set up using a website like Wetpaint.com. This site lets students add, remove and change their ideas in their project. Next a group of students can sign into the wiki site whenever they want. When they add their ideas to the wiki, each visitor has to use the Edit button and the Save button. All the team members can see the changes. The web page changes into a document when a member of the group clicks the edit button. The student contributes their ideas and starts to build the online content. When they have added their ideas they click Save and the document becomes a web page again. Each member of the group uses the process of Edit, Write and Save to change, remove or add ideas to the wiki. There is also a linking function. This lets the users set up a link in the wiki to other online material. This makes the wiki more interactive. When the group have finally put all their ideas onto the wiki, they have created a group project.

Language Features Cohesion: Time/sequence as in first, next, when, whenever Conjunctions: cause & effect as in because, as Vocabulary: factual language as in A wiki is; The site provides; uses the process Technical as in wiki, links, Wetpaint.com; password protected, wiki Grammar: Participants (noun groups) generally nonhuman & generalised as in website, educational purposes, technology; human and generalised as in class, classes, group of students

>

Processes: many material/doing verb groups in present tense as in lets, add, remove, change, clicks, changes, makes Visual language: Visual image accompanied by written text demonstrates understanding and enhances meaning

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

ANNOTATED STUDENT WORK SAMPLES WITH ACCOMPANYING CRITERIA

Year 4/5: Discussion

Argument for: Elaboration with more details

Argument against: Elaboration with more details

Conclusion: Recommendation Considered appropriate for different groups of children

Student’s text >

Teacher’s annotations

Cohesion: logical sequence as in For the yes, For the no Conjunctions: cause as in because, so Noun-pronoun agreement as in families, they, them; kids, their, them Paragraphs used for each point in the argument. Judgement vocabulary to evaluate behaviour as in good chance, more interest, fitter, healthy, active, to relax, unhealthy, sit staring, energy, fun. Processes: Modality gives information about the certainty involved as in should, I think, would, will, can, need to (medium modality).

Teacher’s annotations

>

Argument for: Elaboration with more details

Should all children have one TV and computer-free day each week? For the yes I think it is a really good idea to turn off the TV and computers one day in the week. It gives families a good chance to do some more things together. They go outside in nature and ride bikes, go to the beach, camp and hike. This would help them get more interest in their environment. They would also become fitter if they were eating healthy food as well. Kids can still make their own plan to have a free day during the week when the whole family can’t do active things together. They can walk or ride their bike to school and home if it is safe. When they get home they can’t sit down and keep watching TV or playing on the computer. They can go outside and skip, swim and jump on the trampoline or play basketball or soccer. This will make them have more energy and stay healthy. For the no I think that children have to go to school and they play at lunchtime and do sports and activities in HPE. Lots of kids play sport on the weekend and go to training. Some kids go to dancing and karate. They are active and like to have time to relax each day playing on the computer and watching TV. In my opinion there are two answers yes and no. I think that turning off the TV and computer is great because some children are unhealthy and want to sit staring at a screen all day. They need to have a free day to get more energy and have fun with their family. Other children can have a timetable so they can do their homework, have some activity and have about two hours relaxing watching TV and playing computer and video games.

>

Issue

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Students reflect on the effectiveness of their language choices and ways of improving their use of English throughout the construction of the text.

Students construct a text that discusses both sides of a negotiated issue using:

Students know and understand that a discussion considers both sides of an issue and consider their personal or community audience when selecting subject matter and the medium for presentation.

• attempts to identify some of the writing processes use during the construction of the text • reflects on what changes have been made to the text

• states the issue to be discussed, develops points of discussion with brief elaboration • uses paragraphs to group main ideas • builds subject matter through use of simple and compound sentences • includes some language features • uses capitals and full stops to punctuate sentences • spells some familiar words correctly.

•

•

• uses writing processes of planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting in the construction of the text • reflects on how the changes and modifications made to the text to achieve the purpose of discussion

• states the issue to be discussed, develops a sequence of arguments presented as a point with some elaboration and ends with a conclusion • separates arguments into paragraphs • builds subject matter through combining clauses to form compound and complex sentences • uses language features to convey a position on both sides of the issue • uses punctuation (commas, apostrophes, speech marks) to signal meaning • spells familiar words and some unfamiliar words correctly

• selects subject matter suitable for the purpose of the discussion i.e. consider both sides of the issue • elaborates on subject matter by including supporting details for the intended audience

s elects a topic for discussion and identifies the main ideas of the issue develops the subject matter by including brief supporting details

The student: • deliberately makes changes and modifications to the text during the writing process to make it more effective • reflects on how changes and modifications made to the text have extended meaning for the intended audience

The student: • states the issue and includes a preview to engage audience interest, develops a series of elaborated arguments and concludes with some recommendations • organises information into sequenced paragraphs to support both sides of the discussion • builds subject matter through combining clauses to form compound and complex sentences that add authority and certainty • displays effective choice of language features to construct the subject matter positively or negatively • uses punctuation to enhance meaning • spells familiar and unfamiliar words correctly

The student: • selects subject mater and uses research to develop more elaborated ideas and supporting details • elaborates on subject matter to extend meaning (more detail and depth) for the intended audience

• a generic structure that states the issue, arguments with elaborations and a conclusion with a recommendation • sequences the arguments in logical order using cohesive ties such as noun/pronoun agreement, conjunctions, paragraphs and text connectives • judgement vocabulary to evaluate • modality to indicate degree of certainty

Reflecting

Constructing

Assessable elements

Year 5 Juncture English Expository Text (Discussion)

Knowledge and Understanding

Student name:

Task specific descriptors

Descriptions of evidence of the standard of work

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Evidence of Well Below standard

Evidence of Below standard

Evidence of a Sound standard

Evidence of a High standard

Evidence of a Very High standard

Standards

Guiding Questions for analysing student texts in Years 4 and 5 The Framework of Guiding Questions has been provided to assist teachers with their understanding of, and language for, analysing students’ texts. They are to help teachers annotate student work samples and to see where and how learning is demonstrated. MEANING MAKER/ TEXT USER

CODE BREAKER

TEXT ANALYST 1. What does the text show the student knows, believes or does?

Text Types 2. How has the student shown a link between the purpose of the text and text type choice?

3. How has the student organized the text? – replicated typical generic structure – used modelled structure independently

Subject matter 4. What subject matter has the student developed? How has the student organised ideas? – logical sequence of main ideas – use of paragraphs each containing a main idea How has the student developed the subject matter (type and complexity)? – vocabulary choices made to describe the subject matter – noun groups – descriptive and evaluative – verb groups – type and vocabulary choice – inclusion of added detail or argument of each main idea

5. What textual resources has the student used to develop the subject matter (type and complexity)? – vocabulary choices made to describe the subject matter – noun groups – descriptive and evaluative – noun groups with adjective or adjectival phrases – verb groups – type and vocabulary choice – verb groups with adverbs – use of adverbial phrases

6. How does choice of noun and verb groups the student has used represent the subject matter in particular ways (prioritising certain information)? – similar or different representations – developing +ive or –ive representations – representation of a point of view

Roles and Relationships 7. What relationship has the student developed with the reader/viewer? – equal/unequal (Power) – close/distant, formal/informal (Distance) – knowledge or expertise of the topic (Affect)

8. What type of sentences has the student used? (statements, questions, commands, exclamations and associated punctuation) What word choices has the student used to develop a relationship with audience? – vocabulary choices – evaluative words (e.g. mean gossip); intensifying words (e.g. very) – modality – strengthen or weaken verbs (e.g. must go, should go)

9. How has the student used sentence type, vocabulary choice and modality? – to position readers – develop certain relationships – express attitudes

Mode and Medium 10. What mode of language did the student use (written, spoken, visual or multimodal)? What medium has been used by the student?

11. How did the student link ideas in the text? – use of paragraphs, topics sentences – tense of sentences (past, present, future) – simple compound and complex sentences – conjunctions to link clauses and organize text – adding on, comparing and contrast, time cause and effect, conditions – patterns of related noun groups and verb groups – types of pronouns and pronoun referencing – topic sentences (key idea) at the beginning of paragraphs – key part of a sentence in theme position (at the beginning of the sentence) (Textual Resources) 12. What strategies have been used to spell? – sound symbol relationships (e.g. single vowel and consonant sounds, blends, diagraphs, long vowels, silent letter) and visual letter patterns – base word and tense or plural endings – syllables and prefixes and suffixes – meaning/spelling relationships: derivation of words (e.g. tri-cycle), meaning aspect of words (e.g. magic/magician, child/children) compound words, homonyms and synonyms

Adapted from the State of Queensland (Queensland Studies Authority) Open Trial Conference (2005) Information Kit 2009

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The focus of assessment in English in Years 4 and 5 The focus of assessment is on the learning statements appropriate for the construction of an Expository text from the Ways of Working and Knowledge and Understanding components of the Year 5 Juncture of the English Essential Learnings. The core learning outcomes of the English syllabus are indicated alongside the corresponding learning statements.

Ways of Working By the end of Year 5, when constructing expository texts, students are able to: • identify the relationship between audience, purpose and text type • identify main ideas and the sequence of events, and make inferences • construct non-literary texts by planning and developing subject matter, using personal, cultural and social experiences that match an audience and purpose • reflect on and describe the effectiveness of language elements and how the language choices represent people, characters, places, events and things in particular ways.

Knowledge & Understanding Speaking involves using oral and gestural elements to construct texts that achieve purposes in personal and community contexts. • The purpose of speaking and listening includes informing, presenting simple arguments, negotiating relationships and transactions, and seeking opinions of others. CU 3.1.1, CU 3.1.4 • Speakers can adopt different roles, and make language choices appropriate to the level of formality. CU 3.1.1, CU 3.1.4 • Spoken texts have different structures from those of written texts. CU 3.1.1, CU 3.1.4 • Statements, questions and commands generate and maintain discussions and conversations. OP 3.1.3 • Words and phrasing, modulation of volume, pitch, pronunciation and pace enhance expression of ideas, can be adjusted to match the purpose, audience and context, and are monitored by listeners. OP 3.1.5, OP 3.1.8. • Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, questioning, identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting. CU 3.1.1, CU 3.1.2, CU 3.1.3, CU 3.1.4, CU 3.1.5, CU 3.1.6.

Writing and designing involve using language elements to construct non-literary texts for audiences in personal and community contexts. • The purpose of writing and designing includes entertaining, informing and describing. CU 3.3.1 • Writers and designers can adopt different roles, and make language choices appropriate to the audience. CU 3.3.5 • Words and phrases, symbols, images and audio affect meaning and interpretation. OP 3.3.2. OP 3.3.3, OP 3.3.4, CR 3.3 • Text users make choices about grammar and punctuation, to make meaning. OP 3.3.3, OP 3.3.4, OP 3.3.5, OP 3.3.7 • Sound, visual and meaning patterns, including word functions, are used to spell single-syllable and multisyllable words. OP 3.3.6 • Writers and designers refer to authoritative sources and use a number of active writing strategies, including planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting. CU 3.3.1, CU 3.3.2, CU 3.3.3, CU 3.3.4, CU 3.3.5

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Language Elements: Interpreting and constructing texts involve making choices about grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, audio and visual elements in print-based, electronic and face-to-face modes in personal and community contexts. • • • • • •

• • • • • •

Paragraphs separate ideas in texts and contain a topic sentence. OP3.2.4, OP3.3.5 A sentence can be simple, compound or complex. OP3.2.2, OP3.3.3 Subject and verb must agree in terms of person and number. OP3.2.5, OP3.3.3 Text connectives signal how things, ideas and information are related. OP3.2.4, OP3.3.1, O 3.1.2 Time connectives and tense are used to locate characters or action in time. OP3.1.2, OP3.2.4, OP3.3.1 Sentences can indicate what is happening (verbs), who or what is taking part (nouns), what it looks like (adjectives), and the circumstances surrounding the action (prepositional phrases and adverbs). OP 3.1.2, OP3.2.2, OP3.2.3, OP3.3.3 Pronouns refer to nouns within and across sentences. OP 3.1.2, OP 3.2.4, OP 3.3.1, OP 3.3.3 Conjunctions signal relationships between things, ideas and events. OP 3.1.2, OP 3.2.4, OP 3.3.1, OP 3.3.3 Punctuation marks, including commas, apostrophes and speech marks, signal meaning in texts. OP3.2.6, OP3.3.7 Vocabulary is chosen to express ideas and information in a commonsense or technical way. OP 3.1.2, OP 3.1.4, OP 3.2.4, OP 3.2.5,OP 3.3.2, OP 3.3.3 Meaning can be made more specific by extending or changing the form of a word OP 3.3.3 Auditory, spoken, visual and nonverbal elements add meaning to the subject matter and focus the audience’s attention. OP3.1.5, OP3.1.8, OP3.2.4, OP3.3.4, OP3.3.6

Literary and Non-literary Texts: Making choices about literary and non-literary texts involves identifying the purpose, audience, subject matter and text structure. • Aspects of subject matter can be included or omitted to present a point of view. CR 3.1.1, CR 3.1.2, CR 3.2.1, CR 3.2.2, CR 3.3 • Main ideas are established by identifying who, what, where, when, how and why. OP 3.2.4, OP 3.3.3 • Reports and arguments have structures, including an introduction or a general statement, elaboration of information or reasons, and a conclusion. OP 3.1.2, OP 3.2.1, OP 3.3.1

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USING AN INQUIRY APPROACH In inquiry-based learning environments, students are engaged in activities that help them actively pose questions, investigate, solve problems, and draw conclusions about the world around them. Taking ownership of the inquiry process allows students to become independent thinkers and to be engaged in meaningful activities that address and explore the questions they have posed. Questioning is at the core of inquiry learning and drives the teaching and learning The importance of process. inquiry learning is that students learn An inquiry approach to learning is a process that includes students: how to continue • formulating a problem or question learning, how to be • searching through and/or collecting information to address a problem or question lifelong learners. • making sense of the information • developing an understanding of, a point of view about, or an answer to a question. Through an inquiry approach students have the opportunity to: • build on their existing knowledge and skills • select topics of interest • explore a variety of resources (i.e., books, maps, primary source documents, websites, videos, audios, photographs) • select the best way to communicate their findings • share with real-world audiences • be evaluated on both process and product • evaluate themselves, their peers, their resources and the process.

AN ENGLISH INQUIRY A quality inquiry learning sequence in English is based around a key or guiding question. Students explore the key question, and some supporting questions if appropriate, through a range of texts and language in different contexts. Students who engage in an English inquiry into a text type within the Expository Genre could investigate and discuss connections between: How the text is made • Questions can be about author, text, images, words, format and layout. The structure of the text • Questions can be about text type, genre, structures and features, language style and choice, and grammar. How the text relates to life • Questions can be about making connections with experience, ideas and issues, perspectives on ideas and issues. How the author makes choices • Questions can be about texts as construction, linguistic choice, representation, cultural context. How we might read the text • Questions can be about how people from different groups could read the text, including invited readings and multiple perspectives. The literary techniques and devices operating in the text • Questions can be about language, images, point of view and/or layout. How texts relate to each other • Questions can be about how other texts may deal with the same topic.

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• how to organise and record information.

• meaningful learning experiences

• students’ prior knowledge

• the field/subject matter

What are some of the language features?

Context of Situation

Students use the genre to challenge ideology, theory and practice.

Consultation with teacher and peers may occur during a draft. It may also include aspects of editing etc.

• individual writing of text in same genre in draft • consultation with teachers and peers about writing • editing, reworking of writing • critical evaluation of success

Independent Construction of Text

Construction Teacher guides the students in jointly constructing a new text in the same genre.

How do we prepare for the joint construction of a new text? • build up subject matter knowledge through research • use guideline questions to scaffold inquiry

Joint Construction Preparation

Preparation for independent writing of a text in the same genre (as for joint construction)

What is the relationship between the writer and the reader?

Developing Control of Genre

What is the mode and medium of communication?

Who is taking part in the communication? (Roles and Relationships)

How do we know what the text is about?

What are the functions of the stages?

What is the social purpose of this genre? Who uses it? Why? What is the subject matter?

Text

Context of Culture

Critical Literacy

Before constructing a text we need to identify:

Developing Field Knowledge

Deconstruction

TEACHING AND LEARNING CYCLE

Once the text type has been selected, teaching occurs following the four interrelated stages illustrated below. This cycle is used throughout the years of schooling to support students to systematically develop control of increasingly complex genre patterns.

TEACHING THE EXPOSITORY GENRE

PLANNING AN ENGLISH INQUIRY Student engagement in learning is enhanced when planning in English is focussed around an inquiry into relevant aspects of text, language or literacy. What is the English problem to be solved, question to be answered, significant task to be completed or issue to be explored through the interpretation or construction of particular texts? This involves: • establishing a focus of investigation into the language used to create the texts to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions in precise and accurate ways • exploring connections between the purpose, text type, subject matter, author and audience, mode and medium in these texts • introducing students to a process that allows them to talk about the language in the texts they are interpreting and constructing.

What the teacher may do

What the students may do

Negotiate a social context (subject matter and audience) for this unit with the students. Suggest options from appropriate text type/s within the genre category.

Brainstorm topics of interest and possible audiences. Participate in formulating a group decision. Decide on an appropriate text type for presenting the information Participate in discussion to identify possible directions for study.

Lead the development of an inquiry question that connects the text type and its purpose to the social context.

The teacher: • creates a task that enables students to demonstrate what they know and can do • decides on explicit criteria to guide student performance and teacher judgements of the spoken/signed, written or multimodal exposition • provides a fair and equitable opportunity for all students to demonstrate what they know and can do. What the teacher may do

What the students may do

Discuss the task requirements. Specify criteria for the standards of learning achievement. Indicate clear conditions for learning achievement.. Scaffold the assessment requirements with explicit teaching and learning.

Ask questions to clarify the task demands. Discuss what this may look like. Discuss areas for negotiation.

Developing Field Knowledge

Developing Field Knowledge Purpose: to investigate the concept/topic and the social context of the negotiated text/s. This stage involves: • establishing the students’ prior knowledge and understanding of the concept and social context to be explored in the expository text • identifying the information to be included – What information do we want to find out? • planning experiences that will provide the information – How will we find out the information?

• the field/subject matter • students’ prior knowledge • meaningful learning experiences • how to organise and record information.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Establishes the extent of the students’ current knowledge and understanding of the concept and build on it. Uses a KWL to record information.

Participate in a discussion around the concept. Think Pair Share in groups to initiate the discussion.

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Before constructing a text we need to identify

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Deconstruction The purpose of this stage is to provide experiences of the text types being studied. It has two parts – Deconstruction of Context and Deconstruction of the Text.

Deconstruction Context of Culture What is the social purpose of this genre? Who uses it? Why?

Deconstruction – Context of Culture & Context of Situation This step provides an opportunity for students to become familiar with the text type, its social purpose, possible audiences, text structure and textual features, through immersion in the genre and exploring mentor/sample texts.

Context of Situation What is the subject matter? Who is taking part in the communication? (Roles and Relationships) What is the mode and medium of communication?

What the teacher does Selects a range and balance of texts that are models of the genre to be studied. Introduces a model/s of the genre to the class identifying audience and purpose. Asks questions from the point of view of the writer: • Who would write/design this kind of text? • Why would someone write/design this text? • Who is the intended audience for the text? • In what other situation would you need to write/design this text? Asks questions from the point of view of a reader: • Where might you see/find/read/view/listen to this kind of text? • Who would be interested in reading/viewing/listening to this text? • What information would you expect to find in this text? • What sorts of occupations would involve reading and writing this type of text? • Why might you need to read/view/listen to or write/design a similar text? Provides sample texts with headings and text titles. Provides pictures to support the titles for younger children. Provides sample texts and audiences.

What the students do Read and discuss the texts. Answer questions in small or whole groups.

Answer questions in small or whole groups.

Match headings with the text Match sample texts with possible audiences

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Deconstruction – Deconstructing the Text This step provides an opportunity for teachers and students to investigate the way the text is structured to achieve its purpose. Explicit teaching sessions include the way the text is organised – Written: e.g. paragraph structure, the use of headings, diagrams, graphs, page layout and distinctive language features of the genre; Multimodal: e.g. logos, symbols, storyboard, colours, framing, transitions, focal point, mood sound effects, body language, distances, speed and pace, editing

Deconstruction Text What are the functions of the stages? What are some of the language features? How do we know what the text is about? What is the relationship between the writer and the reader?

What the teacher does

What the students do

Cloze: Blanks out words that have a specific function: topic sentence in each paragraph, sentence beginnings or processes (verb groups). Models the activity.

Listen and observe teacher modelling task. Work individually, in pairs or small groups to complete the cloze. Listen and observe teacher modelling task Work individually, in pairs or small groups to complete the sorting activity. Answer questions in the whole class. Work individually, in pairs, small groups to answer questions on task cards.

