Kiama High School
Year 8 English unit: As it really happened – Nonfiction focus
Rubric: Wide reading of a variety of nonfiction texts such as documentaries and diary entries to expose students to the idea of sympathy
and empathy.
Syllabus Outcomes
A student:
1 responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis and pleasure
4 uses and describes language forms and features, and structures of texts appropriate to different purposes, audiences and contexts
7 thinks critically and interpretively about information, ideas and arguments to respond to and compose texts
9 demonstrates understanding that texts express views of their broadening world and their relationship within it
10 identifies, considers and appreciates cultural expression in texts
11 uses, reflects on and assesses individual and collaborative skills for learning.
Syllabus content
Students learn to:
1.6 categorise texts by
content, genre, composer and
purpose
Students learn to:
4.1 identify and describe the
purpose, audience and
context of texts
Students learn to:
10.1 recognise and consider
cultural factors, including
cultural background and
perspective, when responding
to and composing texts
10.3 identify and describe
Classroom
strategy
Teaching strategies
Whole class
Review by brainstorming students’ understanding of non fiction
i.e. the forms it takes, purpose, whose point of view is given and
how culture influences the finished product.
Teacher led joint
construction of text
Summarise points in a joint construction of text on board.
Individual
Class
Teacher led
NSW Department of Education and Training
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
Resources
Teacher to choose an object that can be interpreted in different
ways e.g. a doll, photograph, such as that of a wilderness area,
a flag, a hat
- students write ten lines about what they see, including the
item’s physical features, its purpose, its significance etc.
Students share descriptions with class.
Teacher uses students’ descriptions to explain how their writing
November 2004
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Page 1 of 8
Syllabus content
Classroom
strategy
cultural expressions in texts
Students learn about:
1.13 the ways their own
background and experience
affect their responses to texts
Students learn to:
4.2 create and ensure
coherence of medium, form
and content through specific
language conventions and
vocabulary appropriate to
particular subject matter or
contexts
Students learn to:
7.3 recognise when
information is presented
objectively and subjectively
7.5 focus on and evaluate
particular aspects of texts
including storyline,
Teacher led
Joint construction
of text
Groups
Individual
Small groups
NSW Department of Education and Training
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
Teaching strategies
Resources
is a piece of nonfiction.
Whole class discussion how one’s perspective, knowledge and
cultural and societal expectations helps shape how we see
things.
Students identify elements of their writing that indicate influences
of their background and experiences.
Students to summarise/reflect in their books.
Using students’ own understandings of war teacher to record
points from a whole class brainstorm under headings - reasons
for war and some of the results of war.
Is war ever justified? Discuss which reasons would justify a war.
Written response:
Teacher-led joint construction of introductory paragraph.
Students to write into books and write an additional paragraph
that explores one reason that war.
In groups, choose two results of war and list five consequences
e.g. refugees and consequences are:
1) dislocation from family
2) trauma
3) dangerous travel
4) no rights
5) loss of job.
6)
A speaker from each group to share group’s ideas with class.
Read Zlata’s Diary– selected entries.
Discuss issues arising from previous lesson about war.
Students to write two sentences about how these issues made
them feel and discuss what they have written in small groups.
Discussion could focus on any differences in students’ emotional
responses and possible reasons for these differences.
On board write the words Zlata uses to inspire empathy for her
November 2004
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Zlata’s Diary –A
Child’s Life in
Sarajevo by
Zlata Filipovic
p 42
p 60
pp 94-95
Syllabus content
Classroom
strategy
perspective and cultural
positioning
Students learn about:
9.8 the ways in which their
experiences and perspectives
shape their responses to texts
1.12 links between the ideas,
information, perspectives and
points of view presented in
texts and their own
background and experience
Students learn to:
9.3 explain and justify
personal empathy, sympathy
and antipathy towards
characters, situations and
concerns depicted in texts
Teaching strategies
Resources
and her situation
Using these same emotive words as Zlata, students write 80 100 words on a situation that makes them feel sad, angry,
depressed, disappointed.
Individual
Pairs
Whole class
Students learn to:
9.3 explain and justify
Teacher led
personal empathy, sympathy
discussion
and antipathy towards
characters, situations and
Individual
concerns depicted in texts
Students learn about:
4.7 the effectiveness of specific
language forms and features
NSW Department of Education and Training
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
Using a dictionary, students to find the definitions for sympathy
and empathy.
Discuss and share answers to ensure all students understand.
In pairs list five - ten examples of each (sympathy and empathy).
Using the excerpts from Zlata’s Diary students are to choose
whether the entries make them feel sympathetic or empathetic.
Students write why they feel this way by choosing three – six
phrases from the entries that explains their feeling towards Zlata.
Discuss/share answers and construct a structured overview of
findings.
Using diary entry No. 2 (p60, Zlata’s Diary, Monday 29 June
1992), discuss being a school student i.e. expectations, rules,
responsibilities, learning, friends, teachers.
Students to summarise Zlata’s experience of being eleven years
old and how this differs from their own experiences of school.
In two pieces of writing (for the school magazine or as letters to
a peer in another country) students are to imagine that war or a
November 2004
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Dictionary
Zlata’s Diary
Zlata’s Diary
(p 60)
Syllabus content
Classroom
strategy
and structures of texts for
different purposes, audiences
and contexts and for specific
modes and mediums
7.16 using particular incidents
to represent or clarify wider
concepts
Students learn about:
10.8 signs, symbols, icons
and stereotyping in texts and
what they signify about
different cultures
Students learn to:
9.6 assess representations of
people, places and events in
film and the media
Teaching strategies
Resources
disaster occurred in their area:
 the first piece deals with before the war/disaster where
students describe a normal day in their lives and include
comment about how they feel about their daily
experiences

Individual
Whole class
Pairs
Whole class
NSW Department of Education and Training
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
the second piece will involve their feelings during the
war/disaster. Students will need to consider the possible
effects of a disaster – loss of their home, loss of utilities
(water, electricity), dislocation, possible loss of a friend or
family. They need also to consider feelings such as fear,
sadness, grief, and what language they should use to
most effectively convey these feelings. Their aim is to
evoke sympathy and empathy.
Watch video – Wayne Bennett Story
Comprehension style questions arising from the video, such as:
 who is Wayne Bennett? (personality, beliefs, attitudes)
 why is he referred to as ‘an enigma’?
 how are his own perception of himself and the
perceptions of the public and the media different?
 why is he considered worthy of being the subject of
Australian Story?
 in what ways has the media stereotyped Wayne Bennett?
 are the stereotypes positive or negative? Explain.
Discuss answers
In pairs students to list ten facts they remembered from watching
the video about Wayne Bennett that they didn’t previously know.
In another column students are to list the stereotypical view of
Bennett as portrayed by the media, according to the video.
Share information with whole group.
November 2004
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The Wayne
Bennett Story
from Australian
Story ABC TV
(video)
Syllabus content
Students learn about:
10.7 cultural assumptions in
texts including those about
gender, ethnicity, religion,
youth, age, sexuality,
disability, cultural diversity,
social class and work
Students learn to:
4.2 create and ensure
coherence of medium, form
and content through specific
language conventions and
vocabulary appropriate to
particular subject matter or
contexts
9.2 compose texts that reflect
their broadening world and
their relationships within it
Students learn to:
7.3 recognise when
information is presented
objectively and subjectively
11.6 find, select and evaluate
information from a range of
sources
Classroom
strategy
Individual
Whole class
Individual
Individual
Pairs
NSW Department of Education and Training
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
Teaching strategies
Resources
In books, students to summarise their findings.
Discuss disabilities and brainstorm all the types of disabilities
students know of.
How does Wayne Bennett deal with his child’s disability? Do you
feel sympathy or empathy for the child? for Wayne Bennett?
Why?
Letter writing
Revise letter-writing – layout, structure, use of appropriate
register.
Students watch the video again, making notes on:
 the son - relationship with his father
 Wayne Bennett as a father
 Wayne Bennett as a public figure.
Students use their notes to write a letter to Wayne Bennett. In
this letter they are to discuss in what ways the public figure of
Wayne Bennett is so different to Wayne Bennett as a father, and
how the video documentary has represented these differences.
Focus on a specific incident or scene from the video to highlight
this.
In pairs students are to research the internet a famous person
e.g. Kay Cottee, Allan Border, Eminem or any person of their
choice. Research should include:
- factual information about the person – age, cultural
background, life experiences, goals, personality
- subjective comments that others have made about this
person
- other information you find interesting.
Students create a comparison between their existing knowledge
of this person and what they have learnt through their research.
November 2004
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The Wayne
Bennett Story
(video)
Internet
Library for
books, articles
etc
Syllabus content
1.12 – Links between the
ideas, information,
perspectives and points of
view presented in texts and
their own background and
experience
Classroom
strategy
Teacher led
discussion
Individual
Outcomes:
Pairs
1. A student responds to and
composes texts for
Individual
understanding, interpretation,
critical analysis and pleasure.
4. A student uses and
describes language forms and
features, and structures of
texts appropriate to different
purposes, audiences and
contexts.
11. A student uses, reflects
NSW Department of Education and Training
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
Teaching strategies
Present this information to the class.
Teacher-led discussion of how nonfiction can make us feel
sympathetic or empathetic towards the subject of a nonfiction
text Also explore how our image of a person is not always
representative of the whole truth. Refer back to students’
exploration of Zlata’s experiences and Wayne Bennett’s story
and how these were represented in diary form (Zlata’s Diary)
and documentary form (The Wayne Bennett Story). Focus
discussion and brainstorming on the techniques composers’
used to represent their version of that person and evoke
sympathy and empathy from the responder:
 choice of language
 selection of events and experiences to include, and
omission of others
 inclusion of others’ perspectives
 inclusion of the subjects’ opinions and feelings.
(NB Visual conventions have not been explored here – teachers
could include close exploration or revision of visual language if
appropriate at this point in the teaching / learning cycle).
Assessment:
In pairs, students compose a series of diary entries or
documentary outline for the person they have researched.
Individually students write a reflection (100-150 words) on what
techniques they employed in their texts to represent their subject
in a particular way. They should comment on how successful
they think they have been in evoking sympathy or empathy from
their audience.
November 2004
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Resources
Syllabus content
Classroom
strategy
Teaching strategies
on and assesses individual
and collaborative skills for
learning.
NSW Department of Education and Training
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
November 2004
Page 7 of 8
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Resources
Assessment task - As it really happened
Part A
In pairs compose a series of diary entries or an outline for a documentary on the
person you have researched. Your aim is to evoke empathy or sympathy for that
person while presenting them and their situation as factually as you can. Consider
what you have learnt about nonfiction texts through the exploration of Zlata’s Diary
and The Wayne Bennett Story.
What to do:
Choose a particular event or situation in your subject’s life. Think about how you can
portray your subject as accurately and factually as possible. Decide who your
audience is. Consider how you want your audience to respond to this person and
what language, content, others’ perspectives and comments from your subject you
will include to evoke this response.
Diary entires – you will need to write your entires in the voice of your chosen
subject. You can include other people’s perspectives by having your subject quote or
paraphrase what others say about him / her or about how he / she dealt with the
situation or event your diary entries focus on. Consider what aspects of the event or
situation you will omit or focus on to portray your subject in the way you want.
Documentary outline – write a description of your subject and a list of scenes you
will include in your documentary. For each scene describe briefly what viewers will
see, who is included, what will be said and who will say it. Think about what ‘live
footage’ should be included (actual film footage of the event or situation your
documentary segment will focus on), who will be interviewed, what questions your
subject will answer and what they will say. Will you use voice-over or allow your
subject to speak for him / herself?
Part B
Individually write a one page reflection on what techniques you have employed in
your text to represent your subject in a particular way. You should comment on how
successful you think you have been in evoking sympathy or empathy from your
audience.
Outcomes assessed:
1. A student responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation,
critical analysis and pleasure.
4. A student uses and describes language forms and features, and structures of
texts appropriate to different purposes, audiences and contexts.
11. A student uses, reflects on and assesses individual and collaborative skills for
learning.
Assessment criteria:
Your work will be assessed on how well you:
 use language to evoke sympathy and empathy from your audience
 select and omit information about your subject to create a coherent
representation of your subject
 demonstrate your understanding of the techniques you have used to compose
your text for a particular audience and purpose.
NSW Department of Education and Training
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
November 2004
Page 8 of 8
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