Unit Orientation The unit will be introduced by placing students in a convicts shoes by reading the text, The First Fleet by Alan Boardman & Roland Harvey. This text revolves around a young boy making the crossing from England as a convict, one of the first in Australia. The boy in the text is nine years old, a similar age to grade 5. By putting the students in a convicts shoes, they will be more likely to be interested in learning about the hardships they faced.
To increase students empathy for the convicts suffering, they will write a journal entry from the perspective of a convict.
1 & 2
Building knowledge of the field During the first lesson of the unit, students complete a KWL chart with their teacher. This allows the teacher to determine the students knowledge and what they would like to learn more about in relation to the content area.
1
Utilising the non-fiction focus text This text is used as the main focus text for learning history content. It has been used in relation to comprehension (learning about convicts) and using information learnt to form a persuasive text.
Tucker, A. (2002). Iron in the blood: Convicts and commandants in colonial Australia. Scholastic Books, Gosford. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Responding to texts Students will have the opportunity to respond to texts by analysing the information they have heard from Iron in the Blood and use their knowledge to create a journal entry as a convict and as a commandant.
2 & 6
Exploring texts Students have had the opportunity to engage with three different types of text including narratives, information but more predominantly persuasive. Students have engaged with a text in every lesson.
Examining texts including: Text structure and organisation During this unit students will learn about the structure and language features of a persuasive text. This includes intensifiers and 9-12 COMPONENTS EXPLANATION/DETAILS LEARNING EXPERIENCES (provide the number) the use of modality to position an audience.
Expressing and developing ideas Students will use their knowledge of the content gained from Iron in the Blood to take on a perspective to write a persuasive letter from. Students will have time to interact with writing a persuasive letter, in a guided lesson by their teacher before beginning to plan their own. This will scaffold their ability of writing a persuasive letter with correct text structure and a cohesive use of language features. 12 & 13
Extending beyond the focus text including: Explain how this is planned referring to various Strands within the Australian Curriculum.
Creating texts utilising print and multimodal texts Students will have the opportunity to create a text, a persuasive letter. 15
Assessment Formative (one strategy and instrument) Students explain to the class their favourite commandant and why and attempt to convince the class to think the same. Through a checklist the teacher can identify what aspects of persuasive texts students are unintentionally using or have omitted to present their chosen favourite commandant to the class. This will inform the next lesson in the sequence. Teacher can take note of gaps in knowledge across the class and adapt the lesson sequence if necessary. 8 Summative (one strategy and instrument) At the end of the unit, students are to produce a persuasive letter from one of two perspectives. Perspective 1: Writing a letter to the king (as a convict) about why they need new leadership within the convict camps. Perspective 2: Letter from one of the studied authority figures as to why they should receive an award.
Students will be marked against a provided rubric for correct historical accuracy, using correct grammar, punctuation, text structure with cohesion. Rubrics provide students with what they must achieve to give them direction when forming their assessment piece as it explicitly states the task and its expectations (Bean, 2005). 15 COMPONENTS EXPLANATION/DETAILS LEARNING EXPERIENCES (provide the number)
Significant demonstration of learning. Students will create a text and select language features that are used in a specific text structure. Students understand how these language features can affect a text and its audience and use this knowledge to their advantage when creating a persuasive text. 14,15