EDEE431: HSC English Area of Study Unit of Work Standard Course

EDEE431: HSC English Area of Study Unit of Work – Standard Course

Area of Study: Discovery

Duration: 6-7 weeks (3 lessons per week)

Outcomes: Stage 6

3. A student develops language relevant to the study of English.

4. A student describes and analyses the ways language forms and features, and structures of texts shape meaning and influence responses.

6. A student engages with the details of the text in order to respond critically and personally.

9. A student assesses the appropriateness of a range of processes and technologies in the investigation and organisation of information and ideas.

12. A student reflects on own processes of responding and composing.

Outcomes/ Teaching Strategies and Activities Resources Assessment Content Weeks 1-2, Introduction to ‘Discovery’ 1.2, 2.2, 3.2, The Teacher will explain that the unit they about to complete is an introduction to Smartboard: 6.1, 6.3,8.2, the concept of ‘Discovery’ and the way in which it “is represented in and through 12.1 texts” (NSW BOS, HSC Prescriptions 2015-20, English Stage 6, p9). In the next unit students will focus on prescribed texts relating to ‘Discovery’. Students will then be shown the following two quotes:

‘What is there that confers the noblest delight? What is that which swells a man's breast with pride above that which any other experience can bring to him?

1 Discovery! To know that you are walking where none others have walked; that you http://www.fam are beholding what human eye has not seen before; that you are breathing a virgin ous- atmosphere. To give birth to an idea, to discover a great thought -- an intellectual quotes.com/to nugget, right under the dust of a field that many a brain-plough had gone over pic.php? before. To find a new planet, to invent a new hinge, to find a way to make the tid=346 lightning carry your messages. To be the first -- that is the idea’.

Mark Twain

“Because it’s there.” [George] Mallory went on to explain, “Everest is the highest http://www.this mountain in the world, and no man has reached its summit. Its existence is a dayinquotes.co challenge. The answer is instinctive, a part, I suppose, of man’s desire to conquer m/2010/03/geo the universe.” rge-mallory- coins- Students are to begin a new journal entitled ‘Discovery’. Individually, because-its- Students are given an students are to address the quotes above considering the following: there.html opportunity to consider the notion of 1. Both quotes suggest that discovery is about being the first to accomplish discovery individually something. Do you agree? and use their initial impressions to “reflect 2. What do you understand by the term ‘discovery’? and speculate on their own experiences of Journal: The journal will act as both a reference and self-reflection tool. Students discovery”. (NSW are to bring journals with them every lesson. Students will reconsider their initial BOS, HSC response to these questions on a weekly basis. At the end of the unit students will Prescriptions 2015-20, be able to reflect upon the way in which their understanding has evolved. English Stage 6, p9). (15 minutes are to be set aside each week to enable students to revisit their previous responses. During this reflection period the teacher will move around the class checking that student journals are up to date). Group discussion will Class Discussion of the concept of ‘Discovery’ using the smartboard to create a stimulate ideas, with the mind map

2 mind map (the mind map will be created using appropriate ICT media i.e. Word- Smartboard providing a valuable SmartArt). Students copy the mind map on to their laptops. The ideas created at resource tool for this initial visit should all be the same colour. For homework students are to students enabling develop their mind map. Students must: them to reflect on their understanding of 1. consult with friends/peers for their thoughts on ‘Discovery’. These should be ‘Discovery’. Similarly, added to the mind map in a second colour, engaging with a variety of 2. consult with their family/relatives for their thoughts on ‘Discovery’. These friends/peers/family should be added to the mind map in a third colour. members will help 3. Students are to post their mind maps on www.edmodo.com for peer/teacher students to develop a feedback/review. broader concept of discovery.

3.1, 3.2, 3.3, Overview of the HSC Area of Study: 6.3, 6.4, 9.2, 10.2, 12.2 Class Discussion:

1. Teacher led discussion considering the HSC Area of Study Requirements Resource 1 – (Resource 1). HSC Area of Study – 2. Students should then add the following words to their mind map (in a fourth Discovery. colour):

Lost, forgotten, concealed, rediscovering, curiosity, necessity, wonder, emotional, Including specific intellectual, spiritual, confronting, provocative, stimulating, personal, cultural, language form the historical, social, values, ramifications, questioning, worth, assumptions, beliefs, HSC Area of Study potential. Rationale provides a link between students’ 3. Teacher led class discussion regarding the mind maps and the way in which own ideas and Area of they have evolved. Points to consider will include: Study demands.

