NZQA
Approved
Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
Draft
Internal Assessment Resource
English Level 3
This resource supports assessment against:
Achievement Standard 91476
Create and deliver a fluent and coherent oral text which
develops, sustains, and structures ideas
Resource title: A life less ordinary
3 credits

This resource:
 Clarifies the requirements of the Standard
 Supports good assessment practice
 Should be subjected to the school’s usual assessment quality assurance
process
 Should be modified to make the context relevant to students in their school
environment and ensure that submitted evidence is authentic
Date version published by
Ministry of Education
December 2012
Quality assurance status
These materials have been quality assured by NZQA.
NZQA Approved number A-A-12-2012-91476-01-6097
Authenticity of evidence
Teachers must manage authenticity for any assessment
from a public source, because students may have
access to the assessment schedule or student exemplar
material.
To support internal assessment from 2013
Using this assessment resource without modification
may mean that students’ work is not authentic. The
teacher may need to change figures, measurements or
data sources or set a different context or topic to be
investigated or a different text to read or perform.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
PAGE FOR TEACHER USE
Internal Assessment Resource
Achievement Standard English 91476: Create and deliver a
fluent and coherent oral text which develops, sustains, and
structures ideas
Resource reference: English 3.5A
Resource title: A life less ordinary
Credits: 3
Teacher guidelines
The following guidelines are supplied to enable teachers to carry out valid and
consistent assessment using this internal assessment resource.
Teachers need to be very familiar with the outcome being assessed by Achievement
Standard English 91476. The achievement criteria and the explanatory notes contain
information, definitions, and requirements that are crucial when interpreting the
Standard and assessing students against it.
Context/setting
This activity requires students to create and deliver a speech that marks the end of
one stage of life, adolescence, and the beginning of another, adulthood.
Before assessment occurs, students need to have:

developed an understanding of oratory, its key features, and its purpose – this
could include the identification and discussion of language features

viewed and read a number of diverse speeches and performances

practised possible speech delivery techniques

planned and created a speech

rehearsed, and received constructive feedback.
Conditions
Students will create and deliver their own speeches. Preparation is not directly
assessed, but this process should be used to ensure authenticity.
Resource requirements

access to diverse speeches and performances

access to appropriate presentation technologies.
Additional information
None.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
PAGE FOR STUDENT USE
Internal Assessment Resource
Achievement Standard English 91476: Create and deliver a
fluent and coherent oral text which develops, sustains, and
structures ideas
Resource reference: English 3.5A
Resource title: A life less ordinary
Credits: 3
Achievement
Create and deliver a fluent
and coherent oral text which
develops, sustains, and
structures ideas.
Achievement with Merit
Create and deliver a fluent
and coherent oral text which
develops, sustains, and
structures ideas and is
convincing.
Achievement with
Excellence
Create and deliver a fluent
and coherent oral text which
develops, sustains, and
structures ideas and
commands attention.
Student instructions
Introduction
This assessment activity requires you to create and deliver a speech that marks the
end of one stage of life, adolescence, and the beginning of another, adulthood.
Over the last five years you will have had a number of experiences that have shaped
you as an individual. Reflect on what you have gained from these experiences to
create a speech that will call your peers to action in order to live a life less ordinary.
Your text will be primarily spoken, although you may include other presentation
techniques as appropriate to your purpose and audience.
You will deliver your speech to an audience of your peers and your teacher(s). You
will speak for at least six minutes.
You will prepare and create your speech during a combination of class and
homework times.
Teacher note: Add details of the time required to complete this task.
You will be assessed on how you develop, structure, and sustain your ideas and how
you use oral language features to demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of
purpose and audience.
Task
Gather your ideas
Your experiences and your reflection upon them will form the basis of your oral text,
which is to call your peers to live a life less ordinary, whatever path they follow in the
years ahead. Throughout your high school years, you will have had experiences,
both positive and negative, that have been personally significant to you.
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Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
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Consider:



the range of activities, both in-school and out-of-school, that you have been
involved in, for example, sports, student exchanges, school camps, and school
productions such as Stage Challenge and Smokefree rockquest
the achievements or challenges that you and your peers have had
the texts you have studied, people you have met, and subjects you have taken
that have made an impression on you.
Reflect
Reflect on what you have gained from these experiences, what skills you have
learned, and what values or understandings you have developed that have shaped
you as an individual and that you will take with you into the future. What makes a life
less ordinary? What gives humans a sense of purpose and meaning? It could be:

dreams followed, ambitions fulfilled

leadership

material success, fame, and fortune

discovering a calling, saving the world, challenging injustice

becoming the change you want to see, being true to yourself

heroism, sacrifice

something else of your own choice.
Construct your speech
In order to develop and sustain your ideas fluently and coherently you will need to
carefully plan and structure your speech:

work out the main ideas of your speech and organise them so they are
structured and sequenced

aim for an overall effect that is inspirational, striking, and integrated with the
purpose of your speech, for example, what ideas and details will you select from
your experiences to achieve the purpose of your speech? (see Resource A and
Resource B)

at all times, consider your audience and use devices and signposts that will help
them engage with and follow your speech (see Resource C)

