Scaffolding Literacy Package - Wikispacesscaffoldingliteracy.wikispaces.com/file/view/Naomi+Findlay+3039056... · This lesson will continue to build context for the story throughout

0 Naomi Findlay 3039056 Scaffolding Literacy Package

Scaffolding Literacy Education: 7150 Tutorial: Monday 3:30-6:30pm

Tutor: Misty Adoniou

K-2 Scaffolding Literacy Package

by Naomi Findlay 3039056


Cover:

Author: Janeen Brian

Illustrator: Stephen Michael King

Title: Where does Thursday go?

Sample writing

from the text:

Splodge and Humbug sat down by the edge of a lake. A streak of shining silver

swam past with a flick of its tail. 'Is that you, Thursday?' called Splodge. But

there was no reply. ... Sadly, Splodge and Humbug turned towards home.

Grade level: K-2

Story

synopsis:

Thursday is Splodge’s birthday, and he wishes it didn’t have to end. But Friday

is coming, and he knows his special day will be gone in the morning. What will

happen to Thursday during the night? Where will it go? And can Splodge and

his friend Humbug find it in time to say goodbye? This touching, whimsical tale

will strike a chord with anyone who wonders about things, and with anyone

who has wished that a special day would last forever. (Google Books, 2012)


Graphic Overview

Scaffolding Literacy Teaching

Sequence for "Where does

Thursday go?" by Janeen Brian

START: Determine literacy outcomes:

- learn to describe the action of a character with intention

- write complex sentences and sentences with marked theme

Select text: "Where does Thursday go?"

Contextual understanding

(draw on and build background

knowledge)

Text Orientation

for "Where does

Thursday go?"

Read the book:

"Where does

Thursday go?"

Langauge Orientation:

Splodge and Humbug found a park. ‘Toowhit! Toowhoo!’ called an owl

from a tall tree. As it flapped past, its wings whispered in the cool night air. ‘Is that you

Thursday?’ called Splodge. But there was no reply.

(Brian, 2001, p.5)

Independently read:

lanaguage orientation

selection

Transformations:

‘Toowhit! Toowhoo!’ called an owl from a

tall tree. As it flapped past, its wings

whispered in the cool night air. (Brian, 2001,

p.5)

Word study:

tree, whispered,

flapped, night,

wings

Jointly

constructed

writing

Patterned

writing

Independent

writing

END: Assessment of literacy outcomes

Assess using a rubric with the sequnce

outcomes and have students and peers

anlayse writing


Text selection of “Where does Thursday Go?” This book is interesting, linguistically rich, appropriate for younger students and provides a good model for both reading and writing, all of which are integral to a successful scaffolding literacy approach (Axford, Harders and Wise, 2009). This text would be potentially be suitable for a scaffolding literacy sequence with a K-2 class depending on the reading level of the class as it is important the text is within the students’ zone of proximal development (Axford et al., 2009). At text level, “Where does Thursday go?” (Brian, 2001) is a charming story with the theme of ‘wondering about something so good and wishing it would last forever’. The illustrations are vibrant and the facial expression and body language of the characters will assist students in understanding the story. The text is narrative and features each element of the common narrative structure (orientation, complication, resolution) and therefore is an appropriate text for familiarising students with narrative structure (Wing Jan, 2009). Janeen Brian [author] uses language with intention in a way that will captivate children and engage their minds. Some of the key language features in the text worth teaching are:

Complex sentences e.g. As it flapped past, its wings whispered in the cool night air. Marked theme e.g. called an owl from a tall tree.

Sadly, Splodge and Humbug turned towards home. Questions, monologue, repetition and narration in third person e.g. "Is that you Thursday?”

called Splodge. But there was no reply. Literary language that will create vivid images for the readers through the use of:-

- onomatopoeia e.g. ‘Swish, swish’ the waves sighed as they drew back into the ocean. - simile e.g. There was the moon, big and round and bright, hanging like a silver balloon. - metaphor e.g. A streak of shining sliver swam past with a flick of its tail. - personification e.g. As it flapped past, its wings whispered in the cool night air.

Adverbial phrases e.g. in the cool night air; from a tall tree Adverbs e.g beneath, past, up, back (these are words that tell ‘where’) Ellipsis e.g They climbed into bed, closed their eyes and slept soundly until... the sun brought

Friday. A commonly occurring suffix (morphological knowledge) indicating past tense in the text

is “-ed” e.g. flapped, whispered, called, looked, whooshed, cried

Throughout this text, the author is intentional in her choice of language to create images in the minds of her readers e.g. imagining “in the cool night air” is very different to “in the air”. The broad focus for this sequence is to learn to describe the action of a character with intention. The specific focus is on writing a complex sentence and using adverbial phrases in writing. Words such as those ending with “-ed” will be explored in the word study. However this book is recommended for use in more depth in further scaffolding sequences (Axford et al., 2009), particularly for the purpose of teaching the language features of marked theme, similes and ellipsis.


Contextual understanding for “Where does Thursday go?” General description Ways this knowledge could be built Time - days of the week (e.g. Thursday, Friday) - times of day (e.g. morning, night)

Maths Make a class calendar of the days of the week and activities the students do on different days, including the time of day

Solar/lunar cycle Science Demonstrate the movement of the sun with a globe and a torch, using a small ball to represent the moon

Position words e.g beneath, past, up, back, in, on

Maths Go on an adventure around the school (e.g. walk past the playground, go back to the classroom, walk up the steps...), take photos and make a class book using positional language

Birthday party

Celebrations Celebrated with gifts and parties, birthday cake, candles, balloons, streamers – students could share how they celebrate their birthdays by bringing in a photo and discussing birthday celebrations. Ask EAL/D students to share how they celebrate birthdays in their culture.

Animals - Owl is a nocturnal animal

- Bear (Splodge) and sea-bird (Humbug) are

anthropomorphic (Wikipedia, 2013)

Science Information text/video clip about owls Literacy Explain to students that Splodge and Humbug are animals but in this story they possess human-like characteristics (live in a tree house, Splodge talks...)

