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Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2019). Australian Curriculum: English P-10. Retrieved 21 March 2019 from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/english/

Johal. (2016). Homeless Man Does Breathtaking Act Social Experiment. Retrieved 24 March 2019 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS_yRy5EYQk

Marsden, J. (1993). Tomorrow, When The War Began. Australia: Pan Macmillan.

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Part two
Students are to choose from one of three events in the novel, Tomorrow, When The War Began, and write an imaginative text from the perspective of a different character. For example, in chapter 12, when Ellie finds Chris asleep at his post when he is supposed to be guarding, students could re-write that event in Chris' perspective. I have chosen three events below by way of example, but you could choose any you prefer, or even just one.

1. Chapter four - when Homer finds a snake in his sleeping bag (suggested point of view: Homer or Fi)
2. Chapter seven - when the group are being chased by soldiers, and Ellie blows up the lawn mower (suggested point of view: the soldier)
3. Chapter 12 - when Chris falls asleep on sentry duty (suggested point of view: Chris)

Students are to recreate the event from a new point of view, writing the event in first person. When they are finished and have proofread their own work, they should swap with a partner and get them to proofread and suggest changes to one another. Once they are satisfied with their work, they are to upload to the class blog.

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ABC News. (2018). Q&A: John Marsden says he would not have written the Tomorrow series today. Retrieved 23 March 2019 from: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-21/q&a-john-marsden-wouldnt-have-written-tomorrow-series-today/10144648

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2019). Australian Curriculum: English P-10. Retrieved 21 March 2019 from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/english/

Marsden, J. (1993). Tomorrow, When The War Began. Australia: Pan Macmillan.

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Now, divide the class into half. One half is to create an argument for, and the other against, the sentiment that the novel is racist. The teams will debate the issue in the next lesson and are to use at least one form of ICT to present their argument. This can be a still, such as above, a video clip, soundgrab etc. Each person only needs to touch on one point and speak for one to two minutes. There argument is to be informed, supported by evidence and justified.

At the end of the debate, students are to close their eyes and have a silent vote via a show of hands as to whether they think, after the debate, whether the text is racist or not. This should be followed by a class discussion as to why or why not it could be seen this way, and that there is potentially no correct answer - only different points of view.

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In pairs, students should discuss and write down if they think the book is racist or has racist tendencies. Why or why not?
Is it not racist because there is a person of Asian ethnicity as a main character? Or can it still be racist despite this? Why or why not?
Do you think Marsden writing of Asian people invading Australia would have created concern to those reading it at the time? Does it make it better or worse that this was the most likely threat of invasion at the time of publication?
What does xenophobia mean? Search the definition and write that down too.

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Part one

In pairs, students should then answer the following questions. They may re-watch the video, if needed, on their iPads.
1. What about Homer's language choices make this scene humorous? Explain.
2. What visually makes this scene humorous? Explain.
3. What sounds can you hear that make this scene humorous? Explain.
4. Why is Ellie doing the voice over? What impact does that have?
5. What effect does Ellie's voice over have when paired with Homer's scene?

Students should post their answers on the class blog.

Discuss answers as a class. Ask students why they think humour is important. Get them thinking about what the word really means. Does something that is humourous make you smile? Does it make you laugh? How does laughing make you feel? Following the discussion, students should fill out the last part of their KWL.

Then, explore 10 Comedic Shots with the class

Part two

Split the class into groups of five to six people. Instruct the students to appoint a director and choose a part of the novel they wish to film as a comedy scene. The scene does not have to be perfect, but the director should video on an iPad, while the others act out a scene in a humourous manner. They should take on board what has already been discussed as part of this activity and use a variety of shots and cuts. This should take about half an hour or so to film. Students then need to AirDrop the video onto each of their iPads, or share via GoogleDrive or DropBox to a computer, then use either MovieMaker or iMovie to edit their video into a short comedic film. Students may choose to use voiceovers, and should use some kind of music as a comedic effect. They may also wish to include titles, subheadings, other text, and GIFs and memes should they desire. Again, they should upload their videos to the class blog when completed. The class will then have a viewing of the videos at a later date.

Through this activity students will demonstrate their understanding of creating a visual text from a written text, and the impact video and sound can have on creating an intended effect - in this instance, humour. They will also demonstrate their abilities to use ICTs creatively.

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Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2019). Australian Curriculum: English P-10. Retrieved 21 March 2019 from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/english/

jeddabradley. (2011). Homer - Tomorrow when the way began. Retrieved 23 March 2019 from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMJC8ePmtu4

Marsden, J. (1993). Tomorrow, When The War Began. Australia: Pan Macmillan.