Sorting: Prepares cut up texts for students to reassemble. Orders paragraphs or sequence images, matching topic sentences, captions, dialogue. Reassembles blocks of text according to generic structure. Models the activities with text strips or blocks. Provides two texts - Discussing/Comparing Asks the following questions or provides task cards: • What is the text about? • How do we know what it is about? • What is the relationship between the writer/designer and the reader/ viewer/listener? • How can we tell? • How is the text/information organised? • How do the sentences/sequences begin? Is there a pattern? • How are the texts similar/dissimilar? • How is the text supported – diagrams, labels, headings, music, lighting, sound effects? Models locating and/or identifying: • language features– tense, conjunctions, process types and sequencing • sentence beginnings; topic sentences • emotions through facial expression; sound, use of place.

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Watch and listen to the modelling. Individual, pair, small group work on highlighting specific aspects of texts.

Joint Construction

Joint Construction

This stage has two steps – Preparation and Construction. It enables students to build a new text on the basis of shared experiences and knowledge of language features of the text type. The teacher scaffolds the process by modelling and reworking. Preparation This step allows students to build up their field knowledge and provides an opportunity for students to locate, extract, analyse and organise relevant information in a way that is appropriate to the genre.

Preparation How do we prepare for the joint construction of a new text? • build up subject matter knowledge through research • use guideline questions to scaffold inquiry.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Leads the students in Defining the task by asking questions such as: • What do we really want to find out? • What is our purpose? • What do we need to find this out? • What are the key ideas, the words/images that represent the topic? • What do we need to do? • What genres are appropriate to the topic? • Who is the audience? Leads the students in Locating the information by asking questions such as: • Where can we find the information we want? • What do we still need to find out? • What sources and equipment can we use?

Consider these questions when working individually, in pairs or small groups to help them define the task.

Consider these questions when working individually, in pairs or small groups to locate the information they need. Brainstorm and record a list of resources and sources. Create own set of resources. Consider these questions Leads the students in Selecting the Information by asking questions such as: when working individually, • What information can we use/ leave out? in pairs or small groups to • How relevant is the information we have found? select the information they • How credible is the information we have found? need. Provides models of ways to organise the information appropriate to the genre. Use the organisers to collate information. Tables Proformas Retrieval charts Storyboards

Notes Flow chart

Construction of Text

Joint Construction

This stage provides an opportunity for the teacher to scaffold the writing of the text through negotiation and interaction with students. At this stage the teacher can use ‘think alouds’ and questions to guide the students into understanding the text structure and language features as well as developing drafting, editing and proof reading skills. The teacher needs to be confident with the language features of the genre in order to guide the structure and wording of the text.

Construction Teacher guides the students in jointly constructing a new text in the same genre.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Scaffolds the writing of the text by asking questions, thinking aloud, suggesting, modelling language features, drafting and editing. Discusses the presentation of the text - diagrams, maps, video, chart, brochure, booklet, blog, website, photo story.

Participate with the teacher in whole class or groups to write the text. Make suggestions for presentation.

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Independent Construction This stage has two steps, preparation and individual writing. It also includes critical literacy. In this stage the teacher’s role is vital in providing demonstrations, guidance and support as the students move through the steps that were modelled during the joint construction stage, either individually, in pairs or in groups depending on their confidence with writing. Students’ attempts and approximations of the genre are important at this stage.

Independent Construction of Text Critical Literacy Students use the genre to challenge ideology, theory and practice.

Individual writing of text in same genre in draft Consultation with teachers and peers about writing Editing, reworking of writing

Preparation for independent writing of a text in the same genre. (as for joint construction)

Critical evaluation of success

Preparation In this step the students locate, extract and organise relevant information. What the teacher does

What the students do

Demonstrates and guides strategies for starting a new topic. • Brainstorming • Clustering • Concept mapping – identifying key words.

Select a topic, - independently construct a text using same information collected for the joint construction - with the same theme but a different subject matter - within the same broad theme. Use the strategies for locating, extracting and organising information.

Questions concept mapping.

Individual Writing of Text This step involves students drafting, consulting, editing and publishing text. What the teacher does

What the students do

Is available to work on drafting, consulting and editing with students. Uses learning statements and standards as a focus for the conversations. Identifies steps needed to achieve the standards. Keeps a checklist of student achievement and needs as an indication for possible whole class planned teaching/learning activities during this stage. Models the editing process.

Discuss drafts with the teacher, peers or other support staff. Reflect on the construction of the text when editing, redrafting, and rewriting.

Suggests tools for publication and supports students in publishing their work.

Publish.

Edit writing.

Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring How Texts Work. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association. DSP literacy Project. (1989). The Report Genre. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools’ Program. Murray, N. & Zammit, K. (1992). The Action Pack. Animals. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools’ Program. Hunt, I. (2004). Successful Joint Construction. Pen 96. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association.

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WORKING AT THE GRAMMATICAL LEVEL OF THE TEXT Explicitly teaching the grammar of the particular text type within the Expository genre assists students in improving their learning about how language works. In best practice in the teaching of English, the teacher and the student develop a language to talk about the language. In classroom interactions the teacher models the grammar to meet student learning needs

Grammar: Whole of Text Level Whole texts are comprised of clauses that are linked using a range of increasingly complex sentence structures and cohesive devices that suit the purpose and text type including: • grammatical patterns and features e.g. theme position and sentence structures • repeated or related sentence patterns, phrases or words across several clauses • conjunctions to join clauses • patterns of and particular choice of words.

Clause A clause is the basic unit of meaning in Standard Australian English. A clause: • conveys a message • usually contains a verb or verb group • usually provides information about: o what is happening o who is taking part o the circumstances surrounding the activity (when, where, how).

COHESION Repeated words Texts are held together by repeating words particularly nouns and verbs. Related words Texts are held together by the related words or word groups within a text. Pronouns Texts are held together by pronouns that refer back to nouns, noun groups or clauses e.g. The barn smelled of hay. It smelled of rope. Conjunctions are used to join clauses: • conjunctions that add ideas and information including and, as well, also, or • conjunctions that compare or contrast ideas and information including but, also, like, yet • conjunctions that indicate time or sequence time within a text including then, when, after, before, while, until, since, later, whenever • conjunctions that show the cause of an idea, action or information including because, so, so … that, as long as, if…then, in case

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Grammar: Sentence and Clause Level Types of sentences: There are four basic types of sentences. STATEMENTS QUESTIONS COMMANDS EXCLAMATIONS The type of sentence used is often determined by the text type. An author can choose a particular type of sentence. The type of sentence used can indicate the mood of the text.

Simple sentence: A simple sentence contains a single clause. The clause is an independent clause because it can stand alone and make sense by itself e.g. Lester poked Clyde with a stick. Did Clyde get mad? Get out of here!

Compound sentence: A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses. Each clause in the compound sentence can stand alone and make sense by itself. The clauses may be linked together by conjunctions such as ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘or’ e.g. Clyde turned away and he would not speak. Lester could hide in the pond or he could find a new home. He set out at dusk but he really wanted to stay.

Complex sentence: A complex sentence contains two or more clauses. One clause carries the main message (independent clause) and the other clause/s (dependent clause/s) elaborate the message in some way. The dependent clause/s rely on the meaning in the independent clause and cannot stand alone. Functional grammar works with chunks of meaning called clauses and clause complexes rather than sentences. A CLAUSE is the largest grammatical unit. A CLAUSE-COMPLEX is two or more clauses logically connected. A SENTENCE is a unit that can be made up of one or more clauses.

Grammar: Word Group and Word Class Level WORD GROUPS Word groups are the smaller groups of words that have a particular function in a clause: • participant, process, attribute and circumstance • noun group, verb group and prepositional phrase.

Noun groups Noun Groups: • provide information about people, places, things and ideas that are involved in a clause • are built on or formed around a noun • contain a head noun and attributes to add meaning or description about the head noun • describe the participants in a clause. A noun group: • can be a single noun e.g. Mary had a little lamb. • can include an article, pointing word, or possessive (determiner) e.g. The boy was lazy. This little piggy went to market. The king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. • can include one or more adjectives e.g. Mary had a little lamb. Ten fat sausages were sizzling in a pan. • can include one or more prepositional phrases that describe the noun e.g. The girl with the ragged clothes was Cinderella. • can include one or more adjectival clauses that describe the noun e.g. There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. This is the house that Jack built. 86

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The adjectival clauses often begin with who, whom, whose, which, that and where, which refers to the preceding noun group. Sometimes the ‘wh’ or linking word (relative pronoun) is left out e.g. This is the house Jack built. Participants: • are the people, places, things or ideas in a clause • can be nouns, noun groups, pronouns. Attributes: • are used to describe participants • can be adjectives, adjectival phrases and adjectival clauses.

Verbs and verb groups Processes: • are doing or action, being, saying, or thinking parts of a clause • can be verbs or verb groups (including adverbs, modal adverbs and auxiliary verbs or modals). Examples of Processes The girl will never run away. The girl may run away. The girl will run away. The girl is unlikely to run away. The girl could possibly run away. The girl should definitely run away. The girl might possibly run away. The girl will probably run away. The girl always has to run away. Circumstances: • are things that surround the event in a clause (how, when, where and why) • can be adverbs, adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses.

WORD CLASSES Word Classes describe or name the word in a word group: Open word Classes: noun, verb, adjective, adverb Closed Word Classes: pronoun, preposition, conjunction and article or determiner Nouns are words that: • name people, places, things and ideas • carry information about singular or plural nature of the participants. Pronouns are words that: • stand in the place of a noun or noun group. Adjectives are words that: • add meaning or description to a noun • can carry information about possessive. Adjectival phrase is a group of words that: • begin with a preposition that adds meaning or description to a noun. Adjectival clause is a group of words that: • begin with a relative pronoun, who, whom, whose, which, that and where, that adds meaning or description to a noun. Determiners are individual or a group of words that: • are dependant on the noun they come before • determine which or whose related to the noun • may be an article, pointing word or possessive (this level of detailed terminology is not essential for students, but is included for teachers to develop understanding) - an article (which one): a, the, an - a pointing word (which one/s) this, these, those, that - possessive (who owns it): Mary’s, my, his, their, your.

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Verbs are words that: • are doing, being, having, saying or thinking words • may stand alone (finite verbs) e.g. I dance. • may need other words to be complete e.g. I want to dance. • must agree in number with the head noun that is the subject of a clause. Singular noun has a singular verb and a plural subject has a plural verb. - The boy is here. - The boys are here. - The horse with two red stirrups was running. The horses with two red stirrups were running. • must agree with the head noun in person: first, second or third person noun with the appropriate verb - I like ice-cream. (first person) - He likes ice-cream. (third person) • carry tense information - past tense e.g. Dinosaurs lived a long time ago. - present tense e.g. Dinosaur models are at Queensland Museum. - future tense e.g. More displays will be coming to the museum. - timeless present tense e.g. Dinosaurs are members of the reptile family. Adapted from: www.qsa.qld.edu.au/yrs1to10/kla/english/support_materials/open_trial/day_1_part_3_grammar.doc

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Years 6 & 7 Resources

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YEARS 6-7 ENGLISH FOCUS FOR 2009 Expositions

CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Expository Genre............................................. 90

Resources to support learning and teaching This resource package provides support materials for teachers of English in Years 6 and 7. These materials have been prepared to assist teachers plan, teach, assess and moderate in the Key Learning Area of English based on the following documents:

English Syllabus 1-10 Sub-strands • Speaking and Listening • Writing and Shaping English Essential Learnings - QCAR framework Organisers • Speaking and Listening • Writing and Designing • Language Elements • Literary and Non-literary Texts

Distinguishing features of text types within the Expository Genre....................... 91 Mentor Texts................................................. 103 Annotated Text Models............................ 104 Annotated student work samples with accompanying criteria.................... 105 Analysing student texts............................ 107 Focus of assessment................................ 108 Using an Inquiry Approach...................... 110 Teaching the Expository Genre............. 111 Planning an English inquiry...................... 112 Working at the grammatical level of the text.............................................. 117

Please note: The resources in the following pages of this kit are provided for teachers to: • use as models to support the design of their own learning activities and assessment tasks • adapt them to suit their particular student group/s and learning context • implement as presented.

Requirements for 2009 1. All teachers of English in P-9 select a text type from the genre category of Expositions (see Figure 1, Page 86) that is developmentally appropriate for the phase of learning. 2. Teachers plan, teach, assess and make judgements about students’ achievement in the focus text type. 3. Teachers use this data to participate in moderation activities within and between schools. Teachers of Years 6 and 7: o identify a context (connected or English specific) that provides students with an opportunity to construct a text type for the purpose of explaining, analysing, arguing, persuading and giving opinions o develop criteria that support the making of teacher judgements about the standard of achievement o annotate student sample of a spoken/signed, written or multimodal expository text o make judgements about students’ learning and development.

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EXPOSITORY GENRE Traditional, contemporary and everyday non-literary texts use language in precise and accurate ways to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions. This genre category of Expositions includes a wide range of text types which can be presented in spoken/signed, written, or multimodal modes. Types of Expository texts include: • Explanation – used to explain scientifically how or why things (phenomena) or processes occur • Discussion – used to look at an issue from a range of perspectives, before making a judgement or recommendation • Analytical Exposition – used to support and reiterate a point of view (thesis) with logical arguments and evidence • Persuasive text – seeks to argue or persuade and intended to convince readers to accept particular perspectives or points of view • Reflective text – reflects on events and experiences and may also be persuasive. Figure 1 indicates the text types that students in Years 6 and 7 can engage with. A full diagram indicating all the text types covered from P to 9 is included in the English Overview in the introductory section of the CTJ Information Kit.

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M i dd l e Ye a rs Consistency of Teacher Judgement

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Distinguishing features of text types within the Expository Genre (Materials in this section are adapted from English in Years 1 to 10 Queensland syllabus materials, A guide to genres in English, Department of Education, Queensland, 1994) The purpose of this material is to describe the distinguishing features of text types within the Expository genre. It is for teacher reference. It assists teachers to identify and select features of text types that their students need to learn.

Argument (Analytical exposition)

Important aspects

Argument is a tightly organised genre in which a point of view is supported by logical arguments and evidence. Appealing to the intellect rather than the emotions, it is still a persuasive text with the writer selecting and omitting information to support a position. Genres in this category often become the means for individuals and groups to sway the public on major issues affecting society. Factual and academic in tone, it is highly valued in secondary and tertiary education. Success in examinations in some subject areas can depend on the student’s experience of and expertise in this genre. •

Relationship with other genres

Context

Social Purposes

• • • • •

t o persuade that something is the case, by explaining, analysing and interpreting events, issues and phenomena.

Aspects of social context

Argument is widely used for assessment purposes in Australian educational contexts, especially in the humanities. Although some originality is expected from the students, they generally research a body of opinion and evidence which they synthesise and evaluate. There is often a fine line between synthesising and plagiarising. Some individuals, groups and communities accept extensive, word-for-word quoting from source documents and others do not. Cultural groups also differ about what is considered relevant to an issue. The academic writing style can pose difficulties for students until they gain sufficient experience with it.

Subject Matter

•

is related to a current issue, event or phenomenon, and research connected to it

Roles

• • •

writer as expert reader who could be a novice or an expert student to teacher/lecturer/examiner. The student displays his/her knowledge of the subject and control of the genre for assessment purposes.

•

 re distant and usually formal. The expertise of the target reader will affect the a tenor, for example school text books are more reader-friendly than academic journals.

Mode

• •

written visual (multimodal)

Medium

•

 cademic and technical journals, school textbooks, scholarly papers, magazines, a newspapers, assignments for school or university

Relationships

Significant textual features

• • •

is different from discussion where the writer explores all sides of an issue and comes to a decision, based on evidence usually requires research skills, including note-making, footnoting and referencing can contain explanations and descriptions has features in common with discussion and hortatory exposition, such as the use of supporting arguments is more subdued in tone than hortatory exposition often has a bibliography is sometimes called analytical exposition is the basis for many school assignments requiring reasoned presentation of an argument

Generic Structure

Cohesion

Continued overpage

thesis

- the introduction to the topic and the statement of the position of the writer - the preview or outline of the arguments to follow

argument/s

– the point the writer is making – the elaboration of the point with explanation, more details, evidence, examples

restatement

- -

•

– s ome are implicit, some are related to sequence as in finally, most are causal as in because – instead of conjunctions, effective writers often use nouns such as reason, prepositional phrases such as because of that action and verbs such as cause

conjunctions

restating the writer’s position can include a brief summary of the main arguments

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•

Significant textual features

Vocabulary

Grammar

Paragraphing and punctuation

92

• • •

is usually neutral but can express the writer’s attitude through vocabulary choices for example responsibility is often technical can include abstract terms synonyms are often used to avoid repetition

Nominalisation and extended noun phrases

– a  re features of formal texts as in The admiration of a large group of fans …

Theme

– n  ew information at the end of the sentence can be picked up in the Theme of the next as in Smoking contributes to throat and lung diseases. These health problems cost the community… – Themes often relate to the items in the preview, for example in the example above, health could have been an issue previewed in the opening paragraph.

Participants

– u  sually generic human as in Australians and non-human as in prejudice except where a specific Participant is involved as in Macbeth – no authorial I as in I think… – authorities may be cited specifically as in The Premier declares … or generally as in Experts agree…

Processes

– relational/being/having – mental/thinking especially in the thesis and its restatements

Modality

– e  xpresses the writer’s attitude - usually authoritative and certain as in This must cease – passive voice can be used to avoid identifying the authority, and to sound formal and powerful as in The opinion has often been voiced

Timeless present tense

– some past tense if recounting from historical perspective

• •

topic sentences – relate to the thesis and/or the preceding paragraph most paragraphs deal with one main idea, which could be an entire argument or one part of it, depending on length and complexity.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Documentary Film (Viewing) Important aspects

The most common documentary films are usually begun by a television channel with a certain budget wanting to fill a particular timeslot for a particular audience. Although the finished product may seem to be factual, these and other factors mean that it is constructed from a particular angle or point of view. The viewer needs to be aware the text is constructed and not accept the documentary as absolutely factual. • •

• •

is flexible and complex can be based on an exposition, a discussion, a recount, or any genres which suit the subject matter and the maker’s processes can contain many genres including explanations, descriptions, recounts, anecdotes, interviews is the audiovisual equivalent of the feature article involves research, note-taking, interviewing

Social Purposes

• •

to explain, analyse, expose and explore events, phenomena and issues can also include to entertain

Aspects of social context

The social context strongly influences the range and scope of documentaries. Documentaries that are entertaining, educational or enlightening set excellent standards for the life-long movie watching habit that begins in childhood. Subjects and the content need to be appropriate for children, but they don’t always have to gloss over hardships and problems.

Relationship with other genres

•

•

Subject Matter

•

Context

• •

Roles

• • • •

Relationships •

 wide range which includes topical issues, nature, people, events, trends, history, a science can be selected for its topical interest, universal appeal to an age group, the interest of the filmmaker as it is a visual medium, the availability of visual material influences the final shape of the documentary t he documentary-maker/producer, though, as in filmmaking, this is usually a collaborative activity the presenter/narrator the people in the documentary as subjects, witnesses or experts the viewer as information - or entertainment - seeker t he television channel or documentary-maker makes choices based on the target audience and how they are to be positioned in relationship to the documentary, for example educated, entertained some viewers will accept the main messages of the documentary; other viewers will be aware of its point of view and how it tries to influence the viewer

Mode

- - - -

visual spoken auditory written, including title, credits, subtitles, written information, labels on diagrams

Medium

-

television, DVD, online, movie

Continued overpage

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Documentary Film (Viewing) cont’d The generic structure is varied. Each documentary will have to be analysed individually to see what genre/s the makers used and why. The following is an example of how exposition might be used:

Generic Structure

title

- can indicate a point of view, as in Rainforest, our vanishing heritage - can be eye-catching rather than informative as in Invisible enemies

*background

-

title sometimes follows this

thesis

-

 ften given by presenter/narrator as a voice-over or talking o head can be implied in the visuals

-

arguments

- in selected and sequenced visual material with or without voiceover and music - in interviews - in images, such as computer graphics, maps, graphs, diagrams

conclusion

- - -

c an be a restatement of the point of view, in images and/or spoken or written words can include summing up of evidence, in images and/or spoken or written words can include recommendation/s.

Significant textual features

* An optional stage of the genre

Visual cohesion

•

Repetition

- of techniques such as the handheld camera - of images such as sea creature images in a Barrier Reef documentary

•

Conjunctions

- the type of transition that often denotes time, for example a slow fade shows passing of time - parallel editing or cutaways where two events are running parallel, and the film cuts from one to the other to show contrast

Some features are mentioned above. Others are: •

 echnical T codes

•

Symbolic Codes - - -

Visual language

- lighting which can contribute to the atmosphere - different camera techniques such as time-lapse photography - camera angles, for example a low angle makes the subject seem more imposing - selection and ordering of shots can give powerful messages - composition and type of shot such as close-up, medium or long shot titles and written information their style such as graphics, type of print, background placement, at the beginning or after a segment of film

See Constructing Realities: Media Curriculum Guide for Years 1 to 10 and Using visual texts in primary and secondary English classrooms for more details.

