Assignment 3 Literacy Planning

Assignment 3: Planning for literacy learning
EDUC3526 Literacies Across the Curriculum in the Middle and Secondary Years
Michael Ferris (ferr0121/2096044)

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Following on from feedback on Assignment 2, I will continue to work on the
following:
Citing references more accurately in text
Accounting for language errors
There was not much constructive criticism or feedback from which I could work
from in this assignment, but I did notice that the main comments I received may
have not needed to appear had I proofread more closely. To this end, in this
assignment I have aimed to proofread with a greater level of intent, attempting to
eliminate as many language errors as possible.

Take some work you have prepared for your curriculum topic, prepare a summary
for this work, then discuss the literacy instruction you would include, and explain
two or three learning activities you would use to enable your students to be
successful. [Note: include extra materials in an Appendix.]

For this assignment, I will be discussing the ways in which I have planned for literacy
learning through the development of a unit plan devised for a year eight English
class. This unit plan has a distinct focus on memoirs as a genre, but also looks at
oral presentations and annotating as a part of the summative assessment. In terms

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of literacy instruction, activities have been designed so as to allow students the
ability to explore what a memoir can look like, through the reading of many
examples, as well as providing opportunities for group interaction which will enable
students to ascertain the important components of memoirs. Before going on to
write their own memoir, the teacher will be required to explicitly teach for literacy
in the field of memoir writing, and information and communication technology.

In this unit of work, students will explore the art of memoir writing, both through
reading a number of different memoirs, and by creating their own. The key concept
for students to learn thematically is that everyone has a story to tell, and that
memoirs are actually a terrific tool for the once voiceless to have their opinions and
life stories told. In terms of meeting Australian Curriculum standards, this unit plan
seeks to meet content descriptors within the language, literature and literacy
scope. In order to understand how memoirs work, this unit has been designed with
the Four Resources Model in mind. By reading a range of memoirs, from different
authors, from different times, and from different social circumstances, students will
be able to participate in code-breaking, meaning-making, text-using and text-
analysing. The ways in which this will be done will be considered shortly. The units
assessment is characterised by three performance tasks, which require oral skills,
group work, and individual memoir writing. Other assessment will occur through
class discussion, drafts of work, and feedback through individual student-teacher
meetings. In detailing that each person has a story to tell, students will take on the

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persona of a famous person in the first assessment task, completing an in-class or
pre-recorded monologue. This task requires knowledge of each famous person, and
of the events in their lives. More than this, this task requires students to
contemplate the context in which these people live, and the type of language that
they might use. For some students, this may require them to embrace a discourse
other than their own. Every individual has a primary discourse which they learn
from their family and community, and then secondary discourses that they acquire
during the rest of their lives (Williams, 2005, p. 343). Yet there will be times when
the secondary discourses [they] must adopt are at odds in some way with the
discourses [ they] have learnt at home and in our community (Williams, 2005, p.
344). This assignment will encourage students to engage with alternative discourses
purely for the experience of other ways of thinking. The other assessment items
require pedagogical skills which will be taught explicitly before being completed by
the students. Understanding that literacy is now considered to be multimodal, the
assessment items require the use and the knowledge of information technology
(Cloonan, 2012, p. 168). Explicit instruction in the use of other literacies is just as
important as the literacy tools learnt in regards to memoir writing.

One of the key understandings regarding literacy in the current schooling system is
that students need to be multi-faceted in their learning. (Gee as cited in Knipe,
2007, p. 193) Individuals will no longer be effective citizens in the world if all they
know is to read and write. Likewise, individuals need more than just information

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technology skills at their fingertips. The struggle for a teacher is to ensure that
students are given the opportunity to develop literacy in a number of different
ways. This unit of work operates on the assumption that multiple literacies learning
are non-negotiable. This is why students are given chances to expand on their oral
skills, critical thinking, and personal memoir writing. Literacy learning is not just
about classroom learning, but about teaching for beyond the classroom and beyond
the school system (Henderson, 2012, p. 1-17). Luke and Freebody (1999) describe
the teaching of literacy to be ultimately about the kind of society and the kinds
civilians/subjects that could and should be constructed. Keeping this in mind, the
unit plan not only attempts to develop students in ways that transcend the
schooling system, but also to make students aware of people that have upheld
ideals that our society considers worthy. Explicit instruction is a key aspect of
literacy instruction in an English classroom. In order to provide effective explicit
instruction, teachers should utilise the Four Resources Model which enables
students to break the code of texts, participate in the meanings of text, use texts
functionally, and critically analyse and transform texts (Luke and Freebody, 1999).
This model provides a framework through which students can comprehend the
wide range of texts that they come into contact with every day. Particularly
important to a students development is to be able to make meaning from these
texts, and to understand that particular views are made louder than others. This
model provides the framework behind the formative assessment that takes place in
the memoir unit plan. How aspects of the Four Resources Model are used within

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this unit of work in framing the development of literacy in students will be
discussed further in the following paragraph.

In order to provide sufficient scaffolding for students, and to include enough
explicit instruction regarding the activities that I want the students to complete, a
number of learning activities have been devised with the Four Resources Model in
mind. It is important to consider the metalanguage required to write a memoir. This
can be done through the way groups work together to read, critique and discuss a
range of memoir excerpts midway through the unit. In groups, students will read
these excerpts and record on butchers paper the components that they find which
help classify the excerpts as memoirs. This allows for the teacher to help work
through the purpose and quality of word choice in the text, and the language and
visual features of the recount (Exley, 2012, p. 248). This provides opportunities for
students to break the code of memoir writing, and gain a strong grasp of what
literary features form a memoir. Earlier on in the unit, students are exposed to
memoirs through reading an excerpt from one of Bear Grylls autobiographies. The
purpose of this is to explore with students why people enjoy reading the stories of
other peoples lives, and what makes someones life important enough to read
about. In exploring this, students can begin to critique biases, and how word
choices can persuade an audience. This then can be turned back onto the students,
encouraging them to consider how to position an audience through language

