Cycle 5

Cycle 5 2014 Year 7 English

Week 13 - May 5 - 9 (T2W4)
Week 14 - May 12 - 16 (T2W5)
The NAPLAN tests may occur this week
Week 15 - May 19 - 23 (T2W6)

The following information is taken directly from the Australian Curriculum English Document

This is provided to assist parents and students to start to understand the focus of English in the Australian Curriculum. There are 3 areas of study - Language, Literature and Literacy. For detailed information about the sequencing and scope of the course see the following website
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/foundation10/curriculum/comparisons/English_scope_and_sequence_AusVELS.pdf

Week 13 - May 5 - 9 (T2W4)

All Dragonkeeper Essays must be handed in by today at the latest!
Please also hand in your English work books so the teacher can check your book work. You will be working on NAPLAN preparation and your English basics this week until your teachers return your books to you next Monday.

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/descriptive-writing-experience
Teacher uses orio cookies to assist students to understand the difference between telling and showing in a narrative. Encouraging students to use higher level thinking to assess their writing.

Introductory activity on Naplan

Naplan revision 2012.pptx

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/activity/story-starters

http://www.whitehouse.gov/video/President-Obamas-Message-for-Americas-Students

http://prezi.com/gx13riuwvkz4/persuasive-language/
Review of persuasive writing

Think Quick

Quick Think

SAMPLE ESSAY

- what does Ms. Taylor really think about ice cream??

Which is better, chocolate or ice cream?

(Introduction)
Ice cream is one of the greatest pleasures. Anyone eating it will relish its creamy flavour and cool texture. It’s fun and exciting, more ethical and a healthier option. It’s streaks ahead of chocolate.

(Body)
Ice cream is one of the greatest pleasures. Anyone eating it will relish its creamy flavour and cool texture. It’s fun and exciting, more ethical and a healthier option. It’s streaks ahead of chocolate.

Ice cream goes hand in hand with some of the greatest pleasures in our lives. It is the perfect accompaniment to going to the movies. And who doesn’t want to eat ice-cream when they are enjoying a day at the beach? While chocolate would just make a melty mess, ice-cream cools and satisfies on a hot day. Therefore it is a much better choice.

We are learning more about the conditions in developing countries who make chocolate. Everyday people work in terrible conditions and receive very little money, while the big brands reap the benefits. In comparison, ice cream is often lovingly made by the very people who sell it in their shops. Even the commercial products are made in factories which satisfy all working conditions. Therefore, choosing ice cream instead of chocolate shows you care about how people are treated in their workplaces.

(Conclusion)
Ice cream is quite simply delicious. It is a healthier and more ethical choice than chocolate. It’s exactly what we all crave to go with other joys in life, like the beach and movies. To imagine a life without ice cream is to imagine a life half-lived!

http://www.slideshare.net/mungo13/features-of-persuasive-writing#btnNext

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/persuasion_map/

http://www.nap.edu.au/information/faqs/naplan--writing-test.html

teacher resource

http://www.nap.edu.au/verve/_resources/2012_Marking_Guide.pdf#search=sample essay persuasive

Techniques

There are many persuasive techniques - don't try to put all of these in your essay but consider which ones will best suit the topic.

Persuasive Writing Techniques
Rhetorical questions, exaggerating, repeating, emotive language, justice/ morality, appeal to values, appeal to logic, anecdotes, inclusive language, modality

An essay planning template for persuasive writing.

http://www.english-at-home.com/grammar/linking-words/Adding

Information Summarising Sequencing Ideas Giving a Reason Giving a Result Contrasting ideas
In addition, As well as, Also, Too, Furthermore, Moreover, Apart from, In addition to, Besides In short, In brief, In summary, To summarise, In a nutshell, To conclude, In conclusion The former, … the latter, Firstly, secondly, finally, The first point is, Lastly, The following, consequently, subsequently, as a result Due to / due to the fact that, Owing to / owing to the fact that, Because, Because of, Since, As Therefore, Consequently, This means that, As a result But, However, Although / even though, Despite / despite the fact that, In spite of / in spite of the fact that, Nevertheless, Nonetheless, While, Whereas, Unlike, In theory… in practice…

Brainstorming Activity and Sequence Boxes - Followed by critical thinking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgPIkx2JyQU
This clip teaches us how to go beyond brainstorming and start to think critically
This encourages us to organise our thoughts and to separate the good and the not so good ideas.

