Rosa Napoli S00134006

EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2

Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
Unit Overview:
For my unit, I have chosen to focus on creating lessons for a Year 10 class of all
boys. My unit is influenced by a visit to ACMI where I saw a display of notable
Australian actors, directors, TV shows and films. Of what was displayed, Baz
Luhrmanns work, including Romeo & Juliet, appeared to have a large focus, and
celebrated his influence on Australia arts, and that is why I chose to base my
lessons on his work. Beginning in term three, prior to the commencement of my
first lesson outline, students have been studying William Shakespeares text
Romeo and Juliet. Students will have read as a class the play, focusing on
discussion and activities based upon language, character, plot, theme, images,
ideas, symbols and context. This is a traditional approach to reading the text,
one which I recommend to ensure students comprehension of the text. However,
after initial understanding of the text is established, I move into a multilateral
teaching approach. My lessons are not consecutive because I wanted to cover a
range of activities students will complete in order to display various scaffolding
methods to increase their critical literacy and multiliteracy skills when
experimenting with multimodal texts. The overall aim for the unit is to develop
students understanding of the relationship between text and film. The
assessment task for this unit is for students to create their own re-contextualised
short film based upon a scene from Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. To scaffold
students development to the final task, they will be completing mini tasks
during their planning stages. These include the writing of a script or screenplay,
and the creation of a digital storyboard cartoon strip.
Prior to lesson outline one, students have viewed Baz Luhrmanns film adaptation
of Romeo and Juliet. Lesson one occurs consecutively after having viewed
Luhrmanns

adaptation

and

focuses

on

analysing

the

directors

re-

contextualisation of Shakespeares text. Incorporating ICT into the classroom, as

a class they will collaborate their discussion using the site padlet.com. Lesson
two follows on consecutively from lesson one, and focuses on students
themselves re-contextualising a scene from Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet in
preparation for their individual script writing task. Lesson three takes place one
week after, and focuses on scaffolding students to complete their storyboard
cartoon strip based upon their individual script. ICT is incorporated again into the
classroom using the website storyboardthat.com. Lesson four occurs later in the

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Rosa Napoli S00134006

EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
term after lesson three, focusing on introducing students to film making. The
lesson serves to scaffold students towards the final assessment task; making a
short film.

Unit Outline: 4 Lessons (Not Consecutive)

SECONDARY LESSON PLAN 1

YEAR LEVEL & SUBJECT: Year 10 English

DATE: 12/8/2014

NO. OF STUDENTS: 25 students

LESSON DURATION: 50 minutes

TOPIC/FOCUS: Analysing Baz Luhrmanns re-contextualisation of Romeo and Juliet

AusVELS STATEMENTS:
Reflect on, extend, endorse or refute others interpretations of and responses to
literature (ACELT1640)
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES (INCLUDE LINK TO AusVELS):
The students will be able to:
Reflect on Baz Luhrmanns re-contextualisation of Romeo and Juliet, endorsing or
refuting his interpretation.
SUMMARY OF RESOURCES REQUIRED:
Romeo and Juliet play, ACMI Romeo and Juliet resource book (as extra reading), notes from
watching the film.
LESSON PROCEDURE

TIMING

15 minutes

30 minutes

RESOURCES

ACMI Romeo
and Juliet
resource book
laptops

https://www.lu
cidchart.com/p
ages/tour/venn
_diagram_gene
rator
laptops

STEPS OF THE LESSON

(key activities and key
questions)
Opening
As a class, create a wall on
padlet.com of key elements of
Luhrmanns re-contextualisation
focusing on character, setting,
scenes, symbols, costume,
filming, directors choices,
stylistic choices.

Lesson Development:
Using Lucidchart venn diagram
generator online, students will
individually create an online
venn diagram comparing
Shakespeares and Luhrmanns

GOALS & METHODS OF

EVALUATION
(including specific
informal and/or formal
assessment links to
AusVELS)
Formative assessment:
-what is the historical,
social and political
context of when
Luhrmanns film was
written and set?
- How is this evident in
the film?
- How does he make
links to Shakespeare
time? (context)
Formative assessment:
- compare the visual
interpretation of key
scenes with the text,
using examples

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Rosa Napoli S00134006

EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
Cope &
Kalantzis
Designs of
meaning

versions of the play, using

specific examples and key
scenes, and focusing on key
characters.
Closure
In pairs, students discuss their
comparison

5 minutes

Formative assessment:
- what were the
differences and
similarities?
- what would you have
done differently?

