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EDUC3521
Assignment Two

Section 3: Modelling the Genre Fictional Narrative

YearLevel: 2 LearningAims: tounderstandtherelationshipbetweentextandimagesforthepurposeofcreatinganarrative usetheirknowledgeofnarrativestructureandlanguagefeaturestocreateanimaginativetext

Whenmodellingthegenreofnarrativeforthisunit,therearetwofeaturesthatwillbethemain focus.Theseare,asoutlinedinsectiononeandtwo,characterisationandthestructureofa narrativeintheformofasequenceofevents,suchastheplot.Thereforemodellingthegenrewill beginwithexplainingcharacterisationusingdescriptionandadjectivesassociatedwithdescribing thefeelingsandemotionsofcharacters.Thestudentswillusethismodelinpreparationforcreating theirownpicturebookfortheaudienceoftheirreceptionbuddyclass.Thisaudiencehas deliberatelybeenchosenasthestudentswillnotneedtocreateatextthatismorecomplexforan olderyearlevel;insteadtheywillusetheirknowledgetoassisttheirbuddywithreadingthestory theyhavecreated,helpingtoreinforcetheirlearningofthecompositionandlanguagefeaturesofa narrative. Togivestudentsthesupporttheyrequireforcreatingtheirownbasicnarrativeandmaincharacter, anexamplenarrativeintheformofastorybookhasbeenchosentogivethestudentsapreliminary understandingofthesefeaturesofthegenre.Theteachersroleistousethismodelofanarrative fordemonstratingthethinkingbehindcreatingastory(Hill,2006).ThereforeIwillbedemonstrating theconnectionbetweenreadingatextandanalysingthecharactersandtheplotinpreparationfor sectiontwowheretheclasswillbegintojointlyconstructtheseelements.Whilstreadingthetextto theclassIwillmodelthethoughtprocessesbytalkingaboutthecharacters,theirfeelings,whatthey aredoinginthestoryandrelatingtheseelementstotheeventsthatoccur(WingJan,2009). 1

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ThetextIwillbeusingisMogattheZoo(Nicoll&Piekowski,1982).Ihavechosenthisnarrativeas itincorporatesshort,simplesentences,aclearplotandcharactersthatareeasilydistinguishable andhavestrongidentities.Thebookwillfirstbereadasagroupandelementsofthetextwillbe highlightedthroughaseriesofactivitiesthataimtohelpthestudentsmakeconnectionsbetween thetypeoflanguageusedandthepurposeofthenarrativegenre.Iwillusequestionsthroughout theclassreadingtoprovokethestudentstousetheirpriorknowledgeaboutcharacterisation,to pickoutdescriptiveadjectives,modifythemandsuggestalternativewaysinwhichthetextcouldbe written,thishelpsstudentstoengageindeeperthinkingaboutthetextstructure(Simon,2005). ExamplesofthequestionsIwillbeusinginclude,IwonderhowMegisfeeling?,Iwonderhow Mogfeltbeforetheywenttothezoo?,Doyouthinkwecoulduseanotherwordtodescribehow Megisfeeling?andDoyouthinkOwlisfeelinghappyinthispicture?,WhathappenedtoOwlto makehimfeelthisway?.Thesequestionsareexplicitlyillustratingtheuseoflanguagefeaturessuch astimewords,verbsandadjectivesandalsodemonstratingthethinkinginvolvedwithformingideas whenwritingastory.Thiswayofmodellingthesethoughtprocessesisaformofprocess questioning,asdefinedbyHill(2012,p.341). Theexampletextfeaturesbasicelementsofanarrative,anexampleofthisisthestructureofthe plot,thestorybeginsinthemorning,continuesthroughtheafternoonandnightandconcludesthe followingmorning;thereforethestorygoesthroughacompletecirclemakingiteasyforayounger agegrouptounderstand,thisalsoleavesthestorymoreopenendedandisusefulasstudentscan modifythetextandcreatemoreofthestory(Gleeson,2007).Asitalsofollowsasequenceofevents intheformofaday,itrelatestothestudentsbuildingthefieldactivitieswheretheywereaskedre tellwhattheyhadexperiencedduringtheexcursioninthisway. Thestructureofanarrativeincludes,asdescribedbyWingJan(2009)orientation,complicationand seriesofeventsandaresolution(p.235).TheorientationofMogattheZoo(Nicoll&Piekowski, 1982)isillustratedwellintwosentences,introducingthecharacters,illustratingtheuseofnouns (who): Meg,MogandOwl...(pp.12) Thesetting(where)isalsointroducedinthissentenceandusesanotherexampleofanoun: 2

