EDU403 – Children’s Literature and Literacy

Storyboard of a Unit of Work

‘Stellaluna’ by Janell Cannon

Rebecca Bradley

1038191

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Table of Contents

Storyboard of a Unit of Work......................................................................................... 1

‘Stellaluna’ by Janell Cannon......................................................................................... 1Rebecca Bradley.......................................................................................................................... 11038191......................................................................................................................................... 1

Rationale.............................................................................................................................. 3

Theoretical Perspective.................................................................................................. 3

Historical Timeframe....................................................................................................... 4

Teaching Strategies/Pedagogies..................................................................................4

Justification......................................................................................................................... 5

Story Board of Unit Outline............................................................................................ 7

Lesson 1 – ‘Stellaluna’ Introduction to Narrative...................................................8

Lesson 2 – ‘Stellaluna’ Identifying language – Noun Groups...............................9

Lesson 3 – Identifying Narrative Elements within ‘Stellaluna’........................10

Lesson 4 – Narrative Structure and Comprehension Assessment..................11

Lesson 5 – ‘Northern Blossom Bat’ Introducing Informative Texts with QAR.............................................................................................................................................. 12

Lesson 6 – Identify and Explore Text Structure and Organisation of an Informative and Narrative text..................................................................................13

Lesson 7 – Comparing and comprehending Imaginative and Informative texts..................................................................................................................................... 14

Lesson 8 – ‘Writing an Informative Text’ Summative Assessment.................15

List of References............................................................................................................ 16

Appendices........................................................................................................................ 17Appendix 1 – How to conduct a ‘Book Walk’...................................................................17Appendix 2 – Stellaluna Comprehension Questions.....................................................18Appendix 3 – Stellaluna Noun Groups Worksheet........................................................19Appendix 4 – Expanding Noun Groups Worksheet.......................................................20Appendix 5 – Characters, Setting, Problem and Solution Worksheet.....................21Appendix 6 – Character, Setting, Problem and Solution Posters.............................22Appendix 7 – Beginning, Middle and End Activity.........................................................24Appendix 8 – Stellaluna Comprehension Quiz...............................................................25Appendix 9 – Blossom Bat Informative Text...................................................................26Appendix 10 – Northern Blossom Bat – Diet – QAR Comprehension Questions. 27Appendix 11 – Writing informative sentences...............................................................28Appendix 12 – Northern Blossom Bats – Night Vision.................................................29Appendix 13 – Venn diagram Template...........................................................................30

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RationaleThe imaginative text chosen for this unit of work is a storybook narrative entitled

‘Stellaluna’ written and illustrated by Janell Cannon in 1993. The text follows a young

Blossom Bat (Stellaluna) who is separated from her mother and falls into a bird’s

nest. During her time in the birds nest Stellaluna adapts her lifestyle to suit being a

bird even though she is a bat. The birds accept Stellaluna as one of their own and

this message is important for children to understand, as inclusivity and acceptance

are essential values that students should be encouraged to adopt. As the story

progresses Stellaluna is reunited with her mother. The journey that Stellaluna

undertakes as a young bat trying to fit in with birds after being separated from her

mother is heartwarming and easy for children to connect with as some students may

of experienced being temporarily lost at some point in time, or have experience with

adoption. Janell Cannon’s illustrations are colourful, simple and realistic and the

depiction of Stellaluna with her huge brown eyes and golden fur ensures students

see the young bat as beautiful and cute as opposed to ugly and scary. I have chosen

this book to present to a Year 2 age group and developed a short unit of work based

on the book as it is age appropriate and contains a positive message about

acceptance, while maintaining and accepting your individuality.

Theoretical PerspectiveThe lens that has been used to analyse Stellaluna is the ‘Reader Response’

theoretical perspective. Essentially the reader response theory stresses the

importance of the reader’s role in interpreting texts (Mora & Welch, 2014). Children

make connections between the narrative and their own personal experiences.

