1. Narratives Everyone has a story YEAR 7 ENGLISH AND HUMANITIES INTRODUCTORY UNIT

2. We will begin the year with a unit that will assist us to get to know the ‘real you’ and for you to familiarise with your classroom peers, teachers of Mason House and build new skills in English and Humanities that will be used all year. UNIT OUTLINE The unit will: Introduce Reading Strategies Construct a timeline Be involved in a group presentation Perform an oral presentation about you Write a folio of your best work In this first term, we do not teach English and Humanities as separate subjects, instead we combine them into this Integrated Unit. This means you need to bring your folder with plenty of loose leaf paper and your Humanities Textbook to EVERY class.

3. All groups come together in the open space of Mason House. Students will need a pen to assist with this activity. In tables of 4-5 students, one student from a different home group on each table, teams will work together to complete a quiz about their teachers in Mason House. Listen to each teacher as they introduce themselves, write down information you may think will help you. At the end of the presentations, you will answer 20 questions as a team. INTRODUCTION TO MASON HOUSE

4. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES When you are collecting your items for the Box of Me presentations, you should think about the different types of items you could include. In History we call these Primary and Secondary sources. Read p. 8-10, complete questions 1b, 2 and 4 CLASS DISCUSSION What sources could you bring to represent moments in your life? What Secondary sources could you include? What Primary sources could you include? Introduce Box of Me

5. What is a Narrative?

6. How are stories presented? Organise students into groups of four students with each member allocated a role: Time Keeper, Recorder, Reporter, Resourcer. As a group, write down ideas about the following stories: What is a narrative? How do people present their stories? Share your ideas with the class and complete a mind map on the board with class responses. CLASS DISCUSSION: How is autobiographical writing different to other form of writing? What is the difference between each type? What are the similarities? Student Reflection Using the mind map and ideas from class discussion, write your own definition of the narratives: 1.Purpose 2.Form 3.Audience

7. How do people present their stories? Many television programs have certain ways they present a character’s ‘story’. Watch the following clip: CLASS DISCUSSION: What is left out? Why? Is this important? WRITING FOLIO ASSESSMENT PIECE 1: This will be your first writing folio piece and will be assessed. You are to first write a DRAFT reflection about your most scariest moment OR most happiest memory. This must be a ‘reflective’ piece that discusses what was learnt from the experience Think about the moment and pay attention to detail. Be descriptive and consider your Purpose and Audience. Aim for at least 300 words Approx. 20 minutes

8. Introducing Reading Strategies

9. Narratives are told either from the perspective of the person, (called an autobiography) or someone writes about someone's life (called a biography). In Year 7 we will be focussing on 5 Reading Strategies. Each year these will be built upon. The purpose of these strategies is to assist you when you are reading new information. It has been proven that if you can make connections to new information, your brain understands it better and you are more likely to remember it and may even enjoy it! Understanding autobiographical and biographical writing using reading strategy.

10. 1. Visualisation – “Little Ellis and the Boil”, by Roald Dahl 2. Prediction- Wolf Sheep short clip 3. Inferring and Connections self/text/world - “Lost and Found” 4. Questioning – Biography extract of JK Rowling (link this with Timelines) The 5 Reading Strategies: STUDENT REFLECTION: Record your reflections using each strategy in your Reading Log Book

11. Folio Feedback When you are given back your first draft, read over the feedback and write down 3 things that you could improve on. Think about: What strategies do writers use to enhance their writing? STUDENT REFLECTION: In their workbooks, students are to plan for 3 areas that they wish to work on in developing a final copy from their draft

12. Introducing the Independent Reading Program

13. Selecting your Just Right Book Watch and take notes on the following presentation: JUST RIGHT BOOK At the beginning of each English and Humanities lesson you will be expected to find your book from the tub and Reading Log Book and read silently. At the end of reading time you will record a Reading Strategy into your Log book.