SECONDARY LESSON PLAN 2

YEAR LEVEL & SUBJECT: Year 10 English

DATE: 14/8/2014

NO. OF STUDENTS: 25 students

LESSON DURATION: 50 minutes

TOPIC/FOCUS: script writing re-contextualising Romeo & Juliet

AusVELS STATEMENTS:
Create imaginative texts that make relevant thematic and intertextual connections with
other texts (ACELT1644)
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES (INCLUDE LINK TO AusVELS):
The students will be able to:
Begin planning a short film script re-contextualising a scene from Shakespeares
Romeo & Juliet, drawing upon themes, plot, and prior discussion
SUMMARY OF RESOURCES REQUIRED:
Romeo and Juliet play, butchers paper, Handout displaying original Romeo & Juliet scene
and re-contextualised scene, task sheet
LESSON PROCEDURE

TIMING

RESOURCES

10 minutes

Handout
displaying
original Romeo
& Juliet scene
and recontextualised
scene

STEPS OF THE LESSON

(key activities and key
questions)
Opening
Teacher will introduce recontextualising and script
writing planning to students.
Teacher will provide students
with an example of the original
scene and the scene she recontextualised
As a class, we will discuss
setting, plot, characterisation,
images, tone and context used
in the provided example

GOALS & METHODS OF

EVALUATION
(including specific
informal and/or formal
assessment links to
AusVELS)
Formative assessment:
How can you tell this is a
script? What elements of
it tell us that?
Similarities and
differences between the
original and recontextualised scene?
What is the context of
the re-contextualised
scene? What is the
genre, setting?

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Rosa Napoli S00134006

EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
35 minutes

5 minutes

Butchers paper
Pens, textas
Cope &
Kalantzis
Dimensions of
Meaning
applying
creaitvely

task sheet

Lesson Development:
In groups, students are assigned
a scene to re-contextualise
creating a poster of their
choices - setting, plot,
characterisation, images, tone
and context

Formative assessment:
Students ability to create
an imaginative text that
links to the original text
and draws upon
cinematic devices

Groups then present their plan

to the class
Closure
Teacher gives students
individual script writing task,
providing a planning sheet
which needs to be completed
and submitted next class

Formative assessment:
Assessing students
ability to work
individually using
knowledge gained from
classroom exercises.

SECONDARY LESSON PLAN 3

YEAR LEVEL & SUBJECT: Year 10 English

DATE: 21/8/2014

NO. OF STUDENTS: 25 students

LESSON DURATION: 50 minutes

TOPIC/FOCUS: Creating a digital storyboard

AusVELS STATEMENTS:
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)
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES (INCLUDE LINK TO AusVELS):
The students will be able to:
create their own storyboard cartoon strip, adapting text to image, incorporating
relevant text and images for intended purpose
SUMMARY OF RESOURCES REQUIRED:
Laptops, previously written script, storyboard strip plan (from previous class)
LESSON PROCEDURE

TIMING

10 minutes

RESOURCES

STEPS OF THE LESSON

(key activities and key
questions)
Opening
The teacher introduces
storyboard that to the class
using a youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=np-1qdaf_Aw

GOALS & METHODS OF

EVALUATION
(including specific
informal and/or formal
assessment links to
AusVELS)
Formative assessment:
- what effect does
transforming written text
to visual image have?
- what is the best way to
incorporate text and
image?

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Rosa Napoli S00134006

EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project

35 minutes

5 minutes

laptops
Cope &
Kalantzis
Designs of
Meaning designing
workbook

Lesson Development:
using their storyboard strip
draft, students begin to create
their own online storyboard of
their script scene
Closure
Students reflect in workbook on
their progress so far; choices
made, changes, how they are
using image to create the scene
and goals for next lesson

Formative assessment:
Assess students progress
to create a multimodal
visual text, incorporating
text and image, as well
as key themes and
overall intention of scene
Formative assessment:
Assessing students
progress and
understanding of
multimodal texts