Nonverbal language

• • • •

Vocabulary

Grammar Intonation and rhythm Pronunciation 94

• •

looking straight at the camera gives the presenter authority smiling, and other facial expressions convey the participant’s attitudes other nonverbal language such as folded arms, can also indicate the participants’ attitudes where actors are used, their body language conveys certain meanings can be technical, informative or everyday depending on the subject can be emotive or factual, depending on how the relationship between the viewer and the image and the image-maker is to develop

Mood

-

interrogative: questions involve the viewer as in What future do you want to have?

Modality

- -

where the presenter expresses own opinions as in I think… sometimes the origin of the opinion is hidden as in It seems…

•

 atural, unrehearsed conversations contrast with the more regular intonation and n rhythm of the presenter’s script, even if it is written in a more spoken style

•

varies with the different people in the documentary.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Explanation Important aspects

Explanations account for how and why things came to be as they are. A basic genre, explanation is found as part of a wide variety of texts and contexts. • • • •

can be part of procedures, complex report genres and longer expository texts can contain descriptions can also be called describing a process can be accompanied by visuals such as diagrams or flowcharts

Social Purpose

•

to explain how and why

Aspects of social context

Explanations are a widely-used genre in the community as well as across all learning areas in the school context, especially in science, the social sciences, health and physical education.

Subject Matter

•

the thing being explained and the processes involved

Roles

• •

the writer as expert the reader, who could be a learner or another expert, depending on the context

• •

distant, because it is written and there is no personal interaction degree of formality depends on the audience and their expertise, for example, explanations written for young children frequently adopt a friendly tone, avoiding technical language and addressing the reader as in You can see in the diagram…

Mode

• • •

written visual a wide range including encyclopaedias, textbooks

Medium

•

a wide range including encyclopaedias, textbooks, online sites

Context

Relationship with other genres

Relationships

Generic structure

title

- in lower year levels, the title tends to be a question such as How do volcanoes happen? For older students how/why statements are used, as in How volcanoes are formed - in upper year levels, noun phrases are used as in The formation of volcanoes

a general statement

- which positions the reader: it can be a definition, such as Volcanoes are landforms which occur when molten materials break through the earth’s crust; it is sometimes more emotive as in Volcanic eruptions have buried whole towns.

Significant textual features

a sequenced explanation

-

a sequence of logical steps in a process

- -

time/sequence such as secondly causal such as As a result …

Cohesion

•

conjunctions

Vocabulary

• •

usually factual can be technical, depending on the audience and subject matter.

Participants

- generally non-human and generalised such as volcanoes, rather than Krakatoa

Processes

-

many Material/doing verbs such as They erupt

Timeless present tense

-

unless the explanation is historical, the past tense is used

Theme

- information at the end of the sentence often becomes the theme of the next as in Pressure causes the molten material to break through onto the surface. This lava flow can extend…

Grammar

- passive voice is sometimes necessary to use the appropriate Theme, for example if you are talking about the crater, rather than the lava, you would say The crater is formed by the lava not The lava formed a crater Nominalisation

Visual language

•

- formal texts often contain nominalisations such as this formation and extended noun phrases such as the cup-shaped hollow crater which is formed

diagrams, flowcharts and other visuals can carry all or part of the message.

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Informal Debate Students who participate in debates have an opportunity to explore, listen, and enjoy learning. Debates give students additional opportunities to hear their classmates’ views and to express opinions regarding topics that matter to them. They also help students to make important decisions and become critical listeners. The informal debate helps students to work together to understand common problems. Informal debate has a number of advantages: •

 ebating reflects the learning process. Debate establishes extremes, allowing the viewers and participants to see the D areas in between more clearly.

•

 ebating allows students to explore ideas and arguments in a non-threatening atmosphere, because presentational D guidelines are provided.

•

 ebating is an effective method of acquiring knowledge, as arguments need to be supported by relevant, accurate, and D complete information.

•

 tudents who debate informally learn to recognize the elements of a good argument and to further develop their S abilities to speak confidently.

Before an Informal Debate Some guidelines include the following: •

 eachers and students decide on a topic related to material being studied in English. Brainstorming is one way to T generate ideas.

•

 hen a number of ideas have been discussed and a topic has been chosen, two groups of students may be formed. W Within each group, individual students or pairs might be responsible for certain tasks (e.g. developing analogies or rebuttals). Students who watch the debate on one occasion will have a chance to be the debaters next time.

•

 raw up a checklist of guidelines for preferred debating practice (e.g. a suggested time limit for each speaker, the D importance of listening carefully to the other side’s arguments, the need for close cooperation within the group).

•

Research and learn some basic types of arguments often used in debate. For example: o T  he Straw Person Argument - the practice of supporting a weak viewpoint that is opposite to your own for the purpose of revealing its weaknesses.

o Argument using “Definition” - the practice of persuading an audience that your definition of a particular term is the correct or accepted one, and then basing your argument on that definition. o Admission of Uncertainty - giving up “a little” where it will not harm your argument in order to win a more conclusive point where it will benefit you the most. o C  larifying through Analogy - describing a situation or event by comparing it to another situation or event which is immediately relevant to your audience. The goal of informal debate should be to achieve the fullest possible explanation of both sides of an issue. During an Informal Debate Some guidelines for informal debate: •

 tudents join groups of six or less people and take 15-20 minutes to prepare arguments. They should choose S presenters for each of the arguments. The presenters speak in turn, after each member on the other side makes a point.

•

 tudents should be sure not to repeat arguments previously presented, and ensure that a recorder is making a list of S all points being made.

•

Debaters must remember to focus on the arguments, not the participants, as they listen to the debate.

•

Students from both sides continue the rounds of debate until no new arguments can be made.

When all arguments from both sides have been presented, a teacher-led discussion should take place.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Some of the suggested topics for discussion are as follows: •

Of what quality were the presented ideas?

•

Which arguments seemed most convincing?

•

What ideas were raised that individuals may not have considered?

•

Which ideas may have changed certain students’ thinking?

It is not necessary, and in many cases not advisable, to declare a “winning” group for an informal debate. However, if the teacher and students decide, they can declare a winner, then the following way of establishing a winner could be followed: •

every valid and original argument made by each group should receive a mark

•

no marks are gained for repeating an argument

•

the group with the greatest number of marks wins.

Teachers and students could negotiate on the criteria to establish a winner. After the Informal Debate Students may reflect on the debating activity in an individual manner. This might best be done in written form, because much discussion will already have taken place. Students might: •

compare what they learned during the debate to what they knew before

•

research a topic of interest that has arisen due to hearing the debate

•

comment on the advantages or disadvantages of the informal debate

•

write a letter to a teacher or friend explaining the concerns they have after listening to the debate.

English Language Arts A Curriculum Guide for the Middle Level http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/mla/listen.html#debate

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Debate Important aspects

Relationship with other genres

Context

Social Purposes

• • • •

builds on informal spoken discussion which does not always lead to a decision can lead to competitive debating is similar to public and persuasive speeches in its persuasive techniques can be a feature of formal meetings

•

t o express opinion, to persuade others to a point of view, to come to a decision, can also include to entertain

Aspects of social context

Debate, a form of public persuasive speaking, is part of a culturally valued tradition of decision making. It is widely used in schools and as part of conflict resolution. Successful speakers have good rhetorical skills and can use the genre for their own purposes. Its formal context can exclude groups who have not learnt how to participate in it.

Subject Matter

• •

issues affecting the organisation/group concerned business of the organisation/group

Roles

• • •

are well defined speakers are advocates for a point of view chairperson has the guiding hand

•

 re formal for the chairperson who has power to choose who speaks within the a rules of the organisation, and to ensure that the rules are kept, and that votes are taken according to approved conventions speakers choose to be friendly or more formal according to what suits their purposes and a particular audience

Relationships

Significant textual features

Debate is a formal way to come to a decision using rules and protocols established by an organisation, such as parliament, or by other conventions. It is mediated by a chairperson. The essence of debate is that speakers, within set limits, have the opportunity to speak for or against a proposal, trying as they do so to convince others to accept the argument of a particular point of view before a decision is made.

•

Mode

• •

is spoken can be written, transcribed

Medium

• • •

in Hansard, interviews usually face-to-face communication in groups such as the classroom, parliament can be videoconferencing, teleconferencing, online

Generic Structure

• selection of speaker • speaker supports or opposes proposal • vote/decision The first two stages are repeated until all who want to speak have spoken, or until the chairperson or the regulations governing debate calls a halt. Includes: • use of related words. A technique is to paraphrase another speaker’s words using synonyms with negative connotations. • use of repetition of own and others’ words and phrases for emphasis • can be conventional in formal debates, for example, addressing a member of Parliament as the honourable member • can be factual but tends to be mainly emotive as it is used to support the point of view of the speaker Mood

Modality

Intonations and Rhythm

Grammar Nonverbal language

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

• • • •

• • •

interrogative: rhetorical questions are a feature of persuasive speaking as in What do we want for our children’s future? imperative as in Vote for Dave, your local candidate expresses strong obligation as in We must act now an experienced speaker’s language sounds more written than spoken, with longer sentences, embedded clauses and nominalisations (secondary students)  re used for rhetorical purposes as in rhythmical a patterns accompanied by table thumping for emphasis exaggeration of these is a feature of public speaking includes facial expressions, gesture and stance, often exaggerated for effect.

Letters to the Editor (Persuasive exposition) Important aspects

Relationship with other genres Social Purpose

Context

Aspects of social context

Subject Matter Roles Relationships Mode Medium

Significant textual features

Generic structure

A letter to the editor is a business letter sent mainly to newspapers and news magazines. Most editors reject letters that include inappropriate language or personal attacks on individuals or organisations. Many editors will permit the publication of anonymous letters where details of the name and address are not printed although they are made available to the publication. It is an offence to submit a letter under a false name. • • •

uses business letter format uses the greeting: Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Editor a persuasive text with the writer selecting information to support a position

•

t o persuade or to influence the readers’ opinions about issues of concern to the readership

The brief expression (200-250/500 words) of an opinion, a complaint, an argument or information is submitted for publication. Letters to the editor in many publications may be sent through conventional or electronic mail. Letters can also be sent to entertainment and technical magazines. Modern forums for letters to the editor are the electronic media especially on the internet. Increasingly they are sent to radio and television stations to be read on news broadcasts and talk radio. •

 ften about personalities, events, issues or happenings in current affairs in the o community, the nation or the world

• •

writer to editor and unknown readers of a newspaper reader as opinion seeker

•

 sually formal. The writer has the power to present a forceful point of view and the u reader has the power to reject it or respond from a different point of view.

-

written

-

newspapers, news magazine, periodical, internet, television, radio

greeting

- Dear Sir/Madam; Dear Editor

introduction thesis

- purpose/point of view of the letter; may make reference to a previous publication

argument/s

- to support this opinion (and to persuade the reader to the writer’s point of view)

conclusion (optional)

- restatement of thesis plus a recommendation or suggestion (optional)

signature

- name and address supplied

•

conjunctions: used to link points when arguing a point of view - temporal conjunctions order points in the argument e.g. firstly, secondly, finally - causal conditional conjunctions link points in a complex sentence e.g. because, since, if, so, though, unless - instead of conjunctions, effective writers often use nouns e.g. the reason, the cause

• •

related to topic or concern expressed by the writer often emotive, using personal and subjective language, e.g. continued neglect of our homeless youth by uncaring politicians can be more effective if it is neutral and objective e.g. Experience in competitions is a necessary requirement for the development of sporting ability. synonyms/antonyms used to create lexical cohesion e.g. politicians, leaders, authorities; advantage, disadvantage

Cohesion

Vocabulary

• •

continued overpage

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Significant textual features

Participants

- first person pronoun I, me, is used to indicate a subjective opinion - use of the second person pronoun you or first person plural we may be used as a form of persuasion e.g. If you commit yourself to this cause… It is time we all collaborated in an effort to achieve… - use of the third person allows the text to be more neutral and objective e.g. The members of the government need to make up their minds… - nominalisation, used to name issues, reasons and extended participants (noun phrases), makes the text more compact and ‘written’ e.g. This brutal killing of whales in the protected waters around Antarctica…

Processes

mental/thinking verbs e.g. think, believe, agree indicate a particular point of view - present tense is used to express an opinion about a current issue or concern - modality: expresses the writer’s attitude – usually authoritative and certain as in This behaviour must stop; We could possibly lose; Perhaps our leaders need to rethink; There is absolutely no excuse...

Grammar

•

Paragraphing & punctuation

• •

100

-

 ost paragraphs deal with one main idea as part of the argument to influence the m readers’ views topic sentences express the main idea and support the development of a coherent text a letter published in a magazine uses conventional punctuation.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Television Documentary (Documentary Film) Important aspects

Television documentaries are usually initiated by a television channel with a certain budget wanting to fill a particular timeslot for a particular audience. Although the finished product may seem to be factual, these and other factors mean that it is constructed from a particular angle or point of view. The viewer needs to be aware of distortions and omissions and not accept the documentary as absolutely factual. • is flexible and complex • can be based on an exposition, a discussion, a recount, or any genres which suit the subject matter and the maker’s processes

Relationship with other genres

• can contain many genres including explanations, descriptions, recounts, anecdotes, interviews • is the audiovisual equivalent of the feature article • involves research, note-taking, interviewing • has film and radio variants

Social Purposes

Aspects of social context

•

to explain, analyse, expose and explore events, phenomena and issues

•

can also include to entertain

The social context strongly influences the range and scope of documentaries. As the commercial television channels’ income from advertising is largely dependent on ratings, their documentaries have to entertain as well as inform. They often choose controversial topics to increase their audience. Non-commercial channels do not have to attract advertisers, but their budgets are smaller. Independent documentary makers have to sell their idea to a channel, and this usually involves compromises. • a wide range which includes topical issues, nature, people, events, trends, history, science

Subject matter

• can be selected for its topical interest, controversy, universal appeal, the interest of the filmmaker • as it is a visual medium, the availability of visual material influences the final shape of the documentary

Context

• the documentary-maker/producer, though, as in filmmaking, this is usually a collaborative activity

Roles

• the presenter/narrator • the people in the documentary as subjects, witnesses or experts • the viewer as information - or entertainment - seeker • the television channel or documentary-maker makes choices based on the target audience and how they are to be positioned in relationship to the documentary, for example sympathetic, hostile, titillated

Relationships

• some viewers will accept the main messages and basic premise of the documentary and criticise it within this framework; some will read it differently, because of their different experiences and beliefs; other viewers will be aware of its gaps, silences and inconsistencies and how it tries to influence the viewer • people in the documentary can have their message manipulated by the questions asked, by editing, by conflicting visuals - visual

Mode

Medium

-

spoken

-

auditory

-

written, including title, credits, subtitles, written information, labels on diagrams

-

television, videotape, computer.

continued overpage

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Television Documentary (Documentary Film) cont’d - is varied. Each will have to be analysed individually to see what genre/s the makers used and why. The following is an example of how exposition might be used.

title background * thesis

Generic structure arguments

- can indicate thesis, as in Rainforest, our vanishing heritage - can be eye-catching rather than informative as in Invisible enemies - title sometimes follows this - often given by presenter/narrator as a voice-over or talking head - can be implied in the visuals - in selected and sequenced visual material with or without voice-over and music - in interviews - in images, such as computer graphics, maps, graphs, diagrams - can be a restatement of the thesis, in images and/or spoken or written words

Significant textual features

conclusion

Visual cohesion

Visual language

Nonverbal language

Vocabulary

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- can include summing up of evidence, in images and/or spoken or written words

- can include recommendation/s * An optional stage of the genre • Repetition - of techniques such as the handheld camera - of images such as railway images in a travel documentary • Conjunctions - juxtaposition of shots can imply the relationship between them, such as contrast, cause and effect - the type of transition often denotes time, for example a slow fade shows passing of time - parallel editing or cutaways where two events are running parallel, and the film cuts from one to the other to show contrast Some features are mentioned above. Others are: • Technical codes - lighting which can contribute to the atmosphere - different camera techniques such as time-lapse photography - camera angles, for example, a low angle makes the subject seem more imposing - selection and ordering of shots can give powerful messages - types of transitions such as dissolves, to indicate that text has been omitted in an interview - composition and type of shot such as close-up, medium or long shot • Symbolic Codes - visual presentation of people indicates point of view, for example looking into the camera can signify authority; formality of dress such as shorts and a T-shirt compared with a suit, and location of the interview such as a kitchen compared with an office, can also influence credibility - titles and written information - their style such as graphics, type of print, background - placement, at the beginning or after a segment of film See Constructing Realities: Media Curriculum Guide for Years 1 to 10 and Using visual texts in primary and secondary English classrooms for more details. • looking straight at the camera gives the presenter authority • smiling, and other facial expressions convey the participant’s attitudes • other nonverbal language such as folded arms, also can indicate the participants’ attitudes • where actors are used, their body language conveys certain meanings • can be technical, depending on the subject • can be emotive or factual, depending on whether the tenor is to appear neutral or not • can include languages other than English; sometimes subtitled or translated

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Significant textual features

Mood

−

Modality

−

Theme

− − −

Grammar

interrogative: rhetorical questions involve the viewer as in What future is there for our children? where there is speculation as in This will cause… Or evaluation as in This must be… where the presenter expresses own opinions as in I think… sometimes the origin of the opinion is hidden as in It seems… can be important in signalling the introduction of an argument, for example Another reason/problem…

−

Intonation and rhythm Pronunciation

•

what is emphasised and in focus in a shot is the important part of the visual message, that is, the visual equivalent of Theme. The soundtrack can highlight this element too. natural, unrehearsed conversations contrast with the more regular intonation and rhythm of the presenter’s script, even if it is written in a more spoken style varies with the different people in the documentary

•

dialects vary.

•

MENTOR TEXTS Mentor texts are published texts. They are quality examples of the kind of writing and designing being required of students. As authentic texts they demonstrate writing for an authentic purpose and intended audiences and serve to show the students how to construct the text type well. The students are introduced to the text as readers. They are then helped to identify the writing skills and strategies the author is using to achieve a particular purpose within particular stages of the text. This engagement with the mentor text is highly-focused and short and does not need to deal with the whole text at a particular ‘reading’. The use of mentor texts demonstrates for students the power of the connection between reading and writing. Reference: Dorfman L.R. & Cappelli R. (2007) Mentor Texts. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

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annotated TEXT MODELS If students are to write in a particular genre successfully, they need to become familiar with its purpose and features through immersion in the genre by exploring sample texts. The teacher, as a writer, composes a text which is similar to the one to be written later as a joint construction by the class, and then independently by the students. This text is a model of criteria at an A standard. In the Modelling Phase when students are being exposed to examples of the selected genre and text types, the teacher is able to plan explicitly and use the metalanguage, the language for talking about language and texts, with students. This explicit teaching develops students’ understanding of the genre category and the particular text type – its purpose, structure, text organisation, language features and the crafting of writing to influence readers.