McAfee, R. (2017). 10 Comedic Camera Techniques Every Filmmaker Should Know. Retrieved 23 March 2019 from: https://blog.pond5.com/16424-10-comedic-camera-techniques-every-filmmaker-know/

Ogle, D. (2009).  Creating Contexts for Inquiry: From KWL to PRC2. Knowledge Quest.

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Students are then asked to fill out a KWL sheet, writing what they know about how humour is constructed through the use of language, sound and visual choices of the video clip, and what they think the intended effect of Ellie's voice over is. They are also to fill out what they would like to know. They are to leave the final part blank for now. KWL was created by Ogle in 1986 and is designed to engage students in their own learning. By allowing them a voice and getting them thinking about what they already know and what they want to know, they are given ownership of the learning experience. Not only this, but the teacher can better ascertain what their students currently know, and what gaps need to be bridged to be at the expected level (Ogle, 2009).

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Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2019). Australian Curriculum: English P-10. Retrieved 21 March 2019 from: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/english/

Marsden, J. (1993). Tomorrow, When The War Began. Australia: Pan Macmillan.

Wardell, J. (2017). S'all about vocab, innit?(positive impact of a vocabulary resource among high school students)(Tips & Techniques). Times Educational Supplement.

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Before beginning these activities, the class will need to read Tomorrow, When The War Began (1993) by John Marsden. Permission may be required from parents and/or guardians to view the film of the same name, due to its M-rating classification. For the sake of these activities, it is also assumed students will have access to iPads, although computers would serve the same function.

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This activity will focus on the following:
4.   an interest in expanding the range of materials listened to, viewed and read, and in experimenting with ways of expressing increasingly subtle and complex ideas to create effective and innovative texts.

It aims to achieve the following curriculum content descriptor:

Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate arguments, including texts that integrate visual, print and/or audio feature (ACELY1746)
Elaboration:

creating imaginative texts with main ideas developed through the interconnections of plot, settings, characters, the changing of chronological order, foreshadowing in written, spoken and digital texts

Intended outcome:
This activity is designed to get students thinking about and experiencing a perspective other than the one before them. By the end of the activity they will have created an imaginative text that presents a point of view from a different perspective.

Part one
The first part of this activity is to show the students their own point of view and have them gain an understanding of how their perspective is something that is fluid, and not set in stone.
Play the following video to the class as a warm up, stopping it at the below times to ask them the following questions.

0:35 - What do you think the homeless man's reaction will be to the money that was just placed on his bag? What do you think he will do with it? How do you think he ended up living on the streets? Would you talk to him or help him if you saw him or would you probably just ignore him?
1:41 - What do you think of him now that he has gone and spent the money? What do you think he bought from Target? Does is make you feel more or less positively towards him seeing as he went to Target, presumably to get some warm clothes and fresh underwear instead of using the money for drugs or alcohol?
2:41 - What do you think the homeless man is going to do next?
6:00 - What do you think of the homeless man now? Who has changed their opinion of the man? Who can see that their initial point of view can change over time and maybe their initial point of view is not always correct? Why?

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Homeless Man Does Breathtaking Act Social Experiment

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This activity will focus on the following:
3. the skill and disposition needed to analyse and understand the philosophical, moral, political and aesthetic bases on which many texts are built.

It aims to achieve the following curriculum content descriptors:

Interpret and compare how representations of people and culture in literary texts are drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1633)
Elaborations:

exploring and reflecting on representations of values (for example love, freedom, integrity) in literature drawn from cultures and times different from the students’ own

exploring and reflecting on personal understanding of the world and human experience, interpreted in literature drawn from cultures and times different from the students’ own

reviewing historical fiction or nonfiction written by and about the peoples of Asia

analysing literary texts created by and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (including documentaries, picture books, print texts and other multimodal texts) and also texts including film produced by and about peoples of Asian background, and considering the different ways these texts represent people, places, things and issues

Analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts, including media texts, can be influenced by cultural perspectives and other texts (ACELY1739)
Elaborations:

comparing perspectives represented in texts from different times and places, including texts drawn from popular culture

reflecting on the notion that all texts build on a body of prior texts in a culture

analysing and identifying how socio-cultural values, attitudes and beliefs are conveyed in texts, for example comparing and analysing perspectives about an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issue reported in commercial media compared to public and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media

Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate arguments, including texts that integrate visual, print and/or audio features (ACELY1746)
Elaborations:

presenting arguments that advance opinions, justify positions, and make judgments in order to persuade others about issues such the importance of maintaining balance in the biosphere

creating informative and argumentative texts with explanations, details and evidence

following the structure of an argument which has a series of sequenced and linked paragraphs, beginning with an outline of the stance to be taken, a series of supported points that develop a line of argument, and a conclusion which summarises the main line of argument

Intended outcome: By the end of the activity, students will be able to explain how people and cultures are explained in literary texts and compare perspectives represented in texts. Students will demonstrate an understanding of how socio-cultural values are conveyed in texts and review a nonfiction text written about the peoples of Asia.

