Lesson+2+of+10

For students to be able to identify and describe the structure and function of a Koala and the ways in which a Koala interacts with other living things and its environment || The focus of this lesson is for students to explore how an information text is written with a focus on the social purpose, text structure and the key grammatical features (BOS, Droga & Humphrey, 2003, p. 135). In this lesson students will work towards deconstructing a written information text, and hence the main objective here will be to develop students’ understandings of the purpose, structure and language features of the information report genre. || **Science & Technology ** **LT S2.3** Identifies and describes the structure and function of living things and ways in which living things interact with other living things and their environment. · Identify and describe the habitat of a Koala  · Identify and describe the appearance of a Koala   · Identify and describe the diet of a Koala   · Identify and describe the life cycle of a Koala **English ** **RS2.7** Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes. · Students recognise and describe the purpose of an information report **RS2.8 ** Discusses the text structure of a range of text types and the grammatical features that are characteristic of those text types. · Enable students to select reading material relating to the purpose and topic, e.g. an information report on koalas **WS2.9 **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> Drafts, revises, proofreads and publishes well structured texts that are more demanding in terms of topic, audience and written language features. · <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Uses other texts as models for aspects of writing such as text organization, grouping of information under headings || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">- IWB or computers <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">- A full version of an Information Report on Spiders (NSW Dep. Of Schools Education, 1992, p. 64) (**main resource 1**). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">- Exploring Information Report Worksheet’ (Collis, K. 2005, p. 50) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">- 5-6 Envelopes that contain the cut pieces of an ‘Information Report: Spiders’ (NSW Dep. Of Schools Education, 1992, p. 64) + the ‘//Headings’// (Appearance, Diet, Habitat, Movement, Reproduction) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">- Writing Fun: Information Report [] by Eather, J. (2004) (**main resource 2**) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">- Summary Table (Collis, K. 2005, p. 9) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">- Information report on Red Kangaroo - [] by [|Word Design Interactive] (n.d)  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">- ‘Writing Frame for an Information Report’ (Collis, k. 2005, p. 63) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Highlighters, markers, pens, pencils & erasers || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- To start the lesson, the teacher discusses with students about what they had learnt in the previous lesson. Teacher mentions to students that in the previous lesson they had looked at what a factual text was and in particular they had read an information article from a website about koalas. Therefore the focus of this lesson will be on how to write an information report about koalas. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Therefore since students have looked at reading an information report about koalas, it is necessary for them to understand how to construct one. Hence as an introductory lesson and linking to the previous lesson, teacher provide students a copy of an “//Information Report about Spiders//” (Appendix A: 1). This information report is written by a stage 2 student and hence it is a good model to use for students. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- The teacher will provide students with Appendix A:1 (headings and paragraphs).The students work together in small groups to identify which paragraphs go under which heading (e.g. Habitat, Diet, Appearance, Movement and Reproduction). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Once this activity is completed, have a class discussion on how they went about classifying these paragraphs under the particular headings. Ask questions as to //why did you place the heading ‘Appearance’ with that particular paragraph? What information was given to you that made you place this paragraph under that heading? etc// || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Work in small groups to read and analyse the ‘Information Report on Spiders’. They will use the ‘//Exploring Information Report//’ to write down all the things they notice after reading this information report, for e.g. after reading the written text, students discuss and write down //‘What did the author want to do?’, ‘Who did the author think would read the information report?’ ‘How is the information report organised?’ ‘What kind of words are used?’ ‘Any other features?’// <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- After writing down what they have noticed, students will have a whole class discussion as to what an information report is. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Students listen to the teacher, while she/he is explaining what an information report is. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Students are encouraged to answer questions as to what they think the purpose of an information report is (for e.g. information reports are used to present information about something).
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Unit Topic: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Koala: A Native Australian Animal unit |||| **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Curriculum Link: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Science and Technology  || **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Stage/Yr Level: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Stage 2 Year 4  ||
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Lesson Number: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">2/10 |||| **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Lesson Topic: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Written Grammar  || **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Learning Area(s): **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">English and Science and Technology  ||
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Unit Aim: **
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Lesson Focus: **
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Lesson Outcome: **
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Resources: **
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Lesson Outline ** ||
 * __<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Introduction: __
 * **__<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Teaching strategy/Learning __****<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">__Activity:__ ** ||
 * <span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Students will ……

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Students observe the interactive website on the IWB. Students listen to the teacher as she/he explains how the website works

