For our class English unit this term, we are going to be exploring the concept of Journeys through the study of 3 different kinds of text. We will be looking at a short film, a picture book, and a novel. All of these texts will explore a different kind of Journey, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual etc.
Week 2- 'Adevntures are the Pits!'
To begin our unit on Journeys, we will be looking at a short film by the Literacy Shed called 'Adventures are the Pits!' A reluctant boy gets more than he asked for in a ball pit. Will he conquer his fears to escape the adventure he finds himself in?
What is the main character scared of /nervous about?
Did the slide end where you thought it would?
What did the boy have to overcome in order to get out?
Writing Task
Imagine that your slide can end anywhere - where would it end? Describe opening your eyes at the end of the slide - where are you? What do you see?
Week 3 and 4- 'Journey' by Aaron Becker
Weeks 3-11: 'A Ghost in My Suitcase'- by Gabrielle Wang
Term 2- Mystery
The Truth About Verity Sparks
This term's unit provides opportunities to explore the genre of Mystery in its different forms through the exploration of the text, The Truth About Verity Sparks. The unit explores literary elements of plot, setting, characters and themes, as well as literary devices used by the author to engage the reader.
'The Truth About Verity Sparks' by Susan Green is the story of a thirteen-year-old orphan working as a milliner in Victorian London. But Verity is no ordinary girl - she has an almost perfect memory and possesses the talent of Teleagtivism. She can easily find things that are lost! When Verity is wrongly accused of theft and dismissed from her job, she goes to live with the Plushes - a slightly bohemian family who run a Confidential Inquiry Agency. Verity helps them solve cases and slowly becomes one of the family. But patches of the truth about her past begin to surface, along with the special talent that Professor Plush is helping her explore. Who were her real parents? Is she the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter? Who is sending poison pen letters about Verity to the Plushes? Who doesn’t want them to learn the truth about Verity Sparks? An adventure/mystery with a dash of the supernatural thrown in, The Truth About Verity Sparks is packed with chases through the dark alleys of London, seances in high-class dining rooms, pet pythons named Anthony and Cleopatra, murdered opera singers and much, much more.
Genre- Mystery
What are some of the key elements incorporated in the 'Mystery' genre?
Week 3 Writing Task
On page 65, the Professor calls Verity a telegativist because of her ability to see objects and find them.
What other magical abilities can you imagine and what would you call the ability?
How would they work?
Write a paragraph for each of these questions.
Research Task Week 3
As a class this week, we have discussed the Genre of 'Mystery', and created a mind map based on the main features of a Mystery text.
Your job today is to use the internet to research the Mystery genre further. You need to see what information you can find that can be added to your mind map.
Research/Writing Task- Week 4 and 5
The Truth About Verity Sparks touches on many aspects of Victorian English life including:
Class systems (upper, middle, lower),
The city of London,
Poverty and slums,
Art and culture,
Travel (transport),
Scientific research,
Justice systems,
Working conditions
Manners.
Choose one of these areas to research (laptops) and write a report about what life in Victorian England was like in regards to this topic in the 1800’s.
Your report needs to be typed into word, and should be around 3/4 page to 1 page in length. Your font should be NO LARGER than size 14. You need to remember how to correctly structure an information report using the following paragraphs::
Introduction- (3 sentences) tell us about the purpose of your report- Why are you writing about this? Breifly say what your report is going to be about. Introduce your topic. Give some background information.
Paragraph 2 and 3 (6 sentences each)- Description. This is where you start giving more detailed information and interesting facts about your topic. Remember to use a topic sentence to start each paragraph- this should give the reader an idea of what that paragraph is going to be about.
Conclusion (3 sentences)- Briefly sum up what you have spoken about in the report, and why it was significant.
Research/Writing Task- Week 6
Go on with the following task ONLY when you have finished last week's research task!
Biography
James Tissot and his wife Kathleen, who we read about in our class novel this week, were real people in Victorian England. Research them (on the laptops) online using google.
Who were they and what did they do? When did they live? (Birth and Death?). Write a biography of the pair. Below is a poster detailing the main features of a biography to help you. Your biography needs to be 1/2 or 3/4 page in length (size 14 font) and should feature some interesting facts about the pair, as well as a small image at the bottom.
You need to complete the task in google docs INSTEAD of microsoft word, as then you will be able to access it anytime, anywhere through your portal, and I will be able to give you feedback inside of the document itself! Google Docs works almost exactly the same as word, but it will save to your google drive.
Once you have completed, go and show your work to Miss Brimelow. Then, log in to Edmodo to see your Early Finisher activities! :)
Week 9 Assessment- Newspaper Article
Write the rest of the article referred to on page 239. The article starts like this:
LA BELLE SAUVAGE IN LONDON DEBUT Prima Donna Madame Isabella Savage, also known as La Belle Sauvage...
1. What details do you know from the novel and what will you need to add to finish the newspaper article? We know she was a famous ballerina starting her career in London, and we also know that in the same week that the London show was meant to start, she died in a house fire.
2. Design your newspaper article so that it would resemble an actual article from an English newspaper in the Victorian period.
You will need to use Google to research what a newspaper article would have looked like at this time. A few examples have been included below. Once your article has been written, and THEN creatively designed, you need to submit it to Google classroom for marking.
