Chantelle White s3382680

Planning for Literacy Development TCHE2434

Assessment Two: Learning Plan
Rationale
This report discusses a Literacy Learning Plan for a grade 4 student in response to their key learning needs,
as identified in a prior reading assessment. Therefore, this report serves as stages two-four of Winch and
Hollida s Tea hi g/ Lea i g C le (2014) that emphasizes the importance for assessment to inform future
learning decisions, teaching and programming. The report outlines the stude t s learning achievements, and
details critical literacy skills and the text-analyst role, f o

Luke a d F ee od s Fou esou e Model

999 ,

as learning needs. I have used this information to inform specific learning goals that recognize the
interconnectedness of reading and writing, and will enhance the stude t s de elop e t as a proficient agent
in Literacy as an undivided activity. The report includes a Learning Plan (LP) involving teaching strategies and
learning tasks that support the curriculum-advised outcomes and are influenced and justified by professional
literature.

Gordon Winch and Marcelle Holliday, 2014

Elsa
Grade 4 student, nine-year-old Elsa, is a highly passionate reader who extends her reading beyond school
requirements, reading multiple times a day for leisure and enjoyment. The initial assessment revealed that
when selecting for herself, Elsa tends to gravitate towards hild e s fi tio se ies. Elsa e jo s a ati es
involving adventure and mystery, such as the EJ12: Girl Hero series by Susannah McFarlane. Elsa also enjoys
witty authors like Andy Griffiths and narratives with animal themes and/or characters such as the Bindi Irwin
Animal Adventures books.

Learning Achievements
The reading assessment showed Elsa is well on her way to becoming a very capable reader. Elsa is currently
between the Transitional and Proficient phases of reading according to the Reading Map of Development
by the Department of Education W.A. (2013):

According to the research, active, effective comprehension involves making connections to text, self and
world, questioning the text and responding to teacher-questions, and summarizing (Booth 2001,
Harvey & Goudvis 2007). Elsa demonstrated high capability in these skills. However, advanced
comprehension also involves making inferences and analyzing and these are two areas in which Elsa
had difficulty, particularly when responding to non-fiction text.

Learning Needs
The assessment revealed that Elsa is not yet confident engaging with texts in the role of text-analyst, and is
unaware how she assumes this role when reading. Effe ti e te t a al sts a ide tif the a s i
texts bid to define the world, positio , a d pote tiall ,

hi h

a ipulate eade s Luke, Doole & Woods

Elsa had difficulty engaging with the information text Cheetahs, with this level of comprehension. Elsa could
not identify purpose or audience, and elie ed that the autho s i te tion was; In case you are in an African
safa i a d t

to pat a heetah, a d ou eed to k o

ou a t just app oa h the

. While Elsa understood

that Cheetahs conveyed the human development causing the decline in cheetah numbers as a negative, she
was unable to identify how the author did so, and could not recognize specific language that was used to
influence her thinking that way. Additio all , I lea t that Elsa as t e t e el fa ilia

ith e posito

persuasive texts. Future teaching needs to support Elsa s u de sta di g of e posito / pe suasi e te ts a d
thei spe ifi uses depe de t o pu pose a d audie e. he eeds to lea

a out this ge e s st u tu e,

metalanguage and language features, gain awareness of how authors use language to persuade readers. This
learning should involve opportunities for Elsa to demonstrate this skill in her own writing too.
Elsas analyst responses to Cheetahs
What do you think the author wants us to They might want us to know that people a e ui i g the heetahs
think about cheetahs?
habitat and they want us to do something about it.
How do you know the author wants you to Because it says the human settlers are making their habitats
think that?
disappear.
How do you think the author wants us to
Wa ts us to feel like it s so ethi g ad e ha e do e.
feel about the humans who are settling in
the grasslands where the cheetahs live?
While these answers are accurate in articulating the view the author has directed, they do not refer to
specific words/ language features used by the author to do so. Ideally, Elsa would be able to express that the
author wants us to respect cheetahs as intelligent, well-adapted animals that are becoming endangered
because of human development in their habitat. For example, Elsa would be able to refer to the adverb
o l

i Pe haps o l 7,

to

of these ig ats e ai , as a te h i ue used

the

ite to t igge

the reader to feel empathetic for the declining cheetah population and angry with the human population
who are displacing them.

