Summary Sheet for Assignment 2: Differentiated Learning Experience

Name & Student Number: Ashley Hart 2121327

Curriculum (Learning) Area of Lesson or Learning Task: English
Specific Topic of Lesson or Learning Task: Bias in the Media
Year Level/s: 9

Differentiation Choices
Mark the appropriate box/es

1. For this assignment, I have chosen to design a differentiated:

 Learning Menu or Agenda
 Choice Board
 RAFT
 Summative Assessment Task for Unit of Work
 Lesson with Specific Adjustments for Students with Special Needs
 Series of Tasks for Learning Centres or Stations
 Learning Task or Lesson with Innovative Use of Technology to Support Differentiation

2. My lesson or learning task is differentiated to address differences in student:

 Readiness
 Interest
 Learning profile preferences

Context (about 1 paragraph)

Provide any contextual information that will help the examiner make sense of your planning decisions. For example,
summarise the broader unit into which this lesson fits and the broad aim/s of that unit, and explain where this lesson
or learning task fits into the unit sequence (Does it come after several introductory lessons? Does it come towards the
end of the unit and enable students to apply their knowledge, understandings and skills to a particular learning task?
Is it an assignment that will be ongoing over the course of a whole unit? Is it a single lesson or a task/ arrangement
that spans several lessons?).

School Context:
Eastern Fleurieu School is a public 7-12 school located on the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is made up
of approximately 675 students ranging from low to middle socio-economic status. Eastern
Fleurieu School has a special interest in Vocational and Educational Training (VET). This means
that many, but not all, students are regularly off campus for training.

Class Context:
This year 9 English class comprises of 10 female identifying and 12 male identifying students of
mixed learning abilities. No students have been identified as having any specific learning
requirements, although because of poor attendance rates and access to resources due to low to
mid-range SES, students generally take longer to complete assigned tasks and require one-on-one
guidance to get up to date with learning requirements. Around half of this class is already on a
pathway to completing a number of VET courses.

Unit Overview:

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This unit is focused on giving students the skills to be able to identify bias in the media. This
lesson comes in week 2 of the 4 week unit. By this point, students are aware of different types of
bias techniques used in the media through their interaction with a number of newspaper articles,
TV news reports and images. Students have developed this knowledge and understanding
through the creation of a glossary of terms at the back of their exercise books. Students have
listed examples of each technique next to the meaning, which they have encountered throughout
the unit so far. A Vocab Activity Sheet was first given as a pre-assessment of student knowledge
and subsequently added to after marking (appendix 1). This pre-assessment aimed to provide the
teacher with insight into student prior knowledge and encourage higher order thinking to allude
meanings of words based on snippets of information given.

After a teacher guided PowerPoint with accompanying video and newspaper clippings, a
subsequent formative assessment on bias techniques was given to check for student
understanding (Appendix 2). This was used to clear up any misunderstandings and ensure all
students have adequate knowledge of bias techniques before identifying them in a number of
current newspaper clippings as a group.

Students were then tested on their readiness (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011) for the summative
assessment by asking them to apply their knowledge of bias by participating in ‘Opinion Lines’
(Appendix 3) where they were asked to identify underlying bias’s within their opinions. Although
this activity checked for understanding its focus was to determine student interests for informing
the R.A.F.T topics. This was determined through the questions asked (Appendix 3).

In this lesson students will be introduced to the summative assessment task for this unit where
they will need to apply their knowledge, understanding and skills in using bias techniques to
create a biased text. Students will use the R.A.F.T to select a role, topic and way of presenting,
that suits their interests and strengths. Students will have two weeks (including class time, six 55
minute lessons) to work on this assessment before it is due. The R.A.F.T allows room for
students of varying abilities to create a text more or less complex.

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Learning Objectives
As appropriate, these should be based on the Australian Curriculum. You can include specific
references to ACARA in parentheses where you have taken an objective verbatim (ACMMG006), or
use language like “Adapted from..” if you have made some changes to statements from ACARA, but
been guided by these.
The learning objectives for this unit, Bias in the Media, have been adapted from the Australian Curriculum
Year 9 Level Description for English. ‘Students [will] engage with a variety of texts…. They interpret,
create, evaluate, discuss and perform a wide range of literary texts … as well as texts designed to inform
and persuade. These include various types of media texts, including newspapers… Students develop a
critical understanding of the contemporary media and the differences between media texts,’ ("English",
2018)

Adapted from the Year 9 English Achievement Standards, students will understand how to use a variety
of language features to create different levels of meaning. In creating texts, students will demonstrate how
manipulating language features and images can create innovative texts. Students will edit for effect,
selecting vocabulary and grammar that contribute to the precision and persuasiveness of texts using
accurate spelling and punctuation.

