LITERACY / UNIT PLANNER

Topic: My Place 1968 Sofia

Year Level: 5

GRAMMAR FOCUS:

Text type and mode

1. Whole text structure of a Information Narrative

Orientation introduction to characters, setting and time of the story are

established. This should answer the who, when and where.
Complication and series of events in which situations, activities and events
involving the main character are expanded upon. These events are written in a fluent
and cohesive manner.
Resolution in which the complication is resolved satisfactorily but not necessarily
happily.
Its important to note these attributes should be authentic to the time period.

Language features for the text-type:

Descriptive language to create vivid images (use of appropriateness, adverbs,

adverbial phrases and clauses, adjectives, adjectival phrases and clauses, similes,
metaphors, hyperbole, analogy, onomatopoeia, alliteration). Should also include
authentic language and phrases to reflect the time period.

Word Level:

Verbs action and mental (thinking/feeling) alternative words for said.

Adjectives words adding extra information

Adverbs words to add extra information to verbs.

Conjunctions words to join words, make sentences richer. Connecting to clauses

with and, however, consequently.
(Wing Jan, 2009, pp. 235-255).

Information

Term: 4 Week: 4
Listened to

Spoken

Read

Date: 19 October 2015

Written

Viewed

Produced

Narrative

Steps in Teaching and Learning Cycle: (adapted Derewianka, 1990/2007)

1. Building topic knowledge
2. Building text knowledge/Model the genre
3. Guided activities to develop vocabulary and text knowledge
4. Joint construction of text
5. Independent construction of text
6. Reflecting on language choices
7.
Frequently used Literacy Instructional Strategies: Gradual Release of Responsibility Model
Language Experience Approach (R/W) Picture Chat Read to Shared R/W
Guided R/W
Modelled writing Interactive writing Independent R/W Literature Circles Reciprocal Teaching
Mini lesson Roving conferences
Teaching techniques: Think Aloud, Text analysis, Cloze exercises, Note-taking
Graphic Organisers: T-chart, Y-chart; Venn diagram, Data grid, Sunshine wheel, KWL chart, Flow
chart, Story map, templates for text-types for planning,

CONTEXT: Overview of series of lessons and background information

We are planning to create texts with a correct narrative structure and that are an authentic representation of
the 1960s. We are learning to research information about the time period and transferring what we have
learnt and insert it into our narrative stories. We are learning to write narrative pieces that are meaningful
and have real life information about life in the 60s, using descriptive language, such as adjectives and
adverbs to make our narratives richer and more engaging. I anticipate a minority of students having prior
knowledge of the 1960s time period, Im aware children have prior knowledge on narrative writing and
have looked at their work samples.

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Pre-assessment of students skills and knowledge:

Standardized tests for reading/writing/ NAPLAN
Profile of Data Progression of Reading Development
Conferences/interviews
Student written work samples
Self-assessments
Literacy Learning intention: We are learning to create authentic information
narrative pieces about the 1960s.
Learning behaviors: I need to be engaged in these lessons to critically reflect on my
own use of language and how I can add more information to my sentences as well as
be able to trans lay my information research into a narrative structure.
Success criteria: I know Im doing well if I can create a well-structured information
narrative with the inclusion of authentic 1960s themes, characters, settings,
problems and resolutions and my story is told with a wide range of descriptive
language.

Four resource model (Freebody & Luke, 1990/1999): Code Breaker; Text Participant/Meaning
Maker; Text User; Text Analyst
Comprehension Strategies: Predicting; Visualising; Making connections; Questioning; Inferring;
Determining important ideas; Summarising; Finding evidence in the text; Understanding new
vocabulary; Synthesising; Comparing and contrasting; Paraphrasing; Recognising cause and effect;
Skimming and scanning; Five semiotic systems: linguistics, visual, auditory, spatial, gestural.
Question types: self-questioning; 3 levels; (literal, inferential, evaluative); QAR
Thinking Routines: See, Think, Wonder; Headlines; +1, Three word summary, 5VIPs, Give One,
Get One, Picture Chat, Zoom-In, Think, Pair, Share. (refer Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & amp;
Morrison, K. (2011). Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and
Independence for All Learners. eBook online)

Topic-specific vocabulary for the unit of work:

Resources:

War, conscription, separation, devastation, government, Vietnam War, political,

social, depression, decade, era, rights, equality, women, men, history, Australia,
scandal, expectations, rights, descriptive language, opening, setting, who, what,
where, when, complication, problem, resolution, conclusion, soloution

Wing Jan, L. (2009). Write ways. South Melbourne: OUP.pp. XX; EPISODE XX English teaching resources downloaded
on XX from www.myplace.edu.au/. My Place website www.myplace.edu.au Video clip Episode XX; ABC3 MyPlace
http://www.abc.net.au/abc3/myplace/ OTHER?

