This learning module explores friendships through a literacy focus. Students develop their social skills and communication skills through role plays, writing a narrative, an artwork and writing emails and letters.
English, Literacy, Drama, Visuals, Friendship, Classroom Code,
The objectives for this Learning Module are taken from the Australian Curriculum, version 8.
Learning Intention: To detemine what a good friend is.
We're going to go outside to play on the equipment for a little while. While you are playing I want you to think about the sort of things you like to do for fun and where do you enjoy playing? I also want you to think about the things you like about your friends. What makes them a good friend, what do they do or say?
When you hear me call, I want you to sit facing your partner.
You are now going to take turns sharing one idea at a time, about the following question. Try to come up with as many ideas as you can in 2 minutes. The person with the smallest shoes can share first.
When we get back to our classroom we are going share with the group some of our answers that our partners shared with us. We are then going to draw a picture showing one thing you like to do with your friends.
Prior knowledge about friendship
Make time as a class to go outside and play on equipment without disruption & have discussion.
Prior to outside activity ensure students are sorted into pairs before beginning task. When play time is finished, students will find their partner and share their ideas.
Key Questions
What sort of games do you like to play with your friends?
What makes a good friend?
Use the Rally Robin strategy to ensure an inclusive discussion. (Kagan. S (1994). Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, USA: Resources for Teachers Inc.).
Teacher to record the responses of students.
Students will draw their ideas about an activity/game they like to do with their partner and share with the class and relflect on why they chose this activity.
Australian Curriculum
General Capabilities - Personal and Social Capability
Recognise personal qualities and achievements:
English
Year 1
Literacy: Engage in conversations and discussions, using active listening behaviours, showing interest, and contributing ideas, information and questions (ACELY1656)
Year 2
Literacy: Listen for specific purposes and information, including instructions, and extend students’ own and others' ideas in discussions (ACELY1666)
Learning Intention: To determine how to be a good friend to others.
1. Share with a partner what you think the most important thing about being a good friend is. Each person will have 20/30 seconds to share what they think. The person with the most letters in their name can share first.
Now I will choose some people to share what their partner thought about being a good friend.
2. Working in a group of 3 or 4, you are going to answer some questions by talking with your group in a single round robin and then drawing or writing your ideas.
When you hear the bell, you need to leave your sheet and move clockwise to the next question.
Look and listen to what other groups have done and share ideas with the whole class.
3. Think about how you felt when you started school (this year or in Kindergarten?) Were you scared about making new friends/keeping your old friends? Lets think of all the ways we could make someone feel better if they were alone or didn't have someone to play with.
4. Imagine we have a new student to our class. With a partner you are going to take turns pretending to be both the new student and someone from our class meeting them for the first time. I want you to act out:
Think about the things your partner said and did to make you feel welcome into our class. Let's make a list of all the things a good friend does for others.
1. Use Timed Pair Share partner strategy to define 'What is the most important thing about a good friend' Ask some students to respond with their partners suggestions.
2. Use Hot Potato strategy (ITC. (2007). Innovative Teacher’s Companion. Sydney: ITC) Suggestion: Photograph groups as they are recording responses to keep a visual diary.
Children work in groups to respond to questions using the Hot Potato strategy. One question is written on a piece of paper. Students respond the question in front of them, by contributing their ideas to the paper. At the sound of a signal (bell, clap, timer etc. ) groups will rotate to next question until all questions have been responded to.
Bring groups back together and each group discusses the question that they finished on. Read through responses.
3. As a class brainstorm things that studetns could say or do to make someone who was new to our class/school feel welcome.
4. Role Play: Children work in pairs to role play the following scenarios involving talking to and playing with friends. Have pairs demonstrate their role plays to the whole class group or share the things their partner did/said to make them feel welcome.
Australian Curriculum
General Capabilities - Personal and Social Capability
Recognise personal qualities and achievements;
Work collaboratively:
English
Year 1
Literacy: Engage in conversations and discussions, using active listening behaviours, showing interest, and contributing ideas, information and questions (ACELY1656)
Year 2
Literacy: Listen for specific purposes and information, including instructions, and extend students’ own and others' ideas in discussions (ACELY1666)
Learning Intention: To create a quality learning environment.
Let's sit in a circle on the floor. We are going to play a ball game. We have a soft ball here, so let's play.
Let's reflect on that game. What did we need? What was missing? We will take turns in the circle to share our thoughts and feelings about that game we just played.
