Professional Documents
Culture Documents
worksheet tasks, writing a narrative, mind-map strategies and knowledge for responding to and composing texts in
submission and multimodal presentation task. different media/technologies.
EN4-5C: A student thinks imaginatively, creatively, interpretively and
critically about information, ideas and arguments to response to and
compose texts.
EN4-7D: A student demonstrates understanding of how texts can
express aspects of their broadening world and their relationship
within.
Literacy Focus EAL/D focus ICT Focus
Numeracy
This unit is designed for both Information
Students understand EAL/D groups of students; Communication Technology
narrative writing who have been studying in the (ICT) is an important aspect
differs depending on Australian school setting and of the Syllabus and
the aim and intended have Cognitive/Academic Australian Curriculum.
audience. Language Proficiency (CALP); Students engage in various
who have recently came out of medium of ICT through the
Students develop the Intensive English Centre unit.
literacy skills in order (IEC) and have Basic o Google
to explore their own Interpersonal Communication Drive/Doc/Form
experiences and Skills (BIC). The unit specifically o Bubble.us
imagination through a puts a focus on scaffolding o YouTube Clips
variety of narrative teaching instruction through o Website for visual
texts. building up new knowledge on literacy
top of the prior knowledge,
Students learn to how recapping on the content and
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
Week/ Syllabus Teaching and Learning Strategies including Evidence of learning Resources/other
Sequence Content assessment for learning. information
and
outcomes
met by
each
activity
EN4-2A: Introduction to narrative Brainstorming on what Refer to these
A student Brainstorm students’ ideas about what they already they already know and following websites
T4 W1 effectively know about ‘narrative’ and ‘types of narratives’. discussing with the class for practices.
Lesson 1 uses a help activating on Telepathy:
widening Given time to think about ideas and write them students’ prior https://www.dtelep
range of down as a list. knowledge. athy.com/blog/inspi
process, ration/30-
skills, Teacher shows examples of different forms of compelling-
strategies narratives (e.g. TV, newspapers, books, film and examples-of-visual-
and everyday conversations). storytelling-on-the-
knowledge web
for Brainstorm students’ ideas about ‘what do narrative
responding tell us about?’. Food Commercial
to and Subway
composing Teacher shows a range of stories and answer the Using visual stimulus and Commercial:
texts in following questions: exposing them to a range https://www.youtu
different **Before, teacher provides students with key terms of texts type that they be.com/watch?v=p
media/tech or meaning of the words for engage, inform and are familiar with (maybe MDVvlQtjlk
nologies. purpose. good idea to include
visuals texts from other Sydney Morning
o What types of narrative was it? countries and they can Herald:
o What did the narrative tell you about? guess simple questions). https://www.smh.c
o Did the narrative engage, teach or inform you om.au/entertainme
anything? nt/movies/no-
o What information was included in the laughing-matter-
narrative? when-exactly-did-
clowns-become-
Students organize their notes and talk to their scary-20180326-
partner about the one narrative that captured their Students start to reason h0xy91.html
attention the most. Each student in turn will explain the factors that capture
why he or she picks the particular narrative. their attentions. Explains vocabulary
such as
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
Students think about the stories that they liked in Students practicing form/engage/infor
their childhood or favourite stories they heard speaking and listening m/purpose that is
of/watched online or read. Consider: through the pair work. crucial to the
o What was it about? discussion. Provides
o What did it teach you? the synonyms as it
goes along
Students summarise their findings about narrative Students visualise what (E.g. word purpose
in a mind mapping form (This is a part of ongoing they learn into a mind can also mean ‘aim’
summative task for students to submit it at the end map form. and ‘reason’).
of the unit).
When introducing
new vocabularies or
key terms, please
teach them
different forms and
consider word
stress.