Because each student brings their own personal experiences, emotions, concerns

and life experiences the reader response theory encourages each reader to interpret

the story in their own way (Mora & Welch, 2014). Throughout this unit of work

students are responding to the narrative ‘Stellaluna’ and the diverse responses of

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individual readers are key to discovering the variety of possible meanings within the

narrative (Mora & Welch, 2014).

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Historical TimeframeThe text ‘Stellaluna’ was written and illustrated by Janell Cannon and published in

1993 by HMH Books for Young Readers. The story considers a variety of relatable

experiences that children may have encountered such as being separated from

family, finding themselves in an unfamiliar setting, adapting to the environment

around them, the importance of self-realisation and remaining true to themselves.

Although over twelve years have passed since this book was published each of these

concepts are still relevant to children and it is assumed most students will be able to

relate to the story.

Teaching Strategies/PedagogiesThroughout this unit of work a variety of teaching strategies have been employed in

order to diversify the teaching and learning sequence to ensure that all students are

engaged during the unit. Understanding how students learn, and particularly how

they learn to read and write, influences the instructional approaches that teachers

use (Tompkins, Campbell, & Green, 2012, p. 5). By varying the teaching and learning

sequence and including multiple teaching strategies the teacher is able to effectively

engage and involve all students in the learning process. The teacher’s responsibility

is to assist learners in systematically working towards achieving the learning

goals/outcomes to a high standard within a reasonable time frame (Killen, 2013).

Some of the strategies and instructional approaches that have been employed

throughout the unit are as follows;

Explicit Instruction – Guided Reading, Minilessons, Think-Alouds, Choral Reading,

Cloze Procedure, Interactive Read-Alouds, Reciprocal Questioning, Story Retelling, I

do, We do, You do

Authentic Application Activities – Book talks, Grand conversations (Discussions),

Think-Alouds

Learning Across the Curriculum – Question-Answer-Relationships, Word Walls,

Implementing ICT’s

(Tompkins, Campbell, & Green, 2012)

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JustificationThis unit of work has been designed to cater to students within a Year 2 classroom

with eight teaching and learning activities conducted over a two-week period. The

unit of study has been created in direct alignment with the Australian Curriculum

Year 2, English content descriptors and achievement standard. The applicable

content descriptors have been included throughout the lesson plans and vary

depending on the content being developed during the lesson.

The predominant focus for the ‘Stellaluna’ unit is to develop student’s knowledge

and understanding of how similar texts share characteristics by identifying text

structures and language features used to describe characters, settings and events

(ACARA, 2014). Furthermore students will identify literal and implied meaning, main

ideas and supporting detail and make connections between texts by comparing

content. Students will be expected to create texts; drawing on their own

experiences, their imagination and information they have learned. They use a variety

of strategies to engage in group and class discussions and make presentations. They

accurately spell familiar words and attempt to spell less familiar words and use

punctuation accurately (ACARA, 2014).

This unit features a narrative picture book (Stellaluna) and also features texts from

the information genre. A combination of books, videos, and informative texts will be

combined to ensure students with various learning styles are engaged with the

content being delivered as opposed to only having one type of resource/material to

present to students. Students will be exposed to a variety of texts and will

participate in activities that aim to deepen their knowledge about the associated text

factors and apply this new knowledge in a short writing task at the end of the unit

(Tompkins, Campbell, & Green, 2012).

Each of the lessons and activities can be differentiated by providing opportunities to

support students by allowing select students to either draw and label an illustration

to assist formulation of ideas for sentences, or respond verbally during the formative

and summative assessment tasks.

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After considering the unit goals and outcomes the inclusion of formative and

summative assessment has been included in the unit outline. The ‘Book Walk’ that

occurs at the beginning of the unit allows the teacher to formatively assess what

students may know about the content that is going to be developed (narrative and

informative texts). Halfway through the unit a formative assessment task in the form

of a short comprehension quiz has been included to ensure students have a sound

understanding of the narrative text prior to introducing the informative texts and

beginning the comparative process. Depending on the results of this formative

assessment the unit may be adjusted accordingly to ensure students are comfortable

with the content and learning within their ‘Zone of Proximal Development’.

