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Icon for Zoos through an Exploration of a Picture Book

Zoos through an Exploration of a Picture Book

Persuasive Narratives and Visuals

Learning Module

Abstract

Year 5 and 6 students explore the visual and linguistic features of Zoo by Anthony Browne to understand how authors and illustrators make intentional choices to position readers. They learn about the structure and language features of persuasive texts and produce a range of their own persuasive and creative multimodal texts.

Keywords

Zoos, Visual Literacy, Critical Literacy, Reading Strategies, Persuasive Writing

Australian Curriculum

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM: ENGLISH

YEAR 5 ACHIEVEMENT STANDARD

Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)

By the end of Year 5, students explain how text structures assist in understanding the text. They understand how language features, images and vocabulary influence interpretations of characters, settings and events.

When reading, they encounter and decode unfamiliar words using phonic, grammatical, semantic and contextual knowledge. They analyse and explain literal and implied information from a variety of texts. They describe how events, characters and settings in texts are depicted and explain their own responses to them. They listen and ask questions to clarify content.

Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)

Students use language features to show how ideas can be extended. They develop and explain a point of view about a text, selecting information, ideas and images from a range of resources.

Students create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts for different purposes and audiences. They make presentations which include multimodal elements for defined purposes. They contribute actively to class and group discussions, taking into account other perspectives. When writing, they demonstrate understanding of grammar using a variety of sentence types. They select specific vocabulary and use accurate spelling and punctuation. They edit their work for cohesive structure and meaning.

YEAR 6 ACHIEVEMENT STANDARD

Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)

By the end of Year 6, students understand how the use of text structures can achieve particular effects. They analyse and explain how language features, images and vocabulary are used by different authors to represent ideas, characters and events.

Students compare and analyse information in different and complex texts, explaining literal and implied meaning. They select and use evidence from a text to explain their response to it. They listen to discussions, clarifying content and challenging others’ ideas.

Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)

Students understand how language features and language patterns can be used for emphasis. They show how specific details can be used to support a point of view. They explain how their choices of language features and images are used.

Students create detailed texts elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, using a variety of strategies for effect. They demonstrate an understanding of grammar, and make considered vocabulary choices to enhance cohesion and structure in their writing. They use accurate spelling and punctuation for clarity and make and explain editorial choices based on criteria.

1. Who’s been to a Zoo?

For the Student

The questions we will explore in this learning module include:

What are the advantages and disadvantages of zoos?

How do writers and illustrators position readers?

How do you write a persuasive essay?

Learning Intention: To find out what you know about zoos and how animals are treated in zoos.

With a partner, using Think-Pair-Shares, discuss some of your experiences of zoos.

Who has been to the zoo? What did you see? Did you like it? Who did you go with? What was you favourite animal? What were the animal enclosures like? How do you think the animals were treated?

If you haven't been to a zoo, perhaps you have read or watched a program about zoos. What did you read about/see? Did you like it? What was you favourite animal? What were the animal enclosures like? How do you think the animals were treated?

Download the 'self assessment capacity matrix'. You can use this to assess yourself and your progress through all of the activities in this unit.

Self Assessment Capacity Matrix Zoo

Now form a group of four students and complete a PMI about zoos. Pass the pen around so everyone is a recorder. Support others in your group to come up with ideas.

Plus Minus Interesting
     
     
     

Comment: Discuss your opinions of zoos and then individually post a comment to the discussion forum. Also post a comment on someone else's post explaining why you agree or disagree with them.

Fig. 1: Giraffe feeding time at Taronga Zoo, Sydney.

For the Teacher

Background Knowledge of Zoos

Purpose

While the activities focus on engaging students by finding out what they know about zoos and how animals are treated in zoos (the connecting reading strategy), they also set out to establish cooperative learning, talk, thinking and using technology to communicate and collaborate with other students in the class as central to the learning module.

This Update also includes a writing and drawing as students are encouraged to create and write using a variety of multimodal tools.

Resources

Browne, A. (1994). Zoo. London: Red Fox (Random House).