E.g. engage ->
engagement ->
engaging
Lesson 2 effectively last lesson. Pick 5-7 and teacher pronounce twice word correctly.
uses a each vocabulary and students spell it down on their
widening notebook. They practice the ones that are wrong
range of three times.
process,
skills,
strategies Watch the short video on YouTube - Different. After,
and teacher asks the students what they think about the Students respond to the https://www.youtu
knowledge story: questions given by be.com/watch?v=yu
for o Who were the characters? teacher. 24PZIbkoY
responding o What was the purpose of the text?
to and o Do you think the text achieve the purpose? **Teacher provides
composing Why or why not? a caption with
texts in o How would you describe the clip? English or transcript
different (moving/funny/interesting and etc) of the video.
media/tech
nologies. Students discuss ‘what does it mean to be **Provides students
different?’ in different situations. Students look up on word bank for
EN4-5C: A E.g Being different in the video -> at home -> at dictionary to search the describing the
student school -> within their friends -> in a country key words: story/setting (e.g.
thinks Answers can vary from cultural, age, sex, national, age/sex/nationality/hob moving/funny and
imaginativel appearance, physical, hobby differences. by/culture. interesting).
y,
creatively, Question: what makes a good story? ** Teacher clarifies
interpretivel the meaning of
y and Students think/share in pairs their thoughts and Think/share in pairs ‘different’ first.
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
critically brainstorms a list of narrative factors that they think activity and
about contribute to the enjoyment. Answer could vary: brainstorming as a class.
information o Good structure of the story, relatable
, ideas and characters, exciting story, engaging start
arguments
to response Discuss and draw conclusions about qualities of a
to and good story. This can be done by a Take home messages
compose joint/independent/group/pair activity depending on show what students
texts. students’ levels. Teacher asks the class to verbally understanding of the
give 5 things that they learnt from this lesson. content. Bubble.us and
electronic devices.
Students complete ‘what makes a good story’ on Visualising the ideas into
their mind-map. a mind map.
E.g. Visual prompt: Dog in a window Why did the character photograph to see
He waited patiently all day at house on Saturday end up there? their vocabulary
morning. Looking out of the window and waiting for W: What is the levels.
his owner is the favourite thing to do. His owner complication?
usually comes back by 12pm on Saturday but this H: How did it happen?
day his owner didn't show up….
engaged you.
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
Give students to reflect and discuss with their jigsaw Students are practicing
group. the macro skills and
receiving scaffolded
Form an ‘expert group’ and each representative has support from their peers
to speak and discuss about their section. to complete the task.
EN4-5C: Cultural narrative as a migrant from the world? Activating the prior Teacher explores
A student Teacher instructs students to discuss about key knowledge by having to other forms of
T4 W2 thinks points of the former lesson. think about their former belonging.
Lesson 3 imaginativel lesson content. E.g. belong
&4 y, Teacher draws attention to the idea of ‘belonging’
(double creatively, as shown in the ‘Brolga’. Brainstorm with the class: Synonym or phrases
periods) interpretivel o What do you think ‘belonging’ mean in a Students are asked to to explain
y and relation to how the main character in Brolga respond to the high- belonging:
critically was to his indigenous land, culture and order thinking questions Closeness/familiarit
about family? through reflecting their y/inclusive and
information o What does ‘to belong’ to a place, people and perspective. nearness.
, ideas and society to you?
arguments Concept mapping: Teacher provides a
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
to response Teacher makes the point that feeling a sense of Students and teacher co- word bank/cline
to and belonging is important in all culture. construct important and vocabulary lists
compose ideas that came up from for new words or
texts. Asks students ‘how do narrative differ from one the class discussion in a key terms.
EN4-7D: country to another?’. Discuss the possible factors relation to migrating and e.g.
