What is this sequence about?
This learning sequence aims to develop reading comprehension skills while exploring narrative texts and features. Students will examine the choices authors make and the techniques they use to create meaning for the reader and to achieve a particular purpose.
The sequence provides opportunities for students to use inference and to examine setting, plot, characterisation and theme. Students will become familiar with the way authors intentionally use narrative structures and language features before experimenting with these techniques in their own writing.
Barry Jonsberg’s novel, My Life as an Alphabet, is used as a mentor text throughout this sequence. It is recommended that teachers read this novel before introducing it to students. The story is narrated by twelve-year-old Candice, and while it is humorous, it also deals with the death of her baby sister and the impact that the resultant grief had on her family. Teachers could also choose an alternative text and modify the suggested activities accordingly.
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Big understandings Stories can help us understand ourselves, each other and the world. Developing an understanding of how language works allows us to communicate our ideas with creativity and purpose. |
The sequence has been written by teachers for teachers. It has been designed to provide students with rich, engaging learning experiences that address the Victorian Curriculum. The sequence consists of five flexible stages, including suggested learning intentions.
Overview of stages
1. Examining Narrative Orientations
Suggested Learning Intentions
- To explain how the orientation of a story initiates the mood and invites the reader’s interest
- To identify the central characters of a story and describe their key characteristics
3. Examining Characterisation
Suggested Learning Intentions
- To identify literary techniques to develop characterisation
- To experiment with those techniques to develop a believable character
5. Observing and Experimenting with Authors' Techniques
Suggested Learning Intentions
- To identify techniques authors use to engage the reader
- To experiment with writing techniques and styles used by authors
2. A Closer Look at Setting and Context
Suggested Learning Intentions
- To examine the setting and historical, social and cultural contexts in narrative texts
- To monitor understanding by questioning and inferring
4. Examining Plot and Theme
Suggested Learning Intentions
- To analyse the language features and text structures in narrative text
- To identify the themes and points of view presented in a narrative text
Prior knowledge
Before you commence this sequence, it is suggested that you ensure your students are familiar with the basic narrative plot structure of introduction or exposition, rising action leading to a complication or problem and falling action leading to a resolution.
Students should also have read and discussed a variety of narrative texts. They should be able to discuss character actions and traits, plot events and general themes from their reading. Ideally the students would have developed independent reading skills and are beginning to carefully select texts that appeal to their reading interests.
Teaching strategies
The Literacy Teaching Toolkit provides advice on the teaching strategies that you could use in this sequence. These strategies include:
- Modelled reading
- Shared Reading
- Modelling through think alouds
- Close reading
- Guided reading
- Modelled writing
- Shared writing
The sequence highlights opportunities to apply the High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS), which are a component of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model.
Vocabulary
Students should be able to understand and use the following concepts and terms by the end of the learning sequence:
| Orientation | Setting |
| Climax | Mood |
| Resolution and coda | Theme |
| Characterisation | Context (historical, social and cultural) |
| Plot | Idiom |
You can find definitions of some of these terms in the Literacy Teaching Toolkit and the Glossary for the English Curriculum.
Assessment
Opportunities for formative and summative assessment are identified at different stages of the learning sequence, usually under ‘Review’.
You may want to develop a rubric to assess students’ progress. A range of Formative Assessment resources are available from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. This includes a Guide to Formative Assessment Rubrics, a series of modules to support you to develop your own formative assessment rubrics, and sample rubrics across six curriculum areas that demonstrate how you can put formative assessment rubrics into practice in the classroom.
In developing a rubric, you may wish to co-construct assessment criteria with your students. Each stage of the sequence provides sample success criteria for students working at Level Five.
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority has published work samples that provide teachers with examples of student learning achievement in each mode of the English curriculum: Reading and Viewing, Writing, Speaking and Listening.
Victorian Curriculum connections
Level 4
This sequence addresses content from the Victorian English Curriculum. It is primarily designed for Level 5, but also addresses the following content descriptions from Level 4:
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Content description |
Stage |
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English: Reading and Viewing |
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Identify features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text, and understand how texts vary in complexity and technicality depending on the approach to the topic, the purpose and the intended audience (VCELA277) |
Examining Plot and Theme |
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Make connections between the ways different authors may represent similar storylines, ideas and relationships (VCELT282) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features of literary texts (VCELT283) |
Examining Narrative Orientation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Discuss how authors and illustrators make stories exciting, moving and absorbing and hold readers’ interest by using various techniques (VCELT284) |
Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Read different types of texts for specific purposes by combining phonic, semantic, contextual and grammatical knowledge using text processing strategies, including monitoring meaning, skimming, scanning and reviewing (VCELY287) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning to expand content knowledge, integrating and linking ideas and analysing and evaluating texts (VCELY288) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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English: Writing |
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Recognise how quotation marks are used in texts to signal dialogue, titles and quoted (direct) speech (VCELA291) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Create literary texts by developing storylines, characters and settings (VCELT297) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts containing key information and supporting details for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over text structures and language features (VCELY299) |
Examining Narrative Orientation Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Reread and edit for meaning by adding, deleting or moving words or word groups to improve content and structure (VCELY300) |
Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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English: Speaking and Listening |
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Discuss literary experiences with others, sharing responses and expressing a point of view (VCELT306) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations incorporating learned content and taking into account the particular audiences and purposes such as informative, persuasive and imaginative, including multimodal elements (VCELY308) |
Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
The sequence can be used to assess student achievement in relation to the following Achievement Standards from the Victorian Curriculum: English: Level 4:
- Students understand that texts have different structures depending on the purpose and context
- Students explain how language features, images and vocabulary are used to engage the interest of audiences and can describe literal and implied meaning connecting ideas in different texts
- Students use language features to create coherence and add detail to their texts
- Students create texts that show understanding of how detail can be used to extend key ideas
- Students make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, varying language according to context.
