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GRADE 10A: Survival Narratives

About this unit


This unit is designed to guide your planning and teaching of English lessons. It provides a link between the standards for English and your lesson plans. The teaching and learning activities in this unit should help you to plan the content, pace and level of difficulty of lessons. You should adapt the ideas in the unit to meet the needs of your class. You can also supplement the ideas with appropriate activities from your schools textbooks and other resources. In this unit, students investigate how time is marked and sequenced in narratives and how authors create settings and portray characters.

UNIT 10A.3 10 hours


Resources
The main resources needed for this unit are: a class set of a graded reader; a listening text about a survival story; a jumbled narrative; a recording of the beginning of a story.

Expectations
By the end of the unit, most students will: understand a range of common affixes and roots and use them to guess the meanings of unknown words and to extend, elaborate on and add precision to meaning; independently apply a range of spelling strategies; understand and distinguish some differences between American and British English; follow and respond to narratives and descriptions; recount and describe past events; read extensively from graded readers; infer underlying moods and intentions in narratives; independently plan and compose a narrative based on known or imagined stories. Students who progress further will: use a range of verbs, adjective and adverbs to convey precise description; recount narratives in the past, using the simple past, past continuous, past perfect and present perfect accurately and fluently. Students who make slower progress will: recount narratives in the past, using the simple past, past continuous, past perfect and present perfect with minor errors and/or some hesitation.

Key structures and functions


Talking about events in the past: They were coming towards him across the field. The younger man looked up. Instantly he recognised the face. It was the man hed seen leaving the house the day before. Setting the scene: We were staying in a hotel near the beach at the time. Wed just had breakfast . Speech verbs for reported speech: He promised to take care of her. She wondered if shed ever see him again. Pre- and post-modification of nouns: a small ratty-looking man, he liked to wear jackets with large brightly-coloured checks.

Vocabulary
Verbs of speaking: murmur, whisper, shout, scream, stutter, etc. Adverbs of manner: anxiously, suspiciously, hurriedly, etc. Describing character: arrogant, selfish, kind, generous, outgoing, reserved, etc.

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Education Institute 2005

Standards for the unit


10 hours
3 hours Investigating narrative 4 hours Setting the scene and portraying character 3 hours Writing narrative 10A.2.1

Unit 10A.3
CORE STANDARDS Grade 10A standards
10A.1.3 Continue to collect and classify speech verbs for reported speech e.g. promise, wonder. Understand elements of morphology in order to be able to guess the meanings of unknown words. Consolidate from G69 and extend ability to recognise, investigate, and spell root words with a range of affixes; generate new words and guess the meaning of unknown words from affixes, to extend vocabulary and support spelling: prefixes suffixes roots. 11A.2.1 Consolidate understanding of affixes and word roots from Grades 710, and extend ability to recognise, investigate, and spell root words with a wider range of affixes; generate new words and guess the meaning of unknown words from affixes, to extend vocabulary and support spelling:

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 9 standards

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

9.3.1

Understand a range of spoken texts containing complex utterances in a variety of face-toface and audio forms on general and abstract topics with sufficient grasp.

10A.3.1. Understand and respond to narratives, anecdotes, stories, plays and films: understand gist; follow dialogue; discern speakers moods, relationships and intentions; express opinions and connect to personal experiences. 10A.3.7 Understand and distinguish between different varieties of English: British and American dates regional and non-native varieties (Australian, Asian, European) in extended pieces of discourse.

9.5.7

Consolidate ability to talk with reasonable fluency about events in the past using past tenses.

10A.5.4

Recount and compare events, situations, narratives and personal experiences in the past, using the simple past, past continuous, past perfect and present perfect for the general past, as appropriate.

11A.5.3

Recount and compare events, situations, narratives and personal experiences in the past, using the simple past, past continuous, past perfect and present perfect for the general past, as appropriate.

10A.6.2

Read extensively from appropriately levelled texts, in the 2500 key word range, in a variety of genres and organised in paragraphs and chapters.

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10 hours
9.7.2

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 9 standards


Recognise through reading and comparing a range of narratives how authors create settings and portray characters. 10A.7.1

CORE STANDARDS Grade 10A standards


Read a variety of narratives and investigate how authors create settings and portray characters through the use of: adjectives and adjectival phrases which pre- or post-modify and collocate correctly with the noun; vocabulary to capture degrees or shades of meaning; more precise, powerful or expressive verbs; some uses of figurative language ordering of phrases and clauses in sentences to emphasise particular elements.

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

9.7.3

Recognise how time is marked and sequenced in stories and other narratives, through the use of verb tenses, through connecting words and phrases.