A student such as traditions, kinship, celebrations and identity. belonging. This activity society/land/relatio
demonstrat will provide a wide range n
es Students explore ‘What does it mean to be a of key concepts and
understandi migrant?’ vocabularies that help When introducing
ng of how the students to build a key term such as
texts can Students discuss as a pair OR refer to the Unesco good supporting belong, tradition,
express website. structure as a writing kinship and identity,
aspects of o Students read first and fourth paragraph on frame. allow the students
their the page. to look up on
broadening o Teacher conducts the reading strategies for dictionaries and
world and these two paragraphs where two kinds of give clear definition
their questions are asked; teacher chooses to pick of these words. Also
relationship up on a student and student just need to read uses metalanguage
within. off the word or phrases that are written in the Students understand (e.g. kinship ->
text; teacher asks to the class a question and what is a migrant and familial
any students can contribute to answer. whether or not they are relationship).
migrants.
**Any highlighted or key terms on the website
should be defined/practiced and introduced to Unesco:
other forms. Lists: http://www.unesco.
migration/choice/temporarily/permanently org/new/en/social-
and-human-
sciences/themes/int
ernational-
migration/glossary/
migrant/
T4 W3 EN4-2A: Elements of visual images How is a piece of visual
Lesson 1 A student Teacher introduces important aspects of text different from other PPT slides.
effectively understanding visual texts to the class. types of narrative?
uses a Explain how these
widening Colour: what colours are used? Are they used to features affect the way
range of portray different characters? How is it used to build we interpret the texts as
process, scene? a reader. Understand Visual stimulus
skills, Warm colours -> can be used to show excitement, how applying the visual examples:
strategies happiness or anger techniques shows
and Cold colours -> can be used to display harmony, different perspectives of Search for visual
knowledge peace or sadness the author or characters literacy on Google
for of the texts. for random photos
responding Background: What is described behind the image? OR
to and Refer to
composing Facial expression: What expressions are on people’s Teacherstarter for
texts in face? What kind of emotions do those looks visual prompts:
different represent? https://www.teachs
media/tech tarter.com/widget/
nologies. Symbol: Is there any symbol used in the text? If so visual-writing-
what do they stand for? prompts/
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
EN4-5C: Students need to read the chapter 1 of the book In fact, the arrival being a
A student before coming into the class. Have their answers to picture and graphic book
thinks the following questions ready to discuss in the class: can benefit EAL/D
imaginativel o What do you think the book is about from students.
y, the cover of the book, tittle and design?
creatively, o Why do you think the author used the
interpretivel particular colours in the book?
y and
critically Students watch the book trailer and discuss if they
about still think what they still think the same from the Book trailer: The
information cover of the book. Arrival – Shaun Tan
, ideas and https://vimeo.com/
arguments Teacher revisits the Chapter 1 of the book with the 139679090
to response students and analyses the image on the first and
to and second page. Students critically engage in questions Students consider what **Teacher provides
compose such as: implications does the a vocabulary/key
texts. o Identify the visual features that show some book has on shaping terminology lists as
significance to the family of the main your understanding of a word wall and
protagonist? migrant and belong? clearly explains the
o What do those image represent? definitions of the
o Why do you think the writer chose specific words. Words such
images on the particular pages? as migration,
o Can you predict where was the father heading migrants,
and the reason why he has to leave the family immigration, fresh
behind? off the boat,
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
culture, beliefs,
Teacher may choose one activity to play in the class Fosters students’ ability refugees may be
from: to construct a included.
1. Writing an opening paragraph of the story meaningful sentences
from the point of the main character (the with the use of correct
father). vocabularies that are
2. Consider different types of sentences that significant in the context.
might go well with each scene of the picture
on the first three pages. Working as pairs,
3. Think in pairs activity to attach a word or students come to
phrase next to each picture on the page 1. understand how visual
stimulus can be
interpreted different to
people.
