Tiered unit (Differentiated by Readiness)

Name and student number: Taylor Rubino 2107400

Unit Overview: Professional Document Writing
Curriculum Area
English Pathways
Year level:11
Content
- explain the ways text structures, language features and
stylistic choices are used in different types of texts
Descriptors:
(ACEEN005)
- use appropriate form, content, style and tone for different
purposes and audiences in real and imagined contexts
(ACEEN011)
- use accurate spelling, punctuation, syntax and metalanguage.
(ACEEN017)
Learner
There are a few students in the class that are on modified education
differences/disab

plans they attend support lessons throughout the week where they

ilities in your

receive assistance with their classwork from specialised teachers.

class:

These students are able to participate in class activities and

learning, yet sometimes need extended amounts of time to

Achievement

complete work.
As a result of engaging with the unit, the students will: investigate

standard ACARA

how text structures and language features are used to convey ideas

or SACE

and represent people and events in a range of texts; and create

objective:

written texts appropriate for particular audiences, purposes and

contexts. (ACARA, 2014)

Learning
objectives:

This unit of work focuses on preparing students for the workforce by

examining a range of professional documents required to create and
sustain professionalism in any given career. Over the four weeks,
students will create a fictitious professional portfolio, which includes
a range of documents that demonstrate professionalism and
individuality.
Students will know:
-

professional document format (CV, cover letter, email and

formal letter)
terminology, layout and related language

Students will understand:

-

the importance of upholding professionalism no matter the

document
how professional documents are constructed
how we can entice employers through documentation

Students will be able to:

-

design and produce a series of professional workplace

Pre-Assessment

documents for a fictional character

How can I best sell myself through my CV?
How can I uphold professionalism through professional
documents?
- Why is sticking to a pro-forma important and useful?
- How can professional documents help employers to
understand my skills and personality?
This task is a graphic organiser. Students are required to place

Readiness Task

related terms into the appropriate box depending on their

(attached as

understanding of that term. For students who are able to, they are

appendices)

asked to write their own meaning of that word at the bottom of the

Essential
Questions:

page. This will indicate to me if any of the students have prior

knowledge on the topic or perhaps how confident they feel about
the unit.
Overview of unit
Week 1

Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Curriculum Area:
Learning objective
(from Unit
Overview) for this
particular lesson

Uncovering your skills, abilities and special talents

Choosing a job objective - What are the requirements of that
job?
Identifying relevant referees
Deconstruction of professional documents (CV, cover letter,
professional email and professional letter)
How can I best sell myself?
Ideas for professional portfolio
Assembling folio of professional documents
Working on assignments
Finishing off professional folio
Submission

Lesson Plan
English Pathways

Year Level: 11

Students will know:

-

resume format and sections

terminology, layout and related language

Students will understand:

-

howprofessional resume (CV) documents are constructed

how we can entice employers through our word choice
that it is possible to hinder our chances of employment
through the construction of a resume

Students will be able to:

-

Essential questions

for this lesson

analyse both poor quality and high quality examples of

resumes
use comprehension skills to deconstruct examples
design a resume for a fictional character
What does an acceptable and memorable resume (CV)
look like?
How we can communicate our best assets through a

Lesson number
Suggested content
or outline of lesson
(see appendix for all
handouts required for
this lesson)

resume?
Lesson Number: Week 2, lesson 1

Length of lesson: 50

mins (single lesson)

1. Whole class discussion (5 mins) about the purpose of a
CV what is the aim of a resume? How can we
communicate our relevant skills through a CV? How can
we sell ourselves through this document?
2. Class activity (10 mins) about deconstructing examples of
poor quality and good quality resumes (projected on
screen) identifying the sections of a resume and
examining the successful points from the examples.
3. Activity (tiers are introduced) (20 mins) Biography
Comprehension and Resume Templates: Class split into
two tiers depending on readiness levels; from there small
groups are created. Groups are given fictional biographies
, and students each fill out a resume template by
deconstructing the bios to fit the necessary info into the
resume template. Groups work together, but hand up
individually (formative).
Tier One (low-level readiness): Students from this group will
each be given a resume template (see appendix) that is already
partially filled the idea is that the task is slightly scaffolded for
these students.
Tier Two (high-level readiness):Students will be required to
each fill out the resume template without prompts(see
appendix). This group will attempt to take all information given
in the bio and place it into the appropriate section of the resume
template.

Check for

4. Whole class debrief (10 mins): Come back as a group and

discuss choice made. Which parts of the bio were used
for each section of the template?
5. 3-2-1 Exit Card (5 mins)
Exit Card 3-2-1 format:

understanding:

Write down three personal skills that you would include in your
own resume.
What are two things we should avoid when creating CV?

Visual, verbal,

Write down one new thing you learnt in todays lesson.

Visual: Written resume examples, written biographies

tactile and

Verbal: Verbal explanation of task from teacher

technological

Tactile: Resume templates (blank and partially-filled)

supports

Technology: White board projected examples

(Smartboard/laptop and projector)

Instructional

Group work, teacher directed instruction, student centred

approaches
Resources or

activity.
- Blank resume template and partially-filled resumes template

supplementary

- Fictional biographies

materials
Classroom

- White board projection (Smartboard/laptop and projector)

Given some students in the class are on modified education

environment

plans it is important that the teacher is clear with instructions

What have you had

and allows sufficient time for students to complete the work.

to do to meet

The use of ability grouping (tiering) ensures that learning is

student needs?
Lesson reflections

necessarily scaffolded to meet student needs.