Teaching Tips

This learning module uses blended learning, moving between online discussion and face-to-face group activities.

The discussion forum establishes the community of learners and knowledge creators early in the learning design. It can then be used throughout the learning module to challenge and extend students as well as engage them and give them a sense of belonging to the learning community.You might have to establish protocols about how to operate in an online space, including social conventions about giving and receiving feedback as well as cybersafety and cyberbullying.

When working in pairs and fours, remind students about what makes an effective cooperative learning group - social skills, individual and group accountability, positive interdependence (everyone must fully participate with total effort), face-to-face interaction, and group processing (reflect on how group is going and decide on how it can be improved).

Also introduce the capacity matrix so students monitor their progress and learning through all of the activities. Explain deep understanding can be demonstrated when you teach others so encourage them to strive for this.

Drawing out some background knowledge will scaffold some ideas that the students can write about in the discussion forum comment.

Moving in and out of the group activities can be managed by the students rather than the whole class doing the same activity at the same time. The teacher can then offer more individualised and scaffolded learning for those students who need it.

2. Reading the Story

For the Student

Learning Intention: To read and respond to Zoo by Anthony Browne.

Vocabulary work

Now with a partner, draw on your background knowledge of zoos to discuss any connections between the following words that appear in Zoo by Anthony Browne:

  • impersonation
  • embarrassing
  • laughing
  • jeered
  • interesting
  • snorted
  • miserable
  • whining
  • brilliant
  • wrestled
  • chocolate

Use a graphic organiser such as a mind map to show your connections between the words in any way you can. Include your comments/annotations on the graphic organiser. Refer to an authority (another student, teacher or dictionary) to check the meaning of any words you are unsure of.

Individually select 2 or 3 words to add to your spelling journal and include strategies to help you spell them correctly.

Now watch your teacher scan through the images in Zoo by Anthony Browne. After the picture flick, work with a partner, and use a Think-Pair-Share to predict what do you think the story will be about? Listen and view the images as your teacher reads the text.

When your teacher directs you, use Think-Pair-Shares to discuss:

Was your prediction right?

Do you want to change your prediction? How?

Comment: Does the story remind you of anything else you have seen, read or heard? What would you say when Mum asked her family what was the best bit of the day?

Fig. 2: Zoo by Anthony Browne

For the Teacher

Reading and Responding to Zoo

Purpose

 To read and respond to Zoo by Anthony Browne, thereby drawing out more connections between the students and the text, and between this text and other texts the students have read. The aim of the Update is also to promote active meaning making by the students using the visuals and the linguistic text. This is more powerful to support comprehension than responding to questions developed by the teacher.

Teaching Tips

Dot-to-Dot Connections

This activity foregrounds vocabulary,  and supports students to connect to the text and predict what the text is about.  Write some key words from the text randomly on the board or an A4 or A3 sheet. Students then use dots or arrows to make connections between the words, drawing on their prior knowledge. Then along the arrows, they write how the words connect for them. If students are not sure of the meaning of a word, they can ask for clarification. They can write a few key words or even visuals to explain their personal connection or a connection they know of. They can use different colours to make different connections, trying to make as many connections between the words as possible. Students can share their connections with a partner and extend their thinking further. Alternatively students could use mind mapping programs such as Popplet or SimpleMind (on iPad).

A spelling journal can be any exercise book in which students record words that they want to focus on in spelling. As well as the words, students should record a spelling strategy, e.g. a pattern, generalisation mnemonic, suffix/prefix/base word etc that will help them to spell the word correctly in their writing. They can learn the words and then use partner testing to test them.

Encourage students to record spelling words throughout the learning module, gradually building a bank of words that they choose and which have relevance to them and their writing.

Reading the Text

Use a book orientation to elicit more background knowledge of zoos as well as other books by Anthony Browne. Use Think-Pair-Shares so students think individually and then respond to questions through paired discussion.