T4 W3 EN4-2A: A The Arrival Part 2
Lesson 3 student Revisits any vocabulary, terminology or concept if If any words are not
effectively needed. familiar with students,
uses a highlight them. Teacher
widening Students take time to individually think about the can practice building up
range of word or phrases that goes into the blank. on their word
process, bank/cloud with specific
skills, Then form a group of four to discuss the reasons words that are crucial in
strategies why they chose certain words. the Arrival.
and
knowledge The group will come to consensus about their Students consider:
for decisions over the answer. o What is the main
responding character
to and The beginning of part two experiencing?
composing Before visiting the chapter two, students will predict o What do those
texts in what will happen to the story. images on the
different page 16 tell you
media/tech Scenes on the boat: about how he Teachers may utilise
nologies. o Who are the people on the boat? feels? What a visual support to
o What do you think the birds at the scene technique is used? assist EAL/D
EN4-7D: symbolise? o What are the students:
A student difficulties he may The Arrival Part 2
demonstrat On the page 16-18, there are several images that be facing? https://www.youtu
es may make you feel or think in certain ways. o How is the main be.com/watch?v=kn
understandi Students consider how each scene and picture lead character depicted nEJnohSbo
ng of how one to feel a loss in belonging and experience on page 16-18
texts can difficulties. when he goes
express through
aspects of inspections? Why
their Teacher may revisit the techniques or key points do you think the
broadening about the story. author choose
world and those images?
their o Do you sympathise
relationship the main
within. character? Why?
o What evidence
support that the
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
main character
does not feel a
sense of belonging
in a new country?
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
2
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
Stage 2 Problem/Complication
o Problem rises that affects the setting or the
characters
o Explicitly write how the incident made the
character feel in some ways
o Put the incidents in a correct timeline
Stage 3 Event
o Describe an attempt or attempts by the main
character in order to solve the complication,
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
but failed
Stage 4 Ending/resolution
o How the problem is solved
o What the narrator learnt from the incident
range of Teacher recaps on the content of The Arrival and o Build their literacy
process, uses the summary note that was used as a resource level from most Summary note as a
skills, B in the W4 L1. spoken like to resource B and if
strategies most written like any extra resource
and Students are encouraged to take turn to come up to o Improving on appear.
knowledge the front and write the sentences with the class. their vocabulary
for and word order
responding
to and
composing
texts in
different Note samples:
media/tech Participant His perspective
nologies.
T4 W5 EN4-5C: A Annotated example from the teacher Students learn significant Refer to the
Lesson 1 student Teacher hands out the good annotated narrative amount of knowledge resource C for the
&2 thinks text of one’s personal experience as a migrant and about syntax, semantics, details.
imaginativel explicitly teaches them techniques and language word order, structure
y, feature that are important in narrative writing and verbs used in
creatively, (Refer to resource C). narrative writing.
interpretivel
y and The annotated example puts a focus on explaining
critically the following language features:
about o Action verbs
information o Connectives
, ideas and o Use of first person
arguments o Writing in past tense
to response o Descriptive language (metaphor and similes)
to and o Figurative language
compose
texts.
2
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
imaginativel
y,
creatively,
interpretivel
y and
critically
about
information
, ideas and
arguments
to response
to and
compose
texts.
Reflection Google Form:
T4 W4 Give students opportunities and time to reflect on https://docs.google.
Lesson 4 their process of learning in the unit. com/forms/d/e/1FA
IpQLSevjbiM4CDeXn
Students build a PMI chart (plus, minus and vw7J0zY3PntVI5zUB
interesting) as a medium to evaluate their learning 7r34ncISv-
and whether or not they have achieve the aim of rlmhcnGzg/viewfor
the unit by addressing the following questions: m?c=0&w=1
o What did you enjoyed the most of the unit?
(P)
o What are the areas of the unit needed to be
paid more attention? (M)
Write the following information in English. Answer only the first column you see, then fold the blank part of the paper down so the other
cannot see your answers. Pass it onto the next person when the teacher says so. The idea is that students get to write different character’s
name, setting, situations, places and challenges in the story and come up with types of solutions to the problems. Once finished writing, one
student from a group takes turn to read it out to the class or to the group of the entire story. Through this activity, they will learn to structure
sentences and connect stories, the use of correct verb forms and uses of past tense.