Look at the following about idea generation
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_88.htm

Write the following into your book

To generate new ideas I can:

  1. Challenge the ideas I already have
  2. Reword the question - what is the problem?
  3. Think in reverse - how could I make the problem any worse? - then think back again at how I could make it better.
  4. Try to explore the images or feelings you have about this topic by drawing a picture or thinking of a song that relates.
  5. Go left field - choose a random word and see if you can relate it to your problem, make a mind map, think about the problem from someone else's shoes …
  6. What would you do if you had unlimited time and money?

-

Using De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats

De Bono is famous for creating a problem solving system that focuses on seeking solutions to problems. He believed that while two parties held opposing views no progress could be made when there is a conflict however if people were directed to think about particular questions and focus on seeking a solution rather than proving a point people could work together more productively. De Bono used different coloured hats to help people focus on different ways to think about a problem.

Black Hat
To think of the problems associated with an action
Discernment – using logic and reasoning to evaluate and judge

White Hat
Information and facts- being neutral or objective

Red Hat
To think of the emotion attached to a problem
Emotion and intuition – feelings and hunches (but not reason)

Yellow Hat
Optimism – looking for positives, benefits and harmony

Green Hat
To think creatively about a problem
Creativity – different or alternative applications – thinking of possibilities or following ideas

Blue Hat
Planning for action – organising thinking or thinking about thinking – thinking about which hat is required

Find out more
http://prezi.com/tczzmr4vjy65/edward-de-bono-6-hats/

HAT THINKING GRID

PUT THIS INTO YOUR BOOKS

Black Hat White Hat Red Hat Yellow Hat Green Hat Blue Hat
Logic and problems Facts Emotion Optimism Creativity thinking about which hat to use
What problems do you need to address - to write a persuasive essay you need to know techniques and structure … Can you objectively outline the facts or issues you need to address What are the emotions involved in this story fear, love, hate, kindness, sadness .. How could things be better? How could things be different? What needs to change Use you imagination to think about what it is like - think about adjectives to describe the place, mood, physical environment, sounds, smells, tensions between people, motivations for actions return to the black hat - look at the problems and think … which hat will help you in each part of the essay

THEN MAKE A MIND MAP USING THE HATS LIKE THE ONE ON THE PREZI

Week 14 - May 13 - 17 (T2W5)

This week we will introduce the 7 High Reliability Literacy Procedures. These are well tested and valuable comprehension skills which will assist your learning in all classes.

7HIGH RELIABILITY LITERACY PROCEDURES

These notes are taken from Hume Central Secondary College!
www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/…/student/vlnsb2hrltp.pdf

HRLTP 1:

GETTING KNOWLEDGE READY
What is “GETTING KNOWLEDGE READY” and why is it important?
GETTING KNOWLEDGE READY (“GKR”) is a BEFORE READING activity. When we “Get Knowledge
Ready”, we are making sure that we cue students to:
•THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THE TOPIC OF THE TEXT
•PREDICT WHAT THE TEXT WILL BE ABOUT
The focus during “GKR” is on developing students’ ORAL LANGUAGE – helping them to activate the
pictures and images they have in their minds about a topic and convert these images into verbal
form.
Effective teaching of “GETTING KNOWLEDGE READY”
There are a range of activities you can do to “GET KNOWLEDGE READY”. But whatever activity you
choose, the most important thing is to be EXPLICIT with students about the strategy that you are
promoting (e.g. “Now we are going to think about what we already know about this topic. This is
really important because it gets our brains ready for reading and makes it easier to take in new
information”).
Some possible activities for “Getting Knowledge Ready”:
RELATE TO
STUDENT
EXPERIENCES
•Get students to say in sentences what they know about the topic. This
can be done in a “think pair share” activity with a partner.
•Students list questions and queries that they have about the topic and
what they believe they DON’T know.
•Students say what they visualise when they hear the title or see related
pictures.
ASK QUESTIONS •Give students the title of the text and have them suggest questions the
text might answer. They can begin with the 5W (who, what, where,
when, why) and 1H (how) questions and then move on to more indepth,
probing questions.
BRAINSTORM •Students say or write what they think of when they hear the title of the
text.
DRAW AND ACT •Students draw a picture or act out what they know about the topic
•Students have mock interviews about the topic
•Students prepare a 2 minute oral presentation about the topic
PREDICT •Get students to predict words or sentences that might be found in the
text
•Get students to predict QUESTIONS that the text might answer
HEADINGS AND
CONTENT PAGE
•What does the title tell you? What does the contents page and the list of
sub-headings tell you? Give students time to predict what each section
of the text might be about.
KEY WORDS •Give a list of key words from the text to students. Ask them to visualise
the topic and describe what the words remind them of

