(ii) Model Review Lesson - The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan
Lesson Introduction
The Rabbits written by John Marsden and illustrated by Shaun Tan was selected for Year Six students as it is an engaging, powerful and sophisticated book picture book with a wide range of discussion points and underlying themes. The sixty minute lesson was introduced to the students by the teacher generating a discussion about the front page of the book and questioning the students about what they think the book might be about and having the students record their predictions (Daniels, 2002). The teacher then read the book to the students on the interactive whiteboard so that the illustrations could be projected on the board for the students to see clearly and follow along. Once read, the class discussed their predictions and how they differed from the book. They also shared if they enjoyed the book and what they liked about it.
Lesson Introduction
The Rabbits written by John Marsden and illustrated by Shaun Tan was selected for Year Six students as it is an engaging, powerful and sophisticated book picture book with a wide range of discussion points and underlying themes. The sixty minute lesson was introduced to the students by the teacher generating a discussion about the front page of the book and questioning the students about what they think the book might be about and having the students record their predictions (Daniels, 2002). The teacher then read the book to the students on the interactive whiteboard so that the illustrations could be projected on the board for the students to see clearly and follow along. Once read, the class discussed their predictions and how they differed from the book. They also shared if they enjoyed the book and what they liked about it.
Content Descriptors
The content descriptors from the Year Six Australian Curriculum which were addressed in this model review lesson are ACELA 1525, ACELTA1613, ACELT1615 and ACELY1709. ACELA1525 relates to investigating how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion (ACARA, 2013). ACELT1613 encourages the students to make connections between their own life experiences and those of the characters and events represented in the text and ACELT1615 which allow students to identify and explain how choices in language, for example modality, emphasis, repetition and metaphors influence their personal responses to the text. Similarly, ACELY1709 relates to the students participation and contribution to discussions, clarification of ideas and development and support of arguments and evaluation of information, experiences and opinions.
The content descriptors from the Year Six Australian Curriculum which were addressed in this model review lesson are ACELA 1525, ACELTA1613, ACELT1615 and ACELY1709. ACELA1525 relates to investigating how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion (ACARA, 2013). ACELT1613 encourages the students to make connections between their own life experiences and those of the characters and events represented in the text and ACELT1615 which allow students to identify and explain how choices in language, for example modality, emphasis, repetition and metaphors influence their personal responses to the text. Similarly, ACELY1709 relates to the students participation and contribution to discussions, clarification of ideas and development and support of arguments and evaluation of information, experiences and opinions.
Addressing the Content Descriptions
The model review of The Rabbits addresses these content descriptions in a number of areas. Firstly, John Mardsen uses selective language choices (ACELA1525) to express the meaning of the characters and persuade to the reader to feel a particular way. Marsden uses simplistic language which makes it easy to imagine what is happening in the story. The choice of words allow the reader to feel the emotions of loss, helplessness and grief that the characters are feeling and convey personal ideas and thoughts towards the story (ACELT1615). This use of language and feelings of emotions also reflects on the students making connection between their own life experiences and those of the characters of events represented in the text (ACELT1613). Indigenous students especially would be able to connect with The Rabbits as they would have a personal understanding of the events due to stories or relations with their extended families. Similarly, the students may be able to relate to personal events of similar emotions or circumstances in their lives to the book. The model review also mentions that there are wide range of discussion points for older students in The Rabbits. This allows the students to engage with ACELY1709 as they are able to participate and contribute to ideas and arguments of information and experiences and share their opinions on these topics.
The model review of The Rabbits addresses these content descriptions in a number of areas. Firstly, John Mardsen uses selective language choices (ACELA1525) to express the meaning of the characters and persuade to the reader to feel a particular way. Marsden uses simplistic language which makes it easy to imagine what is happening in the story. The choice of words allow the reader to feel the emotions of loss, helplessness and grief that the characters are feeling and convey personal ideas and thoughts towards the story (ACELT1615). This use of language and feelings of emotions also reflects on the students making connection between their own life experiences and those of the characters of events represented in the text (ACELT1613). Indigenous students especially would be able to connect with The Rabbits as they would have a personal understanding of the events due to stories or relations with their extended families. Similarly, the students may be able to relate to personal events of similar emotions or circumstances in their lives to the book. The model review also mentions that there are wide range of discussion points for older students in The Rabbits. This allows the students to engage with ACELY1709 as they are able to participate and contribute to ideas and arguments of information and experiences and share their opinions on these topics.
