Spring 2014
Re a d i n g, Writ ing an d Liter atu re , Oh My ! At Discovery College, language is used as a medium of inquiry, providing opportunities to challenge, nurture and develop students. Learning language is integral to the development of personal, cognitive, social and cultural identity as well as to making meaning of the world around us. Through the study of language in Primary and focused English units in Secondary, Discovery College recognises that language is the foundation of all learning. Students bring to any learning situation their prior knowledge and engage with the curriculum through the activities and assessments experienced. Within the interrelated components of the curriculum, students make sense of these experiences and construct meaning. Because our students come with many different language backgrounds, they will all progress at different paces. Discovery College values differentiated and varied instruction, which embraces multiple learning styles. In the PYP, language learning takes place in authentic contexts and is dynamic, challenging and relevant. Through transdisciplinary units of inquiry, students are encouraged to construct linguistic meaning using a range of strategies, make connections across content and make ongoing cultural discoveries. Teaching and learning also occurs through opportunities to develop language skills and attitudes. Examples of skill development in language include handwriting skills lessons, reading strategy skills development and writing sessions with a focus on developing punctuation, spelling and grammatical skills. Through a literature-rich environment with numerous experiences in language learning, the curriculum builds on students’ prior knowledge and understanding. All teaching integrates the language strands of listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and presenting. In Secondary, the English Department delivers a varied, challenging and enriching programme for students to develop literacy and writing skills as well as cultivate their ability to explore at a conceptual level. Using evidence based planning, the department seeks to tailor classroom experiences for each student. Our curriculum emphasises the three strands of
written, visual and oral communication in terms of both their reception and production. Teachers use a broad variety of historical and contemporary literary and non-literary texts to build critical literacy and encourage students to think laterally and independently across a range of issues. At its core, literature seeks to capture, explain and question the human experience. This is reflective of the major concerns of our English programme, to promote understanding of self as the basis for appreciating diversity as well as comment on the nature and function of human society. These concerns are evident in all levels of the curriculum from Years 7 to 13. Understanding of self begins in Year 7 with, ‘What makes me, me?’ Students use awareness of their cultural and personal identity as the basis for developing their narrative writing skills. Through exploring a range of visual, poetic and narrative texts students consider how values and beliefs are shaped by their personal experiences. By fostering this self-awareness, students become more able to appreciate the stories and experiences of others. In Year 8, students interrogate the relationship between individuality and conformity by asking, ‘How does my social and physical environment contribute to my sense of self?’ Through study of Jerri Spinelli’s Stargirl and supporting texts drawn from social media and popular culture, students explore important issues such as peer pressure and acceptance within young teenagers.
change. By exploring a range of speeches from the iconic Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I have a dream’ and Elie Wiesel’s ‘Listen to the Silent Screams’ to more contemporary oratory such as ‘If I should have a daughter’ by TedTalk sensation Sarah Kay, students investigate language as an agent of change. One of the culminating tasks of this unit is that students use their own oratory skills to raise social awareness and change attitudes towards a human rights issue of their choice. The DP English courses seek to extend each student’s maturing awareness of language and its relationship to power. Units that explore taboo and gender also draw on literary criticism and cultural theory as a basis for reading and producing increasingly sophisticated texts. Inquiry into the relationship between language and mass media provide the opportunity for critical analysis of the relationships between politics, society and media as well as engaging with more complex genres such as satire. Study of literature enables students to broaden their perspective on social issues such as war, immigration, marginalisation and environmental concerns. As students graduate we aim to have equipped them with transferable life skills of communication and critical thinking as well as the capacity to continue inquiry as a life-long endeavour. Donna Ellery, PYP Coordinator Flora Mather, Head of English
As well as enabling students to understand their own identity within the communities in which they exist, we encourage students to think critically about human society. In Year 8 students study Lois Lowry’s dystopian novel, The Giver, which raises questions about the need for systems and their ethical implications. There is a clear focus upon developing the ability to plan, construct and develop an argument in a coherent and persuasive way both through essay writing and in Socratic Seminars. In Year 9 students engage with the genre of science fiction to understand that literature can be used as platform for envisioning the future and, in doing so, also point out its flaws. In Year 11, students consider the role of rhetoric in provoking social
READING, WRITING AND LITERATURE
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