3 a. How has your concept of discovery changed (if indeed it has)? b. Does a discovery have to be something monumental? c. Does a discovery have to be shared?

4. Students are to record their thoughts in their journals.

5. Students are to print off their mind maps and stick them into their journals.

Teacher led presentation:

1. Thesis Statement Presentation with teacher led discussion (Resource 2). Smartboard, Resource 2 In Pairs: and Journals – students to 2. Each pair is to create two thesis statements (using Resource 3): make detailed notes in a. The first statement should be related to paragraph two (Area of journals. Study Rationale) and the notion of ‘grand’ discoveries. b. The second statement should be related to paragraph three and the Resource 3 notion of self-discovery.

Class Discussion: Teacher led class discussion. Students share their thesis Whiteboard The thesis statement statements, which the class discuss in terms of how they address ‘Discovery’. activity develops an Students are to record at least three of the thesis statements in their journals understanding of what together with student responses to these questions. the syllabus demands are and prompts students to consider the ways in which they might approach the notion of ‘Discovery’. 1.1, 3.1, 3.2,

4 3.4, 4.3, 6.2, Class Discussion and Group Work: Teacher led discussion about the concept of Smartboard Each quote addresses 6.3, 8.1, 9.1, ‘Discovery’. The teacher reads out the following quotes: (displaying the a different aspect of 9.2, 10.2, quotes). discovery, allowing 12.1,13.1. “When you are inquisitive, Jane, you always make me smile. You open your eyes students to consider like an eager bird, and make every now and then a restless movement, as if http://www.goo the way meaning is answers in speech did not flow fast enough for you, and you wanted to read the dreads.com/qu represented in and tablet of one's heart.” otes/tag/discov through different texts Jane Eyre,Charlotte Brontë ery? and contexts.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Mahatma Gandhi.

“Lands of great discoveries are also lands of great injustices.” Ivo Andrić

“And in that moment, everything I knew to be true about myself up until then was gone. I was acting like another woman, yet I was more myself than ever before.” The Bridges of Madison County, Robert James Waller

“I finally felt myself lifted definitively away on the winds of adventure toward worlds I envisaged would be stranger than they were, into situations I imagined would be much more normal than they turned out to be.” The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey, Ernesto Guevara.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” André Gide

“I believe one has to escape oneself to discover oneself.” I, The Divine: A Novel in First Chapters, Rabih Alameddine,

5 The presentations Group Work Activity (and Journal Task): provide students with an opportunity to 1. The class is divided up into small groups (3 or 4). Resource 4 explore the concept of 2. Each group is tasked with analysing one of the quotes (Resource 4). Resource 5 discovery in groups in 3. Each group is to prepare a ten-minute presentation with the aid of more detail, thereby Resource 5, which addresses their particular quote. providing different 4. The class will be given sufficient in-class time in which to prepare their perspectives and presentations (approx. two lessons). helping develop their 5. During presentations students are to make notes in their journals, which will own understanding. add to the ongoing development of the concept of ‘discovery’.

Weeks 3-5: Discovery in and through engagement with texts 1.1, 1.2, 3.1, Short Story: Students are given a copy of the short story ‘The Necklace’ together Smart board, Formative 3.3, 3.4, 4.1, with a short story analysis scaffold (Resource 7). Resource 7. assessment of student 4.2, 5.4, 6.3, understanding of the 6.4, 7.1, 7.2, Class discussion: The class read, deconstruct and analyse ‘The necklace’. The concept of discovery 8.4, 10.1, short story analysis scaffold completion will be ongoing, (the teacher will be through group 10.2, 11.2, completing the scaffold on the smart board). That is, as the class discuss the story discussion and 11.3, 12.1, the teacher completes the scaffold on the smart board (using the student ideas with scaffold completion. 12.3, 12.5, occasional teacher prompts), which the students copy on to their own scaffolds. 13.1. Individual Activity/In-class Assignment: “Imaginative re-creation”