SECONDARY LESSON PLAN 4

YEAR LEVEL & SUBJECT: Year 10 English

DATE: 9/9/2014

NO. OF STUDENTS: 25 students

LESSON DURATION: 50 minutes

TOPIC/FOCUS: introduction to film making: from image to film

AusVELS STATEMENTS:
Evaluate the impact on audiences of different choices in the representation of still and
moving images (ACELA1572)
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)
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES (INCLUDE LINK TO AusVELS):
The students will be able to:
Evaluate the impact sound and image have within a film on an audience
Explore the use of film techniques and adapt them to your own short film for an
intended effect.
SUMMARY OF RESOURCES REQUIRED:
Laptops, paper tubes, vocabulary of film words handout, smart board
LESSON PROCEDURE

TIMING

10
minutes

30 minutes

RESOURCES

vocabulary of
film words
handout

Paper tube as
camera lens
Smart board
Baz
luhrmanns

STEPS OF THE LESSON

(key activities and key
questions)
Opening
The teacher introduces students
to filmmaking providing
handouts on camera shots,
angles, and film making vocab
Lesson Development:
The teacher introduces the
effects if image, sound:
Activity 1: Image
-students use a paper tube as a
camera pretending to be a

GOALS & METHODS OF

EVALUATION
(including specific
informal and/or formal
assessment links to
AusVELS)
Formative assessment:
Ability to understand the
film techniques and how
they can be used.
Formative assessment:
Activity 1:
-what effect does a low
angle/ high angle/ close
up shot have?
-how might you use these

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Rosa Napoli S00134006

EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
Romeo & Juliet
Workbooks
Cope &
Kalantzis
Dimensions of
Meaning oral
language,
visual
presentation,
audio
representation

10 minutes

Smart board
Storyboardthat
.com

director. They venture around

the classroom focusing on
camera angles reflecting on
how they could use these angles
in their film
Activity 2:
-listening to Baz Luhrmanns
film without watching the film,
students draw a line tracking
the intensity of the music,
dialogue and sound
-students then repeat this
activity with no sound only
images and graph the intensity
of action
Closure
using the teachers storyboard
example, the class discuss what
images, sound, and camera
angles we could use

angles in your film?

Activity 2:
- compare the two graphs
how similar are they?
How well do images and
sound work together?
What happens when the
sound is missing? What
effects do they have on
the audience?

Formative assessment:
Assessing students
ability to reflect on what
they have learnt and use
these skills.
Students ability to feel
comfortable with the
terms, so in the following
classes they can work
independently planning
their short film

Rationale:
Cope and Kalantzis (2009) theory of the dimensions of meaning;
experiencing, conceptualising, and analysing is the basis for this unit. The
dimensions of meaning were utilised to develop students understanding and
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EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
critical literacy skills when comparing the visual and print texts of the multimodal
world.

The activities focus on using various media outlets, reinforcing Jann

Carrols (2013) assertion that boys require activities that are immediately
functional, engaging, creative and challenging to develop competence (p.10),
but also functioning to help boys establish their identity (Cullen, 2002, p.5).
Lesson one focuses on students ability to reflect on, extend, endorse
or refute others interpretations of and responses to literature (ACELT1640)
(Victorian

Curriculum

and

Assessment

Authority,

2014).

Through

the

implementation of scaffolding, the aim is to enable students to reflect on Baz

Luhrmanns re-contextualisation of Romeo and Juliet, endorsing or refuting his
interpretation. As the concept is unfamiliar, I will provide encouragement to
struggling male students so that they become re-engaged (Cleveland, 2011,
p.68).

I have incorporated film as text in the classroom in order

to create

enthusiasm as well as develop their skills when predicting, questioning, and

making inferences that can subsequently be applied to more traditional literary
texts (Frey, 2008, p.12), therefore enhancing their skills to decode visual images
and print text, both of which interrelate.
The lesson will begin by conducting a class discussion, where the
students and teacher can comment on key elements of Luhrmanns recontextualisation. This discussion will take place on an online site, padlet.com,
which allows the students to contribute ideas from their own laptops as well as
electronically displaying the discussion on the smart board. Boys become further
engaged with an unfamiliar text when they are collaborating with their peers
(Carroll, 2013, p.10). When assessing students, I will be focusing on their
understanding of how the director has re-contextualised the setting using
examples, and if links to Shakespeares text is evident. To aid students through
discussion, they will be provided with a Romeo and Juliet resource book from the
ACMI website. After class discussion, students will work independently to create
an online Venn diagram using the Lucid chart website. The activity is designed to
scaffold students to independently compare Shakespeares and Luhrmanns
versions of the play, using specific examples. The formative assessment for this
activity will judge students ability to compare the visual with the print text. This
activity is based upon Cope and Kalantzis theory to design learning experiences
through which learners develop strategies for reading the new and unfamiliar