We are going to create a Code of Cooperation for our class. A Code of Cooperation is a list of statements created by a team that identify how we will work cooperatively with one another.
Why is a Code of Cooperation used?
Think-Pair-Share the purpose of a Code of Cooperation.
- it brings people together with a common bond
- prevents team dysfunction
- promotes positive feelings between team members
- provides an agreement of how we will work together
The main purpose of this update is to create a Code of Cooperation with your class. As this is a familiar tool used at the school, students will know how to positively frame the content and include the school values.
School values:
- Honesty
- Tolerance
- Responsibility
- Respect
Start with the students sitting in a circle. Using a soft ball, give it to one students and tell them we are playing a ball game. Prompt students to "play". The activity intentionally lacks structure to allow student reflection on the importance of structure and shared understandings. Allow the game to become chaotic enough for students to experience a lack of success within the game.
Students then reflect in a circle time. Pose questions to the students, such as:
Refer to page 32 of "Tool Time for Education", Langford International, Inc. 2011.
Make sure a structured brainstorming approach is used to generate the code.
The reflection should focus on:
Alternatively, students can do this in their workbooks, or using a cooeprative learning structure.
Teaching Tip
You can differentiate the teaching by allowing multimodality in students representing their thinking. They can write reflections in learning journals or workbooks, discuss their thoughts and feelings with peers and by using cooperative learning structures in class.
Australian Curriculum
General Capabilities - Personal and Social Capability
Work collaboratively:
English
Year 1
Literacy
Year 2
Literacy
Learning Intention: To make new friendships with a range of people in our class.
Classbuilders
Throughout the week, we are going to start our lessons with a short coopertive game. These activites will help us get to know each other a little better and to become a respectful community of learners.
Some things we need to remember:
Team Builders
Learning Intention: To build a cooperative table group that works well together.
In your new table groups, you are going to work together to complete some activities and games. Each member of your team must be a part of the activity everyone will have a chance for their ideas to be heard.
Class Builders (Ongoing)
Throughout the first week students will participate in daily whole class tasks. Using a range of different class building activities, students will interact and work with a range of different class members in order to get to know each other.
Refer to 'Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures for Classbuilding', (Laurie, Miguel & Spencer Kagan, 2007, Hawker Brownlow Education)
Some examples include:
Team Builders (Ongoing)
Students will also be placed in small groups of 4 or 5 and complete a a range of different team building activities. Teams can be changed daily within the first week, then once a fortnight for the remainder of the term. Students wil be given opportunities to develop deeper relationships with their team members and work together towards common goals.
Refer to 'Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures for Teambuilding', (Laurie, Miguel & Spencer Kagan, 2007, Hawker Brownlow Education)
Some examples include:
Team Projects (pg.146)
At the end of the week, once table groups have been formed, students can complete a small team project where teammates work cooperatively, each making an important contribution to the project.
Some projects could be:
Australian Curriculum
General Capabilities - Personal and Social Capability
Work collaboratively:
identify cooperative behaviours in a range of group activities
English
Year 1
Literacy
Year 2
Literacy
Learning Intention: To become familiar with the text 'Amy and Louis'
Look at the cover and think about what this story might be about and share your ideas with your friend.
Look at the pictures in the story and share your ideas with your friend about what is happening and how the boy is feeling.
Look at the cloud pictures: What do you think is happening with the clouds? Share your ideas with your friend.
Look at the picture of the girl. What do you think she is feeling? Share your ideas with your friends.
Listen to the story of “Amy and Louis”.
What did you think about the book? Share your ideas with your friend.
Book orientation on Amy and Louis
Libby Gleeson, L. & Blackwood, F. (2006). Amy and Louis. Australia: Scholastic. Refer also to First Steps Reading Resource Book, Second edition 2004; see Use of Texts page 18 and conducting shared reading sessions.
Use the Timed Think-Pair-Share strategy for all of the following discussion activities:
Orientation and prediction
Students look at the cover and predict the story.
Book Reading
After Shared reading
Record the students responses to the text.
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Literature: Discuss characters and events in a range of literary texts and share personal responses to these texts, making connections with students' own experiences (ACELT1582)
Literacy: Engage in conversations and discussions, using active listening behaviours, showing interest, and contributing ideas, information and questions (ACELY1656)
Year 2
Literature: Compare opinions about characters, events and settings in and between texts (ACELT1589)
Literacy: Listen for specific purposes and information, including instructions, and extend students’ own and others' ideas in discussions (ACELY1666)
Learning Intention: To build the bank of words I know and can use when speaking, writing and reading.
