Lesson 4: Recording my memoirs in words and pictures

Links to the Victorian Curriculum – English

Writing, Literature: Creating literature

Level 3:

• Create texts that adapt language features and patterns encountered in literary texts (Content description VCELT265)

Level 4:

• Create literary texts that explore students' own experiences and imagining (Content description VCELT298)

Writing, Literacy: Creating texts

Level 3:

• Reread and edit texts for meaning, appropriate structure, grammatical choices and punctuation (Content description VCELY267)

Level 4:

• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features (Content description VCELY299)
  

Theory/practice connections

Throughout schooling and in life, it is necessary to master the language needed to express emotions, evaluate the quality of things and judge human behaviour (Derewianka, 2011). Part of this mastery involves a strong command of vocabulary, to express the nuances of English. For example, to describe fear, each of the following words could be used: fright, scare, panic, terror. However, a degree of difference in meaning exists between these words. Using language precisely will assist the speaker/writer to communicate messages effectively.  

Additional resources

Shades of meaning charts are useful resources to display in the classroom. These can be created by students, displaying words in colour from pale colours to intensive shades based on their meaning.  

Learning intention

We learning to use a range of visual and written resources to help communicate our memories.

Success criteria

• I can use adjectives and adjectivals to describe my artefact.
• I can make choices about language when writing, so that my meaning is made clear.

Group size

Small group, whole class. 

Lesson sequence

1. Students use their bank of descriptions about their artefact, jointly created in the previous lesson. The teacher presents a similar bank for an artefact that will be used as the subject of an exemplar text. Model through a 'think-aloud' the choices that can be made in order to use the artefact description in a memoir. The teacher will demonstrate how the precision of language can be used to create an effective text, by changing the adjectives and adverbials. This process can be repeated when editing texts. Revise the purpose of a memoir and model a plan for the teacher's memoir. There are various ways to structure the writing, one example could be to begin with the artefact, while another structure would reference the artefact in the body of the text.
   
   e.g. Memoir Plan
   

   • a description of the artefact (This old, rusty lock without a key is kept in my drawer as a lucky charm.) Language used to evaluate things-old, rusty

   • my feelings towards it (Although it does not look important, I love it.) Language used to evaluate things - does not look important. Language used to express feelings-love

   • what happened in the event I am recounting and who was involved? (The lock was on a trunk, which carried my grandparents few possessions, when they came to Australia sixty years ago.) Language used to evaluate things-few

   • how did the people act? (The lock was a gift to my grandfather, from his brother, who used it to say sorry for being jealous and angry.) Language to judge the behaviour of others-jealous, angry
     

2. Students think of other stories that could match the lock and use the teacher's plan to jointly construct a text. This activity can be used by the teacher as formative assessment, to determine what supports students need to be put in place, before they independently construct their text.
3. Students use their artefact, along with the noun group list they have already created and follow the teacher's plan to record their own memoir.
4. Embark on a process of checking and editing work for spelling, punctuation and use of language.
   

Differentiation

To assist EAL and diverse learners with understanding the nuances of English, continua to plot words could be used.  Work with synonyms and using a thesaurus can also be used to support students.

This lesson involves a great deal of grammatical teaching, which is appropriate to the context of the lesson. However, teachers can modify this lesson, if the grammar content is new to students and only focus on one aspect of grammar.