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EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
(2008, p.176). Christopher Shamburg and Cari Craigheads (2009) theory of
participatory culture further influences this lesson, and all assessment tasks, with
the intention to remove students from passively viewing media (p.195), and
become active participants in the creation and circulation of new content
(p.75), for example their own re-contextualisation of the written text.
Lesson two is designed to focus on students planning to create
imaginative texts that make relevant thematic and intertextual connections with
other texts (ACELT1644) (Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2014),
by developing a script that re-contextualises a scene from Shakespeares play.
Cope and Kalantzis (2009) discussion of applying creativity within the
dimensions of meaning influences my lesson. It is created to ensure students will
progress towards designing using the available design and communicating their
representation of its world within a transformed context; the script (2009, p.177).
The lesson builds upon skills developed and scaffolded during their discussion of
Luhrmanns re-contextualisation, shifting students towards the multimodality of
text production (Edwards-Groves, 2012, p.105) with the intention of students
implementing these planning strategies to their task. I will provide students an
example script that I have written alongside the original scene. The aim is to
introduce students to the technique of script writing as well as the similarities
and differences between the two scenes.
After class discussion, the students move off into groups, and are
assigned a scene to re-contextualise, creating a poster of their choices. Once
again engaging the male students through collaborative group work in order to
enhance comfortability with the unit. The formative assessment of this activity is
to identify students ability to plan collaboratively to create an imaginative text
that links to the original text and draws upon cinematic devices. According to
Carol Bedard, the transposing of a story from one medium to another is mostly
invisible to students (2010, p 48). However, by allowing students the
opportunity to study script writing, they develop the skills to envision their recontextualised text as images (2010, p.51). The re-contextualisation of a Romeo
and Juliet scene displays a transformation from the designing to the redesigned
(Skerrett, 2011, p.195).
Lesson three focuses on students creating their own storyboard,
which adapts text to image for an intended audience, as well as developing their
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EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
skills as readers of visual texts. This aim is based upon the AusVELS statement,
asking

students

to

create

literary

texts

selecting

and

adapting

appropriate text structures, literary devices for a specific purpose and

intended audience (ACELT1815)

(Victorian

Curriculum

and

Assessment

Authority, 2014). Students will use the online site storyboardthat.com to create
their storyboard, and I will begin the class by using a YouTube introductory video
of the site. According to David Bruce (2011), allowing students the opportunity to
visualise the scene they have written, helps students imagine how their images
can be framed (p.78).
This activity is designed to further students progress on the skills
theyve already learnt, scaffolding this brainstorming activity towards their final
assessment. Engaging with online sites builds upon the strengths and skills boys
already possess, and enhances their reading opportunities (Carroll, 2013, p.13).
Throughout the lesson, I will be formatively assessing their progress in creating a
multimodal visual text; incorporating text and image. The lesson will conclude
with students reflecting in their workbooks on their progress so far, an activity
which will occur after every session working on their storyboard. Through the
process of transforming written text to visual text, students are encouraged to
sample and remix, borrow and reshape, appropriate and re-contextualise
(Shamburg, 2009, p.74). Furthermore, as Skerrett (2011) adheres, the creation of
a storyboard allows for the participation in critical framing and transformed
practice as well as multimodal design (p.195).
Lesson four focuses on enabling students the ability to evaluate the
impact sound and image have within a film on an audience, whilst exploring the
use of film techniques and adapting them to their own film. The lesson aims are
based upon the AusVELS statements which focus upon evaluating the impact of
still and moving images as well as exploring the effect of different text structures
and

spoken

texts

(ACELA1572,

ACELY1750)

(Victorian

Curriculum

and

Assessment Authority, 2014). The lesson focuses on introducing students to film

making and scaffolding their skills towards completing the final assessment task;
a short film of their re-contextualised scene. This lesson is designed towards
approaching the redesigned process of re-contextualisation, incorporating oral
language, visual presentation and audio representation (Cope and Kalantzis,
2009, p.177). Adopting this theory allows for the implementation of different

