DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND CHILDREN’S SERVICES
Unit plan
Name
C2C
Unit 2: Enjoying and retelling stories
English
Year Level
Transition
Teacher
Unit
2
Class
Duration
10 weeks
Unit Outline
In this unit, students will listen to and engage with a range of literary and non-literary texts with a focus on exploring how language is used to entertain through retelling events.
They engage in multiple opportunities to learn about language, literature and literacy within the five contexts of learning — focused teaching and learning, play real-life
situations, investigations, and routines and transitions. Students will sequence events from a range of texts and select a favourite story to retell to a small group of classmates.
Students will prepare for their spoken retelling by drawing events in sequence and writing simple sentences.
Curriculum intent:
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Content descriptions
Language/Cultural Considerations
Teaching Strategies
Language
Literature
Literacy
Language variation and change
Literature and context
Texts in context
Understand that English is one of many languages
spoken in Australia and that different languages may be
spoken by family, classmates and community
EAL/D students may be bilingual with learning
experience in at least one other language. Maintenance
of their first language is important to their English
language learning.
When exploring different languages spoken in Australia,
investigate the languages used in the classroom and by
 Recognise that texts are created by authors who
tell stories and share experiences that may be
similar or different to students’ own experiences
 Identify some familiar texts and the contexts in which they
are used
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Responding to literature
 Respond to texts, identifying favourite stories,
authors and illustrators
 Understanding
humour
usually
requires
advanced language skills and insider cultural
knowledge, and this is very challenging for
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Interacting with others
 Listen to and respond orally to texts and to the
communication of others in informal and structured
classroom situations
 Use interaction skills including listening while others
speak, using appropriate voice levels, articulation and
body language, gestures and eye contact
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students’ families at home.
Ask students to share words and texts from their first
language and display these in the classroom to assist
all students to learn new words in languages other than
English.
Language for interaction
Explore how language is used differently at home and
school depending on the relationships between people
Some students may use language dialects at home that
differ from the way language is used in the school
setting. One use of language is not better or worse than
another. They are simply different, and it is important
not to assign values to those differences
Explicitly teach ways to use English appropriately in
school, taking into account audience and purpose. For
example
informal language of classroom
speaking to teachers
academic-specific language..
Understand that language can be used to explore ways
of expressing needs, likes and dislikes
The vocabulary of feelings and emotions is challenging
for EAL/D students, as it is often abstract. Often,
language is learned through visual reinforcement, and
this is not always possible for abstract nouns. EAL/D
students are more likely to know this vocabulary in their
first language.
Classroom discussions can be used to teach new
vocabulary to EAL/D students. When students
contribute ideas and vocabulary to discussion, teach
that contribution back to the whole class to ensure that
EAL/D students have shared understanding while
simultaneously building their vocabulary. For example,
act out ‘miserable’, or draw facial expressions for ‘sad’,
‘excited’ and so on.
Ask parents or bilingual assistants to assist in
translating abstract emotions.
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EAL/D students in the early phases of their
EAL/D learning progression.
When using ‘funny’ stories to engage the class,
take some time to explain jokes to EAL/D
students.
Share feelings and thoughts about the events
and characters in texts
EAL/D students in the Beginning and Emerging
phases of English language learning have
limited vocabulary. Additionally, the vocabulary
of feelings and emotions is often abstract it is
challenging for EAL/D students in all phases of
their EAL/D learning progression.
Not all cultures value the sharing of feelings. For
some EAL/D students this may be confronting,
embarrassing or just unfamiliar. Be aware that
some students’ reticence to contribute may be
for cultural reasons.
Use visual reinforcement to teach the
vocabulary of feelings and emotions.
 Ask parents or bilingual assistants to assist, as
the students may know this vocabulary in their
first language.
 Use texts from the students’ first language to
model and prompt language.
 Allow EAL/D students time and space to
become contributors to classroom discussions.
One– on– one interactions and small group
work can support this.
Examining literature
 Identify some features of texts including events
and characters and retell events from aEAL/D
students in the Beginning and Emerging phases
of language learning have limited vocabulary
and understanding of beginning sentence
structures. This means that they will be limited
in their retells. Text
 Use stories that are familiar to the students, and
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 Body language, ‘personal space’ and gestures are linked
to culture, and some EAL/D students will use and
interpret body language gestures differently. For
example, a nod of the head means ‘no’ in Greece and in
many Middle Eastern countries; eye contact can indicate
respect (or a lack thereof) in different cultures.
 Be aware of different interpretations of gesture when
dealing with EAL/D students, recognising that
inappropriate
behaviour may be
cultural
and
unintentional, rather than deliberate. Model behaviours
deemed appropriate in the classroom. Parents and others
who share the same linguistic and cultural background
can help with information.
 Deliver short oral presentations to peers
Interpreting, analysing, evaluating
 Identify some differences between imaginative and
informative texts
 Hypothesising in English requires conditional language
structures that will be difficult for EAL/D students as they
require the use of multiple verb structures and tenses (for
example I think this book will be good for learning about
dinosaurs).
 Provide strong and repeated oral models of a range of
sentence and language structures for EAL/D students,
and allow them many opportunities to use these.
 Use comprehension strategies to understand and discuss
texts listened to, viewed or read independently
 Read predictable texts, practising phrasing and fluency,
and monitor meaning using concepts about print and
emerging contextual, semantic, grammatical and phonic
knowledge
 Contextual and visual information that we often assume is
supportive of learning is often culturally loaded. EAL/D
students may not have experience with the cultural
context or images of books (for example the bush and
Australiana in Mem Fox’s Possum Magic).
 Build a shared knowledge about the events of the books
being read. Prior to reading, talk through the images in
the book, paying attention to those which may represent
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Explicitly teach ways to use language appropriately
depending on context and relationship between
speaker and listener. Role play is an excellent vehicle
for this kind of explicit teaching in the early year levels.
Text structure and organisation
Understand that texts can take many forms, can be
very short (for example an exit sign) or quite long (for
example an information book or film) and that stories
and informative texts have different purposes
EAL/D students who are new to Australia or who live in
remote areas may not have an understanding of some
of the signs and stories that we may assume are
shared knowledge (for example an EXIT sign, nursery
rhymes).
When showing ‘everyday’ examples of texts, provide
background information on their meaning (for example
EXIT signs and STOP signs – what do they mean?).
Share texts from the students’ home language if
appropriate (for example a newspaper from home).