Narrative Writing and Naplan

http://prezi.com/uctwhnqyq_th/narrative-writing/

(go to this site and watch the Youtube video for a catchy run down on the following)

Plot
Character
Conflict
Theme
Setting

Class check for English Basics.

Narrative Writing

http://www.values.com/teaching-values
The above website is about values and might give you some ideas about what kind of themes you could put into a narrative.

Week 9 Green Week

Class 7

Persuasive Writing Introduction

Put a heading in your books called 'Persuasive Writing'

Watch the following Prezi and make dot point notes about the information in the Prezi.

http://prezi.com/tdie8d26apuo/writing-about-issues/

Using Debono's 6 thinking hats we can think about problems in a different way.
Put a heading in your book called 'Debono's 6 Thisnking Hats' and make notes about what each hat is to be used for.
What do you think of this idea? Does it make sense to you? Have you heard of these hats before?

http://prezi.com/zovb1wbnn74v/persuasive-writing-using-de-bonos-6-hats/

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/persuasion_map/
The Readwritethink site has almost everything you could ever want to write a good essay. Make sure however you know how to save your work on this site before you start so you wont waste your time or lose your good ideas.

For ideas have a look at the following page on values
http://www.values.com/teaching-values

Copy the following information into your books about Persuasive writing and language features.
Persuasive Writing

The structural and language features of persuasive texts include:

• introduction, main body and conclusion

• paragraphs introduced by a topic sentence

• a central line of argument that can be traced throughout the text

• details, facts, examples and other material that support the line of argument

• restatement of the main points of the argument in a conclusion

• quotations from authorities and other sources

• level of language suited to the target audience

• rhetorical questions

• exaggeration

• simplification or generalisation

• repetition

• contrast and comparison

• emotive language

• language that is high in modality (for example, words such as must rather than should or will rather
than might).

HRLTP 2:

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT
What is “Vocabulary in context” and why is it important?
•“Vocabulary in context” is the key words and phrases within a text or a lesson
•A reader’s vocabulary for a topic is the building block they use to build further knowledge in
an area
•Teaching vocabulary in context directly improves student ability to understand what they
are reading
•Students with reading problems need support as they are unable to read words
automatically or accurately.
Teaching “VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT” should help students to:
•Say, read and spell key words ACCURATELY
•Understand the meanings of words
•Say synonyms for words
•Work out the meaning of words from the context
•Link key words with related words
•See how new words “came from” words they already know
•Use the words in sentences
Effective teaching of VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT:
There are three phases of teaching VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT.
PHASE ONE: STIMULATING EXISTING VOCABULARY
•Have students suggest words that they expect to be in the text
•Have students say, read and spell expected words
•Tell students some key words from the text and get them to suggest synonyms
PHASE TWO: TEACHING NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
•Select key words
•Have students say, read, spell aloud
•Have students say and write the word for pronunciation
•Have students say and write the word for spelling
•Have students work out the meaning of the word:
o Say the word
o Look at the letter patterns in the new word
o Visualise the sentence
o Use the context to work out the meaning of the word (robbers ransacked )
o Say to themselves what the word does in the sentence (describes etc.)
o Try to put other words or phrases in place of it and see which ones fit best
5
o Check their guess with a dictionary meaning
•Write key words and meanings in glossary
•Find synonyms and antonyms for the key word
•Visualise images to remind students the meaning of the word
•Use the new word in a sentence
PHASE THREE: REVIEWING THE VOCABULARY AND THE TOPIC
•Have students select/identify the new words they have learned
•Have students say what the words mean and how they are spelt
•Have students talk about the mental pictures they link each word to
•Have students use each word in a sentence
•Have students write a paragraph using the words
•Use a chart to organise new words, terms, synonyms and sentences
•Have students use the new words in a wider range of situations
Some possible activities for teaching VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT:
•Create word walls around the classroom and refer to them constantly as you work through
units or topics. Build on existing words, for example: how many words can you build on using
the word “HOME”? (Homeless, homesick, homeliness, homestead etc).
•Get students to write a paragraph/short story that uses the words
•Explore words that have the same prefix or suffix (for example, “re-“ or “micro-“), and guess
the meaning of prefixes or suffixes.
•Select 5-10 key words. Get students to read each word in syllables, then blend the syllables
(e.g. loc-a-tion, sev-e-ral). Discuss how stress patterns change when you blend syllables.
•REVISE. At the beginning of each lesson do a quick re-cap of words taught in previous lesson.
Ask students for meanings, antonyms, synonyms, sentences which include the word and so
on.
•Create cloze activities where students have to use new vocabulary to complete the cloze
passage