1. The teacher will set an in-class assignment (students may begin during the The in-class lesson – approx. 2 lessons). They must re-create the moral (i.e. ‘pride assignment allows comes before a fall’) behind “The Necklace” as a cartoon. students to explore 2. The teacher displays cartoon images from a well-known newspaper and a Resource 8 the nature of well-known political cartoonist by way of example (Resource 8). discovery and to 3. Teacher led discussion about the cartoons (purpose, meaning, context). challenge cultural and 4. Students must consider: social assumptions a. the meaning/message behind the original story (“The Necklace”), and beliefs. By

6 b. the contemporary as opposed to the historical context and how to recreating the form of accommodate the changing face of society (if, of course, they de Maupassant’s story believe society has changed), students have an c. how to re-create de Maupassant’s CODA in such a ‘pithy’ form. opportunity to 5. Students are to post their cartoons on Edmodo for peer/teacher discussion. experiment with 6. This will also form the introductory basis for the next focus, which will be language and different visual images. textual forms.

Visual Images: Students are introduced to visual images using three texts, which Smartboard, Students demonstrate explore the notion of discovery from different perspectives (Resource 9). A brief Resource 9. their understanding of teacher led discussion of the images follows using metalanguage associated with visual imagery by their visual imagery (form, features, grammar, style and technique). The teacher hands use of appropriate out visual image analysis scaffolds (Resource 10). metalanguage. Smart board, Completion of the Pairs Work: Students are tasked with analysing one of the images using the Visual Resource 11. Venn Diagram Images Analysis Scaffold. On completion each pair presents their findings. These provides a further findings are recorded on a Venn Diagram in order to explore any connection opportunity to explore between the varying perspectives of ‘discovery’ (Resource 11). Students are to the concept of complete the Venn Diagram along with the teacher on their laptops. discovery and how it is similar/different Students are to consider: depending on context.

1. How is the concept of discovery presented? Students develop their 2. What concepts of discovery recur? understanding of the 3. How are the images similar? concept of ‘discovery’ 4. How are the images different? and are given an opportunity to explore In-class Assignment and homework (approx. 2 lessons plus homework time): that understanding Students are to select one of the visual images and compose a short creative further in their creative piece, which encapsulates the image. pieces. The teacher Smartboard, will carry out a Short Teacher Led Presentation: Before the students begin planning their Resource 12. formative assessment

7 creative pieces, the teacher gives a short presentation focusing on the features of of the students imaginative writing (Resource 12). Students may begin their pieces during the conceptual lesson. Students must write their creative pieces in their journals, which will be understanding when handed in for assessment. journals are handed in for marking of the Class Discussion: Teacher led class discussion prompting students to reflect on creative pieces. The the creative writing process. Students discuss: teacher will have an opportunity to assess 1. How they found having to write a creative piece? the rest of the journal 2. How the approached the concept of discovery? and monitor progress 3. Whether or not they have refined their notion of ‘discovery’? to date.

Short Presentation and Activity: The teacher suggests the idea that a discovery Smartboard, Introducing students may bring out the worst in people. The teacher gives a short presentation on ‘Tall Resource 13. to the notion of ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ (Resource 13). Poppy Syndrome’ gets them to shift Pairs Work: Students answer the following questions in their journals: focus to the negative aspects of discovery. • Activity – researching ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’. Students can explore the motivations behind 1. Is ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ viewed differently in Australia than in other such syndromes and countries? If so, in what way? perhaps question 2. Is Australian ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’ simply a cultural and social what this reveals construct? about people. 3. According to Andrew Pegler, “back here in Oz it's all about modesty, and to maintain that ruse here's a few etiquette tips for the aspiring polly. Lose any trace of superiority in public, don't enunciate too clearly, punctuate sentences with the word 'mate' (pronounced maaattte!!), practice comfortably sipping beer from a bottle for the camera and never, ever say "jolly good show" when you can say "on ya". Be comfortable in the surf, be happy to kiss babies for the cameras, keep your wealth a dirty little secret, and most importantly avoid Italian suits

8 and French clocks.” Andrew Pegler

4. Do you believe that the only way to avoid being labeled a ‘Tall Poppy’ is to revert to this type of stereotyping? 5. Why do you think Tall Poppy Syndrome prevails? The documentary Documentary: “The Truth Behind the Moon Landings”. Students view the http://topdocu gives students an documentary “The Truth Behind the Moon Landings” making notes in their journals. mentaryfilms.c opportunity to om/truth- consider discovery on behind-moon- a broader scale, to Pairs work and In-class Assignment: Students are to view the documentary landings/#disq look at the way it can again on their laptops using Resource 14. Students are to answer questions in us_thread affect not only an their journals. Their responses will be discussed at the next lesson: individual but also humanity. Similarly, it  impact of discovery on individuals, allows them to look at  impact of discovery on nations/countries, different perspectives  impact of discovery on humanity. and to question what motivates us.