What does the road sign for STOP look like in their
country of birth? (NB: the red hexagonal symbol is
universal and therefore recognisable for young
students).
Understand that some language in written texts is
unlike everyday spoken language
Not all languages have written traditions, and for
students
from
these
cultural
backgrounds
understanding the differences between written and
spoken language is even more challenging as they
don’t bring a print awareness with them to the
classroom.
Some students may have limited or no print literacy –
not simply because they are young, but because they
come from a linguistic background that has no tradition
of print literacy. These students will require additional
time and explicit support in understanding that the
spoken word can have a print representation.
Understand that punctuation is a feature of written text,
different from letters; recognise how capital letters are
used for names, and capital letters and full stops signal
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provide scaffolds into the retell. EAL/D students
in the Beginning and Emerging phases could
put visuals of main events into the correct
sequence, while Developing phase students
could match words and pictures using a
teacher’s modelled example.
 Recognise some different types of literary texts
and identify some characteristic features of
literary texts, for example beginnings and
endings of traditional texts and rhyme in poetry
 All cultures have rich literary traditions, either
oral or written, or both. These traditions can be
drawn upon when identifying texts to examine in
the classroom.
 Invite EAL/D students to share favourite stories
from their own lives, understanding that these
may sometimes be oral stories. Family
members and bilingual assistants, where
available, can be helpful in identifying traditional
and favourite stories
unfamiliar situations.
Creating texts
 Create short texts to explore, record and report ideas and
events using familiar words and phrases and beginning
writing knowledge
 EAL/D students will not have an extensive vocabulary to
draw upon for attempting their own writing of texts.
 Allow EAL/D students to use drawings to communicate,
and the teacher can label these to build English
vocabulary.
 Produce some lower case and upper case letters using
learned letter formations
Creating literature
 Retell
familiar
literary
texts
through
performance, use of illustrations and image
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the beginning and end of sentences
Punctuation varies in different languages. In some
languages it does not exist, and in other languages the
symbols used are different (for example in German all
nouns are capitalised, while some languages have no
capitals).
Explicitly teach punctuation in context, ensuring that
EAL/D students understand both the punctuation
symbol and its function.
Understand concepts about print and screen, including
how books, film and simple digital texts work, and know
some features of print, for example directionality
Some languages have different print conventions from
English, and some EAL/D students with first language
print literacy may have different expectations of print
direction.
Not all languages have written traditions, and for
students
from
these
cultural
backgrounds
understanding the differences between written and
spoken language is even more challenging as they
don’t bring a print awareness with them to the
classroom.
Mark the starting place on worksheets.
Use a pointer to model directionality when reading big
books.
When students attempt reading, have them point to the
words or assist by holding the student’s finger.
Some students may have limited or no print literacy –
not simply because they are young, but because they
come from a linguistic background that has no tradition
of print literacy. These students will require additional
time and explicit support in understanding that the
spoken word can have a print representation. finger.
Some students may have limited or no print literacy –
not simply because they are young, but because they
come from a linguistic background that has no tradition
of print literacy. These students will require additional
time and explicit support in understanding that the
spoken word can have a print representation.
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Expressing and developing ideas
Recognise that sentences are key units for expressing
ideas
Word order differs in all other languages, and so
English sentence structures will be new for all EAL/D
students. In English, meaning is governed by word
order to a greater extent than in many other languages.
Some EAL/D students with first language print literacy
may have different expectations of word order and
directionality of print.
EAL/D students do not have an intuitive sense of the
English language and cannot easily self– correct. Even
EAL/D students in the Developing phase do not have
enough broad experiences of English to recognise all of
what is possible with English sentence structure. Do not
rely on student self– correction or prompt questions
such as ‘Does that sound right?’ Explicitly teach
sentence structure by demonstrating what is possible
with word order and what is not. Engage EAL/D
students with frequent experiences of hearing English
texts read aloud.
Recognise that texts are made up of words and groups
of words that make meaning
Words remain the same each time we read.
Not all languages have written traditions, and for
students
from
these
cultural
backgrounds
understanding the links between written and spoken
language is even more challenging as they don’t bring a
print awareness with them to the classroom.
Mainstream students can bring their spoken vocabulary
to the task of learning how utterances can be
expressed in written words. When the teacher points to
the word ‘chair’, mainstream learners understand the
meaning of the spoken utterance ‘chair’ and can attach
meaning to the written word. EAL/D students may not
have the spoken vocabulary, and therefore meaning is
not achieved. Thus, an understanding of how print
works requires more time and more teaching.
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Ensure that visuals or real– life objects accompany
written words to help EAL/D students make the
meaning connection.
Use everyday texts cut up into words and reassemble
them to make meaning.
Explore the different contribution of words and images
to meaning in stories and informative texts
Visuals themselves are not culturally neutral, and
sometimes require as much explanation as words.
develop and extend vocabulary (multiple meanings)
and link to images– descriptive vocabulary to enhance
meaning.
Classroom discussions can be used to teach new
vocabulary to EAL/D students. When students
contribute ideas and vocabulary to discussion, teach
that contribution back to the whole class to ensure that
EAL/D students have shared understanding while
simultaneously building their vocabulary. A variety of
visuals (for example several images of a letterbox in
different contexts rather than one which may be
unfamiliar), or acting out new vocabulary (for example
using a ‘whispering’ voice or a ‘mumbling’ voice) can be
an aid to vocabulary teaching.
Understand the use of vocabulary in familiar contexts
related to everyday experiences, personal interests and
topics taught at school
Know that spoken sounds and words can be written
down using letters of the alphabet and how to write
some high-frequency sight words and known words
Not all languages are alphabetic. Some EAL/D students
will have experiences with other languages that are not
alphabetic (for example logographic languages such as
Chinese, syllabic languages such as Korean) or with
alphabetic languages that have different scripts such as
Russian.
Even if students are not writing in their first language,
they may be surrounded by first language print at
home, and this will impact upon their initial attempts at
writing in English.
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However, not all languages have written traditions, and
for students from these cultural backgrounds
understanding the differences between written and
spoken language is even more challenging as they
don’t bring a print awareness with them to the
classroom.
Find out the first language print experiences of EAL/D
students in the class.
While teaching the connections between sounds and
print, identify students who have limited or no print
literacy – not simply because they are young, but
because they come from a linguistic and cultural
background that has no tradition of print literacy. These
students will require additional time and explicit support
in understanding that the spoken word can have a print
representation.