The below Year 9 English Content Descriptions apply to student learning in this unit.

Language
Understand how punctuation is used along with layout and font variations in constructing texts for
different audiences and purposes (ACELA1556 - Scootle )

Literacy
Analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts, including media texts, can be influenced by
cultural perspectives and other texts (ACELY1739 - Scootle )

Listen to spoken texts constructed for different purposes, for example to entertain and to persuade, and
analyse how language features of these texts position listeners to respond in particular ways (ACELY1740
- Scootle )

Use interaction skills to present and discuss an idea and to influence and engage an audience by selecting
persuasive language, varying voice tone, pitch, and pace, and using elements such as music and sound
effects (ACELY1811 - Scootle )

Interpret, analyse and evaluate how different perspectives of issue, event, situation, individuals or groups
are constructed to serve specific purposes in texts (ACELY1742 - Scootle )

Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse texts, comparing and evaluating representations of
an event, issue, situation or character in different texts (ACELY1744 - Scootle )

Explore and explain the combinations of language and visual choices that authors make to present
information, opinions and perspectives in different texts (ACELY1745 - Scootle )

Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate
arguments, including texts that integrate visual, print and/or audio features(ACELY1746 - Scootle )

As a result of engaging with the differentiated lesson or task, students will:

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 Understand that (Concepts, principles, “big ideas”. Make sure your objectives are statements that
work in the form, Students will understand that…)

Students will understand that language has the power to include and exclude groups of people.
Students will understand that bias techniques can create innovative texts and persuade.

Know (e.g. facts, vocabulary, dates, Be able to (do) (Skills, processes)

information)
Explain and demonstrate how conventions are used to
Different bias techniques. E.g. source control, influence audience position.
statistics etc. Apply bias techniques to a text.
How to apply bias techniques. Select an appropriate format.
How to select effective vocabulary and Apply a variety of language features to create different
grammar to contribute to the persuasiveness of levels of meaning.
texts.
How to identify bias techniques.
Essential Questions (These should help students engage with the “big ideas” or understandings)

What might influence or contribute to a biased point of view?

How does bias influence understanding?

Lesson Plan
Time Lesson Sequence Explanatory notes
5 mins Brief recap on bias techniques. Questioning techniques accompanied by guided
- Use questioning and guided discovery to refresh learning over past 2 weeks.
discovery techniques Encourage students to deepen understanding and
restate importance of learning.

Unit has covered all of the relevant bias techniques

20
mins What is an R.A.F.T?
- Introduce students to R.A.F.T
summative assessment.
- Class time to go through PowerPoint
explaining each ‘Role’ in depth.
- Students to choose their Role and
Topic by end of lesson.
utilized by different media types to convey a message.
This content has built student knowledge and
understanding in order to apply their knowledge to the
summative assessment.
R.A.F.T (Role, Audience, Format and Topic)
(Tomlinson, 2003), is a useful tool for including
student interests and enabling them to facilitate their
own learning. Students choose their own way of
presenting, in this case a persuasive speech,
newspaper article, statement, reflection or visual or
audio recording. This will be the first experience with
an R.A.F.T for these students, so it is imperative that
they understand its purpose within this unit.

Students will need to carefully consider their R.A.F.T

selections. Students should be thinking about the best
way that their Role would ‘speak’ to the designated
Audience. For example, a lawyer would not write a