At the end of the two-week unit students will be required to demonstrate their

individual knowledge and understanding gained throughout the teaching and

learning sequence in a summative assessment task. Students will chose from a

selection of sentences from the narrative ‘Stellaluna’ and rewrite them as an

informative sentence using scientific and factual language acquired throughout the

unit. It is possible to differentiate and extend this assessment task for specific

students by challenging students to attempt to rewrite each of the narrative

sentences into informative sentences. Similarly students who finish early could

identify the noun groups within their informative sentences. This is a tiered activity

that students will have encountered previously and modeling of this process will

have occurred prior to students attempting the assessment.

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Story Board of Unit Outline

MondayIntroduction to Narrative

‘Stellaluna’

Tuesday‘Stellaluna’ Identifying language –

Noun Groups

WednesdayIdentifying Narrative Elements within

‘Stellaluna’

ThursdayNarrative Structure and

Comprehension Assessment

Monday‘Northern Blossom Bat’ Introducing

Informative Texts with QAR

TuesdayIdentify and Explore Text Structure and Organisation of an Informative

and Narrative text

WednesdayComparing and comprehending

Imaginative and Informative texts

Thursday‘Writing an Informative Text’

Summative Assessment

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Lesson 1 – ‘Stellaluna’ Introduction to Narrative

Lesson Goal At the end of this lesson students will be able to identify a narrative based on the specific structure and features of a narrative and complete a series of Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) questions based on the storybook ‘Stellaluna’.

Activities ‘Let’s take a book walk’ (Appendix 1)‘Stellaluna’ Worksheet Questionnaire (Appendix 2)

Duration 40 minutes

Lesson OverviewIntroduction – Teacher will have students seated on the carpeted area in classroom. Reiterate classroom expectations and rules ensuring students have sound understanding of what their behavior should look like. Explain to the students that over the next two weeks (8 lessons) they will be looking at two texts, a narrative and an informative text. The teacher will question students about their current knowledge of what a narrative is followed with what they may or may not know about informative texts.Body – Introduce students to the book ‘Stellaluna’ and explain that before reading the story they are going to take a ‘Book walk’ (Appendix 1).Read through the book slowly and clearly using a variety of vocal presentation techniques (pitch, volume, pace and pauses) to ensure student engagement.Students will be familiar with the Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) concept and remind them that all of the questions on the worksheet will be found in the text explicitly (In the book – Right there). Conclusion - Students are to transition from the carpet area to their desks and the worksheet ‘Stellaluna’ (Appendix 2) is to be handed out to each student. Allow 10 minutes minimum for students to complete the worksheet. Where applicable some students can answer the questions verbally.

ResourcesBook: Cannon J, (2009) Stellaluna, Koala Books, SydneyQAR (in the book/in your head) posterQAR poster series (display in classroom)WhiteboardPencil/Eraser

ACARA linksLanguageText Structure and Organisation - Understand that different types of texts have identifiable text structures and language features that help the text serve its purpose (ACELA1463)LiteracyInterpreting, Analysing, Evaluating - Identify the audience of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts (ACELY1668)Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures (ACELY1670)

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Lesson 2 – ‘Stellaluna’ Identifying language – Noun GroupsLesson Goal Throughout this lesson students will practice their fluency and phrasing by reading part of the book with masked words and identify/record expanded noun groups used to construct visual images of characters and settings.

Activities Cloze Activity A3 Posters (Reading strategies – reading on, re-reading, does it make sense?)Worksheets – ‘Stellaluna’ Noun Groups (Appendix 3) and Expanding Noun Groups (Appendix 4)