Provide examples of English print such as name cards,
wall charts, posters and signs.
Sound and letter knowledge
Recognise the letters of the alphabet and know there
are lower and upper case letters
Capitalisation of words is specific to individual
languages. For non-alphabetic languages, capitalisation
is non-existent, and capitalisation differs among the
alphabetic languages (for example in German all nouns
are capitalised, while some languages have no
capitals).
English letters range in the congruence between the
upper case and lower case – from the very similar Ss –
to the dissimilar Qq – and this can be particularly
confusing for EAL/D students new to experiences with
the English alphabet.
Explicitly teach the purpose of upper-case letters, and
make clear the differences between upper-case and
lower-case letters, particularly when they are quite
dissimilar (for example Qq, Rr, Ee, Dd).
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General capabilities and Cross-curriculum priorities
Literacy
Students will:
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comprehend texts through listening, viewing and reading
compose texts through speaking, writing and creating
understand, read or view a range of texts with different structures for varying purposes
understand and create texts using text features and grammar
understand and apply word knowledge
understand and interpret visual knowledge.
Numeracy
Students will:
 understand and demonstrate the use of sequencing familiar events in time order
 understand and demonstrate the use of one to one correspondence when counting words in a sentence
 understand and demonstrate how to keep a tally of attending audience members.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
Students will be developing skills in:
Managing and operating ICT:
 use digital technologies efficiently
 select appropriate combinations of digital hardware and software to match the needs of the user and the task
 use software to manage and maintain information in digital files
Creating with ICT:
 generate products or solutions for challenges and learning tasks
Critical and creative thinking
Students will:
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inquire through identifying, exploring and clarifying information
generate and develop ideas and possibilities
analyse, evaluate and synthesise information
reflect on thinking, actions and processes.
Ethical behaviour
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Students will:
 act with regard for others
 develop concern for and understanding of others
 understand ethical concepts and recognise the moral domain.
Personal and social competence
Students will:
 understand and empathise with others’ emotions and viewpoints
 cooperate and communicate effectively with others.
Intercultural understanding
Students will:
 understand that people have many ways of knowing and being in the world
 appreciate Australia’s social, cultural, linguistic and religious diversity
 think critically about their point of view and the point of view of others to facilitate shared understanding to cultivate values and the dispositions of empathy, respect and
responsibility.
Cross-curriculum priorities
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture
Students will develop an awareness and appreciation of, and respect for, the historical and contemporary literature of Aboriginal peoples and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The embedding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into the curriculum requires more than addressing curriculum and pedagogy. To ensure holistic learning,
teachers need to address the other realms of the Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in Schools (EATSIPS) framework; these are: personal and
professional accountability, community engagement and organisational environment.
Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
Students will explore and appreciate the rich tradition of texts from and about the peoples and countries of Asia, including texts written by Asian Australians.
Relevant prior curriculum
This unit acknowledges the diversity of prior school learning, capabilities, knowledge and interests. Each student’s ideas and prior knowledge are used to develop challenging
and connected learning opportunities to accommodate the needs of all students.
This unit builds on the teaching and learning from Unit 1 Transition — Exploring our world.
The Australian Curriculum: English scope and sequences for Language, Literature and Literacy: Transition (F) – 6 provides an overview of the sub-strands for each year level.
Curriculum working towards
The teaching and learning in this unit works towards the following in Year 1:
 understanding that language is used in combination with other means of communication, for example facial expressions and gestures, to interact with others
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identifying parts of a simple sentence that represent ‘What is happening?’, ‘Who or what is doing or receiving the action?’ and the circumstances surrounding the action
discussing characters and events in a range of literary texts and sharing personal responses to these texts, making connections with their own experiences
recreating texts imaginatively using drawing, writing, performance and digital forms of communication
making short presentations using some introduced text structures and language, for example opening statements.
Supportive learning environment
Differentiation
What do your learners already know, do and value? Where do the learners need and want to be? How do the learners best learn?
Consider the individual needs of all students, including English as an additional language/ dialect, gifted and talented and special needs, and provide learning experiences that
are accessible to and respectful of the diversity of students’ cultural backgrounds.
Start from where your students are at and differentiate teaching and learning to support the learning needs of all students. Plan and document how you will cater for individual
learning needs.
The learning experiences within this unit can be differentiated by increasing the:
 frequency of exposure for some students
 intensity of teaching by adjusting the group size
 duration needed to complete tasks and assessment.
For guided and/or independent practice tasks:
 student groupings will offer tasks with a range of complexities to cater for individual learning needs
 rotational groupings that allow for more or less scaffolding of student learning
 use of audio recordings of written texts.
Feedback
How will I inform learners and others about the learner’s progress?
Feedback is information and advice provided by a teacher, peer, parent or self about aspects of someone’s performance. The aim of feedback is to improve learning and is
used to plan what to do next and how to teach it. Teachers and students use feedback to close the gap between where students are and where they aim to be. Teachers use
self-feedback to guide and improve their teaching practice.
Establish active partnerships between students, teachers and parents to find out:
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what each student already knows
how each student is going
where each students needs to go next.
Ensure feedback is timely, ongoing, instructive and purposeful.
Feedback may relate to reading, writing and speaking throughout the unit. In this unit this may include students’:
 sequencing of events using texts that have been read to them
 understanding of concepts of print when reading and re-reading familiar texts
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beginning sound and letter knowledge
understanding of writing conventions when writing simple sentences
spoken communication skills in a classroom setting, when speaking individually and in small groups.
Use feedback to inform future teaching and learning.
Reflection on the unit plan
Identify what worked well during and at the end of the unit. Compile a reflective list for future planning.
Reflection may include:
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activities that worked well and why
activities that could be improved and how
monitoring and assessment that worked well and why
monitoring and assessment that could be improved and how
common errors that need, or needed, to be addressed (e.g. grammar, spelling, punctuation)
differentiation and future student learning needs.
Assessment
How will I check the learners have made progress?
Assessment is the purposeful, systematic and ongoing collection of information as evidence for use in making judgments about student learning.
Principals, teachers and students use assessment information to support improving student learning. Feedback from evaluation of assessment data helps to determine
strengths and weaknesses in students’ understanding. Students should contribute to an individual assessment folio that provides evidence of their learning and represents their
achievements over the year. The folio should include a range and balance of assessments for teachers to make valid judgments about whether the student has met the
achievement standard. Refer to Year level plan for more assessment information.