AnnaRoberts 2072979 Meg,MogandOwlwenttotheZoo.(pp.12)

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Thetime(when)isintroducedbyusingwentshowingthatthisstoryisinthepasttensewhichis consistentwiththepurposeofanarrative,toentertainandpassoninformationbyretellingaseries ofevents,intheonceuponatimeform.Bothoftheseelementsarecommonfeaturesof narratives(WingJan,2009).Thenextsentenceincludesthewhatofthestory: Theywereinterestedindifferentanimals(pp.23) andillustratesclearlyMeg,MogandOwlsreasonforgoingtotheZoo,toseetheanimals.Thistext alsohasanarratorandiswritteninthirdperson,however,theillustrationsalsoshowthought processesandconversationsinspeechbubblesandthereforehelpthestudentstounderstandthe differencebetweentheseformsofwrittentext,howthetextrelatestotheillustrationandwhya narratormightbeinvolved.TheexamplesofquestionsIwillusetoprovokethisthinkingare,What isMegsaying?orWhatisowlthinking?andWhatarethemonkeyssayingaboutMeg?

Nicoll,H&Piekowski,J.(1982)MogattheZoo(pp.36).London:Heinemann.

Thelanguagefeaturesincludedinnarrativesinvolveimagerywhichenhancesthestorybyprovoking thereadertousetheirimaginationtoformanunderstandingofthecharactersandplotthroughthe useofvividdescriptioncreatedfromadjectives,verbsandtimewords(Gleeson,2007).Examplesof theselanguagefeaturesareasfollows: Adjectives: interested,different.

Comparisonsbetweencharacterscanbemadetofurtherillustratetheuseofadjectivesin 3

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narrativewhilstreadingthisbook,forexamplethemonkeysaresmallandtheelephantis big. FollowingthemodelledreadingofMogattheZoo(Nicoll&Pienkowksi,1982),theclasswill undertakeactivitiestohelpstudentsgainabetterunderstandingoftheselanguagefeatures,as outlinedbelow: ActivityOne: FlashCardswithpicturesofMegandMogonthem.Studentsthendescribetheirfeelingsfromthe bookincomparisontoeventsthatoccurredwithpromptsandquestionsfromtheteacher.Alistof eventswillfirstbejointlybrainstormedandwrittenontheboard,afeeling(adjective)andadoing word(verb)willthenberelatedtotheeventandfromthesetwowordsIwillwriteasentenceto demonstrateusingadjectives1andverbs2andnouns3towritedescriptivelyandplaceinatime frame,suchaspasttense,forexample: ActivityTwo: StudentslookatflashcardsofMegandMogandwithpromptstheclassdescribeshowthecharacter mightbefeelinginthepictureandthereasonstheyhavegatheredthis,forexample: sheissadbecausesheisfrowningorheisscaredbecauseheishiding. Megfelt1sadwhenshewas2lockedinthe3cage. Verbs: ran,flew,zipped,pounced,flash,sat,thought,cheer.

Timewords: (for)hours,midnight,breakfast.

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(RetrievedApril6,2012,fromtheGoogleImagesWebsite: http://www.google.com.au/search?q=meg+and+mog&hl=en&prmd=imvnsb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=tI9T_L1HqfmAW EsaWDCA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBEQ_AUoAQ&biw=1680&bih=955)

Section 4: Joint Construction of the Genre

Jointconstructionwillfocusmoreonanotheraspectofnarrative,theprocessofdeveloping description.Anothertextwillbeusedforthebasisofjointlyconstructinganarrative.Ihavechosen tousethistextasitisabookthatonlyincludespicturesandnotext,thereforeasaclasswewill createanarrativefromthepicturesusingthelanguagefeaturesthathavebeenmodelledinsection three.Thestudentswillhavetheopportunitytoobserveandengageinconstructingallthestagesof anarrative,frombeginningstoendings,andrelatingcharacterstothesetting.Thetextthatwillbe usediscalledLionandMouse(Pinkney,2009)andincludesvividillustrations,thereforeithelpsthe studentstounderstandtherelationshipbetweenimagesandwritingasithelpstheteacherto explainthedifferentwaysastorycanbepresentedandforapicturebooksintendedaudience,the illustrationandtextmustmatchupforthestorytomakesense(Beaty,2009,p.79).Italsohighlights thewayinwhichstudentscangetideasfortheirwritingiftheyarestuck,bylookingatordrawing picturesfirstandformulatingtextafter,whichrelatesbacktooneofthelearningaimsofthisunit,to understandtherelationshipbetweentextandimagesforthepurposeofanarrative.Anexampleof oneofthebookspagesandthejointlyconstructedtextisincludedasappendix1. Thisstoryalsofeaturestwoverystrongmaincharactersandisagoodexampleofcharacterisation; thereforeithelpsthestudentstounderstandhowtowriteindividual 5