Setting - imaginary story (in some ways like a

dream/fairytale)

Literacy (text types) The characters are animals that can speak and they go out in the streets alone at night. On their adventure in the dark they seem to be able to see where they are going and they walk all the way to the coast and back during the night. Have students share other imaginative stories they have read and compare the differences to real life.


Text Orientation for “Where does Thursday go?” Learning Outcomes: Students will become familiar with the story of “Where does Thursday go?” through being introduced to the characters, setting, storyline and illustrations. Students will begin to understand the meaning of the text and the vocabulary (including literary language). Assessment: Observations: Teacher will observe student engagement and interactions throughout the lesson. Sequencing: In small groups students will order key images from the story. The teacher can photograph this. Story map: In small groups, students will work collaboratively to create a story map of “Where does Thursday go?”. This visual representation will show who is in the story, what happens, how the story ends, and when and where the story is set and may include key words or phrases (Adoniou, 2013). Teaching strategies: This lesson will continue to build context for the story throughout the text orientation by explaining underlying messages in the text (this will benefit EAL/D students particularly). Words from the text will be deliberately used in the orientation (see words in bold). The teacher will tell the story following the script below as closely as possible, without asking the students questions or having them predict the story. The story will be told in an engaging way for the students’ enjoyment so teacher will vary tone of voice to show expression and gesture where appropriate (Adoniou, 2013). Resources: Images from each page of the text to display on IWB Laminated images for sequencing activity Materials to create a story map

Script: (written not strictly as a script but as how I might tell the story)

Cover

Today I’m going to tell you a story called, “Where does Thursday go?”. This story was written by Janeen Brian - she is the author. The pictures were drawn by Stephen Michael King – this means he is the illustrator (Note: opportunity here to also explain the publisher’s symbol on front cover especially for EAL/D students). This is the story of two friends who go looking for Thursday. They are the characters in the story and their names are Splodge (a bear) and Humbug (a sea-bird).

P1

The story begins like this: The day of the week is Thursday, in fact it is Splodge’s birthday! Look at him - it seems like he has been having fun with his friends and family all day celebrating his birthday. He’s had a party because we can see the cake and streamers and balloons. And now, it’s


getting dark because you can see a light on in the picture. One of the little bears is even falling asleep. It looks as if his friends might be saying goodbye.

P2

And now Splodge is alone (by himself), and he starts thinking about what a special day he has had. You can tell it’s getting later at night because the moon and stars have come out now and all the lights are on. He wishes he birthday could just keep going but he knows that when he wakes up in the morning it won’t be his birthday anymore. So he is curious and thinking about where does Thursday go? Because if it’s gone in the morning, then where does it go in the night?

P3

He asks his friend Humbug if he knows where Thursday goes. You can see Humbug is listening and thinking but he doesn’t know what to say. So Splodge asks Humbug to come with him and say goodbye to Thursday before it disappears. Everyone else must be in bed asleep. So, they creep downstairs and out into the streets where they can see all the beautiful stars up in the sky and start looking for Thursday.

P4

The first place they look is under a bridge. A river is flowing and making oogle gurgle noises. Splodge says to the river – is that you Thursday? The river doesn’t say anything back.

P5

They keep going and find a park. Splodge and Humbug see an owl up in a really tall tree. Toowhit toowhoo the owl calls and it flies past them. The owl’s wings make a noise like a whisper as they flap through the air. The air is cool and it is night time. Splodge asks again – is that you Thursday? The owl says nothing.

P6

Next they come to a lake and sit down for a bit right on a rock right at the edge. Splodge is holding a stick. They see a fish swim past – it looks like some shining silver as it streaks (swims fast) past. Splodge asks again – is that you Thursday? But the fish has already gone.

P7

Now Splodge and Humbug climb up a hill. Splodge is using the stick for a walking stick, so probably he is getting a bit tired. At the top of the hill they can see an engine (another name for a train) coming out of a tunnel – it has a bright light and is going so fast it seems to race past them Whoo. Splodge asks again – is that you Thursday? The train is gone.

P8

They walk all the way to the sea. There they can see the waves splashing the shore (the beach – where the land meets the sea). Swish the waves come in and go back out. Humbug finds some shells but Splodge stands there asking the sea if it is Thursday and he keeps thinking and wondering. They have walked so far – as far as they can go, all the way to the edge of the sea - and still Splodge does not find Thursday.

P9


Splodge and Humbug look at each other. What will they do now? It is so late and Humbug points in the direction of home. They turn around and walk back over the hill. And down towards their home - see the lights in the distance. They are feeling very sad because they didn’t find Thursday.

P10

They get back to their house and sit down – in the picture you an see they live under a tree, inside a small hill. Splodge tells Humbug he has an idea of what Thursday looks like. Maybe like his cake and candles and balloons that all made him so happy on his birthday...

P11

Humbug just sits and thinks and looks up at the starry sky.

P12

He can see the moon, and it looks like it is hanging up in the sky – it reminds him of a sliver balloon. He thinks it looks like Thursday. Splodge and Humbug have a little dance they have figured out what they were looking for and now they are happy.

P13

And then the moon (Thursday) starts to disappear as it drifts (moves slowly) behind a cloud. Splodge and Humbug say goodbye to the moon (Thursday). The disappearing moon shows Thursday is ending.

P14

They creep back inside their house so they don’t wake anyone up and go to bed. It is so late and they are very tired from their big adventure so they fall straight asleep. Splodge and Humbug are sleeping in hammocks. Humbug’s hammock is so high he needs a ladder to get into it!

P15

In the morning the sun rises (comes up) and brings a new day – Friday.

Read “Where does Thursday go?” Following the text orientation lesson, the teacher will read the book to the students, modelling fluent, expressive reading. A pointer is useful to show that you are attending to the words as you read (Franzone & Wills, 2007).


