Making Stronger Arguments (Stage 4)

Two years ago I had a Year 8 class who were doing a unit of work on Conservation. The framework was all about endangered animals and themes of sustainability (Cross-Curriculum Priorities ahoy!), with the driving English focus being 'Text Types'*. It was basically an opportunity to teach a range of writing modes that didn't fit elsewhere in our Year 8 curriculum - early forays into discursive writing (IE. Feature articles), poetry, a range of informational texts, and persuasive writing. 

(* I put 'Text Types' in inverted commas as I prefer to use the term 'genre'. The above are all different genres of writing. But more on that another time.)

Today I'll show you an idea for a lesson that I wrote later in my spare time. It marries together two of my favourite things - the mechanics of persuasive writing and Marsupial Moles. 

Now, I know what you're thinking... Why haven't these two things been put together before? My answer to this is - I don't know, I was just as baffled as you are as they seem such an obvious pairing. But, as they say, "there's no opportunity quite as golden as a Marsupial Mole" (okay, no one says this, but they definitely should).

Incidentally, this lesson would come after introducing what a Marsupial Mole is. I would do this in a separate lesson that looks at the differences in perspective between European and Aboriginal viewpoints of this amazing and seldom-seen creature. If you haven't heard of the Marsupial Mole, here's the crib notes:

• It's not a mole. It's a marsupial creature that lives in Central Australia - it's closest relative is the Bilby. 
• It basically has no eyes and doesn't need them - it spends the majority of its time swimming through sand under the surface of the desert.
• The Marsupial Mole has only been photographed a handful of times and Australian scientists have no idea how many of them are even in existence. 

Okay, now that's out of the way - here's what I would do with a class.

Firstly, we would look at four ways in which writers attempt to craft stronger arguments when writing persuasively. I picked just four so it would suit a mixed ability class and I don't want to overwhelm students. I want them to be able to identify what these things are so they could start experimenting in their own writing. Here are the techniques:

1. Synonyms
2. High Modality
3. Second Person Language
4. Rhetorical Questions

Notes on this can be found here - Making Stronger Arguments.

Students would then use these notes while reading two persuasive pieces about the Marsupial Mole and annotating them accordingly. This can be done individually or as a whole class activity, depending on the class. I would then project the pieces onto the board and read through them while making notes / highlighting certain sections with contributions from the students. The students would then copy the annotations onto their own copies. 

Model pieces here - Why the Marsupial Mole is the Coolest.

Things we would annotate:

• A text chain showing different terms for the Marsupial Mole (this allowed students to see how synonyms were used).
• Examples of second person language.
• Rhetorical questions and why they were asked.
• Modal terms - this involved comparing the two pieces to identify which one had higher modality.

At the end, I would then asked the students to identify which of the two pieces was more persuasive and why (the pieces differ in quality quite deliberately for this reason; they provide set standards for the students to work off). Students would then write their justification for which one is more persuasive using the metalanguage they've now learned.

In terms of backward mapping skills from Year 12 to 7, this services the need for students to build their familiarity with persuasive writing (think Craft of Writing in Year 12). It also works to support the NAPLAN writing task for Year 7 and 9 - which can be either persuasive or imaginative. 

Disclaimer: All the above resources have been created specifically for this blog in my own spare time.

The Truman Show: Analysing Shots

The Truman Show is a Prescribed Text that currently features as an option in Module B: Close Study of a Text for HSC Standard English. 

 

Prior to the the current syllabus options, while reflecting and thinking about ideas, I put together a resource for previous curriculum where the text could be looked at in combination with Reality TV shows. It covers things like representation of ideas, visually constructing meaning, creating a narrative through editing, and examining the relationship between composer and responder. You know, the usual stuff! If you remember the Distinctively Visual elective then you'll know what I'm on about. 

What follows is an assessment / class activity idea. It focuses on the way in which meaning is constructed on the screen as part of a wider unit that could be used to look at Reality TV. I love Reality TV and the way in which it crafts narratives out of footage that is ostensibly meant to be a fly-on-the-wall documentary. It's so blatantly without grace or scruples that I find it endlessly entertaining in a throw-your-popcorn-at-the-TV kind of way. 

 

We know, of course, that there is nothing remotely real about Reality TV but this is also part of why it's such fertile ground for students to study. I would argue that it's part and parcel of the same need to teach our students today about fake news and the way in which the media manipulates imagery to impose their own narratives. 

 

Anyway, I've digressed enough. 

The attached task involves students taking three screenshots from The Truman Show and writing 250-300 words on each one, describing how the composer has used visual techniques to create meaning, the wider context of the shot and how it fits into an edited sequence, and generally conveying an understanding of how the composer has represented ideas and themes related to the text. 

I've had to remove the outcomes as they were from an older syllabus but I'm sure it could be adapted to the current syllabus easily enough. You'll note also that there is an 'Example of a Full Mark Response' included at the end of the task... this has been taken from My Kitchen Rules (one of the related texts we looked at - the dinner party scenes are great for demonstrating to students how 'frankenbites' are used to impose invented narratives). I was going to delete it before I uploaded it here but I figured there was no harm in including it - it shows some of the things students can talk about it and is useful for modelling what a good response could look like. 

Here's the task - Task Idea.

I also gathered a whole bunch of screenshots together from The Truman Show. Even if you don't care about the task idea, you might at least find these screenshots useful - Truman Show Screenshots. The beauty of screenshots is that they come under free usage in terms of copyright. 

Disclaimer: The above resources have been created or adapted specifically for this blog in my own spare time.