Duration 30 minutes

Lesson OverviewIntroduction –The teacher will be seated at the front of the classroom and students will be sitting on the ground (carpet area). Two pages of the text will have been photocopied and enlarged with some of the words blacked out. The teacher will ask some students to read the page aloud to the class as they try to figure out what the word blacked out is. During this time the teacher will ask and reiterate how students can figure out the word. Students who may struggle could ‘phone a friend’ for help if required.Body –Transition students up to desk groups. Question students about what a noun is (nouns are words that name people, places and things). Explain that noun groups include words that add meaning to the noun and give examples (Noun: bat, Noun group: a baby fruit bat)Have the beginning pages displayed via projector onto the whiteboard and give students time to try to find a noun group (underline one example for students to refer back to). Give out the ‘Stellaluna’ noun group worksheet (Appendix 3) and have students fill in the table provided with the noun groups found in the text. Once all of the noun groups have been found and underlined question students to identify the article, adjectives and noun in the sentence. Students will have prior knowledge of each of these concepts. Have students share their answers and mark their own work, making changes where required.Conclusion – Hand out and display the second worksheet for the lesson entitled ‘Expanding Noun groups’ (Appendix 4). Read aloud the first example sentence with the nouns circled, and then explain the next sentence has been expanded to include adjectives that explicitly describe the noun identified. Ask a student volunteer to come up and read the next sentence aloud to the class followed by circling the nouns identified. Conduct a ‘think-aloud’ with the student about some describing words that they could use to expand the sentence. Rewrite the sentence and allow time for students to copy the response. Have students work individually to rewrite the last two sentences. Once worksheet has been completed have students partner up with someone born in the same month and share his or her rewritten sentences.

ResourcesBook: Cannon J, (2009) Stellaluna, Koala Books, SydneyWhiteboard – Whiteboard marker (various colours)Projector Computer

ACARA linksLanguageExpressing and developing ideas - Understand that nouns represent people, places, concrete objects and abstract concepts; that there are three types of nouns: common, proper and pronouns; and that noun groups/phrases can be expanded using articles and adjectives (ACELA1468)Literacy

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Interpreting, Analysing, Evaluating - Read less predictable texts with phrasing and fluency by combining contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic knowledge using text processing strategies, for example monitoring meaning, predicting, rereading and self-correcting (ACELY1669)

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Lesson 3 – Identifying Narrative Elements within ‘Stellaluna’Lesson Goal At the end of this lesson students will be able to successfully identify the characters, setting, problem and solution in the book ‘Stellaluna’. Activities Word WallCharacter, Setting, Problem and Solution worksheet (Appendix 5)

Duration 30 minutes

Lesson OverviewIntroduction –Open the lesson with a brief discussion about what a narrative is. Have students give their definition of a narrative to ensure all students are comfortable with the concept. Explain the format of the lesson. Review nouns and corresponding noun groups.Body –Discuss with students what makes a story a narrative. Use questioning to prompt students to name the elements that when combined create an effective narrative. Show students each of the definition posters created for the unit (Appendix 6). Ask four student volunteers to read each definition aloud. Once the definition has been read out other students will be prompted to share their answers regarding the characters, setting, problem and solution in the story. After this discussion period students will transition back to their desks and the ‘helping hands’ will hand out the applicable worksheet. The worksheet will be displayed on the whiteboard. Have students watch ‘Stellaluna’ and pause once a character/setting/problem/solution has been identified. To ensure students are engaged with the story intentionally overlook some of the possible answers to check that students are watching. Once students have filled out the worksheet they are able to glue the sheet into their books and draw their favourite character on the opposing page. Conclusion – Transition students back down to the carpet area and explain that together as a class you will create a word wall. Ask students to think of a small list of words that they can recall from the story ‘Stellaluna’. Fold a large piece of butchers paper in half and write down some of the words that the students are able to recall from the story on one side under the heading narrative text, leaving the other half blank. Question students whether or not they had encountered some of these words previously and where.

ResourcesBook: Cannon J, (2009) Stellaluna, Koala Books, SydneyVideo: Stellaluna available from http://www.storylineonline.net/stellaluna/ Whiteboard – Whiteboard marker (various colours)Projector Butchers Paper

ACARA linksLanguageLanguage for interaction - Identify language that can be used for appreciating texts and the qualities of people and things (ACELA1462)Text Structure and Organisation - Understand that different types of texts have identifiable text structures and language features that help the text serve its purpose (ACELA1463)Expressing and developing ideas - Understand the use of vocabulary about familiar and new topics and experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit audience and purpose (ACELA1470)Literature

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Examining literature - Discuss the characters and settings of different texts and explore how language is used to present these features in different ways (ACELT1591)

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Lesson 4 – Narrative Structure and Comprehension AssessmentLesson Goal Students will have a comprehensive understanding of the structure of a narrative and sequence the story. Formative assessment in the form of a comprehension quiz will assess what the students have learnt throughout the week and inform future lesson goals and outcomes.

