Academic Year Planner 2017-18

Please complete the following planner for each of your classes taught A brief description of the subject matter/topics you plan to teach in the following weeks is required (it is appreciated that this is very much a working document):

Subject / English Language IB A
Teacher / Gilly Johnson
Form Group / Lower 6th
Week / Date / Topic / Recommended Extended reading

CHRISTMAS TERM

Weeks
1 / Recap key concepts
Genre, Audience, Subject, Stylistic Features, Purpose and contextual factors, such as time, place.
Intro to written task: what’s expected and how it’s marked / TOK
To what extent are we products of our culture? How easy is it to really put ourselves in the shoes of someone from another culture and see things their way? / Other than OUP and CUP course books, students should read relevant sections of the Routledge guides and Thorne’s: Mastering Advanced English Language
2 / Revision of key elements of language of persuasion:
Film study: Wag the Dog
Essay: Can the media both reflect AND determine public opinion? Can it shape the future of a country? Use recent events to support your view. / To what extent is the media “The Fourth Estate”? / Online Research for this week’s essay:
3 / Media bias and manufacturing consent: A study of Noam Chomsky
Film study: Manufacturing Consent
10 Media Manipulation Strategies by Noam Chomsky (YouTube)
Propaganda terms and what they mean (Chomsky YouTube)
What is your reaction to Chomsky’s theories? Provide a rationale for your view and support this with concrete examples / Testing it out: Application of the 4 WOKs to a sample text from WikiLeaks / Online research re Chomsky
4 / Focus on Written task 1: tutorials / How does our choice of language and the order in which we place it affect our audience? What can we take from this to provide a text with maximum impact? Can we use the 4 WoKs to assess our text’s effectiveness?
5 / Reporting of events: reality vs biased reporting: video clip: debate: Chis Coons and Christine O’Donnell on role of religion in state education; cf with headline reporting (ELAL p70) / “Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidarity to pure wind” To what extent is / Watch youtube news footage of 2 key political events.
How do you decide if the coverage is biased or not?
6 / 1st Assessment Week:
Text Analysis: ID manipulation techniques and how consent is manufactured. Do you believe that all media texts, do, to some extent do this? Is there such a thing as unbiased reporting? Provide examples to support your view. / Reflection: How am I doing and how do I know?
7 / Half term
8 / The Internet: deconstructing a website: Last.fm (ELAL p78+)
Film study: The Truth according to Wikipedia
Zero Days: Security Leaks For Sale (YouTube) / Andrew Keane (The Cult of the Amateur) states that web-based communication tools such a Wikipedia ‘allow amateurs to undermine the fundamental principles of society. To what extent do you agree?
9 / Focus on Written task: tutorials / How does our choice of language and the order in which we place it affect our audience? What can we take from this to provide a text with maximum impact? Can we use the 4 WoKs to assess our text’s effectiveness?
10 / Long tail marketing and social networking / What influence does LTM and SN have on your lives? How would your lives be without these? / P81 activity 3.6
11 / Exam practice: Text comparison
12 / Bernays and the Propaganda machine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ3RzGoQC4s / Are humans really so easy to manipulate? / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q-3qwEDyPM
http://theconversation.com/the-manipulation-of-the-american-mind-edward-bernays-and-the-birth-of-public-relations-44393
Watch these videos and use these to inform your essay
13 / Review of propaganda techniques
ID, definition and application in a sample text. / How do you feel about writing a text to manipulate the thinking or actions of a fellow human being? What ethical dilemmas are there? / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmoXze-Higc
14 / School Exams Week:

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY

.
Written task to be completed

EASTER TERM

Weeks
1 / “This is your victory” Barack Obama Nov 2008
Review: ID and definition of rhetorical devices / What is the link between political expediency, propaganda and rhetoric? / https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/writing/style
https://hhs-english-iv.wikispaces.com/file/view/Rhetorical+Devices.pdf
http://www.speaklikeapro.co.uk/Rhetorical_devices.htm
2 / Review of Advertising and advertising techniques / What are the implications of corporate dominance and the presence of these ‘brands’ in our lives? / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_22In38nHgQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VU2vtamOws
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqznqIpkZz0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfi4yhGQ8hg
3 / Revision: counter advertising / Are genders less or more stereotyped in counter ads? Why do you think this is the case? / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micah_Wright
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/propagandist/duster-the-graphic-novel
4 / Revision
Text comparison:
Poster vs Poem / What is the impact of the power of an image on the psyche of a nation? (Princess Diana/ Twin Towers etc) / Take 2 more texts : research and do a text comparison
5 / Revision:
Text comparison: report vs lit text
MOCKS / Take 2 more texts : research and do a text comparison
6 / HALF / TERM / VACATION
7 / Revision: text comparison: advert vs report / Exam practice: past paper
8 / Review of all text types: typical
features and points for comment / Exam practice: past paper
9 / Review of all text types: typical
features and points for comment / Exam practice: past paper
10 / Dissecting the exam questions: What you’ll be expected to know (Use all papers we’ve studied for practice/ analysis purposes / Reflect/review: What do I need to review? What are my strengths?
11 / Exam week

EASTER HOLIDAY

Revise key terminology, key features of all text types, and the role of context and culture in understanding these.
Watch the extra study videos above to revise the key areas… Good luch!!

SUMMER TERM

Weeks / Exam practice and addressing any last-minute issues
2 / IB Exams begin
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 / End of Term

SUMMER HOLIDAY

Write draft 1 of part 2 task 1
Prepare extended essay?