HRLTP 3:

READING ALOUD
What is “READING ALOUD” and why is it important?
A key literacy teaching procedure is having students READ TEXT ALOUD. Each student reads aloud a
small portion of the text. Before reading aloud, pairs of students can be allocated sentences or
paragraphs on which they can practise and support each other. They can ask for help with words
they may find difficult.
READING ALOUD is important because it provides students with auditory feedback for the text read.
It helps students retain sentences in short term memory, as well as practise converting letter strings
into words.
How do you build a positive classroom climate for reading aloud?
•Discuss with students why reading aloud is important. Emphasise that it is not about
“perfect” reading, but rather about discovering the writer’s message.
•Ensure that before reading, you have helped students to “GET KNOWLEDGE READY”
•Model oral reading (pause, punctuation, expression, re-read and self correct)
•Encourage readers to re-read parts that didn’t make sense
•Encourage risk taking and experimenting with lots of praise
Effective teaching of READING ALOUD:
Before reading:
•Make sure you choose appropriate text – text at students’ instructional or
independent level (i.e. students can read at least 90% of the words accurately).
•Plan who will read what.
•Plan to have individual students read aloud in small bursts initially – i.e. one or two
sentences each.
While reading, get students to:
•Point to the words while reading, run finger along text, use fingers to segment words
or guide reading
•Re-read sentences or sections to improve fluency or bits that didn’t make sense
•Self-correct errors by re-reading
•Self-correct pronunciation
•Pause to comprehend at the end of each sentence. They can paraphrase the
sentence, say a question the sentence answers, or predict what will happen next.
Some possible activities for teaching READING ALOUD:
•Choral reading – divide the class into groups. Each group reads a section of the text aloud in
unison.
•Running dictation – kinaesthetic activity
o Have the text on posters in different parts of the room
o Divide the class into teams of 3
o Person 1 is the scribe
o Persons 2 and 3 are stationed at a poster
o Person 2 runs back to tell the scribe what to write
o When s/he returns, Person 3 runs to the scribe to continue the dictation.
o Persons 2 and 3 continue to do the runs until the text for the group is complete
o All students check the spelling and punctuation at the end and submit to the teacher
o Use prizes for motivation