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choices in the texts that they create (Exley, 2012, p. 247). Students in this activity
will learn how to use these texts functionally understanding the social functions
that memoirs can have. These activities specifically focus on a number of principles
that encourage student participation with the texts provided. By working in groups
to examine memoir excerpts, the teacher is able to draw on students knowledge
and understanding of the English language, rather than promoting the teacher as
the only language expert (Exley, 2012, p. 263). In so doing, the teacher is utilising
formative assessment using these lessons of group participation to gauge just
where each students level of comprehension of these ideas lie. Another key aspect
of these activities is the presence of the memoir excerpts, which act as
demonstration texts for students. These texts, written by people including Nelson
Mandela (president of South Africa in the late 1990s), Bethany Hamilton (whose
love of surfing did not diminish after being attacked by a shark, losing one arm),
Bear Grylls (a television entity), and others, act as concrete models which will
provide a framework for the way in which students go about completing their own
memoir task (Exley, 2012, p. 264). Finally, these literacy activities are designed as
formative assessment for the purpose of aiding the teacher in deciding what
students might need more attention in. Flexibility in planning is important to ensure
that teachers aim their work at an appropriate level. The benefits of flexibility in
planning allow for the learning to take place in relation to student needs, as
opposed to what the teacher might want to teach. These learning activities act as
formative assessment and as key learning opportunities so that when students do

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come to work on the summative tasks, they will have the appropriate knowledge
and understanding to be successful. Students will have a greater knowledge of
memoirs as a genre, other worldviews, utilising bias to position their audience, and
exposure to discourses perhaps different to their own.

Exploring memoirs in a year eight English class provides ample opportunities to
explore a number of different aspects of literacy learning. Students are exposed to
a number of different worldviews, which will encourage them to explore alternative
discourses. Students will also be able to work together in groups to explore the
features of memoir through the reading of a range of excerpts. Explicit literacy
instruction, particularly in regards to the creation of memoirs, is important for the
teacher in this unit. Learning activities are devised specifically to be responsive to
student needs, to enable them to learn at their own pace, and to engage them in
their learning. This unit encourages learning at every opportunity, with very
deliberate attempts on the part of the teacher to impart literacy learning to their
students.


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Bibliography:

Cloonan, A. (2012). Multimodal literacies: New approaches and traditional concerns
in the suburban classroom. In R. Henderson (Ed.), Teaching literacies in the middle
years: Pedagogies and diversity (pp. 166-189). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford
University Press.
Exley, B. (2012). Valuing diversity: A multiliteracies project in a remote Indigenous
community. In R. Henderson (Ed.), Teaching literacies in the middle years:
Pedagogies and diversity (pp. 236-268). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University
Press.
Henderson, R. (2012). Teaching literacies: Principles and Practices. In R. Henderson
(Ed.), Teaching literacies in the middle years: Pedagogies and diversity (pp. 1-17).
South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press.
Knipe, S. (Ed.) (2007). Middle Years Schooling: Reframing Adolescence. Frenchs
Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.
Luke, A. & Freebody, P. (1999). A map of possible practices: Further notes on the
four resources model. Practically Primary, 4 (2). Accessed from the web 9.2.06.
Williams, B. (2005/6). Home and away: The tensions of community, literacy and
identity. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 49 (4), 342-347.

Word Count: 1,613.

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Attached is the unit plan from which this assignment was based [Appendix 1]:
Title: We all live extraordinary lives!
Subject/Course: English
Topic: Reading and writing memoirs
Grade(s): 8
Designer: Michael Ferris

Transfer
In this unit, students will explore the art of memoir writing, both through reading a number of
different memoirs, and by creating their own. Students will first explore the idea that everyone has a
story to tell, and that memoirs are actually a terrific tool for the voiceless to have their opinions
heard, before examining the finer details of memoir construction. To conclude the topic, they will
attempt to write a short memoir about themselves in order to develop a greater sense of who they
are at this time in their lives.

Students will be able to use their experience of working with this genre to:
- Construct texts, both oral and written, for different purposes, with different media tools.
- Critically analyse a number of memoirs for their structural, linguistic, and socio-cultural
features.
- Support the communication of their own ideas with evidence from texts
- Convey creativity through text and images, as well as through presenting orally, which may
or may not be supported by multimedia.

Stage 1 Desired Results
Established Goals:
The learning goals for this unit have been extracted from the scope and sequence of the Year 8
standards in the English curriculum as specified in the new Australian Curriculum. Some students will
not necessarily be up to these standards, and likewise some will be slightly beyond these goals.
Please refer to the aforementioned scope and sequence to verify the goals in Years 7 and 9.

Language
- Understand how cohesion in texts is improved by strengthening the internal structure of
paragraphs through the use of examples, quotations and substantiation of claims. (ACELA1766)
The emphasis in this unit is to hone in on how evidence from personal experience enriches
memoirs people cannot make claims about their own lives or others without explaining how

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or why they have come to make that particular claim. This knowledge can then be applied
across the English curriculum.

Literature
- Recognise and explain differing viewpoints about the world, cultures, individual people and
concerns represented in texts. (ACELT1628) Students will encounter a number of memoirs of
people who have faced some serious, some not-so-serious challenges in their lives. These
excerpts have been chosen specifically to pique interest in how other people have lived, and
the ways in which the different viewpoints can be expressed.
- Explore the ways that ideas and viewpoints in literary texts drawn from different historical,
social and cultural contexts may reflect or challenge the values of individuals and groups.
(ACELT1626) The excerpts chosen allow for a certain degree of discussion surrounding the
reasons why these excerpts were even written it could be possible to explore apartheid,
Australian Indigenous relations with white people, and stories of courage and survival.
Discussing how these events have shaped these individuals thinking could cause students to
consider how they perceive the world around them also.