Use a picture flick to show images and to scaffold students' predictions of the text. A Picture Flick is a teaching strategy to use before reading a narrative text. It supports students to relate to the text and make predictions.

  1. Show the front cover of the book and ask for comments or predictions.
  2. Open the book and show the pictures page by page.
  3. Students are encouraged to look at the pictures without commenting.
  4. Use 2-4 of the actual words from the text as you do the picture flick.

Unlike Update 1 where students have high agency and work through the activities with their partner or group, this Update is teacher-directed. Read the story and ask students to respond at different points using Think-Pair-Shares. Stop half way through and invite students to change their predictions if they like. This will help them to further engage with the story as they check their predictions and connect more to the story.

At the point where the mother asks what was the best part of the day, ask students to discuss this. Then read the conclusion of the story.

Allow ample time for students to look at each image as you read the linguistic text.

Emphasise to students that predicting and connecting are two reading strategies that good readers use to help them comprehend a text.

3. Finding Lexical Chains

For the Student

Learning Intention: To define antonyms and identify the number of negative words in the text to help us understand the story.

Expert Group Jigsaw

Working in a home group of three, you will be given one page each of the written version of Zoo.

Then all of the students with page one move into an expert group, page two into another expert group and page three into the third expert group. The expert groups then work together to highlight every negative word they can see on their page.

Students then move back to their home groups to share what they discovered about the word choice on the page they analysed. Then discuss:

What did you discover about the word choice of Anthony Browne.  Why did Anthony Browne make these choices.

Now return to your expert group and identify antonyms for each of the negative words. Write it above the word. You can refer to an online dictionary or thesaurus to help you. Before you start, come to a common definition of what an antonym is by discussing the following data set:

Defining an antonym

Conflict, variance and disagreement are all antonyms for harmony. Agreement is not an antonym for harmony.

In your expert group, work out your definition for an antonym?

Extension:

Define a synonym, then provide your own examples using a data set. Use this template:

............., ............... and ................ are all synonyms for .............

.................. is not a synonym for .....................

A synonym means.........................

Spelling Journal: Add 3-5 words from your work on antonyms and synonyms to your spelling journal and identify spelling strategies to help you learn the words to use in your writing. Partner Test.

Comment: As a group of 4, identify four ways in which you have supported each other as a group. You may wish to refer to some of the qualities of what makes a great learning team, especially active listening and eye contact. Record these and identify one social goal that will help you to work even better in the next group activities.

Fig. 3: Penguin at London Zoo.

For the Teacher

Identifying Negative Words

Purpose

This Update builds students' experience of the field of the text. The field includes the plot - what is happening/the action. It also includes the characters, setting and themes. By focusing on the language of the text, the students will begin to see how Browne is building character and communicating theme.

Teaching Tips

As students work through these activities independently, move around the room, offering support to students who need it to define antonyms and synonyms and motivating others.

Also emphasise the learning intentions so students understand the purpose of the activity. This links to goal setting and reflection. Refer students to wall displays/poster on social and learning goals. Students would have created these posters in primary school. If not do a group activity on What makes a good learning team. This could be extended beyond social goals to communication and thinking goals.For example:

Social Goals - equal participation, taking turns, polite voices, being a good sport, paying attention, encouraging statements, using positive body language and facial expressions.

Communication Goals - active listening, paraphrasing, seeking clarification, disagreeing agreeably, accepting and extending ideas, resolving conflicts.

Critical Thinking goals - examine both sides of an argument; suspending judgment, consider all factors, noticing sweeping generalizations, noticing the unknowable statistic, noticing either/or positioning.

Students can refer to these as they reflect on their learning throughout the learning module.

4. Creating a New Text

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand how authors make deliberate word choices to impact on readers.

In your home groups, use a printed or digital copy of the 'linguistic text of Zoo' to create a new version of Zoo with the antonyms you have recorded.You can write over the words or cover the words you are replacing with post-it notes and write over them. Alternatively, you can change the digital version.

Zoo Text

Read it aloud with each member of the home group, reading their page.