'The more words you know the more words you can read, and the more you read the more words you learn.' Jennifer Miller
Learn two new words a day, every day. Many interesting words to learn about are in 'Amy and Louis' such as; magical, creatures, special.
Add the new words to the class word wall.
Two words a day is an ongoing daily activity that focuses on building and expanding student vocabulary. Learning vocabulary in context enables students to make connections with new words. Re-read the text before isolating words to study in detail and invite students to share what they know about the word, or to predict its meaning from the context.
There are many opportunities for vocabulary or word study in the text Amy and Louis.
As well as many high frequency words (high, called, would, every etc) there are opportunities to expand student vocabulary with words such as magical and creatures.
Compound words also feature in the text; sandpit, playdough, nowhere, raindrops, seahorses, breakfast and the hyphenated 'dressing-up'.
Students should focus on developing semantic(meaning), syntactic (grammar) and graphophonic (letter-sound) knowledge for new words. Some things to focus on:
Teaching Tips
There is a strong relationship between reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. As Jennifer Miller says 'the more words that you know the more you can read, and the more you read the more words you learn' (2015, Learning Vocabulary in Context, Primary English Teaching Association Australia). Typically in junior primary schools the focus is on building high frequency word knowledge. This focus can expand to include words of less frequency that add to students' developing vocabulary.
Students will need frequent exposure to new vocabulary (in a text, on the word wall, orally, on the board, in a new context, as part of homework).
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Language: Recognise and know how to use simple grammatical morphemes to create word families (ACELA1455)
Year 2
Language
Learning Intention: To learn about how words can change when we
During our unit of work we are going to explore different sounds, letter patters and rhymes to see how words can change when we expriment with different chunks or letter combinations.
Lets's start by thinking of some words that rhyme with high (like the towers in the story the Amy and Louis built) I'm going to make a list of all the words we can think of.
Other activities: (ongoing)
Clapping Syllables
Onset/Rime
I spy a word beginning with/ending with...
Focus letter of the day from the text (then build a chart) – concentrate on expanding their knowledge from just short vowel sounds or only one possibility for consonants e.g. ‘c’
Digraphs and blends
Making and breaking words
From this to that (remaking words e.g. vowel substitution)
Ongoing
Look for opportunities to address the content descriptions related to phonics and word knolwedge in context over a number of lessons, differentiating wherever possible and building on the activities in Update 6: Two Words a day
Some examples include:
Phonological Awareness
Clapping Syllables
Onset/Rime
I spy a word beginning with/ending with...
Focus letter of the day from the text (then build a chart) – concentrate on expanding their knowledge from just short vowel sounds or only one possibility for consonants e.g. ‘c’
Digraphs and blends
Making and breaking words
From this to that (remaking words e.g. vowel substitution)
Australian Curriculum
English
Year
Language
Year 2
Language
Learning Intention: To detemine the cause and effect of losing a friend.
What happened when Amy moved away?
How does Louis feel?
Share your ideas with a partner and then with the whole class for the class cause-effect maps.
What is the difference and what is the same about when Amy moved and how Louis feels?
What could Amy and Louis do about the fact they are both sad?
How could they keep in touch?
Share your ideas with a partner and then with the class.
Keeping in Touch
Using the Cause-Effect map strategy ITC (2007) Innovative Teachers Companion. Sydney: ITC or see the Cause and Effect Map
Explore the causes and effects of Amy moving away. This could be a whole class activity (suggestion: use SMARTBoard to display). Using the cause-effect map, discuss (Think-Pair-Share strategy) the causes for Amy moving away, and the effects of her moving. Write responses in the boxes provided.
Working in pairs, students respond to a cause-effect map with Louis being alone as the central idea. Students will need to consider the causes of this and the effects of Louis being alone.
Whole class discussion: compare the two maps. Record responses.
Revisit responses to how Amy and Louis were affected by the move and use a Timed Think-Pair-Share to respond to the suggested questions.
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Literacy: Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning about key events, ideas and information in texts that they listen to,view and read by drawing on growing knowledge of context, textstructures and language features (ACELY1660)
Year 2
Literacy: Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures(ACELY1670)
Learning Intention: To identify all the different ways that we communicate.
