Year 9 English
Year 9 English students are actively prepared to undertake their final years of study at our campus, working towards achieving their Records of Student Achievement (RoSA).
Equipment required:
- a 100+ page exercise book for class work
- a USB
- an equipped pencil case, particularly including pens (black/blue and red), pencils (lead and coloured), glue, and a ruler
Key focus areas for Year 9 English are:
- Developing formal writing skills, particularly use of persuasive techniques
- Developing confidence in speaking to an audience
- Developing the ability to analyse complex texts.
Course information
In their first term of Stage Five Year 9 English students will explore how historical figures and fictional characters are represented in writing and film as heroes and villains. This unit of study is titled 'Heroes and Villains - A Study of Characterisation'.
This term's assessment will require students to compose a narrative in class of a hero's journey. Key skills and content from this topic will also be tested in the half-yearly examination held in term two.
In Term 2, Year 9 English classes will undertake a study of spoken texts in the unit 'Voices of Change'. Each class will focus on a range of spoken texts including poems, songs and speeches that promote an obvious social cause. Students will study iconic texts such as Martin Luther King Junior's 'I Have a Dream' speech and John Lennon's 'Imagine' in order to develop their understanding of how language can move an audience to act for change.
Students will also develop their own speaking skills through their assessment task which requires them to compose and present a speech, persuading an audience to act for change with regards to an issue of interest for each student.
In Term 3, Year 9 students will complete a unit that explores the way Australia and Australians are represented in literature, film and the media in a unit titled 'Australiana - Exploring and Challenging Stereotypes of Australia and Australians'. Classes will engage with a number of texts, including narratives, poems, songs, film clips, television shows and films.
In Term 4, Year 9 classes will dive into studying a film director in a unit called 'Lights! Camera! Action! Director Study'. Classes will each study the work of a particular film director, such as Tim Burton, to identify the stylistic characteristics and film techniques favoured by their director.
Students will also learn about film scripts as a type of text and develop their creative writing skills by composing interviews and script excerpts focused on their director and films studied in class.
Lots to learn
Homework
Wide-reading is an essential component of learning in English (and, we passionately believe, an enjoyable part of life!) and students are encouraged to read for at least half an hour of an evening.
Students are also assigned fortnightly spelling tests which are pre and post-tested in class. Students are aware that they are expected to practise their spelling lists at home. The 'Look/Cover/Write/Check' method is taught in class as a way to revise their spelling words.
Every student in Year 9 has a Literacy Planet log in. Literacy Planet is an engaging online literacy program that teaches students the fundamentals of reading, spelling, comprehension, grammar and phonics. Tasks and interactive games can be accessed through the website. Students are encouraged to log in from home and complete a variety of tasks to build their literacy skills. For more information, visit the Literacy Planet website.
See your English teacher for your Literacy Planet login details.