Monitoring student learning
Monitoring and assessing is an integral part of the teaching and learning process in Transition. Students require opportunities to demonstrate their learning across the five
contexts of learning.
Evidence of student learning may include:
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observation of students’ learning demonstrations in small group activities
personalised checklists with anecdotal records
artefacts that students produce that demonstrate capabilities
images (photographs) and recordings (audio, video) of learning and development.
Student learning should be monitored throughout the teaching and learning process to determine student progress and learning needs.
Each lesson provides opportunities to present and gather feedback about how students are going and where they need to go next. Specific monitoring opportunities in this unit
include:
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Monitoring tool for reading
Collect information using the Monitoring tool for reading to monitor students’ understanding of:
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concepts of print
beginning letter and sound knowledge
rhyme
syllables
Weeks 1 and 2 — Personal recounts
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activating and using prior knowledge to comprehend an oral recount
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using picture clues to read and comprehend text
discussing the pictures, ideas, characters and events in a story
sequencing a series of events
understanding and using emerging knowledge of concepts of print
demonstrating emerging understandings of conventional symbol systems
Weeks 3 and 4 — Recount in literature
sequencing a series of events
demonstrating use of emerging understandings of conventional symbol systems
identifying some features of print in written text
isolating letter sounds to help with writing words
Weeks 5 and 6 — Stories to tell
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comprehending text by activating and using prior knowledge and making connections to own experiences
identifying concepts of print including capitals, words, letters and their sounds
using knowledge of the concepts of print to write a simple sentence
identifying entertaining storytelling behaviours
discussing characters in stories
Weeks 7 and 8 — Retell a story
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identifying and sequencing events in a familiar story
sharing thoughts and feelings about events and characters
writing a simple sentence and drawing an illustration to retell a story
retelling a story
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 reflecting on the retell
Assessing student learning
Assessment — Retelling a familiar story or recount
Students demonstrate comprehension of a story through retelling events in the correct sequence in an informal setting.
This assessment provides opportunities to gather evidence of student learning in:
Language
Text structure and organisation
 Understand concepts about print and screen, including how books, film and simple digital texts work, and know some features of print, for example directionality
Expressing and developing ideas
 Know that spoken sounds and words can be written down using letters of the alphabet and know how to write some high-frequency sight words and known words
Literature
Examining literature
 Identify some features of texts including events and characters and retell events from a text
Creating literature
 Retell familiar literary texts through performance, use of illustrations and images
Literacy
Interacting with others
 Use interaction skills including listening while others speak, using appropriate voice levels, articulation and body language, gestures and eye contact
 Deliver short oral presentations to peers
Interpreting, analysing, evaluating
 Use comprehension strategies to understand and discuss texts listened to, viewed or read independently
Creating texts
Create short texts to explore, record and report ideas and events using familiar words and phrases and beginning writing knowledge
Sequencing teaching and learning
What is the sequence of teaching and learning?
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What do learners already know, do and value? Where do learners need and want to be? How do learners best learn?
What will constitute the learning journey?
The relationship between what is taught and how it is taught is critical in maximising student learning.
Start with what your students already know and set goals for the next steps for learning.
Decide how to provide multiple opportunities for all students to explore and consolidate ideas, skills and concepts by considering how students learn best and by using a
variety of teaching strategies.
When planning learning opportunities, teachers consider students’ ideas and prior knowledge to develop challenging and connected learning experiences and environments.
Teaching and learning sequences should reflect the prior learning and develop the curriculum understandings required for future learning.
A suggested teaching and learning sequence is outlined below.
Personal recounts
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Sequencing a recount
Comprehending a recount
Sharing other people’s experiences
Recounting events of a day
Modelled reading: Biddy’s fishing-line
Shared reading: First day at school
Recounting a day in Transition
Recounting a personal experience
Recount in literature
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Model an oral recount
Jointly construct an oral recount
Plan an oral recount
Innovating on text
Viewing a sequence of photos
Sequencing events
Writing a sentence
Write about a new adventure
Stories to tell
 How the water got to the plains
 Didipapa and Gorarasiasi
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The boy who cried wolf
The hare and the tortoise
Shared reading: Bear and Chook
Describing characters
Sequencing story events
Creating a new adventure
Retell a story
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Oral recount
Choose a book for retelling
Begin to plan
Continue to plan
Model and rehearse
Rehearsal
Share the retell
Reflection and evaluation
Celebrating
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Introducing the task
Preparing the retell
Constructing the retell
Planning for the retell
Planning the celebration
Rehearsing the retell
Sharing and celebrating stories
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Reflecting on learning
Making judgements
How will I check that the learners have made progress?
Teachers and students use standards to judge the quality of learning based on the available evidence. The process of judging and evaluating the quality of performance and
depth of learning is important to promoting learning.
Teachers identify the task-specific assessable elements to make judgements against specified standards on evidence.
Achievement standard
Receptive modes (listening, reading and viewing)
By the end of the Foundation year, students use predicting and questioning strategies to make meaning from texts. They recall one or two events from texts with familiar topics.
They understand that there are different types of texts and that these can have similar characteristics. They identify connections between texts and their personal experience.
They read short, predictable texts with familiar vocabulary and supportive images, drawing on their developing knowledge of concepts about print and sound and letters. They
identify the letters of the English alphabet and use the sounds represented by most letters. They listen to and use appropriate language features to respond to others in a
familiar environment. They listen for rhyme, letter patterns and sounds in words.
Productive modes (speaking, writing and creating)
Students understand that their texts can reflect their own experiences. They identify and describe likes and dislikes about familiar texts, objects, characters and events.
In informal group and whole class settings, students communicate clearly. They retell events and experiences with peers and known adults. They identify and use rhyme, letter
patterns and sounds in words. When writing, students use familiar words and phrases and images to convey ideas. Their writing shows evidence of sound and letter
knowledge, beginning writing behaviours and experimentation with capital letters and full stops. They correctly form known upper- and lower-case letters.
Lesson Overviews
Spend a short time at the start of each lesson ‘to switch on’ student thinking, promote the use of standard Australian English language and revise the repertoire of English
usage and communication strategies. End each lesson with a review of student learning in that lesson.
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Personal recount
Sequencing a recount (1 of 8)
Comprehending a recount
Focused teaching and learning
 View and discuss the purpose and audience of stories
 Model writing a title
 View and discuss the photos for a recount
 Order the photos and model an oral recount
 Reflect on the oral recount and apply understandings of sequencing
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students initiate playing with construction materials and toy characters that
travel throughout their made community which includes homes, parks, shops,
fields, bushland and a school building.