Activities Beginning, Middle and End activity (Appendix 7)Formative Comprehension Quiz (Appendix 8)

Duration 45 minutes

Lesson OverviewIntroduction – Teacher will begin the lesson with students seated at their desks. Review the character, setting, problem and solution worksheet completed previously. Question students whether or not the solution or problem comes first, where the problem is within the story (at the very beginning or the middle or the end) and what happens first. Body – Watch ‘Stellaluna’ reading by Pamela Reed and have students identify the three main parts of the story. Once the video has been watched question students about what happens in the beginning (characters and setting), then what happens in the middle (is this the probem?) and finally what happens at the end of the story (solution). Hand out the beginning, middle and end worksheet activity and model the process for the activity. Explain that they have to write one sentence for each box on the sheet, once they have done this they can cut out the boxes and bat shape and glue the boxes in order on the back of the bat. Students are then to decorate their bat and these will be hung around the classroom. Students will be given approximately 15 minutes to complete this activity.Conclusion – Conclude the lesson with a comprehension assessment activity. Have the quiz displayed via projector and read through each of the questions to ensure students are able to respond to the questions themselves. The teacher should remind students this is just to check what they have learnt and it is NOT a summative assessment. Reiterate that this is an individual task that they are to complete by themselves without the help of others. If they have any questions or don’t understand a word/question they are to ask the teacher. Allocate at least 15 minutes for students to complete the assessment.

ResourcesBook: Cannon J, (2009) Stellaluna, Koala Books, SydneyVideo: Stellaluna available from http://www.storylineonline.net/stellaluna/ Whiteboard – Whiteboard marker (various colours)Projector

ACARA linksLiteratureExaming literature - Discuss the characters and settings of different texts and explore how language is used to present these features in different ways (ACELT1591)Creating literature - Create events and characters using different media that develop key events and characters from literary texts (ACELT1593)Literacy

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Interpreting, Analysing, Evaluating - Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures (ACELY1670)

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Lesson 5 – ‘Northern Blossom Bat’ Introducing Informative Texts with QARLesson Goal At the end of this lesson students will have a sound understanding of informative texts and how they differ from narratives. Students will answer comprehension questions about an informative text using QAR strategies and identify noun groups used in informative texts.

Activities Watching a short informative text about the Blossom Bat Northern Blossom Bat - Diet (Appendix 9)QAR comprehension questionsDuration 45 minutes

Lesson OverviewIntroduction – At the start of the lesson explain to students that during this lesson they will be reading and viewing an informative text about bats and their diet and comparing it to the bats and their diet in Stellaluna. Revise the elements of narrative and informative texts. Body – Explore the online informative text about Blossom Bats. Question students about the information that they viewed and anything interesting or new that they identified with in the video. Explain to students that next they will be reading another informative text about Northern Blossom Bats and specifically their diet. Display the informative text on the projector and hand out the text to students (one between two). Read the page together, modeling behaviours and explaining any new words (add to word wall). Discuss the use of capital letters for proper nouns, full stops, and commas to separate items in a list, in the text. Explain to students that the comprehension questions (Appendix 10) Northern Blossom Bat – diet are ‘in the book ─ think and search’ and ‘in my head ─ author and me’ questions. Read through the questions and answers in the examples provided on Northern Blossom Bat – diet. Ask students to complete all the questions independently and discuss their responses when they are finished. Allow time for the students to complete the task, helping when needed.Conclusion – Ask students to work with their partners to identify and highlight the noun groups in the informative text. Remind them to firstly look for the noun and then to look for adjectives surrounding the noun, and possibly an article. Prompt for student responses once a suitable amount of time has passed and add new words and noun groups to the word wall (blank half) under the heading informative text.