Language Orientation for “Where does Thursday go?” Learning Outcomes: Students will understand the meaning of the selected text. Students will understand the vocabulary. Students will have an introductory understanding of the broad syntactic structure of the sentences. Assessment: Work sample: Text marking of features as outlined in ‘Identification’ in language orientation. 3 level reading guide: Include 3 types of questions (Hertzberg, 2012)

- literal (e.g. What made the Toowhit Toowhoo sound?) - interpretive (e.g. Why was there an owl in the park at night?) - inferential (e.g. How would you feel if you asked a question and no one replied?)

Teaching strategies: Teacher will explicitly model throughout this lesson to give students access to the text. The text excerpt the teacher works from will be the same format as the students’ excerpt. Point out specific things (meaning of words, pronouns...) that are being taught for EAL/D learners. Ask the students questions they will be able to answer to build success and empower students as they work towards reading the text independently. (Axford et al., 2009) The language orientation is quite lengthy, so it may be appropriate to break it up into 2 lessons. Resources: Sheets of text excerpt for students Grey lead and coloured pencils Props - fluffy owl toy, cut out a tall tree shape from brown butcher’s paper and stick it to the wall 3 level reading quide activity sheet Excerpt: (Brian, 2001, p.5) Splodge and Humbug found a park.

called an owl from a tall tree. As it flapped past, its wings whispered in the cool night air. ‘Is that you Thursday?’ called Splodge. But there was no reply. Broad language focus for sequence: learn to describe the action of a character with intention, write complex sentences and sentences with marked theme Specific language foci for this lesson: adverbial phrases (where), past tense verbs, describing words (adjectives), nouns, referring words (pronouns) and onomatopoeia


Language orientation breakdown:

Splodge and Humbug / found /a park. /

called an owl / from a tall tree. /

As it flapped past, / its wings whispered

/ in the cool night air. /

‘Is that you Thursday?’ / called Splodge. /

But there was no reply.

Note: Elaborations are written as how the teacher might talk and as such do not follow through with correct written English punctuation/ sentence structure. Words from text: Splodge and Humbug Preparation: The first 3 words on your paper are “Splodge and Humbug”. This sentence begins by telling us who the characters in the story are. Identification: Point to the words that tell us who the characters in the story are. Great. Now pick up your grey lead pencil and underline the 3 words “Splodge and Humbug”.

Elaboration: The first word is the name of the first character in our story – Splodge. Who can tell me who Splodge was? And there’s something special about the word Splodge. It starts with a capital letter. There’s 2 reasons for this. The first one is because it’s the first word beginning the sentence and remember how we always start our sentences with capital letters... The other reason is: you know how Splodge is a bear? Well, the bear’s name is Splodge. And we give people’s names capital letters. Colour the word in blue because Splodge tells us who. The next word is and. Point to and, and underline it again. And tells us there is a relationship between 2 things. So


there must be another character connected to Splodge. You already know this because we read the story and Splodge has a friend. Point to the word after and. That is the name of Splodge’s friend, Humbug. Humbug is another character in the story, another who word so colour it in blue. And Humbug is the name of the penguin so it has a capital letter like Splodge.

Words from text: found Preparation: The next word on your paper is “found”. This word tells us what happened. Identification: Underline just the word “found” with your grey lead pencil.

Elaboration: So Splodge and Humbug were doing something. They found something. I wonder what found means. Today I lost my keys. I had to go looking for them and find them (explain for EAL/D students). So Splodge and Humbug have already been looking round and now they find something. Found is the same meaning as find but it has already happened, this is called past tense (explain for EAL/D students). Colour found in red because it is a word that tells us something is happening.

Words from text: a park. Preparation: Can you point to the next 2 words, “a park”. Good. These are the words that are going to tell us what Splodge and Humbug found. Let’s say it together – a park. Identification: Now it’s your turn to copy me and underline “a park.” With your grey lead pencil.

Elaboration: So Splodge and Humbug were looking for something and they found... a park. The word park is a word that tells us what they found. Who has been to a park before? What did you see/do at the park? A park is open space outside people go to play that often has some trees and grass, some playground equipment and maybe a picnic table (explain for EAL/D students). Colour the word park blue. Before the word park is the other word we underlined – a. A tells us that it was just any park. Maybea park they had never been to before. Look at the picture – are Splodge and Humbug playing at the park? No, it’s dark and they are probably a bit tired and a park is not exactly what they were looking for. The last thing to out is after the word park, there’s a funny little dot. See how the dot is next to the bottom of the k. Circle the dot with your grey lead pencil. This a full stop and we put those at the end of our sentence, when we have finished writing down an idea.

Words from text:

Preparation: See the next two words “Toowhit! Toowhoo!” are something someone said.

Elaboration: Toowhit and Toowhoo are what something says. We don’t know what this something is yet but the words are a clue. Let’s say it together. Do those words remind you of an animal? These words are like the sound an owl makes (bring out owl puppet and make sound!). We know an owl is up at night because it is a nocturnal animal. So Toowhit


Identification: Point to “Toowhit! Toowhoo!” and underline them with a grey lead pencil.

Toowhoo tells us there is an owl at the park, just by giving us the clue of how an owl sounds. That’s a pretty clever way to talk about an owl isn’t it! Let’s put yellow stars around the words Toowhit Toowhoo because they are what the owl says. We have a special word for this – it is called onomatopoeia and this is when a word sounds the same as the sound that word describes (explain for EAL/D students). After Toowhit is a tall line with a dot at the bottom. That’s what we call an exclamation mark. This shows that those words are said dramatically or loudly. Can you find 2 exclamation marks and circle them with your grey lead pencil (teacher models). Now let’s say Toowhit Toowhoo dramatically like the owl would have. Before the Toowhit is a funny little mark up in the air. And there is another one after the Toowhoo and the exclamation mark. These are speech marks so they show the words were said by someone. We already know who that is so let’s circle the speech marks with our grey lead pencil.

Words from text: called an owl Preparation: The next 3 words are “called an owl”. Point to these words that tell us what happened and who made the toowhit sound. Identification: Underline “called an owl” with your grey lead pencil.