Analysing
Checking
Classifying
Cooperating
Considering options
Designing
Elaborating

TEACHING & LEARNING CYCLE

(Identify step in the T & L cycle and
the literacy learning intention or
sessions focus )

Estimating
Explaining
Generalising
Hypothesising
Inferring
Interpreting
Justifying

We are learning to
research using multimodal texts.

Performing
Persuading
Planning
Predicting
Presenting
Providing feedback
Questioning

WHOLE CLASS
Hook or Tuning In
(Identify a strategy or a tool to help
activate prior knowledge and/or to
introduce the topic.)

MINI LESSON
(Explicitly model the use of a new strategy or a
tool to assist with the literacy learning
intention or focus of the session and to
prepare students for successful completion of
the set task. Reference to Wing Jan include
page details)

Brainstorm with a
classroom discussion.
Does anyone know
what war was in the
1960s?

My Place 1968
Goodbye. (Shared
viewing)
http://www.myplace.edu.a
u/teaching_activities/1968
/3/the_goodbye.html?

We are learning to ...

1. Building topic
knowledge

Listening
Locating information
Making choices
Note taking
Observing
Ordering events
Organising

Reading
Recognising bias
Reflecting
Reporting
Responding
Restating
Revising

INDEPENDENT
LEARNING
(Extended opportunity for students to work in
pairs, small groups or individually on a set
task. Time for teacher to probe students
thinking or work with a small group for part of
the time. Reference to Wing Jan include page
details)

We are using various

modes to gather
information.
In pairs, research further
into why young

Seeing patterns
Selecting information
Self-assessing
Sharing ideas
Summarising
Synthesising

Testing
Viewing
Visually representing
Working independently
Working to a timetable

SHARE TIME AND

TEACHER SUMMARY
(Focussed teacher questions and
summary to draw out the knowledge,
skills and processes used in the session)
Link back to literacy learning intention
and key points of effective
reading/writing, speaking, listening and
viewing.

ASSESSMENT
STRATEGIES
(should relate to literacy learning intention or
focus of the session. Includes how & what you
will use to make a judgment on students
attempt/work)
Success criteria written for students to know
what the minimum expectation is.

Whats one thing you

have learnt today?

Assess the richness and

relevance of childrens
responses, thoughts and
wonderings in the
classroom discussion and
in their workbooks. With

What have people

found out about the
war in the 60s?

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Does anyone know

anyone went to war?
How do you think the
young Australians felt
being sent to war?
What about their
families?

idSubtheme=
Thinking Tool/Routine?
See, Think and Wonder.

Australians went to war in

the 1960s using iPads
and Inquiry Books in the
classroom.

Get the children to

1. Describe what they
have seen. (SEE)
2. Interpret a moment
and describe it
(THINK)
3. Question
something relating
to the video.
(WONDER)

Enabling group:
Bring a small group to the
floor and watch the My
Place: 1968, video on
Conscription.
http://www.myplace.edu.a
u/teaching_activities/1968
/2/conscription.html?
idSubtheme=

Record this in writing

excersie books.

Both groups record some

interesting facts they
found.

(Wing Jan, 2009 P 256)

1. Building topic
knowledge
We are learning to
make and check
predictions about our
topic.

Building topic
knowledge
We are learning to
listen for meaning.
Building text
knowledge/Model
the genre

Did ALL people

volunteer to go to
war?

their see responses see of

they can go beyond the
surface, and delving
further. Look for similar
richness in the think and
wonder responses too.

What there a system

that chose who was
sent to war?
What are some reasons
young Australians
wanted to go to war?
Ask the students to
share what medium
they used to find their
information (What
website did you use?
What was the book
called?)

Thinking routine: Think, Puzzle, Explore

Reciprocal reading: Organise students into groups of four. Get the groups to assign each member a role (Predictor, Clarifier,
Questioner and Summarizer). All students will complete the reading of their specific section of the Australia in the 1960s History
and Politics section of the My Place website using print out copies (The Vietnam War, Decimal Currency, Funding Non-Government
Schools, Abolishing the White Australia Policy and Recognising the Rights of Indigenous Australians).
http://www.myplace.edu.au/decades_timeline/1960/decade_landing_4.html?tabRank=2&subTabRank=1
Dictogloss: Teacher reads aloud My Place (Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins) 1960s section once, asking the students to only listen.
The teacher reads for a second time, asking them to record key words and phrases. Then the children collaborate in pairs sharing what
they have both written down and are asked to recreate the story, aiming to have the same sequence of events and meaning. Each pair
finds another pair, and then they collaborate and create one final piece. One member of each quadrant is asked to read their story aloud.
Shared reading with
the class of a short
Narrative (Macs

Thinking Tool/Routine?
Think-pair-share.