Literacy
- Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that raise issues, report events, and
advance opinions, using deliberate language and textual choices, and including digital elements
as appropriate. (AACELY 1736) The oral presentation task requires students to take on the
persona of a famous person, and describe a life-changing moment for that famous person. This
allows them to consider the context in which their chosen famous person may act, and what
sort of music, sound, or images might be appropriate for their identity. The task requires
students to convince their peers that the life-changing moment they have chosen is in fact a
life-changing moment. The use of ICT will be at the discretion of the student programs such
as Audacity can be used to record oral presentations. Images for the oral presentation may be
found online, and images for the memoir creation may be sourced from home. This may
provide an opportunity for those students who are technologically savvy to aid the not so savvy
students in learning new ICT skills.
- Use interaction skills for identified purposes, using voice and language conventions to suit
different situations, selecting vocabulary, modulating voice and using elements such as music,
images and sound for special effects. (ACELY1808) The oral presentation as aforementioned
will require different voice conventions to suit the character and the story that they are telling
to the audience. Multimedia can be included within the presentation to support it. The memoir
that students write may be presented as a storybook, or perhaps even a slideshow with
accompanying audio recording multimedia production may be a facet of this units scope.

Understandings:

This topic aims to teach students to look beyond
words on a page to see what sort of messages
are being told through the words on the page.
Reading Nelson Mandelas autobiography should
cause students to wonder how a system of
apartheid can operate for so long. Reading Bear
Grylls memoir could create connections in
students minds between what they are reading
about the man, and how he appears on his
television shows. Reading about how young
Further Understanding:
Look in any book store and you are bound to
find a varied array of autobiographies,
biographies and memoirs. The question that we
must ask ourselves is why do we find these
books appealing? What is it that we learn from
reading about other peoples lives? There is a
great role for the memoir to play in the world of
literature today. It is through memoirs that
readers can understand how the world has
become what it is today, and it is through

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people grow up in Africa can create a greater
sense of understanding of the benefits of life in
the Western world. This topic seeks to enable
students to find ways in which explore not
simply what a person is saying, but why they are
saying it. This will firstly occur through an oral
text production task where students will take on
the persona of a famous individual (famous for
sporting, political, musical exploits) and explain,
while they are in that persona, why a significant
moment in their lives was actually significant.
This topic seeks to engage students in generating
interest around peoples lives, to try and
understand a bit more deeply about why people
are how they are, and what made them to be
like that. The use of a number of memoirs allows
students to explore and discuss different
individuals and the circumstances that they find
themselves in. This will allow the teacher to see
how much they know about Indigenous relations
with the white people, and other global
perspectives. Having engaged and explored
these ideas with the students, it is important to
now explain how authors can manipulate text to
put their point of view across. It is here that the
teacher can introduce the terminology and
theoretical aspects of memoirs. This is the point
where teachers can be asking students whether
an authors point of view has been conveyed
effectively to them. This will test students ability
to remember and understand the elements of
memoir. Having explained memoirs with a
number of examples, it is now possible to
elaborate on this and connect the components
of what constitutes a memoir with how they
might create their own. They should now have
the ability to analyse and apply their knowledge
in the creation of their own memoir. It is then
possible to evaluate how much students have
understood the concepts of memoir, and how
skilled they are at creating their own.

Students will understand that
Topical Understandings
- Memoirs can be of any length.
- Memoirs are able to place significance
upon even the most inconsequential
circumstances of our lives.
- As memoirs are written in the first person,
they will often take a subjective, biased
point of view.
memoirs that readers can begin to understand
the highs and lows of human existence. Memoirs
hold a unique place in literature, and deserve to
be explored in English classes no matter what
year level.

Essential Questions:
- What makes reading about someones life
interesting?
- What literary features make a memoir a
distinct genre?
- How can a writer decide what is important
enough to be written about in a memoir,
and how can these stories be made
appealing to the reader?
- How can memoirs teach us about
emotions, about how the world operates in
different cultures, and the use of bias in
writing?

General Capabilities:
Students will develop skills in the following
general capabilities:
o Literacy
o Information and communication
technology competence
o Critical and creative thinking
o Personal and social competence
o Intercultural understanding
The focus of literacy development in this unit is
to facilitate familiarity with writing for a
particular audience or in a particular fashion.
Understanding the appropriateness for different
styles of writing and/or talking are important not
just in terms of literacy, but also in personal and
social competence.
Intercultural understanding will be facilitated
through the discussion of the memoirs, which
have deliberately been chosen to make students
think about Indigenous perspectives,
perspectives of those who have lived in
hardships particularly in Africa, and also of
people whose stories of triumph in the face of
tragedy acts as inspiration. Teaching about
different cultures broadens students minds to
consider that the whole world is not exactly how

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- Memoirs are written in the first person.
- The difference between a memoir and an
autobiography is that a memoir tells a story
from life, while an autobiography tells the
story of a life. Within an autobiography,
you can find elements of memoirs.

Enduring Understandings
- Reading about others reveals aspects of life
that we may not have felt or seen before.
- Successful writing considers the intended
audience.
- Effective writing is improved upon by
reading a broad range of texts.
- The values that different cultures hold in
regard have a distinct connection to the
formation of the individual.
- Creativity is only bound by ones
imagination.

life appears in Australia.
This unit also allows for the development of ICT
competence. Students will be asked to use ICT in
both their oral presentation and their memoir
writing task. Demonstrations in the use of
Audacity and other programs such as Power
Point will be useful in helping students
comprehend the technology.
This unit will also allow for creative and critical
thinking especially in regards to bias, and
understanding that non-fiction work, especially
in the field of memoirs, can be tweaked in order
to convey a particular point of view or paint a
specific picture of a person. Students will
hopefully begin to develop the ability to critically
analyse the texts they read for these potential
biases.

Knowledge:
Students will know
- That memoirs can be written about any
number of different events, circumstances,
and are written in a reflective tone.
- That writing about a moment in ones life is
not always a completely accurate retelling
because authors, in keeping their readers
in mind and in order to dictate how the
readers perceive the author, may utilize
some creative license.

