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Teacher presents/revises the SEXY structure for writing transactional writing.
Statement Example eXplanationYour response
Teacher returns to original text of prepared speech. Students listen to it again and read it again, this time looking for distinctive features of a speech. This ARB resource (ARB username and password required to view) focuses on the use of inclusive and exclusive pronouns. Discuss with partners, then teacher-led discussion about features of oral language eg. repetition, rhetorical questions, strong opening statement, strong conclusion will be useful for revising the features of a persuasive speech and this s, simile, metaphor, use of humour. Teachers may wish to provide another contrasting example.
Display these with examples from original text.
Teacher discusses delivery. If possible show a video - for example, of school speech competitions. A useful technique is to show the video and then turn the television around and listen to the speech. Ask the students what they saw when they looked at the speech. Playing Al Pacino's speech from City Hall.
Discuss and take note of:
Variation 1: Teacher delivers a speech in a monotone deliberately avoiding using any delivery features which might animate it. The class are asked to rate the teacher.
Variation 2: Use this Assessment Resource Bank item (ARB username and password required to view this resource) which involves students practising delivery through impromptu speeches.
Who was David Livingstone? Who was H.M.Stanley? List responses. Either read or view a small extract about David Livingstone (keep content brief).
Record: What have we found out about Dr Livingstone?
In seven groups, research David Livingstone using the World Wide Web. Bookmark sites for students:
Each group will have 1-2, 30 minute sessions collecting information from the sites listed. The aim is for students, using who, what, where, when, why, how questions and working in small groups, to skim-read, take notes and summarise the information to give feedback to the class. Students to use a time line to record information. Each group will put their time line on a class wall chart "This is Your Life David Livingstone".
As a result of their reading and research students will write a diary/log - "A week in the life of Dr Livingstone". Teacher models the process of drafting, editing and proofreading.
mini_inquiry (RTF 11KB)
The class brainstorms the names of explorers that could be researched, recording the names as they discuss them. During this phase the teacher acts as an arbiter to ensure that the suggestions serve the purpose of the unit. The final list will be no more than five or six names. The students decide on the explorer they want to research.The focus will be:
Groups then decide upon three or four key questions they want answered, based on the explorer, the expedition, and the challenges faced. The students will conference with the teacher to ensure that the questions are not so specific or closed that the research process is invalidated, or so broad as to be unmanageable. Once research questions are in place, the class is introduced, through modelling (RTF 7KB) , to the methods of research each group must use to find answers to their questions.In each group of three:
OR
The group will be exposed to both methods; each group member will take responsibility for one question and use both methods for that question. Students conduct their research individually in their own time and in class. (Teachers may wish to bookmark the selected explorers to save time in searching the internet). Back in groups, with teacher modelling and support, students compare their answers to their question(s).Students then report back to the class:
Use the Celebrations and Ceremonies photo kit (Learning Media) or find photos and pictures from magazines that show different activities. Make sure that some of the pictures show formal occasions and have elements such as Maori traditional costumes, church dignitaries, soldiers, etc. Divide the children into groups of 3-4 and give each group three photos - try to provide three different types, eg. a celebration, ceremony and a commemoration.Discussion questions:
Get the groups to share their ideas and then to work together to classify all the photos into three groups.
If the children come up with the word celebrations write it on to the whiteboard. Otherwise introduce the words celebrations, ceremonies, commemorations.
In small groups discuss: What are celebrations, ceremonies and commemorations?Decide on definitions for each word, eg.
Divide a large piece of paper into three columns. Students work in small groups to brainstorm examples to fit into each column. Allow 3-5 minutes for students to complete the activity. Share ideas from their chart (RTF 11KB) and allow the children to "Piggyback" ideas. Classify and correlate ideas and make class ANZAC chart. This chart will be kept and used throughout this unit with children and teacher adding to it as new information is found. It will serve as a mini resource with notes and information discovered throughout the unit.Discuss: Have we got our examples in the correct columns? Use highlighters to colour code any changes, eg. all ceremonies red.
Ask the children why we have ANZAC Day and what they know about ANZACS. Use the what_do_i_know (RTF 8KB) . The children write down all they know. Then write down what they would like to find out. Retain a copy of this sheet to help with assessment at the end of the unit.