Discuss:

  • Compare (how is it different)  and contrast (how is it the same) your new text to the original story.

Anthony Browne has used a Lexical Chain  of negative words to make his narrative interesting. A lexical chain is the use of word association to create links in texts. Lexical chains group a series or string of words that connect in some way.

  • How does the lexical chain of negative words build the character of the father?
  • How does it communicate Anthony Browne's attitude to zoos?
  • What is the theme/main idea of the story?
  • How does your new version position your reader to think about zoos? 

Comment:

Describe a trip to somewhere (e.g. the beach, the river, the zoo, the playground, the fun park, the mountains etc).

Use lexical chains to make it positive – the most fantastic trip ever! First, make a list of 10-15 positive words you will include.

Or you can make it negative - the worst trip ever! ! First, make a list of 10-15 negative words you will include.

Fig. 4: Sumatran Tiger at Melbourne Zoo, Australia.

For the Teacher

Innovating the Text

Purpose

In this Update students innovate on Browne's linguistic text using the antonyms they identified in the previous Update in order to understand that authors make deliberate choices to impact on readers.

Teaching Tips

Students work in groups to rewrite the text using antonyms. They can change the digital text, use post-it notes to lay over the words in the book itself or use photocopies of the linguistic text and write on them. It will be interesting to see whether there is still humour in the text.

Extension

Another way to create lexical cohesions is to use repetition. teach repetition, using the concept of "triples".  Here are some examples using verbs and adjectives and ceating a pattern in the sentence structure:

  • After a few hours of wheeling, carrying and stacking, we stood back to admire our work.
  • The fire grew bigger and bigger, redder and redder, hotter and hotter.
  • The flames hissed. The branches crackled. We panicked.

5. Readers Theatre

For the Student

Learning Intention: To practise fluent reading.

Work in your group to plan, rehearse and present a Readers Theatre of your new text or the original text.

Guidelines for Readers Theatre

Form groups of 4. Supply a complete copy of the script for each member of the group. Read the script through together to get an overall understanding of the storyline.

Allocate yourselves to a character role. On the second reading, highlight your specific reading sections with a coloured highlighter.

Rehearse your scripts and decide on a minimum of prop s (eg hats, coat, jumper, chair, food, steering wheel) to support your performance. It is recommended that the props be limited to four so that your group has to prioritise what is important to conveying meaning in your script.

Perform by reading your script aloud in front of your peers. As you perform, you should try to maintain eye contact with the audience.

Comment: Reflect on your performance. What was successful? What would you improve on? Did you meet the social goal you set in Update 3? What new social goal will you set?

Fig. 5: Hippopotamus pool at San Diego Zoo, USA.

For the Teacher

Purpose

Readers Theatre provides an opportunity to practise fluent reading and for students to immerse themselves more deeply in the texts they created and/or the original text. High school students do not have many opportunities to read aloud and to focus on fluency as they read.

Teaching Tips

The Readers Theatre activity is optional. It can be done concurrently with other activities once students have created their alternative texts. You could allocate the last 15 minutes of a number of lessons to Readers Theatre rather than using whole lessons to work on this.

Readers Theatre provides some thinking challenges in working out roles while the rehearsals of the presentations provide opportunities for reading aloud. During the performance students can use voice and gesture to enhance their presentation

The setting, props and actions of the students should be kept to a minimum - limit these so they have to make choices. The best arrangement is one where the group forms a semi-circle. As students perform, they should try to maintain eye contact with the audience. This is possible if they have had sufficient rehearsal time to become less reliant on reading the script closely.

It is also recommended that groups are scheduled to perform over a period of days rather than in one setting. Instead of performing to the whole class, they could perform to another group and then evaluate each other.

See guidelines for allocating roles and presenting Readers Theatre at MyRead and Reading A-Z.

6. Zoos Creative Project

For the Student

Learning Intention: To take your thinking about zoos into creative directions and start your project.

Zoos Creative Project

Choose one of the following tasks to work on as an individual project. The central idea/theme of the text you create may be related directly to zoos or to another theme or issue related to zoos.

  • Create your own picture book with a narrative text and illustrations.
  • Create a multimedia text on zoos of the world.
  • Write a narrative/short story.
  • Create a brochure on a particular zoo.
  • Create a digital story e.g. about a trip to the zoo or another family outing.
  • Write an information report on another topic, e.g. scientific testing using animals.
  • Draw or collect a series of images that position an audience either positively or negatively. Present these to an audience and receive feedback.
  • Any other topic that you have negotiated with your teacher.

You can work on this task at home and in class when specific time is allocated or when you are waiting for other members of the class to complete an activity.

Watch the multimedia presentation of the Sea Lion Show at St Louis Zoo.

Fig. 6: Sea Lion Show at St Louis Zoo, USA.

For the Teacher

Extending your Thinking and Creativity

Purpose

This Update provides students with opportunities to do some creative responses to Zoo. The focus is on creativity, agency and choice.

Teaching Tips

It is best not to introduce this Update too late in the learning module so that students can work on it at home and in class over time. It is extension for higher performing students but it also allows all students to demonstrate their creativity. It could be the major homework task for the unit so introduce it early and provide some time in class to get students started. They can then work on it whenever they have some time. Encourage students to edit and revise it along the way, especially in the light of new learning. Then they can submit it for feedback in Scholar. Set dates for feedback towards the end of the module. This might mean that students are reviewing two works (persuasive essay plus this creative task).

The rubric is shown here. This can be modified if necessar in Publisher once you finalise the project.

7. Do the Words Match the Pictures?

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand how the author of Zoo presents characters and key ideas/themes through both similarities and differences between the images and the words.

Using dot points, describe the character of the Dad. After each dot point record the words and/or describe the visuals Browne has used to create this character. Make sure you include an example of the words complementing the visuals and an example of the words conflicting with the visuals. You can discuss ideas with your partner first.

Now continue to work with your partner to choose and then study the images on the pages about the elephants, giraffes, tiger, rhinoceros, penguins, polar bear, baboons and orang-utan.

Practise two reading strategies here - synthesising and inferring. When you synthesise, you draw information from more than one source. In this case you are integrating information from the visuals and the linguistic text, seeing how the images contribute to or detract from the linguistic text?

You are also inferring. When you infer, you think about the deeper meaning of the text and what is not directly stated by the author or illustrator.

Complete the table below with at least 3 animals - you can do more as extension! One is done for you as a model.

What does the text say? What do you see? What do you infer? Comment on how the words and visuals do/do not match.
I don't think the zoo really is for animals. I think it is for people. The people are behaving like animals and the gorilla looks really sad. On the surface zoos entertain people but the author suggests animals deserve better lives than living in cages and being looked at by humans. The words and visuals match as they convey the same message about the effects of zoos on animals.
       

Share your ideas in your group of 4. Discuss how a different image would communicate a different meaning. Choose one and sketch an alternative image. Discuss your sketches in your group.

Then as a group, discuss what you think are central ideas/themes of Zoo. Has Browne been successful in communicating his perspective about zoos?

Comment: After your discussion, individually post a comment in which you reflect on your image and the main points of your discussion. Then comment on the posts of 1-3 other students from other groups. Extension: Scan and post your image. Then create an Update and post the image with an explanation of the central idea/theme of your illustration.

Fig. 7: Mother and child enjoying a light rain shower at Whipsnade Zoo, Great Britain.

For the Teacher

Matching the Language and the Visuals

Purpose

This Update builds on the focus on the linguistic text in the preceding activity by moving to the visuals to understand how characterisation and key ideas/themes in the text can be presented through images that offer complementary or alternative (including other perspectives) and/or conflicting information to the linguistic (written) text.

It also supports two reading strategies:

1. Synthesising by integrating what students learn from the text features (e.g. illustrations, photographs, captions, headings, graphs, diagrams, timelines, maps etc) and the main text into a discussion about the central ideas/themes of the text.