What worked? What didnt? Why/Why not? What could I change
next time?

Explanatory notes - How have you linked the theory of differentiation to

your lesson unit and plan?
In linking my lesson to the theory of differentiation, it was important for
me to focus on trying to move the students from being dependent to
independent learners (Tomlinson, 2004, p.48). However, as Tomlinson
explains (2004, p.48), some students are able to work independently
earlier than others; this is why I tiered the main task for two groups within
the class. The pre-assessment activity I designed consists of graphic
organiser, through which students demonstrate their current level of
understanding of some relevant terminology. This pre-assessment task,
along with an analysis of their previous work enables me to place students
into appropriate groups one tier of lower-level readiness, and the other
moderate-level readiness. The students in the second tier would be more
capable of learning independently in small groups categorised by
readiness level.
It was important for me to consider the concept of flexible grouping for
this lesson. As Tomlinson highlights, it is important to find ways for the
class to work as a whole, alone, and in small groups (2003, p.3). In the
beginning of the lesson, we start with a whole class activity, which
involves looking at both good quality and poor quality examples of resume
templates. As this class has low English literacy, I felt it was important to
teach all of the students the base level knowledge, even if it was just a
refresher for some students. Doing this enables the students to be guided
by teacher directed instruction during the analysis of the text type, which

is a large part of chosen ACARA content descriptors. Having a whole class

conclusion to the lesson also allows the opportunity for low-level readiness
students to hear the ideas and thought of tier two students, which furthers
their understanding of the learning. This task caters for the varying
degrees of readiness in the class.
To ensure equity in the classroom, the task I selected allows all students
access to achieve excellence (Tomlinson, 2003, p.3). Even though one
group has more scaffolding than the other, both groups end up achieving
the same learning objectives. It is my hope that students feel a sense of
connection or belonging through this unit, as they can relate the work
directly to themselves and experiences. A sense of belonging is one of
Ainscow and Miles (2008, as cited in Jarvis, 2013, p.55) elements of
inclusion, I think this unit is apt fit.
REFERENCES
- Jarvis, Jane 2013, 'Differentiating learning experiences for diverse students', in
Hudson, Peter (ed.), Learning to teach in the primary school, Cambridge
University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic., pp. 52-70.
- Tomlinson, Carol Ann 2003, 'Deciding to teach them all', Educational
Leadership, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 6-11.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann 2004, 'The how to's of planning lessons differentiated
by readiness', in Tomlinson, Carol A, How to differentiate instruction
in mixed-ability classrooms, 2nd edn, Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Va, pp. 45-51.

How are you catering for the varying levels of readiness?

The students in this class generally have low English literacy, yet are
looking to further their English skills as most have goals to pursue work or
tertiary study post school. Even though the class as a whole has low
literacy, a pre-assessment activity was designed to identify the students
who had existing knowledge on the topic. The information derived from
the pre-assessment would be used to inform my instructional planning
decision. Based on this information, I would tier the class into two groups
one that had less base knowledge on the topic, and one that was better
equipped with knowledge.
The lesson starts with a group activity, to ensure that all students learn
the relevant terminology before they move on to the tiered task. The class
then splits into two tiered groups, and then again into groups of
approximately four students.Groups are given fictional biographies to read
thoughthat highlightsimportant information. Each student is given a
resume template to fill out based on the information given in the fictional

biography, yet the resume templates differ for each tier. Students from
tier oneare given a resume template to complete that is already partially
filled (see appendix). This is designed to cater for the students in the class
that may need some prompts to help them with the task; structuring the
task this way allows tier onestudentsto complete the same task as tier
twostudents, as well as reach the same lesson objectives, yet the
scaffolding helps the student to participate form different points of entry
to the curricula.

TIERED ACTIVITIES:
Tier One Activity: Use the information provided in the biography to
create a resume for the fictional person. Read carefully through the
biography to identify the persons personal details, relevant skills,
employment history and education information. Once your group has
distinguished the important information, fit the relevant information into
the resume template provided. You will notice that some points have
already been included for you.Remember that not all the skills the person
listed will be suitable to mention in the resume.
Tier Two Activity: Use the information provided in the biography to
create a resume for the fictional person. Read through the biography to
identify all of the information a resume requires. Once your group has
distinguished the important information, fit the relevant information into
the resume template provided.

APPENDIX 1 PRE-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY Graphic Organiser

EXPLANATION: This task is a graphic organiser. Students are required to place

related terms into the appropriate box depending on their understanding of that
term. For students who are able to, they are asked to write their own meaning of
that word at the bottom of the page. This will indicate to me if any of the
students have prior knowledge on the topic or perhaps how confident they feel
about the unit.

APPENDIX 2 Poor Quality Resume Example

APPENDIX 3 Good Quality Resume Example

APPENDIX 4 Tier One Biography Comprehension

APPENDIX 5 Tier Two Biography Comprehension

APPENDIX 6 Tier One Partially-filled Resume template

APPENDIX 7 Tier One Partially-filled Resume template CONTINUED

APPENDIX 8 Tier Two Blank Resume template

APPENDIX 9 Tier Two Blank Resume template CONTINUED