In the story 'Amy and Louis' the characters use the word 'Coo-ee'. What do you think that means?
Think-Pair-Share with a partner.
1. Can you think of some other ways to communicate/greet people using our voices? (Hello, Hi, G'day)
Rally Write with your partner as many greetings as you can. Each person will take a turn writing one idea before passing the sheet to their partner.
2. Are people able to communicate without using words. (hand shake, hug, pointing, nod head)
Rally Write again with your partner but this time, think about all the gestures we use to communicate without using words.
How do we communicate when we are not in the same place as the other person?
Think about ways we use technology to communicate and ways we communicate without technology.
How do we keep in touch with others?
Use Think-Pair-Shares to include all children in this discussion of ways we communicate. Record students’ ideas on a class concept map. Consider emails, texts, phone etc. Also consider meetings, games and face-to-face communication.
Introduce letters, postcards and emails. Use 'The Jolly Postman' by Janet and Allan Alberg (Little, Brown & Co, 2001), which shows lots of different letters and use whiteboard to look at emails.
Explore and investigate what you can see in letters and emails. Address diversity by eliciting students’ responses to receiving letters and emails before teaching about their language features in the next Update.
Conventions of a letter include:
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Language: Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways (ACELA1447)
Year 2
Language: Understand that different types of texts have identifiable text structures and language features that help the text serve its purpose(ACELA1463)
Learning Intention: To categorise and compare the features of a letter.
Who has ever written a letter, post card or email before?
Round Robin all the greetings you can think of to start a letter/email.
Round Robin some things you would write a letter for.
Round Robin all the ways you could end a letter/email.
We are going to look at the differences and similarities between a letter and am email.
How would the language change depending on the person I was writing to? Which greeting/Signing off would you pick for the following:
|
Convention |
Letter | |
|---|---|---|
| Greeting | ||
| Content | ||
| Signing off | ||
| Language |
Conventions of Letters and Emails
First Steps Writing Resource Book: Understanding different forms of writing – writing to socialize (p.127)
Compare and contrast letters and emails, e.g. abbreviated language of emails and full sentences in letters.
Resources
Identifying the Parts of a Letter – An English Lesson Plan for Years 2/3
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Language: Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways (ACELA1447)
Year 2
Lang
Learning Intention: To jointly construct a letter as a class.
Who can remember some of the important features of a letter or email?
Today we will be working together as a class to write a letter to Mr. Bruce.
With a partner I would like you to rally write as many greetings as possible. Which of these do you think would be best suited in a letter to Mr Bruce.
What do we want Mr Bruce to know? Let's pick 3 things we would like to tell or ask Mr Bruce.
How should we end the letter? Do you think saying bye would be polite enough, how else could we sign off?
First Steps Writing Resource Book (Social Purpose: Writing to Socialise pg. 127- 136
Modelled and guided writing over several days .....
May include patterned writing.....
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Language:Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways (ACELA1447)
Literature: Innovate on familiar texts by using similar characters, repetitive patterns or vocabulary (ACELA1832)
Literacy: Create short imaginative and informative texts that show emerging use of appropriate text structure, sentence-level grammar, word choice, spelling, punctuation and appropriate multimodal elements, for example illustrations and diagrams (ACELY1661)
Year 2
Language:
Literature: Innovate on familiar texts by experimenting with character, setting or plot (ACELT1833)
Literacy: Create short imaginative, informative and persuasive texts using growing knowledge of text structures and language features for familiar and some less familiar audiences, selecting print and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose (ACELY1671)
Learning Intention:To learn about the purpose of emails and letters.
Use flow diagrams to show what people think and do when they receive letters or emails. For example.
Email to friend → Friend feels happy → Friend replies → How do you feel?
What do people write letters and emails for?
Lets make a list of reasons why someone would send and email or letter to another person.
Who gains? Who loses?
Explore the impact of writing emails and letters on relationships. This will deepen students’ understanding of the importance of these forms of communication.
Australian Curriculum
Year 1
Year 2
Understand that spoken, visual and written forms of language are different modes of communication with different features and their use varies according to the audience, purpose, context and cultural background (ACELA1460)
Learning Intention: To write a letter or email using the correct text features.
Write a letter or an email. Remember to follow the conventions of the form you choose.
Writing an email or letter
Allow students to select which text form they would like to use. Extend some students who are able to do both. Ensure all students have access to a computer at some stage. This will provide real audience and purpose.