14. Introduction to History

15. Timelines and Chronology Cloze activity. What is a Chronology? Chronology is how we order _____. Chronological order means putting _____ in order. In history we have to put _____ and _________ in order, to know what happened when. ANSWERS: DATES CENTURIESYEARS TIME Understanding BC, AD, BCE Read pages 6-7 History Alive 7 Textbook, complete questions 1 and 3. Class Activity: Stand in a line and sort out the class around the room from the youngest to oldest. Class discussion: When do we use chronologies? Are they useful? Why?

16. Humanities Assessment ONE: Timeline of Iconic Person Research an iconic person, this could be a sportsperson, actor, singer etc. Create a Timeline of their life including at least 10 major events In a paragraph summary on your poster, reflect on how these 10 key events have had an effect or impacted on your chosen person’s life? Explain how On Poster paper, you are to present this information and submit as your first Humanities assessment. So think carefully about presentation!!!

17. Example

18. Timelines and Chronology Approx. 10 minutes Watch : CLASS DISCUSSION: What were the key events? Class Activity: Using the board, place these on a decade timeline. Encourage students to contribute to the overall timeline. With student feedback, what can each decade be referred to eg Roaring 20’s Researching Workshop (Half Hour)

19. Timelines and Chronology HUMANITIES ASSESSMENT TWO: You need to collate your research & findings into a Power Point Presentation that best displays your decade’s most significant information. You should also include at least 5 photos or pictures that represent your historical decade. Respond to the following questions in your final slide: What were the catalysts for change? What changed during this decade? What remained the same? In pairs, you will be allocated a particular decade of the twentieth century. Your task is to find out important information about that particular decade and present your information to the class. Your search should focus primarily on Australian historical events, but you may include global events that played a significant role in shaping that decade. Your research should focus on the following information:  Significant Events  Important People  Technological Advances

20. Creating and delivering a power point presentation STUDENT REFLECTION: What makes a ‘good’ presentation? What do you think if a student just reads from the screen? How can we present as confident and knowledgeable when delivering information? Look at the following presentation:

21. How to research effectively 1.Create a Bibliography Read p. 152-153 from Student Planner 2.Use the websites that were included on the assignment sheet 3. Summarise your information. DO NOT COPY AND PASTE information! The following websites are recommended for your research: http://www.teachingheritage.nsw.edu.au/section03/time20cth.php http://www.australianhistory.org/post-federation http://www.convictcreations.com/history/timeline.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Australian_history http://www.living-family-history.com/1950s.html http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Australian_History/1960s Http://www.myplace.edu.au/home.html Summarising Activity

22. Oral History: Change and Continuity Watch the following interview: Approx. 6 minutes WRITING FOLIO PIECE TWO You will be writing a Biography based on the life of a person who is at least 60 years old. You could ask a grandparent, family friend or neighbour. The task will include: 1.Writing interview questions 2.Conduct an interview 3.Writing a biography Assignment Sheet:

23. Preparing for your Biography 1. Preparing Interview questions: Open and closed questions. Develop a series of questions, beginning with closed questions eg when were you born? Moving to more open questions, what was the most memorable event in your life? What was life like as you were growing up? Students are to include questions about change and continuity in the interview 2. Continuity and Change over time (see handout) Pivotal to developing an understanding that the present is shaped by the past are the concepts of change and continuity. The timeline is also a visual aid to help students organise their understanding of continuity and change. 3. Workshops in drafting the biography Structuring your draft The first paragraph should introduce the person. Create a summary of who this person is and an overview of their life. In the body paragraphs, trace life from birth, childhood and adulthood. Small group workshops on editing, paragraphing, introduction and conclusion, proof reading. Students to complete biography for homework.

24. Preparing your interview Preparing Interview questions: Open and closed questions. Develop a series of questions, beginning with closed questions eg when were you born? Moving to more open questions, what was the most memorable event in your life? What was life like as you were growing up? Students are to include questions about change and continuity in the interview

25. Assessment summary English: 1.Oral- Box of Me presentation 2. Writing Folio Biography piece Reflection piece Humanities: 1. Timeline Poster- Iconic person 2. Decade Presentation