Week 4 Term 2 - Texts texts texts!

Working online during a lock down period has pushed me to think about how I can make my learning online interesting. It has also pushed me to think about how I can integrate online texts with assessments. I really wanted to design a novel study for my Level 2 English program that was meaningful and that was tailored to the written assessments (both internal and external).

Traditionally my novel studies have been heavily focused on chapter summaries and major themes. Whilst this is needed I wanted to dig a little deeper and get the students to look at who the major characters are in the text, unpack important quotes and analyse the symbols/motifs in the text. For this, I had to choose texts that were not only rich in story but also had all the elements that I wanted my students to analyse.

I have found two texts that I am going to offer in my Level 2 English program. In selecting these texts I really thought about who my learners are and what I think would appeal to them. I have selected John Greene's 'The Fault in Our Stars' and Doris Lessing's 'The Grass is Singing'. Both texts have a great story line - whether it is focusing on trying to come terms with a terminal illness whilst in a relationship or racial politics in South Africa - I knew that these texts would be the perfect space for my students to analyse critically. I have designed a novel study for both texts that will enable my students to study the main elements I want them to focus on (character, theme, quotes, symbols/motif) - all of which is geared towards their written internal and external assessments.

I have made a page for each text and have attached an online pdf of the text for the students to access. 

I have created activities that are specific to the learning outcome - with a huge focus on Character, Theme, Symbols/Motif and Quotes. These activities are structured so that the student has to look at these elements critically, which is a huge requirement for Level 2 and Level 3 English students. 

(See more on my google site - Level 2 English with Stevenson) 

My Level 2 students have been working on the Close Viewing Assessment (91107) since the end of Term 1 and I have started to introduce the new assessment which is Connections (91104). For this assessment the students will need to write a report on four texts and how they are all connected to one central theme or idea. I am asking my Level 2 students to choose one of the texts I have offered and then centralize their theme and independently selected texts around this text. 

My next step is talk to the students about perspective and purpose. With all extended text study, especially for our Level 2 and Level 3 English students, it is important that the student understands that there is power in not only knowing what your perspective is but also understanding the perspective and purpose of others (authors in particular). 

Ultimately I think that my overriding learning outcome is that I want the students to genuinely love reading. I want the students to see that there is power in reading, a power where you can learn so much about yourself through others.