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descriptionandqualitiesforeachcharacterandhowtomodifythevocabularytosuitthecharacters emotionswhichareshownbythevividillustrations(Gleeson,2007).Theclasswillthenbebroken intotwogroupsandthestudentsandIwillanalysethetwomaincharacterstogetherandcreate charactercharts,whichareincludedasappendix2(Whitfield,2001).Eachgroupwillthencreate theirowncharacter.Myrolethroughoutthesecharacterisationactivitiesistoassiststudentsby guidingtheirthoughtsontowhythecharacterislikethisandwhatitmeansfortheplotofthestory, suggestinghowthecharactercouldbedifferentandwhatthiswoulddototheplot.ThequestionsI couldaskare: ThestudentsandIwillthenbrainstormalistofpossiblebeginningsforastory,usingthebeginnings ofboththeexampletextstocreateopeningphrases.Fromthiswewillalsothinkaboutwherethe storiescouldbesetandhowthisrelatestothebeginnings,Iwillassistthestudentswiththisby usingarangeofotherpicturebooksandlookingattheirsettingsandalsoshowingthestudents picturesofplacesandaskingthemtonamethesetting,forexamplethebeach,theparkorthezoo. Tocompletejointconstruction,theflashcardsfromsectionthreewillberevisited,toreinforcetheir learningandknowledgeofadjectivesandverbs,andthesentencesthattheclasscameupwithwill bewrittenoneachpicture(WingJan,2009).Theseposterswillbestuckuparoundtheclassroomfor thestudentstorefertowhentheyareindependentlywritingtheirstories. 1.whatifthereweretwotinymiceinsteadofamouseandabig,stronglion? 2.Whatwouldthischangeincharacterdotothestory?Howwouldthestorybedifferent?

Benefits of Joint Construction

Jointconstructionisimportantforstudentstobeabletounderstandthethinkingbehind theirwriting.Whenjointlyconstructinganarrativefromthepictures,asdescribedabove, thechildrenareviewingthebasicstepsofcreatingastoryandencouragingthem,asdefined byBeaty(2009)...toseehowspokenlanguageiswritten(p.89).Withtheteacherreading thesentencesaloudastheywriteandaskingthestudentstoreadthesentenceafterthem, thestudentsareabletogainconfidenceinputtingtheirthoughtsintowriting. Studentsareencouragedtotakeamoreactiveroleinthelearningprocessandconstruction ofatext,thereforewiththeteachermostlyprompting,ratherthanprovidingstudentswith

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thecontent,thestudentsareabletofeelmoreincontrolwhilestillfeelingsupportedand abletomakegroupdecisionscomparedtoindividualthinking(WingJan,2009). Theteacherisabletousejointconstructiontoseehowlearnersskillsareprogressingas theyarecontributingmoretothewritingprocesscomparedtothelesserinputtheyhad duringthemodellingofthegenre(WingJan,2009). Studentstakeonamoreproblembasedformoflearningthroughouttheprocessofjoint constructionastheylearntorelymoreontheirownthinkingandabilitytofindout information(Simon,2005).

Roles of a Reader Questions:

(Holliday,2008&WingJan,2009). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Whowillbereadingmystory? text user Whydowewritestories? text user HowdoIdrawapicturetorepresentthewordsIwrite? text participant Howcanwewriteasentencetohelpthereaderunderstandthepicture?
- text analyst

WhichwordscanIusetodescribeacharacterandhowcanIchooseawordtouse? code-breaker

Whatdoyouthinkthisstoryistryingtotellus? text participant

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IfImakeamistakewhatcanIusetofindouthowtospellawordorwriteasentence?
- code-breaker