Part one

Recently, the idea that Tomorrow, When The War Began is a racist text, has emerged.

As a class, students should read the following article:

Q&A: John Marsden says he would not have written the Tomorrow series today

August 21, 2018

A string of questions centred around race relations and immigration were directed at a panel of authors on Q&A's panel on Monday night.

On the desk with host Tony Jones were John Marsden, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Sofie Laguna, Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Trent Dalton.

Marsden was asked whether his Tomorrow series, starting with the 1993 novel Tomorrow When the War Began, helped raise a generation of Australians who feared foreign invasion.

"I hope not," Marsden said. "It was written 20 or so years ago when no-one talked about the security of Australia."

The seven-book series, which was later adapted to a movie, tells the story of a group of Australian teenagers banding together to try to fight a foreign power from invading and occupying Australia.
"I wouldn't write that book now — not because of a societal view but because of my own horror at the way refugees who have come to Australia have been treated," he said.
"When I see people who arrive here legitimately seeking refuge and shelter, and they are treated as the scum of the Earth and they are sentenced to awful detention and sometimes death by both major political parties without any apparent scruples or conscience exhibited by those parties, then that would put me in a very different position when it came to writing a book about threats to Australia, because demonising people like that is unforgiveable and it's disgusting and it's an ongoing obscenity in our lives."

Mohammed Ahmad, whose latest novel The Lebs takes on the perspective of young Muslim people in Sydney's west, disagreed with Marsden, saying he could remember the xenophobia decades ago when Marsden's Tomorrow series was first published.
"I remember growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney where there was tremendous xenophobia towards the Vietnamese-Australian community," he said.

"With all due respect, the language of the book and the implications in the book genuinely impacted and damaged the lives of a lot of the young people that I grew up around.

And for me, reading, it's not about the ability to put words together, it's about the ability to pull words apart.
"When I pulled the words apart in the Tomorrow series I did interpret a paranoid, white nationalist fantasy about a group of coloured people illegally invading this country, and I always find that narrative deeply ironic because that's what the white population did to the Indigenous population."

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This activity will focus on the following:
2.   fluency and innovation in listening to, reading, viewing and creating texts for different purposes and contexts.

It aims to achieve the following curriculum content descriptor:

Experiment with the ways that language features, image and sound can be adapted in literary texts, for example the effects of stereotypical characters and settings, the playfulness of humour and pun and the use of hyperlink (ACELT1638)
Elaborations:

making language choices and choosing particular language devices to achieve intended effects, for example building in a surprise or twist in the ending of a short story or final scene of a film

taking an existing short story, poem, play or speech in print form and creating a short visual text which is accompanied by a sound track containing music and sound effects, and which is intended to amuse audiences who are familiar with the original text

Intended outcome: By the end of this activity, students will be able to demonstrate how language choices, music, sound and visual shots can contribute to humour by taking a written text and turning it into a visual text.

Note: This activity may take place over a number of consecutive lessons.

Activity
Students, who will have previously viewed the film Tomorrow, When The War Began (2010), are instructed to watch the following YouTube clip:

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This activity will focus on the following:
1.   an expanding vocabulary and grasp of grammatical and textual patterns sufficient to understand and learn from texts encountered in and out of school.

It aims to achieve the following curriculum content descriptor:

Identify how vocabulary choices contribute to specificity, abstraction and stylistic effectiveness (ACELA1561)
Elaboration: comparing and contrasting vocabulary choices in informative and narrative texts, considering how they are used to create precise information, abstract ideas and/or stylistic interpretations of texts

Intended outcome: By the end of the activity, students should be using more complex vocabulary and actively seeking out alternate adjectives.

Activity

Teacher Justin Wardell (2017) noticed his students' vocabulary was not where it needed to be, so employed a technique where students were to use a new word, assigned at random, during their lesson each day. As a result, he found not only was his students' vocabulary improving, but they were genuinely excited about the challenge of using the new words. This activity will be derived from his technique.

