Blue - 'Shark Girl' Biographical Writing

Blue - 'Shark Girl' Biographical Writing

Lesson 7 of 10 in this unit

  • Year 7 - 8
  • English
  • Creative writing
  • Learning through film
  • Environmental
  • Biodiversity
  • Conservation
  • Oceans
  • Water
  • ...

Lesson summary

This lesson incorporates clips from Blue The Film as learning inspiration. In this finding out lesson, students are introduced to biographical writing and will enhance their understanding of the experiences of young people working to make a difference. They will examine the story of Madison Stewart (Shark Girl) and use thinking, planning and writing tools to understand the role of biographical writing in engaging audiences with the achievements and work of people trying to make a difference. Students will then plan, draft and publish their own biographical writing.

Learning intentions:

Students will...

  • understand the structural elements of biographical texts about individuals who aspire to make a difference.
  • understand how language can be context-specific and unique to different communities, demonstrating their membership of particular groups.
  • enhance their understanding of biography structures and the importance of these devices in communicating meaning about the experiences of individuals aspiring to make a difference.

Success criteria:

Students can...

  • explain the features of a biographical texts and provide examples of these.
  • write a short blurb that uses biographical elements to communicate key information and meaning and engage readers.

Lesson guides and printables

Teacher Content Info
Lesson Plan
Student Worksheet

Curriculum links

Select your curriculum from the options below.

Lesson details

Curriculum mapping

Australian curriculum (8.4)content descriptions:

Year 8 English:

  • Understand and explain how combinations of words and images in texts are used to represent particular groups in society, and how texts position readers in relation to those groups (ACELT1628).
  • Understand how conventions of speech adopted by communities influence the identities of people in those communities (ACELA1541).
  • Experiment with text structures and language features to refine and clarify ideas to improve the effectiveness of students’ own texts (ACELY1810).

Syllabus outcomes: EN4-8DEN4-4B

General capabilities: Literacy, Personal and Social Capability, Ethical Understanding, Critical and Creative Thinking, Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability

Relevant parts of Year 8 English achievement standards: Students understand how the selection of text structures is influenced by the selection of language mode and how this varies for different purposes and audiences. They understand how the selection of language features can be used for particular purposes and effects. Students explain the effectiveness of language choices they make to influence the audience. They create texts for different purposes, selecting language to influence audience response. They take into account intended purposes and the needs and interests of audiences. Students demonstrate understanding of grammar, select vocabulary for effect and use accurate spelling and punctuation.

Unit of work: Blue The Film: Our Oceans and Our Future

Time required: 90 mins.

Resources required

Skills

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

  • Communication
  • Creativity
  • Critical thinking
  • Digital literacy
  • Global citizenship

Additional info

Level of teacher scaffolding: Low – lead students in discussion.

Blue is a feature documentary film charting the drastic decline in the health of our oceans. With more than half of all marine life lost and the expansion of the industrialization of the seas, the film sets out the challenges we are facing and the opportunities for positive change. Blue changes the way we think about our liquid world and inspires the audience to action. Find out how to screen or download the film here. Along with the film is an ambitious global campaign to create advocacy and behaviour change through the #oceanguardian movement. To become an ocean guardian, see the website.

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