Year 6/7 Modelled Text: An argument Generic Structure Thesis–introduction to the topic & the statement of the position of the writer Preview or outline of arguments to follow

Argument 1Point being made Elaboration of the point

Argument 2Point being made Elaboration of the point

Argument 3Point being made Elaboration of the point

Conclusion: Call for action (optional)

Restatement of writer’s position

Text Model An Unfair Advantage Drug taking is a disgraceful way of cheating in sport and it is a practice that can endanger the life of a competitor. Performance-enhancing drugs are not necessary for athletes to reach the pinnacle of their sport and win the admiration of the public. However, a competitor who uses them to get an unfair advantage risks serious ill-health and even death. There are great numbers of gifted, dedicated and drugfree athletes who reach the pinnacle of their sport as can be seen in these Olympics. Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, have not needed drugs to get an edge over their competitors. They have excelled and won without cheating and destroying the dream of the athletes who raced against them to win gold, to stand and see their flag raised, and hear the national anthem played. Athletes are often role models we can respect and admire. The swimmer Grant Hackett is someone many Australians have looked up to because he is talented and has worked very hard to achieve three medals at three Olympic Games. Would Grant still inspire people if he cheated by taking drugs? Can Ben Johnson, the Canadian100m sprinter who clearly cheated to win an Olympic gold medal ever be a role model? The unfair advantage gained by taking drugs can be linked to many reported examples of athletes suffering long term side effects or even dying, after using performance enhancing drugs. Statistics from government analytical laboratories show that over 100 cyclists have died from heart attacks caused from using EPO, a hormone that increases aerobic capacity. Governments and large sporting groups should not tolerate drugs in sport. They must provide more money to create a more advanced and effective testing process leading up to competitions to detect athletes using drugs to gain an unfair advantage. Cheating brings disgrace on the athlete and negatively affects the image of the sport. The danger to the health of the athlete changes any unfair advantage into a lifethreatening disadvantage. Adapted from a student text by Brayden

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Language Features Cohesion: causal conjunction as in because; conditional conjunction as in if ; noun–pronoun reference as in athletes…their, ; we…many Australians; Grant Hackett …he Paragraphing: topic sentences relate to the thesis; most paragraphs deal with a main idea as part of the argument Vocabulary: is mainly neutral and objective but expresses the writer’s attitude as in disgraceful, dedicated and drug-free Technical term: EPO Synonyms: to reduce repetition as in competitor, athlete Grammar: extended noun groups/ noun phrases to pack in more information are features of the more formal text as in the admiration of the public; statistics from government analytical laboratories; more advanced and effective testing process Participants (noun groups): are usually generic human as in athletes, cyclists except where a specific Participant is referred to as in Grant Hackett; The writer does not use I (personal voice). The impersonal voice is used to express objective opinion as in The unfair advantage gained by taking drugs, the danger to the health of the athlete Authorities cited generally as in Statistics from government analytical laboratories Processes (verb groups): The verb ‘to be’ as in is, are Verb form: Present tense to express an opinion about current issues as in win, show, (pl), uses, increases (s); The past tense is used for actions in the past as in has worked, cheated, have died Modality (degree of obligation): expresses the writer’s attitude — usually authoritative and certain as in should (not) tolerate; must provide

ANNOTATED STUDENT WORK SAMPLES WITH ACCOMPANYING CRITERIA

Year 7 Student sample text: Letter to the editor

Body of letter: Separate paragraphs develop the argument logically

Conclusion: summarises opinion & includes a call to action Signature supplied

Vocabulary: Is usually neutral/objective but also expresses the writer’s opinion and appeals to concerned readers as in congratulations, high priority, significant impact, devastating climatic conditions, collaborate, responsible decisions Grammar Modality: writer selects modal verbs; uses bold text to enhance meaning and to appear authoritative & certain as in will definitely increase, has to collaborate, have to work/ stop/ think

Concerned student, Brisbane (name supplied)

Student’s text >

Teacher’s annotations

Textual Features Cohesion: synonyms as in leaders, authorities, levels of government, the politicians set up links throughout the text to create a coherent text Topic sentences: a key sentence sums up the main idea of each paragraph. Topic sentences develop a clear line of argument

Teacher’s annotations

>

Introduction: outlines the topic & conveys the writer’s position. Reference to previous letter or article

Dear Sir/Madam Congratulations on your editorial about the need for climate change to be a high priority for our leaders at the local, state and national levels. The changes in weather patterns are having a very significant impact on the climate across the globe. This impact will definitely increase if the authorities in our suburbs, cities and country continue to do little to reduce fossil fuel emissions. If these emissions continue to produce more air pollution they will reduce available water, affect patterns of rainfall, and increase bushfires and storms. You pointed out that these devastating climatic conditions are something we have to take full responsibility for. We need our elected leaders to take climate change seriously at all levels of government. The Australian Government has to collaborate with big business and with households to address the economic, social and environmental issues linked to climate change. Other levels of government have to work with the people of Queensland to reduce the amount of energy used. The State Government can collaborate with householders to reduce the amount of energy used for heating and airconditioning. Our local governments have to stop people from making too much rubbish and get them to recycle more. I believe the politicians have to think clearly about what responsible decisions they can make to deal with climate change. They have to work with the people of Australian to put the plans into action.

>

Generic Structure Use of the conventions of a formal business letter Formal greeting

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

The student: • deliberately makes changes and modifications to the text during the writing process to make it more effective • reflects on how changes and modifications made to the text have extended meaning for the intended audience

• uses writing processes of planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting in the construction of the text • reflects on how the changes and modifications made to the text to achieve the purpose of discussion

• attempts to identify some of the writing processes use during the construction of the text • reflects on what changes have been made to the text

The student: • outlines the topic and gives the writer’s opinion; develops logical arguments; restates the position and includes a call to action • uses dependent and independent clauses to extend and elaborate ideas and information • uses language features to appeal to certain groups • uses punctuation to enhance meaning • uses authoritative sources to spell unknown words

• introduces their position, provides details and further evidence and restates the position • uses text connectives between sentences to show relationships between ideas e.g. however, therefore, finally • uses conjunctions within sentences to show cause and effect, comparison and contrast e.g. as a result, unlike, because • uses language features to establish relationships and present subject matter from a particular perspective • uses punctuation (full stop, capital letters, commas, apostrophes, quotation marks and brackets) to signal meaning • uses correct spelling for familiar and topic related words

• uses a sequenced text structure that includes an introduction, a body and a conclusion • organises text into paragraphs containing related information • uses some appropriate language features • uses some punctuation correctly • uses correct spelling for familiar words.

The student: • develops more elaborated ideas about the subject matter and include selected details to support a position • establishes an authoritative role and positions their audience through language choices

• selects subject matter about an issue of concern to the readership • presents an argument to support their opinion about the issue

•

•

Students reflect on the effectiveness of their language choices and ways of improving their use of English throughout the construction of the text.

Students construct a letter to the editor about a current news issue using: • a generic structure that includes a statement of writer’s point of view; arguments in paragraphs to support this opinion and persuade the reader; a conclusion as a restatement of the point of view • cohesive devices to signal relationships between ideas and sequence the arguments e.g. as a result, unlike, because • evaluative language to express opinions and represent the subject matter in particular ways • neutral/objective vocabulary to establish relationships, express opinions and persuade others • mental/thinking verbs to express an opinion • modality to indicate degree of certainty.

Students know and understand that a letter to the editor argues a particular point of view about a current news issue. They seek to influence a wider community audience represented by the readership of print and online news.

c hooses an issue of concern and identifies some main ideas related to the topic makes language choices to support their point of view.

Reflecting

Constructing

Assessable elements

Year 7 Juncture English Expository Text (Persuasive Exposition)

Knowledge and Understanding

Student name:

Task specific descriptors

Descriptions of evidence of the standard of work

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Evidence of Well Below standard

Evidence of Below standard

Evidence of a Sound standard

Evidence of a High standard

Evidence of a Very High standard

Standards

Guiding Questions for analysing student texts in Years 6 and 7 The Framework of Guiding Questions has been provided to assist teachers with their understanding of, and language for, analysing students’ texts. They are to help teachers annotate student work samples and to see where and how learning is demonstrated. MEANING MAKER/ TEXT USER

CODE BREAKER

TEXT ANALYST 1. What does the text show the student knows, believes or does?

Text Types 2. How has the student shown a link between the purpose of the text and text type choice?

3. How has the student organized the text? – replicated typical generic structure – used modelled structure independently

Subject matter 4. What subject matter has the student developed? How has the student organised ideas? – logical sequence of main ideas – use of paragraphs each containing a main idea How has the student developed the subject matter (type and complexity)? – vocabulary choices made to describe the subject matter – noun groups – descriptive and evaluative – verb groups – type and vocabulary choice – inclusion of added detail or argument of each main idea

5. What textual resources has the student used to develop the subject matter (type and complexity)? – vocabulary choices made to describe the subject matter – noun groups – descriptive and evaluative – noun groups with adjective or adjectival phrases – verb groups – type and vocabulary choice – verb groups with adverbs – use of adverbial phrases

6. How does choice of noun and verb groups the student has used represent the subject matter in particular ways (prioritising certain information)? – similar or different representations – developing +ive or –ive representations – representation of a point of view

Roles and Relationships 7. What relationship has the student developed with the reader/viewer? – equal/unequal (Power) – close/distant, formal/informal (Distance) – knowledge or expertise of the topic (Affect)

8. What type of sentences has the student used? (statements, questions, commands, exclamations and associated punctuation) What word choices has the student used to develop a relationship with audience? – vocabulary choices – evaluative words (e.g. mean gossip); intensifying words (e.g. very) – modality – strengthen or weaken verbs (e.g. must go, should go)

9. How has the student used sentence type, vocabulary choice and modality? – to position readers – develop certain relationships – express attitudes

Mode and Medium 10. What mode of language did the student use (written, spoken, visual or multimodal)? What medium has been used by the student?

11. How did the student link ideas in the text? – use of paragraphs, topics sentences – tense of sentences (past, present, future) – simple compound and complex sentences – conjunctions to link clauses and organize text – adding on, comparing and contrast, time cause and effect, conditions – patterns of related noun groups and verb groups – types of pronouns and pronoun referencing – topic sentences (key idea) at the beginning of paragraphs – key part of a sentence in theme position (at the beginning of the sentence) (Textual Resources) 12. What strategies have been used to spell? – sound symbol relationships (e.g. single vowel and consonant sounds, blends, diagraphs, long vowels, silent letter) and visual letter patterns – base word and tense or plural endings – syllables and prefixes and suffixes – meaning/spelling relationships: derivation of words (e.g. tri-cycle), meaning aspect of words (e.g. magic/magician, child/children) compound words, homonyms and synonyms

Adapted from the State of Queensland (Queensland Studies Authority) Open Trial Conference (2005) Information Kit 2009

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The focus of assessment in English in Years 6 and 7 The focus of assessment is on the learning statements appropriate for the construction of an Expository text from the Ways of Working and Knowledge and Understanding components of the Year 7 Juncture of the English Essential Learnings. The core learning outcomes of the English syllabus are indicated alongside the corresponding learning statements.

Ways of Working By the end of Year 7, when constructing expository texts, students are able to: • identify and demonstrate the relationship between audience, subject matter, purpose and text type • recognise and select vocabulary • construct non-literary texts to express meanings and messages, to identify causes and effects, and to state positions supported by evidence • reflect on learning, apply new understandings and identify future applications.

Knowledge & Understanding Speaking involves using oral and gestural elements to construct texts that achieve purposes across wider community contexts. • The purpose of speaking and listening includes advancing opinions, discussing, persuading others to a point of view, influencing transactions, and establishing and maintaining relationships. C4.1.1; 4.1.5 • Statements, questions and commands can use language that positions and represents ideas and information. CR 4.1.1 • Words and phrasing, syntax, cohesion, repetition, pronunciation, pause, pace, pitch and volume establish mood, signal relationships, create effect and are monitored by listeners. OP 4.1.2; 4.1.3; 4.1.5; 4.1.6 • Nonverbal elements, including facial expressions, gestures and body language, establish mood, signal relationships, create effect and are monitored by listeners. OP 4.1.3; 4.1.6 • In presentations, speakers make meaning clear by organising subject matter, identifying their role and selecting relevant resources. CU 4.1.3; 4.1.4; OP 4.1.3 • Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, questioning, identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting. CU 4.1.1; 4.1.2 – 4.1.8

Writing and designing involve using language elements to construct non-literary texts for audiences across wider community contexts. • The purpose of writing and designing includes evoking emotion, persuading and informing. CU 4.3.1 • Writers and designers establish roles, make assumptions about their audience and position them through language choices. CU 4.3.1; CR 4.3 • Words and phrases, symbols, images and audio affect meaning and position an audience. OP 4.3.2; CR 4.3 • Text users make choices about grammar and punctuation, to establish meaning. OP 4.3.2; 4.3.3; 4.3.4; 4.3.6 • Knowledge of word origins and sound and visual patterns, including base words, prefixes and suffixes, syntax and semantics, is used by writers and designers when spelling. OP 4.3.5 • Writers and designers refer to authoritative sources and use a number of active writing strategies, including planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Language Elements: Interpreting and constructing texts involve selecting and controlling choices about grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, audio and visual elements, in print-based, electronic and face-to-face modes across wider community contexts. • Paragraphs sequence information and arguments, and include topic sentences that emphasise a point or argument. OP 4.2.1; 4.3.1 • Dependent clauses require independent clauses to make meaning in a sentence. OP 4.1.1; 4.2.1; 4.3.4 • Pronoun–noun agreement, subject–verb agreement and maintaining tense support cohesion across a paragraph. OP 4.1.1 • Cohesive devices and other text connectives within and between sentences signal relationships between ideas, including cause-and-effect and comparison and contrast. OP 4.1.4; 4.2.1; 4.3.4 • Noun groups and verb groups are used to provide specific descriptions of subject matter, express degrees of certainty and uncertainty, and develop characterisation, setting and plot. CU 4.2.3; 4.3.3; OP 4.1.2; 4.1.5; 4.2.2; 4.2.3; 4.2.4; 4.3.3; 4.3.4 • High-frequency words are replaced by more complex forms of vocabulary and give more specific descriptions. OP 4.1.2; 4.1.5; 4.2.2; 4.2.3; 4.2.4; 4.3.2; 4.3.3 • Evaluative language, including adjectives, can appeal to certain groups, express opinions, and represent people, characters, places, events and things in different ways. OP 4.1.5; 4.2.2; 4.3.2 • Punctuation, including quotation marks and brackets, signals meaning. OP 4.3.6 • Vocabulary is chosen to establish relationships, persuade others, describe ideas and demonstrate knowledge. OP 4.1.2; 4.2.4; 4.3.2; CR 4.2.1; 4.3 • Auditory, spoken, visual and nonverbal elements add meaning, interest, immediacy and authority to multimedia texts. OP 4.1.3; 4.1.6; 4.2.5; 4.3.5

Literary and Non-literary texts: Evaluating literary and non-literary texts involves understanding the purpose, audience, subject matter and text structure. • Texts present subject matter from a particular perspective. CR 4.1.1; 4.1.2; 4.1.3; 4.2.1; 4.2.2; 4.2.3; 4.3 • Non-literary texts evaluate, inform, present arguments and persuade. CU 4.1.1; 4.1.5; 4.2.1; 4.3.1 • Arguments have a particular structure, including an introduction that identifies a position, a body with details and further evidence, and a conclusion that restates the position. OP 4.1.1; 4.2.1; 4.3.1 • Main ideas, issues and events are selected and organised to sustain a point of view and to project a level of authority that matches a purpose and an intended audience. CU 4.1.2; 4.1.3; 4.1.4; 4.1.8; 4.3.2; CR 4.1.2; 4.1.3; 4.2.1; 4.3

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USING AN INQUIRY APPROACH In inquiry-based learning environments, students are engaged in activities that help them actively pose questions, investigate, solve problems, and draw conclusions about the world around them. Taking ownership of the inquiry process allows students to become independent thinkers and to be engaged in meaningful activities that address and explore the questions they have posed. The importance of Questioning is at the core of inquiry learning and drives the teaching and learning inquiry learning is process. that students learn An inquiry approach to learning is a process that includes students: how to continue • formulating a problem or question learning, how to be • searching through and/or collecting information to address a problem or question lifelong learners. • making sense of the information • developing an understanding of, a point of view about, or an answer to a question. Through an inquiry approach students have the opportunity to: • build on their existing knowledge and skills • select topics of interest • explore a variety of resources (i.e., books, maps, primary source documents, websites, videos, audios, photographs) • select the best way to communicate their findings • share with real-world audiences • be evaluated on both process and product • evaluate themselves, their peers, their resources and the process.

AN ENGLISH INQUIRY A quality inquiry learning sequence in English is based around a key or guiding question. Students explore the key question, and some supporting questions if appropriate, through a range of texts and language in different contexts. Students who engage in an English inquiry into a text type within the Expository Genre could investigate and discuss connections between: How the text is made • Questions can be about author, text, images, words, format and layout. The structure of the text • Questions can be about text type, genre, structures and features, language style and choice, and grammar. How the text relates to life • Questions can be about making connections with experience, ideas and issues, perspectives on ideas and issues. How the author makes choices • Questions can be about texts as construction, linguistic choice, representation, cultural context. How we might read the text • Questions can be about how people from different groups could read the text, including invited readings and multiple perspectives. The literary techniques and devices operating in the text • Questions can be about language, images, point of view and/or layout. How texts relate to each other • Questions can be about how other texts may deal with the same topic.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

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• how to organise and record information.

• meaningful learning experiences

• students’ prior knowledge

• the field/subject matter

What are some of the language features?

Context of Situation

Students use the genre to challenge ideology, theory and practice.

Consultation with teacher and peers may occur during a draft. It may also include aspects of editing etc.

• critical evaluation of success

• editing, reworking of writing

• c onsultation with teachers and peers about writing

• individual writing of text in same genre in draft

Independent Construction of Text

Construction Teacher guides the students in jointly constructing a new text in the same genre.

How do we prepare for the joint construction of a new text? • build up subject matter knowledge through research • use guideline questions to scaffold inquiry

Joint Construction Preparation

Preparation for independent writing of a text in the same genre (as for joint construction)

What is the relationship between the writer and the reader?

Developing Control of Genre

What is the mode and medium of communication?

Who is taking part in the communication? (Roles and Relationships)

How do we know what the text is about?

What are the functions of the stages?

What is the social purpose of this genre? Who uses it? Why? What is the subject matter?

Text

Context of Culture

Critical Literacy

Before constructing a text we need to identify:

Developing Field Knowledge

Deconstruction

TEACHING AND LEARNING CYCLE

Once the text type has been selected, teaching occurs following the four interrelated stages illustrated below. This cycle is used throughout the years of schooling to support students to systematically develop control of increasingly complex genre patterns.

TEACHING THE EXPOSITORY GENRE

PLANNING AN ENGLISH INQUIRY Student engagement in learning is enhanced when planning in English is focussed around an inquiry into relevant aspects of text, language or literacy. What is the English problem to be solved, question to be answered, significant task to be completed or issue to be explored through the interpretation or construction of particular texts? This involves: • establishing a focus of investigation into the language used to create the texts to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions in precise and accurate ways • exploring connections between the purpose, text type, subject matter, author and audience, mode and medium in these texts • introducing students to a process that allows them to talk about the language in the texts they are interpreting and constructing.

What the teacher may do

What the students may do

Negotiate a social context (subject matter and audience) for this unit with the students. Suggest options from appropriate text type/s within the genre category.

Brainstorm topics of interest and possible audiences. Participate in formulating a group decision. Decide on an appropriate text type for presenting the information Participate in discussion to identify possible directions for study.

Lead the development of an inquiry question that connects the text type and its purpose to the social context.

The teacher: • creates a task that enables students to demonstrate what they know and can do • decides on explicit criteria to guide student performance and teacher judgements of the spoken/signed, written or multimodal exposition • provides a fair and equitable opportunity for all students to demonstrate what they know and can do. What the teacher may do

What the students may do

Discuss the task requirements. Specify criteria for the standards of learning achievement. Indicate clear conditions for learning achievement.. Scaffold the assessment requirements with explicit teaching and learning.

Ask questions to clarify the task demands. Discuss what this may look like. Discuss areas for negotiation.

Developing Field Knowledge

Developing Field Knowledge

Purpose: to investigate the concept/topic and the social context of the negotiated text/s. This stage involves: • establishing the students’ prior knowledge and understanding of the concept and social context to be explored in the expository text • identifying the information to be included – What information do we want to find out? • planning experiences that will provide the information – How will we find out the information?

• the field/subject matter • students’ prior knowledge • meaningful learning experiences • how to organise and record information.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Establishes the extent of the students’ current knowledge and understanding of the concept and build on it. Uses a KWL to record information.

Participate in a discussion around the concept. Think Pair Share in groups to initiate the discussion.

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Before constructing a text we need to identify

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Deconstruction The purpose of this stage is to provide experiences of the text types being studied. It has two parts – Deconstruction of Context and Deconstruction of the Text.

Deconstruction Context of Culture What is the social purpose of this genre? Who uses it? Why?

Deconstruction – Context of Culture & Context of Situation This step provides an opportunity for students to become familiar with the text type, its social purpose, possible audiences, text structure and textual features, through immersion in the genre and exploring mentor/sample texts.

Context of Situation What is the subject matter? Who is taking part in the communication? (Roles and Relationships) What is the mode and medium of communication?

What the teacher does Selects a range and balance of texts that are models of the genre to be studied. Introduces a model/s of the genre to the class identifying audience and purpose. Asks questions from the point of view of the writer: • Who would write/design this kind of text? • Why would someone write/design this text? • Who is the intended audience for the text? • In what other situation would you need to write/design this text? Asks questions from the point of view of a reader: • Where might you see/find/read/view/listen to this kind of text? • Who would be interested in reading/viewing/listening to this text? • What information would you expect to find in this text? • What sorts of occupations would involve reading and writing this type of text? • Why might you need to read/view/listen to or write/design a similar text? Provides sample texts with headings and text titles. Provides pictures to support the titles for younger children. Provides sample texts and audiences.

What the students do Read and discuss the texts. Answer questions in small or whole groups.

Answer questions in small or whole groups.