Section 5: Independent Construction

1. PlanningandDrafting Insteadofaskingthestudentstowriteacompletedrafttheywillfirstcreateastoryplanoftheir ideas.Studentswilldrawtheirpicturesinpencilandwithnocolour,givingthemaninsightintothe fulldraftingandeditingprocessofcreatingaplanoftheirdrawingsfirst.Theywillthenfillinthe storyplanwithtext,helpingthemtofocusononeaspectatatimeandgettheirideasinorder(Wing Jan,2009).Followingthisthestudentswillusetheirstorymapstowritetheirstoryontothepages withtheirroughdrawingswhichwillneedtoconsistoffourpages,withanorientation,anevent,a conflictandaresolution(Barwick&Barwick,1999).Theywillneedtodrawapictureforeachpage andincludeaverbandanadjectiveineachsentence;aposterwiththesecriteriawillbedisplayedin theclassroom. Myroleduringthisactivitywillbetowalkaroundtheclassroomandtalktoeachstudent,helping themtocomeupwithideasbyaskingquestionsandexplainingthelanguagefeaturesandreferring themtoplacestheycangoforhelpiftheygetstuck,forexampledictionaries.Worksheetstheywill usetohelpthemwiththisprocessareincludedasappendix3.Theworksheetsaresetoutinthe easiestorderforthestudentstocreatetheirstories,acharacterfirst,thentheeventsthatoccurand atitlelast.Bycompletingtheirstoriesintwopartsthestudentswillnothavetowriteforextended periodsoftime.Thestudentswillthenwriteasentenceatatimeforperiodsof1015minutes. 2.Conferencing Oncestudentshavecreatedadraftoftheirstoriesonfoursheetsofpaperwiththeirillustrations andtext,theclasswillbedividedintosmallgroupsandonegroupatatimewillgowiththeteacher toreadandexplaintheirstoriesandideastotheotherstudentsintheirgroup,bydoingsothis helpsstudentstocheckthelanguagefeaturesareincludedandseeifitmakessense,buildingtheir

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confidenceinanalysingtheirownandothersstoriesandgetsthemmoreinvolvedwithandready fortheeditingprocess(Simon,2005). 3. Editing FortheeditingprocesstheclassandIwilljointlyconstructalistofthingstolookforwhenchecking theirstories.ThestudentswillofferalltheideasandIwillwritethemonapostersotheyhave somethingtoreferbackto.Iwillthenhaveanindividualconferencewitheachstudentduringwhich Iwillreadtheirstoriesandhelpthemwiththeirletterformationandgrammar. 4. Publishing Oncetheyhavecompletedafinaldraftoftheirstorybook,theclasswilltypetheirsentencesonto eachpageanddrawacolouredinversionoftheirpicture.ThestudentsandIwillthenvisitthe librarytoseehowabookisputtogetherandwhattheyneedtoincludeontheircoverpage.Once theyhavecompletedtheirfinalversionsoftheirpicturebooks,thestudentswillvisittheirbuddy classwheretheywillshowtheirbuddiesthebooksandhelpthemtoreadit.Thebookswillthenbe laminated,assessedandthestudentscantakethemhometoshowtheirfamilies.

Content Descriptors
1. Language: ACELA1469 Identifyvisualrepresentationsofcharactersactions,reactions,speechandthought processesinnarratives,andconsiderhowtheseimagesaddtoorcontradictormultiplythe meaningofaccompanyingwords(ACARA,2012). 2. Literature: ACELT1591 Discussthecharactersandsettingsofdifferenttextsandexplorehowlanguageisusedto presentthesefeaturesindifferentways(ACARA,2012). 3. Literacy: ACELY1671 Createshortimaginative,informativeandpersuasivetextsusinggrowingknowledgeoftext

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structuresandlanguagefeaturesforfamiliarandsomelessfamiliaraudiences,selecting printandmultimodalelementsappropriatetotheaudienceandpurpose(ACARA,2012). Themainfocusofthisunitistodevelopthestudentsunderstandingoftherelationshipbetween imagesandwrittentextbycomparingadjectivesandverbstoillustrationsconsistentwithcontent descriptoroneidentifyvisualrepresentationsofcharactersactions,reactions,speechandthought processes...(ACARA,2012,p.13).Anotherfocusofthisunitischaracterisation,thereforeby analysingandcomparingandcreatingcharactersintheactivitiesinsectionthreeandfour,in relationtoplacesandthemes,thestudentsarelearningaboutsettingandhowthiseffectsthe characterisationofastory,andalsobylearningaboutthelanguagefeaturesinrelationto illustration,whichisconsistentwithcontentdescriptortwodiscusscharactersandsettings... (ACARA,2012,p.14).Studentsarealsolearningtoparticipateindiscussionsofthesefeaturesof narrativeduringthegroupworkactivities.Finally,asthepurposeofthisunitistocreateapicture bookintheformofanarrative,studentsarecreatingimaginativetextsandapplyingtheir knowledgeoftextstructuresandlanguagefeaturesandusingmultiplewaystopresenttheirwork, handwrittenanddrawnandtypedonacomputerandpresentingtheirbooktoanotherstudent, consistentwithmultimodalelementsofdisplayingtheirwork(ACARA2012,p.15).

