UNIT OVERVIEW: COMPONENTS, EXPLANATION/DETAILS AND LEARNING
EXPERIENCES
COMPONENTS EXPLANATION/DETAILS LEARNING EXPERIENCES (provide the number) Unit Orientation Ask students for a show of hands how many have seen an elephant. Mention that they are an endangered animal, and discuss with students what they think that might mean. Introduce the focus text, and discuss the cover of the book. As a class, create a KWL chart. Walk through the text, discussing the type of text it is and looking at the contents page. Lesson 1
Building knowledge of the field This unit will provide students with a range of texts to increase their background knowledge of endangered animals. Engaging activities and research tasks will help ensure the development of knowledge, understanding and skills relating to English and science curriculum content descriptions. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Utilising the non-fiction focus text Burnie, D. (2008). Countdown to Extinction: Animals in Danger! (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. This text will be used to introduce the topic of endangered animals. Students will be required to complete a number of activities using the focus text. 1, 2, 3
Responding to texts Students are able to comprehend the text and present a point of view by using appropriate metalanguage, and reflecting on the viewpoints of others (ACELT1609) 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15
Exploring texts Students will be exploring a range of texts, using books, videos, apps and websites to help them gain further knowledge and understanding on the topic.
1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Examining texts including: Text structure and organisation Students understand how texts vary in purpose, structure and topic as well as the degree of formality (ACELA1504) 1, 2, 7 Expressing and developing ideas Understand how noun groups/phrases and adjective groups/phrases can be expanded in a variety of ways to provide a fuller description of the person, place, thing or idea (ACELA1508)
Visual and multimodal features Students will create a mind map on the IPads, and will also be using the IPads to 2, 12, 13 2 COMPONENTS EXPLANATION/DETAILS LEARNING EXPERIENCES (provide the number) of texts present their summative assessment.
Extending beyond the focus text including:
Creating texts utilising print and multimodal texts Students will be required to create a range of texts throughout this unit.
Assessment Formative (one strategy and instrument) Students will be required to complete a writing task of their choice about endangered animals. 7 Summative (one strategy and instrument) Students will be orally presenting information on an endangered species using the IPad as visual support. 14, 15
Significant demonstration of learning. By the end of this unit, students will be able to explain that living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment (ACSSU043). They will also be able to demonstrate their comprehension and their knowledge of different text types. 14, 15