Skills:
Students will be able to
- Recognise the common elements that form
a memoir no matter which cultural
background the author originates from.
- Analyse memoirs in regards to techniques
including humour, imagery, tone, and point
of view.
- Choose an important life moment of a
prescribed celebritys and of their own life,
from which to write an engaging oral
presentation and memoir.
- Use computers, cameras, and/or musical
devices to prepare their own memoir.
- Edit and proofread their writing to ensure
that what they have written is
comprehensible to another reader.


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Stage 2 Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks (including % of term grade):
Performance Task 1 (10%):
Choosing one of the famous people listed in Appendix 3, students will present a two-minute
monologue, presenting an oral memoir taking on the persona of the famous person, presented
either in front of the class, or in the form of an audio recording.

Key Criteria:
The monologue captures a significant moment in a famous persons life.
The monologue will be creatively presented with language conventions that suit the chosen
character, as well as audio and visual components including music, images and sound. These
additional components must be appropriate for classroom presentation.

In groups of no more than four, students will create a poster based on an excerpt from The Boy
Who Wouldnt Die by David Nyuol Vincent. Students will make annotations regarding the literary
features of a memoir in relation as found in the excerpt.

Key Criteria:
The key concepts of memoir writing will be addressed.
The annotations will be well structured, cohesive and make clear the understanding of what makes a
memoir different to other forms of writing.
The poster will demonstrate an understanding of memoir in relation to the chosen excerpt.

Students will create their own memoir of 500-750 words, including illustrations. The illustrations
may either be drawn or pictures of the student may be sourced from home.

Key Criteria:
The memoir will be written in the first person, detailing key moments from the students life.
The memoir provides a commentary on experiences, reflecting personal impression on those
experiences, and not simply just a retelling of events.
The memoir will be supported by appropriate visual elements which aid in providing extra detail to
the reader.
The memoir will demonstrate understanding of the theoretical components of a memoir.

Other Evidence:
Student responses during small group and whole class discussions that demonstrate understandings
of memoir content, components of memoir, and ability to apply knowledge to completion of
performance tasks.
Drafts of the memoir.
Feedback from student through teacher-student meetings.


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Stage 3 Learning Plan
Learning Activities:
A lesson by lesson plan can be seen in Appendix 1.
Excerpts from books can be found in Appendix 2.
1. Take students through pictures of famous people, asking whether they would choose to
read about them. Ask students what makes these people worth reading about.
2. Ask students how they have written stories in the past e.g. chronologically, in media res,
first person, third person. Read an excerpt from Mud, Sweat and Tears (Grylls). Students
discuss what writing choices Grylls has made, particularly in relation to narrative voice. Ask
the students what they know of Bear Grylls, and whether the excerpt provided gives them a
better understanding of who Bear is as a person. Is their perception of the man different
having read the excerpt?
3. Using images of famous people as mentioned in 1. above, students discuss in pairs what
moments in these peoples lives might be worth writing about in a memoir. In these pairs,
students create mind maps where they produce a number of ideas of what they could write
a memoir about based on their famous person. Examples may include: writing music for an
album, the process for warming up before a grand final, acting school, preparing for an
awards night, the moment before their life changed forever. Students discuss which of
these examples could be written about they need to assess these examples for an angle
from which to base writing.
4. Students may find themselves a bit lost as to what an event in their young lives might be
that is worth writing about. One way to ease the pressure that this may place on students is
to model the way in which a task like this could be done. For this, the teacher should bring
into class their own significant artifact/childhood story, and then discuss how they would
write a memoir based on this. The teacher details to the class why specific choices are
made regarding structure and style, while also demonstrating conference process with their
students.
5. Making use of the ICT in the school, students should be allowed time to view this website :
http://www.memoirsbyme.com/submit.html, and the links connected to it. The purpose of
this to help students discover what literary features can be found in a memoir. Students
should only need a maximum of fifteen minutes to explore the site before a group
discussion to talk about a memoirs literary features. The aim of this is to create a definition
of what a memoir is the definition which will become the basis on which the rest of the
unit is based. Students should also spend a short amount of time to differentiate between
an autobiography and a memoir can a piece of writing be both? Teacher will provide
students with excerpts from a number of memoirs, and students will be asked to assess
these excerpts based on the question of whether they qualify as memoirs based on what
the class definition of memoir is. Introduce the performance tasks provide information
regarding the assessment items.
6. Each student will inform the teacher which famous person they will become for their
monologue and the circumstance which they will be describing. Students will then begin
completing Performance Task 1. If there are a number of unconfident students in the class,
they could be paired with another member of the class is more confident, and they could
work together to create an oral that includes another character. Outlining that students will
not be graded on the mistakes that they might make should also help in lessening the
anxiety and increasing the support given to those who are not as prepared, or not as
confident at oral presentations.
7. Students will be given one lesson (and homework time) to work on a script and appropriate
supporting materials for their presentation (visual elements [which may include a
PowerPoint presentation, or images] or audio [depending on the situation this may call for

