Backward Design - UNIT PLAN

Title: The creative writing process can transform grammar knowledge and writing conventions into imaginative, fun and
entertaining texts.
Year Level: Year 4

Teacher: Edward Cameron

Focus Curriculum Area (s): English, ICT

Duration: 4 weeks

STAGE 1: Curriculum Links

General
Capabilities
(GP)

Ethical Behaviour

Personal and Social

ICT
Intercultural

Crosscurriculum
Priorities
(CCP)

Aboriginal and TSI

Asia and Australias

Sustainability

Year Level
Content
Descriptors

Literacy

Histories and
Culture

Numeracy

Understanding

Engagement with Asia

(ACELA1492) (ACELA1493) (ACELT1605) (ACELT1607)

(ACELT1794) (ACELY1694) (ACELY1695) (ACELY1696)
(ACELY1689)

Year Level
Achievement
Standards

Knowledge

Students will be able to work collaboratively in pairs to

present their writing processes in a power point
presentation.

High-light elements of the standards

being assessed

Skills

Students demonstrate understanding of grammar, select vocabulary from a

range of resources and use accurate spelling and punctuation, re-reading

and editing their work to improve meaning.

Students will be able to deepen their understanding of

grammar concepts and writing conventions to generate
fictional texts that represent their own ideas.

Critical and Creative Thinking

Reading and writing competency

Knowledge of paragraph structure

Knowledge of grammar concepts and writing conventions

Knowledge of the writing process

Basic knowledge of creating fictional narratives

ICT knowledge

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LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Students will be able to write imaginative and entertaining texts for a widening range of audiences, demonstrating increasing control over grammar, text

Students will be able to explore components of the writing process to plan, organise, draft, revise, edit and share their own
creative fictional texts.

Students will be able to use ICT collaboratively to produce an informative presentation of the process involved in creating their fictional narratives.

structures and language features.

UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

Task description: The students will be required to complete two summative tasks. The first is a two-minute power point presentation
that will be performed with a partner. The students are to distribute the workload evenly and demonstrate an understanding of the
components of the writing process as they document the making of their fictional stories. The product will be a multi-modal presentation
using slides on a power point presentation with the students giving an oral explanation to accompany the slides. The target audience will
be the teacher and students, although parents/carers who are available may attend. The assessment will be held on the last two days of
the unit of work.
The second assessment evidence, will be the end product itself- the fictional stories. They are expected to be well-presented and
designed, bound and visually appealing. The story books will be read by their respective authors after they have presented their power
points, and be made available to read in the library for parents, teachers and other students.
Portfolios of collected assessment artefacts; worksheets, graphic organisers and drafts, can be taken home for parents to understand the
learning process and see evidence of learning.
Assessment Criteria:
Power Point- Topic was reported in an organised manner providing relevant facts about the writing process and descriptive detail to
enhance audience understanding. ICT was used effectively to create a visually appealing presentation.
Fictional Text- Plan, draft and publish imaginative texts that demonstrate good understanding and control over text structures,
grammar, and language features.
Assessment recording template:
The teacher will assess the students performance against a rubric that contains the assessment criteria that has been differentiated
with the corresponding grades (A-E). There will be an individual and group component.
The fictional texts will be collected and marked using a rubric with a similar format to the presentation rubric
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Feedback:
Under each rubric will be a teacher comment section. The teacher will highlight strengths and areas for improvement, and offer advice
for a way forward for any future writing units.
Self-assessment:
The presentations will take place over two days to allow time for some peer-assessment in the form of a group critique of the stories
read that day. The teacher will ask: Which story showed good examples of spelling, grammar and sentence structure? Which story
had an exciting hook at the start? Which story had a creative idea? Why? As the students discuss these points, students can reflect
on the feedback given. The students can also compare their stories with their peers, contrasting elements that they felt worked or
need further development. The books can be kept as records to reflect on later to show how much their writing has developed as
they contrast these books with more recent writing samples.

UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN STAGE 3: PLAN LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND INSTRUCTION

What events will help students:
Learning Experiences
1

Lesson 1- Introduce the project. Explain the learning goals and big
idea. Clarify the intended audience for presentation and reading.
Elicit and discuss story elements using a KWL chart. What are the
elements in a story: plot, characters, setting, conflict and
resolution. Brainstorm ideas for a fictional plot, collaboratively.
Lesson 2- Paragraph structure. Using the Mad-Lib worksheet
(Penguin Group, 2010), the students will write a simple story
paragraph, highlighting different parts of speech, and then gap
filling it for their study buddy to complete by changing the

Assessment For/As Learning

(Formative Assessment)
KWL chart
Blooms Taxonomy (remember):
Can you name the different
things in a story?
3-2-1: What did you find out,
interesting thing & what do you
want to find out.

Resources
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=b-Ndkp9_40
KWL chart
Madlib worksheet
Exit slips
People flashcards
Worksheets
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narrative. Teacher-students model a paragraph together. Read

them aloud and discuss. Put worksheet in portfolios. Deposit exit
slips.
Lesson 3- Characterisation. Students will describe people from
pictures. Brainstorm characters in small groups. Complete
character profile worksheet.
Match descriptions to characters. Put worksheets in portfolios.
Deposit exit slips.
Lesson 4- Descriptive paragraph structure. Model some
descriptive paragraphs from The Cat in The Hat (Suess, 1957) and
The Big Friendly Giant (Dahl, 1982). What makes them
interesting? Discuss. Think of a topic incorporating characters
from yesterday (idea) and organise the details for a descriptive
paragraph on a web-diagram. Exit slips.
Lesson 5- Explore feelings through the five sentences. Ask: What
will your characters feel? Elicit feeling words. Explore these
feelings through the five senses; Feels like, Sounds like...,
Smells like, Looks like, and Tastes like Read selected
paragraphs from The Big Friendly Giant (Dahl, 1982) and have the
students visualise what they hear the teacher reading using the 5
senses.
2
Lesson 1- Using verbs for description. Introduce the concept of
showing rather than telling. Students will change sentences
such as Mr Brown was angry to Shaking his fist, Mr Browns face
turned red. Students will act out emotions in small groups and
describe in detail how they looked.
Lesson 2- Students will learn to incorporate adverbs to spice up
their sentences. Students will complete the steps in the
worksheet (www.teachit.co.uk, 2009) to help add interest to their
sentences. Deposit exit slips. Put worksheets in portfolios.
Lesson 3- Review strategies for adding interest to sentences and
paragraphs with a short quiz. Discuss ways to start a story with

Describe what they learnt. Give

feedback.
Exit slips to check understanding
and misunderstandings.
Blooms taxonomy (understand,
apply)
Observation and informal
feedback
Discussion, informal feedback,
observation.
Observe student thinking on the
web diagrams and offer
feedback.
Blooms taxonomy (analyse)
Describe concepts in own words

Observe student performance &

offer feedback.
Questioning.

Exit slips
Cat in The Hat (Suess,
1957) Big Friendly Giant
(Dahl, 1982).
Web Diagram

Exercise books
Array of literature
available in the
classroom to inspire
ideas

Worksheet
Exit slips
Quiz

Review exit slips

PowerPoint
Quiz on sentence development.
Class discussion.

Digital camera (borrow

from teacher if needed)

Student list
Student drafts

Computer access to
store images in a file.

Student reflections

Array of literature
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an interesting hook. Read example opening sentences from

various classic books that the teacher has made into a PowerPoint
presentation. Discuss why these are effective. Write some
alternate starting sentences.

Graphic organizer

available in the
classroom to inspire
ideas

Placemat
Lesson 4- Brainstorm and plan the story ideas. Students will use
their prior knowledge in small groups to plan their short stories.
Using a large sheet of paper, the students will bounce ideas of
each other. After brainstorming they will refine their ideas with
the teachers assistance in graphic organisers. Students can begin
documenting the process for their presentation. Put graphic
organisers in portfolio.