10A.7.3

Identify some of the ways in which time is structured in narratives (e.g. by chronological order, flashbacks, events in simultaneous time, and time slips stories within stories). Recognise how the text makes this clear through the use of verb tenses, connecting words and phrases, ordering simultaneous events in sequential paragraphs or chapters. Summarise a range of narratives through diagrams and charts which identify main characters and events and show the sequence and duration (i.e. time intervals) of time pictorially.

10A.7.4

Trace the development of themes, ideas and events through stories and infer underlying moods, intentions and values by reference to the text. Evaluate stories and other narratives, presenting and justifying views orally and in written summaries, drawing on evidence from the texts in relation to standards 7.17.3 above. Independently apply a range of spelling strategies including: phonic segmentation of multi-syllabic words; applying known spelling patterns and conventions; breaking words into segments of meaning (e.g. suffixes and prefixes, words within words); by analogy with other known words; using visual skills (e.g. recognise common letter strings and check critical features whether it looks the right shape, length, etc.); use a dictionary to check spellings and word meanings; using the spell-checker on a computer and cross-check the options offered to select the correct one.

11A.7.3

Trace the development of themes .. Form a critical opinion of a story by relating it to own views and preferences, comparing and synthesising information from different parts of the text to justify opinions. Extend ability to independently apply skills of spelling using own knowledge, spelling strategies, dictionaries and spell-checkers.

10A.8.3

11A.8.3

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10 hours

SUPPORTING STANDARDS including Grade 9 standards


10A.9.1

CORE STANDARDS Grade 10A standards


Independently compose texts of approximately 1015 to sentences in a coherent structure using: three connected and coherent paragraphs; varied sentence structure, and choice of words and phrases for precision and effect; connecting words and phrases to link sentences cohesively.

EXTENSION STANDARDS including Grade 11A standards

9.7.4

Summarise stories through diagrams and charts which identify main characters and events and show the sequence and duration of time pictorially.

10A.9.2

Drawing on experiences of reading, compose narratives based on known or imagined stories, personal experiences or recounts of events, showing ability to: construct a coherent story plan showing the main characters, the progression of events and the conclusion, as a basis for writing a full version; select and present themes and topics in ways that capture the readers interest; relate events coherently showing the passage and duration of time in a clear chronological sequence; include dialogue or reported speech as appropriate; select vocabulary precisely to portray characters and create moods and settings; use a variety of complex and simple sentence forms to create interest, emphasis, tension; draw the narrative to an effective conclusion; structure the text in paragraphs which break the narrative into coherent and connected parts.

11A.9.2

Drawing on experiences of reading, compose narratives based on known or imagined stories, personal experiences, or recounts of events.

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Activities
Objectives
3 hours Investigating narrative Students are able to: understand and distinguish between American and British English in terms of dates; recount, discuss and compare events, situations, narratives and personal experiences in the past, using the simple past, past continuous, past perfect and present perfect for the general past, as appropriate; use active reading strategies; investigate and discuss how time is marked and sequenced through stories.

Unit 10A.3
Possible teaching activities
Introduce the topic. Elicit the date of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, New York (11 September 2001). Point out that Americans refer to the date as 9/11 (i.e. they give the month before the day) whereas in British English the day is given before the month. Write three or four major world events on the board (with a selection of dates for students to choose from) and ask students to work out when each event occurred, for example: Sinking of the Titanic Asian Tsunami (15 April 1912) (26 December 2004)

Notes
Date formats are usually written differently in the short (numerical) form in the UK and US (e.g. Christmas Day 2005 is 25/12/05 in the UK and 12/25/05 in the US). When writing long-form dates, the British are more likely to write 25 December 2005 and although this is acceptable in both countries, December 25, 2005 is more generally encountered in the US (but it too is may be encountered in the UK). In British speech, the twenty-fifth of December is the most likely form, whereas in American speech December twenty-fifth is most likely. In British speech, even when the month is presented first, the definite article is still inserted, thus December the twenty-fifth.

School resources
This column is blank for schools to note their own resources (e.g. textbooks, worksheets).

First landing on the moon (21 July 1969) Students practise giving the dates in both the American format and the British format. For further practice, students can practise giving their date of birth.