Read to the students a series of provocative statements and ask them to use their thumbs to show their reaction. Discuss using thumbs up to agree with a statement, thumbs down for disagree and sideways for unsure. Asking the students to close their eyes will eliminate them following others and allow for anonymity.Examples of statements could be:
Revisit these statements at the end of the unit. Ask the children if they have changed their minds. If so, why?
Summarise for the students how World War 1 actually began. The countries involved, the battles fought.Read Gallipoli by Neil McKenzie [New Zealand Warrior series, search the catalogue to see if this is available from the National Library service in your area]. Read to the children several times over successive days. Discuss during and after reading what happened and why. Use the 5W's and an H to formulate questions, eg.
Record on a class chart the important information:
Students could write quiz questions based on the book to ask other groups.
Read to the students Harry and the Anzac Poppy by John Lockyer [available from the National Library service].Discuss:
Teacher model:
Read The Bantam and the Soldier by Jennifer Beck. Discuss the cover and the pictures. Read to the students the author's and illustrator's comments about their own families' experiences.Following the reading ask the students:
Teacher model a story map. Students complete a story map for the story.Choose one of the characters from the story, for example the bantam. Brainstorm with the students the 'life of the bantam'. What might its story be? Teacher models diary writing. Refer to writing example.
Discuss with the students what are the similarities/differences between stories. Students working in pairs select two of the stories and complete a Venn diagram
Share with other groups in a sharing circle.
Look at a picture(s) of a war memorial. What is it? Do we have one in .....? Where? Why do we have a memorial? Who made these memorials? What is the reason for having the memorials? What is written on a memorial? Are there other places that remember people who were in wars? eg. Roll of Honour at clubs, etc.Arrange a visit to the local War Memorial and the RSA. Interview people about the war. Invite local war veterans from World War 2 to talk to the students.
In 1934 M. Kemal Ataturk the Turkish leader wrote a tribute to the ANZACs killed at Gallipoli: Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us. Where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours... You mothers', who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away the tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace after having lost their lives on this land. They have become our sons as well. How do you think this made the mothers of the fallen feel? New Zealanders who visit Turkey, especially Anzac Cove are made to feel very welcome. Even though they were enemies in the war, why do you think this is so now?
Listen to world_war1 (RTF 17KB) from World War 1. Compare the sentiments. Why are some songs cheerful? Do they make going to war sound exciting? Why? Look at other anti-war songs. What are their writers saying? Why do you think the songs are different? What were the reasons behind writing these songs.Play Eric Bogle's anti-war song And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda. Listen to it several times.
Use a copy of the words of And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda to help the children focus on the words. Read the song and discuss each verse. What is the author telling us in each verse, eg. what concepts is the author exploring? * Where did he sail? * Why was he sent there? * What happened in Suvla Bay? * Who were the people involved? * How long did he say he managed to stay alive? * What had happened to him? * When did it happen? * Why were the Johnny Turks fighting? * Why did the writer use Waltzing Matilda as part of his song?Read the following poems:
Read each verse and discuss the meaning. o Why is England compared to a mother? o What is the poet asking us to do? o Why do you think this poem is used in Anzac Day services?Give the children copies of the poem. These can be placed in their reading or poetry book and illustrated. Discuss and find the meanings of weary, condemn, mourns, desolation, sorrow, mingle, comrades, immortal spheres, straight of limb etc.
Read the poem and discuss what is the message. Ask students what pictures/images they see in their mind when they listen to the poem. How does it make them feel? Give the children copies of the poem. These can be placed in their reading or poetry book and illustrated. Examine the language used in the poem.
Look at the unusual words and discuss quarrel, foe, break faith, amid, etc.Revisit the questions used in the thumbs up/thumbs down activity. Repeat the questions. Ask the students at the end of the unit if they have changed their minds about any of their earlier statements. If so, why? Do they think it is important to remember and commemorate Anzac Day? Why? Why not?