Elaboration: Called is a word that tells us what happened. Calling is when you say something out loud so other can hear. Have you ever been in your room and your mum calls you to tell you it’s dinner time? And called had an ed on the end that shows it’s past tense like found. This is a story that has already happened. Let’s colour called in red because it tells us something happened. The next two words are an owl. See how the author has used the word an before owl instead of a owl like a park? That is because owl starts with a vowel. So it’s an if it’s before a word that begins with a vowel but a if it’s before any other word. Point to owl for me now. That’s the word that tells us who called. Colour that word that tells us who in blue – owl. (show owl)

Words from text: from a tall tree. Preparation: In the text the next 4 words “from a tall tree” are a phrase that tells us where. Identification: Let’s say those 4 words together “from a tall tree”. Now underline them. They are the

Elaboration: The first word is from, it tells us more about where. If I ask where are you from? You might tell me where you live or where you have come from. Where is owl from? We are about to find out where owl was when owl called Toowhit Toowhoo. Colour from in orange because it begins the phrase or group of words that tell us where. Now, let’s point to the next 3 words. a tall tree - the author has used a so it was any tree. But


words that tell us where owl was when owl called. This is a special group of words called a phrase because all together they tell us where.

the word tall describes the tree. It was tall – high up. Can you stand and reach up tall? Because this is a describing word, let’s colour it in green. The word tree is one of those words like park – it tells use what owl was in when he called – a tree. Colour tree in with your blue pencil. And now put a circle with your grey lead pencil around the full stop after tree because you already know why it’s there!

Words from text: As it flapped past Preparation: The first part of this sentence tells us what happened and when it happened. Identification: Point to the first 4 words of this sentence “As it flapped past,” and underline them with your grey lead pencil.

Elaboration: The first word is as. As is a special connecting word – a bit like and. There is a relationship between this part of the sentence and the next part – two things are happening at the same time. Underline as again. The next word is it. I wonder who it is? (owl). Yes, the owl. It is a word that refers to something that has already been talked about (explain for EAL/D students). Colour it blue as well because it tells who. The next word is flapped. Remember how we talked about past tense – something that has already happened? Can you flap your arms? (do this) Make sure there is space around you. Colour flapped in red because something is happened. What might the owl be flapping? The last word is past. It is a special little word that tells us where – where the owl flapped. Can you (student) come and walk past me? Colour past in orange because it tells us more about where. After past is a funny little squiggle – we call this a comma. It breaks up the sentence into two parts. The first part is that an owl flaps past and after the comma we are going to find out the other part. Circle the comma with your grey lead pencil.

Words from text: its wings whispered Preparation: The next 3 words tell us what else happened at the same time. Identification: Let’s read the next 3 words together “its wings whispered”. Now underline them with your grey lead pencil.

Elaboration: Our first word is a describing word so colour it green– its – its tell us whose wings. Remember it referred to the owl. Its is telling us it is the owl’s wings. Point to the second word – wings. This is what is doing the action (whispering) – colour this word blue. The next word – whispered- this is past tense and it tell us what happened so colour it red. It is a bit funny because whispering is something people do. whispered is past tense. Have you ever heard wings whisper before? Let’s have a go at whispering. (Play Chinese whispers). Listen to the whispers. See if you can image an owl’s wings making that sound. The author has chosen this word especially so


we can imagine the sound the owl’s wings make – because we are saying a owl is doing something people do, we have a special name for this - personification. So we better put some yellow stars around whispered too!

Words from text: in the cool night air. Preparation: The last part of this sentence is a phrase that tells us where. Identification: Underline the last 5 words in the sentence that tell us where “in the cool night air.”

Elaboration: So the owl is flapping its wings in something. How do you get in something? My car is in the carpark. Can you (student) walk just outside the classroom? Now walk back – now you are in the classroom. In is the word that begins the phrase telling us - where is the owl? In the cool night air. Colour in in orange. Point to the last word in the sentence – air this tells us what the owl is in so colour blue. Air is all around us – we breathe it – wave your hands through the air. Have you ever gone outside on a cold morning and blown some air out your mouth and seen the air? The author has chosen to use some lovely describing words to tell us what the air is like where the owl is. The first one is cool – not warm. The next word is night – this tells us it is dark. Colour cool and night in with your green pencil because they are describing words. Now it’s time to use our grey lead pencil to circle the full stop at the end of our sentence.

Words from text: “Is that you Thursday?” Preparation: Let’s read the next 4 words together “Is that you Thursday?”. This is a question. Identification: Let’s underline the question “Is that you Thursday?” with our grey lead pencil.

Elaboration: Let’s look at the funny squiggles first – remember speech marks? Find the speech marks – we put them at the beginning and the end of the words someone says. Circle the 2 sets of speech marks with your grey lead pencil. So we know someone is saying something – look at the end – after the word Thursday – there is a bendy line with a dot. Does anybody know what that is? It’s a question mark. It tells us someone is not just saying something, they are asking a question. Circle the question mark with your grey lead pencil. The third word, you tells us who the question is being asked to. You is a referring word and it is referring to the owl. Colour is you blue because it tell you who us being asked the question. Whoever is asking the question wants to know if the owl is Thursday. Thursday is a particular day of the week so we give it a capital letter. Thursday is what Splodge and Humbug are looking for so colour it in blue. The first word is is. This is a bit like the words that tell us what is happening because it is a verb but this verb is relating something. It is relating the you to Thursday.


Colour is red.

Words from text: called Splodge. Preparation: The last two words in this sentence tell us who asked the question and how. Identification: Underline “called Splodge” with your grey lead pencil.

Elaboration: The first word – called tells us how Splodge asked the question. He called out. He really wants to know where Thursday is. Colour called in red because it tells us what happened. Now the last word tells us who called? Splodge – that’s right – colour Splodge in blue because this word tells us who asked the question. Remember to use our grey lead pencil to circle the full stop at the end of our sentence.