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Students can come up the front and point out to some of the features that they see in an information report. They can discuss some of the structural features included in an information report and relate it to the previous modelled activity that they were doing.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Each student receives a ‘Summary Table’ (Appendix A: 3) as a reference that includes the structure and features involved in an information report.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Students observe how the teacher annotates the text model of the ‘Information Report on Spiders’.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Students listen to the key structural and grammatical features that are being annotated and pointed out.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Students work in small groups to identify and discuss: <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- the structure of the report  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- use of bold print, headings  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- type of words that start the sentences  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- linking and binding conjunctions  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- types of verbs used  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- whether facts or opinions included  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- tense  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- some spelling patterns  <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- use of diagrams, labels, tables, graphs.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Students would highlight the identified features and make note of certain structural features. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Students complete their ‘Writing Frame for an Information Report’ (Appendix A: 5) |||| <span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Teacher will… <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Put up the full version of the modelled writing (//Information Report: Spiders//) on the IWB or overhead projector. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Mention to students that they are going to look more closely at this written text, and in small groups they are going to work together to identify the features. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Provide students the ‘//Exploring Information Report//’ worksheet (Appendix A: 2) to which they work together in small groups to analyse the text. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher may need to go over the questions in the worksheet that students will answer. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- After providing some time for students to complete the worksheet, as a whole class, discuss some of the features included in this information report.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher then moves onto explaining what an information report is and asks students what they think the purpose of it might be (i.e. ‘information reports are used to give generalised information about entire class of things, e.g. snakes, computers, rocks, plants, and so on) (Droga & Humphrey, 2003, p. 135; BOS NSW, 1998, p. 223). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher mentions to students ‘//let’s have a good look at what an information report really looks like’.// Teacher then opens up the ‘Writing Fun’ website [] on the IWB or on a computer. This interactive writing help site explains thoroughly how an information report looks like <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;"> (also uses text organizers to assist students in the learning process). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher clicks ‘Enter’ and the interactive website opens up. On the right-hand side, there is a range of text-types, once clicked on, the text organizer loads. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher clicks the ‘Information Report’ heading, and it will load to what an information report is ([]). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher can ask students what they see in an information report; students can come up to the front and point to the features. The teacher would then use the embedded example of the 'Humpback Whale' to point out to the structural and key features of an information report and hence explains this to the students. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher should also explain to students that information reports are usually organised to include, “a **general statement** identifying an subject of the information report, perhaps defining and classifying it and a **description** – (‘bundles’ of information relating to, for e.g. appearance, behaviour, etc) (BOS NSW, 1998, p. 223). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Teacher should point this out by turning on the 'Organizer' on the 'Writing Fun' website to demonstrate how the 'Humpback Whale' can be categorised and organised according to how an information report looks like, i.e. with the introduction (definition or classification of the subject), description (important facts about the subject) and conclusion (summary and comment - optional). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher refers back to the spider information report that was used earlier in the lesson. The teacher annotates the text model using highlighters and markers. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Before annotating the text, provide each student a ‘//Summary Table//’ (Appendix A: 3) of an Information Report, and this can be used as a reference to the structure and features of the text type that is being explained. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- As students had already analysed this spider written text in their ‘//Exploring Information Report//’ worksheet and given the new information they have gained about information reports, they can as a whole class discuss the features while it is being annotated. For e.g. the teacher can point to how the report contains a ‘general statement’ that identifies and classifies the subject of the information report (i.e. //Spiders are invertebrates. Spiders belong to the family Arachnids//...). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- This can be further moved on to the language features, for example the use of passive voice, general nouns, technical language (i.e. //spinnerets, camouflage//, etc); and the use of quantity, factual and classifying adjectives to build description in expanded noun groups (e.g. **//some//** //large spiders...//). Also teacher should point to other key grammatical features such as relating verbs (//spiders **are** invertebrates//...), simple present tense, the repeated naming of the topic as the theme and as well as the use of paragraphs with topic sentences to organise bundles of information (Droga & Humphrey, 2003, p. 135; BOS NSW, 1998, p. 223). Teacher engages students in further deconstruction of an information report. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher divides students in small groups (4-5), and provides each student a copy of an Information Report on Red Kangaroos (Appendix A: 4). Students work in groups to discuss the purpose and audience for the text and they would further identify and discuss the structural features. This deconstruction will further develop students’ understandings of the purpose, structure and language features of the information report genre. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- When students have worked in small groups and have highlighted the identified features, they will complete the ‘Writing Frame for an Information Report’ worksheet in Appendix A:5 This would //help students understand how to structure their information report.// <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- A whole-class discussion would then take place, once all students have finished. Discuss with students as to what they have identified. What did they include in their //Opening// and in their //Finishing-off sentence//? How did they structure their paragraph frames? etc || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- In pairs, students play a ‘Matching Activity’, whereby they match sections of an information report to headings (Appendix A:6 ). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- This activity will lead students onto the next lesson whereby they will research information about Koalas. This activity will help students understand the structural features of an information report, and what they need to look for when researching information about their koalas. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- In the next lesson, students will be doing a joint construction of an information report, followed by an independent construction on Koala. || **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Observation: ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher systematically observes students throughout the lesson <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher observes how students work together and complete their group work **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Questioning: ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Teacher asks a number of questions and notes which students were successfully able to answer questions accurately **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Task: Worksheet ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Student’s completed work on the ‘Exploring Information Worksheet’ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Student’s completed work on the ‘Writing Frame for an Information’  || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Did the students enjoy and engage with the activities in the lesson? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Were the time frames accurate? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Were there any areas of the lesson the students struggled with? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- What area/s could be modified to improve the lesson? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">- Did the lesson meet the learning abilities of the students? ||
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Concluding strategy: **
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Concluding strategy: **
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Assessment: **
 * **<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Self-reflection **

= References  = <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Board of Studies. (2006). //English K-6 Syllabus//. Sydney: Author. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Board of Studies (1998). //English K-6 Modules//. Sydney: Author. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Collis, K. (2005). //All you need to teach nonfiction text types ages 8-10: Discover, explore and write nonfiction//. South Yarra: Macmillan Education Australia <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Droga, L. & Humphrey, S. (2005). //Grammar and Meaning: An Introduction for Primary Teachers//. Berry, NSW: Target Texts. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Eather, J. (2004). //Writing Fun by Jenny Eather: Text organizer - Information report//. Retrieved on T hursday, 16th of September 2010 from [] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">New Arrivals Program. (n.d.). //Australian animals: Developing an information report//. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">Retrieved on T <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">hursday, 16th of September 2010 from [] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">NSW Department Of Schools Education. (1992).//The Action Pack: Animals//. Metropolitan East Disadvantage Schools Program. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt;">[|Word Design Interactive]. (n.d). //Animals, myths & legends: Red Kangaroo//. Retrieved on T hursday, 16th of September 2010 from []