Review Development
As this is a model review lesson before the Year Six students begin to create their own review in response to Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, an explanation of how the teacher created their review about The Rabbits was given. The students were told that review writing involves both summarising and critically evaluating a text (Literacy Secretariat, 2012). By explicitly teaching this to the students they are able to move beyond simply summarising a book and successfully incorporating higher order thinking skills and present a critically informed evaluation of the elements involved in the text. The students have prior knowledge of writing personal responses from previous grades at school, however review writing is re-explained and explicitly taught in this lesson. The structure of the review is discussed as the students write notes in their books so they can refer to them when needed to write their own review. This involves a title, introduction including the names of the author and illustrator and summary sentence including a personal opinion of the text (Literacy Secretariat, 2012). The teacher highlights these elements in the model review as discussed. The main body then summarises the plot of the story and highlights some main events without revealing the ending of the text. This section also includes strengths within the text by the author and illustrator. The conclusion section of the review includes a personal judgement or evaluation of the text and provides a recommendation to the reader. The development of the model review required a deconstruction and critical analysis of all the elements included in a review before the review was constructed. This process was taught to the Year 6 class before they begin to create their book review (McDonald, 2013).
As this is a model review lesson before the Year Six students begin to create their own review in response to Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, an explanation of how the teacher created their review about The Rabbits was given. The students were told that review writing involves both summarising and critically evaluating a text (Literacy Secretariat, 2012). By explicitly teaching this to the students they are able to move beyond simply summarising a book and successfully incorporating higher order thinking skills and present a critically informed evaluation of the elements involved in the text. The students have prior knowledge of writing personal responses from previous grades at school, however review writing is re-explained and explicitly taught in this lesson. The structure of the review is discussed as the students write notes in their books so they can refer to them when needed to write their own review. This involves a title, introduction including the names of the author and illustrator and summary sentence including a personal opinion of the text (Literacy Secretariat, 2012). The teacher highlights these elements in the model review as discussed. The main body then summarises the plot of the story and highlights some main events without revealing the ending of the text. This section also includes strengths within the text by the author and illustrator. The conclusion section of the review includes a personal judgement or evaluation of the text and provides a recommendation to the reader. The development of the model review required a deconstruction and critical analysis of all the elements included in a review before the review was constructed. This process was taught to the Year 6 class before they begin to create their book review (McDonald, 2013).
Learning Activities
It was explained to the students the model review was created on a webpage as it was simple to include images so the reader could clearly understand the connections between the language and the illustrations of the book. As the students are writing their review on a novel, image analysis will not be included, therefore they can present their review in any multimodal way they wish. The students engaged in a learning activity and all had a printed copy of the model review. They were asked to identify, highlight and label all the sections and elements of the review in order for them to understand the structure for their own review. The students were able to keep this in their workbook as a referencing tool.
The lesson proceeded into the planning stage for the students to begin with their own book review. The students used a graphic organiser to scaffold their ideas and begin thinking about their point of views and recommendations towards the novel (see Appendix A) (Gloria, 2000).
It was explained to the students the model review was created on a webpage as it was simple to include images so the reader could clearly understand the connections between the language and the illustrations of the book. As the students are writing their review on a novel, image analysis will not be included, therefore they can present their review in any multimodal way they wish. The students engaged in a learning activity and all had a printed copy of the model review. They were asked to identify, highlight and label all the sections and elements of the review in order for them to understand the structure for their own review. The students were able to keep this in their workbook as a referencing tool.
The lesson proceeded into the planning stage for the students to begin with their own book review. The students used a graphic organiser to scaffold their ideas and begin thinking about their point of views and recommendations towards the novel (see Appendix A) (Gloria, 2000).
Next Lesson
This graphic organiser allowed the students to plan for the main elements included in their review before continuing on in the next lesson. The students were asked to complete this during catch-up time or for homework before the next lesson. This leads the students into a guided text creation lesson in which the students will work to develop their creative interpretive review of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.
This graphic organiser allowed the students to plan for the main elements included in their review before continuing on in the next lesson. The students were asked to complete this during catch-up time or for homework before the next lesson. This leads the students into a guided text creation lesson in which the students will work to develop their creative interpretive review of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.