Connection between Literacy strands

Elsa s

ajo lea i g eed is te t-analyst and critical literacy skills. Although this need was identified through

a reading assessment, being literate, and the comprehension skills required are transferrable between all
modes of communication. Above all, reading and writing are interrelated as both are constructed with the
text-user, or audience in mind. Teachers help students to read like writers- and read with the writer in mind,
and writer like readers- write with the reader in mind, when they make the links between reading and
writing explicit (Smith, 1983; Booth Olsen, 2012; Hill, 2006). Scaffolding strategies for reading and writing are
desig ed to fo us lea e s atte tio o patte s of language and to recognize the meanings they express
(Rose et al 2003). This approach will be used to help Elsa improve her evaluative skills and gain better
understanding of the role of the text-user, and how it is purposefully influenced by the text-creator.

Learning Plan
Pedagogy
Elsa s LP will involve teaching/learning practices for evaluative and analytical thinking specific to persuasive
texts. Even though these critical literacy skills are important for effective engagement in all text types, this is
an opportunity to also explicitly teach the genre of persuasive/ expository text since Elsa is least familiar with
this. Tea hi g eeds to e pli itl i ol e the uses fo this ge e a d its st u tu e,

etala guage a d

language features. Each genre should be taught authentically, for realistic purposes and explicitly so as to
ensure consolidated understanding of requirements of the specific genre. Analyzing skills can be
transferrable to other genres when they are learnt efficiently. I have used my knowledge of Elsa, as an
animal-lover to create an LP that involves teaching/learning opportunities that work towards a final product
that she will have interest in.

Final Product: C eate a pe suasi e te t, Wh

e should p ote t heetahs a d thei

atu al ha itat , that

could accompany the Cheetahs article on the National Geographic Website, 2016. Your piece should be well
researched and your arguments should be convincing and supported by facts and evidence.

The teaching/ learning practices will aim to achieve Learning Goal 1, and by creating this final piece, Elsa will
be demonstrating Learning Goals 2-4. Additionally, the process will address the following Victorian
Curriculum descriptors:
Reading
Text-structure and organisation: Purpose, audience and structure of different text types: Identify features used in imaginative,
informative and persuasive texts used to meet the purpose of the text, and understand how texts can vary in complexity and
technicality depending on the approach to the topic, the purpose and the intended audience
Responding to Literature: Expressing preferences and evaluating texts: Describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language
features of literary texts
Writing
Creating Texts: Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting
details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features.
VCAA 2015

Moreover, the LP ill suppo t Elsa s a hie e e t of the ea -four English achievement standard:

VCAA 2015

Although this LP focuses only on reading and writing, the skills of thinking about influencing text-users, or
understanding how text-users are being influenced, applies to all forms of communication texts. Therefore,
Elsa s LP will assist in her Literacy skills across all three stands.

Practices
1. Purpose for learning
Articulate the expectations for the final product and explain that the coming Literacy teaching/ learning will
be in preparation for this. At grade four, the student can take responsibility for their own learning and
perhaps be encouraged to keep a separate notebook for information that they think might assist their
development of the final product. Provide assessment criteria now so the expectations for learning are
explicit. To see an example rubric, see Appendix 1.

Teaching the content area: A level of general understanding is required for anybody to be able to engage
with any sort of text (Rose et al 2003). All stude ts eed to ha e thei p io k o ledge a ti ated The all
need to have the language explicitly taught to them (Poulter 2003). It is important that context and content
is taught before expecting students to create an accurate representation of a new text genre, or about a new
content area. For Elsa, teaching needs to include the scientific language associated with non-fiction texts
a out a i als. Wo ds su h as lassifi atio , e da ge ed a d ha itat , a o g othe s, eed to e e pli itl
taught for Elsa to have a fair opportunity to make meaning and comprehend these sophisticated texts. Every
content area has its own characteristic literacy practices (Fang & Schleppegrell 2008) and therefore,
regardless of what content is being read or written, content knowledge needs to be learnt first.
The same applies for learning the specific metalanguage associated with information, persuasive and
e posito

te ts, ho e e this is o e ed i the Buildi g the field stage of the LP.