Assess student drafts

Lesson 5- Drafting. Students will write down what they think is

involved in the drafting stage with their study buddies. Discuss
thoughts. Begin drafting. Reflect on the process. Leave spaces
between lines for teacher comments. Emphasise idea over neat
handwriting. Collect and date drafts for portfolio.
3
Lesson 1- Students will refine their drafts. Emphasise that the
idea takes precedence over grammar and punctuation at this
stage. Have a quick oral quiz on how to add interest to a
sentence. Monitor and assist students as they work.
Lesson 2- Revise their drafts. Have students create a checklist in
small groups to highlight what needs to be revised. Discuss and
modify the checklist and display it clearly. Students continue to
revise. Monitor and assist as they work.
Lesson 3- Revise & edit. Have students read their revised drafts
whilst the other students give feedback. The students can then
self-assess and decide how to proceed. Reflection- will the
audience find this entertaining? Does it need spicing up?
Students will continue whilst the teacher scaffolds their learning.

Observation, feedback.
Quiz
Exit slips
Individual assistance
Proofreading Checklist
Feedback- two stars and a wish.
Traffic light system

Digital cameras and

computer access to
store images.
Butchers paper
Array of literature
available in the
classroom to inspire
ideas

Questions: What do you need to

change? Is your writing
entertaining?

Lesson 4- Revise, edit & proofread. Use a traffic light system to

determine who is progressing well and who isnt. Organise peer
support for the struggling students and discuss progress with the
amber light students. Review the strategies learnt. Have they
incorporated these? Refer to the checklist and proofread in pairs.
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Lesson 5- Remind students these presentations must be ready for

the end of next week. Discuss changes the students have made
to their stories throughout the process. Why did you change it? Is
it more interesting now? Is it nearly finished? Read some
students work out loud. Proofread checklist. Monitor the students
work as they work toward the finished product. Ensure the
students are documenting the process.
4

Lesson 1- Publish. Set up work stations for as students ready their

work for the public. Final grammar/spelling checks with peers and
teacher. Writing/typing finished product. Illustrate or attach
photos. Designate the computers for students ready to make their
power point slide show. Teacher will move between groups
keeping students on-task.

Observation, feedback
Exit slips

Lesson 2- Students will move between workstations as they work

on their fictional stories and power point presentations. Teacher
will move around to scaffold learning, offer feedback and
assistance.

Peer support

Blooms taxonomy (create)

Self-assess and reflect

Computer access
Smart board
Array of literature
available in the
classroom to inspire
ideas
Microphone
Marking rubric

Lesson 3- Students will complete their stories, and practice

presentations and reading.
Lesson 4- Students will demonstrate understanding of concepts as
they present their power point presentations. Students will read
their stories. Students will then review each others stories in a
group review. Teacher grades students with the rubric.
Lesson 5- Students will demonstrate understanding of concepts as
they present their power point presentations. Students will read
their stories. Students will then review each others stories in a
group review. Teacher grades students with the rubric.

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Recording Formats
Rubric for the PowerPoint presentation

This is the rubric for the PowerPoint summative assessment

Rubric for the Creative Writing project

This is the rubric for the creative writing project.

