Year 9 English Unit of Work: Say It With Pictures!

Unit Outline / Unit duration
Objective: This Stage 5 unit employs a range of picture books by a variety of composers to critically focus on the use of language features and pictures to convey meaning and ideas. / 5 Weeks (15 Lessons)
Big ideas/key concepts / Target outcomes
The key concepts I want students to learn are that:
·  picture books are an enjoyable, fascinating, broad and legitimate text type and subject of study.
·  in picture books meaning is shaped through words, pictures, colours, layout, and design features. / 1 responds to and composes increasingly sophisticated and sustained texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis and pleasure
2 uses and critically assesses a range of processes for responding and composing
6 experiments with different ways of imaginatively and interpretively transforming experience, information and ideas into texts
8 investigates the relationships between and among texts
Resources used throughout unit:
§  Fox by Margaret Wild & Ron Brooks
§  My Place by Nadia Wheatey & Donna Rawlins
§  The Lost Thing by Shaun Tan
§  Puliwuk by Janeen Brian
§  Class set of text-only versions of Fox
§  Class set of text-only versions of The Lost Thing / §  The Singing Hat by Tohby Riddle
§  A variety of fairy tales (including: Snow White/ The Queen, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Rapunzel, Beauty and Beast, The Princess and the Pea etc…).
§  Drawing materials
§  Various other materials which can be used to create pictures
What do you want the students to learn? / Why does this learning matter?
Students should learn that picture books are an enjoyable, fascinating, broad and legitimate text type and subject of study; and that meaning is shaped through words, pictures, colours, layout, and design features.
Students should also learn that we all encounter visual texts on a daily basis and that as viewers we are better equipped to respond to these texts when we understand how and why they were composed. / The learning matters because:
·  it is important to be visually literate.
·  a development of appreciation and understanding of a broad range of text types can be achieved through studying picture books.
·  picture books are accessible to readers of all ability levels.
What are you going to get the students to do or produce? / How well do you expect them to do it?
·  Create a picture book with written text and images by using a variety of materials and utilising word processing software.
·  Word processed letter to the author/illustrator of The Singing Hat. / Students should produce picture books with between 8 and 12 pages which include at least 6 pictures. The picture books should display all of the essential elements of the picture book genre as outlined in this unit of work.
Students should compose well-written letters of approximately 6 to 8 paragraphs which are formatted correctly.
Students learn about: / Students learn to: / Learning Experiences / Evidence of Learning / Resources / Quality Teaching / Reg/ Date
The ways composers use processes of representation in composing texts
Processes of representation including the use of images / Explain their responses to texts
Respond to a range of texts / Lesson 1: Introduction to Unit.
Brainstorm: What is a picture book? (purpose, audience, context, features etc.)
Notes for board: What is a Picture Book?
A picture book is a story told in words and pictures. Each makes an important contribution to the way the story is told, the meaning created. A picture book is not the same as an illustrated story. In an illustrated story the words alone could tell the story and the illustrations simply break up the words or decorate the text. In the best picture books, the illustrations are absolutely necessary. They carry parts of the story or narrative and in some cases the language is dropped and the pictures alone are all that is needed.
Teacher to show students the covers of the texts they will study in this unit (i.e. ‘Fox’, ‘My Place’, ‘The Singing Hat’, ‘The Lost Thing’, and ‘Pilawuk’).
As students view each cover they are to address the following three questions:
§  What is the first thing you notice about the book?
§  What do you expect the story is about?
§  Who do you think is the target audience?
Review: A student (or various students) in the class to review the plot of Snow White.
Homework
Students are to sketch and colour a picture book cover of their own. Their sketches must include all of the elements of the example books. Teacher can provide possible titles for these sketches (e.g. ‘The Old Tin Can’, ‘Pressure Head’, ‘The Weird Blind Bloke’, etc.). / Verbal feedback
Written responses
Sketch of book cover / Texts to be studied in the unit
Snow White/ The Queen
Drawing materials / 7/2/08
Students learn about: / Students learn to: / Learning Experiences / Evidence of Learning / Resources / Quality Teaching / Reg/ Date
The ways composers use processes of representation in composing texts / Respond to a range of texts /

Lesson 2: Fractured Fairytales

Notes for the Board: Fractured Fairytales

A fractured fairytale is a fairytale that is changed, in some way, from the original. This might mean that the ending to the tale has been changed from the original. It may mean that the story is told from a different character’s perspective, or details are included that were left out of the original.
Review: What is the plot of The Three Little Pigs?
Brainstorm: What might the wolf’s explanation be for the various incidents in the story? (Plot skeleton)
Scaffolded Rewrite: As a class, rewrite The Three Little Pigs from the perspective of the wolf. Students to offer suggestions, teacher to record onto the board (students copy into their work books).
Pair Work: In pairs, students are to choose a fairytale to rewrite from the villain’s perspective. They are to begin reading through the original to get ideas for their own work. / Verbal participation
Verbal participation
Co-operation in pairs / Variety of fairy tale picture books / 8/2/08
Students learn about: / Students learn to: / Learning Experiences / Evidence of Learning / Resources / Quality Teaching / Reg/ Date
The ways composers use processes of representation in composing texts
Processes of representation including the use of images / Explain their responses to texts
Compose texts that demonstrate originality and imagination /