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crowd noises, or other background music]).
8. Over two lessons, students will present Performance Task 1. They will be assessed
according to the marking scheme (Appendix 3 and 7 students will need a copy each). For
each presentation, each student should have a copy of the marking template (Appendix 7),
which they can mark each presentation on. This requires each student to be actively
engaged in the presentation, and mark it according to the criteria which they themselves
will be marked by.
9. Read the website Submit Real Life Stories for Online Publication as a class. Discuss
whether the components mentioned all need to be included in a memoir. Refer to the
definition made by the class previously - in think/pair/share groups, decide whether the
definition needs to be amended having viewed the website.
10. Students will now be split into groups and each will be given an excerpt from various
memoirs: The bad deeds gang (Hannan and Tickell), Soul Surfer (Hamilton), Kisses from
Katie (Davis and Clark), Long Walk to Freedom (Mandela) and My Place (Morgan). In
these groups, students now need to decide if these texts can be classed as memoirs, and if
so, what makes them a memoir. Students are to write their responses on butchers paper.
Students can also work with the teacher if they prefer this option for extra learning support.
ESL students or students with learning difficulties may require this support in particular,
and may also require modifications - that is, shorter texts. Groups that work together
should be no larger than four students so as to create a productive work environment.
(These excerpts can be found in Appendix 2 teacher will need to print off enough copies
for one of each memoir for each student)
11. In the next lesson, each group will be given a different story, and they will repeat the same
process, analysing the story and the critique given by previous groups. Upon completion, all
of the pieces of butchers paper will be collected by the teacher (and could be used to
decorate the wall, and promote thinking about memoirs). Once stuck up on the wall,
students can be involved in a Gallery Walk, where they look at the amalgamations of all of
the analyses made on each of the excerpts, where they may understand different things
about certain excerpts because of observations made by other class members.
12. At this time, show YouTube videos that reinforce who it was that the students have been
reading about. Students may have found some of the memoirs to be quite interesting (e.g.
how does Bethany Hamilton have the drive to keep surfing after a shark attack left her with
only one arm? How did Nelson Mandela move from being a prisoner to President?).
Viewing these videos may provide a wider context for students, and may encourage them
to read further about these individuals.
13. The class will read one more memoir: an excerpt from The Boy Who Wouldnt Die by
David Nyuol Vincent. Students now have a range of memoirs to base their own upon with
a range of historical, geographical, and social perspectives. The task with this excerpt is to,
in small groups, analyse this text for all of the components that form a memoir. Using the
comment function in Microsoft Word, groups of no more than 4 students will make notes
and then present their findings as a poster (This is Performance Task 2). The actual excerpt
should be placed in the centre of the poster, with annotations surrounding it. Students will
need a copy of the excerpt, and Appendix 4 and 8 (the task sheet and the marking scheme)
14. Students will be given two lessons (including homework time) to make their notes, collate
the notes, and then create the poster. For those who struggle with sentence structure or
have other issues, the teacher may allow the annotations on the poster to be completed in
dot points.
15. For students who are able to complete the assignment early, an extension activity can be
provided which sends students to a YouTube video, which will become the basis upon
which they write a small memoir of 150-200 words. Videos that could be viewed are
included in Appendix 5.
16. After completing the poster, students will begin writing their own memoir, seeking to find a
moment or moments on which they can write about. For those that struggle to think of a

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moment by themselves, they may find talking in small groups about their experiences to be
a good way to focus their attention onto one particular incident. Students should consider
questions including: What is your family background? Have you done anything that has
been well rewarded in sports or music? If so, how has this made you feel? Can you think of
your greatest accomplishment? Do you have any funny family stories? By the next lesson,
they will need to inform the teacher of their basis for the memoir. Teacher will show a
memoir that they have written in a Word document (with photos that run side by side with
the text) as a possible guide to what students create. (according to the assessment criteria,
Appendix 9 each student needs a copy of this and Appendix 6 [task sheet]), and convey to
students that this is what they want to see from their memoir.
17. Allow 2-3 lessons (and homework time) to write the memoir. Students should include
appropriate images to create the finished product. All memoirs (including the teachers) will
be collected into a class booklet. The students may seek to create a picture book of their
lives, create a film with a voiceover, or any other media format that incorporates both word
and visual elements. Students may also be more willing to write in a Word document with
accompanying images. Allowing students the scope to work on their creative thinking skills
is an aid for the teacher to create a sense of differentiation through this performance task.
18. If time allows, possibly view a YouTube video about Nick Vujicic (a man born with no arms
or legs). http://www.youtube.com/user/2nickrock This video should summarise to students
that there is no limit to what people can achieve and that even without limbs, you can still
live a full life. Summarise what has been learnt in the topic and using exit cards, ask the
students what they believe that they have learnt during this module.
Resources
Books:
Davis, K. & Clark, B. (2013). Kisses From Katie. Authentic Media, United Kingdom.
Grylls, B. (2011). Mud, Sweat and Tears. Corgi, United Kingdom.
Hamilton, B. (2004) Soul Surfer. Pocket Books, New York City.
Hannan, L. & Tickell, W. (Eds.) (1971) The Bad Deeds Gang and Other Stories. Australian Association
for the Teaching of English: Carlton, Victoria.
Mandela, N. (1994). Long Walk to Freedom. Abacus, Great Britain.
Morgan, S. (1987). My Place. Fremantle Arts Centre, Australia.
Vincent, D.N. (2012). The Boy Who Wouldnt Die. Fairfax Books: Crows Nest, New South Wales.

Websites:
Memoirs by: Me (2008). Submit Real Life Stories for Online Publication. Available *online+
http://www.memoirsbyme.com/submit.html, date accessed 01/04/13.


17

Appendix 1 Lesson by Lesson Plan

According to a two double-lesson, one single-lesson timetable schedule.

Week 1:
Lesson 1 (Double): Learning Activities 1-3.
Lesson 2 (Single): Learning Activities 4-5.

Week 2:
Lesson 1 (Double): Learning Activity 8.
Lesson 2 (Single): Learning Activity 8.

Week 3:
Lesson 2 (Single): Learning Activity 13-14
Lesson 3 (Double): Learning Activity 13-15.

Week 4:
Lesson 2 (Single): Learning Activities 16-17.
Lesson 3 (Double): Learning Activity 17 (and 18 if possible).