PowerPoint

This is a PowerPoint I made to model opening sentence hooks

Web-diagram

This is the web-diagram for the descriptive paragraph

MadLib

This is the exercise to play with the elements within a paragraph

Character Profile

This is to assist in character development

Short Stories

These stories will help stimulate ideas and model sentence structure

Shake up your sentences

This worksheet models effective use of adverbs to add interest to writing

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Explanation of My Plan
The central focus of the unit is to encourage students to combine and develop their knowledge of grammar and writing conventions to create writing that
aims to entertain a wider audience. The unit of work endeavours to foster creativity and stimulate the students imaginations through a range of authentic
tasks that allow students to nurture cognitive skills as they apply theory to create thoughtful texts and develop communication skills through peer
assessment, feedback, and a presentation. Another key focus is to reward the students with a tangible artefact that they can be proud of- the published
story. The finished story will act as a fitting conclusion to the unit and something a student can share with their family; it also provides motivation for
students to do the required work to the best of their ability. The aspects of the content descriptors in the Australian English year 4 curriculum (ACARA), that
will hopefully aid this meaningful consolidation of grammar into the writing task, are the creating texts strand, that outlines the writing process from planning
through to publishing. Strands that outline grammar points and sentence structures will also be focused on and examining and responding to literature may
also inspire and model effective writing.
The unit of work was planned using a Backward Design approach. Backward design is a planning process that starts with the teacher considering the
desired learning outcomes that need accomplishing and then plans backwards to derive effective assessments that will provide evidence of learning
(Readman & Allen, 2013, p.65). The teacher can then consider and create activities that can equip students to perform and step towards their learning goal
(Wiggins & Mctighe, 2009, p. 209). Whilst planning this unit, the backward design model, assisted me in clarifying what it is I wanted my students to know.
Determining curriculum standards from the big idea, that students writing knowledge can be activated in creative ways to entertain and inspire people,
helped my planning process flow organically; I had a clear idea to which I could align the curriculum content, as opposed to a content-based approach
where learning content is slotted into portions for teachers to work through systematically (Readman & Allen, 2013, p. 66). With the end result in mind,
backward design positions assessment as a guiding force in a teachers practice, defining the teaching goal and the students learning targets, clearly.
To increase student motivation; map and record their progress, and aid the planning process, various types of assessment that enriched my instruction
were used (Reiger, 2012, p. 4). These assessment tasks aim to progress and record the students learning in line with the stated objectives and standards,
ethically and professionally. The assessment types used were as follows:

Rubrics will assess the quality of the completed projects, and are an effective means to record student performance, reliably and consistently
(Tompkins, Campbell, Green, & Smith, 2015, p. 56). The language used in the rubrics is not overly complex, so it can be read by students and their
parents, allowing for the criteria to be discussed and understood by all concerned parties.

To consolidate the students understandings of the writing process and the unit of work, another summative assessment will be assigned; a power
point presentation. This task enables students to demonstrate knowledge of the learning objectives in their own words as they explain what they
did and how they did it, referring to slides of their work through the various stages.
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Graphic organisers in the form of web charts are used to organise information relating to a theme. They are used because they are an effective
means recalling information that can be assessed for understanding and essentially communicate a students processes of learning (Reynolds,
2014, p. 90). Different strategies to cement concepts needed to fulfil their learning objectives such as paragraph structure and the writing process,
will be recalled using this form of assessment.

Portfolios are a practical way of collecting student artefacts, that will be used to document students development over the course of this unit
(Tompkins et al., 2015, p. 73). The samples can be measured against the learning objectives and discussed, providing teachers, parents and
students with valuable and reasonable insights into students stages of growth (Tompkins et al., 2015, p. 74). Artefacts to be collected will be
graphic organisers, story drafts, notes taken during brainstorming sessions, worksheets, and any other items relating to the learning goals.

Brainstorming sessions using placemat, study buddy and group conferencing, enables an easy exchange of ideas that is inclusive of all levels,
due to its peer-on-peer nature; students feel less judged when sharing opinions informally amongst themselves, as opposed to when under the
scrutiny of the teacher and a full classroom (Reynolds, 2014, p. 89). The learning objectives and their relating standards can be discussed from
different perspectives and documented for the teacher to assess and plan appropriate instruction.

Student understanding will be checked for moderation, through 3-2-1 assessment, quizzes, and traffic lights, questioning and checklists. These
activities aid a teacher to ascertain a students progress toward their learning target and differentiate instruction; organise peer-support, assign
different level tasks, etc., accordingly and timely.

The summative assessment tasks; the PowerPoint presentation, and the fictional narrative, allow for the transfer of classroom-based knowledge into the
world beyond. Writing creatively gives students opportunity to transform knowledge of grammar, sentence structure and writing conventions into an
imaginative synthesis that has the potential to entertain a wider audience. Through exploring the writing process, students will take the chance to enrich
their reading ability; as these two disciplines are connected and vital skills for later life, they must be nurtured (Annenberg Foundation, 2016). Additionally,
through this creative writing task, children can examine their identity as they express themselves artistically. The PowerPoint presentation like the writing
task, presents opportunities for students to organise something aesthetically pleasing, but most importantly it encourages them to practice effective
communication skills such as structuring and expressing ideas clearly and succinctly, which will be needed later in their professional lives after school
(British Council).
To support students and build their confidence as they progress through the learning tasks, a healthy attitude toward and sound knowledge of feedback is
needed. The feedback I will use must be honest and precise, implementable and timely, to drive students towards their goals (Readman & Allen, 2013, p.
112). Descriptive feedback will be used diagnostically and formatively in the early stages and throughout the unit in a variety of strategies. Brainstorming in
groups will be used to elicit ideas for fictional plots, characters, etc., and written down for the teacher to consider and ascertain understanding in relation to
their goals. During and after various stages of the writing process, students can read drafts for peer assessment. Two stars and a wish; two stars for
elements that are effective, and the wish for an area needing improving, can lead to students incorporating this feedback into their work (Readman & Allen,
2013, p. 108). Simply monitoring and observing from the teacher, and providing on-the-spot feedback, informally; for example, offering ways to add interest
or editing advice, may increase students confidence and reduce frustration. Exit slips will be

