Transformative Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes
Main Curriculum Link ACARA

Understand how texts vary in purpose, structure and topic as well as the degree of formality (ACELA1504)

New Learning Outcome

At the completion of this lesson sequence students will be
able to understand the importance of text structure and the
language features of a report.

Setting the Scene

This lesson sequence has been carried out in a grade 5 class
in a medium to high socioeconomic area. The sequence has a
literacy focus with the main assessment piece being integrat-

ed with the science and technology curriculum. Each student

had access to a surface pro 3 in which they will use for the
webquest as well as creating a word document. The school
has a good wi-fi connection which will allow the student's to
complete their research quickly. A WebQuest will be used
please find the link below.
http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=245509

Importance of ITC
Information and Communication Technology [ICT] in todays schools can be used to extend
and create authentic learning experiences for students. It is yet another pedagogical tool that
teachers add to their tool box (Finger). This use of ICT in this particular lesson sequence is
done in an integrated fashion, as it allows the main focus of the lesson (English) to be prominent but using ICT as a facilitator that will help students to achieve the new learning outcome
(Finger). In todays society its important for teachers to use ICT as a way to foster innovative
teaching and learning practices (Maddux et al., 1997). Nazzal (2005) discusses that children
today have been born into a society in which accessing the internet and other forms of ICT is
relatively easy. Teachers should ensure that they uses ICT to their advantage to promote and
construct lessons where students can gain skills and knowledge that ate meaningful to them
in the now (Nazzal, 2005).
Throughout the learning sequence featured, there are many ways in which ICT has been integrated and used, but for the purpose of this assignment the educational tool that is the focus
is a WebQuest which is used in the final lesson in conjunction with the assessment task. The
WebQuest itself is being used as a gate way for students to gain information that can assist
them in completing a report writing task.
A WebQuest is as Dodge (1997) defines inquiry-oriented activity in which some or
all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet (p. 1).
The WebQuest is an engaging, inquiry based tool that will allow students to view their task for
the lesson fully online. Students, during this WebQuest, are able to find links to specific to the
topic of Earth and Space Science. For this lesson students will use the information that they
find, using the websites provided to create a report on a chosen planet. In this specific lesson,
the way that the WebQuest is being used is to only give students a limited amount of links to
specific websites where they can find the information. A webquest is a simple way of integrating ICT into the regular curriculum, and in this case the English curriculum (Nazzal, 2005).
This WebQuest has been designed for students with varying ICT skills as the websites that are
to be used have all have the same amount of relevant information that are all from a reliable
source. By using the WebQuest as a pedagogical tool it allows students to work cooperatively
with their peers. This can be seen as more than one student may have chosen the same planet to write their report on, which allows these students to compare information and their
main talking points of their report.

Lesson 1:

Lesson 2:

Lesson 3:

Students will be looking at the text

structure or reports.Have the students
read over an example of a report, taking
note of the text features and languages
features.

Students will be looking at the text structure or reports.

Students will be given 3 different examples of a report.

Teacher directed - Who and why might we
write reports? Where are we likely to see
reports?

Think-Pair-Share. By yourself, what are

some similarities of the 3 different reports
write them down 5 mins Discuss your findings with your partner 5 mins- Share as a
group the similarities that have been found
and write them up on the board

Teacher directed using another template (projected onto the white board/smart
board) have students highlight the different
similarities (structures) of this report.
Begin to classify the similarities under the
headings Text features and Language features (These will be displayed on the side
wall for the remainder of the unit for student reference)

Resources:

Sample reports

Projector/smart board

Students are to rule up a 2 columns in

their book and list any features that they
might know.
Discuss a few of the students answers
after this give the students the second
example of a report (which details the
different text and language features that
could be found in a report).
Ask students to add anything that
they have missed to their own lists. Have
the students complete the second sheet
of the Aquatic biomes report in their
pairs at their table.

Using some examples, as a class look at

the opening paragraph
Teacher directed - What does it tell us?
(General overview) What type of language is used? How much information is
in the opening paragraph? What does
each new paragraph contain? (new info)
Watch a short informative clip on Apes
Have students take notes on topics that
could be used if they were writing a report from this clip.
Share examples with the class on some of
the topic that they hears/saw on the clip..
In pairs write an opening sentence which
could be created into a paragraph.