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10 Go over assessment task sheet and rubric
mins (Appendix 3).
- Explain the learning outcomes and
content descriptors related to this
assessment
- Clearly explain assessment criteria
and the purpose of this task
- Link requirements to rubric for
student understanding
- Brainstorm examples of R.A.F.T
options as a class
20 Allow students class time to research each
mins topic to determine one that best suits their
interests.
35 Whole class general questioning to gauge
mins how students are feeling about the task and
their progress.
- Thumbs up, middle, or down to
show how confident students are in
completing this task.
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newspaper article to the jury, they would construct a
persuasive speech.
A teacher directed PowerPoint will be used in the next
lesson to go through how to ‘do’ each format. Print
outs on how to ‘do’ each format will be accessible via
the school learning portal and distributed to students
in hard copy.
After this PowerPoint, students will be grouped
according to their chosen Format for group
conferencing with the teacher on how to best use this
format. Students will be grouped by format, rather
than topic, to avoid confusion between how their
biased argument should best be presented. Students
who are unsure of a format may sit in on a few
different conferences, or the teacher can help them to
choose one that suits their strengths, or they may ‘flip
a coin’ (Le Messurier, p. 68 2010)
Clearly explain all elements of the task sheet to ensure
students understand the expectations.
Students to highlight words in the rubric and make
sure students understand the vocabulary used. This
can be achieved by giving definitions and providing
synonyms for students to write on their rubric sheet to
clarify their understanding.
The teacher will be moving around the class providing
individual help to students to ensure they are on track
and check for understanding. Support will be given
through questioning to encourage deeper thinking
about the task. If encountering a number of similar
questions or problems from students, the teacher will
bring the class together to answer and explain in detail
to the group. If this does not ‘work’ the first time,
areas may need to be explained in a number of ways
to ensure all students have a good understanding.
Class discussion will give an indication of if and what
elements of the task students need more guidance
with. This discussion will inform the level of teacher
guidance required in the next lesson.
 These questions may include:
- How can you apply what you have
learned in the unit so far, to this
assignment?
- How are you finding this task so
far?
- Do you have any concerns about the
requirements of this task?

Exit Card (Appendix 5). Like the class

discussion, this will assist in determining
5 mins what needs to be clarified in the next lesson
for individuals or groups of students.
Exit cards will be used to determine the individual
understanding and progress of each student. They also
provide a space for students to ask questions that they
may not be comfortable sharing in the class
discussion. Response to these exit cards can be given
to students individually or to the whole class if it is
seen as benefiting most students. Students will of
course remain anonymous if their question is shared
with the class.

Explanation:
Provide 1-3 paragraphs to clearly explain how your assignment is an example of a differentiated
lesson or learning task designed to address student differences and what specific aspect/s of student
diversity you are aiming to address. This explanation should demonstrate your understanding of the
principles and application of differentiation, supported by the topic readings and materials.

This R.A.F.T assessment task is one example of a differentiated learning task. It was designed to develop
student understanding, for the curriculum area of English, of the underlying bias evident in all forms of
news media we encounter day to day. This assessment encourages students to facilitate their learning as
they link it to their interests and strengths. It aims to promote high-quality learning for all students
regardless of their diverse interests and strengths.

This R.A.F.T summative assessment task differentiates in a number of ways:

- Offers students opportunity to create a text in a number of formats to appeal to their strengths.
- Designed to appeal to diverse student interests.
- Guided conferencing with students on how to ‘do’ each format is provided as a further support.
- The summative assessment task sheet (Appendix 4) has been ‘chunked’ into six steps, both in
response to erratic attendance and to assist in the production of lengthier and better quality work
(Le Messurier, p. 68, 2010).

This assessment is primarily designed to address student interest. This was achieved by recording data
retrieved from the ‘Opinion Lines’ (Appendix 3) activity where students had to analyse and evaluate their
own and others opinions and feelings about a number of topics. The teacher recorded student responses to
these questions in a notebook next to the students’ names, specifically their views, engagement and
passion to determine their overall interest in the topics and in turn informing the topic selections made
available in the R.A.F.T. Furthermore, Wiggins and McTighe (2005) explain that understanding is best
acquired by ‘uncovering’ and ‘doing’ the subject. Students were able to uncover bias in their own

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opinions through the ‘Opinion Lines’ activity, as well as in the analysis and evaluation of a number of
news media texts.
Although this learning experience is focused on student interest, the R.A.F.T also allows students to work
with various modes of presentation and text production, which highlight their strengths (Burke, 1965). For
example, students who are visual learners may choose the option to create a video recording, whilst an
auditory learner may choose an audio recording or persuasive speech (Hattie & Yates, 2014). Having said
this, this R.A.F.T also considers the need for balance between building on student strengths, as well as
addressing their weaknesses (Jarvis, 2015); because whilst students are given a choice of format for
presenting, they are asked to consider a format appropriate to their selected role and audience, i.e. a
journalist with the audience of the general public, would not necessarily make a statement, but would
write a newspaper article.

An additional benefit of this summative assessment task differentiating to address differences in student
interests is that ‘students are likely to have developed a considerable background knowledge, including
vocabulary knowledge, through a range of prior experiences related to topics of interest,’ (Jarvis, p. 59,
2013). Therefore this task makes the most of student interests by inspiring engagement, positioning
students with the means for success and motivating them to succeed.

