Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes – Part A: Examining Tone
30 minutes – Part B: Climate Change Trailers
25 minutes – Part C: Testing out Tone
5 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Examining Tone

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by writing the words 'climate change' on the board. Explain to students that climate change is an emotive issue. Many people feel very strongly about it, but many of us feel different emotions. Explain that you will show them a clip from the 2040 documentary that explains more about climate change which may help them to connect with their emotions around this topic.

Show students this clip:

Exploring the Themes Password: 2040E_DU

Once complete, provide each student with a copy of the Student Worksheet. Invite them to reflect on their feelings around this clip by completing the ‘Think, Feel, Wonder’ table (available on the Student Worksheet).

You could then invite students to share some of their answers with their a partner.

Step 2.

Now write the word ‘tone’ on the board and invite students to team up with a classmate. Working in their pairs, tell students they will have one minute to write down what they think ‘tone’ means, recording their ideas on the Student Worksheet. If they finish early, they can try to use ‘tone’ in a sentence.

Once complete, invite students to share their responses with the class, looking for correct answers. Correct answers should explain that tone is the attitude an author has toward a topic. For example, an author may sound negative when they describe a topic. Ask students with correct, but perhaps differing answers, to share them with the class and write these on the board. Students can add new information to their answers or alter their own definitions.

Step 3.

Next read out the following eight headlines from newspaper articles (also available on the Student Worksheet). Explain that these use a range of positive, neutral and negative tones. Working independently or in their pairs, ask students to classify the headlines by writing a 'tone' word next to each headline on the Student Worksheet. Suggested answers are included below. Ask them to underline any words they feel contribute to creating the tone (suggestions below).

Source	Headline	Suggested Answer
ABC NEWS	Will climate change be devastating for Kakadu National Park?	negative, uncertain
THE CONVERSATION UK	Climate change: Yes, your individual action does make a difference	positive, confident
FOREIGN POLICY	The kids are taking charge of climate policy	positive
ALJAZEERA	Climate change threatens 19 million Bangladeshi Children	negative, authoritative
ALJAZEERA	Europe set to suffer as climate change brings mosquito threat	fatalistic, negative, certain, concerned
UNSW NEWSROOM	The future for climate change action is in good hands	positive, optimistic, certain
NEW SCIENTIST	Climate change is making the seas rise even faster, UN Warns	negative, certain, foreboding
POPULAR SCIENTISTS	Small shifts can stop climate change - if they happen in the right places	positive, instructive

Once complete, facilitate a class discussion about the tones students noticed being used. Ask students to share what strategies they used to identify the tone of each headline. Write these strategies on the board, explaining that they will support students to find the tone in the clips you are about to show. Suggested strategies could include:

Look for emotive words
Look for modality - how certain does the author sound? (will/must/might/could)
Consider the adjectives used
Consider the author’s use of language - is it formal? informal?

Part B: Climate Change Trailers

In this part of the lesson, students will be asked to find evidence of differing tones in two videos. If you found students struggled to find tones in the headlines, it would be worthwhile to write a list of possible tones on the board, eliciting ideas from students.

Words to describe tone could be:

Negative	Neutral	Positive
Concerned Angry Frustrated Hostile	Certain Direct Instructive	Hopeful Optimistic Pleased Satisfied

Step 1.

Show the trailer for Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and ask students to pay attention to the tone and images or words that convey that tone, recording their responses on the Student Worksheet. Some suggested answers are below.

An Inconvenient Truth - Offical Trailer

I saw or heard...	Tone (This made them sound/seem...)	This made me feel/think...
The hottest of all was 2005	Concerned, pessimistic	Scared that it will get hotter
There will be no more snows of Kilimanjaro	Negative, certain, final	That the negative effects of climate change are certain and inescapable

Step 2.

Now show the trailer for the documentary; 2040. Ask students to pay attention to the tone and images or words that convey that tone, again recording their responses on the Student Worksheet. Some suggested answers are below.

2040 - Official Trailer

I saw or heard...	Tone (This made them sound/seem..)	This made me feel/think...
Huge wind turbines with beautiful green background	Positive	That the future could look like that
A man said ‘this is bringing people together’	Optimistic, certain	That there are positive solutions that exist

Step 3.

Once complete, invite students to reflect on the two clips they watched and to participate in the ‘Think, Pair and Share’ activity on their Student Worksheet. Ask them to start by writing down their own answers to the following questions; then they can discuss their answers and record any new ideas raised in discussion with their partner:

What types of words and images created a more negative tone?
What types of words and images created a more positive tone?
What are the benefits and drawbacks of a negative tone?
What are the benefits and drawbacks of a positive tone?
What types of tone do you feel are more commonly used in the media? Why?
What types of tone do you think should be used more often?

Once students have had a chance to share with their partners, invite them to share their answers with the class. To shorten the discussion you could simply ask for:

Areas they disagreed on
Areas they agreed on

Part C: Testing out Tone

Step 1.

Allocate small groups or ask students to form their own small groups. Tell students that as a team, they need to create messages about climate change to be used in their school. They should create three diverse options that convey different tones for each (if they need further support, you could prompt students to have specific tones such as hopeful, anxious etc.).

The first step is for teams to collaboratively brainstorm what the tones and messages will be, before selecting three to pursue.

Then they can write short messages that elaborate on each of their three ‘main messages’, maintaining the tone they planned for each. They can complete this using the table like the one below available on the Student Worksheet:

	Intended Tone	Main Message
Example	Angry	Adults are ruining the world that we have to grow up in. Act now!
One
Two
Three

Step 2.

After students have created their three short messages, they need to develop a survey to find out which message is most effective or engaging. They will be surveying members of their own class. You can use the strategy below, or you can have students use Survey Monkey, Kahoot Survey or Crowdsignal to collect their data.

Instruct each group to nominate a ‘data’ collector who will count votes and tally them on their worksheet. Each worksheet has a table like below:

	Votes for Most Effective
Message One
Message Two
Message Three

Step 3.

Provide each group with an opportunity to present their most popular/effective message to the class. They should write their message on the board and explain why they chose this message.

The class can then offer feedback on each message presented, offering suggestions for improvement. When providing feedback, remind students to be kind, helpful and specific:

Step 4.

After all of the groups have had the chance to present their message and incorporate feedback, they can then start planning how they will communicate this message with their school. For example, they may want to create a poster, a video, a song or a written piece.

Consider providing an opportunity for students to share their completed messages, for example, at an assembly or through the school newsletter.

Reflection

Ask students to read over their surveys and work independently to answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What kind of feedback did you receive for the message you presented to the class? Why do you think this feedback was given and what did you do to address it?
Did your group agree, or disagree, with the opinions of your classmates (survey results)? Why do you agree/disagree?
What tones were commonly used by your classmates? Which tended to be more effective?
What was your favourite message presented by your classmates and why? How was tone used in this message?

Differentiated Learning

Extension – Students could create a multi-modal campaign that utilises a consistent tone throughout. For example, they could make a short video, social media campaign, presentation or poster that conveys the tone of their single message.Provisions for Learning Support –

Students will have the support of their peers, ensure you consider student needs when forming groups.
Some students may find it more appropriate to focus on just two tones throughout the lesson - perhaps, negative and positive.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

What's Your 2040?

Record your students' work in their communities with the hashtag #whatsyour2040 and share their visions in the '2040: The Regeneration' Facebook Group.

The 2040 crew would love to see your class's work.

2040 - The Tone of Climate Change

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