2. Inferring by identifying the deeper meaning of the text and its central ideas/themes and what is not directly stated by the author/illustrator.

Teaching Tips

Encourage students to discuss alternative images to communicate a different meaning or another perspective as a scaffold to sketching their own image.

This is a first attempt at identifying central ideas/themes in the text by discussing what students think are Browne's opinions about zoos. Students will focus mainly on how the animals look sad. Once they do the detailed visual analyses in later activities, they will have an even deeper understanding of the central ideas/themes of the picture book.

When discussing the synthesising and inferring reading strategies, remind students that synthesising and inferring are what good readers do to comprehend complex texts. Also tell students they will have to infer a lot in the visual analyses that follow.

8. How do the Images Impact on the Reader

For the Student

Learning Intention:To identify the visual features of the text and their effects.

First of all work in your group of four to complete the following table. Each student in the group should draw up the table and complete it as you complete the discussion.

In the first table, look at aspects of the visual mode, including colour, framing, gaze and line. Refer to the 'visual mode definitions' before you start. In the second and third columns, describe what you see in the images:

Gaze__Colour__Line___Framing.docx
Mode Animals Humans
What colours are used?
What framing is used?
Gaze: Demands /Offers
How is line used?

Now analyse what the visuals do, that is, how they affect the reader. In the second column describe how the visuals of the animals affect the reader. In the third column, describe how the visuals of the humans affect the reader.

Effects on the reader

Mode Effects of the Visuals of Animals on the Reader Effects of the Visuals of Humans on the Reader
Colour
Framing
Gaze: Demands /Offers
Line

Comment: Do you think that Anthony Browne's images are effective. Give examples to support your viewpoint. Then comment on other students' comments, giving feedback on their examples.

Fig. 8: Spider Monkey in a Zoo

For the Teacher

Visual Features

Purpose

This Update provides students with a metalanguage to discuss the visual mode and its elements of colour, framing, gaze and line. The mode of communication may be linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and/or spatial.

Note: In this learning module we focus on the visual and linguistic modes with some opportunities to explore the gestural (hand and face gestures), audio (voice intonation etc in reading) and spatial (where readers stand/sit) in the Readers Theatre.

Teaching Tips

Students complete a retrieval chart identifying the use of the visual features of colour (earthy sombre colours for animals; bright clashing colours for humans); framing (black frames for animals, no frames for humans until halfway though); gaze - demands and offers (animals eyes are not really evident until gorilla; humans looking out often); and line (sharp vertical and horizontal lines in cages, horizontal curved lines in clothing). This activity provides students with a metalanguage to discuss the visual mode and its elements of colour, framing, gaze and line. The mode of communication may be linguistic, visual, audio, gestural and spatial.

Add two more columns to the retrieval chart. Students record the effects of the use of colour, framing, gaze and line on the reader. This is tenor. For example in the table students might record that the sombre colours make the animals seem sad to the reader. The bright clashing colours suggest the humans are clashing with nature. The framing suggests caging while the lack of framing suggests freedom. The demands make the reader look at the eyes first. The gorilla image demands the empathy of the reader. The angular lines suggest clinical aloof animal enclosures.

9. What is Browne's Purpose?

For the Student

Learning Intention: To understand Anthony Browne's purpose and how he has positioned his readers to think about zoos.

In a small group discuss the following questions. Individually record the main points of your discussion in point form on a graphic organiser such as a mind map or 'Two Column Notes'.

What do you think about the animals in Zoo?

What do you think about the humans in Zoo?

Are they happy or sad? Why? Why not?

What is Browne's purpose? Why has he made choices to present the people and animals in Zoo in a negative way?

How does Browne include humour?

Two Column Notes

My thoughts about the animals in Zoo............ I think that the author/illustrator created this text to...............
My thoughts about the humans in Zoo ...........
Happy/Sad. Why/Why not?
Author's purpose
Examples of humour

Then make a list of all the positive and negative messages/ideas/themes about zoos that the reader may infer when reading Zoo.

