(iii) Guided Text Creation Lesson
This lesson follows on from the Model Review Lesson about the picture book The Rabbits. In this lesson the students will continue to plan and generate ideas about writing their individual book review. If time permits, some students may get the chance to begin writing the introduction to their book review, however most of the lesson will be focussed on planning and developing notes on the characters and plot of the novel Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.
Orientating Phase
During the fifteen minute Orientating Phase of the Guided Text Creation Lesson the students will revisit what was discussed and learnt in the previous lesson. This includes a class discussion relating to the structure of a book review including all the important elements. Brainstorm the structure the students can recall from last lesson on the whiteboard.
Introduction - Begin with the title, author of the book and literary genre.
Main Body - Summarise the plot in a few sentences, mention the setting, main characters, and the content of the novel.
Conclusion - Comment on the book, mention whether you liked the novel or not, give a recommendation.
Remind the students that a review is both summarising and critically evaluating the novel, therefore they should incorporate a fair, informed and reasoned evaluation in their review as well as a personal judgement (Literacy Secretariat, 2012). Discuss expectations with students and brainstorm ideas of multimodal ways or presenting their review. Students are able to present in the forms of a website (similar to the model review), PowerPoint presentation, movie, Prezi, podcast, written or a blog. This allows them to also demonstrate their creativity and support the students recommendation to persuade the reader to read the novel.
Enhancing Phase
The thirty-five minute Enhancing Phase allows the students to deconstruct the expectations of their review before continuing planning and individually writing their draft. As a class, read through the assessment rubric and make certain that all students understand what the task is requiring and the elements and features they must include to achieve highly (Curtin University, 2012). Have the students individually highlight key words in the rubric they must include or strive towards.
Give the students the following list of questions to think about a write some ideas about before they being writing. These can also be made into a graphic organiser or a typed up worksheet for the students to stick into their workbooks. These questions and the students collaborative answers will prompt the students to think about writing their individual review in a particular way with certain viewpoints in relation to the characters, plot, themes and setting of the novel (Los Angeles Valley College, 2009).
This lesson follows on from the Model Review Lesson about the picture book The Rabbits. In this lesson the students will continue to plan and generate ideas about writing their individual book review. If time permits, some students may get the chance to begin writing the introduction to their book review, however most of the lesson will be focussed on planning and developing notes on the characters and plot of the novel Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.
Orientating Phase
During the fifteen minute Orientating Phase of the Guided Text Creation Lesson the students will revisit what was discussed and learnt in the previous lesson. This includes a class discussion relating to the structure of a book review including all the important elements. Brainstorm the structure the students can recall from last lesson on the whiteboard.
Introduction - Begin with the title, author of the book and literary genre.
Main Body - Summarise the plot in a few sentences, mention the setting, main characters, and the content of the novel.
Conclusion - Comment on the book, mention whether you liked the novel or not, give a recommendation.
Remind the students that a review is both summarising and critically evaluating the novel, therefore they should incorporate a fair, informed and reasoned evaluation in their review as well as a personal judgement (Literacy Secretariat, 2012). Discuss expectations with students and brainstorm ideas of multimodal ways or presenting their review. Students are able to present in the forms of a website (similar to the model review), PowerPoint presentation, movie, Prezi, podcast, written or a blog. This allows them to also demonstrate their creativity and support the students recommendation to persuade the reader to read the novel.
Enhancing Phase
The thirty-five minute Enhancing Phase allows the students to deconstruct the expectations of their review before continuing planning and individually writing their draft. As a class, read through the assessment rubric and make certain that all students understand what the task is requiring and the elements and features they must include to achieve highly (Curtin University, 2012). Have the students individually highlight key words in the rubric they must include or strive towards.
Give the students the following list of questions to think about a write some ideas about before they being writing. These can also be made into a graphic organiser or a typed up worksheet for the students to stick into their workbooks. These questions and the students collaborative answers will prompt the students to think about writing their individual review in a particular way with certain viewpoints in relation to the characters, plot, themes and setting of the novel (Los Angeles Valley College, 2009).
Characters
* Are the characters believable?
* Does character development occur?
* What are the author’s attitudes towards the characters?
* Do the characters seem real and relatable? Why?
* Are the characters believable?
* Does character development occur?
* What are the author’s attitudes towards the characters?
* Do the characters seem real and relatable? Why?
Plot
* What are some main elements to the plot?
* Is there a sub-plot and is it related to the main plot?
* Is the plot of the story believable/exciting?
Theme
* What are the major themes?
* Are the themes developed throughout the story?
* Is the theme a traditional theme?
* What are some main elements to the plot?
* Is there a sub-plot and is it related to the main plot?
* Is the plot of the story believable/exciting?
Theme
* What are the major themes?
* Are the themes developed throughout the story?
* Is the theme a traditional theme?
Setting
* What are the main settings?
* What is the sense of atmosphere in the main settings?
* Does the setting influence the characters or the plot?
* Did the words used by the author do their job? How?
* Who would you recommend the novel for? Why?
* What is an interesting sentence to start your review?
* What are the main settings?
* What is the sense of atmosphere in the main settings?
* Does the setting influence the characters or the plot?
* Did the words used by the author do their job? How?
* Who would you recommend the novel for? Why?
* What is an interesting sentence to start your review?
The students may work in pairs or small groups which allows for discussion about the students different opinions and points of review relating to the same text. This will assist the students when it comes to writing their own review as they will consider their peers input and activate higher oder thinking skills when it comes to recommending the novel (University of Delaware, 2012).
Synthesising Phase
The ten minute Synthesising Phase allows the students to begin drafting the introduction of their individual review if they have completed their planning notes. The students will use the notes and ideas they have collected over the previous lesson and this lesson to assist with writing the introduction section of their review including the title, author and literary genre of the book, using engaging and sophisticated language (Humphrey, Droga & Feez, 2012). Students can swap with a partner and edit or give productive feedback if time permits before the end of the lesson.
The students will continue working on their individual book review over the next few weeks. This includes drafting, writing, editing and creating a multimodal way of presenting their review. Each students review is then handed in to the teacher for marking against the assessment rubric.
Synthesising Phase
The ten minute Synthesising Phase allows the students to begin drafting the introduction of their individual review if they have completed their planning notes. The students will use the notes and ideas they have collected over the previous lesson and this lesson to assist with writing the introduction section of their review including the title, author and literary genre of the book, using engaging and sophisticated language (Humphrey, Droga & Feez, 2012). Students can swap with a partner and edit or give productive feedback if time permits before the end of the lesson.
The students will continue working on their individual book review over the next few weeks. This includes drafting, writing, editing and creating a multimodal way of presenting their review. Each students review is then handed in to the teacher for marking against the assessment rubric.