This is part of our assessment for our class novel this term, so you need to make sure you are giving it your best effort!! Once completed, look on the board to see the list of activities to be completed next.
Term 3- Visual Literacy
Into the Forest and The Rocketeer
:The following unit reflects ‘Visual Literacy’ and its multiple perspectives through the study of Fantasy based texts. The unit aims to expose students to various realities and realms.Students will explore their own imagination and creativity through rich texts filled with diverse learning tools and techniques. The learning intentions surround ‘what is fantasy?’ and how does the composer use various visual literacy strategies, forms and features to present the text to the responder. Students will examine different characters, settings and ideas that reflect fantasy and its elements. Different text comparisons are able to take place throughout the unit and each text will be discussed in depth. The students will achieve each learning objective and associate these objectives with key concepts. Students will engage and participate in a range of teaching and learning activitiesthat foster the meaning and purpose of ‘Fantasy’.
Into the Forest- Week 2
As part of our unit, we are going to focus on various elements of Visual Literacy. The visual literacy elements we will focus most heavily on are the following, as they connect well with the ‘Into the Forest’ text:
Mood
Lighting
Colour
Salience
Framing/Composition
Intertextuality
Term 4- Survival
Hatchetis a 1987 Newbery Honour-winning young-adult wilderness survival novel written by Gary Paulsen. It is the first novel of five in the Hatchet series
Road’s End- Who is this mysterious man in goggles and a red scarf and what has happened to him? We are left to decide this for ourselves as the short film begins and he is inspecting the wreckage of a car, as a viewer we assume that he has survived a car crash. Help is at hand in the form of a friendly driver who stops and offers him a lift. We soon realise that all is not as it seems and so does the driver. But is it too late? He looks into the goggles of his passenger and sees himself in the reflection. It is not a pleasant view of the future... and unluckily for this poor soul it comes true.
The Great Bear by Libby Gleeson and Armin Greder A heartfelt story of a cruelly treated dancing bear who finds the courage to stand up for herself. The circus bear spends her days in a cage and her nights performing for a crowd. The crowd taunts her as she dances – poking her with sticks or throwing stones. Can she ever break free? A story with a powerful visual narrative.
Youtube clips: XINGTheFilm- animated comedy about two moose nearly hit by a car. They discuss the close encounter with the humans in the car…. Crazy Moose Chases Man! by Epic Wildlife- video of the territorial aggressive nature of moose. Tie in with Bryan being attacked by the moose.
Road's End
Activity 1: Introduction/Characterisation
As a class, watch the short film. Discuss who the man in the red scarf is and where has he come from? It could be that he is death, the grim reaper, but without the scythe?
Who are these main characters that we have just been introduced to?
What do we know about them from the small amount we have seen?
What do you think is the mystery man's secret?
Descriptive language is a must!
Activity 2: Characterisation/ Point of View
Write the one sided conversation in the car (the things the driver says) but add in the driver's thoughts that we don't get to hear. We are initially shown the story from the point of view of the passenger, but what would the driver be thinking? Add to the conversation by writing the words the driver says in one colour, and then his thoughts in another.
Do we think he is more of a heroic character, or possibly a villain? How is our opinion of this influenced through what we see from the passenger’s point of view?
Activity 3: Point of View/ Theme
Discuss the various film techniques that have been used to establish point of view e.g. close ups, camera angles etc. Ask the students to identify some examples of point of view that they noticed in the text.
What do you think the Theme of the story could be? Mystery, Crime, Thriller? Discuss why you think so as a class, and record some thoughts in your English books.
Ipad Task- Book Creator
Rewrite the story as a newspaper report.
If you were to be called to the scene as a reporter, what point of view would you be taking? Would you be reporting a crime, a road accident, a kidnapping, or just a lucky escape??
We are left with an open ending, so be creative with your newspaper report- how do you think the story ended?? You are now able to decide.
You need to plan a draft of your newspaper report in your Journal book. When you have edited your draft and corrected any mistakes, you need to then present your article in Book Creator. Make it as if it is featuring in a real newspaper! Therefore you need to include:
a front page of your newspaper- look on Google for inspiration and ideas!
the second/third etc pages should then feature your article.
You can also Google images from Roads End to include with your article, or even on the front page pf your newspaper.
Hatchet Questions- Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13
cHAWrite and answer the following questions in the front of your English book:
Chapter 10
What did Brian find at the shore four inches buries in the sand?
How did Brian eat the eggs?
Why did Brian not want to stop thinking about the searchers?
Chapter 11
How had Brian begun to change physically since the crash?
What was Brian’s plan if he ever heard a plane engine roar overhead?
As Brian looked over the lake what did he realize he could eat?
Chapter 12:
What was Brian working on when he heard the whine of the plane engine?
In detail, explain to me how Brian felt when the plane turned and went away? How would YOU have felt if you were him?
Chapter 13:
Why wasn’t Brian able to catch any fish when he first made his bow and arrow?
What kind of hope did Brian find building in him?
Chapter 14:
What were the effects Brian had after he was sprayed with the skunk?
How did Brian make a ladder to get to his food shelf?
What did Brian do to store the fish so they wouldn’t go bad?
Chapter 15:
Tell me about the event, First Meat?
Why was it so difficult for Brian to catch a foolbird?
When Brian was cleaning the bird to eat it, what did he do with the insides of the bird?