Assessment Strategies 1.ThefirstassessmentstrategyIwillbeusinginrelationtocurriculumdescriptoroneisbasedon

howwellthestudentscompletetheflashcardactivitiesinsectiononebyusingobservation.Iwill recordthisbytickingeachstudentoffachecklistastheycontributetotheclassdiscussion,a commentwillbewrittenalongsidetheirnameinrelationtohowwelltheyhavegraspedtheideaof adjectivesandverbsalongsidetheillustrations.Thiswillgivemeareferencetorefertowhen identifyingthestudentswhoneedmorehelpandsupportandthestudentswhoaremoreconfident andcouldbepairedwiththosewhoarenotasconfident(Hill,2012).

2.ThesecondassessmentstrategyIwillbeusingisconferencing.Throughoutthegroupdiscussions
includedinsectionfourandfiveofthisunit,thestudentswillbeassessedontheiranalysisof charactersandlanguagefeaturesandwhentheyreadtheirstoriesaloudtothegroupduringactivity twoinsectionfive.Theseconferencingsessionswillbeconductedinsmallgroups,soitisless dauntingforthestudentsandtoallowformoreindividualinteractionbetweentheteacherand 10

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student(Hill,2012).Iwillrecordthisassessmentbytalkingtoeachstudentabouttheirdraft,asking themquestionsandassessingtheirresponses.DuringthegroupactivitiesIwilluseeachgroups characterchartandcharacterthattheyhavecreatedinsectionfourasthebasisforassessinghow welltheyhavegraspedtheconceptofcharacterisationinrelationtolanguagefeatures.

3.ThefinalassessmentstrategyIwilluseisproductanalysis.Thestudentsfinalpicturebookswill
beassessedfortheoverallmeaningoftheirstory,spellingwillnotbeassessedasthemainaimof thisunitwastohelpstudentsidentifytherelationshipbetweenimagesandlanguagefeaturesandto developabasicunderstandingofthestructureofanarrativeandtousetheirimaginationtocreatea text.ThereforetheelementsIwillbelookingforisthattheyhaveusedverbs,adjectivesandtime wordsanddrawnapicturetorepresentwhattheyaresaying,alsothattheirstoryfeaturesan orientation,event,conflictandresolution(Barwick&Barwick,1999).

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References
ACARA.(2012).TheAustralianCirriculum,English:YearTwo.Australia:AustralianCirriculum, AssessmentandReportingAuthority. Barwick,J&Barwick,J.(1999).TheWritingSkillsHandbook:skillsandstrategiesforeffectivewriting. Melbourne:OxfordUniversityPress. Beaty,J.J.(2009).50EarlyChildhoodLiteracyStrategies(2nded.).NewJersey:PearsonEducation. Gleeson,L.(2007).WritinglikeaWriter:TeachingNarrativeWriting.Newtown:PrimaryEnglish TeachingAssociation. Hill,S.(2012).DevelopingEarlyLiteracy:AssessmentandTeaching(2nded.).SouthYarra:Eleanor CurtainPublishing. Holliday,M.(2008).StrategiesforReadingSuccess.Australia:PrimaryEnglishTeachingAssociation Australia. Nicoll,H&Piekowski,J.(1982)MogattheZoo.London:Heinemann. Pinkney,J.(2009)LionandMouse.NewYork:Little,BrownandCompany. Simon,L.(2005).WriteasanExpert:ExplicitTeachingofGenres.Portsmouth:Heinemann. Whitfield,M.(2001).TargetingWritingacrossthecurriculum:IntegratingEnglishwithSocietyand Environment/Science.Glebe:BlakeEducation. WingJan,L.(2009).WriteWays:ModellingWritingForms.Melbourne:OxfordUniversityPress.