identify oral language features that you can use to make your delivery more
effective and more enjoyable for the target audience (see Resource C)

you will be more likely to command your audience’s attention if you speak
confidently and fluently – consider how you could use cue cards and/or
audiovisual aids to support the fluency of your delivery.
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Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
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Resource A: Published exemplars
Dead Poets Society
Written by Tom Schulman and directed by Peter Weir
Near the beginning of the film, new teacher Mr Keating takes his English class to see
the photographs of former students.
Keating: They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts.
Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world
is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like
many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait
until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they
were capable? Because, you see, gentlemen, these boys are now
fertilising daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them
whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? –
carpe – hear it? – carpe, carpe diem, seize the day, boys, make your
lives extraordinary.
“Ulysses”
Written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in the old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are,
One equal-temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
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Resource B: Structure
To create a coherent whole, you could consider a three-part structure, for example:

your personal experiences, reflection, and/or future direction

what makes a life less ordinary

a call to action.
You need to consider the purpose of each part and the desired impact on the
audience. Consider the suggestions below.
Part one: Work the crowd by acknowledging the significant milestone you have all
reached in your lives and creating a feel-good experience for your audience. Use this
to sustain interest and establish a sense of rapport and unity. Draw on this later in
your speech when you challenge them to consider how they want to live their lives in
the years ahead.
Part two: Do more than present the audience with information about the meaning of
life. Engage individuals with the bigger picture to create a desire to live a life less
ordinary.
Part three: Create a sense of excitement, hope, and determination in your audience
to inspire them to make their lives purposeful, meaningful, and satisfying.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
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Resource C: Language features
Verbal language techniques could include:

direct address to the audience

sound devices, such as alliteration

structures, such as deliberate repetition, rhetorical questions, parallel
construction, and motifs that link themes, create patterns, and integrate ideas

choice of words and phrases, such as evocative adjectives

figurative language, such as similes, allusions, symbols, or puns

humour, analogy, or anecdotes

quotations and readings

personal pronouns or colloquialisms (if appropriate to engage your audience).
Body language techniques could include:

gesture

facial expression

stance

eye contact

movement.
Voice techniques could include:

pauses and emphasis

variety in pitch, rhythm, intonation, volume, or pace.
Presentation techniques could include the use of:

PowerPoint

Prezi

YouTube clips

Cooliris (photo montage)

role play or dramatised reading.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
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Assessment schedule: English 91476 A life less ordinary
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement
The student creates and delivers a fluent and
coherent oral text which develops, sustains, and
structures ideas.
This involves demonstrating an understanding of
purpose and audience by:



developing ideas and making links between
them. Ideas may include the use of narrative,
anecdote, quotation, allusion, imagery,
explanations, analysis, explorations, critique,
details, examples, and a range of dimensions
or viewpoints
selecting and using language features
appropriate to an oral text to create consistency
in meaning and effect and to sustain interest.
This includes oral features such as rhetorical
devices (for example, use of pronouns, triple
construction), body language (such as
movement, gesture, facial expression), voice
(for example, tone, volume, pace, stress),
props, costume, and demonstration materials
or items
selecting effective structure(s). This may
include poetic, formal, and narrative forms or a
combination of these.
“Hello, everyone. Welcome, ladies and
gentlemen, parents, teachers, and peers. Fellow
students, we are here today to look back at our
journey within the past 13 years at school. We are
here to thank those who have always supported us
in our journey. We are here to look forward as we
start another beginning in our lives.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement with
Merit
The student creates and delivers a fluent and
coherent oral text which develops, sustains, and
structures ideas and is convincing.
This involves demonstrating a discerning
understanding of purpose and audience through
the discriminating selection, development, and
integration of ideas, language features, and
structures appropriate to an oral text to create
consistency in meaning and effect and to sustain
interest.
Ideas may include the use of narrative, anecdote,
quotation, allusion, imagery, explanations,
analysis, explorations, critique, details, examples,
and a range of dimensions or viewpoints.
Oral language features include rhetorical devices
(for example, use of pronouns, triple construction),
body language (such as movement, gesture, facial
expression), voice (for example, tone, volume,
pace, stress), props, costume, and demonstration
materials or items.
Structures may include poetic, formal, and
narrative forms or a combination of these.
“Parents and teachers, I want to welcome you all
today in joining us students in celebrating the end
of the start of our lives. It seems just yesterday
when we were only five years old and starting our
first day at school. That was a time when we didn’t
have to worry about what our hair looked like or
what we wore. That was a time when instead of
competing to get the latest trends, we competed to
see who could stuff the most crayons up their
Evidence/Judgements for Achievement with
Excellence
The student creates and delivers a fluent and
coherent oral text which develops, sustains, and
structures ideas and commands attention.
This involves demonstrating a sophisticated
understanding of purpose and audience through
the insightful selection and integration of ideas,
language features, and structures appropriate to
an oral text to create consistency in meaning and
effect, sustain interest, and create a striking whole.
Ideas may include the use of narrative, anecdote,
quotation, allusion, imagery, explanations,
analysis, explorations, critique, details, examples,
and a range of dimensions or viewpoints.
Oral language features include rhetorical devices
(for example, use of pronouns, triple construction),
body language (such as movement, gesture, facial
expression), voice (for example, tone, volume,
pace, stress), props, costume, and demonstration
materials or items.
Structures may include poetic, formal, and
narrative forms or a combination of these.
“Good evening, and a warm welcome, ladies and
gentlemen, boys and girls, friends, family, and
whānau. So, we made it! Graduation 2012. It is the
end of a long and arduous journey, but also the
start of a new and exciting venture into the big
wide world. I am very happy to be able to share
some of my most important school memories with
you all, describe how they have influenced who I
am today, and explain some of my greatest fears
for the future – for my future and for our future – at
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Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
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“How many parents here remember their son’s or
daughter’s first day of school? I remember mine in
kindergarten. I was walking hand-in-hand with my
mum, feeling nervous and scared. For a while I
just watched the kids around me and observed my
surroundings. A few minutes passed before I
noticed my mum had suddenly disappeared.
Where could she have gone? I frantically looked
around and saw her standing by the window
outside, smiling at me as if to tell me, ‘You're
gonna be fine. Go on’. It was quite funny to see
the other parents outside with my mum. I saw
some parents crying tears of joy or crying tears of
sadness. I don't know – it could be that they really
wanted to get rid of their child or that they were
sad to let them go. Either way, this was the first
step of letting us go into the outside world. But
now they have to let us go into the real world full of
responsibilities and choices.”
nose. That was a time when you could go up to
someone and say, ‘Let’s be best friends’, and they
would say yes.”
The student makes the transition from school days
in general to more personal reflections about
coming to New Zealand and facing different
values.
The student makes the transition from school days
in general to more personal reflections about her
life in the Philippines, her knowledge and
awareness of people living very different lives, and
her feelings of responsibility for others.
The student moves to media images of women
and their consequences.
“Poverty is one of the best-known issues in the
world. Last year 925 million people went without
food to eat, water to drink, and shelter to keep
them safe. What can we do? What can you do?
Did you know that 22,000 children die each day
due to poverty? And about one child is dying every
four seconds. We are the next generation who will
lead this world, and we need to make a difference.
Together we can make a change.”
The student then goes on to look at both the
opportunities and responsibilities of her
generation.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
“Each one of us has had our own journey in which
we have faced our own challenges. But wherever
we have come from and whatever we have been
through, today our journeys all meet at the same
point. We are on the verge of starting the next
chapter of our lives where the world will be ours to
shape and mould. One day our generation will
decide what society is like and the kinds of values
it will have. So when I look at the world and what is
important, I can’t help but ask myself, where do I,
a young female of Asian descent, fit into this fabric
of life? And the only answer I have is that I don’t.”
“I don’t fit in a place where women are tall, skinny,
and inhumanly beautiful. I don’t belong with halfnaked girls dancing next to Pittbull in his music
videos. I don’t want to be something on a platter
for males to look at. However, in our media today,
that is exactly how women are portrayed. Most of
us never think about sexism as an important issue
– I certainly never did. It just never seemed as
serious as racism or global warming or the young
children in Africa who are dying of starvation. But
the direction this society is heading in is deadly,
and it will lead to the deaths of thousands of girls.
“A study by the National Association of Anorexia
Nervosa and Associated Disorders showed that in
America the mortality rate for anorexics is 12 times
higher than the death rate for ALL causes of death
this eventful milestone of our lives.
“First, to my classmates – as Paul McCartney
once said, it’s a ‘long and winding road’, but we
managed to reach the end (and many people
doubted that we would). I want to thank you for the
stories told, laughter shared, and legends created
during our 13 years together. People (old people,
that is) always say, ‘Your school years are the best
years of your life’, and as I stand here now, it is
starting to sink in what they mean. Every day we
have been able to spend hour upon hour with 30
of our closest friends in a secure, safe, and
somewhat loving environment. Every day we have
been able to tell jokes, pull pranks, and enjoy the
general misfortune of those we hold closest to our
hearts. Every day we have been able to sit through
subjects we have little interest in, learn information
that we have little need to know, and prepare for
exams that test how much we have retained about
the world gone by. But now what? What does the
future hold? And more importantly, how do we
make it ours?”
The student makes the transition from school days
in general to more personal reflections.
“I had my masculinity challenged in the yard by the
bigger kids, I had my will power tested by
(sometimes) poor results, and I had my values
questioned in the lessons I attended …”
The student picks up the idea of what it is to be a
man and the testing of values in the days to come.
The examples above relate to only part of what is
required, and are just indicative.
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Internal assessment resource English 3.5A for Achievement Standard 91476
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The examples above relate to only part of what is
required, and are just indicative.
for females aged 15 to 24. That means that more
females die from anorexia than smoking, car
crashes, or any other disease.”
The student develops the idea of having one’s own
identity rather than being manipulated by the
media.
The examples above relate to only part of what is
required, and are just indicative.
Final grades will be decided using professional judgement based on a holistic examination of the evidence provided against the criteria in the
Achievement Standard.
This resource is copyright © Crown 2012
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