Year 2—English: Integrated Literacy Unit Plan
Year 2—English: Integrated Literacy Unit Plan
Unit title: Friends and Animal Friends Duration of unit/s: 10 weeks
Preamble:
The unit of work employs the Balanced Approach to Literacy teaching encompassing the didactic, authentic, functional and critical pedagogy in equipping students to be critical and confident users of multimodal literacies. Thus an effort is made to use the multimodal literacies experience while employing the learning by design principle of pedagogy. Students are engaged in learning formal rules of phonics, grammar and learning through repetition while employing the didactic approach, whereas students are also immersed in personally meaningful literature while employing the whole language approach in Authentic literacy approach. Moreover, while analysing the social purpose of written texts in the functional pedagogy, students experience the slow release of responsibility in phases of Modelling, Joint construction and Independent construction while learning to produce meaningful texts.
Furthermore, in meeting the needs of the diverse classroom, assessment is carried out by varied means e.g. formative type in order to gain maximum advantage in meeting student outcomes and meeting the contemporary discourses of fairness (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012; Learning online, n.d.; Wild, 2009).
Context:
The diverse nature of today’s classrooms and the challenges faced by young people in competing in the globalised economy necessitate the use of effective ways of teaching literacies. This sentiment is also echoed by the Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians in which aims to equip students with the knowledge, understanding and skills to participate and taking opportunities while facing the challenges with confidence (MCEETYA, 2008).
Learning Focus:
The two units focus on meeting the Content descriptors for Year two of the Australian Curriculum. Specifically students will be working towards achieving the content descriptions elaborated in (ACELT1587),(ACELY1671),(ACELY1670) to name a few (ACARA, 2014).
Knowledge Objective:
By the end of this unit students will be able to discuss depictions of characters in texts (ACELT1587), create short imaginative texts with growing knowledge of text structure and language features (ACELY1671), use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts (ACELY1670) to name a few (ACARA, 2014). by naming, conceptualising by theorising, analysing functionally, analysing critically, applying appropriately, and applying creatively and are uses across the two units (Learning online, n.d.).
Knowledge Outcomes:
These units employ the initial diagnostic assessment (running record), combined extensively by the ongoing formative assessment, culminating in the summative assessment in the writing component at the end of the second unit. The initial diagnostic assessment allows the grouping of students for guided reading activities in ability based criteria. However, depending on the teacher assessment, students may be placed in mixed ability groups at times to partake in the advantages of the social learning. The ongoing formative assessment during the lessons shall inform the teacher regarding the adjustments necessary for pedagogical changes.
Learning pathways:
Considering the diversity and the EAL/D (English as an Additional Language or Dialect) students the first unit focuses on modelled reading, guided reading and speaking and listening. Whereas this will provide a firm grounding in engaging students in the grammar and writing focus in the second unit. The skills developed will be further expanded in the units in the second term.
Pedagogy:
These Integrated units focuses on reading, writing, oral language, speaking and listening while considering the linguistic diversity (EAL/D) and consequent mixed student reading ability for engaging students in the knowledge processes. Following a balanced approach in teaching literacy, teacher uses the gradual release of responsibility in teaching writing. Whereas in shared reading teacher reads aloud, modelling, while students follow on in their own texts, teacher demonstrates comprehension strategy, skills inference, drawing conclusions, connecting book to life experience, skimming for words, and summarising. However, teacher would focus only on a couple of these skills in these sessions. The unit also employs text book reading online allowing for literacies multimodalities.
Knowledge Processes:
These units employ the Leaning by Design (LbyD) principles by Kalantzis and Cope (2012) which uses the activities which represents a specific way of making knowledge and of learning. These activities are referred to as knowledge processes, viz. experiencing the known, experiencing the new, conceptualising by naming, conceptualising by theorising, analysing functionally, analysing critically, applying appropriately, and applying creatively and are uses across the two units (Learning online, n.d.).
Knowledge Outcomes:
These units employ the initial diagnostic assessment (running record), combined extensively by the ongoing formative assessment, culminating in the summative assessment in the writing component at the end of the second unit. The initial diagnostic assessment allows the grouping of students for guided reading activities in ability based criteria. However, depending on the teacher assessment, students may be placed in mixed ability groups at times to partake in the advantages of the social learning. The ongoing formative assessment during the lessons shall inform the teacher regarding the adjustments necessary for pedagogical changes.
Learning pathways:
Considering the diversity and the EAL/D (English as an Additional Language or Dialect) students the first unit focuses on modelled reading, guided reading and speaking and listening. Whereas this will provide a firm grounding in engaging students in the grammar and writing focus in the second unit. The skills developed will be further expanded in the units in the second term.
Pedagogy:
These Integrated units focuses on reading, writing, oral language, speaking and listening while considering the linguistic diversity (EAL/D) and consequent mixed student reading ability for engaging students in the knowledge processes. Following a balanced approach in teaching literacy, teacher uses the gradual release of responsibility in teaching writing. Whereas in shared reading teacher reads aloud, modelling, while students follow on in their own texts, teacher demonstrates comprehension strategy, skills inference, drawing conclusions, connecting book to life experience, skimming for words, and summarising. However, teacher would focus only on a couple of these skills in these sessions. The unit also employs text book reading online allowing for literacies multimodalities.