Moon (2005) states that there are three integral phases of instruction; ‘(a) planning instruction (the pre-
assessment phase); (b) guiding instruction (the ongoing or formative assessment phase); and (c) evaluating
instruction (the summative assessment phase),’ (p.228). This unit envelops all three phases as evidenced
in:
- The pre-assessment of student knowledge of bias techniques - Vocab Activity Sheet (Appendix 1)
- The formative assessment of checking for understanding of bias techniques – Sort the Bias
(Appendix 2)
- The formative assessment of checking for student readiness for the summative assessment –
Opinion Lines (Appendix 3)
- The pre-assessment of determining student interests – Opinion Lines (Appendix 3)
- The formative assessment of checking for student understanding – Exit Cards (Appendix 5)

This R.A.F.T was developed as a summative assessment because it allows all students to demonstrate their
mastery, knowledge and understanding of bias techniques, and is reflective of the key concept that
language has the power to include and exclude information and groups of people and the power to
persuade (Moon, p. 227, 2005). Data collected from the results of this R.A.F.T will give insight into the
effectiveness of the teaching of this unit.

References
Burke, K. (1965) Permanence and Change. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill

English. (2018). Australiancurriculum.edu.au. Retrieved 7 April 2018, from

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/english/

Hattie, J & Yates, G. (2014). 'Analysing your students’ style of learning', in Hattie, John & Yates,
Gregory, Visible learning and the science of how we learn, Routledge, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon , pp.
176-186.

Jarvis, J, (2013). 'Differentiating learning experiences for diverse students', in P, Hudson. (ed.), Learning
to teach in the primary school, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic., p. 59.

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Jarvis, J, (2015). 'Inclusive classrooms and differentiation', in Weatherby-Fell, Noelene (ed.), Learning to
teach in the secondary school, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 154-172.

Le Messurier, M. (2010). 'Inspiration to improve concentration and task completion', in Le Messurier,

Mark, Teaching tough kids: simple and proven strategies for student success, Routledge, London, pp. 57-
77.

Moon, T. R, (2005). 'The role of assessment in differentiation', Theory into Practice, vol. 44, no. 3, pp.
226-233.

Sousa, D. A, & Tomlinson, C. A, (2011). 'Differentiating in response to student readiness', in Sousa,

David A & Tomlinson, Carol A, Differentiation and the brain: how neuroscience supports the learner-
friendly classroom, Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, Ind, pp. 85-109.

Wiggins, G. P. & McTighe, J. (2005). ‘Crafting understandings’. In Wiggins, Grant P & McTighe, Jay,
Understanding by design, Expanded 2nd Edn, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development,
Alexandira, VA, p. 126-145.

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Vocab Activity Sheet (Appendix 1)

Year 9 English
Bias in the Media
Detecting Media Bias
Bias is present in all forms of media; on TV, in the newspaper and on social media. There are lots of bias
techniques used by these media to convey the message they want to get across. Using the clues given in
each box, have a go at filling the blanks below. Once you have filled in all that you can, share and
compare your answers with a friend to fill any blank spaces and clarify your answers.

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Bias Technique Definition Example

Bias through selection

and omission

Stories perceived as being more significant to the

publisher or audience are placed first on TV and radio
Bias through placement and have more screen time. Whereas others are played
later for a shorter time.

Bias by headline

Vs.
Bias through the use of
names and titles Labelling a person, place or event according to
opinion.

‘Barely 1,000 attended the event, making the

Bias through statistics arena look bare.’
and crowd counts Vs.
‘More than 900 fans flocked to the arena.’

Consider where the report is coming from. I.e. a

reporter, eyewitness, police or fire officials, victim,
Bias by source control lawyer, perpetrator, government officials etc. Each
supplier will have a different perspective and agenda.

Showing the same kind of bias frequently used in

headlines, the use of positive or negative words with a
particular connotation can strongly influence the
reader or viewer.

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Sort the Bias (Appendix 2)

Year 9 English
Bias in the Media
Sort the Bias
Draw a line connecting the examples on the right to the correct bias technique on the left.

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Opinion Lines questions (Appendix 3)

Using masking tape, make a line from one end of the classroom to the other. One end of the
masking tape is for ‘strongly agree’ and the other is for ‘strongly disagree’. Students are to stand
along the masking tape in a position that reflects their opinion on the below questions.