Words from text: But there was no reply. Preparation: The last sentence tells us what happened after Splodge asked the question. Identification: Point to the last sentence – let’s read it together “But there was no reply.” – Underline this sentence with your grey lead pencil.

Elaboration: The first word is But. This is a connecting word that tells us what happens in this sentence is connected to the one before. But gives us the idea that exactly what Splodge wants is not going to happen. Underline but again because it is a connecting word. So Splodge asks a question but... there is no reply. Like in the question, was is a relating word that relates there to no reply. Was is in the past tense. Colour was red. The last two words are no reply. What is a reply? – a reply is an answer or a response. Splodge wanted an answer to his question but no reply is what he got instead. Colour reply blue because it tells us what Splodge didn’t get. Finally, use your grey lead pencil to circle the full stop at the end of this sentence.

Look back at the text and see that we have coloured all the nouns and pronouns blue, the verbs red, the describing words (or adjectives) green and the words that help us understand ‘where’ in orange (looks yellow). See how carefully Janeen Brian has chosen the words in these sentences so we can see a clear picture in our heads of what is happening and where (e.g. how she has introduced the owl using onomatopoeia).


Transformations for “Where does Thursday go?” Learning Outcomes: Students will understand the structure of the sentences and further understand the consequences of the author’ word choice. Assessment: Pair transformations memory: Students will work in pairs with a copy of the sentence on strips cut as in the transformations. One student will close their eyes and the other student will turn a few words/parts over. The other student then opens their eyes and tries to read the whole sentence with the missing parts. Cloze/illustration activity: Students will be given the excerpt of the text with some words missing and will fill in the appropriate words. They illustrate the excerpt text with at least 2 drawings. Teaching strategies: The teacher will explain to the students where in the text the sentences for the transformations have come from and that they have been chosen because they describe the action of a character with intention (Axford et al., 2009). Throughout the transformations lesson, the teacher will remind students of prior lessons by making connections to their learning about the text and keeping the focus on the words in the text. When teacher explains to students where to make the cuts, students will then show teacher where they are going to cut before using the scissors (Adoniou, 2013). And, when rearranging sentences, the teacher will have extra cardboard on hand for replacing capital letters or punctuation marks. Pronouns will be specifically highlighted to EAL/D learners as referring to something already mentioned in the text. Resources: Sentences written on cardboard strips Appropriate holder to display strips Scissors, black marker and spare cardboard Strips of transformation sentences for memory game Cloze activity sheet for assessment

Broad language focus for sequence: learn to describe the action of a character with intention, write complex sentences and sentences with marked theme Specific language foci for this lesson: complex sentences, adverbial phrases, onomatopoeia and marked theme

Script for text excerpt:

called an owl from a tall tree. As it flapped past, its wings whispered in the cool night air. (Brian, 2001, p.5)


Action What I will say to guide the students Sentence 1: called an owl from a tall tree. Cut 1: ‘Toowhit! Toowhoo!’

Remember the first two words are onomatopoeia, which is when the words are the same as the sound they make. The author has been really clever telling us there is an owl by using the words Toowhit Toowhoo which are the sound an owl makes. Can someone (student) come and cut just these two words for me? Point to where you’re going to cut. Yes, now let’s all read those words together.

Cut 2: called an owl

Then the author uses the next three words to tell us exactly who the character is and what the character did. Can someone (student) cut these next three words?

Cut 3: from a tall tree.

The last part of this sentence is a phrase that tells us where the character was. Can someone (student) come up and point to the last four words – from a tall tree. Yes. These words tell us where the owl was.

Cut 4: an owl

Who was the character? An owl – just one owl. Remember we talked about an means any owl – no owl in particular. And we use an instead of a because owl starts with a vowel. Now someone (student) can come and cut “an owl” too.

Re-arrange So, normally in English we write the first thing we want to reader to notice at the start of the sentence. Normally that is the character. Let’s rearrange our sentence, putting the character first. What do we need at the start – an owl – yes, is that how we start a sentence? (change an to An with capital letter) That looks better! So, An owl... did what? Yes called... And where did the owl call from? From a tall tree. And what did the owl call? Toowhit! Toowhoo! Let’s read this sentence – close your eyes and picture it in your head. An owl called from a tall tree. Toowhit! Toowhoo! Now let’s change it back (re-arrange sentence to original order). See how the author has done something very different, she wants us to hear the sound the owl makes before we see it. When we put something different we want the reader to picture first at the beginning of the sentence, we call this marked theme. Splodge and Humbug would have heard the sound before they saw the owl and the author wants us to know that.

Cut 5: tall

The author used a particular word describing the tree to tell us more about where the owl was. Can someone come and cut the word tall out of our phrase that tells us where?

Take away: tall

(turn the word tall around) Let’s read the sentence together now. Close your eyes and picture where the owl is. Now can someone (student) turn tall around. The author has used this word to describe the tree because she wants us to know the


sound the owl made came from a long way up. Maybe it sounded a bit spooky to Splodge and Humbug – remember how they didn’t see the owl at first – they heard it – and this was probably because it was high in the tree. Now, let’s read the whole sentence again and see if you can imagine Splodge and Humbug in the park and they hear an owl calling from a tall tree.

Sentence 2: As it flapped past, its wings whispered in the cool night air. Cut 1: As it flapped past,

This next sentence is telling us what the owl did next. Let’s cut the first 4 words. Remember this comma (point) breaks the sentence into two parts. Can someone (student) come and cut just after the comma for me?

Cut 2: As

Remember how the ‘As’ (point) told us there was a relationship between two things happening at the same time. Can someone (student) come and cut ‘As’ for me?

Cut 3: it

The next word tells us what flapped past – it – remember it is a referring word. It refers to something mentioned already. It is the owl. Can someone (student) come and cut “it” for me?

Cut 4: its wings whispered in the cool night air.

The other thing that was happening is the rest of the sentence is what we are up to. Let’s point and read “its wings whispered in the cool night air.” We have already cut that so we don’t need to. This could be a sentence all on its own, but because of the as in the earlier part of this sentence we know it is linked to what else is going on (this could be shown by turning around the first part of the sentence).