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
For example:
What was the story about? -> he forgot the key inside the car
When and where did the story take place? -> it was at midnight in the mountains + after coming back from a camp trip
What was the challenge she/he faced? -> he could not find the car key
Why did the problem appear? -> because he always put his key in the pocket so he thought it is there and went to the bathroom at the service
area
How did she/she overcome the situation? -> call the NRMA service for a help
What happened in the end of the story? He was very happy but my mother scold him
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
The full story could be with self-constrcuting and co-constructing with the teacher:
The story is about my father forgetting his car key inside his car. It was at midnight in the mountains when he was on the way back from a
camp with his friends. Not having to check whether his key is in his pocket or not, he stopped at the service area to go to the bathroom. After,
he could not find his key for the car. He had to call the NRMA service and they opened the door for him. Eventually he was so happy that he
could go home but my mother scolded him.
The Arrival is a picture book story that is written by Shaun Tan and depicts universal stories of migrant’s lives and challenges. The book does
not have a single word written but utilises a series of wordless images that seems to come from a long historical time.
A man leaves his family in a country town, hoping for a better opportunity to earn money so that he can come back to his family again. He
boards on a ship to leave the town and eventually finds himself in a busy city. At this foreign land, he encounters many alien customs, strange
animals, building, objects and languages. Due to this unfamiliarity, a man feels like an outsider in this new and strange land.
With nothing but a suitcase and little money, the immigrants in The Arrival struggle to feel a sense of belonging in the foreign country. They
experience hardships in order to find a job, accommodation and place to live. Though his difficulties, he is very fortune that sympathetic
strangers came along way to help him. A man and his daughter kindly provide him food, gainful employment and a sense of belonging despite
each carrying their own histories and differences; stories of struggle and survival in a world.
The visual techniques that are incorporated in The Arrival is used to depict he stories of the protagonist himself, the people he meets and
highlight the difficulties and changes that the protagonist experiences.
Symbolism is the one of the most visible features that Shaun Tan uses to tell a story. Tan uses a wide range of symbols in the story to describe
idea of hope; the paper birds are used as a symbol of hope.
By using these visual techniques, Tan managed to show that the protagonist understands differences between the people he meets and
gradually adapts into his new life with stranger’s support and kindness.
Students will get this passage to re-order them into a correct order:
The visual techniques that are incorporated in The Arrival is used to depict he stories of the protagonist himself, the people he meets and
highlight the difference of changes that the protagonist experiences.
By using these visual techniques, Tan managed to show that the protagonist understands differences between the people he meets and
gradually adapts into his new life with stranger’s support and kindness.
A man leaves his family in a country town, hoping for a better opportunity to earn money so that he can come back to his family again. He
boards on a ship to leave the town and eventually finds himself in a busy city. At this foreign land, he encounters many alien customs, strange
animals, building, objects and languages.
Symbolism is the one of the most visible features that Shaun Tan uses to tell a story. Tan uses a wide range of symbols in the story to describe
idea of hope; the paper birds are used as a symbol of hope.
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
With nothing but a suitcase and little money, the immigrants in The Arrival struggle to feel a sense of belonging in the foreign country. They
experience hardships in order to find a job, accommodation and place to live. Though his difficulties, he is very fortune that sympathetic
strangers came along way to help him. A man and his daughter kindly provide him food, gainful employment and a sense of belonging despite
each carrying their own histories and differences; stories of struggle and survival in a world.
The Arrival is a picture book story that is written by Shaun Tan and depicts universal stories of migrant’s lives and difficulties. The book does
not have a single word written but utilises a series of wordless images that seems to come from a long historical time.
Suggestion: once they have reordered them into the correct paragraph, teacher can perform digtogloss to rewrite the sentences by using
different words. This helps students to require ability to reconstruct a short text by listening and taking notes down which can be used to
reconstruct the sentence. Also, the highlighted vocabularies are the key words that students should use and understand well in order to write
their personal stories. Students can write sentences using these key words in noun, verb and adjective forms.