Using a prompt get the

children to write a plan a
narrative story, it doesnt

Ask the children to

share the opening they
have chosen for their

Assess the quality of the

childrens plans, making
sure they have all the
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We are learning how

to structure a
narrative piece.

Short Adventure
Appendix 1). Every
student should have a
printed version of the
story and we go
around the classroom
doing popcorn
reading.
What is in the
introduction?
How are different
ways we can open a
narrative text?
Who are the main
characters?
What is the problem?
How does it come
about?
Is there a resolution?
How is everything
resolved?
The students are
revisiting narrative
structure by
identifying it in real
life texts.
(Wing Jan, 2009 P
240)

In pairs tell the children

to select 2 different books
from the classrooms
selection of take home
readers. Analyse with the
students the different ways
of opening a narrative (i.e
with dialogue,
introduction of
setting/location, posing a
question, a warning,
dramatic, first person
thoughts etc.) Using
Think Aloud with the
whole class to discuss the
various effects each one
has.

have to be informational,
at this point but must have
the same structure of
narrative. They must start
their opening.

One person from each pair

are to share one of their
openings that they found
and read it aloud to the
classroom (only the first
couple of lines). The other
person of the pair is to
explain how that initial
opening makes the reader
feel.

Small teaching group:

Work on the floor in a
group and provide them
with prompt cards, and
can use the Narrative rolla-story (Appendix 2)

Does it hook you in

immediately?

Prompt: On the weekend.

The children should be
encouraged on creating an
appropriate opening to
match the theme for their
text. They should be
encouraged to steer away
from the usual Once
Upon a Time or On the
weekend.

short narrative.
What opening have
you used?
Why have the chosen
this opening?

structural components to
create a narrative.
Check for their openings
to their paragraphs, are
they interesting? Do they
still/or have potential to
set up the story
sufficiently?

Students do not have to

complete this short story
by this lesson, they should
have completed a plan and
their introduction, it will
be carried onto next
lesson.

Is it just building the

story?
Are we receiving relevant
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information for what you

think the story will be
about?
Character, setting etc. set
up?
Building text
knowledge/Model
the genre

The children are required to finish on writing their short stories about the prompt On the Weekend, or for the Enabling group what
they selected on the narrative boards. On completion they can swap their stories with a partner, and read theirs. Each partner should be
able to report back with what that students Setting, Problem and Resolution are.

We are learning to
structure a narrative
piece.
Building text
knowledge/Model
the genre
We are learning to
insert authentic
information into a
narrative structure.

Picture Chat
Show some real life
images from the
1960s and talk about
what they think is
going on from the
picture. Discuss the
scenario, how the
people might be
feeling, is there
danger, are they
happy/sad/scared. Go
deeper than the
surface of the picture
using the Thinking
Stratergy: Zoom In.
What do you see or
notice?

Thinking Strategy:
Zoom In.
The teacher should select
an image prior to the
lesson and have it
presented on the smart
board. The teacher
informs students they will
be going beyond first
impressions and crating a
narrative, that provides
authentic information.
The teacher should model
this, to maintain there is
relevant and authentic
information being used.

Thinking Strategy:
Zoom In.
Reflecting from the
students discussion ask
the children to each
choose a picture and go
back and create a concept
map of the image.
Including the
Introduction (Who, What,
Where), Problem and a
Scenario stemming out
from the photo prompt.

The children are allowed

creative freedom and
obviously required to go
Children are to share there beyond the image but
ideas about what is
the image must make

Reflection circles
Reflect in small
groups, determined by
the picture chosen.
Demonstrate what
ideas youve taken
from the picture and
what relevant facts
about the 1960s you
have learnt you have
assigned to the picture
to create the structure
of a narrative.

Observational notes
taken throughout
classroom, listening to
discussions during sharing
time.
Check for relevance of
each text type structure
point first checking
relevance to the decade,
and then checking it with
the picture.
Its important for children
to start to be able to insert
real life, authentic events
and scenarios into a
fictional writing piece.

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What is your
hypothesis or
interpretaiton of what
is happening?
Comprehension
stratergy: Inferring
meaning

happening on that image,

and go around the class to
share what some of the
possible scenarios he
could be in. (N.B. this
image should not be
allowed to be selected by
the students in the
independent learning
section)
Start to get the children to
start thinking about the
era and what are some
things that were
happening at the time.
(Wing Jan, 2009 P 241)

Guided activities to
develop vocabulary
or specific language
feature

What stories do we
know that are
generally use a lot of
adjectives?
What other text types

Thinking routine: Chalk

Talk
Read aloud an excerpt
from a A Stormy Night
(Appendix 3). Read it

sense with their concept

map.
They must include
relevant and authentic
information for that Era
and draw upon what they
discovered I the first few
lessons.
Small teaching group:
Bring their workbooks that
they took down interesting
facts about the 1960s and
have open discussion with
the teacher first leading,
and then allowing the
children to take over.
Discussion should relate to
the issues raised and
where they could be
placed in a factual
information narrative
(Opening who what
where when, Problem, and
Resolution). (E.g.
conscription, going to war
and being separated from
family could be identified
as a problem)
Shared reading with a
partner and analyse
excerpt 2, (Appendix 3)
A Stormy Night.
Highlight words that add
more information and are

Write on the board:

On a dark stormy
night.