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Rosa Napoli S00134006

EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
modalities of meaning (p.189), and the accommodation of different types of
learners. The engagement of boys in the classroom is maximised when their
activities are provided with direct instruction (Cleveland, 2011, p.104). Activity
one encourages students to use a pretend camera lens as a tool for
understanding camera angles, and their use in film. The students will be
formatively assessed on their reflection of the effect angles possess as well as
how they might be used within their own film.
Activity two is based on the use of sound in film. Students will listen
to Luhrmanns Romeo and Juliet without watching the film, whilst drawing a line
tracking the intensity of music, dialogue and sound. Students will then repeat
this activity, watching the image without sound, whilst graphing the intensity of
action depicted on screen. I will be assessing students ability to compare the
two graphs, focusing on differences and similarities, and the effects they possess
over an audience. As Andrew Butler (2009) reinforces, the use of technology in
the classroom does not replace writing skills but extends their use (p1162). By
this stage of the unit, I hope to achieve students understanding that all forms of
language, text, images, video and audio are a part of the larger meaning
making process (Barron, 2007, p.485). According to Cal Durrant (2000), the
implementation of production and design needs to be of highest importance
within all English literacy classrooms, especially within the twenty first century of
a digital society (p.101).
Through the implementation of a transformative pedagogy within the
unit, I have allowed for students to experience alternative pathways (Cope &
Kalantzis, 2009, p.189) in developing their literacy skills. By adopting a
multimodal approach to teaching, I am allowing for the male students to become
engaged, gain an understanding of all literary texts, as well as the ability to
communicate in all media forms (Cole, 2010, p.194).

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EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project

References
Australian Centre for the Moving Image. (2014). Romeo and Juliet. Retrieved from
https://www.acmi.net.au/media/477707/ACMI-Ed-ResourceRomeoplusJuliet.pdf
Barron, N. (2007). Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social
Futures. Edited by Bill
Cope and Mary Kalantzis. London: Routledge, 2000. 288 pp.Technical
Communication
Quarterly, (4), 483-486.
Bedard, Carol. (2010). "Everybody Wants Somebody to Hear Their Story": High
School Students
Writing Screenplays. English Journal, (1), 47-52.
Bruce, D. L. (2011). Framing the Text: Using Storyboards to Engage Students with
Reading. English Journal, (6), 78-85.
Butler, Andrew C. (2009). Using Popular Films to Enhance Classroom Learning:
The Good, the Bad,
and the Interesting.(Report). Psychological Science, (9), 1161.
Carroll, J. (2013) Engaging and authentic technology use for literacy learning in
the middle years.
Literacy Learning: The Middle Years 21(2), 7-17.
Cleveland, K. (2011). Teaching boys who struggle in school: Strategies that turn
underachievers into
successful learners. Alexandria, Va.: ASCD.
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Rosa Napoli S00134006

EDLA479: English Curriculum and Teaching 2
Assessment Task 3: Multiliteracies Project
Cole, D. (2010). Multiliteracies in motion: Current theory and practice. New York:
Routledge.
Cope, B.; Kalantzis, M. (2009) Multiliteracies: New Literacies, New Learning.
Pedagogies. 4(3),
164-195.
Cullen, P. (2002). Why do we have to study English? A practical approach to
motivating boys in the
English classroom: Boys' education: Let them eat quiche! Metaphor, (1),
5-8.
Durrant, Cal. (2000). Literacy and the new technologies in school education:
Meeting the l(IT)eracy
challenge? Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, (2), 89-108.
Edwards-Groves, Christine. (2012). Interactive Creative Technologies: Changing
learning practices
and pedagogies in the writing classroom. Australian Journal of Language
and Literacy, (1), 99
113.
Frey, N. (2008). Teaching visual literacy: Using comic books, graphic novels,
anime, cartoons, and
more to develop comprehension and thinking skills. Thousand Oaks,
Calif.: Corwin Press.
Shamburg, C. & Craighead, C. (2009) Shakespeare, our digital native. The
English Journal, 99 (1),
74- 77.
Skerrett, A. (2011). Wide open to rap, tagging, and real life: preparing teachers
for

multiliteracies
pedagogy. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 26(3), 185-199.

Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2014). English Curriculum.

Retrieved from
http://ausvels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/English/Curriculum/F-10

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