Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes – Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge - the structure of a narrative
30 minutes – Part B: Brainstorming and Planning
30-60 minutes – Part C: Writing the story - timing dependent on teacher discretion.
15 minutes – Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

Begin the lesson by drawing the following shape onto the whiteboard or projecting the below if appropriate. Ask students if they recognise this structure: English triangle

Step 2.

Depending on student responses, explain to students that the below is a visual representation of narrative structure. Add in the following descriptive points, so that students can see this is how a classic story is structured.

Step 3.

Ask students to suggest a story or film that the whole class knows. Together, try to assign each of the five sections of the narrative structure to this story or film's events to help students consolidate this understanding. Instruct students to copy this down on #2 on their Student Worksheets.

Step 4.

Facilitate a discussion with students about the order of the events on the narrative structure. Ask your class to consider the following:

Do they always have to be in the order outlined on the visual?
Do they know any stories or films where the order of the events is unusual? If so, what effect does this have on the audience?

Part B: Brainstorming and planning

Step 1.

Ask students to write down ten words they associate with Australian disasters based on their completed learning throughout this unit of work. You might find it helpful to remind them of the lessons they have completed and give them a moment to look back over previous worksheets.

Step 2.

When students have compiled ten words, have them reflect on their list and ask them whether they have any favourable terms are written down - words like resilience, fortitude, community, strength or hope. If they don’t, ask them to consider some of these terms, and whether they can see these arising in a time of crisis.

Step 3.

Explain to students that they will be writing a narrative about a person, family or community who have survived an Australian disaster. The purpose of the story is to show the strength that someone must show in a time of crisis to build resilience.

Step 4.

Present the video Karen's Story | Aftermath: Beyond Black Saturday to help students visualise the key themes, emotions and events that occur during and after a bushfire Karen's Story | Aftermath: Beyond Black Saturday

Before playing the video, ask students to keep the following questions in mind and facilitate a brief discussion on:

What emotions was Karen experiencing during the fires?
How was Karen impacted by the event?
What did Karen learn?
What emotions was Karen experiencing after the fires?
What character traits and values do you think Karen has?
How did Karen choose to think about the fires?

Ensure students understand the power of choice and the importance of growth, strength and hope for change.

Step 5.

Give students some time to map out their story idea, using the narrative structure map as a basis. Encourage students to focus on resilience, and overcoming disasters, in their planning, as well as experimenting with narrative structure.

Part C: Writing the story

Step 1.

Nominate a time frame for students to craft their stories, with them aiming to write 400-500 words. Depending on their confidence, they could write to a strict time frame or have an extended period including homework time to craft their response.

Reflection

When students have completed their stories, provide some time for them to share their stories with their peers. Have students print their writing out, or share all stories to a shared drive, so that everyone in the class can engage with the different representations of resilience created by the class.

Differentiated Learning

Extension – Students who require extension can locate another resource that explains the aftermath of the bushfires from a different perspective (song, experiment, drawing, news report, poem, documentary, film, etc. Ensure you encourage students to think about the areas that interest them. For example, if they're lovers of the arts, they can potentially research The Australian Arts Review (artsreview.com.au) for topical events and exhibitions that occurred in response to the Australian bushfires.

Once they have located a topic of interest, they can write a piece on the artist's, scientists, writer's intent and how the artwork, report, film, song, aimed to create a discourse about the event to foster change.

Provisions for Learning Support – Students with additional needs can access a device to type their responses or use text to speech technology. Alternatively, they could record their narrative like a podcast episode.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

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

Resilient Australia - Writing Stories About Resilience

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