Observe their
participation and
engagement in the lesson.

Take suggestions from

children to come up on

Assess their ability to

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We are learning to
include descriptive
language in order to
give the reader more
information.

are very descriptive?

(Steer conversation
towards media)
Why do the media use
descriptive language?
What effect does
descriptive language
have on the reader?
Model two sentences
on the IWB.
It was a cold as I
walked down the
corridor.

once, and ask them to

only listen for descriptive
language throughout the
piece.
Upon the second reading,
get them to individually
write down some words
that they found to add
more description and
emotion to the story.
Choose a few students to
share their words with the
classroom. Reading the
sentence that the word
they chose was in, and
also reading it without the
word.

descriptive, similar to mini the IWB and write

lesson.
different sentences
with different
descriptive language
Small teaching group
that still creates the
In a small teaching group
same and meaning.
have some general images
of different events or
Group discussion on
locations (Appendix 4).
the effect of descriptive
language.
Ask the children in a
group share to come up
Highlight to the
together with descriptive
students there are so
language suitable to each
many ways to write
picture.
with various degrees of
meaning and emotion.

locate descriptive
language in other reading
sources.
Check their understanding
and capability to draw
upon an extended
vocabulary to make richer
more meaningful
sentences.

It was cold and foggy

as I carefully crept
Can you notice the
through the creeking
difference?
corridor.
Which is more effective?
What is the
difference?
Guided activities
to develop
vocabulary or
specific language
feature

Model to the children

the effect of verbs and
adverbs can have on
the readers
interpretation of a
narrative.

We are learning to
include adverbs in
order to give the

Changing verbs and

adverbs can also
change character traits

Thinking routine:
Think, Pair, Share
Working in pairs, students
must Fill out the table on
the THE READER
NEEDS MORE
worksheet (Appendix 5).
Each sentence in the table
must include an adverbial

Group sharing on
table groups on what
words they added to
the verb sentences in
the worksheet.

Oral Questionnaire about

what children knows about
specific information
narrative language
features.

What have you added

to create more
information?

What makes a good story?

What is the most
important thing needs to
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reader more
information.

which in turn will

impact on the manner
in which a character
reacts to the action of
a narrative.

phrase for each section of

the table:

What feeling have you

added?

do to write accurate
information narrative?

(Where? When? Why?

How? With whom?)

Has it given the reader

more insight into the
character, setting and
events that are
occurring in the
1960s?

What can we add to a

story to make it more
effective?

Encourage students to
include as much
information and ideas
theyve learnt about in
1960s in their responses.

Whats the first step of

writing a story?
What are the three
integral parts of a
narrative?
How can you make an
informational narrative
authentic?
(Wing Jan, 2009 P 241)

Joint construction of
text
We are learning to
plan a information
narrative piece.
Independent
construction of text

Independent
construction of text

Using modeling the teacher should go through creating a thorough plan with the class. Informational narratives need to be authentic, so
model to the children an effective way of inserting that information into the plan. Start by highlighting some authentic themes, events
and scenarios from the 1960s, (refer back to My Place videos, My Place Books, Independent research) once a theme is selected then
progress to some descriptive language that can be associated with the theme. This list will be helpful to ensure we have more relevant
and specific content words to make the piece more authentic and engaging. Once this is done, move onto the narrative structure of the
Setting, Problem and Resolution surrounding those themes and implementing the specific descriptive language.
Reflecting on the planning session the students had previously; get them to start creating their own drafts for their stories. Be sure to put
emphasis on descriptive language but also topic specific language (1960s terms and phrases). When walking around the classroom,
observe and use probing questions to ensure students are providing relevant information about the 1960s, and their narrative structure
has fluency and cohesion.
(Wing Jan, 2009 P 259)
Independently, and quietly, this is a time for their narratives to be produced. Walk around the classroom and make sure all students are
referring back to their plans. Similar to the planning phase walk around and ask the children about their narrative and what theme of the
1960s are they using do not ask too many probing questions (one per student) as this is an important time for the narrative
construction.
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Reflecting on
language choices

Reflection circles in table groups of 4 or 5. Each student is to share what factors their narrative represents of the 1960s anser these
questions:
What will the reader learn about the period of the 1960s?
What is something happening in your 1960s information narrative that is not happening now?
Read out some descriptive sentences you have used?
Give a brief summary of your narrative.

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