Students listen to a survivor of a disaster recounting their story. They complete comprehension tasks to guide their listening and identify details. Highlight and discuss use of past tenses (past simple, past continuous, past perfect, present perfect) in the recount. Divide the class into two groups. One group takes on the role of a television or radio journalist who is going to interview the survivor. They work together to prepare questions. The other group takes on the role of the survivor and predicts the journalists questions. Make pairs with one person from each group and have them role-play an interview. Monitor for correct use of past tenses. Write the word survive on the board. Ask students to identify the root of the verb (-vive) and the prefix (sur-). Discuss the meaning of the verb and the origin of the root. Elicit related words (e.g. survivor, survival). Students match other words with the prefix sur- and the root -vive with their meaning and complete an exercise to practise the words in context. Give each pair of students a set of jumbled sentences to put in order. Pairs check with another pair and compare and discuss order. Elicit suggestions about what clues students used to determine the order of the sentences. Identify and underline the time signals in the text, and discuss where, how and why they are used. Other words at this level with the prefix surmight include surmount, surpass, surcharge, surveillance. Words with the root -vive might include revive/revival.

Find a paragraph of 68 sentences with a strong narrative sequence. Cut up the sentences to make a jumbled text. Prepare enough sets of jumbled text for students to work in pairs.

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities


Using the same sentences, identify and underline the pronouns and noun phrases used to identify characters (she and he, her and his, the great women. Discuss the consistent use of the pronoun and related noun phrases and how they can be used as clues for sequence (e.g. he and his would come after a noun or name referring to a male person has been mentioned). Discuss how the information in the text has been organised: the starting point, the end, order of information within the text. Discuss the use of tenses. Draw attention to how tenses express events in sequence and parallel (e.g. past simple for events in sequence; past perfect for events which precede other events; past simple and continuous for events in parallel). Draw attention also to time connectors for actions in sequence (then, suddenly , etc.) and in parallel (while, as, etc.).

Notes
When discussing specific language items use meta-language to talk about learning English. Encourage students to use the correct terminology for language concepts (e.g. noun, sentence, past) and to ask for the meaning, pronunciation and spelling of vocabulary.

School resources

4 hours Setting the scene and portraying character Students are able to: independently apply a range of spelling strategies; identify how time is marked and sequenced through stories; identify how authors create settings and portray characters; recount, discuss and compare events, situations and narratives in the past, using the simple past, past continuous, past perfect and present perfect.

Students discuss how time is marked and sequenced in the excerpt, noticing the use of chronological order, flashbacks, and events in simultaneous time, use of tenses and connecting words and phrases as relevant. In pairs or groups of three, students summarise the text through diagrams and charts which identify the entrance of main characters and events. Students identify all the words in the excerpt that describe mood and create atmosphere, and discuss their effect. They identify the use of precise, powerful or expressive verbs to capture degrees or shades of meaning. They substitute key words for other more common words and discuss the changes in effect, for example: The sun beat down on the open road. contrasted with The sun shone on the open road. Discuss use of figurative language, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia and alliteration as appropriate. Students explore ordering of phrases and clauses within sentences to emphasise particular elements. Give examples and discuss the effect of changing the order, for example: Silently, she crept down the stairs, peering through the darkness. What could it be? What could it be? She crept down the stairs, peering silently through the darkness. Students experiment with reordering given sentences in a short descriptive passage. Students identify all the words in the excerpt that provide clues about a characters feelings or personality, for example: adverbs (e.g. suspiciously, angrily); reporting verbs (e.g. shouted, murmured); adjectives (e.g. kind, worried); dialogue (e.g. I cant bear Shes adorable.); use of pre- and post-modification of nouns, etc.

Find an excerpt from a graded reader that the class is currently reading or another suitable text that sets the scene for an event.

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities


Divide the class into teams of four. Make sure that everyone has access to a good English English dictionary. Write a simple sentence on the board, such as: What are you doing here? he Students list verbs that could be used to fill the gap (e.g. asked, murmured, whispered, yelled). Stop the groups after two minutes. Students read out their list of sentences, being sure to use appropriate tone and intonation to match the verb. Other groups decide if the verbs fit the sentence or not. If in doubt, students check with the dictionary. Groups get two points for every verb that is accepted but lose a point if a verb is incorrectly spelt. Continue with more sentences, ensuring practice of a mixture of verbs, adverbs and adjectives. The team with the most points is the winner. Students read a descriptive passage of 500600 words from a novel or short story in which all the adjectives and adverbs have been removed; they replace the missing words. Students compare their ideas with the original passage. Give students a spelling test using new words identified in the above activity. Encourage students to apply a range of spelling strategies including: phonic segmentation of multi-syllabic words; apply known spelling patterns and conventions; break words into segments of meaning (e.g. suffixes and prefixes, words within words); analogy with other known words; use visual skills (e.g. recognise common letter strings and check critical features, whether it looks the right shape and length, etc.). Write a list of adjectives on the board to describe character, for example: arrogant, selfish, jealous, caring, ambitious Students work in small groups to identify which character(s) in the story they think the adjectives refer to, justifying their opinions with evidence from the text. Monitor for correct use of narrative tenses as students recall situations and events in the story to support their opinions. Students discuss each adjective in turn, saying who they think it describes and giving a reason; they can challenge each other as long as they support their opinions with evidence from the text.

