Let's Write!
Creating a joint Information Report
TASK - LET'S PRETEND! - AUSSIE LEGENDS
As a class, we are going to be responsible for creating a class Information Text called ‘Aussie Legends’. The content will be about contemporary Australians who are role models for young people. It is to include information about notable young Australians who are respected and admired for their achievements.
1. Information ABOUT THE PERSON (Who are they? - born, grew up, family, background), and
2. Information about WHY THEY ARE ADMIRED.
The first Aussie Legend will be Ashleigh Barty, Tennis player and World Number One. This will be a modelled example. This means that your teacher will show you how to do it and you will write a text together.
1. As a class, brainstorm what we know about Ash Barty.
2. Can we classify the information into sub-headings and/or sort the facts?
3. Does our information fit into WHO she is and WHY SHE IS ADMIRED?
Research Process - Step 2 - Develop Key Words and phrases
As a class, you will brainstorm a list of Key Words and Phrases that will guide your informative text AND your research.
Write the key words that best suit your focus questions.
DO: Once the class has decided on the best key words, write these in your English book.
Next step is to find out relevant and important information about Ash Barty. We call this Building Knowledge of the Field.
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Building Knowledge of the Field
Focus: engaging students, finding out what they know about the topic – develop shared understandings. This stage continues throughout the other stages so that students’ understanding of the topic accumulates and becomes increasingly sophisticated. It is important that this knowledge is shared so that all students can contribute equally to discussions and can write confidently about the subject. Includes hands-on tasks, videos, interviews, newspaper reports, feature articles, etc
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Research Process - Step 3 - Research!
Time to research! Use your keywords to search online for information about Ash Barty. Remember, you need information about WHO they are and why they are ADMIRED.
Remember to record the Source Information for your Bibliography as you go.
Use Cornell Notes to guide your research for EACH SOURCE you find. Write your notes in this booklet. Aim for 3-5 credible and useful sources. Which brings us to…
Research Process - Step 4 - Evaluate your Sources
Look at the websites and EVALUATE them
• Are they credible sources?
• Do they give fact or opinion?
• Are they biased?
Ask - Who wrote this? Why did they write it? Who benefits from the story? What is missing from the story?
Research Process - Step 5 - Vary Your Sources
Remember to use a variety of sources. For this task your teacher has selected them for you. There is a selection of interviews, feature articles, newspaper reports, magazine articles, documentaries, biographies, and more.
ASH BARTY RESOURCES -
1) One Plus One Interview
2) Future Women (webpage + Word Doc)
3) The Guardian Feature Article (Word Doc)
4) Behind The News - Video
5) ABC Young Australian of the Year Video
6) Tennis Australia - My Story - Website Link
Ready - Set - Go!
Use the selected resources below to find out more about Ash Barty.
Use Cornell Notetaking for each source.
Remember to focus on the 2 focus questions - WHO is she? Why is she ADMIRED?
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Supported Reading / Modelled Reading
This is where the teacher models the comprehension strategies we use when reading a relevant text, using a think aloud technique. Think aloud, as well as explain and justify the strategies you are using. Eg. ‘When I first start reading I…”, “How could I work out the meaning of this word?”, “I wonder why…’, “I can visualise this information by…”, etc.
Building Knowledge of the Field Continued....
Review the previous lesson – take note of the two focus questions, the Cornell note-taking format, the bibliography reference, the information and facts gained, the sub-headings, etc.
*** Use the sources uploaded in the previous lesson ***
As a class work through the next source on Ash Barty. Continue to follow the Research Steps 1 - 5.
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Shared Reading – guide students to read key texts strategically and with purpose (in relation to the task) in shared reading sessions. The teacher reads the text with the students engaging the students by asking questions, dealing with vocabulary in context, explaining the relationship between images and text, interesting key messages, demonstrating comprehension strategies, drawing attention to relevant text features, . It can be a combination of teacher read aloud, modelled reading and some shared reading.
This lesson will be used to model and create an Information Text about Ash Barty.
** Refer back to the two focus questions and the purpose of the text – to inform about notable Australians who are admired. Remember that this is not a biography and should have more focus on their achievements and the reasons they are a role-model. **
1. As a class, brainstorm the structure and language features of informative texts (Week 1)
2. Place your Cornell Notes and your summary / subheadings in front of you.
3. Your teacher will guide the class in shared writing of the text, taking contributions from the class and demonstrating how to shape these into coherent, interesting written text. Your teacher will use a ‘think-aloud’ technique to demonstrate the choices you would make when composing an information text.
4. Develop PEEL paragraphs, creating topic sentences as a class and demonstrating how to change ideas into more formal ‘written’ language.
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During a joint construction, the teacher takes a dominate role, leading by shaping the text as it unfolds (Could we say that in fewer words), asking questions to solicit responses (What’s a more technical term for that?), making suggestions (how about we move this sentence to here?), and reminding students of the structure of the text (What do we need to start with here? What have we missed?). The students are then given an opportunity to experience what is involved in composing such a text and can incorporate these understandings into their writing.
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Teacher to extend student suggestions by asking ‘how?’, ‘why?’, ‘which one?’, etc. Ask for suggestions for improvement; explain why a certain choice might be preferable over another; extend students vocabulary choices; ask students to decide what sentence types are effective in the text; discuss how to engage and interest the reader.
1) Joint construction of Ash Barty Informative Text for 'Aussie Legends'
2) Remember the two focus questions: WHO they are, WHY they are admired.
Review the previous lessons – focus on the steps in the process - researching, note taking, organising notes, focus questions, PEEL paragraphs, etc.
Your teacher will use this lesson to model how to edit and draft a better text, identifying areas for improvement, vocabulary choices, cohesive devices, structure and organisation.
Collaborative Writing/Reviewing
Use pair/group activities to review students’ drafts, using a checklist for language features and structure of informative texts. This checklist should draw from the criteria listed on the assignment task so that assessed skills are developed throughout the unit.
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As a class, discuss what type of images would work well with this text.
Draw your attention back to the focus questions and the purpose of the text.
Identify that the image should show aspects of being a role model or a leader. Images should also be referenced accurately. You will then be given time to search for suitable images to add to this text.
TASK
Create a PowerPoint of images / quotes / facts etc that could accompany a presentation of your Ash Barty 'Aussie Legends' text.