PARAPHRASING/VISUALISING

What is “PARAPHRASING/VISUALISING” and why is it important?
•Paraphrasing is a key strategy used by effective readers. As they read a text, readers say the
ideas “in their own words”. They also build an image of what a sentence is saying in a
particular context.
•Paraphrasing helps readers to:
o Understand the text
o Link new ideas with what they know
o Understand and “unpack” grammatically or conceptually complex sentences
o Retain the ideas in short-term memory
Effective teaching of PARAPHRASING/VISUALISING
•Begin by giving simple sentences and asking students to say the sentence another way by
changing as many words as they can.
•Teach students to identify key words and replace them with synonyms.
•Teach students to “visualise” (build an image) of the sentence
•Give students longer sentences and teach them to:
o Identify the topic
o Segment the “events” in a sentence
o Suggest synonyms for key words
o Link the synonyms into a new sentence (re-arranging word order)
For example:
THE TEXT The people of Italy were also the inheritors of the skills of the old Roman Empire.
TOPIC This is about how people lived in old Rome.
VERB The people of Italy were also the inheritors of the skills of the old Roman Empire.
SYNONYM The Italians as well were given the abilities in early Rome
Those living in Italy got what the inhabitants of old Rome had
LINK The Italians as well were given the abilities people had in early Rome.
Those living in Italy could do what the inhabitants of the old Roman Empire used to do.
Some possible activities for teaching PARAPHRASING:
Paraphrase
sentences
After reading a sentence aloud, use a paraphrasing self-script, for example:
•Say it/tell it in your own words
•What does it mean?
•What is it saying?
•What is another way of saying it?
•Say it to someone else in another way.
Paraphrase
paragraphs
•After reading each paragraph, ask readers: “What is the main idea in this
paragraph? Say in a few words what the paragraph is about”.
•Give a paragraph of three to four sentences to a small group of students

HRLTP 5:

SAYING QUESTIONS THE TEXT
ANSWERS
What is “SAYING QUESTIONS THE TEXT ANSWERS” and why is it important?
Being able to ask questions is a key aspect of effective literacy practice. Adults generally read when
they have a reason or purpose for reading: that is, they have questions that they seek to answer by
reading. Readers who can rapidly decide the questions that a text answers are more efficient
readers.
This procedure:
•Focuses student attention on analysing the ideas in the sentence in terms of its purpose
•Extends student comprehension of the sentence and encourages them to be active
learners
Effective teaching of SAYING QUESTIONS THE TEXT ANSWERS:
Before reading:
•Have students suggest what questions they think the text might answer
During reading:
•As students read each sentence, have them decide which questions it answers
•At the end of each paragraph, have students decide the main question answered by it
•Guide students to see how asking questions as they read helps them keep track of and
recall the ideas in the text
Some possible activities for teaching students to SAY QUESTIONS THE TEXT ANSWERS:
•Have students use question dice or a question matrix (i.e.
who/where/why/when/what/how, could/should/will/did/might) to create a range of
questions that different sentences answer
•Give students a set of sentences and a matching but jumbled set

HRLTP 6:

SUMMARISING
What is “SUMMARISING” and why is it important?
Summarising is a key aspect of reading. It helps readers abstract the main ideas of a text. This is the
knowledge that they add to what they already know.
To make an effective summary, students need to:
•Select main ideas
•Categorise ideas
•Delete unnecessary details
•Generalise
A useful summary:
•Contains the key idea
•Contains the key terms
•Is much shorter than the original
•Has no examples
•Has no repetitions
•Is organised in a “logical” order
Activities for teaching students to SUMMARISE:
•Teach students key definitions such as:
o TOPIC
o MAIN IDEA
o TOPIC SENTENCE
o SUPPORTING DETAILS
•Teach students to skim and scan a paragraph at a time
•Get them to read the whole paragraph carefully
•Get them to highlight the topic sentence of a paragraph
•Get them to write the topic sentence or a “heading” for a paragraph
•Get them to underline or list the key words
•Get them to link the key words into meaningful sentences
•Get them to say in one sentence what a paragraph is about or what they know after having
read it
•Get them to say the main question a paragraph answers
•Match supporting details to their topic sentences
•Use a graphic organiser to summarise main points/ideas in each paragraph
•Read and retell – where students read a passage in groups or pairs, as many times as
necessary, then put the passage out of sight. Students then write what they remember of
the passage as though they were telling it to someone who had not read it. Students read
their retellings to each other, comparing them with each other’s and with the original.