ResourcesVideo: Totally Wild (Northern Blossom Bat) available from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrBAg8-bsNc Informative Text (Appendix 9) and corresponding QAR comprehension questions (Appendix 10)Whiteboard – Whiteboard marker (various colours)Projector

ACARA linksLanguageText Structure and Organisation- Understand that different types of texts have identifiable text structures and language features that help the text serve its purpose (ACELA1463)Recognise that capital letters signal proper nouns and commas are used to separate items in lists (ACELA1465)Expressing and developing ideas - Understand that nouns represent people, places, concrete objects and abstract concepts; that there are three types of nouns: common, proper and pronouns; and that noun groups/phrases can be expanded using articles and adjectives (ACELA1468)Understand the use of vocabulary about familiar and new topics and experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit audience and purpose (ACELA1470)LiteracyTexts in Context - Discuss different texts on a similar topic, identifying similarities and differences between the texts (ACELY1665)

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Interpreting, analysing and evaluating - Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures (ACELY1670)

Lesson 6 – Identify and Explore Text Structure and Organisation of an Informative and Narrative textLesson Goal Students will successfully identify and compare text structure and organisation of an informative and narrative text, write an informative sentence from a narrative sentence and draw an informative illustration from a narrative illustration. Activities Word WallRewriting narrative sentences as informative sentenceDraw an informative illustration

Duration 45 minutes

Lesson OverviewIntroduction – Revise noun groups with students in an informal discussion. Ensure students understand what a noun is and how to identify a noun group. Engage students in a discussion about how language changes between narrative and informative texts. Display the informative text from previous lesson (Appendix 9) and have the book copied and enlarged for students to view both. Next, have student’s give their opinion as to why the language differs between the two texts is different and give examples. Explain that the noun groups used in the informative text are expressing facts, not opinions or the author’s point of view. Body – Refer to the word wall created throughout previous lessons and compare the use of nouns and noun groups between the narrative text and the informative text. Question as to why they are different (authors point of view versus facts and scientific language). Explain how the book uses the author’s point of view to make the reader think of the bats as a family and the informative text uses facts and scientific language to give information. Look specifically at the page where Stellaluna is eating a mango and ask students to describe what they see in the illustration. Ask students if they can find any similarities between the illustration and the information they have read about Northern Blossom Bat – Diet (Appendix 9). Link the concept that although these facts are not directly written in Stellaluna, Janell Cannon needed to know this factual information about bats before she illustrated and wrote the story. Prompt students to make other connections between factual information and the narrative Stellaluna. Conclusion – Group students into three groups. Explain that they are going to change narrative sentences into informative sentences in their groups. Model the first example for students and explain that this sentence needs to inform the reader with facts rather than making it more entertaining for them, e.g. Stellaluna liked to eat yummy mango could be changed into Northern Blossom Bats feed on the flowers of trees and will also eat small amounts of fruit. Allocate one sentence from Stellaluna (Appendix 11) to each group and allow a suitable amount of time for the group to discuss how they will change the sentence and what information they will use. Challenge each group to try to rewrite more than one informative sentence. Have each group share the narrative sentence they were allocated and then how they changed the sentence to make it informative and based on fact. If time permits have students draw and label an accurate image of a Northern Blossom Bat.

ResourcesInformative Text – Northern Blossom Bats - Diet (Appendix 9) Whiteboard – Whiteboard marker (various colours)Projector

ACARA linksLanguageText Structure and Organisation- Understand that different types of texts have identifiable text structures and language features that help the text serve its purpose (ACELA1463)

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Expressing and developing ideas - Understand the use of vocabulary about familiar and new topics and experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit audience and purpose (ACELA1470)LiteracyTexts in Context - Discuss different texts on a similar topic, identifying similarities and differences between the texts (ACELY1665)