As the students walk into the classroom, they are to pick a word at random, out of a hat. These words will be printed on little pieces of paper and will be chosen by you, the teacher. I have included a list of words below as an example, but you can use the random adjective generator to give you ideas.

Random words:
Supreme, deadpan, colossal, wary, incandescent, meaty, insidious, offbeat, gutsy, agonising, ripped, abrupt, hideous, raspy, pale, vigorous, bizarre, harrowing

Students are instructed they are to use this word by the end of the lesson, either verbally or as part of the written activity by the end of the lesson. They will be rewarded whether it was used correctly or not, as long as they made an attempt. The reward is anything of the teacher's choosing.

Part one

Students should have a copy of the novel Tomorrow, When The War Began. Students need to open their book to Chapter One, and the teacher will pull the following excerpt up on the interactive whiteboard. Together, they read the paragraph as a class.

The teacher will then choose students to approach the whiteboard, and underline the adjectives, after giving an example themselves. As a class, students will then decide which adjectives could have other adjectives used in its place. For example, when Ellie writes "I’m down at the creek now, sitting on a fallen tree. Nice tree. Not an old rotten one that’s been eaten by witchetty grubs but a young one with a smooth reddish trunk and the leaves still showing some green", students could suggest instead of saying "nice tree", she could have said "lovely tree" or "beautiful tree". Instead of "old rotten one", she could have said "ancient decaying one" or "decrepit one".

Part two

Students are then to work individually to use vocabulary to change the meaning of another paragraph, further into the first chapter. This will show the students how vocabulary choices can create a different interpretation of the text. Students can use thesaurus.com on their iPads to find antonyms and synonyms. Here is a paragraph as an example:

An example of how students could rewrite the text is like this:
"Well, I'd better stop biting my tongue and start biting the bullet. There are many ways to do this and that is to tell it as I remember it. I know recording it on our phones is insignificant to us. That's why we all got so exasperated when Robyn advised it. It's awfully, dreadfully unimportant. Recording what we've done, in pictures, on the internet, it cannot be our way of telling everybody that we mean something, we don't matter. That the things we've done have made no difference. I know how small of a difference, no difference. Recording it does not mean we will be remembered. And by God that does not matter to us. None of us cares if we end up as a pile of expired white bones, unnoticed and unknown."

Students are to type their paragraph out on their iPads and add it to the class blog. The teacher will then choose two or three students to get their blog entry up on the data projector, and then follow with a whole class discussion on what words were changed and what impact that has had on the message the paragraph now conveys.

Don't forget to see if your student's used their nominated word that was chosen at the start of the class, either during their writing activity, or verbally throughout the lesson and reward them accordingly.

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An effective use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) will be prevalent throughout the four lessons. It is essential ICTs are included in lessons as students of the 21st century are digital natives and connect will with technology. Not only this, but they will be entering a workforce where a high proficiency in technology is expected, and many of the career paths these students may follow may not even exist yet. The below video by The Feed SBS is about anticipated jobs for the future, and if you pay attention closely, you will notice almost all of these careers involve a thorough knowledge of technology.

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Jobs of the future: what will yours be? I The Feed

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Welcome to this online resource for Looking at "Literacy is Language in Use".

This resource will provide four activities that align with four of the five key ideas derived from the Australian Curriculum: English as listed in the next text box. Each will give pre-service teachers ideas and explanations as how to best implement these strategies in a Year 9 English classroom, and why these activities are appropriate to achieving the aims of the curriculum.
The Australian Curriculum and Assessment Reporting Authority (ACARA) has identified five key ideas that encompass Literacy is Language in Use. Below are the four that this resource will provide learning activities for. The fifth will not be covered in this resource.

1.   an expanding vocabulary and grasp of grammatical and textual patterns sufficient to understand and learn from texts encountered in and out of school.

2.   fluency and innovation in listening to, reading, viewing and creating texts for different purposes and contexts.

3.   the skill and disposition needed to analyse and understand the philosophical, moral, political and aesthetic bases on which many texts are built.

4.   an interest in expanding the range of materials listened to, viewed and read, and in experimenting with ways of expressing increasingly subtle and complex ideas to create effective and innovative texts.

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Welcome to this online resource for Looking at "Literacy is Language in Use".

This resource will provide four activities that align with four of the five key ideas derived from the Australian Curriculum: English as listed in the next text box. Each will give pre-service teachers ideas and explanations as how to best implement these strategies in a Year 9 English classroom, and why these activities are appropriate to achieving the aims of the curriculum.