The English Book Room

Along with my wonderful colleague Dette Therese, I run a Facebook group for NSW English teachers that focuses on sharing resources and building a culture of open collegiality and practical support. Term 3, 2021, has been quite a challenging time to be a teacher in NSW, so to keep our teachers' Facebook group focussed on something positive I started sharing a few examples of books we usually tend to find in the high school English book room so people could discuss them.  

It's been absolutely amazing to hear from teachers all over the state and beyond, with a range of experience, as we shared our impressions and ideas regarding individual books. It pepped me up a little each day to see so many passionate teachers willing to share their thoughts on class-set novels. The goal was to prompt a few thoughts with generic questions:

• Anyone taught this one before?
• If so, which year groups?
• Is it a winner?
• Who's seen it in their bookroom?
• Would you / do you still teach it?

...and anything else a teacher might want to add. 

Anyway, I've collected the information into the following excel spreadsheet:

The English Book Room (Version 1, Sept. 2021)

I've kept it in a spreadsheet so the information can be sorted by the reader - you might be looking for the most popular options, and can therefore sort by the 'recommended' column, or you might prefer to browse through alphabetically by author. 

In the spreadsheet you will find:

> Book Title 

> Author 

> Year of Publication 

> Country of Publication 

> Key Words indicating themes and genre 

> What kind of class it suits

> How many teachers recommended teaching it 

> How many teachers recommended not teaching it 

> Content Warning = things that could prompt potential issues in the classroom when teaching it

and

> A separate tab at the bottom that contains comments/reviews from teachers on each title.

Some Notes

• This is a living document. It will change and get updated periodically to reflect the ongoing accumulation of further information, and additional permissions granted by teachers to have their contributions included. Some elements may appear a bit rough at the moment but I'll continue to enhance the spreadsheet as more is added.
• More than 200 teachers contributed to this so I want to say a massive THANK YOU to each and every one of them. It's a great testament to how social media can be used in a positive fashion for collaboration.
• Each of the teachers featured in the document gave their permission to be quoted. I am only uploading the spreadsheet here and in the Facebook group. Downloading your own copy is fine so long as it's non-monetary and for your own use. 

Books Featured So Far:

• Does My Head Look Big in This by Randa Abdel-Fattah
• 10 Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah
• The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah
• Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody
• The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
• The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
• Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl
• The Divine Wind by Garry Disher
• Hitler's Daughter by Jackie French
• Macbeth and Son by Jackie French
• Mahtab's Story by Libby Gleeson
• Once by Morris Gleitzman
• Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman
• Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman
• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• Journey to Eureka by Kerry Greenwood
• Deadly Unna? by Phillip Gwynne
• That Was Then, This is Now by S.E. Hinton
• I Am David by Anne Holm
• Taronga by Victor Kelleher
• Onion Tears by Diana Kidd
• Children of the Dust by Louise Lawrence
• Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian
• So Much to Tell You by John Marsden
• Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden
• Boys of Blood and Bone by David Metzenthen
• Raw by Scott Monk
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• The Loblolly Boy by James Norcliffe
• Z For Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien
• Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park
• The Harp in the South by Ruth Park
• My Sister Sif by Ruth Park
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• The Wave by Morton Rhue
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
• The Cay by Theodore Taylor
• Blueback by Tim Winton
• The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn

Thank You:

Acknowledgement to the English teachers who contributed and graciously gave permission to be included here:

Alan Lane, Amanda Elizabeth, Amanda Fournaris, Amanda Hannah, Amelia Drinkwater, Amelia Kerr, Amy Greatrix, Angelina Catherine, Angell Harris, April Flavell-Adams, Ashleigh Ftynogiannis, Bec Atkins, Bec Jane, Belinda Diddly-Doodly, Belinda Ryan, Belinda Sinclair, Bernadette Gurr, Bernadette Virwani, Bernhard Huber, Beth Kermode, Brunella Pagano, Carla Beattie, Caroline Brosnan-Kennedy, Catherine Byrne, Catherine McCrae, Cathy Greaves, Celeste Fernandes, Cherie Clark Obrien, Chris Hardy, Claire Low, Clairie Ormiston, Cosette Sheridan, Crab Apple, Cristie Reid-Heuser, Danielle Asquith, Danielle Cleary, Darcy Moore, David Searle, Debbie de Graaf, Denise McKinna, Detter Therese, Deyel Bokor-Charlier, Dhara Des Fours, Dia Zois, Edwina Adelaide, Edwina McCarron, Eleanor King, Elif Tirzik, Elizabeth Ford, Emily Beach, Emily Bosco, Emma Jane Hope, Erika Monk, Erin Graham, Erin Stewart, Ez Fong, Fadia Abousaleh, Faye Cazouris, Fergus Gardiner, Fez Chepe, Fiona Lugnan, Francesca De Leon, Gavin Raymond Brown, Genine Howard, Georgia L'Bank, Georgina Lindsay, Georgina Philpott, Grant Sciberras, Hannah Gierhart, Hannah Rappell, Hannah Thompson Geraghty, Hayley Chisholm, Hayley Sharkey Crowshaw, Hellon Wheels, Imelda Judge, Isabelle Marzano, James Clarke, Jamie Barnes, Jane Drabble, Janelle Stenner, Jarita Banerjee, Jay Goocher, Jeannie Baker, Jeffrey Campbell, Jemma Messer, Jennifer Purssell, Jennifer Waljae, Jenny Holmes, Jess Laxton, Jessica Ansell, Jessica Campbell, Jessica Mann, Jo Bickford Sturgiss, Jo Gresham, Joanna Jennings, Joerg Gruenfeld, Josephine Camilleri, Judith Ridge, Julie Renee, Julz Jewels, Juvena Baldry, Karyn Mooney, Kate Bradley, Kate O'Sea, Katelyn Parrott, Kathleen Emma, Kelly Mack, Kelsey Rae, Kerri Yates Green, Kerrie Guest, Kimberley, Kirilly Farrell, KJ Burke, Kristi Ryan, Kristin Smith, Kristin Vlasto, Lara Hancock, Laura Gabrielle, Letitia McCubbin, Lexi Hunter, Linda Grats, Linda Holloway, Linda Officer LisaPisa Pot, Loren Yaslana, Lorena Najarro, Lorrine Eggleston, Louise O'Reilly, Lu Mac, Lyn Tiernan, Maddie Lee, Mandy Jane, Mark Cochran, Mark McDonald, Markus Joseph, Marney Meredith, Meg Clarke, Megan Gilbert, Mel Marin, Melanie Bailey, Melanie O'Nions, Melinda Giveen, Melinda Lee, Melinda Taylor, Melissa Anne, Melissa Anthony, Meredith Healey, Merrilee Lennon, Michelle Johnson, Michelle Nooroa Katuke, Michelle Patricia, Michelle Renshaw, Michelle Sloan, MJ Logan, Narece Thapa, Natalie Bluhdorn, Natalie Jones, Natalie Quimby, Natasha Audrey Joseph, Nicole Taylor, PamPam Potter, Patricia Fay, Paul Cullen, Paula Madigan, Pauline Griffiths, Peta Clark, Phoebe Black, Rachele Haigh, Rebecca Lea Grant, Rebecca Millhouse, Rebecca Ormand, Rebecca Rowlings, Rhys Hernan, Rob Lockett, Robert Klein, Roberta Wolsey, Rony May, Samantha Jackson, Samantha McFayden, Samantha Miller, Samantha Woolnough, Sandra Lee, Sarah Lee, Sarah Marie, Sarah Wellington, Semir Kuljanin, Sharon Rae, Simon James, Sofia Carmensita Whitehouse, Sophie Kenna, Stacey Treloar, Steve Upsall, Steven Call, Stewart McGowan, Sue Atkins, Sue Harper, Suzana Curcuruto, Suzanne Smith, Tamara Jill, Tammy Borthwick-Mathurin, Tate Williams, Tennielle Willis, Teresa Rodd, Tim Creighton, Tracey Adamson, Ursula Jones, Vicki Denton, Victoria Keech, Wayne Crich, Yosheda Tracey-Lee

* Apologies to anyone I've accidently left off, accidentally left in, or misspelt the name of. Let me know if this is you and I'll fix it up straight away!

Charity and Change - Extract and Activity

Hello!