18

Appendix 2 Excerpts from Memoirs

I could tell that my friend knew he was in deep shit as he let out a long wail. And it was all
because of one tattered pair of shoes.
The trouble began when he took off his shoes and thought it would be hilarious to
tie them together and toss them high over a wire, so they dangled between two electricity
poles. But where we come from, even the most dilapidated shoes are precious. The boys
triumph transformed into panic as it dawned on him that hed face his mothers fury if he
went home without his shoes.
About ten of us stood beneath the shoes arguing over the most efficient way to get
them and stop our friends damned wailing. But throwing them up and over the wire had
been the easy bit. Getting them down would be trickier.
The others thought there was no way one of us could climb the pole and get them.
It was too high and too dangerous.
But I was a competitive and cocky little boy, and I didnt like anyone telling me
what I couldnt do. I decided that Id show the others Id climb the pole and retrieve the
shoes. My friends scoffed at my plan, convinced that a little kid couldnt pull his skinny
body up that pole. But I knew I could do it.
With the confidence of the very young and stupid, I began my climb. Ignorance
makes you fearless, and I easily reached the top. The shoes were hanging not far from the
pole, but still too far for me. I reached out but couldnt touch them. I tried to grab the wire
so I could move closer to my goal. I was five years old. It didnt occur to me that electricity
could kill.
Stop! Dont do it! nine boys shouted at me.
What do you want me to do? I asked, climbing down.
One of the boys found a stick and handed it to me. Knock the shoes off with the
stick, he said.
I repeated my climb and perched on the post, stretching out and using the stick to
give the shoes a good whack. They flew off the wire and landed near their still-wailing
owners feet. I climbed down the post a hero. I had just initiated a very dangerous game.
I was born in Wau, in the Western Bahr el Ghazal state of southern Sudan. And I
was a cheeky kid.

19

I hung out with other boys of varying ages. We formed a crew and found ways to
entertain ourselves. Climbing the electricity poles became a favourite game after my first
epic ascent. We had to play this game early in the morning or late in the day, as the blazing
African sun made the metal pole hot enough to scald your skin. Wed race each other to
the top. I learnt to manoeuvre my body around the pole and pull myself up with lightning
speed. I always won.
My resourcefulness would later come in handy, instilling resilience in me and giving
me crucial survival skills. But I didnt know it yet.
For most of my life I didnt even know my own age. We didnt celebrate birthdays
in Sudan, and many of us didnt have birth certificates. It wasnt until I was a grown man
that I learnt I had been five when the war began its devastating surge through southern
Sudan.
o Vincent, David Nyuol. (2012). The Boy Who Wouldnt
Die. Fairfax Books: Crows Nest, New South Wales. pp.
5-7.


20

As the overwhelming contradictions became more and more apparent to me, they also
began to bother me in a way I could no longer ignore.
The plight of people had posed a problem for me as long as I could remember.
Somehow, as a young child, I was aware that there was a world beyond the comfort of my
own neighbourhood. My parents had taught me that my family and I, and the people
around us, were some of the blessed ones. I understood that people all over the world
were hungry and poorly clothed and living in ramshackle huts or under bridges. And these
realities broke my heart.
Now the human tragedy that had captured my attention as a child was weighing on
my heart in a greater way. The people who had once been anonymous in their suffering
were now my friends.
When I thought about the children, these little ones who were my students and my
new friends, and those back in America, the contrasts were unimaginable. For example, I
remembered many years of the first day of school. As I entered each new grade, my
parents bought me a brand-new back-to-school outfit. I had new school supplies, every
item on a typically extensive list from my teacher. I was so excited to take them to school!
But what I loved most was a new box of crayons perfectly shaped points, with nice paper
wrappers, in every colour I could imagine. For a young schoolgirl, new crayons were bliss.
In the United States, the back-to-school season is a retail event just as much as
Easter or Halloween. Stores are filled with brightly coloured notebooks, backpacks and
lunch boxes, and stacks of pens and pencils and paper. All but the least fortunate students
have a significant stash of new belongings with which to start school each year. But in
Uganda, a tablet is expensive. A new pen or pencil is a treasure. Many children dont get
excited about going to school because even if they have the money for school fees, they
may not be able to buy their supplies.
As I thought about the discrepencies between the culture I came from and the one
I now lived in, I could not stop thinking about my life and the lives of many of my friends in
the States and being appalled by our luxuries when people on our same planet were
living in such poverty and need. I began to realize huge flaws and gaps in my faith, a wide
chasm between what I proclaimed to believe and how I was actually living.
I had to do something.
o Davis, K. & Clark, B. (2012). Kisses from Katie.
Authentic Media, United Kingdom. pp. 29-30.


21

I had a real goal one day to own my own speedboat; to be able to drive around in it and to
tinker with the engine. Obviously a real speedboat was out of the question, but instead I
got to build one with my dad: a very cool little eight-foot wooden rowing boat with a 1.5
h.p. engine on the back.
The boat was barely fast enough to make any progress against the incoming tides,
but it was perfect for me. We rigged up an improvised cable system, linked to a steering
wheel bolted into the bench, and I was away.
I would head off to meet my mum and dad at a small bay a few miles around the
coast I would go by sea, they would walk. I just loved the freedom that I found, being in
charge of a boat on the sea.
*+
I just thrived off the challenge; the solitude; the big waves and spray.
I loved the time alone, just nature and me but only as long as I had that safety net
of knowing that Dad was nearby on hand to help in a crisis. (Which was often the case.)
And I felt on top of the world as I sailed back into harbor, drenched like a drowned
rat, grinning from ear to ear, hands and muscles burning from holding the lines so tightly,
against the same strong wind that had driven all the other boats back to port.
It was a feeling that I could be a little different from everyone else of my age, and
that, if pushed, I could battle against the forces of nature, and prevail. Adventure felt the
most natural thing in the world, and it was where I came alive. It is what made me feel, for
the first time, really myself.
As I got older and the rest of the world got more complicated and unnatural, I
sought more and more the identity and wholeness that adventure gave me.
In short, when I was wet, muddy and cold, I felt like a million dollars, and when I
was with the lads, with everyone desperately trying to be cool, I felt more awkward and
unsure of myself. I could do mud, but trying to be cool was never a success.
So I learnt to love the former, and shy away from the latter.
o Grylls, B. (2011). Mud, Sweat and Tears. Channel 4
Books: Great Britain. pp. 62-63.