Ask students to justify why they have chosen their position and question if their opinion may be
biased in any way. Students are able to move as their opinion may be influenced by the
justifications given by their peers. Point out the power that bias has and that not all bias is
intentional.

Questions to determine student interests

Should performance enhancing drugs be accepted in sports?
Should young people respect their elders?
Are humans the reason for global climate change?
Is global warming an issue?
Does detention do any good in high schools?
Do celebrities get away with more crime than non-celebrities?
Is it justified to develop nuclear energy for commercial use?
Are humans to blame for certain animal extinctions?
Are alternative energy sources effective and justified?
Is drug testing athletes justified?
Is it appropriate for adolescents to be sentenced to life in prison? Life without parole?
Is it better to be honest and poor or dishonest and rich?
Are curfews effective in terms of keeping teens out of trouble?
Has nuclear energy destroyed society?
Should juveniles be tried and treated as adults?
Do video games make people more violent?
Should the government help the homeless?
Should the confiscation of homeless people’s belongings be allowed?
Should public camping be made illegal?
Should we give money to the homeless?

Extra Questions
Should guns be banned in America?
Is chocolate good or bad for you?
Should animals be used for scientific or commercial testing?
Should parents or other adults be able to ban books from schools and libraries?
Are mobile phones safe?
Should there be ratings for TV shows and movies?
Should churches remain tax-exempt?
Is a university education worth it?
Should corporal punishment be used in schools?
Should the death penalty be allowed?
Should the drinking age be lowered from 18 to a younger age, higher age or is it fine the way it
is?

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Summative Assessment (Appendix 4)
Year 9 English
Bias in the Media
R.A.F.T

Bias techniques are used constantly throughout different media platforms, however, they are often hidden.
Throughout this unit of work, you will be able to identify bias techniques in the media and produce your
own piece using bias techniques.
Success Criteria:

Using the R.A.F.T. provided, you will select a topic and format of production that most interests you.

You must:

1. Research evidence and opinions to help form the argument for your topic that you are going to
present.
2. From this research, determine your biased point of view.
3. Include the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where, why) within your introduction.
4. Utilize a minimum of 3 bias techniques within your work.
5. Your piece should be at least 300 words or equivalent.
6. Proof read your work to ensure grammar and punctuation is accurate.

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 Use the R.A.F.T below to produce your own biased text:

1. Select the role and audience and topic that is of most interest to you.
2. Select the format that you would like to present your information.
3. Access the power point for more information on each role, format and topic.

Role Audience
Journalist Public/community
Eyewitness Detective
Lawyer Jury
Victim Judge
News Anchor Public/community
Radio Announcer Public/community

Format Topic

Newspaper article Elderly lady is robbed by a homeless teenager.

Statement

Persuasive speech Nuclear waste dumping in SA.

Reflection
Fitness trainers administering local anaesthetic for
Video recording players to continue.

Audio recording Children and young people being forced to show

affection by hugs and kisses goodbye.

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 A B C Not Yet Achievement
Standard from
ACARA

Understand how
A very high level A strong ability to Satisfactory ability A limited level of to use a variety
of competency in use language features to use language competency in using of language
using language to create engaging features to create a language features to features to
features to create texts. text in the selected create a text in the create different
innovative texts. format. selected format. levels of
meaning.

In creating texts,
A deliberate use A range of bias Evidence of some Limited ability to students
of a wide range of techniques used for bias techniques used create effect using demonstrate how
bias techniques to effect. to create some effect. basic bias techniques. manipulating
create effect. language
features and
images can
create
innovative texts.

Precise use of Accurate use of Mostly accurate use Limited accuracy Students edit for
grammar, grammar, punctuation of grammar, with the use of effect, selecting
punctuation and and spelling. punctuation and grammar, punctuation vocabulary and
spelling. spelling. and spelling. grammar that
contribute to the
Precise and Controlled and precision and
purposeful use of purposeful use of Purposeful use of Limited use of varied persuasiveness
varied sentence varied sentence varied sentence sentence structures to of texts using
structures to structures to achieve structures to achieve achieve effects. accurate spelling
achieve effects. effects. effects. and punctuation.

Strengths:

Opportunities for Development:

Overall mark:

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Exit Card (Appendix 5)

Name: Date:
Lesson focus:

Are you feeling confident, unsure, anxious (circle one) about the content covered in today’s lesson?

Why have you chosen the specific role, audience, format and topic?

Is there anything you would like help with/clarification on in future lessons?

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