Today I wanted to share an extract and activity from a Stage 5-aimed drama text. This play, Charity and Change, is something I've been working on for a while and it's very exciting to now have it finished and in a published form. Here is a quick overview of the text's purpose before we look at the extract and an associated activity:

• Context - the characters and setting have been designed to be contemporary and familiar to Australian students in mixed-ability public high schools. 
• Practicality - a range of parts of varying sizes and difficulties have been included so a portion of the class can be engaged to read them aloud. 
• Content - the text touches on themes and ideas relevant to 21st century Australia; online bullying, whether people are 'good' or 'bad', and the differences between appearances and reality. 
  

The opening section of the first scene introduces most of the characters. In the classroom this becomes a good opportunity for students to learn who these characters are and the way they've been established within the play. 

Here's the extract: Act 1, Scene 1 Extract.

After reading through the play with a class, it can be useful to go back to the start again and look at ways in which students can reconstruct the text. One method of doing this is to storyboard and then film the first page of the text, which is where the above extract comes in. 

Students can use a scaffold to brainstorm their shot design, which can be found here: Storyboard Template.

This template includes five elements for each shot. Students should plan each of these elements ahead of filming so that they are forced to consider the way the shots are staged and edited together to support and/or form a working narrative. These elements are:

1. A box in which the shot can be roughly sketched. This helps visualise how it will look. 
2. Shot Size - extreme long shot, long shot, mid shot, close up, or extreme close up.
   
3. Angle - overhead angle, high angle, eye level angle, low angle, underneath angle, dutch angle.
4. Movement - will the camera be static? Or will it be moving, IE. Zooming in, zooming out, panning left, panning right, tracking, handheld?
5. Mise en scene - where will things be placed in the shot? Who is needed for the shot? This section can be useful if students struggle in particular with getting their sketching right.
   

After the planning is complete, have students negotiate in groups which storyboards they want to use and then let them at it. Students can have a lot of fun translating their storyboards into reality and it's also a great exercise in creative problem-solving, collaborative practice, and imaginative recreation.

The Plays 

The extract above is from a play called Charity and Change and is aimed at Years 9 and 10. A second play, Community and Family, is aimed at Year 10 and English Studies. This second play deals with themes related to leadership, homophobia, casual racism, and mental illness. The plays are both set within the same 'universe', a fictional school called Bexley Hill, and follows a cohort of characters across multiple years. Charity and Change features a group of Year 9 students and Community and Family, which has some overlapping characters, is set two years later with a group of Year 11 students. The plays can be read in any order and both texts come with in-built study guides too.

Single copies and class sets can be purchased through Five Senses Education.

English Studies: Your Friend and Mine

English Studies is crafty and... okay, look, here's a picture of a fox!

Today I presented some material on the English Studies course and how it fits in with the new syllabus. Like all good courses, English Studies is a subject that continues to evolve under the scrutiny of teacher interpretation and re-interpretation, and the arrival of the new syllabus has seen it undergo some consolidation. The PPT attached below gives an overview of what the course is, what each module looks like, and how we can use the course to empower students who don't have a history of success in the discipline of English.

English Studies: Your Friend and Mine - PowerPoint Presentation.

Here is some other material on English Studies that might be of interest:

• Fully Resourced English Studies Units - developed by the Department of Education as part of its mEsh initiative. I worked with a colleague, Ebony Toth, to create resources and a program for two of the modules.
• English Studies: What It Was, and Where It's Going - some notes from the 2016 English Studies Day organised by enthusiastic Studies advocate Sam Schroder. 
• English Studies: Authentic Assessment as Learning - an earlier version of one of the mEsh units. Might be worth a look as it goes into detail on the implementation of the project-based learning section of the module. 

Happy Term 3 :)

A Brief History of Wake in Fright

It's been interesting watching the promotional material for the new mini-series adaptation of Wake in Fright on Channel 10, which has made some rather bold claims that the TV series is based on a 'classic' Australian novel. What's interesting about this is that whilst the 1961 novel was well-received at the time of its publication (and has remained in print), it's the 1971 film that had the bigger reputation on the international stage.

The film was known as Outback overseas - no doubt a clever marketing ploy to get Americans and Europeans to see the film as an exotic vision of the Australian desert. It was nominated for a major award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1971 and was applauded by critics the world over. But, you may have noticed, it isn't really the sort of film that pops up on Australian TV, nor is it as spoken about as much as other popular Australian films like Crocodile Dundee, The Castle, or at least Picnic at Hanging Rock.