22

The policy of apartheid created a deep and lasting wound in my country and my people.
All of us will spend many years, if not generations, recovering from that profound hurt. But
the decades of oppression and brutality had another, unintended, effect, and that was that
it produced the Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus, the Chief Luthulis, the Yusuf Dadoos, the
Bram Fischers, the Robert Sobukwes of our time men of such extraordinary courage,
wisdom and generosity that their like may never be known again. Perhaps it requires such
depths of oppression to create such heights of character. My country is rich in the minerals
and gems that lie beneath its soil, but I have always known that its greatest wealth is its
people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds.
It is from these comrades in the struggle that I learned the meaning of courage. Time
and again, I have seen men and women risk and give their lives for an idea. I have seen men
stand up to attacks and torture without breaking, showing a strength and resilience that
defies the imagination. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph
over it. I felt fear myself more times than I can remember, but I hid it behind a mask of
boldness. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.
I never lost hope that this great transformation would occur. Not only because of the
great heroes I have already cited, but because of the courage of the ordinary men and
women of my country. I always knew deep down in every human heart, there was mercy
and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or
his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate,
they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its
opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when my comrades and I were pushed to
our limits, I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps just for a
second, but it was enough to reassure me and keep me going. Mans goodness is a flame
that can be hidden but never extinguished.
o Mandela, N. (1994). Long Walk to Freedom. Abacus:
Great Britain. pp. 748-749.


23

I didnt even scream.
People say to me, Werent you terrified? Didnt you think you would be eaten
alive? I guess that would be the normal reaction, but it wasnt mine. Maybe I was in shock
or denial; maybe I was on autopilot. Im not really sure, but when I look back on it now, Im
glad of one thing: Im glad I never saw the shark closing in on me. Im glad I never had more
than a split second to wrap my brain around the fact that I was being attacked. If I had, Im
not sure I would have been so calm. Im not sure Id be able to live with the nightmares or
ever go back in the water again
We had only been surfing a half hour and the waves were nothing spectacular. We
were waiting for the next decent one to roll in, and Alana was floating no more than fifteen
feet from me; her brother, Byron, and dad, Holt, not much farther away. I was bringing up
the rear, and all of us were looking out to sea.
I had a shiny, light blue Rip Curl watch on my left hand that I was dangling in the
water. I sometimes wonder if the reflection of that watch in the clear water is what
attracted the shark.
Thats when I was suddenly aware of a large gray object closing in on my left side. He was
slow and silent; he really crept up on me. If I had had my head turned I would have seen
everything: the rolled-back eyes, the triangle-shaped teeth, the sandpaper-like skin, the
pointy snout, the pulled-back gums. Luckily, all I saw was a blur.
Its funny you would think that having your arm bitten off would really hurt. But
there was no pain at the time. I felt pressure and kind of a jiggle-jiggle tug, which I know
now was the teeth. They have serrated edges like a steak knife and they sawed through the
board and my bones as if they were tissue paper.
It was over in a few seconds.
o Hamilton, B. (2004). Soul Surfer. Pocket Books: New
York City. pp. 69-71.


24

I remember one Sunday, waiting at a bus stop for a bus to my girlfriends house, when a
lady came along. She was catching the same bus as me, so we started to chat.
Youre very beautiful, dear, she said, what nationality are you, Indian?
No, I smiled, Im Aboriginal.
She looked at me in shock. You cant be, she said.
I am.
Oh, you poor thing, she said, putting her arm around me, what on earth are you
going to do?
I didnt know what to say. She looked at me with such pity, I felt really
embarrassed. I wondered what was wrong with being Aboriginal. I wondered what she
expected me to do about it.
I talked to Mum about it and she told me I must never tell anyone what I was. She
made me really frightened. I think that was when I started wishing I was something
different.
It was harder for Mum than me because she was so broad featured she couldnt
pass for anything else. I started noticing that, when she went out, people stared at her, I
hadnt realized that before.
The conversation with that lady at the bus stop really confused me. I suddenly felt
like a criminal. I couldnt understand why I felt so terrible. Looking back now, I suppose she
knew more about how Aboriginal people were treated than I did. She probably knew I had
no future, that Id never be accepted, never be allowed to achieve anything.
I tried for a while after that to talk to Mum and get her to explain things to me,
especially about the past and where shed come from. It was hopeless, wed been apart too
long to get really close. I knew she loved me and I loved her, but, for all my childhood, she
had been just a person I saw on holidays. I couldnt confide my worries to her. She just kept
saying, Terrible things will happen to you if you tell people what you are. I felt, for her
sake as well as my own, Id better keep quiet. I was really scared of authority. I wasnt sure
what could happen to me.
o Morgan, S. (1987). My Place. Fremantle Arts Centre,
Australia. pp. 347-348


25

Mick read that if you put lights in a chook-house theyd think night was day and youd get
eggs twice in twenty-four hours. So we put a couple of old kerosene lamps in the shed.
The chook-shed burnt down.
That was the end of our Good Deeds Gang. Nothing seemed to go right with any of
our good deeds, and there certainly wasnt any money in it.
Anyway it was holiday time and the cricket season was on, so we set up the stumps
in the long backyard behind the pub, and the test series started.
It was a good place for cricket. A long yard with the old sheds and stables along one
side and the (new) chook-shed and a high fence on the other. Down one end was a bridge
over the towns main drain and at the other was our main problem.
The yard narrowed into a lane beside a house whose back fence was right behind
our wicket. A snicked drive or a mishit hook went straight over the fence into Old Grumpys
backyard.
We used to nick over and get them, but then one day we made the mistake of
knocking at his door and asking could we get our ball. Old Grumpy said No!
So the Good Deeds Gang turned into a Bad Deeds Gang and Old Grumpy was our
first (and only) target.
First of all we bought some firecrackers double-bungers and strings of Tom
Thumbs and threw them onto Grumpys roof and at his back door late one night.
Grumpy came snarling and snorting out the back door in his singlet and underpants
and, judging by the language (we didnt wait around to make sure), fell slap bang over the
fruit box wed left just outside the door.
First round to us. But Old Grumpy struck back. Next day when we got out to play
cricket we saw four of our lost balls lined up on Grumpys back fence all sliced neatly in
half!
There were three composition balls and one good leather ball wed found up at the
cricket ground. It was the loss of that leather ball that really hurt especially since we were
reduced by then to using old tennis balls.
We watched the house for a couple of days until we were sure that Old Grumpy
wasnt at home. Then we sneaked into his bathroom (a separate room built onto the back
of the house), put the plug into the bath and turned on both taps. Then we drew a skull and
crossbones on his back door with black paint and wrote Bad Deeds Gang Beware.