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Lesson 7 – Comparing and comprehending Imaginative and Informative textsLesson Goal At the end of this lesson students will have consolidated new knowledge regarding narrative and informative texts and the similarities and differences between the two. Students will complete a Venn diagram displaying their knowledge and understanding gained throughout the unit. Activities The Bats Come Out at Night informative textNorthern Blossom Bat – Night vision (Appendix 12)Venn Diagram (Appendix 13)

Duration 30 minutes

Lesson OverviewIntroduction – Read the narrative ‘Stellaluna’ to students. Find some more nouns and noun groups to add to the word wall throughout the reading. Nominate a student scribe to do this. Once the narrative has been read refer back to the page in which Stellaluna is flying at night and re-read the page for students. Direct students attentions to the QAR posters displayed in the classroom and discuss the different kinds of questions that they will be looking at during the lesson. Body – Explain to the class as a whole that you will ask three ‘Author and me’ questions and explain that the answer won’t be evident on the page but students will have to use the information from the narrative and connect it to what they already know. Which part of the page does the author make up? Which part of the page gives us information about bats? Why was Stellaluna afraid?Following on from this discussion explain that the next questions will be ‘On your own’ questions that students have to formulate answers to individually. These are personal and answers may be similar or different between students. Encourage all students to share responses. Would you be afraid to fly if you were Stellaluna? Have you ever seen a bat? What would you do if you got separated from your mother?Conclusion – Transition students back to their desk groups and get out their English exercise book. Watch ‘The Bats Come Out at Night’ and explain to students that they will be completing a Venn diagram. The purpose of the Venn Diagram is to identify similarities and differences between narrative and informative texts. In their desk groups students will be given an A3 piece of paper with a Venn diagram already outlined, the same diagram will be displayed via projector. Model how to label the diagram correctly and have the students begin brainstorming the similarities and differences they have already identified between the texts they have read/viewed. Complete one or two answers with the students to ensure they understand the concept of the Venn diagram. Allow each group an appropriate amount of time to complete this task and share answers encouraging groups to fill in information they may have missed. Display the Venn diagrams around the classroom.

ResourcesThe Bats Come Out at Night Informative text available from http://natgeotv.com.au/videos/great-migrations/the-bats-come-out-at-night-DFFB0FB0.aspx Northern Blossom Bat – Night Vision (Appendix 12)Whiteboard – Whiteboard marker (various colours)Projector Venn diagram template

ACARA linksLanguageText Structure and Organisation- Know some features of text organisation including page and screen layouts, alphabetical order, and different types of diagrams, for example timelines (ACELA1466)Literacy

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Texts in Context - Discuss different texts on a similar topic, identifying similarities and differences between the texts (ACELY1665)

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Lesson 8 – ‘Writing an Informative Text’ Summative AssessmentLesson Goal Students will demonstrate their individual knowledge and understanding gained throughout the teaching and learning sequence in a summative assessment task. Students will chose from a selection of sentences from the narrative ‘Stellaluna’ and rewrite them as an informative sentence using scientific and factual language.

Activities Summative Assessment

Duration 30 minutes

Lesson OverviewIntroduction – Explain to students that during this lesson they will chose a specific even from the narrative ‘Stellaluna’ and rewriting it as an informative text. Briefly revise the difference between narrative and informative texts. Direct students attention to the word wall created to ensure that they are using the correct vocabulary and terminology. Students should also be able to view the Venn diagrams created in previous lesson and any other handouts/worksheets that have been completed during the unit. Body – Display four narrative sentences and their corresponding illustrations via projector and give students time to read through all of the options and choose their narrative sentence. Have students open their English exercise books and write the title for the task ‘Writing an Informative Text’. Model this for students on the whiteboard. Next have students copy the narrative sentence they have chosen into their books. Encourage students to copy from the board to ensure spelling and grammar is used correctly. Allow students five (5) minutes to review the information they have gathered during the unit to assist them in rewriting their chosen sentence. Students are not allowed to write during this time; instead they should be thinking and planning their response. Allow a minimum of 20 minutes for students to complete this task. If students finish earlier they are able to draw a corresponding illustration based on the informative sentence they have written.Conclusion – Once students have handed in their completed summative assessment task they are to find a partner with the same coloured eyes and share an interesting fact they learnt during the unit or their favourite part of the story ‘Stellaluna’.