There's a reason for this.

The 1971 film Wake in Fright went missing. For over 30 years the film was out of circulation due to the negative disappearing. An Australian producer searched for it for over a decade before finding a copy in a container in Pittsburgh; a container that was marked 'for destruction'. Close call! The film was subsequently restored and released in the 21st century for many eager cinephiles (such as myself) to finally enjoy.

It's quite possibly the greatest film ever made about Australia, and a film that might not sit well with the average Aussie viewer. In fact, despite it's popularity overseas, Wake in Fright was shunned by sectors of the Australian film-consuming community upon its release - perhaps due to the fact that it cuts a little close to the bone in terms of analyising the stereotypical Australian character. It would be a great text for the English Studies mandatory unit 'We Are Australian', in terms of what it says about the Australian character and what our reaction to it says about the Australian character. In fact, any English unit focusing on Australian iconography or identity would work well with this text.

Wake in Fright was more or less the first film to put modern Australia on the silver screen as it truly was; prior to this the Australian film industry was basically non-existent. Up until the 1940s it had acted as a satellite film industry to England, depicting Australians who were for all intents and purposes displaced British citizens. There were a sprinkling of Hollywood productions made on Australian soil in the late '50s (two notable examples are the apocalyptic On the Beach and the colourful epic The Sundowners) but it wasn't until the British-financed Wake in Fright that it suddenly seemed possible for Australia to have a self-sufficient industry of its own. Wake in Fright's importance and impact was so big that it spawned two parallel lines of cinema in the 1970s and beyond: the artistically-inclined Australian New Wave (spearheaded by the directors Peter Weir, Fred Schepisi, and Bruce Beresford) and the crowd-pleasingly low brow films that have come to be known as the Ozploitation genre (see Mad Max, Razorback, Stone). Wake in Fright has elements of both these waves of filmmaking, and is just a great film to boot.

John (Gary Bond) is an upper-middle class schoolteacher serving his time in the isolated outback town of Tiboonda. He resents being stationed so far from what he deems to be civilisation, and when the school holidays come around he aims to return to Sydney for a reprieve. In the course of this journey he comes to the mining town of Bundanyabba (AKA "the Yabba"), an outback town where he stops to rest and have a quiet drink. Some locals at the Yabba introduce him to an underground two-up ring, where he gets a taste for gambling. John sees a chance to make enough money to free him from his outback teaching post, but he ends up losing everything instead. As a result he's stranded in the Yabba, without a dollar to his name, and unable to even get to the next town. He falls in with some 'friendly' locals, and they initiate him into their way of life - a kind of hell from which there seems to be no escape.

Wake in Fright's biggest weapon is its subtle use of irony to examine the widening gap between intellectualism and the working class in Australia, perhaps most immediately evident in the contrast between the gentle music that plays throughout the opening credits and the first line of dialogue; an abrupt "Shut up!" that foreshadows the barely restrained tension that bubbles under the affable manner of the average Australian country character. As John travels out of Tiboonda he finds himself invited to drink with a group of drunken locals on the train, which he politely declines in favour of sitting by himself. It's this aloofness that is only real defence, and dropping it will be his undoing - a reflection of the anxieties of the suburban psyche. An interesting side note of this early train-set scene full of of 'friendly' Aussies is that there's also an Aboriginal man sitting by himself - a keen visual reminded of the separatist reality of Australian culture. This simple truth gets blown up to magnificent proportions throughout the course of the film, almost to a point where it's literally too hard to look at.