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The unit of work aims to build on students existing skills and knowledge of reading and writing, paragraph structure, grammar concepts, writing conventions,
ICT, and the writing process, and deepen their understandings of these skills and concepts by facilitating a number of learning tasks designed to align with
the aforementioned achievement standards. These tasks should enable students to transform these skills and knowledge into descriptive, interesting and
imaginative fictional texts. The first half of the unit focuses on paragraph structure, description and characterisation and plot, to reacquaint the students with
skills not only needed to write coherent and concise paragraphs, but to add interest, and depth to them. A MadLib exercise was facilitated to allow students
to explore and rearrange parts of speech in paragraphs they will write themselves, to change context and meaning. New descriptive language will be
elicited and taught from The Big Friendly Giant (Dahl, 1982) and The Cat in The Hat (Suess, 1957) and added on the word wall for reference. Activities that
flashcard different characters will be used to build descriptive language as the students use descriptive vocabulary to describe what they see, and match
descriptions to the card. To combine this knowledge of description and paragraph structure further activities will be facilitated that enrich their
understandings such as a visualising activity were the five senses will be incorporated into their writing as they listen to the Roald Dahl text, and visualise
what they can hear, smell, taste, feel, and see. Activities that encourage students to rely less on adjectives, and use verbs for their descriptive work, are
important as they allow students to experiment with various functions the parts of speech have. Students will watch their partner act and describe what they
are doing, and write it down. Adverbs will also be encouraged to be used at the start of a sentence to create mood and interest, and will be consolidated in a
worksheet. All of these exercises will be accompanied by and modelled in the selected texts to show real examples from accomplished writers. Hopefully, all
these activities will inspire and provide guidance for their writing which will be progressed through the writing process in the following lessons.
As students step through the writing process and create and document their stories, aligning with the standard that outlines the writing process, they will be
given agency to move at their own pace, and provided with teacher scaffolding feedback and peer-support. Opportunities to read and respond to students
work as it progresses through the stages of writing will be supplied frequently, and feedback encouraged. The teacher will move around the students
offering advice, praise and encouragement where it is needed to keep them moving toward their learning outcomes.
The criteria for effective reporting to parents outlines the communication process should be fair, clear, and confidential (Marsh, 2014, p. 329). The
information communicated should be meaningful and provide details about students strengths and weaknesses, particularly details regarding their
achievements (Brady & Kennedy, 2012, p. 102). Information about student development and progress, should be shared and made available for teacherstudent-parent discussion, and crucially, effective reporting should improve students learning (Brady & Kennedy, 2012, p. 102). The methods I will use to
record and report are the two rubrics, the students portfolio, and the finished stories. The rubrics outline the students achievements and shortcomings in
relation to the finished products. All criteria is clearly stated and made available to the students before. At the bottom of the rubric is a comment made by the
teacher that highlights their achievements, and a way forward for improvement. The portfolio can be viewed and discussed with the student and their
parents/carers at a time that is suitable for all parties. The portfolio will help the parents and students see the patterns of growth from the start of the unit
until the end as they reflect on the pieces of work. The fictional book acts as a package that contains a culmination of all the knowledge learnt throughout
the unit of work. It can be taken home and read by the students family, and discussed. Additionally, it can be something a student can reflect on and
compare future written assignments and stories with, to reference and gauge their literacy progress.

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