Real-life
The teacher provides experiences that allow students to develop
understandings about sequencing events and investigate how other students
travel to school.
The teacher provides opportunities to read and view simple texts.
Routines and transitions
The teacher provides opportunities for students to retell, read or listen to a
sequence of events.
Focused teaching and learning
 Listen to a personal recount
 Place photos for a personal recount in order
 Reflect on the meaning of the words and the pictures
 Reflect on the features of a personal recount
 Apply understanding of a recount
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Real-life
Organise members from the school community (admin, ancillary staff, and
specialist teachers) to tell a simple recount of their morning routine or other
event/activity.
Routines and transitions
The teacher provides multiple opportunities for students to sequence pictures
and engage with spoken and written recounts.
The teacher provides opportunities for model writing and demonstrates the
skills of beginning writing throughout the Transition day.
Sharing other people’s experiences (3 of 8)
Recounting events of a day
Focused teaching and learning
 Discuss the experiences of different cultural groups
 Read and view texts about another child’s life
 Make connections from the story to the students
 Identify the structures and features of a recount
 Read, view and listen to stories about other children
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students initiate role-playing a morning routine.
Routines and transitions
The teacher initiates opportunities for students to listen to stories, share, read,
record ideas and events, and model writing to help build language and literacy
knowledge.
Focused teaching and learning
 Recall events from the students’ day
 Gather and discuss the events from the students’ day
 Talk about the order of what students do
 Practise recounting the events of the day
 Complete a shared reading of the events of another child’s day
 Construct jointly an oral recount of another child’s day
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Routines and transitions
The teacher provides opportunities for students to order the pictures of the
events in stories and retell stories.
The teacher provides opportunities to routinely model writing and demonstrate
the skills of beginning writing throughout the Transition day.
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(4 of 8)
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Personal recount
Modelled reading: Biddy’s fishing-line (5 of 8)
Shared reading: First day at school (6 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Discuss and list students’ leisure activities
 Model reading a personal account
 Sequence story pictures and model writing an introduction
 Create a simple booklet of the story Biddy’s fishing-line
 Recount story events orally
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students initiate setting up a bookmaking shop/publishing office.
Routines and transitions
The teacher provides opportunities to routinely model writing and demonstrate
the skills of beginning writing throughout the Transition day.
The teacher provides opportunities to encourage all students to write and draw
about their personal experiences for a variety of audiences
Focused teaching and learning
 Share a book series
 Share a literary text with repetitive sentences
 Discuss different uses of language
 Write new pages for the book
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Provide opportunities for students to role-play book characters.
Routines and transitions
The teacher provides opportunities for students to routinely model writing and
demonstrate the skills of beginning writing throughout the Transition day.
The teacher provides multiple opportunities for students to write for real
purposes.
Recounting a day in Transition (7 of 8)
Recounting a personal experience (8 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Model retelling a recount of a first day at school
 Discuss a recount of an experience from the Transition day
 Plan an oral recount using words and picture
 Model recounting the experience
 Reflect on the account
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
After students build a boat and play at going on fishing trip, the teacher
prompts, and questions and scaffolds them to recount the fishing trip they took
in the boat.
After students create and play in a beautician’s parlour, the teacher prompts,
questions and scaffolds them to recount what they did while they were there.
Focused teaching and learning
 Review a modelled oral recount
 Select an experience for a personal recount
 Discuss the chosen experience and begin planning
 Practise recounting a personal experience
 Recount a personal experience to an audience
 Monitoring and assessment
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Real-life
The teacher provides many and varied opportunities for students to orally
recount the events of the Transition day or planned excursions or experiences.
Routines and transitions
The teacher provides opportunities for students to give their oral recount to an
audience.
The teacher provides experiences which engage students with recounts in
many forms.
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Recount in literature
Model an oral recount (1 of 8)
Jointly construct an oral recount (2 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Share prior knowledge of recounts in picture books
 Complete a shared reading of the book The adventures of Bert
 Read the story and discuss the character’s feelings
 Model correct reading behaviours and demonstrate explicitly concepts of
print
 Identify and explore letters of the alphabet and their sounds
 Model recounting and adventure
 Reflect on the oral account
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
The students pick up on the idea of funny and unusual adventures and use
construction materials to create a place for their toy figures to travel. They
recount the adventures as the toy figures move around the area.
Routines and transitions
Daily routines such as listening to stories; shared reading; recording ideas and
events; and collaboratively writing plans, lists and notices help build language
and literacy knowledge.
Focused teaching and learning
 Revisit print concepts in an adventure story
 Review the features of a recount
 Reread and investigate chapter 3 of The adventures of Bert
 Identify and explore letters of the alphabet and their sounds
 Jointly construct a plan for an oral recount
 Jointly construct an oral recount for the adventure
 Reflect on the oral recount
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Real-life
The students photograph the actions of people in the school community and
record a recount of what they see happening. Add text to the photos and make
class books or PowerPoint presentations.
Routines and transitions
Daily routines such as listening to stories; shared reading; recording ideas and
events; and collaboratively writing plans, lists and notices help build language
and literacy knowledge.
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Plan an oral recount (3 of 8)
Innovating on text (4 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Investigate the parts of a sentence
 Examine time/order words
 Investigate the parts of a recount
 Prepare an oral recount
 Informally present the oral recount
 Identify and explore letters of the alphabet and their sounds
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
The students develop and consolidate letters and letter/sound knowledge by
engaging with digital interactive games.
Focused teaching and learning
 Read or share a new adventure of a story character
 Gather ideas for a new adventure for a story character
 Plan a new adventure
 Share and reflect on recounts
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students create images of their favourite story characters having adventures.
Display these pictures as part of an auditory gallery walk. Students take turns
at being ‘on duty’ with their pictures and stand near their pictures and recount
the adventure depicted in the picture.
Routines and transitions
Daily routines such as listening to stories; shared reading; recording ideas and
events; and collaboratively writing plans, lists and notices help build language
and literacy knowledge.
Recount in literature
Routines and transitions
Daily routines such as listening to stories; shared reading; recording ideas and
events; and collaboratively writing plans, lists and notices help build language
and literacy knowledge.
Viewing a sequence of photos (5 of 8)
Sequencing events (6 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 View and share a sequence of photos
 Model writing a title
 Model writing sentences
 Pair read the sentences
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
The students create a ‘Hall of fame’ for the Reggie and Max ‘adventurers’.
