Looking at texts through a conceptual lens: context by Melissa Tracy

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melspost — 2015-03-19 01:16:14 UTC

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Stage 3 - Yoko's Diary translated by Debbie Edwards

melspost — 2015-06-09 02:09:23 UTC

This text is written by a young Japanese girl who lived and died in Hiroshima during WWII. Her diary has been translated into English, but still holds the context of the author in the meaning.

Yoko’s Diary contains letters from her brother and the woman who nursed her after she was injured when the bomb hit, as well as her translated diary which recounts her life up the day of the bombing of Hiroshima.

The book, therefore contains material written from the same context, but from slightly different perspectives. Which might be interesting to explore with older students.

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Stage 3 - Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner

melspost — 2015-06-09 02:14:26 UTC

When looking at the context of culture it might be interesting to compare an iconic Australian text such as this with texts written by authors from other cultures. Focus on the language, the settings and the experiences of the characters, investigate Ethel Turner, where she grew up and discuss how her context may have influenced her writing.

Early Stage 1 - Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox

melspost — 2015-06-09 02:20:29 UTC

A text that explores context in more detail with young students would be Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge. In this text we see that the context of Wilfrid is different to the context of Miss Nancy.

Students could explore how different objects mean different things to people because of their experiences.

Early Stage 1

melspost — 2015-06-09 02:22:12 UTC

In early stage 1, students are exploring mostly the way they speak in different ways within different contexts. For example, how the speak to the principal will be different to how they speak to their friends (hopefully!)

So, lots of drama activities and role plays will help the students expand on these ideas. Using characters from stories that elicit particular stances or hold power in some way is also a great way to explore context with young students.

melspost — 2015-06-09 02:42:13 UTC

Stage 1 - Belinda by Pamela Allen

melspost — 2015-06-09 02:42:33 UTC

Would a book that is set on a farm and that involved farm chores, and farm animals, have a different effect on a reader from the city who had never visited the country? With books such as this, students can discuss what they already know about the story, or what they understand about the story because of what they bring from their own background. You could discuss with the students that Pamela Allen, who wrote Belinda, grew up on a farm and therefore knows all about life on a farm, but she may not be able to write about life in the city as she did not grow up there. Talk with the students about whether it makes a difference to a writer or a reader, if they know a lot about a topic or not when they read a book.

Stage 1 - Anthony Browne

melspost — 2015-06-09 02:43:46 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zywvoPkEUX0

melspost — 2015-06-09 02:47:05 UTC

Stage 1 - Anthony Browne

melspost — 2015-06-09 03:00:44 UTC

Anthony Browne is well known to students in this age group. In an interview with students, Anthony Browne discusses his father and the influence he had on him as a child and how that impacted the way he has written and illustrated some of his books, especially his book ‘My Dad’ and ‘My Mum’. In the interview he talks about how he uses events that happened to him as a boy to give him ideas for his stories. One idea from his childhood is that his father had a checked dressing gown which Anthony Browne uses on every page of his book ‘My Dad’. He talks about his father being a big man, like a gorilla, and this is one reason why he likes to draw gorillas and include them in his stories.

As part of a lesson, a section of the interview could be shown and discussed with the students, and then the students could talk about elements of his stories that may have been influenced by these ideas. Ideas that as readers, we would have no knowledge of if we didn’t investigate the context of the author.

melspost — 2015-06-09 03:11:45 UTC

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Stage 2 - Persuasive Texts

melspost — 2015-06-09 03:12:34 UTC

Looking at persuasive texts includes oral texts. Students can listen to a range of oral texts such as the news, political speeches or interviews, and advertisements and analyse the language the speaker is using.

Students discuss the purpose and audience of each of the texts and consider how the composer has attempted to relate that speech to an audience within a particular context. For example, the audience for an advertisement for a car will be attempting to appeal to an adult who can afford to buy a new car (what kind of person might this be?) and perhaps a person who is looking for a particular life style. Or, if the speech by a politician was during their campaign, students can discuss how much of what they say is influenced by the attempt to capture a vote from a particular section of the community.