Area of Study (ADV + STD): Going It Alone The Black Balloon
AIS ENGLISH CONFERENCE 2012
WORKSHOP – PRELIMINARY ENGLISH – AN AREA OF STUDY: GOING IT ALONE (SET TEXT: THE BLACK BALLOON
PRESENTER: KIM ELITH – HEAD OF ENGLISH,
ST IGNATIUS’ COLLEGE, RIVERVIEW
DURATION: 7 weeks
UNIT: Area of Study – GOING IT ALONE (The Black Balloon)
ENGLISH PROGRAM
2012
RATIONALE:
The Area of Study, ‘Going it Alone’, will afford students the opportunity to broaden their understanding of themselves and the world (context). Students will explore, question, analyse and evaluate the significance of ‘going it alone’ as represented in a variety of texts. They will develop the relevant skills and language to engage in detailed analysis of texts. Students will engage in a close study of the prescribed text and respond to a range of related texts of their choosing, making connections between texts and concept (experience). They will take into account the way identity, barriers and relationships may influence ‘going it alone’. They will consider the catalyst for this process within each text, and explore the potential for ‘going it alone’ to be an empowering and/or isolating experience. Students will compose a range of creative texts that demonstrate their ability to interpret the concept for a variety of audiences and purposes.They will compose critical texts that synthesise aspects of a variety of texts, presenting coherently integrated interpretations and representations of the concept (action and evaluation). They will reflect on the development of their own understanding of the concept, ‘going It alone’ (reflection).
ASSESSMENT TASK: Paper 1 Sections I and II DATE: Term 1 Week 4 (weight 25%)Paper 1 Section IlI Exam Block (Term 2 Weeks 2 – 3) (weight 15%) / TASK WEIGHT
Outcomes Assessed: 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13 / 40%
Students will complete a timed task in the style of Section 1 of the AOS paper (Section I, T1, Wk 4). Additionally, students will complete a timed writing taskexploring the concept ‘going it alone’ (Section II – T1, Wk 4) and a final extended response integrating their prescribed text and related material through a conceptual and analytical discussion (Section III) (Exam Block Term 2).
AREA OF STUDY: GOING IT ALONE
PRESCRIBED TEXT:Elissa Down’s The Black Balloon
Teaching Resources / Possible Related Texts- Research:
- Special Features – The Black Balloon – personal context
- Film student’s blogspot – making of The Black Balloon
- Yale University Website
- Department handouts – see Ignition
- Like a Fish Out of Water – Mental Illness Brochure – creative writing stimulus
- Ignatian Children’s Camp
- Andrew Denton – interview with Joe Simpson
- Feature article on Matt Rogers and his autistic Son
- Australian Story – Ian Rogerson (father of an autistic child who attended Riverview)
- Guest Speakers – school counselors or learning support teachers
- Podcast: Richard Fidler interviewing Cathrine Ann, exploring her biography Beautiful Buttons
- John Donne’s No Man is an Island Meditation xvii - - AIS in-service
- Related material on Quantum in the student resource book:
* Poetry - The Road Not Taken, Frost
* Visual – Loser, Leunig
* Interview: Four Corners – Ngaire Thomas Interview
* Feature Article – Seaworthy Roger Trowbridge
* Short Story –Through the Tunnel, Doris Lessing
* Speech – An ideal for which I am prepared to die, Mandela /
- The Scream, Munch; Nighthawks, Edward Hopper
- Images of Tiananmen Square
- Automat – Edward Hopper (artwork)
- Shaun Tan - The Red Tree / The Lost Thing
- Robert Frost’s – Stopping by Woods
- The Lovesong of J.AlfredPrufrock – T.S.Eliot
- The Passionate Poet and the Muse/ The Passionate Poet and the Moon Rosemary Dobson
- Robert Cormier – FADE (chapter extract) The Chocolate War
- Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut Jr (short story)
- Tim Winton – The Riders + The Turning
- Joe Simpson – autobiography
- Movie – Going Solo (Joe Simpson)
- Into Great Silence – documentary
- Be My Brother 2009 Tropfest Winner
- Mankind is no IslandTropfest NY 2008 Winner
- He Leadeth Me – Fr Walter Cizek (Jesuit in Russia – Chapter Extract
- Frieda Kahlo - artist biography + images
- Hemingway The Old Man and the Sea
- Beneath Clouds
- Mary and Max
- HarvieKrumpet
- Persepolis – graphic novel
- He Died with A Falafel in His Hand, John Birmingham
- Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
- Norwegian Wood – HarukiMurakami
- The Door – MiroslavHolub
- Rain Man
AREA OF STUDY:GOING IT ALONE
PRESCRIBED TEXT:Elissa Down’s The Black Balloon
OUTCOMES / CONTENT / TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIESA student:
2. Describes and explains relationships among texts / Students learn to:
2.1 identify and describe similarities in and differences between texts
2.2 identify and describe the connections between texts
2.3 identify and describe the ways in which particular texts are influenced by other texts and contexts / Introduce the concept of ‘Going It Alone’ in whole class discussion, using contemporary examples from students’ own experience
Use online response tool, to pre-assess students’ conceptual understanding of the area of study and to explore personal experience of ”going it alone”
Suggested act and scene analysis of prescribed text:
Chapter 5MONKEY EARS AND WHITE MICE
Chapter 9 INSIGHT [Rain Scene] (revelation about balancing individual identity with
belonging to a family)
Chapter 12 DISASTER DINNER
Chapter 13 LOVE AND FORGIVENESS
Journal Reflections and short answers/responses to texts
Discussion and selection of material that demonstrates intellectual / emotional / spiritual aspects of ‘Going It Alone’ and the relationship between identity and individualism
In groups, explore the THREE broad elements of “Going it Alone” – define how these are relevant to concept and share a personal anecdote relevant to ONE of the elements
3. Develops language relevant to the study of English / 3.1 employ appropriate terminology
3.2 use language to make connections, question, affirm, challenge, speculate and generalise about texts
3.3 use the language of critical expression / Glossary / Vocabulary for ‘Going It Alone’ - mind mapping using Inspiration software (See handout #1)
Class discussion – ‘Have you ever been on your own?’