They draw and paint pictures, construct collages of the characters and use the
Reggie and Max word wall, word banks and simple sentence beginnings to
write sentences about them.
Routines and transitions
Daily routines such as listening to stories; shared reading; recording ideas and
events; and collaboratively writing plans, lists and notices help build language
and literacy knowledge.
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the Reggie and Max adventure
 Identify and explore letters of the alphabet and their sounds
 Sequence events
 Model retelling the adventure
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Real-life
The students bring photos from home depicting experiences or adventures
they had had. Support students to sequence the photos and then write
accompanying text. Display the work on charts, as digital slide shows or make
into books for classroom resources.
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Stories to tell
Writing a sentence (7 of 8)
Write about a new adventure (8 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the recount of the dog’s adventure
 Explore a different order of events
 Model writing sentences
 Write sentences for a series of photos
 Identify and explore letters of the alphabet and their sounds
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Plan and provide a variety of experiences that develop students’ fine motor
skills. Fine motor control involves using small muscles to produce precise
movements, such as picking up a pencil or threading beads (as opposed to
‘gross motor skills’ such as waving or stamping).
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the two dogs’ adventures
 Recreate new story ideas
 Photograph new events
 Write a sentence for each photo
 Share the new adventures
 Monitoring and assessment
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Routines and transitions
Daily routines such as listening to stories; shared reading; recording ideas and
events; and collaboratively writing plans, lists and notices help build language
and literacy knowledge.
How the water got to the plains (1 of 8)
Didipapa and Gorarasiasi (2 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Introduce storytelling
 Acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
 View and listen to the Aboriginal Dreaming story, ‘How the water got to the
plains’
 Comprehend the story
 Identify entertaining storytelling behaviours
 Review entertaining storytelling behaviours
Focused teaching and learning
 Share a literary text with repetitive sentences
 Acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land
 View and listen to the Aboriginal dreaming story, ‘Didipapa and Gorarasiasi’
 Identify entertaining storytelling behaviours
 Review entertaining storytelling behaviours
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Real-life
The teacher provides students with opportunities to invite Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander community members to tell Dreaming stories from their
local community.
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Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Real-life
The teacher to provide students with opportunities to invite Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander community people to tell Dreaming stories from their
local community.
Routines and transitions
The teacher to help students develop knowledge about print including the
concept of a sentence, and a word.
Website — Twelve canoes
www.det.nt.gov.au
The boy who cried wolf (3 of 8)
The hare and the tortoise (4 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Model writing a title
 Identify effective and entertaining storytelling behaviours
 Review entertaining storytelling behaviours
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students wanted to play in role as storyteller critics. They wanted to continue
to view and listen to other stories being told and use criteria based on the
entertaining storytelling behaviours devised by the class in the lessons.
Focused teaching and learning
 Explore the fable ‘The hare and the tortoise’
 Model writing a title and explore the letter ‘t’
 Identify entertaining storytelling behaviours
 Review entertaining storytelling behaviours
 Retell the story
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Real-life
Students wanted to read, listen to and view different versions of the fable ‘The
hare and the tortoise’.
Routines and transitions
Daily routines such as listening to stories; shared reading; recording ideas and
events; and collaboratively writing plans, lists and notices help build language
and literacy knowledge.
Stories to tell
Routines and transitions
Daily routines such as listening to stories; shared reading; recording ideas and
events; and collaboratively writing plans, lists and notices help build language
and literacy knowledge.
Shared reading: Bear and Chook (5 of 8)
Describing characters (6 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Explore the differences between imaginative and informative texts
 Complete a shared reading of the book Bear and Chook
 Read the story and discuss character feelings
 Model correct reading behaviours and demonstrate explicitly concepts of
print
 Identify and explore letters of the alphabet and their sounds
 Review the story and its characters
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
The students decided to play ‘What will I be when I grow up’ while outdoors.
Some students model their actions on those of the character ‘Bear’ from the
book Bear and Chook and act as pilots, sea captains, dancers and explorers.
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the story of Bear and Chook.
 Record information about the characters.
 Apply understandings of the story characters and concepts of print.
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Investigating
The students develop and consolidate letter/sound knowledge by creating their
own ‘I spy’ collage.
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Sequencing story events (7 of 8)
Creating a new adventure (8 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Reread the book Bear and Chook
 Sequence story events
 Identify and explore letters of the alphabet and their sounds
 Draw and write about a story event
 Apply knowledge about story events and print
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the story and characters from the book Bear and Chook
 Explore ideas for a new adventure
 Draw and write a new adventure
 Read new adventures
Retell a story
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Investigating
Provide opportunities for students showing interest in writing, saying and
investigating upper and lower case letters to explore this further.
Routines and transitions
Provide daily routines such as recording ideas to build language and literacy
knowledge.
Play
The students to set up a storytelling theatre to retell the story of Bear and
Chook. The teacher provides a slide show of pictures and story prompts to
help students remember the sequence of the events.
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Daily routines such as listening to stories; shared reading; recording ideas and
events help build language and literacy knowledge. Include games and
activities with letters
Oral recount (1 of 8)
Choose a book for retell (2 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Explain the retell task
 Introduce the retell task
 Read a traditional tale
 Sequence the story
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students read the story of Chicken Licken and create masks of each character
which are used to play out of the story.
Routines and transitions
The teacher provides opportunities for students to complete daily routines such
as listening to stories, sharing reading, recording ideas and events and
collaboratively writing plans, lists and notices to help build language and
literacy knowledge.
Focused teaching and learning
 Introduce the retell task
 Model selecting and discussing a story
 Revisit the books and stories from the Transition year
 Choose a book for the retell task
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students continue to create masks of various characters from Chicken Licken
and use them as they play out the story.
Routines and transitions
The teacher provides opportunities for students to complete daily routines such
as listening to stories, sharing reading, recording events and collaboratively
writing plans to help build language and literacy knowledge.
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Begin to plan (3 of 8)
Continue to plan (4 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the retelling task
 Plan the retell
 Begin individual retell planners
 Tell about the retell planner
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the retelling task
 Model the planning of the events of the retell
 Continue to work on retell planners
Retell a story
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students use favourite stories from Transition as a catalyst for acting out in
different play contexts (e.g. settings, characters or the plot).
Routines and transitions
The teacher reads favourite stories, models the use of correct reading
behaviours and demonstrates concepts of print. Identify and explore letters of
the alphabet and their sounds relevant to students’ work.