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Literature: Innovate on familiar texts by using similar characters, repetitive patterns or vocabulary (ACELA1832)
Literacy: Create short imaginative and informative texts that show emerging use of appropriate text structure, sentence-level grammar, word choice, spelling, punctuation and appropriate multimodal elements, for example illustrations and diagrams (ACELY1661)
Year 2
Literature: Innovate on familiar texts by experimenting with character, setting or plot (ACELT1833)
Literacy: Create short imaginative, informative and persuasive texts using growing knowledge of text structures and language features for familiar and some less familiar audiences, selecting print and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose (ACELY1671)
Learning Intention: To understand how the pictures and the words work together to create the story and and the mood of the story.
1. Words and Visuals
Use Timed-Pair-Shares and whole class discussion to discuss:
What do you call a person who creates/makes the pictures in a book? Pictures are also called visuals.
Why are there pictures/visuals in a book?
Let's read the story again together. This time we are just going to look at the pictures/visuals.
What happens to the story when we take the words away?
Do we still know what is happening in the story? Share your ideas.
2a. Extra Information from the Visuals
Let's look at the double pages where Amy and Louis climb through the hole in the fence to play together.
What do the words tell us?
What extra information do we learn from the pictures/visuals?
2b. Now look at the page where Louis is sitting in the wheelbarrow.
What do the words tell us?
What extra information does the picture/visual tell us about how Louis is feeling?
3. Analysing Amy and Louis' Friendship through the Visuals
Now let's look through the visuals in the book again.
Look at the beginning of the book when Amy and Louis are together. Look at each double page spread. What characters do you see?
How does the illustrator show what their friendship is like?
Now go to the the part where Amy moves away, where Amy and Louis are separated. Look at the double page spreads. What characters do you see?
How does the illustrator show what their frienship is like now?
Now go to the end. How does the illustrator show that the friends are communicating?
How is the illustrator adding to the ideas in the story? How is the illustrator adding to the mood of the story? Do the pictures add meaning to the words?
Reflect: What is most important - words or pictures or both?
3. Colour
Now let's look at colours.
First of all, colour the picture of the terrace houses that you will be given. Some of you will be asked to colour with pastel colours and others will colour with the primary colours.
Now let's see how each picture makes you feel.
Choose the emoticon to match the colours. Then write the word to choose your mood.
 |
|
 |
What about the picture in the book? How does it make you feel? Explain why.
| Image | Emoticon | How you feel? |
| Primary Colours | ||
| Charcoal/Grey/Brown/White | ||
| Pastel Colours |
Explain your choices to your partner.
Reflect: How do the illustrations help us to read the book?
What happens to the story when we take the words away?
Do we still know what is happening in the story? Share your ideas.
The activities in this Update may take a number of lessons, gradually developing students' understanding of visuals in the text, particularly how they complement the words in contributing to meaning.
1. Words and Pictures
The initial activity in the Update is a whole class discussion or a Circle Time. Use Timed Think-Pair-Shares to encourage thinking about the discussion questions by all students.
Introduce the terminology of "visual" as a synonym for "picture". This will support students when they do Update 15: Visual Features of an Illustration.
2. Extra Information from the Visuals
The image of the children climbing through the hole in the fence has a lot of extra information such as both children have a cat; Louis has a bike and a swing but there are no toys; they both use their backyards for imaginative play - Amy has a cubby made from a blanket or towel - this is probably where they share secrets while Louis has a sailing boat; they have long narrow yards because they live in terrace houses (see next page for example of a terrace house); they have the same clothes in both images so it's probably the same day in both; they both have a cactus plant and trees.
In Guided Reading activities, students can apply their understanding of how images contribute to meaning in a picture book. Also, as an extension activity, students can analyse another book they have not read before and see what happens.
3. Theme: Analysing Amy and Louis' Friendship through the Visuals
This activity focuses on the theme of friendship in the story as well as showing how the visuals make meaningSelect three visuals, one to accompany each stage of the story:
4. Colour
Copy the visual of the terrace houses in black and white. Students are then allocated appropritae colours to use as they colour in. The retieval chart may be completed individually or as a whole class.
Resources
Refer to the First Steps Reading Resource book, pp 64-65, about "Devices used by Illustrators".