Match headings with the text Match sample texts with possible audiences

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Deconstruction – Deconstructing the Text This step provides an opportunity for teachers and students to investigate the way the text is structured to achieve its purpose. Explicit teaching sessions include the way the text is organised – Written: e.g. paragraph structure, the use of headings, diagrams, graphs, page layout and distinctive language features of the genre; Multimodal: e.g. logos, symbols, storyboard, colours, framing, transitions, focal point, mood sound effects, body language, distances, speed and pace, editing

Deconstruction Text What are the functions of the stages? What are some of the language features? How do we know what the text is about? What is the relationship between the writer and the reader?

What the teacher does

What the students do

Cloze: Blanks out words that have a specific function: topic sentence in each paragraph, sentence beginnings or processes (verb groups). Models the activity.

Listen and observe teacher modelling task. Work individually, in pairs or small groups to complete the cloze. Listen and observe teacher modelling task Work individually, in pairs or small groups to complete the sorting activity. Answer questions in the whole class. Work individually, in pairs, small groups to answer questions on task cards.

Sorting: Prepares cut up texts for students to reassemble. Orders paragraphs or sequence images, matching topic sentences, captions, dialogue. Reassembles blocks of text according to generic structure. Models the activities with text strips or blocks. Provides two texts - Discussing/Comparing Asks the following questions or provides task cards: • What is the text about? • How do we know what it is about? • What is the relationship between the writer/designer and the reader/ viewer/listener? • How can we tell? • How is the text/information organised? • How do the sentences/sequences begin? Is there a pattern? • How are the texts similar/dissimilar? • How is the text supported – diagrams, labels, headings, music, lighting, sound effects? Models locating and/or identifying: • language features– tense, conjunctions, process types and sequencing • sentence beginnings; topic sentences • emotions through facial expression; sound, use of place.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Watch and listen to the modelling. Individual, pair, small group work on highlighting specific aspects of texts.

Joint Construction

Joint Construction

This stage has two steps – Preparation and Construction. It enables students to build a new text on the basis of shared experiences and knowledge of language features of the text type. The teacher scaffolds the process by modelling and reworking. Preparation This step allows students to build up their field knowledge and provides an opportunity for students to locate, extract, analyse and organise relevant information in a way that is appropriate to the genre.

Preparation How do we prepare for the joint construction of a new text? • build up subject matter knowledge through research • use guideline questions to scaffold inquiry.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Leads the students in Defining the task by asking questions such as: • What do we really want to find out? • What is our purpose? • What do we need to find this out? • What are the key ideas, the words/images that represent the topic? • What do we need to do? • What genres are appropriate to the topic? • Who is the audience? Leads the students in Locating the information by asking questions such as: • Where can we find the information we want? • What do we still need to find out? • What sources and equipment can we use?

Consider these questions when working individually, in pairs or small groups to help them define the task.

Consider these questions when working individually, in pairs or small groups to locate the information they need. Brainstorm and record a list of resources and sources. Create own set of resources. Consider these questions Leads the students in Selecting the Information by asking questions such as: when working individually, • What information can we use/ leave out? in pairs or small groups to • How relevant is the information we have found? select the information they • How credible is the information we have found? need. Provides models of ways to organise the information appropriate to the genre. Use the organisers to collate information. Tables Proformas Retrieval charts Storyboards

Notes Flow chart

Construction of Text

Joint Construction

This stage provides an opportunity for the teacher to scaffold the writing of the text through negotiation and interaction with students. At this stage the teacher can use ‘think alouds’ and questions to guide the students into understanding the text structure and language features as well as developing drafting, editing and proof reading skills. The teacher needs to be confident with the language features of the genre in order to guide the structure and wording of the text.

Construction Teacher guides the students in jointly constructing a new text in the same genre.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Scaffolds the writing of the text by asking questions, thinking aloud, suggesting, modelling language features, drafting and editing. Discusses the presentation of the text - diagrams, maps, video, chart, brochure, booklet, blog, website, photo story.

Participate with the teacher in whole class or groups to write the text. Make suggestions for presentation.

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Independent Construction This stage has two steps, preparation and individual writing. It also includes critical literacy. In this stage the teacher’s role is vital in providing demonstrations, guidance and support as the students move through the steps that were modelled during the joint construction stage, either individually, in pairs or in groups depending on their confidence with writing. Students’ attempts and approximations of the genre are important at this stage.

Independent Construction of Text Critical Literacy Students use the genre to challenge ideology, theory and practice.

Individual writing of text in same genre in draft Consultation with teachers and peers about writing Editing, reworking of writing

Preparation for independent writing of a text in the same genre. (as for joint construction)

Critical evaluation of success

Preparation In this step the students locate, extract and organise relevant information. What the teacher does

What the students do

Demonstrates and guides strategies for starting a new topic. • Brainstorming • Clustering • Concept mapping – identifying key words.

Select a topic, - independently construct a text using same information collected for the joint construction - with the same theme but a different subject matter - within the same broad theme. Use the strategies for locating, extracting and organising information.

Questions concept mapping.

Individual Writing of Text This step involves students drafting, consulting, editing and publishing text. What the teacher does

What the students do

Is available to work on drafting, consulting and editing with students. Uses learning statements and standards as a focus for the conversations. Identifies steps needed to achieve the standards. Keeps a checklist of student achievement and needs as an indication for possible whole class planned teaching/learning activities during this stage. Models the editing process.

Discuss drafts with the teacher, peers or other support staff. Reflect on the construction of the text when editing, redrafting, and rewriting.

Suggests tools for publication and supports students in publishing their work.

Publish.

Edit writing.

Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring How Texts Work. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association. DSP literacy Project. (1989). The Report Genre. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools’ Program. Murray, N. & Zammit, K. (1992). The Action Pack. Animals. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools’ Program. Hunt, I. (2004). Successful Joint Construction. Pen 96. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association.

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WORKING AT THE GRAMMATICAL LEVEL OF THE TEXT Explicitly teaching the grammar of the particular text type within the Expository genre assists students in improving their learning about how language works. In best practice in the teaching of English, the teacher and the student develop a language to talk about the language. In classroom interactions the teacher models the grammar to meet student learning needs

Grammar: Whole of Text Level Whole texts are comprised of clauses that are linked using a range of increasingly complex sentence structures and cohesive devices that suit the purpose and text type including: • grammatical patterns and features e.g. theme position and sentence structures • repeated or related sentence patterns, phrases or words across several clauses • conjunctions to join clauses • patterns of and particular choice of words.

Clause A clause is the basic unit of meaning in Standard Australian English. A clause: • conveys a message • usually contains a verb or verb group • usually provides information about: o what is happening o who is taking part o the circumstances surrounding the activity (when, where, how).

Theme Position The theme comes first in a clause. It is the predominant part. Theme position and patterns of theme reveal the key messages of a text. Rheme is the remainder of the clause. e.g. The blue car raced around the mountain. Around the mountain raced the blue car. Racing around the mountain was the blue car.

COHESION Repeated words Texts are held together by repeating words particularly nouns and verbs. Related words Texts are held together by the related words or word groups within a text. Pronouns Texts are held together by pronouns that refer back to nouns, noun groups or clauses e.g. The barn smelled of hay. It smelled of rope. Ellipsis Texts can be held together by words that are left out but whose meanings are understood. e.g. Jim ran across the road but Jessica walked (across the road). Conjunctions are used to join clauses: • conjunctions that add ideas and information including and, as well, also, or • conjunctions that compare or contrast ideas and information including but, also, like, yet • conjunctions that indicate time or sequence time within a text including then, when, after, before, while, until, since, later, whenever • conjunctions that show the cause of an idea, action or information including because, so, so … that, as long as, if…then, in case NOMINALISTION The process of forming nouns from words of other classes (eg ‘invention’ from ‘invent’, ‘honesty’ from ‘honest’) to make a text more compact and ‘written-like’.

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Grammar: Sentence and Clause Level Types of sentences: There are four basic types of sentences. STATEMENTS QUESTIONS COMMANDS EXCLAMATIONS The type of sentence used is often determined by the text type. An author can choose a particular type of sentence. The type of sentence used can indicate the mood of the text.

Simple sentence: A simple sentence contains a single clause. The clause is an independent clause because it can stand alone and make sense by itself e.g. Lester poked Clyde with a stick. Did Clyde get mad? Get out of here!

Compound sentence: A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses. Each clause in the compound sentence can stand alone and make sense by itself. The clauses may be linked together by conjunctions such as ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘or’ e.g. Clyde turned away and he would not speak. Lester could hide in the pond or he could find a new home. He set out at dusk but he really wanted to stay.

Complex sentence: A complex sentence contains two or more clauses. One clause carries the main message (independent clause) and the other clause/s (dependent clause/s) elaborate the message in some way. The dependent clause/s rely on the meaning in the independent clause and cannot stand alone. In a complex sentence the dependent clause can be rank shifted to give greater emphasis to that clause. e.g. Lester did not sleep a wink because he was rigid with fright. If he had not been so naughty, Lester would have been home for the night.

Exclamations The type of sentence used is often determined by the text type. An author can choose a particular type of sentence. The type of sentence used can indicate the mood of the text. Functional grammar works with chunks of meaning called clauses and clause complexes rather than sentences. A CLAUSE is the largest grammatical unit. A CLAUSE-COMPLEX is two or more clauses logically connected. A SENTENCE is a unit that can be made up of one or more clauses.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Grammar: Word Group and Word Class Level WORD GROUPS Word groups are the smaller groups of words that have a particular function in a clause: • participant, process, attribute and circumstance • noun group, verb group and prepositional phrase.

Noun groups Noun Groups: • provide information about people, places, things and ideas that are involved in a clause • are built on or formed around a noun • contain a head noun and attributes to add meaning or description about the head noun • describe the participants in a clause. A noun group: • can be a single noun e.g. Mary had a little lamb. • can include an article, pointing word, or possessive (determiner) e.g. The boy was lazy. This little piggy went to market. The king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. • can include one or more adjectives e.g. Mary had a little lamb. Ten fat sausages were sizzling in a pan. • can include one or more prepositional phrases that describe the noun e.g. The girl with the ragged clothes was Cinderella. • can include one or more adjectival clauses that describe the noun e.g. There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. This is the house that Jack built. Participants: • are the people, places, things or ideas in a clause • can be nouns, noun groups, pronouns. Attributes: • are used to describe participants • can be adjectives, adjectival phrases and adjectival clauses.

Verbs and verb groups Processes: • are doing or action, being, saying, or thinking parts of a clause • can be verbs or verb groups (including adverbs, modal adverbs and auxiliary verbs or modals). Modality indicates level of: • usualness e.g. often, sometimes, always, never • certainty e.g. possibly, probably, maybe • obligation e.g. must, should, will, ought. Examples of Processes The girl will never run away. The girl may run away. The girl will run away. The girl is unlikely to run away. The girl could possibly run away. The girl should definitely run away. The girl might possibly run away. The girl will probably run away. The girl always has to run away. Circumstances: • are things that surround the event in a clause (how, when, where and why) • can be adverbs, adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses.

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WORD CLASSES Word Classes describe or name the word in a word group: Open word Classes: noun, verb, adjective, adverb Closed Word Classes: pronoun, preposition, conjunction and article or determiner Nouns are words that: • name people, places, things and ideas • carry information about singular or plural nature of the participants. Pronouns are words that: • stand in the place of a noun or noun group. Adjectives are words that: • add meaning or description to a noun • can carry information about possessive. Adjectival phrase is a group of words that: • begin with a preposition that adds meaning or description to a noun. Adjectival clause is a group of words that: • begin with a relative pronoun, who, whom, whose, which, that and where, that adds meaning or description to a noun. Determiners are individual or a group of words that: • are dependant on the noun they come before • determine which or whose related to the noun • may be an article, pointing word or possessive - an article (which one): a, the, an - a pointing word (which one/s) this, these, those, that - possessive (who owns it): Mary’s, my, his, their, your. Verbs are words that: • are doing, being, having, saying or thinking words • may stand alone (finite verbs) e.g. I dance. • may need other words to be complete e.g. I want to dance. • must agree in number with the head noun that is the subject of a clause. Singular noun has a singular verb and a plural subject has a plural verb. - The boy is here. - The boys are here. - The horse with two red stirrups was running. The horses with two red stirrups were running. • must agree with the head noun in person: first, second or third person noun with the appropriate verb - I like ice-cream. (first person) - He likes ice-cream. (third person) • carry tense information - past tense e.g. Dinosaurs lived a long time ago. - present tense e.g. Dinosaur models are at Queensland Museum. - future tense e.g. More displays will be coming to the museum. - timeless present tense e.g. Dinosaurs are members of the reptile family. Adapted from: www.qsa.qld.edu.au/yrs1to10/kla/english/support_materials/open_trial/day_1_part_3_grammar.doc

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YEARS 8-9 ENGLISH FOCUS FOR 2009 Expositions

CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . Page Focus of assessment................................ 122

Resources to support learning and teaching This resource package provides support materials for teachers of English in Years 8 and 9. These materials have been prepared to assist teachers plan, teach, assess and moderate in the Key Learning Area of English based on the following documents:

English Syllabus 1-10 Sub-strands • Speaking and Listening • Writing and Shaping

Expository Genre.......................................... 124 Distinguishing features of text types within the Expository Genre.................... 125 Annotated Text Models............................ 140 Annotated student work samples with accompanying criteria.............................. 141 Guiding questions for Analysing student texts.................................................. 143 Using an Inquiry Approach...................... 144

English Essential Learnings - QCAR framework Organisers • Speaking and Listening • Writing and Designing • Language Elements • Literary and Non-literary Texts

Planning an English inquiry...................... 145 Teaching the Expository Genre............. 146 Working at the grammatical level of the text ............................................................ 152

Requirements for Years 8 & 9 Teachers of English o Identify a context (connected or English specific) that provides students with an opportunity to construct a text type for the purpose of explaining, analysing, arguing, persuading and giving opinions. o Develop criteria that support the making of teacher judgements about the standard of achievement. o Annotate student sample of a spoken/signed, written or multimodal expository text. o Make judgements about each student’s learning and development. The resources in the following pages of this kit are provided for Years 8 & 9 teachers to: • use as models to support the design of their own learning activities and assessment tasks • adapt to suit their particular student group/s and learning context • implement as presented.

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The focus of assessment in English in Years 8 and 9 The focus of assessment is on the learning statements appropriate for the construction of an Expository text from the Ways of Working and Knowledge and Understanding components of the Year 9 Juncture of the English Essential Learnings. The core learning outcomes of the English syllabus are indicated alongside the corresponding learning statements.

Ways of Working By the end of Year 9, when constructing expository texts, students are able to: • demonstrate and analyse the relationship between audience, subject matter, purpose and text type • construct non-literary texts by planning and organising subject matter according to specific text structure and referring to other texts • reflect on learning, apply new understandings and justify future applications.

Knowledge & Understanding Speaking involves using oral and gestural elements to construct texts that achieve purposes across local, national and global contexts. • The purpose of speaking and listening includes examining issues, evaluating opinions, convincing others, and managing relationships and transactions. CU 5.1.1 • Speakers make assumptions about listeners to position and promote a point of view, and to plan and present subject matter. CR 5.1.1 • Spoken texts have a range of structures and can be delivered in a number of mediums. CU 5.1.3; OP 5.1.1 • Statements, questions (including rhetorical questions) and commands can be used to identify the main issues of a topic and sustain a point of view. • In presentations, speakers make meaning clear by organising subject matter, and by selecting resources that support the role they have taken as the speaker and the relationship they wish to establish with the audience. OP 5.1.2 • Speakers and listeners use a number of strategies to make meaning, including identifying purpose, activating prior knowledge, responding, questioning, identifying main ideas, monitoring, summarising and reflecting.

Writing and designing involve using language elements to construct non-literary texts for audiences across local, national and global contexts. • The purpose of writing and designing includes parodying, analysing and arguing. CU 5.3.1 • Writers and designers establish and maintain roles and relationships by recognising the beliefs and cultural background of their audience, and by making specific language choices. CU 5.3.2; CR 5.3.1, 5.3.2 • Words and phrases, symbols, images and audio affect meaning and establish and maintain roles and relationships to influence an audience. CU 5.3.2 • Text users make choices about grammar and punctuation, to affect meaning. OP 5.3.4, 5.3.6 • Writers and designers draw on their knowledge of word origins, sound and visual patterns, syntax and semantics to spell. OP 5.3.7 • Writers and designers refer to authoritative sources and use a number of active writing strategies, including planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting.

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Language Elements: Interpreting and constructing texts involve manipulating grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, audio and visual elements, in print-based, electronic and face-to-face modes across local, national and global contexts. • Paragraphs build and sustain cohesion and develop a central idea. Op 5.2.1; OP 5.3.2 • Active voice and passive voice change the subject and the focus in a sentence. Aspects of OP 5.2.2 • Relationships between ideas in texts are signalled by connectives to sequence and contrast ideas, show cause and effect, and clarify or add information. OP 5.2.1; OP 5.3.5; OP 5.1.1; OP 5.1.3 • Adjectives and adverbs are used to express attitudes and make judgments and/or evoke emotions. OP 5.2.2; 5.3.4; OP 5.1.2; OP 5.1.3 • Modal auxiliary verbs are selected to convey degrees of certainty, probability or obligation to suit the text type. OP 5.2.2; OP 5.3.4; OP 5.1.1; OP 5.1.3 • Nominalisation (turning verbs into nouns) can be used to compress ideas and information, and to add formality to a text. Aspects of OP 5.2.2 • Punctuation, including colons and semicolons, signals meaning. OP 5.2.1; OP 5.3.6 • Vocabulary is chosen to establish roles and relationships with an audience, including the demonstration of personal authority and credibility. CU 5.2.3; CR 5.2.2; CR 5.3.2 • Auditory, spoken, visual and nonverbal elements, including the use of sound fades, dissolves, cuts, hyperlinks, camera angles and shot types, can be combined to position an audience. Aspects of OP 5.3.8; OP 5.2.2; OP 5.1.2; OP 5.1.4

Literary and Non-literary texts: Manipulating literary and non-literary texts involves analysing the purpose, audience, subject matter and text structure. • Audiences can be positioned to view characters and ideas in particular ways and these views can be questioned. CR 5.1.1; CR 5.1.2; CR 5.2.2; CR 5.3.2 • Texts can reflect an author’s point of view, beliefs and cultural understandings. CR 5.1.1; CR 5.1.2; CR 5.2.1; CR 5.3.1 • Comparison, contrast, exaggeration and juxtaposition are used to create emotional responses. Aspects of OP 5.1.1; OP 5.1.3; OP 5.2.1; OP 5.3.3 • Non-literary texts analyse, inform, argue and persuade. Aspects of CU 5.2.3; CU 5.1.1 • Non-literary texts can focus on a major point that is supported by elaboration. Aspects of OP 5.1.1, OP 5.1.3, OP 5.2.1 & OP 5.3.1 • Reasoning, points of view and judgments are supported by evidence that can refer to authoritative sources. • Non-literary texts can conclude with recommendations, restating the main arguments or summarising a position.

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EXPOSITORY GENRE Traditional, contemporary and everyday non-literary texts use language in precise and accurate ways to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions. This genre category of Expositions includes a wide range of text types which can be presented in spoken/signed, written, or multimodal modes. Types of Expository texts include: • Explanation – used to explain scientifically how or why things (phenomena) or processes occur • Discussion – used to look at an issue from a range of perspectives, before making a judgement or recommendation • Analytical Exposition – used to support and reiterate a point of view (thesis) with logical arguments and evidence • Persuasive text – seeks to argue or persuade and intended to convince readers to accept particular perspectives or points of view • Reflective text – reflects on events and experiences and may also be persuasive. Figure 1 indicates the text types that students in Years 8 and 9 can engage with. A full diagram indicating all the text types covered from P to 9 is included in the English Overview in the introductory section of the CTJ Information Kit.

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Distinguishing features of text types within the Expository Genre (Materials in this section are adapted from English in Years 1 to 10 Queensland syllabus materials, A guide to genres in English, Department of Education, Queensland, 1994) The purpose of this material is to describe the distinguishing features of text types within the Expository genre. It is for Teacher Reference. It assists teachers to identify and select features of text types that their students need to learn.

Analytical exposition

Important aspects

Analytical exposition is a tightly organised genre in which a point of view is supported by logical arguments and evidence. Appealing to the intellect rather than the emotions, it is still a persuasive text with the writer selecting and omitting information to support a position. Genres in this category often become the means for individuals and groups to sway the public on major issues affecting society. Factual and academic in tone, it is highly valued in secondary and tertiary education. Success in examinations in some subject areas can depend on the student’s experience of and expertise in this genre. •

Relationship with other genres

Context

Social Purpose

• • • • •

t o persuade that something is the case, by explaining, analysing and interpreting events, issues and phenomena.

Aspects of social context

Analytical exposition is widely used for assessment purposes in Australian educational contexts, especially in the humanities. Although some originality is expected from the students, they generally research a body of opinion and evidence which they synthesise and evaluate. There is often a fine line between synthesising and plagiarising. Some individuals, groups and communities accept extensive, word-for-word quoting from source documents and others do not. Cultural groups also differ about what is considered relevant to an issue. The academic writing style can pose difficulties for students until they gain sufficient experience with it.

Subject Matter

•

is related to a current issue, event or phenomenon, and research connected to it

Roles

• • •

writer as expert reader who could be a novice or an expert student to teacher/lecturer/examiner. The student displays his/her knowledge of the subject and control of the genre for assessment purposes.

•

 re distant and usually formal. The expertise of the target reader will affect the a tenor, for example school text books are more reader-friendly than academic journals.

Mode

• •

written visual (multimodal)

Medium

•

 cademic and technical journals, school textbooks, scholarly papers, magazines, a newspapers, assignments for school or university

Relationships

Significant textual features

• • •

is different from discussion where the writer explores all sides of an issue and comes to a decision, based on evidence usually requires research skills, including note-making, footnoting and referencing can contain explanations and descriptions has features in common with discussion and hortatory exposition, such as the use of supporting arguments is more subdued in tone than hortatory exposition often has a bibliography is sometimes called analytical exposition is the basis for many school assignments requiring reasoned presentation of an argument

Generic Structure

Cohesion

thesis

- the introduction to the topic and the statement of the position of the writer - the preview or outline of the arguments to follow

argument/s

– the point the writer is making – the elaboration of the point with explanation, more details, evidence, examples

restatement

- -

•

– s ome are implicit, some are related to sequence as in finally, most are causal as in because – instead of conjunctions, effective writers often use nouns such as reason, prepositional phrases such as because of that action and verbs such as cause

conjunctions

restating the writer’s position can include a brief summary of the main arguments

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•

Significant textual features

Vocabulary

Grammar

Paragraphing and punctuation

126

• • •

is usually neutral but can express the writer’s attitude through vocabulary choices for example responsibility is often technical can include abstract terms synonyms are often used to avoid repetition

Nominalisation and extended noun phrases

– a  re features of formal texts as in The admiration of a large group of fans …

Theme

– n  ew information at the end of the sentence can be picked up in the Theme of the next as in Smoking contributes to throat and lung diseases. These health problems cost the community… – Themes often relate to the items in the preview, for example in the example above, health could have been an issue previewed in the opening paragraph.

Participants

– u  sually generic human as in Australians and non-human as in prejudice except where a specific Participant is involved as in Macbeth – no authorial I as in I think… – authorities may be cited specifically as in The Premier declares … or generally as in Experts agree…

Processes

– relational/being/having – mental/thinking especially in the thesis and its restatements

Modality

– e  xpresses the writer’s attitude - usually authoritative and certain as in This must cease – passive voice can be used to avoid identifying the authority, and to sound formal and powerful as in The opinion has often been voiced

Timeless present tense

– some past tense if recounting from historical perspective

• •

topic sentences – relate to the thesis and/or the preceding paragraph most paragraphs deal with one main idea, which could be an entire argument or one part of it, depending on length and complexity.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Debate Important aspects

Relationship with other genres

Context

Social Purposes

Debate is a formal way to come to a decision using rules and protocols established by an organisation, such as parliament, or by other conventions. It is mediated by a chairperson. The essence of debate is that speakers, within set limits, have the opportunity to speak for or against a proposal, trying as they do so to convince others to accept the argument of a particular point of view before a decision is made. • • • •

builds on informal spoken discussion which does not always lead to a decision can lead to competitive debating is similar to public and persuasive speeches in its persuasive techniques can be a feature of formal meetings

•

t o express opinion, to persuade others to a point of view, to come to a decision, can also include to entertain

Aspects of social context

Debate, a form of public persuasive speaking, is part of a culturally valued tradition of decision making. It is widely used in schools and as part of conflict resolution. Successful speakers have good rhetorical skills and can use the genre for their own purposes. Its formal context can exclude groups who have not learnt how to participate in it.

Subject Matter

• •

issues affecting the organisation/group concerned business of the organisation/group

Roles

• • •

are well defined speakers are advocates for a point of view chairperson has the guiding hand

•

 re formal for the chairperson who has power to choose who speaks within the a rules of the organisation, and to ensure that the rules are kept, and that votes are taken according to approved conventions speakers choose to be friendly or more formal according to what suits their purposes and a particular audience

Relationships

•

Mode

• •

is spoken can be written, transcribed

Medium

• • •

in Hansard, interviews usually face-to-face communication in groups such as the classroom, parliament can be videoconferencing, teleconferencing, online

Significant textual features

• selection of speaker • speaker supports or opposes proposal • vote/decision The first two stages are repeated until all who want to speak have spoken, or until the chairperson or the regulations governing debate calls a halt. Includes: • use of related words. A technique is to paraphrase another speaker’s words using synonyms with negative connotations. • use of repetition of own and others’ words and phrases for emphasis

Generic Structure

• •

c an be conventional in formal debates, for example, addressing a member of Parliament as the honourable member can be factual but tends to be mainly emotive as it is used to support the point of view of the speaker

Mood

Modality

Grammar

Intonations and Rhythm Nonverbal language

• • • •

• • •

interrogative: rhetorical questions are a feature of persuasive speaking as in What do we want for our children’s future? imperative as in Vote for Dave, your local candidate expresses strong obligation as in We must act now an experienced speaker’s language sounds more written than spoken, with longer sentences, embedded clauses and nominalisations (secondary students)  re used for rhetorical purposes as in rhythmical patterns a accompanied by table thumping for emphasis exaggeration of these is a feature of public speaking includes facial expressions, gesture and stance, often exaggerated for effect.

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Documentary Film (Viewing) Important aspects

The most common documentary films are usually begun by a television channel with a certain budget wanting to fill a particular timeslot for a particular audience. Although the finished product may seem to be factual, these and other factors mean that it is constructed from a particular angle or point of view. The viewer needs to be aware the text is constructed and not accept the documentary as absolutely factual. • •

• •

is flexible and complex can be based on an exposition, a discussion, a recount, or any genres which suit the subject matter and the maker’s processes can contain many genres including explanations, descriptions, recounts, anecdotes, interviews is the audiovisual equivalent of the feature article involves research, note-taking, interviewing

Social Purpose

• •

to explain, analyse, expose and explore events, phenomena and issues can also include to entertain

Aspects of social context

The social context strongly influences the range and scope of documentaries. Documentaries that are entertaining, educational or enlightening set excellent standards for the life-long movie watching habit that begins in childhood. Subjects and the content need to be appropriate for children, but they don’t always have to gloss over hardships and problems.

Context

Relationship with other genres

•

•

Subject Matter

• • •

Roles

• • •

Context

•

Relationships •

 wide range which includes topical issues, nature, people, events, trends, history, a science can be selected for its topical interest, universal appeal to an age group, the interest of the filmmaker as it is a visual medium, the availability of visual material influences the final shape of the documentary t he documentary-maker/producer, though, as in filmmaking, this is usually a collaborative activity the presenter/narrator the people in the documentary as subjects, witnesses or experts the viewer as information - or entertainment - seeker t he television channel or documentary-maker makes choices based on the target audience and how they are to be positioned in relationship to the documentary, for example educated, entertained some viewers will accept the main messages of the documentary; other viewers will be aware of its point of view and how it tries to influence the viewer

Mode

- - - -

visual spoken auditory written, including title, credits, subtitles, written information, labels on diagrams

Medium

-

television, DVD, online, movie

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

The generic structure is varied. Each documentary will have to be analysed individually to see what genre/s the makers used and why. The following is an example of how exposition might be used:

Significant textual features

Generic Structure

title

- can indicate a point of view, as in Rainforest, our vanishing heritage - can be eye-catching rather than informative as in Invisible enemies

*background

-

title sometimes follows this

thesis

-

 ften given by presenter/narrator as a voice-over or talking o head can be implied in the visuals

-

arguments

- in selected and sequenced visual material with or without voiceover and music - in interviews - in images, such as computer graphics, maps, graphs, diagrams

conclusion

- - -

c an be a restatement of the point of view, in images and/or spoken or written words can include summing up of evidence, in images and/or spoken or written words can include recommendation/s.

* An optional stage of the genre

Visual cohesion

•

Repetition

- of techniques such as the handheld camera - of images such as sea creature images in a Barrier Reef documentary

•

Conjunction

- the type of transition that often denotes time, for example a slow fade shows passing of time - parallel editing or cutaways where two events are running parallel, and the film cuts from one to the other to show contrast

Some features are mentioned above. Others are: •

 echnical T codes

•

Symbolic Codes - - -

Visual language

- lighting which can contribute to the atmosphere - different camera techniques such as time-lapse photography - camera angles, for example a low angle makes the subject seem more imposing - selection and ordering of shots can give powerful messages - composition and type of shot such as close-up, medium or long shot titles and written information their style such as graphics, type of print, background… placement, at the beginning or after a segment of film

Significant textual features

See Constructing Realities: Media Curriculum Guide for Years 1 to 10 and Using visual texts in primary and secondary English classrooms for more details.

Nonverbal language

• • • •

Vocabulary

Grammar Intonation and rhythm Pronunciation

• •

looking straight at the camera gives the presenter authority smiling, and other facial expressions convey the participant’s attitudes other nonverbal language such as folded arms, can also indicate the participants’ attitudes where actors are used, their body language conveys certain meanings can be technical, informative or everyday depending on the subject can be emotive or factual, depending on how the relationship between the viewer and the image and the image-maker is to develop

Mood

-

interrogative: questions involve the viewer as in What future do you want to have?

Modality

- -

where the presenter expresses own opinions as in I think… sometimes the origin of the opinion is hidden as in It seems…

•

 atural, unrehearsed conversations contrast with the more regular intonation and n rhythm of the presenter’s script, even if it is written in a more spoken style

•

varies with the different people in the documentary.

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Editorial Important aspects

The editorial is the forum where the newspaper shows what line it takes on a current issue. The alternative term, leader, indicates that it is seen as influencing public opinion. It can have a socialising effect, often the generally accepted view of that readership, and sometimes challenging such views. Like most persuasive texts, the genre is flexible, as good writers manipulate the structure to suit their purpose. • •

•

is usually a hortatory exposition, taking a stand on an issue and supporting it can be based on a written discussion, exploring an issue before coming to a conclusion can be similar to non-narrative literary type genres, reflecting on the broader implications of a current event is like the feature article in the way it comments on the news has language features in common with other persuasive texts, for example modality and an authoritative tenor usually has a news report or a current issue as its stimulus

Social Purpose

•

to analyse an event or issue, and to persuade readers to that point of view

Aspects of social context

People who want to be well informed about current news and issues also like to know about public reaction to them. The editorial plays an important role in shaping and reflecting public opinion. The language used in editorials can be quite literary in more formal newspapers.

Subject Matter

•

a current issue or event

Roles

• •

writer as leader of public opinion informed readers of the newspaper

Relationships

The writer assumes that readers are informed about the issue or event. He/she sets out to reinforce the views of those who agree with the editorial viewpoint and to change the minds of those who do not. The position of editor gives status and credibility to the views expressed.

Context

Relationship with other genres

Mode Medium

• • •

•

written

•

newspaper

The generic structure of editorials varies. It is usually based on hortatory exposition.

Generic structure

Significant textual feature

Vocabulary

Grammar

Paragraphing

Visual language

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headline

-

an eye-catching identification of the issue

thesis

-

the stand the writer takes on the issue

arguments

- points are made and elaborated on, sometimes with supporting evidence

recommendations

-

• •

can be a call to action

usually factual can be formal in national newspapers, or informal in the local free newspaper

Participants

- rarely does the writer use I, though we is often used to include the reader - can be extended noun phrases and often nominalisations as in the need for attentive political management in the development of the Japan - Australia partnership

Processes

- - -

relational/being/having, especially with nominalisations as in Such rationalisations are… verbal/saying as in The Prime Minister states… mental/thinking as in The electorate knows…

Mood

- some rhetorical questions such as But where do we draw the line? - some exclamations, sometimes ironic such as What a welcome to their new home!

Modality

- ranges from being definite as in we must… to less definite as in perhaps…. - substitutes: such as it stands to reason that…. and thinking people recognise that… are often used for I think to sound assertive and more authoritative

•

diagrams, flowcharts and other visuals can carry all or part of the message.

•

Bold Typeface

- used for the headline and, in less formal newspapers, to highlight an important point in the text

•

Layout

- usually vertical columns - often positioned at the top left of the page, a position showing its importance - usually boxed, with the box including the masthead.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Hortatory exposition Important aspects

Hortatory exposition is a highly persuasive genre through which the writer would like to effect change. It is selective in the arguments chosen and emotive in its language. • •

Relationship with other genres

•

Context

• •

is more personal and emotive in tone than analytical exposition is similar to debates, sermons and political speeches in its frequent use of spoken persuasive techniques is similar to discussion and analytical exposition as in the use of supporting arguments is used in a range of media such as magazines and newspapers is found in letters to the editor and editorials

Social Purpose

•

Aspects of social context

A genre which sounds more spoken than written, hortatory exposition is widely used throughout the community. It is an important genre as it is one of the few avenues in which people can have their say to a wide audience, such as a letter to the editor or a submission about new policies to a politician.

Subject Matter

•

is often a controversial topic

Roles

• •

writer as advocate for change reader as potential supporter

Relationships

The writer wants the readers to empathise with the emotions that inspired the writing, and support the explicit call to action. The spoken language features lessen the apparent distance that separates writers from their audience. Also affecting the interpersonal language or the tenor is the fact that there is often a specific addressee in mind, for example the Prime Minister.

Mode Medium Generic Structure

t o persuade someone or a group of people to do something, by selectively explaining and analysing events, issues and phenomena

-

written

-

newspapers, magazines, books of scripted sermons

thesis

-

arguments

- the point the writer is making with some relevant supporting evidence

recommendations

-

the writer’s position on the issue

can be a call to action

Cohesion

•

conjunction - causal as in because

Vocabulary

• • •

expresses feelings and attitudes more spoken than written in style as evidenced by the use of colloquialisms can be metaphorical, for example a minority group in society may be referred to in terms associated with children as in needing looking after

Grammar

Participants

- usually generic human as in Australians, and non-human as in prejudice except where a specific Participant is involved as in the Lord Mayor - I, the writer, we, the writer and sympathetic reader, and you could be the reader and/or the people with the power to change things

Processes

- -

Modality

- expresses the writer’s attitude which is usually authoritative and certain as in We must put a stop to…, The streetscape will be retained - although not as much as in analytical exposition, the passive voice can be used to sound authoritative, especially in recommendations such as It is recommended that council bylaws be amended to ensure compliance by the public; so too can phrases like Experts agree

Timeless present tense

- as in The Government responds to these challenges some past tense is used if recounting

relational/being/having mental/thinking/feeling, especially in the thesis and the recommendation

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Letters to the Editor (Persuasive exposition) Important aspects

Relationship with other genres Social Purpose

Context

Aspects of social context

Subject Matter Roles Relationships Mode Medium

Significant textual features

Generic structure

A letter to the editor is a business letter sent mainly to newspapers and news magazines. Most editors reject letters that include inappropriate language or personal attacks on individuals or organisations. Many editors will permit the publication of anonymous letters where details of the name and address are not printed although they are made available to the publication. It is an offence to submit a letter under a false name. • • •

uses business letter format uses the greeting: Dear Sir/Madam or Dear Editor a persuasive text with the writer selecting information to support a position

•

t o persuade or to influence the readers’ opinions about issues of concern to the readership

The brief expression (200-250/500 words) of an opinion, a complaint, an argument or information is submitted for publication. Letters to the editor in many publications may be sent through conventional or electronic mail. Letters can also be sent to entertainment and technical magazines. Modern forums for letters to the editor are the electronic media especially on the internet. Increasingly they are sent to radio and television stations to be read on news broadcasts and talk radio. •

 ften about personalities, events, issues or happenings in current affairs in the o community, the nation or the world

• •

writer to editor and unknown readers of a newspaper reader as opinion seeker

•

 sually formal. The writer has the power to present a forceful point of view and the u reader has the power to reject it or respond from a different point of view.

-

written

-

newspapers, news magazine, periodical, internet, television, radio

greeting

- Dear Sir/Madam; Dear Editor

introduction thesis

- purpose/point of view of the letter; may make reference to a previous publication

argument/s

- to support this opinion (and to persuade the reader to the writer’s point of view)

conclusion (optional)

- restatement of thesis plus a recommendation or suggestion (optional)

signature

- name and address supplied

•

conjunctions: used to link points when arguing a point of view - temporal conjunctions order points in the argument e.g. firstly, secondly, finally - causal conditional conjunctions link points in a complex sentence e.g. because, since, if, so, though, unless - instead of conjunctions, effective writers often use nouns e.g. the reason, the cause

• •

related to topic or concern expressed by the writer often emotive, using personal and subjective language, e.g. continued neglect of our homeless youth by uncaring politicians can be more effective if it is neutral and objective e.g. Experience in competitions is a necessary requirement for the development of sporting ability. synonyms/antonyms used to create lexical cohesion e.g. politicians, leaders, authorities; advantage, disadvantage

Cohesion

Vocabulary

• •

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132

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Significant textual features

Participants

- first person pronoun I, me, is used to indicate a subjective opinion - use of the second person pronoun you or first person plural we may be used as a form of persuasion e.g. If you commit yourself to this cause… It is time we all collaborated in an effort to achieve … - use of the third person allows the text to be more neutral and objective e.g. The members of the government need to make up their minds … - nominalisation, used to name issues, reasons and extended participants (noun phrases), makes the text more compact and ‘written’ e.g. This brutal killing of whales in the protected waters around Antarctica …

Processes

mental/thinking verbs e.g. think, believe, agree indicate a particular point of view - present tense is used to express an opinion about a current issue or concern - modality: expresses the writer’s attitude – usually authoritative and certain as in This behaviour must stop; We could possibly lose; Perhaps our leaders need to rethink; There is absolutely no excuse

Grammar

•

Paragraphing & punctuation

• •

-

 ost paragraphs deal with one main idea as part of the argument to influence the m readers’ views topic sentences express the main idea and support the development of a coherent text a letter published in a magazine uses conventional punctuation.

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Review (spoken and written)

Important aspects

A very flexible genre, review focuses on evaluation of the arts, helping its audience decide what they will see/read/listen to. Influential reviewers can be very powerful: they can sell newspapers and make or break a play on Broadway. Reviews can also have a socialising effect. When read after the event, the review enables the audience to compare their judgment to an expert’s opinion. Although reviews are based on personal response, they are also products of a specific cultural environment and other cultures may have different attitudes to the genre. •

• • • •

is a personal response to experiencing the arts, for example through books, plays, films and television is based on other school genres such as learning logs and book reports which identify elements to critique such as plot, character and theme differs from learning logs and book reports in its lack of comprehensiveness, for example, describes part of the plot and critiques some elements requires, for an informed response, a knowledge of the genre being reviewed and its role and significance in the culture of origin builds on book talk and other evaluations of literary and mass media genres can contain description, anecdote, selective recount has similarities with advertising flyers and previews of films, plays, and books in other classification systems is called a response or appraisal genre

Social Purposes

• •

to analyse and evaluate can also include to persuade, to entertain and to inform

Aspects of social context

Reviews can be informal when a group of friends chat about the latest book or film, or formal where a respected reviewer speaks/writes in the media. The aspects that are commented on can range from the sex appeal of the actors to a feminist view of the plot. What is considered significant enough to be critiqued depends on historical, cultural and personal factors. In the educational context, students develop critical skills which will heighten their enjoyment and help to make them critically literate in their own and other cultures’ arts.

Subject Matter

• •

the content of what is being reviewed, such as the book, play, film analyses of structure and technique such as characterisation, camera angles

•

r eviewer as expert or peer, for example, a chatty review in Dolly magazine which assumes a shared viewpoint and interests reviewer as information giver, for example, book reviews in a professional journal listener/reader/viewer as potential audience for the item reviewed

•

Context

Relationship with other genres

Roles

• •

• • •

 ften close and friendly because of the personal tenor of most reviews with their o assumption of shared understandings and interests of their readership. Some are quite formal and academic in tenor where the readership prefers this approach. Readers can, of course, disagree with reviews and some reviewers can be deliberately controversial.

•

written, visual or spoken

•

 wide range including face-to-face interaction, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, a radio, television

Relationships Mode Medium

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134

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Spoken Review

Generic structure

introduction of speaker *

- in radio or television, can be written on the screen with the title of the show

details of work *

- details of publisher, producer and actors can be discussed throughout the review or mentioned together at the beginning or at the end

identification

- identifies and evaluates what is to be reviewed, relating it to other works of the same author, director or type, for example science fiction

summary

- selective summary of content gives an idea of the plot of the book/film without giving too much away

Significant textual features of spoken review

significant aspects - reviewer chooses what to analyse and evaluate, such as setting, of work * theme, humour, sound, camera work evaluation of work *

- reviewer’s summarised opinion of the value of the work. This is sometimes omitted as the rest of the text has made the reviewer’s attitude clear. - often standardised as in 6 out of 10; 2 stars

* An optional stage of the genre

Cohesion

Vocabulary

Grammar

• •

use of words related to the content, the analysis and the evaluation in face-to-face situations, reference words are often used to refer to things not identified in the conversation itself: they are part of the shared knowledge of the people involved, for example like that other one

• • • • •

is usually informal, especially in face to face situations and unscripted reviews can be formal and/or technical, depending on the audience is evaluative - words indicate the reviewer’s attitude figurative language such as simile or metaphor is often used is often witty

Participants

- specific characters such as Tracy Moffat, Dian Fossey, Ned Kelly - I and you are used, especially on television where reviews are visible

Mood

-

Modality

- is found especially in evaluating: You’ll be exposed to sign language, which is probably why I found it challenging.

Present tense

- except for references to historical and biographical details

•

Intonation and rhythm

• •

Nonverbal language Visual language

interrogative. Questions involve the viewer/listener. Can you imagine a film where a major character doesn’t say a word?

 ost paragraphs deal with one main idea, as part of the argument to influence the m readers’ views topic sentences express the main idea and support the development of a coherent text a letter published in a magazine uses conventional punctuation

•

in face to face situations, gestures and body language reflect the speakers’ attitudes to the subject matter and to the other speakers

•

film reviews on television can contain illustrative film clips

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Written Review

Generic structure

title

- usually eye-catching, can be humorous or a play on words, for example Wildlife, wild death for Gorillas in the Mist

byline *

- reviewer’s name

details of work *

- details of publisher, producer, actors can be spread throughout the review or grouped at the beginning or at the end

identification

- identifies and evaluates what is to be reviewed, relating it to other works of the same author, director or type, for example science fiction

summary

- selective summary of content gives an idea of the plot of the book/film without giving too much away

Significant textual features of spoken review

significant aspects - reviewer chooses what to analyse and evaluate, for example of work * setting, theme, humour, sound, camera work evaluation of work *

- often standardised as in 6 out of 10; 2 stars

* An optional stage of the genre

Cohesion

•

use of words related to the content, the analysis and the evaluation

Vocabulary

• • • •

can be informal, if this is appropriate for target audience can be formal and/or technical depending on the audience evaluative words indicate the reviewer’s attitude figurative language such as simile or metaphor is often used

Informal reviews often have the friendly, chatty features of spoken language. Formal written reviews have different features. Participants

Grammar

Paragraphing and punctuation

Visual language

136

- author’s summarised opinion of the value of the work. This is sometimes omitted as the rest of the review has made the reviewer’s attitude clear.

I is used infrequently. Hiding the author or speaker makes the review sound formal but this does not mean it is factual. - sometimes you is used, but often there is a third person reference, for example the audience, the matinee crowd - participants are often expressed as extended noun phrases to incorporate a lot of information - the idealistic, but underage Archie, who hopes to enlist… -

Circumstances

-

of manner, time and place

Nominalisation

-

sounds formal - the suggestion of resonances

Modality

-

not as much as in less formal reviews

Present Tense

-

except for references to historical and biographical details

•

in newspapers, a paragraph is often one long sentence with embedded clauses and long nominal phrases

• •

can be illustrated by a photograph/drawing the same format is used for each review in the same newspaper/magazine

Please note: Spoken reviews tend to be more informal than written, as is the case with most genres, and the features of each have been described accordingly. However, readers need to bear in mind that a spoken review scripted to be read on the radio can have written features, while a review written for a teenage magazine can have more spoken features.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Television Documentary (Documentary Film) Important aspects

Television documentaries are usually initiated by a television channel with a certain budget wanting to fill a particular timeslot for a particular audience. Although the finished product may seem to be factual, these and other factors mean that it is constructed from a particular angle or point of view. The viewer needs to be aware of distortions and omissions and not accept the documentary as absolutely factual. • is flexible and complex • can be based on an exposition, a discussion, a recount, or any genres which suit the subject matter and the maker’s processes

Relationship with other genres

• can contain many genres including explanations, descriptions, recounts, anecdotes, interviews • is the audiovisual equivalent of the feature article • involves research, note-taking, interviewing • has film and radio variants

Social Purposes

Aspects of social context

•

to explain, analyse, expose and explore events, phenomena and issues

•

can also include to entertain

The social context strongly influences the range and scope of documentaries. As the commercial television channels’ income from advertising is largely dependent on ratings, their documentaries have to entertain as well as inform. They often choose controversial topics to increase their audience. Non-commercial channels do not have to attract advertisers, but their budgets are smaller. Independent documentary makers have to sell their idea to a channel, and this usually involves compromises. • a wide range which includes topical issues, nature, people, events, trends, history, science

Subject matter

• can be selected for its topical interest, controversy, universal appeal, the interest of the filmmaker • as it is a visual medium, the availability of visual material influences the final shape of the documentary

Context

• the documentary-maker/producer, though, as in filmmaking, this is usually a collaborative activity

Roles

• the presenter/narrator • the people in the documentary as subjects, witnesses or experts • the viewer as information - or entertainment - seeker • the television channel or documentary-maker makes choices based on the target audience and how they are to be positioned in relationship to the documentary, for example sympathetic, hostile, titillated

Relationships

• some viewers will accept the main messages and basic premise of the documentary and criticise it within this framework; some will read it differently, because of their different experiences and beliefs; other viewers will be aware of its gaps, silences and inconsistencies and how it tries to influence the viewer • people in the documentary can have their message manipulated by the questions asked, by editing, by conflicting visuals - visual

Mode

Medium

-

spoken

-

auditory

-

written, including title, credits, subtitles, written information, labels on diagrams

-

television, videotape, computer

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Television Documentary (Documentary Film) cont’d - is varied. Each will have to be analysed individually to see what genre/s the makers used and why. The following is an example of how exposition might be used.

title background * thesis

Generic structure arguments

- can indicate thesis, as in Rainforest, our vanishing heritage - can be eye-catching rather than informative as in Invisible enemies - title sometimes follows this - often given by presenter/narrator as a voice-over or talking head - can be implied in the visuals - in selected and sequenced visual material with or without voice-over and music - in interviews - in images, such as computer graphics, maps, graphs, diagrams - can be a restatement of the thesis, in images and/or spoken or written words

Significant textual features

conclusion

Visual cohesion

Visual language

- can include summing up of evidence, in images and/or spoken or written words

- can include recommendation/s * An optional stage of the genre • Repetition - of techniques such as the handheld camera - of images such as railway images in a travel documentary • Conjunctions - juxtaposition of shots can imply the relationship between them, such as contrast, cause and effect - the type of transition often denotes time, for example a slow fade shows passing of time - parallel editing or cutaways where two events are running parallel, and the film cuts from one to the other to show contrast Some features are mentioned above. Others are: • Technical codes - lighting which can contribute to the atmosphere - different camera techniques such as time-lapse photography - camera angles, for example, a low angle makes the subject seem more imposing - selection and ordering of shots can give powerful messages - types of transitions such as dissolves, to indicate that text has been omitted in an interview - composition and type of shot such as close-up, medium or long shot • Symbolic Codes - visual presentation of people indicates point of view, for example looking into the camera can signify authority; formality of dress such as shorts and a T-shirt compared with a suit, and location of the interview such as a kitchen compared with an office, can also influence credibility - titles and written information - their style such as graphics, type of print, background - placement, at the beginning or after a segment of film See Constructing Realities: Media Curriculum Guide for Years 1 to 10 and Using visual texts in primary and secondary English classrooms for more details.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Significant textual features

Nonverbal language

Vocabulary

•

looking straight at the camera gives the presenter authority

•

smiling, and other facial expressions convey the participant’s attitudes

•

other nonverbal language such as folded arms, also can indicate the participants’ attitudes

• •

where actors are used, their body language conveys certain meanings can be technical, depending on the subject

•

can be emotive or factual, depending on whether the tenor is to appear neutral or not

• can include languages other than English, sometimes subtitled or translated Mood − interrogative: rhetorical questions involve the viewer as in What future is there for our children? Modality − where there is speculation as in This will cause… Or evaluation as in This must be… Grammar Theme

− − −

where the presenter expresses own opinions as in I think… sometimes the origin of the opinion is hidden as in It seems… can be important in signalling the introduction of an argument, for example Another reason/problem…

−

Intonation and rhythm Pronunciation

•

what is emphasised and in focus in a shot is the important part of the visual message, that is, the visual equivalent of Theme. The soundtrack can highlight this element too. natural, unrehearsed conversations contrast with the more regular intonation and rhythm of the presenter’s script, even if it is written in a more spoken style varies with the different people in the documentary

•

dialects vary.

•

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annotated TEXT MODELS If students are to write in a particular genre successfully, they need to become familiar with its purpose and features through immersion in the genre by exploring sample texts. The teacher, as a writer, composes a text which is similar to the one to be written later as a joint construction by the class, and then independently by the students. This text is a model of criteria at an A standard. In the Modelling Phase when students are being exposed to examples of the selected genre and text types, the teacher is able to plan explicitly and use the metalanguage, the language for talking about language and texts, with students. This explicit teaching develops students’ understanding of the genre category and the particular text type – its purpose, structure, text organisation, language features and the crafting of writing to influence readers.

Year 8/9: A review Generic Structure States a point of view; preview is given of examples of courage to be analysed Series of arguments analyse different types of courage. Examples include elaboration and comment/ evaluation

Text Model Courage is one of a number of significant themes in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is interspersed with demonstrations of courage by a number of characters including the courage of One-shot Finch; the courage of a dying Mrs Dubose; Atticus’ courage involving his defence of Tom Robinson; and the courage of Jem facing reality at a young age. A type of physical courage is demonstrated by Atticus as his thirty year old namesake One-Shot Finch. With the community cowering behind locked doors, he emerges into the midst of the mad dog scene and shoots the animal. This demonstration of natural-born talent in a crisis makes Atticus a hero in Jem’s eyes. His admiration grows for a father who risked his life to protect family and neighbours but Atticus wants him to value another type of courage. This courage is that of the morphine addict Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose. Atticus attributes real courage to her, contrasting it with the courage of a man with a gun in his hand. The dying woman rids herself of her addiction. According to her views she prefers to die free, controlled by nothing or nobody. In a world where winning is rare, Mrs Dubose won, against great odds. This makes her the bravest person Atticus knew. The above example of real courage is shown in Atticus’ decision to defend Tom. Despite the warnings he receives he goes ahead and defends a nigger in a rape case. In his definition of Mrs Dubose’s courage, It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what, he defines his own (124) Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win (84). Atticus does try to win, providing enough evidence to have his client acquitted. So that Tom Robinson would receive the fair trial any man deserves, Atticus breaks one of the strictest social codes of Maycomb. He knows he will not win right from the beginning. No-one had ever trusted the word of a black man against that of a white man, but he has to clear his conscience before anything else. Because he takes this moral position he, his children and his family will continually face slander, insults, and even physical violence from their fellow citizens. At the jail, he and his son both must draw on great courage to defend Tom against the mob. Jem, the boy enthralled by the action hero One-Shot Finch shooting a mad dog, is idolised by Scout and Dill for his own bravery in touching a wall of the reclusive Boo Radley’s house. More is required of him as the novel develops. He must put up with the names and labels attached to him and his sister because of their father’s defence of the alleged rapist.

The thesis is restated and the significance of moral courage is underlined.

140

Even more of a challenge is his need, out of love, to protect his sister from a would-be killer, even though he is being overcome by an attacker much stronger than he. It is this same loyal courage that Jem demonstrates when he defies his father and stands by him in the jail scene, as the white community expresses the racial hatred that would not recognise the innocence of a black man. The attitudes that lie beneath the social code of Maycomb have to stand and an innocent man has to die. This courage, which Atticus and Mrs Dubose possess, that Jem develop, the doing what is right despite the pain, is central to the novel, defining what courage is and what it is not. In To kill a mockingbird these characters have the moral courage to stand by what they believe in.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Language Features Audience positioned to view characters in a particular way through choices of subject matter.The theme of ‘courage’, developed in the novel through the interplay of plot and character, is explored. Paragraphs build and sustain cohesion and develop the central idea Topic sentences signpost logical development of ideas Uses extended phrases and dependent clauses at the beginning of sentences to link ideas across paragraphs and sentences as in With the community cowering behind locked doors; So that Tom Robinson would receive the fair trial any man deserves Grammar Noun and verb groups express attitudes and make judgements as in with the community cowering behind locked doors; providing enough evidence; strictest social codes, enthralled, idolised; innocent man Modal auxiliary verbs selected to convey degrees of certainty to suit the text type as in would receive, will win will face, must draw, must put up with Verb groups convey time through correct tense Nominalisation used to compress Ideas, simplify sentence structure, and add formality to the text as in demonstration, admiration, decision, evidence, the innocence Punctuation signals meaning

ANNOTATED STUDENT WORK SAMPLES WITH ACCOMPANYING CRITERIA

Year 8: A Review/An analytical exposition Context for assessment: Students have explored a variety of text types and writing conventions that position an audience to have particular opinions or ideas about a product. In this assessment students analyse a web advertisement and the key components that contribute to the successful production of the advertisement. They also identify and analyse the ways this advertisement uses linguistic and visual modes to influence audiences. The focus of the Review is on a product that will be advertised in the school yearbook. (Source of text: Queensland Studies Authority Assessment Bank 2009) Generic Structure An eye catching title with a suggestion of a play on words Introduction: identifies what is to be reviewed and the focus for the position Body of the argument: selective summary of the linguistic and visual content of the exposition in paragraphs 2 and 3 Chooses aspects for analysis: Paragraph 4 -role of stereotypes in ‘hooking’ a particular target audience; Paragraph 5 -the content message ‘selling’ a desirable lifestyle; Paragraph 6- the contradiction between the message of the title and the values of healthy living.

Conclusion Evaluation of work: author’s summarised opinion of the value of the work Recommendation

When appearance is everything The advertisement being reviewed is the “lighter choices” webpage on the McDonald’s website. This review will consider how suitable the advertisement is for our school yearbook.

Textual Features Cohesion: Paragraphs sustain cohesion and develop a central idea

This advertisement uses a variety of “healthy food” images and text. Clever, emotive and persuasive language convinces the audience of the company’s point of view. There are descriptive words and phrases that people think of as positive, such as “delicious”, “lean”, “lighter”, “mouth-watering”, and “fewer than 10 grams of fat.” These words are presented in different fonts and sizes in an attractive design.

Vocabulary: is formal as is appropriate to the role of the reviewer and the target audience – the editor of the School Yearbook, but not technical

The font size and colours create a text that is easy to read, while looking classy on a background of blue and black. The text has been positioned to draw the reader’s attention from the images of food to the information. The main symbols within the advertisement are images of a slim, young woman; a red and white Heart Foundation tick; and the words “lighter choices” in a large, fancy font.

Adjectives express attitudes and make judgements as in emotive and persuasive language, company’s point of view, stereotypical life, target audience, persuasive text

The advertisement targets girls in their late teens. The image shows a slim, young woman lying on lush green grass, smiling with her boyfriend beside her. This image portrays a stereotypical carefree life and provides a clue to the target audience. The message is convincing: if you eat from the “healthy choices” menu it will bring you a carefree, happy, healthy and desirable lifestyle. Images of the young couple and healthy fresh foods convey this visually. On the surface, the emotive language, images used, and the layout make this an effective and persuasive text that would complement our school’s yearbook if style was the only deciding factor. However, when examining the nutrition facts provided by McDonald’s, I found that even though the “lighter choices” foods were lower in fats, there were many other ingredients such as artificial flavours, colours and preservatives. This contradicts the healthy eating information outlined on the Queensland Government’s “Eat Well, Be Active” website. In summary, the false claims and the use of a stereotype are misleading. McDonald’s is a well-known, fast-food chain used by many of our students, but I do not believe it would be helpful to promote their products in our yearbook.

Grammar Processes: Modality as in think, will, I do not believe expresses some kind of personal judgement on the message by the writer. Active and passive voice allow for choice of the subject focus in sentences as in There are descriptive words…These words; The font size and colours create… the text has been position Attitudinal Lexis: Evaluative words indicate the reviewer’s attitude as in suitable, targets, stereotypical carefree life, only factor, examining, contradicts, false claims, misleading

For these reasons I recommend that you do not include this advertisement in our school yearbook.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

The student : • uses a range of writing strategies to enhance the meaning of the text for the intended audience • deliberately makes changes and modifications to the text to make it more effective • uses strategies of planning, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading, publishing and reflecting during the writing process • makes changes and modifications to the text

The student: • sequences paragraphs to develop a logical argument • chooses language features which allow more complex ideas to be compressed within clauses (lexical density), resulting in a more formal text • uses punctuation to enhance meaning • uses conventional spelling for more complex words

• plans and organises subject matter according to the specific text structure and includes a recommendation in the conclusion • uses paragraphs beginning with a topic sentence to develop each aspect of the argument • chooses language features to establish relationships and present subject matter from a particular perspective • uses punctuation (including colons and semicolons) to signal meaning • uses derivational patterns of words to spell multisyllabic words (normalisations)

• uses a sequenced text structure that includes an introduction, a body and a conclusion • organises text into paragraphs containing related information • uses some appropriate language features • uses some punctuation correctly • uses correct spelling for familiar and some unfamiliar words.

The student: • selects and elaborates on complex ideas and issues presented in the text

• explores ideas and issues presented in the selected text • makes inferences and draws conclusions about how the text positions the intended audience and supports this with evidence from the text

• identifies the main ideas and issues presented in the selected text

• draws conclusions about how the text positions the intended audience and supports this with some evidence from the text.

Students reflect on their language choices and how they can apply their learning throughout the construction of the text.

Students construct an analytical exposition of a web advertisement using: • a generic structure that identifies a position in an introduction; develops a body with details and analysis and restates the position in a conclusion • paragraphs to sustain cohesion and develop a central ideas • active and passive voice that change the subject and the focus in the sentence • adjectives and adverbs to express attitudes, make judgements and/or evoke emotions • modal auxiliary verbs to convey degrees of certainty, probability or obligation • nomalisation to compress ideas and to add formality to the text • vocabulary chosen to establish roles and relationships with an audience including the demonstration of personal authority and credibility

Students know and understand that an analytical exposition is a highly organised genre in which the point of view is supported by logical arguments and evidence. They seek to position a wider community audience by analysing and interpreting an issue.

• uses some writing strategies during the writing process.

Reflecting

Constructing

Assessable elements

Year 9 Juncture English Expository Text (A Review)

Knowledge and Understanding

Student name:

Task specific descriptors

Descriptions of evidence of the standard of work

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Evidence of Well Below standard

Evidence of Below standard

Evidence of a Sound standard

Evidence of a High standard

Evidence of a Very High standard

Standards

Guiding Questions for analysing student texts in Years 8 and 9 The Framework of Guiding Questions has been provided to assist teachers with their understanding of, and language for, analysing students’ texts. They are to help teachers annotate student work samples and to see where and how learning is demonstrated. MEANING MAKER/ TEXT USER

CODE BREAKER

TEXT ANALYST 1. W  hat knowledge, values and practices are evident in this text?

Text Types 2. W  hat is the purpose of this text? Does the text type achieve the social purpose?

3. H  as the student used the stages of the text type to achieve the purpose?

Subject matter

6. H  ow does the choice of noun and verb groups work to develop the 5. Is the subject matter subject matter? What sentence appropriate for the text type, the structures are used to develop the purpose and audience? subject matter

4. H  ow does the structure of the student’s text position readers/ viewers or prioritise certain knowledge, values and practices? 7. H  ow do the selected noun and verb groups appeal to/position/invite particular meanings, particular knowledge, values and practices about the topic?

– simple, compound, complex, dependent clauses in theme position? Roles and Relationships 8. W  hat relationship is there between the writer/shaper and the reader/viewer?

9. H  ow do sentence types (grammatical mood), vocabulary or modality construct the relationships?

10. How are knowledge, values and practices represented through grammatical mood choices?

12. How are ideas linked throughout the text? (language choices and patterns of use)

13. How do the patterns of language choices position readers/viewers to make particular meanings and draw particular conclusions from the text?

– sentence types to construct the –  s entence types used in the text relationships – equal/unequal (Power) (statement, question, command, – vocabulary choice to develop – close/distant, formal/ exclamation) certain types of relationships with informal (Distance) – vocabulary choices (emotive, the reader and invite particular – knowledge or expertise of the evaluative, figurative words) meanings topic (Affect) – modality (always, sometimes) – modals and adverbs to influence the and modals (should, never) reader or viewer in particular ways Mode and Medium 11. What mode of language has been chosen: written, spoken, visual or multimodal? Are these modes used effectively?