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students use favourite stories from Transition as a catalyst for acting out in
different play contexts (e.g. settings, characters or the plot).
Routines and transitions
The teacher reads favourite stories, models the use of correct reading
behaviours and demonstrates the concepts of print. Identify and explore letters
of the alphabet and their sounds that are relevant to students’ work.
Model and rehearse (5 of 8)
Rehearsal (6 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the planning of the retell task
 Prepare to retell
 Model the retell
 Rehearse the retell
 Model the use of voice
 Rehearse the retell
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Play
Students read and view other traditional tales, and then create puppets of the
three little pigs.
Focused teaching and learning
 Prepare for the retell
 Rehearse the retell
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Teacher initiated
After reading Chicken Licken, the students read, view and listen to other
traditional tales.
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Celebrating
Share the retell (7 of 8)
Reflection and evaluation (8 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the students’ preparation
 Continue to rehearse the retell
 Assess the students' retell
 Review the task
Focused teaching and learning
 Allow more time for assessing the retell
 Prepare for reflection and self-assessment
 Model reflecting on the retell
 Model and complete a self-assessment sheet
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Teacher initiated
Independent activities including those which revisit learning from this unit were
provided for students who were waiting to retell their chosen story.
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Teacher initiated
Independent activities including those which revisit learning from this unit were
provided for students who were waiting to retell their chosen story.
Introducing the task (1 of 8)
Preparing the retell (2 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Introduce the idea of a celebration
 Formulate a plan for celebrating through storytelling
 Discuss, list and assign responsibilities
 Jointly compose a variety of invitations
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Teacher initiated
The teacher regularly initiates opportunities for students to engage with literary
and non-literary texts including books and multimodal texts.
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the retell task
 Select a story for retelling
 Discuss the sequence of the story
 Complete the retell planner
 Plan how the story will be told
 Review the progress of the task preparation
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Teacher initiated
Provide students with opportunities to investigate the letter and sound of ‘g’.
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Constructing the retell (3 of 8)
Celebrating
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the planning of the retell
 Continue to plan the storytelling
 Construct or gather accompanying props, equipment or resources
 Review the progress of the task preparation
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Child initiated
Students make puppets for their retell.
Teacher initiated
The teacher provides opportunities for students to become aware of the
names, shapes and sounds that constitute the letters of the alphabet (letter
awareness).
Preparing for the retell (4 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Identify and explore letters of the alphabet and their sounds
 Review the planning of the retell
 Continue to plan the storytelling
 Construct and gather props and equipment
 Share the planning with the teacher
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Teacher initiated
The teacher provides further opportunities for students to investigate letters
and their sounds.
Planning the celebration (5 of 8)
Rehearsing the retell (6 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the plan for the celebration
 Review student progress
 Continue preparing for the celebration
Focused teaching and learning
 Review the elements of a rehearsal
 Rehearse the storytelling
 Prepare for the celebration
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Students engage in independent play or other activities while preparations for
the celebration are completed.
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
Provide students with opportunities to develop their knowledge about print.
Sharing and celebrating stories (7 of 8)
Reflecting on learning (8 of 8)
Focused teaching and learning
 Finalise rehearsing
 Share the stories
Focused teaching and learning
 Reflect on the learning throughout the unit
Developing, progressing and consolidating English through the contexts
for learning
The teacher shares the introduction and the complication of an unknown story
with students and asks them to solve the story’s problem.
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Differentiation
(Teacher differentiation notes for class)
Resources
Personal recount
McG S. 2005, Evie’s mad hair day, Templar Publishing, Dorking, UK
Priman, B. 2005, Biddy’s fishing-line, Black Ink Press, Townsville
Find and prepare
Photos: Going to school
Teacher preparation — Prepare a series of photos and an audio recording of a simple oral personal recount of a morning routine or other event/activity. The recount should
have a simple structure: a beginning which introduces the characters and the setting, 2–3 events, and an ending which finishes the recount. It should also use time-order
words (e.g. first, after, then, at the end).
Teacher preparation — Organise members from the school community (admin, ancillary staff, specialist teachers) to visit the classroom to tell a simple recount of their
morning routine or other event/activity. Provide them with information about the features and elements they should give during their recount.
A selection of texts which show how children live in different places/countries. For example:
 Chambers, C. 2007, School days around the world, DK Children, United States
 Scott L. 2001, My school day, National Geographic Windows on Literacy
 Pearson J. 2008, Australians at school, Echidna Books, Melbourne
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 UN literacy decade http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/literacy2003/slide1_a.asp
 PBS kids: Africa for kids — My world http://pbskids.org/africa/myworld/index.html
 A kid’s life in … Russia http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212302/russia.html
Three large sheets of paper
Display an enlarged copy of the transcript of the modelled teacher’s recount shared in the previous lesson. Highlight the time/order words.
Helpful information
‘On my way to school’ from the BBC series Words and pictures available for purchase from Enhance TV http://www.enhancetv.com.au/index.php
International children’s digital library http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
StoryKit iPhone/iPad app
Literacy – The key to learning http://education.qld.gov.au/literacy/docs/lit-leadership.ppt
Recount in literature
Ahlberg A. 2001, The adventures of Bert, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York
Ahlberg A. 2002 A bit more Bert, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York
Enchanted learning dictionary: B is for … http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Bisfor.shtml
Enchanted learning dictionary: S is for… http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Sisfor.shtml
Cookie monster’s letter of the day http://pbskids.org/sesame/games/cookieLetterOfDay.html
Starfall ABCs http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
Rosie and Wallace story books http://education.qld.gov.au/library/resource/eresources/vbook/rosie-wallace.html
Find and prepare
Retell planner
Wall chart
Display the transcript of the teacher’s oral recount created in the lesson Personal recount — Recounting a day in Transition
Essential words
Letters, sounds and word booklet
Word wall of time/order words from the previous lesson Recount in literature — Jointly construct an oral recount
Recording ideas when writing
Stories to tell
Shanahan, L 2009, Bear and Chook, Lothian Children's Books, Australia
A variety of simple factual texts about chickens and/or bears (e.g. Magloff, L 2004, Watch me grow: Bear, DK Preschool, New York)
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Shanahan, L 2009, Bear and Chook by the sea, Lothian Children's Books, Australia (optional)
The Dreaming, 2004, Aboriginal Nations Australia, Moore Park, Sydney (Note: ‘How the water got to the plains’ is in series 3, story 4 on this DVD.