Notes

School resources

It is important that the teacher has read the whole text.

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Objectives

Possible teaching activities


Write 56 direct quotes from the excerpt on the board, for example: Lend me your ID card. Ill give it back tomorrow, I promise! I wont tell anyone. It can be our secret. Did you see anyone enter the house? Provide a list of reporting verbs to match the quotes (e.g. ask, promise, apologise, tell, admit). Students work in pairs to write sentences putting the quotes in context, answering the questions who, what, where, why, when, for example: Peter asked John to lend him his ID card so he could go to see an adult film. Francis promised not to tell anyone that John broke the window. The policeman asked Marie if she had seen anyone enter the house. Students group and record reporting verbs according to the pattern that they follow, for example: apologise + for + -ing suggest that / suggest -ing insist on -ing Put students in pairs and give one sentence strip to each pair. Students prepare a short exchange which uses the exact words on their sentence strip. Demonstrate the activity by acting out an example of an exchange for one of the sentences: A: I have to go now, its getting very late. B: Oh, please dont go. A: I really should be going. B: Oh, please stay longer. Pairs rehearse their exchange and act it out for the class. They use intonation to provide emphasis and show feelings where appropriate. Have listeners use the verbs in the left-hand column above to report what the pairs said, for example: She begged him to stay longer.

Notes
Quotes should necessitate a range of reporting verbs (e.g. ask, tell, suggest, apologise). This activity can be made into a team game with points awarded for correctly addressing the questions who, what, where, why, and when.

School resources

Prepare a set of separate sentence strips showing examples of direct speech illustrating the same verbs, for example: Please stay longer. Im sorry Im late. I didnt take the money! You must hurry. It was me who gave him the key. Leave now and dont ever come back!

3 hours Writing narrative Students are able to: independently review and edit own writing; evaluate stories and other narratives; [continued]

Students listen to or read the beginning of a story. Stop the story at a point at which students can predict what happens next Students answer true/false questions to demonstrate their understanding of the main ideas and details. They identify the sequence of events by drawing a timeline, ordering jumbled sentences, etc. In groups, students continue the story. They discuss the character(s) in the story and make a story plan showing events in sequence. Encourage students to use a thesaurus to find precise words to express feelings and personality.

Choose an excerpt which introduces the main character. The story could be played on tape or read aloud by the teacher.

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Objectives
[continued] construct a coherent story plan showing the main characters, progression of events and the conclusion; use less common vocabulary to describe story settings and characters which create interest and suggest moods; evaluate stories and other narratives, presenting views orally and drawing on evidence from the texts in relation to agreed criteria.

Possible teaching activities


Discuss and agree criteria for evaluating their writing, for example: tenses for past events in parallel and sequence; time connectors; use of a range of words to describe feelings and character; an effective conclusion, etc. Groups prepare a first draft. They read through their draft for accuracy and for sense, applying the agreed criteria. They revise the draft accordingly, checking spelling with a dictionary or computer spell-checker. Before proceeding to the next step, discuss the role of feedback in the learning process and the importance of everyone participating. Establish rules for giving feedback to individuals and groups, for example: everyones opinion is valued; everyone must participate in the feedback; always begin with a positive comment; ask questions to understand the speakers or writers approach (e.g. Why did you ?); support opinions with evidence; criticism must be constructive (i.e. it must give ideas about how the speaker or writer can improve their work). Write the rules on a poster and display in the classroom. Students prepare enough photocopies of their work for one copy per group. Groups read each others texts with the agreed criteria in mind and give feedback.

Notes

School resources

For peer evaluation to be valuable it is important to agree on clear criteria and a process for giving feedback.

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Assessment
Examples of assessment tasks and questions
Listening Students listen to a story and demonstrate comprehension by ordering a jumbled list of activities in the correct sequence. Students discuss a character in a novel they have read or a film they have seen recently. They describe the character and give their opinion of him or her with evidence from the text. Students read a gapped text of approximately 250300 words and fill in the missing words. Students identify and correct mistakes in a narrative of approximately 200250 words.

Unit 10A.3
Notes
Listening carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Speaking carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Reading carries approximately 20% of the assessment weighting for this grade. Writing carries approximately 30% of the assessment weighting for this grade.

School resources

Speaking

Reading Writing

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