Orientation – stage one: introduction (hook your audience; set the scene, who are the character, when did it happen)
It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day in (NARRARUVE THESIS) Shanghai (PLACE). I was nine years old, playing by the playground
with my little brother. I loved playing outside almost everyday after school. I also enjoyed hanging with my friends at the arcade. My father
came home one summer’s night in the mid 2013 with some interesting news (THE HOOK). He rushed (ACTION VERB) to the living room
and announced that he had a job offer in Australia and decided that our family would have a better opportunity and lifestyle in Australia. This
was the beginning of our journey to a new land, Australia. My family and I left Shanghai saying farewells to our friends and relatives, and
arrived in Sydney as an immigrant on the 20th August 2013 (SETTING THE SCENE). I loved everything I had in China but I found myself
feeling excited to experience a new beginning in my life (DESCRIBING WRITER’S POINT OF VIEW).
BLUE highlights are for past tense RED highlights are the learnt key words in unit
Complication – stage two: this stage is specific to the narrative writing where a problem rises which affect the main character
Later (CONNECTIVE), as my family were arriving at the airport in Shanghai, a sudden thought stroke down like lighting on my mind. I
realised that I was not just moving to another city or province in China, but to a new country where people do not speak Chinese, eat Chinese
food or watch TV in Chinese on every day basis. No one in my family spoke a good English at that time, and my father only knew how to count
numbers and say ‘hello’ in English. The airplane was full of families that seemed like they came to China for holiday and were about to return
to Australia. As flight attendant was giving out supper and drinks, she talked to my family and I. I could not understand anything and utter a
word. I inwardly groaned. Embarrassed and shamed after hearing series of English conversations, I wanted to jump (ACTION VERB) out of
the plane and go back to my city. Nonetheless, I turned my back to the flight attendant and did not reply back. (THE USE OF THIS
SENTENCE SHOWS CONFLICT AND DURTHER DEVELOP THE CHARACTER; the reader can tell that he will have troubles
speaking English). “Can I help you guys?” A man behind smiled and asked (ACTION VERB), he was Chinese and could speak English. He
helped (ACTION VERB) me order my food and drink and encouraged me to speak English with pride. I breathed a sigh of relief – I can do it.
Complication: stage 2
First day at new school in Sydney, my teacher asked me to introduce myself in the class. I felt as my face was burning like fire. (Using
figurative and direct language demonstrates he is still experiencing the conflict in speaking English without having to
say he is nervous or uncomfortable) I squeezed my brain so hard to say ‘Hello my name is Jiyan’. The teacher explained the rest and
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
instructed me to sit (ACTION VERB) down next to the girl with long blond hair. At recess, some students wanted to talk to me, but I could
not say anything. Some taught me to say some English words that are not nice to say and told me rude words in Chinese. Everyday at school
was so repetitive, if this were to go forever, I would have died of boredom (THE USE OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE TO DEVELOP THE
CONFLICTS ARE CONTINUING). It almost seemed as if my life in Australia was stuck in a permanent downhill spiral. (The use of
Event: significant event or thing that happened to the main character that help them overcome the conflict
One Friday in March, our teacher asked (ACTION VERB) us to bring one cultural food, items or stories from our background to share
in the class for the Harmony Day event. The teacher said (ACTION VERB) any volunteers would be appreciated. To be honest, I did not care
about this at all and was not intending to volunteer for any. Lisa, a long blond hair girl, who is sitting next to me suggested me to talk about my
culture. Due to my lack of English fluency, I refused but Lisa insisted she wanted to help. I had nothing to offer her back but we worked on my
speech over the weekend and came up with a topic on how Chinese celebrate New Year. At the Harmony Day event, I spoke (ACTION VERB)
in front of the class in English about my own cultural story. I could finally feel proud of myself and overcome my struggle in speaking English. I
felt like a free bird in the sky finally able to express myself. (THE USE OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE SHOWS THE CHANGE IN THE
MIND OF THE WRITER) My classmates were so curious about Chinese culture and wanted to know more. Since this day, I challenged
myself to talk to one new person everyday at school and my classmates seemed to accept me more. They told me that they did not know I
could not speak English, but I was too shy and quiet so they thought I do not like them.