Cuts 5 & 6: its wing/s

What whispered? its wings. You know it refers to the owl so this mean’s the owl’s wings. Can someone (student) cut the 2 words its wings for me? And on the end of the word wing is a ‘s’. That tells us there is more than one wing. The owl has two wings and they both move at the same time. Can someone cut the ‘s’ off wings?

Cut 7: past

Now we are going to find out how the author tells us where the characters in the story are. Can someone come and cut the word that tells us where the owl flapped? Point to the word. Past, yes cut past.

Take away: past

(turn the word past around) Let’s read the sentence together now. Now can someone (student) turn past back. The author has used this word to tell us where the owl flew – she wants us to know the owl flew right past Splodge and Humbug. Let’s read “As it flapped past, its wings whispered in the cool night air.”

Cut 8: in the cool night air.

Janeen Brian really wants us to know where the characters in the story are so we can understand what happens. There is another phrase - a group of words – that tell us where. Where was the owl when its wings whispered? In the cool night air –


The author is explaining to us where the owl is. She uses the words cool and night to describe what the air feels like so we can imagine it. Can someone (student) come and cut those 5 words that tell us where the owl is for me?

Take away: in the cool night air

(turn the words in the cool night air around) I’ve just taken away our phrase that tells us where. Can someone (student) come and put the full stop after whispered (use pre-prepared full stop). Let’s read the sentence together now – As it flapped past, its wings whispered. This is still a complete English sentence, but the author wants us to know where the owl is flying. Now can someone (student) turn back over the part that tell us where the owl is. Yes, in the cool night air. Imagine what the air feels like on a cool night. Let’s read “As it flapped past, its wings whispered (emphasis on last part) in the cool night air.”


Word Study on words from “Where does Thursday Go?” Teaching strategies: Remind students how interesting and fascinating the English language is (not how complicated it is). Continue to refer to the words in the context of the text (Axford et al., 2009). Encourage EAL/D students to share their knowledge about language. It may not be necessary to explore all the different ways to study each word but many are suggested below. Outcomes & assessment Useful ways to study the word Activity Focus word: tree Learning outcome: Students will understand that words come from other languages by exploring the etymology of the word “tree”. Assessment: Students will locate countries/languages of origin on a map and present this to the class.

Etymology Oak trees were important in mythology and that is reflected in the recurring use of words for “oak” to mean “tree”. In Old and Middle English (450-1500), this was also a “thing made of wood”. Old English treo, treow “tree” (also “wood”) Proto-Germanic trewan Greek drys “oak” Serbian drvo “tree”, drva “wood” Lithuanian derva “pine wood” Old Irish “daur” Welsh derwen “oak” Albanian drusk “oak” (Harper, 2013)

Explain the etymology briefly, showing a picture of an oak tree http://www.pagan-heart.co.uk/articles/celticoaktree/ celticoaktree.html (if time, tell the story from the website). Split the class up into small groups, giving each group a language and the word that tree is related to (see Etymology information). Have them locate the country of origin for that language on the map (e.g. Greece for Greek). Students can then illustrate their word (drys “oak”). Students then present their findings to the class. Students from other language backgrounds can share how they say the word tree/oak/wood in their language.

Learning outcome: Students will understand the variability of letter-sound matches by finding words with the ‘ee’ spelling for the long ‘e’ vowel sound. (ACARA, 2013) Assessment: Work sample of students’ ‘ee’ word with illustration

Orthography Long ‘e’ vowel letter pattern ‘ee’ (English Channel, 2010)

Teacher explains that the long ‘e’ sound can be made with two e’s, such as in the following words: knee, tree, bee, see, feet, eel. Students use magic magnifying glasses (these are cut from envelope windows and you can only see the word through it of you hold it close-up) and authentic texts to search for words with the ‘ee’ spelling of the long e sound. Each student


will find a word (or more), write it on a small piece of paper and illustrate the word. Each student will then add their word to a class poster of ‘ee’ words. The teacher will be prepared to explain other long ‘e’ sounds with different letter patterns (e.g. ‘ea’ read).

Focus word: whispered

Learning outcome: Students understand that words have ancient origins. Assessment: Anecdotal records of student engagement with timeline activity.

Etymology Old English (450-1100) hwisprian “speak very softly” also from Latin murmurare “to hum, murmur, mutter” (Harper, 2013)

Whisper is a very old word. It even comes from Latin which is a ancient language (from Europe – Italy originally before there was a country called Italy) not spoken anymore. As a class, mark on a timeline the date of origin of the word whisper.

Learning outcome: Students will understand that adding the suffix ‘-ed’ to the end of a verb makes it past tense. Assessment: Tenses cloze activity

Morphology The suffix –ed makes a verb past tense.

Explain to the students that this word has two parts ‘whisper’ and a suffix (or ending) ‘-ed’. By adding the ending ‘-ed’ to a word, it indicates something happened in the past. Demonstrate cutting the –ed ending from the word. As a class, make a new sentence with the word whisper. Give students a cloze activity with two sentences and they have to choose which form of the word to use (whisper/whispered). Example: I __________ to my friend. Yesterday I ___________ to my friend. Extend the students by making further sentences (or adding to cloze activity) with tense/suffix variations such as will whisper, whispering, whispers.


Learning outcome: Students understand rules for adding the suffix ‘-ed’ to the end of a word. Assessment: Highlighted ‘ed’ endings and word sort.

Orthography -ed rule 1: simply add ‘-ed’ (Mallory, n.d.)

Students brainstorm verbs as a class with the teacher modelling how to add ‘-ed’. Students then write the words, highlighting the ‘-ed’ ending. Next, do a word sort (see next word – flapped activity).