Level 5
This sequence addresses content from the Victorian Curriculum in English. It is primarily designed for Level 5 and addresses the following content descriptions:
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Content description |
Stage |
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English: Reading and Viewing |
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Understand how texts vary in purpose, structure and topic as well as the degree of formality (VCELA309) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Identify aspects of literary texts that convey details or information about particular social, cultural and historical contexts (VCELT313) |
A Closer Look at Setting and Context |
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Use metalanguage to describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features on particular audiences (VCELT314) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Recognise that ideas in literary texts can be conveyed from different viewpoints, which can lead to different kinds of interpretations and responses (VCELT315) |
Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Show how ideas and points of view in texts are conveyed through the use of vocabulary, including idiomatic expressions, objective and subjective language, and that these can change according to context (VCELY317) |
Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Navigate and read imaginative, informative and persuasive texts by interpreting structural features, including tables of content, glossaries, chapters, headings and subheadings and applying appropriate text processing strategies, including monitoring meaning, skimming and scanning (VCELY318) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Analyse the text structures and language features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text (VCELY320) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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English: Writing |
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Create literary texts that experiment with structures, ideas and stylistic features of selected authors (VCELT327) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (VCELY329) |
Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Reread and edit own and others’ work using agreed criteria for text structures and language features (VCELY330) |
Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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English: Speaking and Listening |
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Present a point of view about particular literary texts using appropriate metalanguage, and reflecting on the viewpoints of others (VCELT336) |
Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Participate in informal debates and plan, rehearse and deliver presentations for defined audiences and purposes incorporating accurate and sequenced content and multimodal elements (VCELY338) |
Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
The sequence can be used to assess student achievement in relation to the following Achievement Standards from the Victorian Curriculum: English: Level 5:
- Students understand how language features, images and vocabulary influence interpretations of characters, settings and events.
- Students analyse and explain literal and implied information from a variety of texts.
- Students describe how events, characters and settings in texts are depicted and explain their own responses to them.
- Students use language features to show how ideas can be extended.
- Students create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts for different purposes and audiences.
Level 6
This sequence addresses content from the Victorian Curriculum in English. It is primarily designed for Level 5, but also addresses the following content descriptions from Level 6:
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Content description |
Stage |
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English: Reading and Viewing |
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Understand how authors often innovate on text structures and play with language features to achieve particular aesthetic, humorous and persuasive purposes and effects (VCELA339) |
Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Identify and explain how choices in language, including modality, emphasis, repetition and metaphor, influence personal response to different texts (VCELT342) |
Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Identify, describe, and discuss similarities and differences between texts, including those by the same author or illustrator, and evaluate characteristics that define an author’s individual style (VCELT343) |
Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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Analyse strategies authors use to influence readers (VCELY345) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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English: Writing |
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Experiment with text structures and language features and their effects in creating literary texts (VCELT355) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation Examining Plot and Theme Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
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English: Speaking and Listening |
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Make connections between own experiences and those of characters and events represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts (VCELT365) |
Examining Narrative Orientation A Closer Look at Setting and Context Examining Characterisation |
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Participate in formal and informal debates and plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements for defined audiences and purposes, making appropriate choices for modality and emphasis (VCELY367) |
Observing and Experimenting with Authors’ Techniques |
The sequence can be used to assess student achievement in relation to the following Achievement Standards from the Victorian Curriculum: English Level 6:
- Students understand how the use of text structures can achieve particular effects.
- Students can analyse and explain how language features, images and vocabulary are used by different authors to represent ideas, characters and events.
- Students understand how language features and language patterns can be used for emphasis.
- Students provide feedback on the work of their peers and can make and explain editorial choices based on agreed criteria.
- Students create detailed texts, elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences.
Learning Progressions
The Literacy Learning Progressions support teachers to develop a comprehensive view of how literacy develops over time. You can use the Literacy Learning Progressions to:
- identify the literacy capability of your students
- plan targeted teaching strategies, especially for students achieving above or below the age-equivalent expected level in the Victorian Curriculum: English
- provide targeted feedback to students about their learning within and across the progressions.
The Literacy Learning Progressions have been mapped against the Victorian Curriculum F – 10: English. Teachers are advised to familiarise themselves with this map to understand how particular progression relate to the Reading and Viewing, Writing and Speaking and Listening modes and particular curriculum levels in English.