Weeks 6-7: Summative Assessment Area of Study: Discovery Students are prompted to Review: Class discussion of the requirements of the Area of Study. Using the reconsider their initial following propositions, students are prompted to consider their initial responses to responses, whilst the concept of ‘discovery’: refocusing on the Area of Study 1. Do texts have the power to challenge or affirm either individual or widely requirements. held assumptions about “aspects of human experience and the world”? 2. Does discovery allow us to “explore people’s characters and pasts”? 3. Discovery can be “confronting and provocative”.

9 4. “ An individual’s discoveries and their process of discovering can vary according to personal, cultural, historical and social contexts and values”.

Students use the scaffold (Resource 15) to make notes.

Thesis Review: Following the class discussion the class are to review their original thesis statements. Students are to attempt to consolidate their ideas, review the thesis PowerPoint presentation, and devise one single thesis statement.

HSC Preparation: Extended Response Preparation

Assessment Task: Students must complete the summative assessment task (Resource 15). (This task will be completed in class and at home). The quotation links the essay question to Final Activity: Class discussion of the extended response essay. Preparation for the concept of the next unit. discovery, whilst the assessment task will Next Unit: Students will be advised that the focus of the next unit will be a selection demonstrate students’ of HSC Prescribed Texts. critical and analytical skills. Note re: in-class assessments

In-class assessments allow the teacher to facilitate and provide guidance, whilst participating in on-going formative assessment.

10 Bibliography

Board of Studies NSW. 2009. English Stage 6 Syllabus, Board of Studies NSW, Sydney Australia.

Board of Studies NSW. 2015-20. English Stage 6 Prescriptions: Area of Study, Electives and Texts, Board of Studies NSW, Sydney Australia.

Board of Studies NSW. 2015-20. English Annotations of selected texts prescribed for the Higher School Certificate 2015-20, Board of Studies NSW, Sydney Australia.

Cartoon Images. Retrieved from: http://www.theage.com.au/cartoons/ http://nicholsoncartoons.com.au

‘Discovery Quotes’ (n.d.). Good Reads. Retrieved from: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/discovery?page=2

‘Easiest way to write a killer thesis statement.’ (2013). Custom Writing: Slideshare. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/CustomWriting/easiest-way-to-write-a-thesis-statement? utm_source=slideshow03&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=share_slideshow_loggedout

‘Examples of Discovery’. (2013). Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discover

‘Flogging the tall-poppy syndrome’.(n.d.) Convict Creations. Retrieved from http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/poppy.htm

Gannon, S., Howie, M., Sawyer, W. (2010). Charged with meaning: Re-viewing English. (3rd ed.).

11 ‘Neals Visual Humour-Analysing Images’ (2009). New South Wales Department of Education and Training. Retrieved from: http://lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/lrrSecure/Sites/LRRView/8829/documents/Scaffold%20for%20reading%20visual%20images.pdf

‘Poetry Analysis Template’. Retrieved from: http://blackville.nbed.nb.ca/sites/blackville.nbed.nb.ca/files/noteattach/teacher/5612/poetryanalysistemplate.pdf

Pegler, A. 2008. ‘Tall Poppies’. The Drum. Retrieved from: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/32608.html

Serafini, F. (2011). ‘Expanding Perspectives for Comprehending Visual Images in Multimodal Texts. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 54(5).

‘The Truth about the moon landing’. (2003) Top Documentary Films. Retrieved from: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/truth-behind-moon-landings/#disqus_thread

Visual Images. Retrieved from: http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/discovery.html#pg:6 (stairs) http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/discovery.html#pg:1 (surprise!) http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/discovery.html#pg:2 (maze self-discovery)