Year 9 English Unit Outline

 

Thursday’s Child, Year 9 English Unit Outline – Unit Theme: Land and Landscape

Students are expected to have read the text before this unit has begun and all reading during this unit is designed to be a second reading.  However, taking into account a wide range of literacy levels within the class, those students who have not yet read or finished reading the text will not be immediately disadvantaged (most of the unit is based on the cover/blurb and short, isolated extracts from the text).

Lesson	Topic/Focus	Stage of Learning and Teaching Cycle	Lesson Objectives/Assessment	Learning Activities
Lessons 1 and 2	Introduction to novel Setting up expectations about the text based on the book cover.	Engagement – Building Knowledge	-          Students will form a response to the text based on imagery. -          Students will participate in class discussion.	-          Examination of image on front cover. -          Reading aloud of blurb. -          Study another image of barren land. -          Class discussion. -          Students write piece based on these images and information from blurb describing how/if this information relates to the text.
Lessons 3, 4 and 5	Analysis of descriptive language.	Building Knowledge	-          Students understand the conventions of descriptive language. -          Students work effectively in groups -          Students are able to transform information from the text into a map.	-          Look at extracts from text that describe differing landscapes, e.g., Chapter 7 p. 68, esp. changes across the seasons/weather. -          In groups students are given a chapter of the book to read and to identify passages relating to the land.  How do these descriptive words shape the narrative? -          Students map the landscape based on the descriptions in the text.
Lessons 6 and 7	Identifying how the concepts relating to the  ‘land’ are used as metaphor.	Transformation	-          Students understand the term ‘metaphor’. -          Students show knowledge of text through detailed analysis of metaphors. -          Students will display initiative and work independently.	-          Discussion re: defining metaphor (students should already have covered this). -          Analysis of how metaphor is used in the text. -          Students research and find their own images of land and write a creative piece based on this image using metaphor and descriptive language.
Lesson 8	Summative evaluation of what we have learnt.	Reflection	-          Students reflect upon what they have learnt. -          Students form a written response to the text.	-          Students return to original written piece from lessons 1 and 2 and evaluate if and how their view(s) have since changed.  -          Students write a paragraph describing how the image on the front cover of the book relates to the text, in view of what they have learnt during the unit.