2. Building the field

During this phase of teaching/learning, the student should be given plenty of exposure to persuasive and
expository texts. This phase i ol es suppo ti g a d uildi g o the stude t s e isti g k o ledge (McIntire
2016). Activities that occur during this phase can include:
- Reading persuasive/ expository texts to class and providing additional reading material
- Discussing persuasive texts as a class/ small group, noticing and recording information about:
* Structure (Title, intro, etcetera)
* Tone of voice, emotive language
* Arguments and how they are supported (anecdotes, facts, evidence, quotes)
* Explicit teaching of language conventions and genre-specific metalanguage such as rhetorical questions,
nominalization, modality, bias, generalization etcetera.
- Informal discussions involving ide tif i g the autho s poi t-of-view, purpose and audience
For some examples of persuasive texts and discussion questions, see Appendix 2.

Du i g the

uildi g the field stage, the tea hi g should e e

isual a d o al. This ill guide stude ts to

speaking confidently with the language themselves, which will then assist them in independent writing using
the language effectively (Poulter 2003).

3. Modeling the text type

In this phase we move on from discussions and independent exploring, to explicit teaching of the genre and
analyses skills. Practices can include:

Guided Reading of persuasive texts, pointing out important features of structure and language conventions
including:
*Providing a sample you have written and discuss the
*Structure (Title, intro, etcetera)
* Tone of voice, emotive language
* Arguments and how they are supported (anecdotes, facts, evidence, quotes)
* Recycling the Language (Poulter 2003); Explicit teaching of language conventions and genre-specific
metalanguage such as rhetorical questions, nominalization, modality, bias, generalization etcetera.
- Learning how to identify the autho s poi t-of-view, purpose and audience

Researching an argument: In order to create convincing writing, arguments need to be well-informed and
supported with convincing reasons, facts, evidence, quotes, anecdotes and so on. Ensure teaching about
how to research, to ensure effective writing. Lessons may involve learning about the different types of
research, (quantitative and qualitative), and the availability of using existing research or conducting new

research. This learning a o u i the

odeled

iti g phase e ause it ill de o st ate to stude ts ho

to participate in the whole process of writing a persuasive/ expository text.

Modelled Writing of a persuasive/ expository text explaining reasons for authorial choices in catering to a
specific purpose and audience. Include and discuss why you have chosen a specific tone of voice, arguments,
supports for arguments, and language conventions.
Include explicit instruction about structure including:
* Title
* Introduction
* Body: A decided number of arguments with a main idea and supporting reasons/ evidence
* Conclusion including a call for action

Joint Construction
Teacher and students write together and structure and language choices are made explicit (McIntire 2016).
Choose a topic together and discuss and decide on a certain point of view. Decide on an authentic purpose
for the text and a suitable audience. Co-construct meaningful sentences. Include contributions from
students, and discuss and analyze reasons for using specific language conventions, arguments, evidence, and
so on to support point of view. Reteach genre-structure: title, introduction, body, with number of arguments
with supporting reasons and evidence, and conclusion including call for action. Joint-writing tasks are also an
ideal opportunity for incidental teaching of grammar conventions and spelling strategies. For an example
stimulus topic and prompts, see Appendix 3

Independent writing
Students apply their learned knowledge and skills to create persuasive texts. Allow opportunities for creation
of multiple tries before setting the expectation to create the final cheetahs product. During this phase,
conduct independent or small-group writing conferences to consolidate and scaffold learning for likestudents experiencing similar challenges should they arise.

Final product project

Allow the student to complete the final project and demonstrate their learnt knowledge and skills. Assess
against Learning Goals, Victorian Curriculum descriptors and achievement standard. You can tell if the
student has learnt the content by what they produce, and you can tell if they have learnt the language by
how they have expressed it (Poulter 2003). It is important to assess both of these factors to identify if
learning intentions have been met, or if more explicit teaching is required.

Conclusion
This report provides a LP that will effectively help Elsa develop her skills as a reader, writer, and text-user of
any genre. The LP provides strategies to guide teaching and learning for text-analyses skill development, and
the teaching of the persuasive text genre. The plan includes suggestions of researched and informed
activities that will help scaffold this learning. The pla is go e ed

the p ese e of the fi al p odu t that

was designed to serve as an authentic task that will prove whether of not the learning intentions and
curriculum standards have been met.
Words: 2228

Appendix
1. Example Persuasive Text Assessment Rubric, Whitfield (2010)

2. Example persuasive text and discussion questions, Whitfield (2010)

3. Example joint writing prompt and stimulus, Whitfield (2010)

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