Resources:

Resources:

Tasmanian Devil example

Ape Dvd

Aquatic biomes sheet x2

Sample reports

Lesson 4/5:

Lesson 6/7 Assessment:

Using the information cubes of the Australian Historian that you researched in
SOSE you are to practice writing a report.

Emailed to your students account is a link

to a webquest.

Remembering to use the Text and Language features that are associated with
writing a report.
Use the examples that you have been
given throughout the unit to help you .
Once the report has been finished swap
with a partner so that you can check
each others work to make sure that all
the text and language features are present.

Resources:
Australian Historian cube.
Example reports from previous lessons.
Surface Pro 3 one for each student

You are to follow the steps of the

webquest to ensure that you complete it
to the best of you ability
Make sure you have looked and the rubric and use it as a check list for your
report/assessment piece.
Once finished you are to email your report to me using your student email with
the subject My Planet .
The report will be

Resources:
Surface Pro 3
Example reports from previous lessons

1. Students are to create a report on a planet that they have chosen from our solar system.
This correlates with a visit that students took to the Senior Campus to view the Iglew (A 3D
tour into our solar system).
2. Click on the webquest link that has been emailed to you. Or find it at http://zunal.com/
process.php?w=245509
3. Follow the directions of the webquest.
4. The finalised report will be emailed to me for assessment, you will be assessed on a
number of criteria under two different sub headings: Text Structure and Language Features.
5. Your report will be emailed back to you with your marked rubric including your score
out of 30.

Assessment Rubric
Text Structure
Criteria

Above
satisfactory
(3 Marks)

The opening
statement classifies the subject of
the report
The opening
statement is followed but sentences that describe such things
as appearance, be
haviour and other
aspects of
the phenomenon
being described.
The writing has
paragraphs, each
one focusing on a
different aspect of
the phenomenon.
Topic sentences
are used
A general statement about the
topic usually
rounds off the
report
Diagrams, illustrations or photo-

graphs are often

used.

Satisfactory
(2 Marks)

Below
satisfactory

Nil

Language Features Criteria

Above satisfactory
(3 Marks)

(1 Mark)

Present tense verbs are used.

Verbs for describing and classifying (is, are, has, belongs to)
are used

Action verbs are used to describe behaviours (climb, eat).

Scientific of technical reports
focus on classes of things
(dogs).

Nouns and noun phrases are

used rather than personal

pronouns.

Satisfactory
(2 Marks)

Below satisfactory
(1 Mark)

Nil

Below is a sample of a report that has been written by a grade 5 student. Through the learning sequence the students were gaining the knowledge
and skill in which it takes to write a successful report. Using a WebQuest the students were able to source information about a planet that they
had chosen and create a report about it.

Jupiter is referred to as the giant of the solar system. Its mass is 300 times the mass of earth. Jupiter is the name of the roman sky god and is known to
the ancient Greeks as Zeus.

Jupiter is the 5th planet from the sun. It has 4 moons named: IO, Europa, Callisto and
Ganymede and of which is the largest moon in the solar system. Jupiter is made of hydrogen, helium, methane and ammonia.
Jupiter is the stormiest planet in the Solar System. There is a permanent, but continuously changing whirlpool of storms, known as Jupiters Great Red
Spot. If a person was to walk on the surface of Jupiter they would be immediately ripped apart!
Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft, The most recent probe to visit Jupiter was the Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft in late February 2007. The probe used the gravity from Jupiter to increase its speed.

There is no single person who is credited with the discovery of Jupiter. Jupiter is one of the five planets that can be seen in the night sky
without using a telescope or binoculars. The planet Jupiter has been known since ancient times and was observed for thousands of years by the people of many different cultures. Galileo was the first to observe Jupiter with a telescope, as Jupiter can be seen with the naked eye, the ancients probably the ones who discovered it.

Dodge, B. (1997). Some thoughts about WebQuests. Retrieved from: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html

Finger, Glenn. 2007, Selected pages from chapter 7 : 250-259 (in) Finger, Glenn D.: Transforming learning with ICT : making IT happen, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.
Maddux, C. D., Johnson, D. L., and Willis, J. W. (1997). Educational computing: Learning with tomorrow's technologies (2nd ed.). Boston:
Allyn and Bacon.
Strickland, J., & Nazzal, A. (2005). Using webquests to teach content: Comparing instructional strategies. Contemporary Issues in Technology
and Teacher Education 5(2). Retrieved from: http://www.citejournal.org/vol5/iss2/socialstudies/article1.cfm