Solution: What happened in the end? What changed in the view of the main character?
Now, I am a friend with almost everyone at school. I love Australia and my friends here but I also miss many things in China. I am proud
of myself to have made a decision to stay strong and challenge (KEY WORDS) myself. You never know what you are missing out in life until
you come across different new things. (LESSON LEARNT FROM THE VIEW OF THE MAIN CHARACTER) Facing a challenge is always
difficult because they gave me hard times but they also gave me opportunity to expose myself with new people, language and culture which I
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102092 2C Secondary Curriculum Nana Iwasaki 18798005
learnt to adapt in my life (CLOSING STATEMENT AND REFLECTIVE COMMENT ABOUT CHANGES IN HIS VIEW ABOUT
Part C: Justification
The unit of work on visual narratives has been structured in particular manner as to teach students why narratives
are so important to learn about. Teaching narratives matters because as humans innately tell stories of their own and it is
the way we understand about specific information, values and ideas. In the unit, the focus aim is to use narrative,
especially visual narrative The Arrival, to reflect and interpret their own lives. As the unit is catered for English as second
language or dialect (EAL/D) with differing levels, it incorporates few teaching and planning strategies such as backward
mapping process, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Scaffolding instruction and Teaching and Learning
Cycle.
Understanding By Design by Wiggins and McTighe (2005) promotes on backward mapping in the process of planning
curriculums. This refers to the process where teachers decide on aims and outcomes that they want students to achieve
from learning particular topics (Yurtseven & Altun, 2016). UBD differs from what traditionally curriculum and unit plans
are made where teacher begins by choosing learning activities and resources, and decide on the aims of the unit. This
‘activity-oriented’ planning of the curriculum, do not tend to lead the learning anywhere intellectually (Wiggins &
McTighe, 2005). By incorporating UBD, the unit planning has been successfully done from considering assessment task,
desired results and key concepts of the learning.
Following the key framework of the UBD, Rushton and Rossbridge (2014) emphasises the significance of the
teaching and learning cycle model, especially for EAL/D learner and teachers. The teaching and learning cycle involves four
critical steps such as building the field, deconstructing the text, joint construction and independent construction of the
text. In the process of building the field of visual narratives, students are exposed to variety of visual stimulus and engage
in activities where students need to explain what is there on the image, what could the story lead to and what would
happen in the end. This demonstrates that students’ responses are extended and a greater understanding of the
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knowledge related to visual narratives. Text deconstruction is done through understanding the visual techniques that are
specific to the chosen narrative The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Teacher also guides the discussion related to the key concepts
and use notes from concept mapping activity and class discussion. Resource B (re-order paragraph) is a short summary of
the key ideas from The Arrival and resources C is an annotated example on narrative writing, teacher can use this to
deconstruct on the vocabularies and teach metalanguage. Students and teacher co-construct sentences from the main
protagonist perspective by using strategies such as paraphrasing and recasting to provide assistance to students to
construct narrative. Finally, students can engage in independent construction about their own experience as a migrant.
The use of ICT in the unit plan has been a main focus, especially in provision of resources and learning material
which supports students learning. Australian Curriculum (2017) notes the importance of the ICT use as general capabilities
and many studies have shown its effectiveness on improving students’ learning in language teaching classroom (Adam &
Bruce, 2013; Young, 2003). In this unit, students are accepted to use any electronic device to search the word, YouTube
clip as a visual stimulus as well as creation of their own Storybird (picture book). This does not only help students learning
in language learning, but also provides them opportunities to develop their ICT skills.