In a film full of contrasts - such as the juxtaposition of the jovial nature of the Australian character with the desolate, sand-blasted environment - it's perhaps the contrast between the intellectual teacher and the working class rural Australians that is most affecting. The Yabba townsfolk don't take too kindly to John's resentment of their habitat and culture. His arrogance leads him to unashamedly label two-up as a "simple-minded game". Nearly everything he says and does makes it obvious that he looks down on the Yabba, he even casts the 'fair go' temperament of the locals as the "arrogance of stupid people". The flipside of this is what comes to be termed as the "aggressive hospitality" of the rural Australian, a subtle and cunning strategy the Yabba folk employ to entrap their prey. It's never made explicit or said outright, all this stuff happens just under the surface through the narrowing of eyes and some ironically 'friendly' phrases. John may be an unsympathetic protagonist when the film begins, but by the end the balance of power is tipped well out of his favour and the audience can't help but feel sorry for him despite his flaws. The Yabba men toy with him and, for all his big city cleverness, they're always in control of his life. They take his money, destroy his concept of time, and degrade him completely. To them he's uneducated because he has no understanding of their lifestyle. When they take him shooting he wants to claim his kill, but they tell him there's no point because all the foxes are mangy in the outback, and it's at this point that he realises the pointlessness of his assimilation. However, it's also too late for any epiphany, a kind of Stockholm Syndrome has taken hold of him - leading to a disturbingly barbaric roo-shooting sequence. At the end of his transformation John even throws his beloved books away, all the civilisation is washed out of him and escape becomes nothing more than a dim fantasy.

Of all the actors it's probably Australian film legend Chips Rafferty and British actor Donald Pleasance who stand out the most. Rafferty, in his last film, has an important supporting role as the local representative of the law, and Pleasance (with a perfect Australian accent) plays an alcoholic doctor. The 'good' doctor admits that his disease (alcoholism) prevents him from practising in Sydney but that in the Yabba this affliction is barely noticeable. It's a sadly acute observation that all but labels Australia's propensity for drinking as an outright blight on our national character. Along with a talent for beerswilling, the Australian character is further represented in Wake in Fright through several other tropes - a reverence for the ANZACs, two-up, mateship, and poker-machines as a 'healthy' tradition. Add to this the friendliness that only really exists as long as you fit the unspoken rules of the friendly atmosphere, and the aforementioned 'aggressive hospitality', and you have an image of the Australian that fits a little too uncomfortably. There's also the suggestion that an Australian man must be masculine in order to be a 'true Australian'; an idea that feeds into the theme of a divide between intellectualism and the working class. John finds that he actually has more in common with the reserved daughter of one of his 'friends' than he does with any of the males he meets, further highlighting the way his intellect makes him un-Australian in comparison to the Yabba blokes.

In short, the film Wake in Fright could be viewed as a serious piece of anthropology hidden underneath a whole lot of mindless drinking, punching, and humiliation. It's like the dark flipside to films like Dimboola and The Adventures of Barry McKenzie - 1970s comedies that lampooned Australian's yobbo drinking culture with a much lighter touch. I'll admit that I haven't seen the TV remake of the novel/film at this point in time, however, you would do very well to check out this early '70s classic. It's a great piece of cinema.

English Studies - What it Was, and Where it's Going.

This weekend I trekked up the countryside to the Hunter Region to attend #EnglishStudiesDay2016; a wonderful collegial experience driven by passionate English Studies advocate Sam Schroder; one of the architects of the English Studies course during its piloting stage.

One thing that set the tone of the day was the welcome to country provided by a local student, a young Worimi man, who conducted it in his people's language. I don't think I've ever seen a welcome or acknowledgement of country given so beautifully. It really struck a chord with me.   

Anyway, aside from getting the opportunity to network with other teachers, teachers who have such positive opinions of the English Studies course as a forum for authentic engagement with English, the day provided a real moment of clarity in which Sam Schroder provided an overview of what the English Studies course is. Where it came from. Where it's going.

If you're a new teacher you may very well find yourself allocated to the English Studies course, and knowing where it is has come from and how it's continuing to develop is something that will be pertinent to you. And if you're not teaching English Studies, well, it might still be of interest to you anyway because maybe you're awesome like that.

The Birth of English Studies

Prior to English Studies, there was the 2 Unit Contemporary English course. From 1997-1999, the Contemporary English course was phased out to usher in the increasingly complexity of the Standard and Advanced courses. Many teachers were happy to see Contemporary English go as it was widely perceived as a 'dumbing down' of the English course and did not benefit those preparing for university study. Standard English grew out a response to this as a course for students who weren't suited to the Advanced course but would still be going to university and needed to be able to engage at an academic level when they got there.

Two more things then also led the way to the development of the English Studies course:

• In a national content, the Melbourne Declaration of 2008 acknowledged that a set of standards should and would be applied to all Australian students, with two specific goals:

• Goal 1 dealt with equity and excellence, the idea that opportunities should be provided to every child, not just those who wanted to become doctors, lawyers, etc.
• Goal 2 was the idea that all young Australians should become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens.
  