HRLTP 7:

REVIEW
What is “REVIEWING” and why is it important?
The long term goal of teaching the HRLTPs is that students will learn to use the sequence of literacy
strategies automatically as part of their “self talk” whenever they are trying to comprehend written
text.
To achieve this goal, we need to ensure that students:
•Learn each procedure separately
•Practise the procedures regularly
•Say what they did and how each procedure helped them
•Experience success using the procedures
In every lesson, we need to allocate time for students to REVIEW:
•What they learned about the topic
•What procedures or “actions” they used and how these actions helped them
Some possible activities for teaching students to REVIEW:
•Ask student to give you a synonym and an antonym for words covered in the lesson
•Ask students to use some of the new vocabulary in sentences
•Ask students to say as briefly as they can what they have learnt, or have them record it
in writing.
•Get small groups of students to make up 5 challenging questions that they will ask of
another group
•Get students to answer written questions about the topic
•Get students to say or write which learning actions helped them and where/when they
will use those actions again.

Week 15 - May 20 - 24 (T2W6)

HOLES CHECK LIST

Character profile Madam Zeroni Profile Paraphrasing of ch. 1 and 2
Zero’s name Time line of chapters 17 – 23 Explanation of racism
Comment on which of the characters in Holes are racist. Kate and Sam’s story recap. What does Louis think of racism and what evidence do you have to support your view?
Recap on the events from part 1 with a graphic organiser. 50 word summary of part 1 Thinking hat mind map – about racism.
Family tree for Hector Journal of Stanley Picture of camp green lake
Word find/ quiz Toontastic / movie on alternative ending Persuasive essay on Sam and racism

Language: knowing about the English language

In the Language strand, students develop their knowledge of the English language and how it works. They learn that changes in English are related to historical developments and the geographical differences of its users over the centuries, and that there are many differences in dialect and accent. They learn how language enables people to interact effectively, to build and maintain relationships and to express and exchange knowledge, skills, attitudes, feelings and opinions. They discover the patterns and purposes of English usage, including spelling, grammar and punctuation at the levels of the word, sentence and extended text, and they study the connections between these levels. By developing a body of knowledge about these patterns and their connections, students learn to communicate effectively through coherent, wellstructured sentences and texts. They gain a consistent way of understanding and talking about language, languageinuse and languageassystem, so they can reflect on their own speaking and writing and discuss these productively with others.

Literature: understanding, appreciating, responding to, analysing and

creating literature

The Literature strand aims to engage students in the study of literary texts of personal, cultural, social and aesthetic value. These texts include some that are recognised as having enduring social and artistic value and some that attract contemporary attention. Texts are chosen because they are judged to have potential for enriching the lives of students, expanding the scope of their experience, and because they represent effective and interesting features of form and style.
Learning to appreciate literary texts and to create their own literary texts enriches students’ understanding of human experiences and the capacity for language to deepen those experiences. It builds students’ knowledge about how language can be used for aesthetic ends, to create particular emotional, intellectual or philosophical effects. Students interpret,appreciate, evaluate and create literary texts such as short stories, novels, poetry, prose, plays, film and multimodal texts, in spoken, print and digital/online forms. Texts recognised as having enduring artistic and cultural value are drawn from world and Australian literature. These include the oral narrative traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, texts from Asia, texts from Australia’s immigrant cultures and texts of the students’ choice.

Literacy: expanding the repertoire of English usage

The Literacy strand aims to develop students’ ability to interpret and create texts with appropriateness, accuracy, confidence, fluency and efficacy for learning in and out of school, and for participating in Australian life more generally. Texts chosen include media texts, everyday texts and workplace texts from increasingly complex and unfamiliar settings, ranging from the everyday language of personal experience to more abstract, specialised and technical language, including the language of schooling and academic study. Students learn to adapt language to meet the demands of more general or more specialised purposes, audiences and contexts. They learn about the different ways in which knowledge and opinion are represented and developed in texts, and about how more or less abstraction and complexity can be shown through language and through multimodal representations. This means that print and digital contexts are included, and that listening, viewing, reading, speaking, writing and creating are all developed systematically and concurrently.

English Basics
7HRLS 6-7 Prepare for Open night
Circle time
Learning community relationship building activity
Spelling test 4
Revision of persuasive writing (NAPLAN 14 -16 May) RICH TASK
Not sure of date

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