Learning outcome: Students understand that two letters can blend to create a sound. Assessment: Students create a ‘wh’ word from playdough

Phonology wh- consonant blend

Explain to students that the ‘w’ sound can be made from the letters ‘w’ and ‘h’ (the ‘h’ is silent). Students form the letters of the blend ‘wh’ from playdough. Student use the blend to make a new word e.g. white, where. (SA Department of Education and Children’s Services, 2011)

Focus word: flapped Learning outcome: Students understand that words have ancient origins. Assessment: Anecdotal records of student engagement with timeline activity.

Etymology 14th c. - dash about/shake/to swing loosely/motion (Harper, 2013)

As a class, act out the origins of the word ‘flap’. Go outside and dash about. Come inside and mark on a timeline the date of origin of the word flap.

Learning outcome: Students will understand that adding the suffix ‘-ed’ to the end of a verb makes it past tense. Assessment: Writing sentences with flap/flapped

Morphology The suffix –ed makes a verb past tense.

Explain to the students that this word has two parts ‘flap’ and a suffix (or ending) ‘-ed’. By adding the ending ‘-ed’ to a word, it indicates something happened in the past. Demonstrate cutting the –ed ending from the word. Students are left with the extra ‘p’ (explain this in the next activity). As a class, make a new sentence with the word flap. Students write their own sentence for each of ten words: flap and flapped. Extend the students by making


further sentences with tense/suffix variations such as will flap, flapping, flaps.

Learning outcome: Students understand rules for adding the suffix ‘-ed’ to the end of a word. Assessment: Highlighted ‘ed’ endings and word sort.

Orthography -ed rule 2: if the word has one syllable, double the consonant and then add ‘-ed’ (Mallory, n.d.)

Word sort Teacher explains another rule for adding ‘-ed’ because in the word cut above students were left with an extra ‘p’. If the word has one syllable, the final consonant needs to be doubled before adding the ‘-ed’. Students brainstorm verbs as a class with the teacher modelling how to add ‘-ed’. Students then write the words, highlighting the ‘-ed’ ending. Next, give students verbs to sort by the rules they have learnt for ‘-ed’.

Focus word: wings Learning outcome: Students will understand that the etymology of the word affects the meaning of the word. Assessment: Observation of class discussion.

Etymology Late 12th c. wenge from Old Norse vaengr “wing of a bird”, Danish and Swedish vinge “wing” Root ‘we’ means to “blow” Replaced old English feora “wings/feather” 13th c. to be protected under someone’s wing Can also mean two divisions – of an army/political party

The teacher tells the story of the etymology of ‘wing’ and its meaning. Link this to other meanings of ‘wing’ by drawing on students’ knowledge of airplanes with wings and sports teams where players to the left and right can also be described in wing position.

Learning outcome: Students understand that adding –s to the end of a noun makes it plural. Assessment: Students write and illustrate a sentence with a plural word.

Morphology The suffix -s makes a noun plural

Start by cutting the ‘s’ off the word. Wing is singular – just one. Then add the ‘s’ to make it plural – more than one. Brainstorm some words and make them plural as a class. Have students think of their favourite thing and write this on a piece of paper. Add the ‘s’ to the word to make it plural. Model writing a sentence with a plural word.


Students finish by writing and illustrating a sentence with their plural word.

Focus word: night Learning outcome: Students identify the sounds in a word. Assessment: Students use counters to show how many sounds in a word.

Phonology Sounds in words: n-igh-t (Reithurg, 2002)

Say the word ‘night’. Have students listen for the sounds. What sound does it start with? n Next sound: i but spelt igh Last sound: t Have students write the word on their mini whiteboard. Students can place a counter under each sound in the word as they say it. This activity can be repeated with words from the word web created in the next activity.

Learning outcome: Students understand a common letter pattern for spelling ‘-ight’. Assessment: Student word webs of words that end in –ight.

Orthography Onset & rime: r-ight Common letter pattern: -ight

Explain that common letter patterns can help us to learn to spell words in English. Have students work in pairs with mini whiteboards to brainstorm words that have a similar letter pattern ‘–ight’ (e.g. light) to build a word web. Teach the other letter pattern for this sound as well (e.g. lite, kite).

Learning outcome: Students understand that the origin of the word affects it’s spelling pattern. Assessment: Student successfully research origin of word from word web that ends in –ight.

Etymology Old English - niht Aryan/German – darkness; day began night before at sunset e.g. Monday night is the night before Monday day (Harper, 2013)

Teacher explains the etymology of night using photos of sunset/day/night/calendar. In pairs students will research the origins of other words that end in –ight (from word web - see activity above). The class will find that many of these words have an origin in Old English and as such follow a similar spelling pattern.


Patterned writing inspired by “Where does Thursday go?” Learning outcome: The students will learn how to apply the following language features and structures to their own writing: describe the action of a character by writing sentences with

- marked theme and onomatopoeia - complex sentence structure with an adverbial phrase

Assessment: Independent patterned writing: Students write two sentences to describe the action of a character following the patterned writing template and illustrate them. Teaching strategies: The teacher will work with a small group of students who may need extra support when they are up to the patterned writing activity. The teacher/a capable peer will provide support to learners who can orally suggest sentences but do not yet have the skills needed to write them. Though the use of this template, even inexperienced writers can create a unique piece of text using literary language (Adoniou, 2013; Axford et al., 2009). Resources: Patterned writing sheet as A3 or on IWB Patterned writing sheets for students Focus sentences:

called an owl from a tall tree. As it flapped past, its wings whispered in the cool night air. Method: To begin with, the teacher will explain the sentences, re-emphasising what the language does. Jointly constructed writing: As a class, use the patterned writing template to write two sentences together (this provides a model for students when doing completing the template independently). Have students copy this sentence onto their sheet and read it aloud. Paired writing (this scaffold may not be necessary for all students): Students work in pairs to complete the patterned writing template, creating two sentences together. Individual patterned writing: Have students complete the patterned writing sheet independently creating their own sentences and then reading them back to themselves (and/or the teacher). Extend students by having them evaluate their sentences or write additional sentences. Have students write their sentences out on another sheet of paper and illustrate.


