Week 11 Term 1 - Teacher Practice: New Assessment for NCEA Level 1 English - 1.2: 91925 (April 8 - April 12)

In Week 8 Term 1, I reflected on how Term 1 is going so far for our new NCEA Level 1 English course. As we have started this new journey with the curriculum refresh, I have felt both excited and nervous (but more excited) about how the new curriculum and our interpretation of it. I reflected on the journey so far which you can see in my earlier post (see Alby's Blog Post Entry - 17/03/24) In this post, I want to reflect on how the learning has gone and how the student's have applied the learning into the new assessment (1.1 - 91925). 

OUR STORIES + OUR HISTORIES (through film): AKO (Learning)

101ENG E Week 10 Term 1

We spent the first 7 weeks of Term 1 exploring and learning about our primary text (James Napier's film 'The Dark Horse'). Throughout this journey we were able to analyze the text and look at specific aspects of the text and see how they were developed. Specifically we looked at: 

• Characterization - how character is developed in the film. 
• Film Aspects (Techniques) - understanding and identify key film techniques
• Close Analysis - analyzing and close viewing of specific scenes in the text
• Beyond the text - looking at the issues or context around 'The Dark Horse' and how this aligns with the film's overall message and the director's purpose. 

As mentioned in my earlier post from Week 8, the students spent Week 6 and 7 in an intensive learning unit looking at the 3 major characters, focusing on 6 film aspects and learning and writing about the social issues that the film highlight (understanding the context) through persuasive writing. This intensive period of learning was an important part of the learning as it helped to build a strong foundation for the students to launch off when they started the assessment. 

OUR STORIES + OUR HISTORIES (through film): AROMATAWAI 91925 (Assessment)

We started the assessment mid way through Week 8. So far, the journey for the students and I has been positive. The response has been good and the students have settled in well with the assessment. The premise of the new assessment (1.1 - 91925) is for students to 'Demonstrate understanding of specific aspects of studied texts'. As a department, we have interpreted this as the students demonstrating and showing an understanding of the key elements in film which is why we looked at characterization, film aspects and the context as the specific aspects to focus on. 

With the new standard, we decided to use our current Close Viewing Assessment as the guide for 91925. This particular assessment (Close Viewing) is a strength for our department and we wanted to use as the structure and basis for 91925. With starting our new course in the new curriculum, we felt that starting with an assessment that is familiar would help us launch into the the new program easily. 

The students are currently working on the assessment and should finish anytime between the end of Week 11 to the end of Week 2 Term 2. We have given the assessment a 6 week period (Week 8 Term 1 - Week 2 Term 2) so that the students have the space and time to do it (even during the school holidays). The assessment is structured as: 

91925: Phase One

Phase One: 

• They choose a scene from the text (the scenes are selected and the students must choose ONE scene to focus on)
• They are to watch the scene and identify four film techniques that they want to focus on. 

91925: Phase Two Paragraph 1 + 2

Phase Two: 

In this phase they start writing their response to the Close Viewing. They can pull the learning from our film study and use it for the assessment. The Close Viewing is presented in an essay but the students have the option to present it via Google Presentation or as a Vlog (this is new territory for us so we are going to see how it goes for the students). 

• Introduction
• Paragraph 1 - Explaining how two techniques are used well in the scene. Linking to the Director's purpose and main message for the film. 
• Paragraph 2 - Explaining how two techniques are used well in the scene. Linking to the Director's purpose and main message for the film. 
• Paragraph 3 - Going beyond the text, the students will write about the social issue (one issue) that text has highlighted and how this helps them to understand the director's purpose and the film's message. The students again can pull the learning from their persuasive writing that they did in the film study for this paragraph. 
• Conclusion

91925: Phase Two Paragraph 3

The students are working through each phase and all of my students are in Phase two (with two having completed the entire assessment). Whilst the film study has been super helpful, especially the work they did on the social issues and persuasive writing they did, I have had to spend time going through: 

• Film Aspects
• Writing prompts

With some of my lower ability students to give them a head start. I am looking forward to seeing the final product from my class.