Overview

Lessons 4 – 6 build on the foundations established in lessons 1 – 3 by expanding on the elements of narrative to focus on the short story form. Students will continue their exploration of narrative by engaging with the narrative elements of ‘point of view’ and ‘language’. 

Students will be supported to focus on developing a deep understanding of the short story form by engaging in a close reading of a short story, Students will be supported to understand and appreciate how authors use the elements of narrative to create succinct and engaging stories.  

By engaging in this sequence of learning, students will come to understand the following:

• explore how the narrative elements of point of view and language impact the reader 

• explore how language devices create engagement and meaning in narrative 

• understand and begin planning the creative task – composing a short story 

• understand that short story is an economical narrative form 

• learn strategies for coding and summarising new content 

• independently read a short story for understanding  

• annotate a prose fiction text 

• create Frayer models for unfamiliar vocabulary 

• demonstrate their interpretations of a short story through a ‘sketch to stretch’.    

These lessons address the following outcomes – a student:

• EN4-1A responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure 

• EN4-3B uses and describes language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts 

• EN4-6C identifies and explains connections between and among texts 

Students will continue their exploration of the elements of narrative, specifically ‘point of view’ and ‘language’ so they can understand how these elements impact on stories and readers. Students will analyse how these elements are used in narratives. They will also experiment with these to demonstrate their understanding. 

During this lesson, students will: 

• explore how the narrative elements of point of view and language impact the reader 

• explore how language devices create engagement and meaning in narrative.  

Outcome and content points relevant to this lesson – a student: 

• EN4-3B uses and describes language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts  

  • S403EP1 engage with the language and structures of texts in meaningful, contextualised and authentic ways 

  • S403UA14 interpret and analyse language choices, including sentence patterns, dialogue, imagery and other language features, in short stories, literary essays and plays 

  • S403DA7 recognise and use appropriate metalanguage in discussing a range of language forms, features and structures 

The coding for this content point comes from the English Textual Concepts and Learning Processes resources for Stage 4 English – Stage 4. 

Students will unpack the creative writing task which they will work towards and complete in subsequent lessons. They will continue their exploration of narrative through a focus on the short story form. They will explore new vocabulary and consolidate their learning by using a reading and summarising strategy to identify and summarise key information. 

During this lesson, students will: 

• understand and begin planning the creative task – composing a short story 

• understand that short story is an economical narrative form 

• learn strategies for coding and summarising new content.  

Outcome and content points relevant to this lesson – a student: 

• EN4-3B uses and describes language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts 

• S403EP02 identify, discuss and reflect on the ideas and information in a range of texts 

• S403DA7 recognise and use appropriate metalanguage in discussing a range of language forms, features and structures 

• EN4-6C identifies and explains connections between and among texts 

• S406DA2 explain the similarities and differences in meaning and language between texts created for different purposes or audiences 

The coding for this content point comes from the English Textual Concepts and Learning Processes resources for Stage 4 English – Stage 4.  

Students will apply their new knowledge of narrative elements by exploring the short story ‘Abuela’s mark’ by Natalia Figuero Barroso. They will learn how to annotate a piece of prose fiction and use this to better understand the big ideas of the story. Students will continue planning their approach to the short story task.    

During this lesson, students will: 

• independently read a short story for understanding  

• annotate a prose fiction text 

• create Frayer models for unfamiliar vocabulary 

• demonstrate their interpretations of a short story through a ‘sketch to stretch’. 

Outcome and content points relevant to this lesson – a student: 

• EN4-1A responds to and composes texts for understanding, interpretation, critical analysis, imaginative expression and pleasure 

  • S4O1UA01 apply increasing knowledge of vocabulary, text structures and language features to understand the content of texts (ACELY1733) 

• EN4-3B uses and describes language forms, features and structures of texts appropriate to a range of purposes, audiences and contexts 

• S403EP02 identify, discuss and reflect on the ideas and information in a range of texts 

• S403UA14 interpret and analyse language choices, including sentence patterns, dialogue, imagery and other language features, in short stories, literary essays and plays 

The coding for this content point comes from the English Textual Concepts and Learning Processes resources for Stage 4 English – Stage 4. 

This lesson sequence explores Natalia Figueroa Barroso’s short story ‘Abuela’s Mark’ (2019) available in Sweatshop Women Volume One (pp. 41-44), published by Sweatshop. It has been reproduced and made available for copying and communication by NSW Department of Education for its educational purposes. This is possible as permissions were granted by the author. This resource containing the copy of the short story is licensed up until April 2023. We are very grateful for this support and collaboration.