Lesson 3: Fractured Fairytales

Discussion: As a class, discuss the ways people represent themselves. Discuss how the memory tends to change over time, to cast you in the best light, and how the way we act is dependent upon who we are with. Link this discussion with the task: to write a fairytale from a new perspective.
Pair Work: In pairs, students are to begin their rewrite of a fairytale from the villain’s perspective. Students’ may use original dialogue from the fairy tale, but need to frame it in such a way that the villain looks innocent.
Hand out copies of text of Fox. Read through as a class.
Class is to discuss/question the plot, characterisation, setting, dialogue and themes (friendship, freedom, loyalty, etc.) of the story.
Class is to present these elements of the story in a table on the board for the students to copy into their books.
Homework
Students draw their own pictographs and describe in writing what they represent. Students can show their examples on the board and have the class ‘read’ them. / Discussion
Students work co-operatively in pairs or groups of 3.
Students come up with an appropriate fractured fairy tale.
Verbal participation / Variety of fairy tale picture books
Class set of text-only version of Fox / 12/2/08
Students learn about: / Students learn to: / Learning Experiences / Evidence of Learning / Resources / Quality Teaching / Reg/ Date
The ways composers use processes of representation in composing texts
Processes of representation including the use of symbols and images
The ways that ideas, information, perspectives and ideologies are represented in texts / Respond to and compose a range of texts
Evaluate others’ texts in terms of creativity, originality, beauty and insight / Lesson 4: Key Terms and Fox
Review homework: Have students come up and write their five signs onto the board. As a class, discuss the meaning of the signs.
Notes for board: Sign Language
Long before written language was used to communicate, early humans relied on signs or pictures. Also called ‘pictographs’, these signs were scratched onto chunks of clay or cave walls. They enabled families or tribes to communicate with each other about such issues as the weather or the latest hunting success. Or, a bit like today’s graffiti tags, they announced that a particular community had established itself and wanted to be taken seriously.
As much of our alphabet and computers have helped us move beyond caves, we still live in an extremely visual world. We read pictures and visual images, just as we read written texts. Picture books can help us to learn to read pictures more effectively.
Word Match: Key Terms Visual Texts
Students are given a sheet with the following terms on it: Context, Narrative, Preferred reading, Representation, Symbol, Visual text. They need to match the definitions to the terms and cut and paste them onto their sheet.
Identify the author and illustrator of Fox and discuss their roles in creating the picture book. Discuss that a picture book is a text in which the composers combine language and visual elements to shape meaning in the text.
Introduce the picture book version of Fox to students. Read the information provided on the author and illustrator on the inside of the back cover. Discuss/question the feel of the paper, the richness of the colour, and the attention that has gone into the font, design and layout of the cover. / Students’ homework/ discussion
Student’s ability to match the words with their meaning / Scissors, glue, sheets
Picture Book version of Fox / 13/2/08
Students learn about: / Students learn to: / Learning Experiences / Evidence of Learning / Resources / Quality Teaching / Reg/ Date
The ways composers use processes of representation in composing texts
The ways that ideas, information, perspectives and ideologies are represented in texts
Their own emerging sense of style and personal preference in composing texts / Respond to and compose a range of texts
Evaluate others’ texts in terms of creativity, originality, beauty and insight
Compose texts that demonstrate originality and imagination /

Lesson 5: Visual Language and Fox

Teacher reads Fox to the class. Discuss/question the visual elements of the text.
Notes for board: Visual Language
We know that poems and novels can be read and are called texts. Both involve a relationship with a reader who makes sense of the messages communicated by the printed words. Visual objects and images can also be read. While they do not usually rely on the written word, visual texts do have a ‘language’ of their own. Like written texts, visual texts can reveal powerful messages and influence our attitudes. Visual texts can be still or moving; they can also be electronic. Some examples of visual texts are:
§  Photographs
§  Films
§  Paintings and sketches
§  Sculpture
§  Webpages
§  CD-ROMs
§  Greeting cards and postcards
§  Advertisements (in printed texts and on television or film).
Picture books also use visual texts (in the form of photographs, paintings, sketches, etc.) to reveal their messages.
Present the open pages of Fox to the students and discuss/question the impact, effect, colours, mood, tone, and detail of the spreads.
Discuss/question the media and techniques used to create the illustrations.
Present various spreads from the text to the class. Have students sketch the illustrations and construct alternative written narratives for the spreads.
Homework
Finish sketches and alternative written narratives. / Verbal feedback
Verbal feedback
Sketches and written text / Fox picture book
Students learn about: / Students learn to: / Learning Experiences / Evidence of Learning / Resources / Quality Teaching / Reg/
Date
The ways composers use processes of representation in composing texts
Processes of representation including the use of symbols and images / Respond to and compose a range of texts
Explain responses to texts
Respond to and compose a range of texts
Evaluate others’ texts in terms of creativity, originality, beauty and insight
Respond to a range of texts / Lesson 6: The Language of Pictures and My Place
Notes for board: The Language of Pictures
The diagram below outlines the features of visual texts. Along with the written words, these features of the visual texts help us to understand the meanings available in texts such as picture books.
(Draw a mind map with ‘How Visual Texts Create Meaning’ in the centre. Show ‘Objects’, ‘Colour and Lighting’, ‘Position’, ‘Symbolism’, ‘Shape and Texture’, and ‘Size’ around the map.)
Teacher to show, discuss and question the open cover of My Place. Note the prominent title, author and illustrator, award sticker, blurb, information on the author and illustrator, publisher’s details, bar code, and illustration.