Write a diary for a soldier at Gallipoli. Imagine you are a soldier at Gallipoli. * Decide on your age, where you are from, what made you enlist, what you did before the war. * How you felt when you sailed away. * Begin with day one - the landing. * Describe the shelling, the shooting, the reactions of others around you, digging the trenches * Describe your first impressions of Gallipoloi. * Describe your daily routine. What is your life like? * How do you feel about he war? How do you feel about your family at home? * How do you feel about life in the trenches, the Turks? Brainstorm and share your ideas with a partner. Write a draft diary about a week in your daily life.Read and share your work with a friend. Edit, proof read and publish.
Myths A myth is a story made up to explain something that people believe (such as how the earth was made) or something in nature (such as thunder or lightning). Some of the most famous myths are Greek, Roman and Norse. They often deal with gods and godessess worshipped by the ancient people from these lands. Myths have complicated language or elaborate plots and rich language. They have become such a part of our heritage that even today we speak of Herculean strength (from Hercules, a Greek hero), the beauty of Venus (from Venus, the Roman Goddess of beauty) and Cupid as a symbol of love (from Cupid, the Roman god of love).
Legends Legends are stories about the extraordinary deeds that real people or story characters (who might have been real people) are supposed to have performed. They are part of traditional literature which is the group of stories and poems that parents have told their children for centuries. There are legends about saints, like Saint Patrick, who was supposed to have chased all the snakes out of Ireland. There are legends about Robin Hood and his Merry Men and King Arthur and his Knights, who may or may not have been real people. You will also hear people speak of the legendary deeds of the bushranger Ned Kelly, or sporting heroes such as Donald Bradman.
* What would have been the original form of these myths? * Why would the authors have wished to record these myths in written form? * What were the myths trying to explain? * What did the authors need to know to be able to record these myths? * Use the guiding questions below to help the students compare myths/legends.
Guiding questions Discuss the origin of myths: * myths began with primitive humans * myths were used to explain the origin of things * myths often included gods to explain the creation of things * myths explained natural phenomena * Where could this story have taken place? * What was this story trying to explain? * How could this story have originated? Why do you think this?
Discuss illustrations. Explore the language that is used to explain/describe.
Discuss - What are the similarities and differences between (for example) Maori/Greek myths and legends based on a particular theme - "How the stars got in the sky".
Build up and develop throughout the unit a comparison chart (Venn diagram) of myths and legends from around the world.
Set up a learning centre. Collect pictures, books, photos, and magazines of different kinds of spiders. Include magnifying glasses to observe spiders in a vivarium. Display a vocabulary chart and add to throughout the unit, eg. life cycle, egg sac, ballooning, spiderlings, food chain, vivarium, web, silk.
Teacher discussion with students "Have you ever wondered how or why something happens?" Reference site: Fun insect facts for kids
Together, as a class, list student ideas for discussion/explanation.
Choose six or seven ideas from the list. Each group brainstorms and writes their own explanations (a fun activity where all explanations are accepted). Return to the class group and share ideas to explain how/why.Bookmark a suitable site to enable close reading of an explanation. (see Exploring Language - Looking at Written Language: a Framework). Discuss and model the writing of a summary (RTF 5KB) . Students work with a partner to select one of the bookmarked sites to read and discuss the explanation. Write a summary and share the explanation orally with the class.
Ask students:
(The spider initially sets up a triangular shape from its web. The outer spiral forms the main part of the snare. It is spun from the outer edge toward the centre with sticky silk.)Close read for information/explanation:
Students orally identify and name three different types of webs: orb, triangle, and tangle.
Students work with a partner and sequence the steps for the making of an orb web.Shared writing with a partner. Plan and write a draft explanation for either how an orb web is made or why a spider does not get stuck in its own web. Students share their draft with another pair using the explanation checklist for feedback. Students then rework, proofread and conference with a different group.
Return to the graphs constructed at the beginning of the unit. Take a second survey.Put the new data on a poster board showing the way students feel about spiders now that they have completed the unit. Discuss findings.
Take lots of digital photos during the camp, making sure that each child features in many of them. These photos will be used for prewriting activities and in the final published writing sample. Take small group photos as well as individual close-ups. Students should each be able to find one photo to use in their published writing. Print out and display selected camp photos. Blutack photos to a whiteboard or painted or laminated surface so that they can be easily accessed for later activities.