26

I dont suppose Dad liked Old Grumpy much either, but he didnt have much choice
when he heard what wed done. John and I went to bed very early that night with tingling
tails and a stronger determination to really fix Old Grumpy.
We put our heads together next day Mick, John and I, Des and Flop to work out
a plan to combat Old Grumpy. Mick, Des and Flop had also been dealt with by their fathers
the night before.
We couldnt think of much right away maybe it was conscience, or more likely the
memory of the razor strop the night before, but we didnt want to damage any more
property.
That afternoon we went bird-nesting. Youd shin up the tree and come down with a
mouthful of eggs not much fun if you were a bit careless, or fell as you climbed down.
Anyway we came home with a good collection of eggs and then we had the idea.
Next evening, while Grumpy was out, we went around to the vacant block beside his
house. Grumpys chook-shed was built against the fence. We pulled off two of the fence-
boards, sawed them in half and replaced them so that we could quickly pull away the
bottom halves and slip into the chook-shed.
For days one or two of us hid in the vacant block and each time one of Grumpys
chooks cackled to announce it had laid an egg, we whipped in, took the egg and replaced it
with one of our little birds eggs.
Grumpy must have nearly had a fit for days, wondering what on earth had gone
wrong with his chooks!
Then one day he was waiting just outside the chook-shed, and was too fast for
Flop, whod gone in to swap an egg.
Flop got a twisted ear all the way back to his place, where he was dealt with a bit
more. The rest of us got away, but Plan Number Three had to be abandoned.
Dad decided at this stage that hed nail us wire-netting on a frame on the back
fence so our balls wouldnt go over the fence, but we needed one last attack to make sure
of victory.
It was John who came up with the masterpiece of all ideas.
Every evening at about 7 oclock Grumpy would come out to pay a visit to the little
outhouse dunny in the backyard there was no sewerage in town in those days.
We checked on him for a while then got ready to attack.

27

One night we were ready, hiding outside his back fence as he came out. Wed
drawn lots and Mick and I had the job to do.
Mick had an old paint brush dipped, ready, in red paint. I was to go with him.
As soon as Grumpy got inside we nipped over the fence, Mick turned and turning
the brush to keep as much paint on it as possible.
We gave him time to sit down, then I quickly whipped open the wooden flap the
dunny men used and Mick stabbed in with a wet splosh of bright red paint.
A tremendous roar of astonishment, then anger, went up as Mick dropped the
brush and we both scurried over the back fence and none of us stopped running until we
were half a mile away.
We were well and truly punished, of course, but the best part was that the story
got around town and Old Grumpy gained a new nickname Chief Sitting Red, otherwise
known as Redtail.
The Bad Deeds Gang, well satisfied, was disbanded, and the test series resumed.
o Breen, B. (1971). The Bad Deeds Gang. in Hannan,
L.M. & Tickell, W.G. (eds.). The Bad Deeds Gang and
other stories. Australian Association for the Teaching
of English, Victoria. pp. 7-10.


28

Appendix 3 Performance Task 1 Task Sheet Oral Text Production

Choosing one of the following famous people, you will present a two-minute monologue taking on their
persona.

Choose from:
Barack Obama Gary Ablett Junior Dawn Fraser
Julia Gillard Ellen DeGeneres Kate Middleton
Cathy Freeman Harry Styles Hugh Jackman

You must describe a significant moment in your famous persons life:
Why is it important to your person
What led them to that moment
What has happened because of that moment
How your person felt about the circumstances

The two-minute monologue can be accompanied by appropriate images and/or audio.
You can either present in front of the class, or record your monologue using the Audacity program.
You must confirm your famous person, and the moment of their life that you will
focus on before you are able to present.


29

Appendix 4 Performance Task 2 Task Sheet Analytical Poster

In a group of no more than four, your task is to create a poster of the excerpt provided to you from the book
The Boy Who Wouldnt Die by David Nyuol Vincent. Your task is to make notes about the literary features of
a memoir that are found in this excerpt, and then create a poster which demonstrates your understanding and
ability to locate where the features can be found.

Using your understanding of a memoir, look for examples of the key components in Vincents text.

This poster will assess your ability to locate the literary features of a memoir within a memoir that someone
has written.

You must reference the memoir as found below:
Vincent, D.N. (2012). The Boy Who Wouldnt Die. Fairfax Books: Crows Nest, New South Wales.


30

Appendix 5 Videos to view for Extension Activity (after early completion of Performance
Task 2)

Task:
View one of the following videos shot with a GoPro camera.
Taking on the point of view of the person who is controlling the camera, write a
150-200 word memoir based on the clip.
o This may include:
Describing how you got into that business
The processes to prepare to shoot the video
Your feelings of the experience
The videos are as follows:
o GoPro: Dave Matthews Bands Carter Beauford Drum Solo -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Pb6PF8LXA
o GoPro HD: Tightrope Canyon with Andy Lewis -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNzpNC2acrA
o GoPro HD: Avalanche Cliff Jump with Matthias Giraud -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwbP9WLX3fY

If you cannot access YouTube, I have downloaded these videos and left them on a USB
which you can access in the top drawer of my desk.


31

Appendix 6 Performance Task 3 Task Sheet Memoir

Your task is to now create your own memoir.

Focus on one or two moments in your life which you will write about.

Use your understandings of memoirs, and the examples provided in this unit to frame your
memoir construction.

Include appropriate images to support your writing.

You may present your memoir of 500-750 words in a picture book format, a story board, or
a newspaper report with accompanying images. If you have other ideas, confirm this with
me.

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