Work collaboratively in your group of 4 so the list is as long as possible. Spy on other groups and see if you can even add more. Make sure everyone in the group records so that they can refer to the list in the writing activity that follows.

Spelling Journal: Add 3-5 words from your work on visual analysis to your spelling journal and identify spelling strategies to help you learn the words to use in your writing. Partner Test.

Comment: Reflect on your work as a group. What was successful? What would you improve on? Did you meet the social goal you set in Activity 5? What new social goal will you set?

Fig. 9: Gorilla

For the Teacher

Author's Purpose

Purpose

This Update focuses on developing a deep understanding of how authors/illustrators make deliberate choices to impact on the meaning making of readers.

Teaching Tips

Despite the serious nature of this text it is important to note how this is still a book that young children may read and that Browne still includes humour to entertain the audience.

Graphic organisers such as mind maps and Two Column Notes help to scaffold thinking for the students. Students could also use a T Chart to analyse the positives and negatives of zoos based on the information presented in Zoo.

Encourage all students to record the main points of the discussion so they can refer to these notes in the writing activity that follows.

10. Designing Your Own Poster

For the Student

Learning Intention: To apply what you have learned about positioning an audience in your own illustration.

Create your own poster/illustration of a zoo, using colour, framing, gaze (demands and/or offers) and line. Decide on your purpose - will your viewers be positioned to think positively or negatively about zoos?

You may create an original design or innovate on one of Browne's images by changing some or all of the visual features.

You may prefer to hand draw your poster/illustration or use a program such as Glogster or Publisher.

Comment: Create an Update and post your poster/illustration (you will have to scan it first if it is hand drawn). Then post a paragraph about it in which you comment on:

  • how have you positioned your audience
  • the visual features have you included?
  • whether they are effective?

Then look at the illustrations of other students. Choose 1-3 and provide feedback to other students.

Fig. 10: This Zoo poster uses framing and colour to promote zoos. The angle of the elephant's foot also suggests action.

For the Teacher

Using Visuals to Position an Audience

Purpose

Through this Update students apply what they have learned about positioning an audience. It also includes them providing feedback to their peers.

Teaching Tips

Instead of online posts, a gallery walk can be used in which students' images and explanatory paragraphs are posted around the room. Students use post-it notes to record feedback to other students.

11. What is a Persuasive Text?

For the Student

Learning Intention: To analyse the grammatical features of a persuasive text at the whole text, sentence and word levels.

Look at the example of a 'persuasive text on why circuses should be banned'. Firstly read it and discuss it with your partner.

Circuses Should Be Banned Persuasive Text
  • What do you think are its good points?
  • What do you think are its bad points?
  • Is the sequencing of ideas and arguments logical? Why/Why not?
  • Is is persuasive? Why/why not?

Continue to work with your partner as you annotate the text. Each of you should have your own text to annotate. Use highlighters, underlining and making annotations in the margins around the text.

1. Whole text structure

Look at the whole text structure. Identify the Point paragraph, the Conclusion and the E and EO (examples/elaborations/evidence)/body paragraphs.

Look at the transitions between paragraphs and the words or connectives that are used.

Look at the sheet on alternative 'connectives' to make effective transitions between paragraphs. Choose some and replace the existing connectives. Connectives are very powerful to add cohesion (make it flow) to your writing.

Text Connectives

2. Paragraph structure

Look at the E or body paragraphs. Identify the P, E, EO and C sentences in each E/body paragraph.

3. Sentence level
Conjunctions  such as,  and, but, or, so,are used to join sentences and create compound sentences.

Circle any conjunctions and identify the compound sentences.

Complex sentences use relative pronouns (who, which, that). Highlight any you can find in the text and identify the complex sentences.

 

4. Word level

Identify transition words (connectives and conjunctions) within the sentences, technical vocabulary and modal verbs.

Now see if you can improve the text. Select new connectives (see the sheet on connectives again) by writing the new connectives above the existing connectives.