Set aside a prominent place in the classroom to build up a progressive display. Set up a display area of activity charts, word lists and writing models to use as the unit progresses, eg. What did we say about time words yesterday? What other verbs could you use to describe that movement? What did we say personal voice was? How has this writer started their writing? Let's refresh our memory about the assessment criteria.
If your display area is near to the blackboard ledge this could be used to display close at hand, the original copies of the writing models used in the close reading sessions, eg. from The Journals' of Young Peoples' Writing. Mark other appropriate examples of personal recounts that you find in School Journals, Ready to Read texts, and commercial reading texts with sticky notes for students to pick up and read as well, eg. at SSR times. Expose the students to lots of personal recount models during the unit, not just those that you use for close reading.
Ideally this should be near to the teaching station and in clear view of the students, for reference to and reflecting on during teaching sessions and independent student writing times.
Together brainstorm and list all the 'fun and memorable' activities at camp, eg. kayaking, abseiling, river swimming, night walking... The teacher records these on pre-cut rectangles of coloured paper as the students suggest them. Blutack them onto the teaching whiteboard as you go. In a sharing circle let each child name their favourite activity and in one sentence tell why.
Cut up the coloured paper you wrote the camp activities on into three or four pieces each, (depending on group sizes). Group the class into small groups by giving out one piece to each student. Students match up their activity to find their group, then collect an A3 piece of paper and glue stick the activity pieces to the middle of the paper making up their word.
Each group now brainstorms and records their feelings associated with the activity all around it using the feelings_chart (RTF 147KB) . What did you feel before, during and after you did this activity?This should generate some strong personal responses. Share charts and note similar, unusual or different feelings. Make a class chart 'Camp Feelings' listing each feeling recorded. Display the chart for future reference.
Role-play, acting out some of the feelings listed on the charts, eg. scared. Let several students perform a challenging camp activity in role, eg. abseiling. Talk about what to look for, eg. When someone is scared how do they stand? How do their eyes look? How do they breathe?
"His eyes grew larger and larger and he clenched his fists until the knuckles turned a yellowy-white. Suddenly he sucked in gulps of air..."
Record some on the whiteboard, modelling writing in detail. Write some of these up later and display as models of detailed writing to describe feelings and actions.
Encourage the students to describe the feeling by describing the facial expressions and non-verbal language, without actually naming the feeling.
Relate this to writing, and talk about how a writer can give clues and leave the reader to work it out for himself or herself. We don't need to make everything obvious in writing - it helps to build pictures in the reader's head, as well as atmosphere and mood and suspense, allowing the reader to interpret the writing themselves. Encourage the Show, Don't Tell writer's craft.
Model this activity on one of the charts before you begin. Choose six or seven camp activities from those named in the 'Camp Chat'. Write one at the top of each bus_stop_chart (RTF 11KB) in the blank row. Place these around the classroom. Group the students using a different grouping strategy:
A Variety of Ways to Group Children for Activity Work
These are fun ways of grouping children, (or asking them to contribute to a class discussion), focusing on the topic of study at the same time as re-energizing them with some physical movement around the room. They can be used at anytime, but are a good way to introduce a new activity or to break up long periods of work with some movement.
Also see more ideas on P. 99 Top Tools for Social Science Teachers.
Each group adds different types of words to the list as they go.
Examples of words to add to the bus stop charts:
Return to the class group and ask each group to share their charts. Draw attention to any quality descriptions. Ask questions that encourage attention to detail, eg. What feeling do you think these words might be telling us? How was this person feeling? How do we know? Did they name the feeling? What words did they use? Can the way a person moves tell us how they are feeling? How would you be moving if you were feeling like this? What would your facial expressions be if you felt like this?
In this activity students will explore the concept of inner monologue. Use the digital photos already on display. Each student selects one photo that they feature in. Model how to write inner monologue in the thinking bubble.
Student then write their thoughts, 'the talking they did in their head', in a thought_bubble (RTF 119KB) . The thought bubbles can be photocopied, or created on a computer by inserting a digital photo into publishing software.
Display these beside the photos in the class display area, so that they will be available for reference later when writing personal recounts.
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