Providing scaffolding instruction to students has been a major area of focus for EAL/D language teaching strategy
(Gibbons, 2002; Hammond & Gibbons, 2005; Kayi-Aydar, 2013). In the unit of work, scaffolding is integrated at what
Hammond & Gibbons (2005) call macro and micro levels scaffolding. The macro scaffolding or ‘designed-in’ scaffolding
which can be identified as classroom organisation, task and lesson sequences and lesson goals are present at any
programs, however, the way teachers carry it out in the classroom can bring significant differences. In the unit, much
attention has been paid to carefully plan on sequencing the activities in the studies of The Arrival. Tasks, activities and
discussion questions that were chosen in order to understand the important concepts in the stories and about how
migrant faces struggles and challenges throughout the book. As EAL/D students differ in their levels of English proficiency,
the unit focuses on talking about language to refer to the key words of learning in a scaffolded manner. In contrast,
scaffolding at micro level refers to interactional scaffolding that occurs naturally from interactions between students and
teacher. The unit provides opportunity for students to have a class discussion and questions that links or activate their
prior experiences, followed by teacher appropriating students’ contribution to build them toward the discourse. Through
the scaffolding, teachers must keep in mind that direct instruction is crucial in the EAL/D classroom setting (Courcy). This
means that any new knowledge or vocabulary that are related to the key concepts of learning must be predicted by the
teacher in the first place, then provided with activities that reinforce the new vocabulary. This is carefully done in the unit
plan with additional support activities such as building word cline, bank and practicing different forms (verb, noun,
adjectives and etc).
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In conclusion, the unit plan has incorporated four main teaching strategies that are so important to EAL/D teaching
and learning. Students in EAL/D classes, differ in their backgrounds, cultural and English proficiency levels. In order to
meet each student in this diversity, teachers need to understand where each student is at and scaffold the instruction
where needed.
Reference lists:
Adam, B., & Bruce, W. (2013). ICT for ICT’s sake: secondary teachers’ views on technology as a tool for teaching and
learning. Australian Educational Computing, 28(1), 61-70. Retrieved from
https://eric.ed.gov/?q=effective+use+of+ICT+in+education&pr=on&ff1=locAustralia&id=EJ1018788
Courcy, M., D., Dooley, K., Jackson, R., Miller, J., & Rushton, K. (2012). Primary English Teaching Association Australia
(PETAA). PETAA Paper 183: Teaching EAL/D learners in Australian classrooms. Retrieved from
http://www.petaa.edu.au/imis_prod/w/Teaching_Resources/PETAA_Papers/w/Teaching_Resources/PPs/PETAA_PAPER_1
83.aspx
Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching Second Language Learners in the
Mainstream Classroom. 1 Edition. Heinemann
Hammond, J. & Gibbons, P. 2005, Putting scaffolding to work: the contribution of scaffolding in articulating ESL
education, Prospect, 20(1), 7-30. Retrieved from
http://www.ameprc.mq.edu.au/docs/prospect_journal/volume_20_no_1/20_1_1_Hammond.pdf
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Kayi-Aydar, H. (2013). Scaffolding language learning in an academic ESL classroom. Elt Journal, 67(3), 324-335. Doi:
10.1093/elt/cct016
Rossbridge, J & Rushton, K. PETAA Paper 196. The critical conversation about text: Joint construction. Retrieved
from
http://www.petaa.edu.au/imis_prod/w/Teaching_Resources/w/Teaching_Resources/PPs/PETAA_Paper_196___The_critic
al_conversation_.aspx
Young, S. S. C. (2003). Integrating ICT into second language education in a vocational high school. Journal of
Commuter Assisted Learning, 19, 447-461. Doi: 10.1046/j.0266-4909.2003.00049.x
Yurtseven, N. & Altun, S. (2016). Understanding by Design (UbD) in EFL teaching: the investigation of students’
foreign language learning motivation and views. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 4(3), 51-62. Retrieved from
https://eric.ed.gov/?q=understanding+by+design+&id=EJ1085032