Ancient stories, new voices: Dust echoes http://www.abc.net.au/dustechoes/
Aboriginal Dreaming stories http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jmresources/dreaming/stories.html
Map of Aboriginal Australia http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/map-aboriginal-australia
Here is, there is … a Rosie and Wallace story http://education.qld.gov.au/library/resource/eresources/vbook/rw/book_7_here-is/index.html
The Dreaming, 2004, Aboriginal Nations Australia, Moore Park, Sydney (Note: The story of ‘Didipapa and Gorarasiasi’ is in series 4, story 1 on this DVD.
Monash country lines archive http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/non-cms/research/projects/independent/countrylines-archive/animations.html
Storyline online http://www.storylineonline.net
The tortoise & hare http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rJgMiJR-V4&feature=related
The tortoise and the hare (Les Clark) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuDSts7p5go&NR=1
Living books – The tortoise and the hare http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNGB2eCv54M&NR=1
Interactive learning in the early phase: Interactive digital collages http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=36044
ABC sing along http://www.netrover.com/~mary3384/abckareoke/testabc.html
Helpful information
‘Focus video: Understanding the Dreaming’ on the DVD — The Dreaming, 2004, Aboriginal Nations Australia, Moore Park, Sydney (series 2)
Twelve canoes (Select the ‘Creation’ shield and the ‘Our Ancestors’ shield.) http://www.12canoes.com.au/
Defining Aboriginal stories http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/approach/indigenous_res014_0802.pdf
Holistic planning and teaching framework, Queensland Government Department of Education and Training, Publ., Critical Mass Media. (Hint: Induction Activity for school
staff offers a useful brief 2½ minutes overview.)
Teacher note — Any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories that are used or told as part of this lesson should acknowledge where the story comes from and the
community/group who owns it.
I spy series of books, written by Jean Marzollo, illustrated by Walter Wick, published by Scholastic
Spot what! series of books, written by Nick Bryant and Rowan Summers
TKI: ESOL online: Freeze frame http://esolonline.tki.org.nz/ESOL-Online/Teacher-needs/Pedagogy/Cross-curricular-strategies/Teaching-approaches-andstrategies/Thinking/Freeze-frame
Retell a story
Bishop, G 1984, Chicken Licken, Oxford University Press, New Zealand
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Different versions of the story of Chicken Licken sometimes called Chicken Little, Henny Penny or The sky is falling.
Selection of literature with a farm topic displayed in the classroom (e.g. Old Macdonald had a farm, Noisy farm by Rod Campbell, Click, clack moo cows that type by
Doreen Cronin, Where is the green sheep? by Mem Fox, Oliver’s milkshake by Vivian French, Shutting the chooks in by Libby Gleeson, Over on the farm: a counting
picture book in rhyme by Christopher Gunson, A year on our farm by Penny Matthews and Andrew McLean, Pig in the pond by Martin Waddell)
Hutchins, P 2010 Rosie’s walk Random House Australia
Rosie’s walk and other stories DVD
Different versions of ‘The three little pigs’ in books, DVDs or story websites
Chicken Little: The sky is falling http://www.starfall.com/n/folk-tales/sky-is-falling/load.htm?f
Find and prepare
Assessment task — Creating your retell (one per student and/or enlarged wall chart–sized classroom copy)
Guide to making judgments — Creating your retell
Labels with names of characters on a lanyard (or sticky name tag)
Placards with one recurring phrase from the story on each (e.g. ‘The sky is falling.’ ‘Where are you going?’ ‘May I come with you?’)
Line marked on floor with ‘beginning’ written at one end and ‘end’ at the other
Two cards: one with the opening sentence of the book and the other with the final sentence
Set up a display of fiction books that have been read to students during the year
Assessment task — Creating your retell (one issued to each child or wall chart–sized classroom copy)
Retell planner copied to A3 size (one per student) and a larger version for use with the class
Prepare a ‘Getting ready for the retell’ chart. Refer to the body of the lesson for an example.
Video recording equipment
Photos — Series of teacher prepared photos and audio from lesson Personal recount — Comprehending a recount
Sets of commercially produced or teacher made sequencing cards. Examples of sets of sequencing cards available online:

K-3 teacher resources: Fairy tale story sequencing activities http://www.k-3teacherresources.com/story-sequencing.html

Enchanted learning: Rhyme sequencing cards http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/seq/
Helpful information
Arrange as many well-briefed adults as possible to assist with rehearsals.
Organise independent activities for the class so that individual students and their audiences can be withdrawn to share their retelling
Celebrating
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A gift for Bluey … a Rosie and Wallace story http://education.qld.gov.au/library/resource/eresources/vbook/rw/book_19_bluey-gift/index.html
E-cards http://cards.e-cards.com/send/write-card.pl
Hallmark Ecards http://www.hallmarkcards.com.au/ecards
Care2 eCards http://www.care2.com/ecards/
Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Voki http://www.voki.com/
Enchanted learning: J is for … http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Jisfor.shtml
Starfall: Jj http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/letter-j/load.htm?f
Student access to a computer and printer (optional)
Find and prepare
Assessment task — Creating your retell
Set up a display of fiction books that have been read to students during the year
Student selected text for the storytelling
Read the information about conferencing student retell planners from the lesson Retell a story — Begin to plan.
Equipment, resources or props needed for the retell
Upper case and lower case letter cards, magnetic letters or letter blocks of different fonts and sizes
Magazines, brochures and newspapers
Helpful information
Students will spend lessons 1 through 6 planning, constructing and rehearsing their retell so that sharing can be conducted during lesson 7. Teachers will need to plan to
share the retells at a time that is convenient for their context.
References
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/ Australian Curriculum Version 3.0 dated 23 January 2012
https://portal.ntschools.net/SITES/LEARNINGLINKS/default.aspx
http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home
Copyright © The State of Queensland (represented by the Department of Education and Training)
Copyright in this work is owned by or licensed to the State of Queensland (acting through the Department of Education and Training), PO Box 15033 City East QLD 4002
Australia and is reproduced with its permission. No part may be further reproduced in hardcopy form by anyone outside the Northern Territory Department of Education
without the express permission of the Queensland Department of Education and Training.
C adapted with permission by NT DET © The State of Queensland
31 of 32
www.det.nt.gov.au
C adapted with permission by NT DET © The State of Queensland
32 of 32
www.det.nt.gov.au