Patterned Writing and Independent Writing

The author says

called an owl from a tall tree. As it flapped past, its wings whispered in the cool night air.

What the language does

what the character said the character and

what the character did

where what happened what else happened where

You write

‘Slam! Slam!’ banged the

door

of the

dinosaur

museum.

As it swung shut, countless families

rushed

out of the

entrance.


References Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (2013). The Australian Curriculum:

English – Year 1. Retrieved October 12, 2013 from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/English/Curriculum/F-10#level=1

Adoniou, M., (2013, August 19). Scaffolding Literacy. Lecture [Audio]. Available in unit 7150 Scaffolding Literacy Education, Canberra ACT, University of Canberra.

Adoniou, M., (2013). Strategies to Support writing: Story Map. Tutorial Notes. Available in unit 6896 Language Education 2, Canberra ACT, University of Canberra.

Axford, B., Harders, P. & Wise, F. (2009) Scaffolding Literacy: An integrated and sequential approach to teaching reading, spelling and writing. Victoria, Australia: ACER Press.

Brian, J. (2001). Where does Thursday Go? Margaret Hamilton books, Scholastic Australia: Hunters

Hill, NSW. English Channel (2010). Long Vowel Sound Rules. Retrieved October 12, 2013 from http://tx.english-

ch.com/teacher/olay/level-a/long-vowel-sound-rules/ Franzone, B. & Wills, S. (2007). Big Rain Coming: Teaching Notes for National Accelerated Literacy

Program. Curriculum Corporation: Carlton South, VIC. Google Books (2012). Where does Thursday Go? Retrieved August 31, 2013 from

http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Where_Does_Thursday_Go.html?id=zJZtb2QuB7gC

Harper, D. (2012). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved March 15, 2013 from

http://www.etymonline.com/ Hertzberg, M. (2012). Teaching English Language Learners in Mainstream Classes. Primary English

Teaching Association Australia: Newtown, NSW. Mallory, K. (n.d.). English-Zone: Double Consonants. Retrieved March 20, 2013 from http://english-

zone.com/spelling/doubles.html

Reithaug, D. (2002). The 44 Phonemes. Orchestrating Success in Reading. Retrieved March 15, 2013 from http://www.maepd.org/NHRDsamples/To%20Deb%20Literacy%20to%20Post/WP%20Literacy%20Reading%201/Slide%2013%20Phonemes-Graphemes-Examples.pdf

SA Department of Education and Children’s Services. (2011). Spelling: from Beginnings to

proficiency. South Australia: Department of Education and Children’s Services. Development. Retrieved March 15, 2013 from

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/English/Curriculum/F-10#level=1

http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/olay/level-a/long-vowel-sound-rules/

http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/olay/level-a/long-vowel-sound-rules/



http://www.etymonline.com/

http://www.maepd.org/NHRDsamples/To%20Deb%20Literacy%20to%20Post/WP%20Literacy%20Reading%201/Slide%2013%20Phonemes-Graphemes-Examples.pdf

http://www.maepd.org/NHRDsamples/To%20Deb%20Literacy%20to%20Post/WP%20Literacy%20Reading%201/Slide%2013%20Phonemes-Graphemes-Examples.pdf


http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/literacy/files/pages/Programs%20and%20Resources/Spelling_resource_FINAL.pdf

Wikipedia (2013). Talking animals in fiction. Retrieved August 31, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_animals_in_fiction

Wing Jan, L. (2009). Write Ways: Modelling Writing Forms (3rd ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Oxford

University Press.

http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/literacy/files/pages/Programs%20and%20Resources/Sp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_animals_in_fiction

Scaffolding Literacy Education Assignment 1 – Scaffolding Literacy Package for Teachers

Student’s name: ____Naomi Findlay__________________________

Tutor’s signature: _________________________________________

Assessment criteria

Weight- ing

Not evident

Less than satisfactory

Satisfactory Competent Very Competent

Outstand- ing

A graphic overview - effectively communicates

4/70 0 1 2 2.5 3 4

Text selection - perceptive selection of language features worth teaching, followed through in the sequence

6/70 0 1 3 4 5 6

Contextual understanding - thorough identification of possible cultural gaps, and thoughtful and creative strategies for closing gaps

5/70 0 1 2.5 3 4 5

Text orientation - accurately reflects the teaching principles of SL for text orientations, including app. outcomes - clear links to original language outcomes for the sequence

8/70 0 1-3 4 5.5 6.5 8

Language orientation - accurately reflects the teaching principles of SL for LO, including app. outcomes - clear links to original language outcomes for the sequence - accurate talk about language

8/70 0 1-3 4 5.5 6.5 8

Overall Grade


Transformations - accurately reflects the teaching principles of SL for transformations, including app. outcomes - identifies the relevant teaching moments for the excerpt with links to the original outcomes for the sequence - accurate talk about language

8/70 0 1-3 4 5.5 6.5 8

Word study -words selected allow for useful teaching about English spelling - teaching about words is accurate - Interesting and varied teaching about words

8/70 0 1-3 4 5.5 6.5 8

Patterned writing - accurately reflects the teaching principles of SL, including app. outcomes - the pattern created is effective and likely to support writers

8/70 0 1-3 4 5.5 6.5 8

Assessment - Each lesson

contained

appropriate and

effective assessment

strategies

5/70 0 1 2.5 3 4 5

Creativity Lessons in the

sequence stayed true

to the theoretical

principles but offered

new, varied or

creative innovations,

which add value to

the sequence

6/70 0 1 3 4 5 6


Presentation - quality and clarity

- clear language use,

no errors in grammar

or spelling

- efficacy of sharing

with colleagues

4/70 0 1 2 2.5 3 4

Marking guide: High Distinction = 60 + Distinction = 53 + Credit = 45 + Pass = 35 + Fail = 0 - 35 Additional comments:

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Scaffolding Literacy Package - Wikispacesscaffoldingliteracy.wikispaces.com/file/view/Naomi+Findlay+3039056... · This lesson will continue to build context for the story throughout