Discussion regarding day boys versus boarders and the notion of ‘Going It Alone’ and life in farming communities
Discussion of the ambivalence of ‘Going It Alone’
Use the application Inspiration to generate insight into concept (N.B this needs to be loaded onto each laptop. Go to Applications, Self-Service, then click on Inspiration)
Personal reflections on issues / concepts / events in the prescribed texts
Journal entries as specific characters reflecting on aspects of ‘Going it Alone’ and its antonyms and synonyms
A student:
5. Demonstrates an understanding of the ways various textual forms, technologies and their media of production affect meaning / Students learn to:
5.1describe the effects of different textual forms, technologies and media of production on the language and structure of particular texts
5.2describe the effects of different textual forms, technologies and media of production on meaning in personal, social, historical, cultural and workplace contexts
5.3compose a variety of texts using a range of textual forms, technologies and media of production
5.4 reflect on the effects of a change in
textual form, technology and medium
of production through their own
composing / Summaries of major thematic issues linked to ‘Going It Alone’ for each act and scene of “The Black Balloon”
Class wiki – use Discussion Forum to respond to key questions about the ideas explored in aspects of the film
Title analysis
Film analysis and deconstruction. Specific questions on scenes / characters / setting
Letters to the editor or feature article, giving opinions on issues found in newspaper articles / journals etc.
Film vocabulary worksheet (See handout # 2)
Film cliché worksheet (See handout # 3)
Film elements worksheet (See handout # 4)
Exploration of the blogspotThe Black Balloon Diary to generate discussion of film construction
Add a personal story to the ‘Like a Fish Out of Water’ anthology (Department Copy)
6. Engages with a wide range of texts to develop a considered and informed personal response / 6.1 engage with a wide range of texts in personal, historical, social, cultural and workplace contexts
6.2 relate responses to aspects of human experience
6.3 compose personal responses to texts and consider the responses of others
6.4 discuss and reflect on the wider issues arising from their engagement with texts / Character Profiles : Tom / Jackie / Charlie
View and respond to Temple Grandin on TED.com - class discussion about difference
Character Mapping
Podcast / DVD of Andrew Denton Interviews (check library resources)
Interactive website to generate empathy for those experiencing difficulties as a result of Going it Alone
Group and class discussions of related material; both visual and written representations
Text Types: (See Related Material Booklet on Quantum)
Poetry – Robert Frost: ‘The Road Not Taken’
Speech – Nelson Mandela: ‘An ideal for which I am prepared to die
Interview – Four Corners – Ngaire Thomas Interview
Feature article – Roger Trowbridge’s Seaworthy?
Short story – Through the Tunnel, Doris Lessing
Visual – Loser, Leunig
Website –
9. Assesses the appropriateness of a range of processes and technologies in the investigation and organisation of information and ideas / 9.2 use individual and collaborative processes to generate, clarify, organise and present ideas / Viewing of videos / documentaries / films / current affairs dealing with ‘Going It Alone’: historical, foreign/cultural &/or contemporary/topical
Modeling of Section I type responses
Scene deconstruction, ascertaining effectiveness and relevance - Group task on allocated scene – students are required to explore a given idea within the scene and find ways in which film devices have shaped this idea. Present a Keynote to the class using stills from the scene to illustrate.
Group presentation of related materials and techniques used to represent ideas: PowerPoint/audio/visual composition/
Students store documentation of related material in an e-portfolio using Mahara,
10. Analyses and synthesises information and ideas from a range of texts for a variety of purposes audiences and contexts. / 10.2 make connections between information and ideas and synthesise these in a range of texts
10.3 develop and present information and ideas in a range of texts and in analytic, expressive and imaginative ways / Integrated response scaffolds/modelling and practice
Integrated response to texts in essay or feature article or other type of extended response using prescribed, stimulus and various related texts of the students’ own choosing (two at least)
11. Draws upon the imagination to transform experience into text / 11.1 make connections between life experience and imagined experience
11.2 experiment with ways of transforming experience into imaginative texts in different contexts for specified audiences
11.3 recreate texts into new texts by changing perspective and context / Timed Piece of creative writing
Visual representations / posters to accompany their stories/
Joint construction of a narrative. Have Student A compose the first half of a short story showcasing the benefits/disadvantages of Going it Alone; Student B then completes the narrative highlighting the alternate perspective. Use Google Docs or a class wiki
Creation of a radio or TV transcript for Interview
Comic Life software program – create your own comic strip
Presentation of interviews
Feature article consolidating personal experience and prescribed and related
material
13. Reflects on own processes of learning / 13.2 articulate and monitor own understanding
13.3 compare their learning processes with those of others
13.5 reflect on the influence of their expanding knowledge and skills on their own learning / Class and group discussion focusing on the process of collating and selecting material for presentations and for extended responses
Wiki discussion forum questions reflecting on connections between prescribed texts and related material and their own process in selecting relevant related material on the concept of ‘Going It Alone’
REGISTER
(Please complete at end of unit)
Checklist:
Teaching and Learning Activities/Tasks / Date Completed(insert activities here)
Student Work Samples / Attached (circle)
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Additional Resources and Activities used:
EVALUATION OF UNIT (addressing aspects of Ignatian Pedagogy):Signed: / Date:
Signature of HOF / AHOF: Date: