Title of Unit Investigative Report Year Level Year 10

Curriculum Area English Studies Time Frame 2 weeks

Developed By Kamellia Steens
Overview

Class Cohort: This Year 10 Studies class has twenty-three students, all of different ability levels. The students are of mixed
gender and from a range of different backgrounds. There are no known students with learning difficulties; however, some of
the students in this class may struggle with literacies. As a result of this students are able to present any assessed work orally
or by using electronic media as long as their progress has been documented.

Unit Overview:
The overall focus of this unit is to help students gain an understanding the purpose of a report and how to collect and
organise information into a report format. The unit will be delivered to students face to face over a two week period. Each
week contains three single lessons of fifty minutes and one double lesson of one-hundred minutes.

Some students would have already started their research process in the last week of Term 1 and so the unit will begin with
students learning about the purpose of a report and why we research to explore issues further. This will give them an
understanding of the importance of investigative reporting in the real world.

The unit will encompass the three assessment components of the Australian Curriculum: Language (for interaction, text
structure and organisation, and through expressing and developing ideas); Literature (creating literature); and Literacy (text in
context, interaction with others through research processes, interpreting analysing and evaluating and creating texts).
Throughout this unit students will be continually assessed through the completion of formative tasks to monitor readiness
levels in order to carry out a range of activities suited to each individual.

Stage 1 Desired Results
Established Goals:

This two week unit will cover these intended outcomes taken from the Australian Curriculum performance standards-

Language
Language for interaction
Understand that peoples evaluations of texts are influenced by their value systems, the context and the purpose
and mode of communication (ACELA1565)

Text Structure & organisation
Understand how paragraphs and images can be arranged for different purposes, audiences, perspectives and stylistic
effects (ACELA1567)
Understand conventions for citing others, and how to reference these in different ways (ACELA1568)

Expressing & developing ideas
Analyse how higher order concepts are developed in complex texts through language features including
nominalization, clause combinations, technicality and abstraction (ACELA1570)
Refine vocabulary choices to discriminate between shades of meaning, with deliberate attention to the effect on
audiences (ACELA1571)
Understand how to use knowledge of the spelling system to spell unusual and technical words accurately, for
example those based on uncommon Greek and Latin roots (ACELA1573)

Literature
Creating literature
Create literary texts that reflect an emerging sense of personal style and evaluate the effectiveness of these texts
(ACELT1814)
Create literary texts with a sustained voice, selecting and adapting appropriate text structures, literary devices,
language, auditory and visual structures and features for a specific purpose and intended audience (ACELT1815)

Literacy
Texts in context
Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts,
including media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices (ACELY1749)

Interacting with others
Identify and explore the purposes and effects of different text structures and language features of spoken texts, and
use this knowledge to create purposeful texts that inform, persuade and engage (ACELY1750)

Interpreting, analysing & evaluating
Choose a reading technique and reading path appropriate for the type of text, to retrieve and connect ideas within
and between texts (ACELY1753)
Use comprehension strategies to compare and contrast information within and between texts, identifying and
analysing embedded perspectives, and evaluating supporting evidence (ACELY1754)

Creating texts
Create sustained texts, including texts that combine specific digital or media content, for imaginative, informative, or
persuasive purposes that reflect upon challenging and complex issues (ACELY1756)
Review, edit and refine students own and others texts for control of content, organisation, sentence structure,
vocabulary, and/or visual features to achieve particular purposes and effects(ACELY1757)
Use a range of software, including word processing programs, confidently, flexibly and imaginatively to create, edit
and publish texts, considering the identified purpose and the characteristics of the user (ACELY1776)

Understandings:
Students will understand that
The development of perspective through
research is essential to having a valid opinion
Effective investigating not only informs, but
also intrigues and interests audiences
Credible research assists in altering an
audiences attitudes and beliefs
Essential Questions:
How does investigative reporting impact on society?
How is investigative reporting used in other text types?
How can report writing promote the development of critical
thinking skills?
Knowledge:
Students will know
The elements and structure of report writing
The elements and structure of expository
writing
A variety of literary techniques and devices
when writing an investigative report
A range of creative writing prompts to assist
in the production of an imaginative short
story
How characterisation, plot, setting and
theme are integrated and used effectively in
creative writing

Skills:
Students will be able to
Investigate a current issue in society through primary and
secondary research
Compose a report
Demonstrate clear and accurate communication skills
through reading, viewing, writing, composing, listening,
speaking and using a range of electronic media
Use language skills to interact with other people and to
solve problems
Analyse the ways in which texts are created for specific
purposes and audiences
Brainstorm ideas for interview questions

Stage 2 Assessment Evidence
Performance Tasks:
Formative Task 1-

Stage 3 Learning Plan
Learning Activities
Week 1
Monday, Lesson 1 (Single)-
Interview questions

Formative Task 2-
Brainstorming activity

Formative Task 3-
Police Essay

Summative Task-

Investigative Report

Evaluative Criteria:
For Summative Assessment
Investigative Report




Other evidence towards learning outcomes:
Formative tasks
Worksheets
Students will fill out a range of different worksheets that will assist their learning processes:
Exit cards- used to continually assess students and their progress
Group work
Students will participate in a number of group activities in order to grasp concepts and terms with the support of their peers
to help them. Some of these activities are:
Brainstorming- Through discussion and interaction with group members, students collaboratively note and/or draw a
mind map based on relative concepts
Jigsaw Activity- Group discussion and knowledge building; report information back to the class


No classes today. Training and Development day for teachers at Reynella East College.

Tuesday, Lesson 2/3 (Double)-
Review classroom expectations (5 minutes): # 1 Rule- Respect for yourself, others and your teachers.
Name game 5 minutes): Get to know you game so that I can better get to know students and their names.
Introduction to the unit (10 minutes): PowerPoint presentation- Students will be informed on the outcomes of the unit and
what is expected of them in regards to their work. Teacher will write the Essential Questions on the whiteboard and there
will be a brief class discussion about these. They will also be introduced to this terms class text: Tomorrow, when the War
Began by John Marsden. I will briefly discuss what it is about and the themes of independence, survival, and taking control.
Collect the novel from the library (5-10 minutes): Give brief synopsis of the book to the class. Have a quick class discussion
about whether anyone has read it or seen the movie.
Introduce first assessment task- Investigative Report (15 minutes): Introduce the Investigative Report task to the whole class.
Go through the processes they will have to endure to get to the final product. This includes, Questioning (what things you
want to find out and why); Research and gathering information- Primary (interviews and/or surveys), and Secondary
(Information gathered from books and internet) sources; Categorising your information (sifting through your information and
seeing what is useful to your report and what is not); Presenting your information (drafting your report- title page, contents
page, introduction, body-research findings, conclusion and recommendations); Writing your final copy with feedback from the
teachers (this is their summative assessment piece, however, students will also transform their report into an essay for the
South Coast Local Service Area Youth Engagement Program-Police Essay); Transforming your report into an essay (for
submission into the police essay competition).
Brainstorming activity (20 minutes): Students will be instructed to get into groups of about five and using A3 paper and
textas, students will brainstorm ideas for interview questions about graffiti and what they would like to report on about the
topic or what they would like to find out more about. Whilst they are doing this, I will write some possible questions to
explore on the whiteboard to give them more guidance and scaffolding. Students will then select a member from their group
to relay one or two questions or ideas to the class.
Independent work (15 minutes): Students will be instructed to reflect on the brainstorm activity and write down ideas they
have for their reports and about interview questions for their primary source. They will also be encouraged to think about
who they want to interview for their primary source.
Exit card (5 minutes): Students will be handed an exit card based on their investigative report assessments to check if they are
on the right track and see if anyone needs extra scaffolding (this will check students readiness levels of the topic).
Homework: Students will be asked to contact and set up an interview with a member of their community about the issue of
graffiti.

Wednesday, Lesson 4 (Single)-
Introduce todays lesson (5 minutes): Students will be greeted and called to attention. I will instruct them that this lesson will
focus on the novel and the investigative report.
Introduction to story mapping (20 minutes): Brief PowerPoint presentation about story mapping and some examples- What
is it? Its purpose and why students will have to do it. Students will be given a story mapping template and instructed how to
fill it out. They will be instructed to fill in a little more each time they read a few chapters of the novel. This will assist them in
understanding narrative structure, techniques and conventions (preparing them for the exams). Explain to students that this
is a formative task and they will need to hand up a story map of the novel at the end of the term. They may present it
however they like, as long as it contains all the information required about the novels plot structure (beginning, problem, and
conclusion), setting, characters and themes.
Independent student work (20 minutes): Students will be asked to pack up their story mapping activity and focus working on
their investigative report interview questions. They will hand these up during or at the end of the lesson.
Lesson closure (5-10 minutes): Reiterate what the students were learning about today and then hand out an Exit card (based
on narratives) for them to fill out. This will assess the students understanding of narrative structure, conventions and
techniques and will help with future planning.
Homework: Students are to continue working on their Investigative reports and reading the novel. Students are advised to
conduct their interviews ASAP.

Thursday, Lesson 5 (Single)-
Class Discussion on Report writing (5 minutes): Prompt a class discussion by asking the students questions about report
writing. How is a report structured? Why do we structure it this way? What is the purpose of a report?
Explicit teaching on Report Writing (10-15 minutes): PowerPoint presentation- I will teach explicitly about how a report is
structured and what is required of students for this assessment task.
Independent student work (25 minutes): Students will be instructed to take this time to work independently on their
Investigative reports.
Lesson closure (5 minutes): The lesson will be reiterated. Students will be asked about what they have learnt today and to
apply this to real world scenarios.
Homework: Students will be instructed to continue working on their reports. Students should also continue reading their
novels.

Week 2
Monday, Lesson 1 (Single)-
Introduction to lesson (5 minutes): Students will be instructed on what will be covered in todays lesson.
Explicit teaching of proofreading and editing, and referencing work (10 minutes): PowerPoint and task sheets.
Independent student work (40 minutes): Students will be instructed to take this time to work independently on their
Investigative reports.
Lesson closure (5 minutes): Reiterate due date of draft Investigative report.

Tuesday, Lesson 2/3 (Double)-
Introduction to lesson (5 minutes):
Silent reading (20 minutes): Students are to read their novel silently.
Class discussion (5 minutes): students will participate in a whole class discussion about the novel. Who are the characters?
What is the setting? What is the plot so far? Are there any themes present?
Independent work (65 minutes): Students work independently on Investigative Report.
Lesson closure (5 minutes): Reiterate due date of draft Investigative report.
Homework: students are to finish their draft reports. They must also continue reading the class novel (1 chapter).

Wednesday, Lesson 4 (Single)-
*Draft Investigative Report due today*
Thursday, Lesson 5 (Single)-
Individual teacher/student interviews (all lesson): Students will have interviews with the teacher in order to see how they
are travelling through this unit and to give feedback on their reports. Students will be handed back their draft reports, which
will have been marked.

Week 3
Monday, Lesson 1 (Single)-
*Investigative Report due today*
Exam Preparation
Novel reading
Turning a report into an essay

Tuesday, Lesson 2/3 (Double)-
Exam Preparation: Jigsaw activity
Novel reading
Independent work on police essay

Wednesday, Lesson 4 (Single)-
Year 10 Exams take place today
Topic: Narrative

Thursday, Lesson 5 (Single)-
Due date of Police Essay (can be extended to Monday, Week 4 at latest)
Introduction to lesson (5 minutes): Students will be instructed what to do for this lesson and that they must hand up their
Investigative Essay (Police Essay) today at the end of the lesson.
Independent student work/Proofreading and editing (40 minutes): Students will work individually on finishing their Police
Essays. For those students who have finished they can work in pairs to start the next assessment task- Letter to MP.
Lesson and unit closure (5 minutes): Students will be asked to hand up their final essays (printed hard copy).