<p> Lesson Plan Year 8 English</p><p>Topic: “Researching the film industry and its metalanguage”</p><p>Aim: To develop students’ understanding of how films are made, and the language associated with film-making</p><p>Outcomes: Students will: 1. Respond to imaginative, factual and critical texts, including the required range of texts, through wide and close listening, reading and viewing (1.1) 2. Learn about the processes of representation including the use of symbols, images, icons, clichés, stereotypes, connotations, inference and particularly visual and aural techniques, including those of camera, design and sound (2.15) 3. Learn about technologies, software and the functions appropriate for particular tasks in English. (3.10)</p><p>Year level: Year 8 Time frame: 55 minutes x 2</p><p>Pre-lesson prep: Remember the following: Book library for internet computers Photocopy hard copies of Trackstar worksheet Design Shrek/film studies track</p><p>Resources: Required for this session:</p><p>1. Lesson plan 2. Whiteboard markers – various colours 3. Library 4. Internet-connected computers 5. 11 copies of ‘Shrek’ worksheet </p><p>Introduction: (10 mins) (10 mins) 1. Hand out worksheets. Overview today’s lesson – how films are made and the language associated with film-making 2. Ask students to log on to the computers, 3. Open Internet browser and minimise 4. Open MS Word page and minimise 5. Re-open Internet Explorer and type in the Trackstar website : http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jsp on the address line 6. Explain how to access each site on this page to answer the questions on their worksheet. Inform students that their responses to be written in a Word document, titled ‘Shrek and film making’ Development: Learning Activity: (minutes) 1. Students to complete Trackstar worksheet: http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jsp 2. Print out completed Word documents and paste into books, along with Shrek worksheet</p><p>Bringing it home Ask students to log off (5-10 minutes) Review answers</p><p>Student Assessment: Each outcome will be assessed by the following: 1. Successful completion of the worksheet 2. Successfully accessing web site 3. Successful completion of MS Word document Self-evaluation:</p><p>Stage 4 of the NSW English Years 7-10 Syllabus requires students to study at least two films, as well as multi-modal texts such as the Internet. This lesson is taken from a unit of work – ‘Once upon a fairy tale – Examining parody and genre through fairy tales’ that is aimed at Year 8 students and examines ‘Shrek’ as its central film text. For this lesson, I used http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/ to create a central page where students could use suitable web pages to research film-making. Using a central page - http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/ts/viewTrackMembersFrames.do? number=296786&password= with all the sites listed on the left-hand pane, helped to ensure students stayed on task, rather than using the web for non-class related browsing.</p><p>This was a very effective way of introducing a great deal of relevant information to students in a way that catered for various learning styles, particularly visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. Because I had pre-selected the sites, it allowed me to verify the quality of the information, and select pages suitable for students’ ability levels. This was a likely contributor to students’ apparent engagement with the lesson/s. </p><p>One thing that struck me, however, was the fact that three of the 11 students appeared to have little experience or knowledge of how to access a web page. I had to specifically outline how the address could be typed in on the address line. This indicates that as a teacher, one should never assume any pre-existing knowledge, and students’ ITC skills should always be assessed and re-assessed.</p><p>One strategy that I would use in future – particularly if it was my own class – would be that of teaming students up in pairs. This way, peers could assist each other, allowing them to regulate their own learning, problem-solve and building their self- esteem in the process. </p>