Week 6 Term 2 - Teacher Practice: NCEA Level 1 English: Understanding Context PART 2 (June 02 - June 06)

 In previous post, I discussed how I introduced context in relation to written texts to my NCEA Level 1 English students. Understanding what context is, how it influences texts, how we read and understand texts as a whole is important. You can read more about it in my previous post here - see Alby's Blog Post Entry - 25/05/25. In this post I am going to highlight the second part of how we used our primary text in our pre reading exercise (Tusiata Avia's 'Dawn Raids Apology') in our mission to understanding context. 

Tusiata Avia's poem 'Dawn Raid Apology' (click on the image to access the poem)

After reading the text the students answered some guiding questions that is focused on identifying the context and researching information about the context. They are also encouraged to use their prior knowledge of what they know or the clues from the text (the title etc) in their responses to the guiding questions. In this second part of 'Understanding Context' the students look at the text in depth through close reading. Specifically close reading the text and looking for specific language features and connecting it to the context. 

Close Viewing: Poetry Features + Context (Click on the image to access the document)

In this document, I provide a specific list of language features that I want the students to identify and explore. The language features that I have listed are ones that I believe are the features that will help the students understanding the context of the text. 

In this activity the students have to: 

• Find the definition for each language feature and write the definition in their own words. 
• Find an example of the language feature from Avia's 'Dawn Raids Apology'
• Comment and explain how the language feature helped them to understand the context of the poem (Dawn Raids) and the text as a whole

Student responses for Dawn Raids Apology Poem Study

Student responses for Dawn Raids Apology Poem Study

My overview from the student's responses to the activity: 

• The students were able to find the definition for each language feature and some used ChatGPT to help them write a definition that they understand. 
• Identifying examples of the language features was good as well as we had this done in a previous activity. They did ask for clarity on if the examples they chose matched the language features. This was something that I was happy to help them out with. 
• Some of the students used the last section to define the language feature instead of explaining how it helps them to understand the context. Others were able to make connections and this was successful as I knew that they understood the connection or relation between the language feature and how it influenced their understanding of the context.