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Language: Compare different kinds of images in narrative and informative texts and discuss how they contribute to meaning (ACELA1453)
Year 2
Language: Identify visual representations of characters’ actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives, and consider how these images add to or contradict or multiply the meaning of accompanying words (ACELA1469)
Learning Intention: To understand the effects of visual features so I can use them in my own drawings.
A book illustrator chooses special features such as colour and facial expressions to add more meaning to the story. These features are called visual features. When you understand what they do, you can choose them in your own drawings or illustrations.
Let's make a class chart about the visual features used in Amy and Louis.
| Visual feature |
Example from "Amy and Louis"
|
Effect on the reader |
|---|---|---|
| Colour | ||
| Colour | ||
| Gestures | ||
| Gestures | ||
| Facial Expressions | ||
| Facial Expressions | ||
| Size of characters | ||
| Size of characters |
Now it's your turn to try out some of these features. Imagine at the end of the story that Louis visits Amy in the big city.
What colours will you choose to show how they are feeling?
What will be the expressions on their faces?
What gestures will you draw?
How big will Amy and Louis be? How big will the buildings be?
Visual Features of a Text
Inform students of the word ‘features’ and that we will look at the features of a book. Suggestion: use the features of a face to introduce the term.
Using a retrieval chart on a whiteboard or SMARTBoard, discuss colour, gestures, facial expressions, size of characters. As a whole class, fill in the blanks in the retrieval chart. There are two examples for each feature but many more are available in the text if required. Encourage students to consider things such as:
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Language: Explore different ways of expressing emotions, including verbal, visual, body language and facial expressions (ACELA1787)
Language: Compare different kinds of images in narrative and informative texts and discuss how they contribute to meaning (ACELA1453)
Year 2
Language: Identify visual representations of characters’ actions, reactions, speech and thought processes in narratives, and consider how these images add to or contradict or multiply the meaning of accompanying words (ACELA1469)
Learning Intention: To use voice, facial expressions and gesture to communicate
In these activities we are going to focus on drama. In drama, how you use your voice, your body, gestures and facial expressions are all very important.
1. Let's start with voice.
Do you remember the special way that Amy and Louis have ato call for each other?
Let's say it in a normal voice. Louder! Now softly. Now very softly. Now whisper it. Now call it very loudly. Now call it as loud as you can.
What are the effects of a loud voice? A soft voice? A normal voice?
Let's collect all the different ways that you can say hello. Then we can practise using our voices to say them in different ways.
2. Now we are going to look at facial expressions and gestures.
Now sit with a partner and mirror each other's facial expressions and gestures.Make sure you use your face and your hands.
Show me: Happy, Sad, Surprised, Angry, Curious, Thoughtful/Thinking.
Look through "Amy and Louis" and find as many diferent facial expressions as you can. Try to describe them and imitate them.
How does Libby Gleeson use gesture, facial expressions to show that Amy and Louis are friends?
3. Now it's your turn to do some mimes. Let's mime playing some games together as friends. With your partner, mime:
Reflect: Did you show you were friends? What were your facial expressions and gestures to show you were friends?
Extension: With your partner, plan a mime playing a game together to present to the class. Decide on the game you will be playing. Then show your facial expressions and gestures to communicate the mood. There will be two situations in your mime:
Situation 1: Playing the game together.
Situation 2: Playing the same game apart.
Watch other students perform their mimes. Make sure you give them positive feedback after their mime.
Reflect: How did students communicate a happy mood? How did students communicate a sad mood?
In this Update, students experiment with voice, facial expressions and gesture to communicate situations and mood. It reinforces the concepts explored in visual literacy in Updates 14 and 15 so that students can apply their understandings in an illustration in Update 17.
Help students to choose a game to play, by firstly practising some mimes. As it is a mime, students should show the game through their actions without props and without voice.
For the extension activity, it will be difficult for some students to play the games alone. Separate students so they are at opposite ends of the performance space. They can imitate each other, if necessary.
Students in the audience will enjoying guessing what the game is as well as identifying the mood from the facial expressions and gestures.
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Language:
Drama
Foundation to Year 2
Explore role and dramatic action in dramatic play, improvisation and process drama (ACADRM027)
Use voice, facial expression, movement and space to imagine and establish role and situation (ACADRM028)
In Drama, students:
Learning Intention: To apply what I know about visual features in a picture of me and my friends.
You are going to create a picture/visual of you and your friends.
What things would you have in your picture?
What would you use if you wanted the person looking at your picture to feel happy/sad? Think about what you will use to create the mood such as:
You could draw a cloud shape and then add your visual.