– theme position (at the beginning of the clause) – cohesion: repeated and related words, pronouns and conjunctions – nominalisation – active or passive voice

Adapted from the State of Queensland (Queensland Studies Authority) Open Trial Conference (2005)

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USING AN INQUIRY APPROACH In inquiry-based learning environments, students are engaged in activities that help them actively pose questions, investigate, solve problems, and draw conclusions about the world around them. Taking ownership of the inquiry process allows students to become independent thinkers and to be engaged in meaningful activities that address and explore the questions they have posed. Questioning is at the core of inquiry learning and drives the teaching and learning The importance of process. inquiry learning is that students learn An inquiry approach to learning is a process that includes students: how to continue • formulating a problem or question learning, how to be • searching through and/or collecting information to address a problem or question lifelong learners. • making sense of the information • developing an understanding of, a point of view about, or an answer to a question. Through an inquiry approach students have the opportunity to: • build on their existing knowledge and skills • select topics of interest • explore a variety of resources (i.e., books, maps, primary source documents, websites, videos, audios, photographs) • select the best way to communicate their findings • share with real-world audiences • be evaluated on both process and product • evaluate themselves, their peers, their resources and the process.

AN ENGLISH INQUIRY A quality inquiry learning sequence in English is based around a key or guiding question. Students explore the key question, and some supporting questions if appropriate, through a range of texts and language in different contexts. Students who engage in an English inquiry into a text type within the Expository Genre could investigate and discuss connections between: How the text is made • Questions can be about author, text, images, words, format and layout. The structure of the text • Questions can be about text type, genre, structures and features, language style and choice, and grammar. How the text relates to life • Questions can be about making connections with experience, ideas and issues, perspectives on ideas and issues. How the author makes choices • Questions can be about texts as construction, linguistic choice, representation, cultural context. How we might read the text • Questions can be about how people from different groups could read the text, including invited readings and multiple perspectives. The literary techniques and devices operating in the text • Questions can be about language, images, point of view and/or layout. How texts relate to each other • Questions can be about how other texts may deal with the same topic.

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PLANNING AN ENGLISH INQUIRY Student engagement in learning is enhanced when planning in English is focussed around an inquiry into relevant aspects of text, language or literacy. What is the English problem to be solved, question to be answered, significant task to be completed or issue to be explored through the interpretation or construction of particular texts? This involves: • establishing a focus of investigation into the language used to create the texts to explain, analyse, argue, persuade and give opinions in precise and accurate ways • exploring connections between the purpose, text type, subject matter, author and audience, mode and medium in these texts • introducing students to a process that allows them to talk about the language in the texts they are interpreting and constructing.

What the teacher may do

What the students may do

Negotiate a social context (subject matter and audience) for this unit with the students. Suggest options from appropriate text type/s within the genre category.

Brainstorm topics of interest and possible audiences. Participate in formulating a group decision. Decide on an appropriate text type for presenting the information Participate in discussion to identify possible directions for study.

Lead the development of an inquiry question that connects the text type and its purpose to the social context.

The teacher: • creates a task that enables students to demonstrate what they know and can do • decides on explicit criteria to guide student performance and teacher judgements of the spoken/signed, written or multimodal exposition • provides a fair and equitable opportunity for all students to demonstrate what they know and can do. What the teacher may do

What the students may do

Discuss the task requirements. Specify criteria for the standards of learning achievement. Indicate clear conditions for learning achievement.. Scaffold the assessment requirements with explicit teaching and learning.

Ask questions to clarify the task demands. Discuss what this may look like. Discuss areas for negotiation.

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TEACHING THE EXPOSITORY GENRE {Note: The following is represented schematically on Page 147 of this resource}

Developing Field Knowledge

Developing Field Knowledge

Purpose: to investigate the concept/topic and the social context of the negotiated text/s. This stage involves: • establishing the students’ prior knowledge and understanding of the concept and social context to be explored in the expository text • identifying the information to be included – What information do we want to find out? • planning experiences that will provide the information – How will we find out the information?

Before constructing a text we need to identify

What the teacher does

• the field/subject matter • students’ prior knowledge • meaningful learning experiences • how to organise and record information.

What the students do

Establishes the extent of the students’ current Participate in a discussion around the concept. knowledge and understanding of the concept and build Think Pair Share in groups to initiate the discussion. on it. Uses a KWL to record information.

Deconstruction

Deconstruction

The purpose of this stage is to provide experiences of the text types being studied. It has two parts – Deconstruction of Context and Deconstruction of the Text.

Context of Culture What is the social purpose of this genre? Who uses it? Why?

Deconstruction – Context of Culture & Context of Situation This step provides an opportunity for students to become familiar with the text type, its social purpose, possible audiences, text structure and textual features, through immersion in the genre and exploring mentor/sample texts.

Context of Situation What is the subject matter? Who is taking part in the communication? (Roles and Relationships) What is the mode and medium of communication?

What the teacher does

What the students do

Selects a range and balance of texts that are models of the genre to be studied. Introduces a model/s of the genre to the class identifying audience and Read and discuss the texts. purpose. Answer questions in small or Asks questions from the point of view of the writer: whole groups. • Who would write/design this kind of text? • Why would someone write/design this text? • Who is the intended audience for the text? • In what other situation would you need to write/design this text?

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Asks questions from the point of view of a reader: • Where might you see/find/read/view/listen to this kind of text? • Who would be interested in reading/viewing/listening to this text? • What information would you expect to find in this text? • What sorts of occupations would involve reading and writing this type of text? • Why might you need to read/view/listen to or write/design a similar text? Provides sample texts with headings and text titles. Provides pictures to support the titles for younger children. Provides sample texts and audiences.

Deconstruction – Deconstructing the Text This step provides an opportunity for teachers and students to investigate the way the text is structured to achieve its purpose. Explicit teaching sessions include the way the text is organised – Written: e.g. paragraph structure, the use of headings, diagrams, graphs, page layout and distinctive language features of the genre; Multimodal: e.g. logos, symbols, storyboard, colours, framing, transitions, focal point, mood sound effects, body language, distances, speed and pace, editing

Answer questions in small or whole groups.

Match headings with the text Match sample texts with possible audiences Deconstruction Text What are the functions of the stages? What are some of the language features? How do we know what the text is about? What is the relationship between the writer and the reader?

What the teacher does

What the students do

Cloze: Blanks out words that have a specific function: topic sentence in each paragraph, sentence beginnings or processes (verb groups). Models the activity.

Listen and observe teacher modelling task. Work individually, in pairs or small groups to complete the cloze. Listen and observe teacher modelling task Work individually, in pairs or small groups to complete the sorting activity.

Sorting: Prepares cut up texts for students to reassemble. Orders paragraphs or sequence images, matching topic sentences, captions, dialogue. Reassembles blocks of text according to generic structure. Models the activities with text strips or blocks.

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Provides two texts - Discussing/Comparing Asks the following questions or provides task cards: • What is the text about? • How do we know what it is about? • What is the relationship between the writer/designer and the reader/ viewer/listener? • How can we tell? • How is the text/information organised? • How do the sentences/sequences begin? Is there a pattern? • How are the texts similar/dissimilar? • How is the text supported – diagrams, labels, headings, music, lighting, sound effects? Models locating and/or identifying: • language features– tense, conjunctions, process types and sequencing • sentence beginnings; topic sentences • emotions through facial expression; sound, use of place.

Answer questions in the whole class. Work individually, in pairs, small groups to answer questions on task cards.

Watch and listen to the modelling. Individual, pair, small group work on highlighting specific aspects of texts.



Joint Construction This stage has two steps – Preparation and Construction. It enables students to build a new text on the basis of shared experiences and knowledge of language features of the text type. The teacher scaffolds the process by modelling and reworking. Preparation This step allows students to build up their field knowledge and provides an opportunity for students to locate, extract, analyse and organise relevant information in a way that is appropriate to the genre.

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Joint Construction Preparation How do we prepare for the joint construction of a new text? • build up subject matter knowledge through research • use guideline questions to scaffold inquiry.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Leads the students in Defining the task by asking questions such as: • What do we really want to find out? • What is our purpose? • What do we need to find this out? • What are the key ideas, the words/images that represent the topic? • What do we need to do? • What genres are appropriate to the topic? • Who is the audience? Leads the students in Locating the information by asking questions such as: • Where can we find the information we want? • What do we still need to find out? • What sources and equipment can we use?

Consider these questions when working individually, in pairs or small groups to help them define the task.

Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Consider these questions when working individually, in pairs or small groups to locate the information they need. Brainstorm and record a list of resources and sources. Create own set of resources.

Leads the students in Selecting the Information by asking questions such as: • What information can we use/ leave out? • How relevant is the information we have found? • How credible is the information we have found?

Consider these questions when working individually, in pairs or small groups to select the information they need. Provides models of ways to organise the information appropriate to the genre. Use the organisers to collate information. Tables Proformas Retrieval charts Storyboards

Notes Flow chart Joint Construction

Construction of Text This stage provides an opportunity for the teacher to scaffold the writing of the text through negotiation and interaction with students. At this stage the teacher can use ‘think alouds’ and questions to guide the students into understanding the text structure and language features as well as developing drafting, editing and proof reading skills. The teacher needs to be confident with the language features of the genre in order to guide the structure and wording of the text.

Construction Teacher guides the students in jointly constructing a new text in the same genre.

What the teacher does

What the students do

Scaffolds the writing of the text by asking questions, thinking aloud, suggesting, modelling language features, drafting and editing. Discusses the presentation of the text - diagrams, maps, video, chart, brochure, booklet, blog, website, photo story.

Participate with the teacher in whole class or groups to write the text. Make suggestions for presentation.

Independent Construction This stage has two steps, preparation and individual writing. It also includes critical literacy. In this stage the teacher’s role is vital in providing demonstrations, guidance and support as the students move through the steps that were modelled during the joint construction stage, either individually, in pairs or in groups depending on their confidence with writing. Students’ attempts and approximations of the genre are important at this stage.

Independent Construction of Text Critical Literacy Students use the genre to challenge ideology, theory and practice.

Individual writing of text in same genre in draft Consultation with teachers and peers about writing Editing, reworking of writing

Preparation for independent writing of a text in the same genre. (as for joint construction)

Critical evaluation of success

Preparation In this step the students locate, extract and organise relevant information. What the teacher does

What the students do

Demonstrates and guides strategies for starting a new topic. • Brainstorming • Clustering • Concept mapping – identifying key words.

Select a topic, - independently construct a text using same information collected for the joint construction - with the same theme but a different subject matter - within the same broad theme. Use the strategies for locating, extracting and organising information.

Questions concept mapping.

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Individual Writing of Text This step involves students drafting, consulting, editing and publishing text. What the teacher does

What the students do

Is available to work on drafting, consulting and editing with students. Uses learning statements and standards as a focus for the conversations. Identifies steps needed to achieve the standards. Keeps a checklist of student achievement and needs as an indication for possible whole class planned teaching/learning activities during this stage. Models the editing process.

Discuss drafts with the teacher, peers or other support staff. Reflect on the construction of the text when editing, redrafting, and rewriting.

Suggests tools for publication and supports students in publishing their work.

Publish.

Edit writing.

Derewianka, B. (1990). Exploring How Texts Work. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association. DSP literacy Project. (1989). The Report Genre. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools’ Program. Murray, N. & Zammit, K. (1992). The Action Pack. Animals. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools’ Program. Hunt, I. (2004). Successful Joint Construction. Pen 96. Newtown: Primary English Teaching Association.

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• how to organise and record information.

• meaningful learning experiences

• students’ prior knowledge

• the field/subject matter

What are some of the language features?

Context of Situation

Students use the genre to challenge ideology, theory and practice.

Consultation with teacher and peers may occur during a draft. It may also include aspects of editing etc.

• critical evaluation of success

• editing, reworking of writing

• c onsultation with teachers and peers about writing

• individual writing of text in same genre in draft

Independent Construction of Text

Construction Teacher guides the students in jointly constructing a new text in the same genre.

How do we prepare for the joint construction of a new text? • build up subject matter knowledge through research • use guideline questions to scaffold inquiry

Joint Construction Preparation

Preparation for independent writing of a text in the same genre (as for joint construction)

What is the relationship between the writer and the reader?

Developing Control of Genre

What is the mode and medium of communication?

Who is taking part in the communication? (Roles and Relationships)

How do we know what the text is about?

What are the functions of the stages?

What is the social purpose of this genre? Who uses it? Why? What is the subject matter?

Text

Context of Culture

Critical Literacy

Before constructing a text we need to identify:

Developing Field Knowledge

Deconstruction

TEACHING AND LEARNING CYCLE

Once the text type has been selected, teaching occurs following the four interrelated stages illustrated below. This cycle is used throughout the years of schooling to support students to systematically develop control of increasingly complex genre patterns.

TEACHING THE EXPOSITORY GENRE

WORKING AT THE GRAMMATICAL LEVEL OF THE TEXT Explicitly teaching the grammar of the particular text type within the Expository genre assists students in improving their learning about how language works. In best practice in the teaching of English, the teacher and the student develop a language to talk about the language. In classroom interactions the teacher models the grammar to meet student learning needs

Grammar: Whole of Text Level Whole texts are comprised of clauses that are linked using a range of increasingly complex sentence structures and cohesive devices that suit the purpose and text type including: • grammatical patterns and features e.g. theme position and sentence structures • repeated or related sentence patterns, phrases or words across several clauses • conjunctions to join clauses • patterns of and particular choice of words.

Clause A clause is the basic unit of meaning in Standard Australian English. A clause: • conveys a message • usually contains a verb or verb group • usually provides information about: o what is happening o who is taking part o the circumstances surrounding the activity (when, where, how).

Theme Position The theme comes first in a clause. It is the predominant part. Theme position and patterns of theme reveal the key messages of a text. Rheme is the remainder of the clause. e.g. The blue car raced around the mountain. Around the mountain raced the blue car. Racing around the mountain was the blue car.

COHESION Repeated words Texts are held together by repeating words particularly nouns and verbs. Related words Texts are held together by the related words or word groups within a text. Pronouns Texts are held together by pronouns that refer back to nouns, noun groups or clauses e.g. The barn smelled of hay. It smelled of rope. Ellipsis Texts can be held together by words that are left out but whose meanings are understood. e.g. Jim ran across the road but Jessica walked (across the road). Conjunctions are used to join clauses: • conjunctions that add ideas and information including and, as well, also, or • conjunctions that compare or contrast ideas and information including but, also, like, yet • conjunctions that indicate time or sequence time within a text including then, when, after, before, while, until, since, later, whenever • conjunctions that show the cause of an idea, action or information including because, so, so … that, as long as, if…then, in case NOMINALISTION The process of forming nouns from words of other classes (eg ‘invention’ from ‘invent’, ‘honesty’ from ‘honest’) to make a text more compact and ‘written-like’.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

Grammar: Sentence and Clause Level Types of sentences: There are four basic types of sentences. STATEMENTS QUESTIONS COMMANDS EXCLAMATIONS The type of sentence used is often determined by the text type. An author can choose a particular type of sentence. The type of sentence used can indicate the mood of the text.

Simple sentence: A simple sentence contains a single clause. The clause is an independent clause because it can stand alone and make sense by itself e.g. Lester poked Clyde with a stick. Did Clyde get mad? Get out of here!

Compound sentence: A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses. Each clause in the compound sentence can stand alone and make sense by itself. The clauses may be linked together by conjunctions such as ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘or’ e.g. Clyde turned away and he would not speak. Lester could hide in the pond or he could find a new home. He set out at dusk but he really wanted to stay.

Complex sentence: A complex sentence contains two or more clauses. One clause carries the main message (independent clause) and the other clause/s (dependent clause/s) elaborate the message in some way. The dependent clause/s rely on the meaning in the independent clause and cannot stand alone. In a complex sentence the dependent clause can be rank shifted to give greater emphasis to that clause. e.g. Lester did not sleep a wink because he was rigid with fright. If he had not been so naughty, Lester would have been home for the night.

Exclamations The type of sentence used is often determined by the text type. An author can choose a particular type of sentence. The type of sentence used can indicate the mood of the text. Functional grammar works with chunks of meaning called clauses and clause complexes rather than sentences. A CLAUSE is the largest grammatical unit. A CLAUSE-COMPLEX is two or more clauses logically connected. A SENTENCE is a unit that can be made up of one or more clauses.

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Grammar: Word Group and Word Class Level WORD GROUPS Word groups are the smaller groups of words that have a particular function in a clause: • participant, process, attribute and circumstance • noun group, verb group and prepositional phrase.

Noun groups Noun Groups: • provide information about people, places, things and ideas that are involved in a clause • are built on or formed around a noun • contain a head noun and attributes to add meaning or description about the head noun • describe the participants in a clause. A noun group: • can be a single noun e.g. Mary had a little lamb. • can include an article, pointing word, or possessive (determiner) e.g. The boy was lazy. This little piggy went to market. The king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. • can include one or more adjectives e.g. Mary had a little lamb. Ten fat sausages were sizzling in a pan. • can include one or more prepositional phrases that describe the noun e.g. The girl with the ragged clothes was Cinderella. • can include one or more adjectival clauses that describe the noun e.g. There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. This is the house that Jack built. Participants: • are the people, places, things or ideas in a clause • can be nouns, noun groups, pronouns. Attributes: • are used to describe participants • can be adjectives, adjectival phrases and adjectival clauses.

Verbs and verb groups Processes: • are doing or action, being, saying, or thinking parts of a clause • can be verbs or verb groups (including adverbs, modal adverbs and auxiliary verbs or modals). Modality indicates level of: • usualness e.g. often, sometimes, always, never • certainty e.g. possibly, probably, maybe • obligation e.g. must, should, will, ought. Examples of Processes The girl will never run away. The girl may run away. The girl will run away. The girl is unlikely to run away. The girl could possibly run away. The girl should definitely run away. The girl might possibly run away. The girl will probably run away. The girl always has to run away. Circumstances: • are things that surround the event in a clause (how, when, where and why) • can be adverbs, adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses.

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Consistency of Teacher Judgement

WORD CLASSES Word Classes describe or name the word in a word group: Open word Classes: noun, verb, adjective, adverb Closed Word Classes: pronoun, preposition, conjunction and article or determiner Nouns are words that: • name people, places, things and ideas • carry information about singular or plural nature of the participants. Pronouns are words that: • stand in the place of a noun or noun group. Adjectives are words that: • add meaning or description to a noun • can carry information about possessive. Adjectival phrase is a group of words that: • begin with a preposition that adds meaning or description to a noun. Adjectival clause is a group of words that: • begin with a relative pronoun, who, whom, whose, which, that and where, that adds meaning or description to a noun. Determiners are individual or group of words that: • are dependant on the noun they come before • determine which or whose related to the noun • may be an article, pointing word or possessive - an article (which one): a, the, an - a pointing word (which one/s) this, these, those, that - possessive (who owns it): Mary’s, my, his, their, your. Verbs are words that: • are doing, being, having, saying or thinking words • may stand alone (finite verbs) e.g. I dance. • may need other words to be complete e.g. I want to dance. • must agree in number with the head noun that is the subject of a clause. Singular noun has a singular verb and a plural subject has a plural verb. - The boy is here. - The boys are here. - The horse with two red stirrups was running. The horses with two red stirrups were running. • must agree with the head noun in person: first, second or third person noun with the appropriate verb - I like ice-cream. (first person) - He likes ice-cream. (third person) • carry tense information - past tense e.g. Dinosaurs lived a long time ago. - present tense e.g. Dinosaur models are at Queensland Museum. - future tense e.g. More displays will be coming to the museum. - timeless present tense e.g. Dinosaurs are members of the reptile family. Adapted from: www.qsa.qld.edu.au/yrs1to10/kla/english/support_materials/open_trial/day_1_part_3_grammar.doc

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P-3 Resources

Scien

ce Re

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e P -3 R s esou Years rces 4&5 ‹ Reso Years urces 6&7 ‹ Reso Years urces 8&9 ‹ Reso urces ‹

years 4 & 5 Resources

Scien

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e s P-3 R Year esou s4& rces ‹ 5 Re Years sour ces ‹ 6&7 Reso Years urces 8&9 ‹ Reso urces ‹

Years 6 & 7 Resources

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e s P-3 R esou Years rces 4&5 ‹ Reso Year urces s6& ‹ 7 Re Years sour ces ‹ 8&9 Reso urces ‹

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e s P-3 R esou Years rces 4&5 ‹ Reso Years urces 6&7 ‹ Reso Year urces s8& ‹ 9 Re sour ces ‹

Years 8 & 9 Resources

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