• The other influential factor was that, on a state level, 2010 saw NSW increase the leaving age from 15 to 17.

This means that even those who aren't equipped for Standard or Advanced English should be able to have a scope for success in English, and that's where English Studies comes in. English Studies should be a forum for students to be taught how to be critical thinkers; active citizens who question what they see and are able to communicate their opinions.

How it Happened

In 2009, BOSTES invited submissions for the creation of the English Studies course. 76 schools were selected to pilot the course in 2010, and students at some of these schools had to apply for the class and were considered 'lucky' to get in. This was followed by extensive evaluation, and the Department of Education then invested in the writing of units to support the course. In 2011, the course was rolled out across the state.

After this, things become a little hazy... there is some feeling that the course hasn't been given the support it needs. Non-government sectors have expressed no interest in developing resources, and some schools opt not to run the course in the belief that a non-ATAR version of English has no validity to their communities. The RAP data, however, shows that English Studies is, essentially, doing the job it was designed to do - students who would have gotten Band 1 and Band 2 marks in Standard are instead catered for in the English Studies course.

How it Works Now

There are two mandatory modules. In the Preliminary course this is Achieving Through English, which focuses on the worlds of education, careers and community, and in the HSC course it is We Are Australians, which takes the form of studies on citizenship, community and cultural identity. There is a possibility of crossover with the subject of Work Studies in terms of resume writing (which forms a crucial part of Achieving Through English), however, Sam Schroder suggests that this is a perfect opportunity to engineer cross-curricular study between English Studies and Work Studies, which allows for team teaching and the avoidance of unnecessary repetition across subject areas.

The other modules are elective, with scope for 1 self-developed module in the Preliminary year, preferably something that is appropriate for your school's context. Examples given by some of the teachers in attendance at #EnglishStudiesDay2016:

• Surfing (a coastal school)
• Pig-shooting (a school way out west)
• Indigenous studies (a school with a large indigenous community)

Where it's Heading

The proposed syllabus is currently slated to begin in 2018 with an exam option that allows English Studies to achieve an ATAR, something that (judging from anecdotal and empirical evidence) is unlikely to change before it rolls out. Working in tandem with this is the introduction of a common module across English Studies, Standard English and Advanced English, which is the element of the course that will enable this ATAR option.

Your mileage may vary as far as whether this is a good idea or not. I'm not against it, but I'm also not particularly passionate about it. In fact, I tend to feel this way about most things before they happen - I reserve judgement for when I see things in action. We'll see what happens. What I will say though is that students often change their minds, change their goals, and anything could happen in a student's life between the commencement of Year 11 and the time in which they finish up their high school education - so, therefore, it follows that we shouldn't be locking students out of opportunities just because they've committed to English Studies at the end of Year 10. The allowance of an ATAR option means that students can, right up until the day of the HSC examination, choose if they want to do this or not.

I'm looking forward to seeing how everything goes in 2018. 

English Studies: Authentic Assessment as Learning

The majority of this post originally appeared here. I have adapted it to include the PowerPoint presentation given on the 3rd of December, 2016 at the English Studies Day at Hunter River High School.

PPT - 'Authentic Assessment as Learning'; presented 3/12/16.

Complete Unit/Assessment Task - 'On the Road'

Associated Resources - here, here and here.
Special credit to my colleague Kira Bryant for the meta-language activities found in the above unit.

The idea of travelling for recreation has its own meaning, and sometimes it can be best expressed in imagery. This picture above was taken in a Ballarat alleyway.

So, picture this, it's Term 3 for Year 12 and I'm at the tail end of teaching English Studies. It's a point where I can now reflect on the subject with some hindsight. I would be lying if I said that I had gone into teaching this subject without some degree of trepidation, however, it turned out to be one of the most liberating, vocationally-affirming and positive experiences of my teaching career so far.

The way I see it; English Studies gives space to engage students with the role of language and texts in representing our authentic interaction with the world around us. For my class, this meant learning how to write letters and postcards, plan holidays, construct a resume that promotes their abilities, work collaboratively and effectively, make appropriate use of technology, and communicate in a meaningful manner. 

Something else to consider with English Studies in keeping students engaged is being strategic about the way assessment is used. I have found that the most effective way of using assessment with English Studies is through project-based (or authentic) assessment. In the terminology of the syllabus, this means Assessment as Learning. The last term of a 7 term slog with these students was always going to be a stretch in regards to mustering student-enthusiasm, so I knew I had to come up with a program for the travel-writing unit On the Road that:

• Integrated assessment into every lesson (therefore making the content meaningful and answerable to the audit process).
• Incorporated real life skills (IE. Planning their own holiday - something I'm sure that all of them will have to do at some point in the near future).
• Was fun (meaning that I could incorporate an excursion as a nice way to finish the topic with a class that had been such a pleasure to teach).

I had four weeks allocated for the assessable part of the topic at the beginning of this term, so I created a booklet of three sections. In order to complete the assessment 'task', students also had to work through a couple of lessons in the booklet designed to build their use of travel-related meta-language.

Section 1: Plan Your Overseas Trip

This is the nuts and bolts section and, at first glance, is mainly organisational in outlook. Students must select an international destination and then use the internet to research all the necessary components of a real holiday. This means:

1. Flights - time and price.
2. An itinerary that details where they will be going on each day of a 7 day trip.
3. Accommodation.
4. Distance and means of transport from airport to accommodation.
5. Safety precautions (vaccinations, travel insurance)

Students are also required to compose three 'Facebook' posts (in the assessment booklet) describing three of their hypothetical days on their holiday.

Section 2:The Excursion

What's more authentic than getting your students to co-plan their own excursion? We decided to go on a day trip to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains (about an hour's train ride from where we are). Students had to research the logistics of catching the train there, times of arrival and departure, and figure out an itinerary that would include lunch and a visit of some local sights. You might have to adapt it if you want to use the project and don't want to go to Katoomba.

While on the excursion, students were required to take at least five photographs that would represent their travels, categorise them with a class-specific hashtag (and four other hashtags of their own invention), and then analyse their photographs in terms of what they represent.

I can confidently say that this excursion (on which I took 14 students) was the most technically successful excursion I have ever taken students on. By that I mean every student was engaged with the task at hand - taking photographs of Katoomba - and the 14 students who attended accounted for about 70% of the entire class (the highest percentage of attendees I have ever gotten anywhere on excursion). On the train trip home, nearly every student spent the entire hour uploading their photographs to Instagram and hashtagging them. 

Section 3: Travel Writing

Students read an excerpt of travel writing (taken from this here blog) and answer some comprehension questions. I included this section to round off the booklet with a travel writing-focused activity, to illustrate to the students the way their excursion and planning links to reading and writing. 

Assessment

The rubric at the end of the unit makes use of analytical criteria, with students assessed in four ways. I'll just write a little on each one...

• Audience and Purpose: This refers to the student's ability to make use of language in a way that is audience-appropriate. In other words, writing with some degree of formality when required and understanding the purpose of language in certain contexts. (Links to Outcome H2.2) 
• Representation: The student's ability to annotate/analyse their own photographs in a way that insightfully represents their travel experience. (Links to Outcome H1.4) 
• Planning: How well (authentically) and in-depth did the student plan their overseas journey, and the excursion to Katoomba? (Links to Outcome H4.1) 
• Commitment: How thoroughly the student completes the assessment booklet and/or gets involved in the class throughout the four weeks. (Links to all three of the above outcomes, really).

Added Authenticity

As an additional piece of fun I organised with Blue Mountains City Council to have the five best photographs  re-posted on the Blue Mountains Visitor Information Centres Instagram feed. I think this was a great way to demonstrate to the students the authentic nature of the task, and the ways in which representation of experience (IE. Thoughtful photographs with a range of hashtags that show authorial intention) is both an English skill and a real world skill.

Fostering Engagement with English Studies

Discovering new worlds through the wonders of travel...

It's Term 3 for Year 12 so I'm at the tail end of teaching English Studies and now at a point where I can reflect on the subject with some hindsight. I would be lying if I said that I had gone into teaching this subject without some degree of trepidation, however, it turned out to be one of the most liberating, vocationally-affirming and positive experiences of my teaching career so far.

The way I see it: English Studies gives space to engage students with the role of language and texts in representing our authentic interaction with the world around us. For my class, this meant learning how to write letters and postcards, plan holidays, construct a resume that promotes their abilities, work collaboratively and effectively, make appropriate use of technology, and communicate in a meaningful manner. 

Something else to consider with English Studies in keeping students engaged is being strategic about the way assessment is used. I have found that the most effective way of using assessment with English Studies is through project-based (or authentic) assessment. In the terminology of the syllabus, this means Assessment as Learning. The last term of a 7 term slog with these students was always going to be a stretch in regards to mustering student-enthusiasm, so I knew I had to come up with a program for the travel-writing unit On the Road that:

• Integrated assessment into every lesson (therefore making the content meaningful and answerable to the audit process).
• Incorporated real life skills (IE. Planning their own holiday - something I'm sure that all of them will have to do at some point in the near future).
• Was fun (meaning that I could incorporate an excursion as a nice way to finish the topic with a class that had been such a pleasure to teach).

I had four weeks allocated for the assessable part of the topic at the beginning of this term, so I created a booklet of three sections. In order to complete the assessment 'task', students also had to work through a couple of lessons in the booklet designed to build their use of travel-related meta-language.

Section 1: Plan Your Overseas Trip

This is the nuts and bolts section and, at first glance, is mainly organisational in outlook. Students must select an international destination and then use the internet to research all the necessary components of a real holiday. This means:

1. Flights - time and price.
2. An itinerary that details where they will be going on each day of a 7 day trip.
3. Accommodation.
4. Distance and means of transport from airport to accommodation.
5. Safety precautions (vaccinations, travel insurance)

Students are also required to compose three 'Facebook' posts (in the assessment booklet) describing three of their hypothetical days on their holiday.

Section 2:The Excursion

What's more authentic than getting your students to co-plan their own excursion? We decided to go on a day trip to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains (about an hour's train ride from where we are). Students had to research the logistics of catching the train there, times of arrival and departure, and figure out an itinerary that would include lunch and a visit of some local sights.

While on the excursion, students were required to take at least five photographs that would represent their travels, categorise them with a class-specific hashtag (and four other hashtags of their own invention), and then analyse their photographs in terms of what they represent.

I can confidently say that this excursion (on which I took 14 students) was the most technically successful excursion I have ever taken students on. By that I mean every student was engaged with the task at hand - taking photographs of Katoomba - and the 14 students who attended accounted for about 70% of the entire class (the highest percentage of attendees I have ever gotten anywhere on excursion). On the train trip home, nearly every student spent the entire hour uploading their photographs to Instagram and hashtagging them. 

Section 3: Travel Writing

Students read an excerpt of travel writing (taken from this here blog) and answer some comprehension questions. I included this section to round off the booklet with a travel writing-focused activity, to illustrate to the students the way their excursion and planning links to reading and writing. 

Anyway, that's enough of that, here's the whole unit if you'd like to have a look - HSC English Studies: On the Road plus two associated resources (here and here). You might have to adapt it if you want to use it and don't want to go to Katoomba. Credit goes to my colleague Kira Bryant for the meta-language activities in the above booklet that act as a prelude to Section 1.

Assessment

The rubric at the end of the unit makes use of analytical criteria, with students assessed in four ways. I'll just write a little on each one...

• Audience and Purpose: This refers to the student's ability to make use of language in a way that is audience-appropriate. In other words, writing with some degree of formality when required and understanding the purpose of language in certain contexts. (Links to Outcome H2.2) 
• Representation: The student's ability to annotate/analyse their own photographs in a way that insightfully represents their travel experience. (Links to Outcome H1.4) 
• Planning: How well (authentically) and in-depth did the student plan their overseas journey, and the excursion to Katoomba? (Links to Outcome H4.1) 
• Commitment: How thoroughly the student completes the assessment booklet and/or gets involved in the class throughout the four weeks. (Links to all three of the above outcomes, really).

Added Authenticity

As an additional piece of fun I organised with Blue Mountains City Council to have the five best photographs  re-posted on the Blue Mountains Visitor Information Centres Instagram feed. I think this was a great way to demonstrate to the students the authentic nature of the task, and the ways in which representation of experience (IE. Thoughtful photographs with a range of hashtags that show authorial intention) is both an English skill and a real world skill.