Now look at the modal verbs. Strong modal verbs may be used to position your audience to agree with your viewpoints about the topic. Weaker modal verbs should be used to reflect opposing viewpoints that you don't agree with. There is more information for you to revise modal verbs 'here'.

Modal Verbs

Add technical words or synonyms for existing words.

Reflect on whether you think the changes you have made improve the text.

Spelling Journal: Add 3-5 words from your work on text analysis, particularly technical words to your spelling journal and identify spelling strategies to help you learn the words to use in your writing. Partner Test.

Comment: Reflect on what you have learned about writing persuasive texts as you have worked through the activities. Comment on other students' comments, building on their ideas, and identifying similarities with your own learning.

Fig.11: Animals do not behave as they do in the wild in many circus acts.

For the Teacher

Identifying the Features of a Persuasive Text

Purpose

In this Update students use a model of a persuasive text on circuses to learn about the text structure and grammatical features of persuasive texts. They also revise grammar that is typical in persuasive texts.

Teaching Tips

In this Update students should be able to work independently through the activities with the teacher providing individual support for students and offering mini lessons on grammar for those students who opt in for them. 

Notes on Persuasive Writing and PEC Paragraphs

An advertisement is a persuasive text so for the purposes of the writing task, students will be writing a persuasive text which is arguing a point of view, providing supporting evidence and addressing opposing sides of the argument.

The PEC structure works at the whole text level as well as the paragraph level.

The Point sentence signals to the reader what the main message is. It links to an objective of the point sentence giving 'prominence to the message in the text and allows for prediction of how the text will unfold.'

What is the purpose of a persuasive text? How does the structure help to achieve the purpose?

- It helps writers to clearly state an idea through 'P' paragraph and sentences

- Because the structure encourages writers to include evidence, examples and elaboration, it supports the purpose of persuasive texts - to persuade! Statistics help to provide strong evidence.

- The structure also ensures the writer does not go off on tangents which are not relevant to the main argument.

12. Writing Your Own Persuasive Essay

For the Student

Learning Intention: To draw together everything you have learned about positioning an audience by writing a persuasive essay.

Zoo is just a children's picture book about a family outing to the zoo. Do you agree? Write a persuasive essay in which you discuss Browne's purposes in writing Zoo. Use examples from the text to support your claims.

Zoo CQ Rubric

Comment: Reflect on your work in this unit, individually and as a group. What was successful? What would you improve on? Did you meet the social goals you set ? What should be your group social goals when you form a new group for the next topic? What will be your individual learning goals?

Fig. 12: Polar bear swimming in zoo. Shrinking ice means zoos may be needed to conserve polar bears.

For the Teacher

Writing a Persuasive Essay

Purpose

Through an essay, students draw together everything they have learned about positioning an audience as well as what they have learned about how to write a persuasive text.

Teaching Tips

For this persuasive essay, students should use their notes from discussion and completed activities to put forward their arguments about Browne's purpose in writing Zoo. Encourage them to put forward a counter argument such as Browne wrote Zoo just as a picture book to entertain young children. Use a PEC scaffold for students to plan their essay.

P Paragraph - Introduction/Topic Paragraph
E Paragraph - 1st Argument
E Paragraph - 2nd Argument
E Paragraph - 3rd Argument
EO Paragraph - Opposite/Counter argument
C Paragraph - Conclusion

13. Acknowledgements

The original version of this learning module was written by Rita van Haren.

Title: (Source); Fig. 1: Photograph by Brian Giesen (Source); Fig. 2: (Source); Fig. 3: Photograph by Karen Roe (Source); Fig. 4: "Tiger Melbourne" by Merbabu - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons (Source); Fig. 5: (Source); Fig. 6: (Source); Fig. 7: Copyright David Sands and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence; Fig. 8: Photograph by Wilhelmina Richardson; Fig. 9: (Source); Fig. 10: USA Library of Congress (Source); Fig. 11: "Ringling brothers over the top tiger" by chensiyuan - chensiyuan. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons (Source); Fig. 12: (Source).