ResourcesWhiteboard – Whiteboard marker (various colours)Projector Word WallVenn diagram templateEnglish exercise book

ACARA linksLanguageLanguage Variation and Change- Understand that spoken, visual and written forms of language are different modes of communication with different features and their use varies according to the audience, purpose, context and cultural background (ACELA1460)Expressing and Developing Ideas - Understand the use of vocabulary about familiar and new topics and experiment with and begin to make conscious choices of vocabulary to suit audience and purpose (ACELA1470)LiteracyCreating Texts - Create short imaginative, informative and persuasive texts using growing knowledge of text structures and language features for familiar and some less familiar audiences, selecting print and multimodal elements appropriate to the audience and purpose (ACELY1671)Reread and edit text for spelling, sentence-boundary punctuation and text structure (ACELY1672)Write legibly and with growing fluency using unjoined upper case and lower case letters (ACELY1673)

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List of References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2014). The Australian Curriculum: English: Year 4. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/Curriculum/F-10?y=2&s=LA&s=LT&s=LY&layout=3

Cannon J, (2009) Stellaluna, Koala Books, Sydney

Killen, R. (2013). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from research and practice (6th ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria: Cengage Learning.

Mora, P., & Welch, J. (2014). The Expanding Canon: Teaching Multicultural Literature - Theory Overview. Retrieved from http://www.learner.org/workshops/hslit/session1/

Tompkins, G., Campbell, R., & Green, D. (2012). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (5th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Australia.

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Appendices

Appendix 1 – How to conduct a ‘Book Walk’Let’s take a book walkEngaging in a picture book walk encourages and focuses readers. It helps readers to become familiar with texts, text structure, language features, characterisations, settings and plots in stories. It also helps students with reading comprehension skills.

How to conduct a picture book walk

Before reading

1. Choose a picture book for the book walk.

2. Engage students in a discussion by asking some of the following questions.

Title of story/cover

• What clues does the title give you about the story?• Is this a real or imaginary story? Why?• What do the illustrations on the cover ‘tell’ us about the characters, events and settings?• What might the book look like inside?

Author and illustrator

• Who is the author?• Who is the illustrator?• Have you ever read other texts by this author?

Setting

• Where does this story take place?• Is the place familiar or unfamiliar to you? • Is the time familiar or unfamiliar to you?

Characters

• Who is the main character?• What role might they play in the story?• Can you predict some of the characters’ traits by looking at the illustration on the cover?

Events

• What events might take place in this story?• What predictions can you make about the story?

Story structure

• What type of story is this book? (A narrative picture book)• How might this type of story be structured? (There will be a beginning, middle with a problem to be solved and an end where the problem is resolved.)

During reading

1. Read the picture book aloud to students

2. Model reading behaviours using the ‘think-aloud’ strategy stopping at intervals and asking questions while you are reading.

Example questions

• What is the main idea of this story?• What picture is the author painting in my head about the characters? • What is (character name) thinking?• Why is (character name) doing.....?• What predictions can I make for what might happen next?• Do you like the story so far?

After reading

1. Discuss the story and refer back to some of the questions asked before and during reading

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Appendix 2 – Stellaluna Comprehension Questions

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Appendix 3 – Stellaluna Noun Groups Worksheet

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Appendix 4 – Expanding Noun Groups Worksheet

Expanding Noun Groups

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Appendix 5 – Characters, Setting, Problem and Solution Worksheet

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Appendix 6 – Character, Setting, Problem and Solution Posters

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Appendix 7 – Beginning, Middle and End Activity

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Appendix 8 – Stellaluna Comprehension Quiz

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Appendix 9 – Blossom Bat Informative Text

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Appendix 10 – Northern Blossom Bat – Diet – QAR Comprehension Questions

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Appendix 11 – Writing informative sentences

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Appendix 12 – Northern Blossom Bats – Night Vision

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Appendix 13 – Venn diagram Template

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