Share your visuals,and explain some of teh choices you made to create its mood.
Assessment
This Update focuses on students applying what they have learnt about visual literacy and gesture through an illustration.
As an extension, students may draw a cloud as a frame for their illustration.
Students should also explain the choices they have made to create the mood of their illustration.
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Literature: Recreate texts imaginatively using drawing, writing, performance and digital forms of communication (ACELT1586)
Year 2
Literature: Create events and characters using different media that develop key events and characters from literary texts (ACELT1593)
1. Join in a Circle Time and discuss:
If we were going to write a story, what would we do?
2. See-saw activity: Listen to the story of Amy and Louis again.
Work in pairs: one person will be A, the other B.
They you will alternate from A to B, each telling a segment of the story
until you have no more ideas to share.
Exploring narrative
NOTE: Refer to First Steps Writing Resource Book, p61 & p65
Guide the circle time discussion with some prompting questions:
As students contribute to the discussion guide them to unpack their ideas around character, plot or events and setting, orientation, complication and resolution.
Record the students’ responses to the discussion in the Circle Time.
Prior to reading, ask students to remember 2-3 events in the story. Tell them that following the story they will participate in an activity called See-saw.
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Literacy: Engage in conversations and discussions, using active listening behaviours, showing interest, and contributing ideas, information and questions (ACELY1656)
Year 2
Literacy: Listen for specific purposes and information, including instructions, and extend students’ own and others' ideas in discussions (ACELY1666)
Learning Intention: We are learning how to structure a story.
Work with your teacher to help label a class chart with the parts of a narrative or story.
Then on another day look at how the words and sentences work. Help your teacher to label the class chart.
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Structure of a narrative
Teaching Tips
Use the One-Text model to explicitly teach the features of a narrative using the meta-language (Orientation, Events/Complication, Resolution; Ref: p61 First Steps Writing Resource Book 2nd Edition.
Display as a chart with the structural features labeled on one side of the text.
Repeat the process on another day to explicitly teach the language features of the narrative text. Ref: p 32 First Steps Writing Resource Book 2nd Edition.
Add the language features to the other side of the text on the class chart.
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Language: Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways (ACELA1447)
Year 2
Language:
Sort three images from Amy and Louis into a narrative structure
Walk around the ‘gallery’ and view/review the placements.
To a partner, explain why you put your picture there.
Repeat with another book
Structure of a narrative
Using the Narrative Chart and students’ pictures, model the Gallery Walk activity: Select a few pictures to place onto the Narrative Chart and use a Think Aloud strategy to justify placement, eg: This picture belongs in the Orientation because …
Have a large chart for each of the structural features of a narrative around the room. Select a couple of students to explain why they placed their drawings where they did. Repeat this whole activity to reinforce the structure of narrative texts.
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Language: Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways (ACELA1447)
Year 2
Language: Understand that different types of texts have identifiable text structures and language features that help the text serve its purpose(ACELA1463)
Listen to your teacher reading a Big Book or picture book to the class.
Use a Think-Pair-Share strategy to think about the narrative structure of the text.
Draw and/or write a simple retelling using the narrative structure.
Extension: Read a book out of order and sequence the story according to the narrative structure.
OR
Scaffolding activity with the other book
need to focus on writing not readin
Sequencing narratives
This activity is designed to be repeated as a modelled activity, then a shared or interactive activity and finally as an independent activity using the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model (Pearsen & Gallagher, 1983, Ref: p5 First Steps Writing Resource Book 2nd Ed.) and different texts.
With teacher support as needed (modelled, shared or interactive, independent) students draw and/or write a simple retelling using the narrative structure. Refer to the Narrative Chart.
Australian Curriculum
Year 1
Language: Understand that the purposes texts serve shape their structure in predictable ways (ACELA1447)
Year 2
Language:
Working with a partner, look at some of the writing you have done about Amy and Louis. Find full stops, capital letters (at the beginning of sentences) and any other items of punctuation we have talked about. You can correct errors you know about.
Proofreading for punctuation
Refer to any pieces of writing completed in this learning element and in other contexts to focus on punctuation...
Teaching Tips
Model proofreading and editing strategies using think-alouds. Differentiate by modelling to small groups during guided writing sessions.
Australian Curriculum
English
Year 1
Literacy
Year 2
Literacy
Thje original version of this learning module was written by Kathy Linehan.
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