Scotch College

ENGLISH Year 10 — 2012

Rationale 

The Year 10 English course is intended to provide students with a bridge between the English studied at Years 7 – 9 and the work requirement of Units 1 and 2 (VCE) English studied at Year 11.  It is a period of essay writing consolidation, creative experimentation and formal and informal oral skills development.  Classes at Year 10 should be lively and engaging, entertaining and challenging.  The set text list is designed to provide a balance between the study of ‘classic’ literature and publications with contemporary relevance.

Students are encouraged to become critical thinkers.  They are urged to, amongst other thing:   explore different interpretations of texts and challenge a dominant reading of a text by engaging with resistant and/or alternate readings; create and present their own imaginative texts, inspired by set texts, poetry and multimodal sources; understand the concepts of objectivity, subjectivity and bias in texts; and explore the many ways in which language can be used to persuasive effect.

By end of Year 10 students should be familiar with the range of written and oral skills required of them in VCE English Units 1 and 2.

Student Outcomes 

• Writing:  Students will be expected to identify broad categories of writing known as personal/imaginative, informative/instructional and argumentative/persuasive.  Students will learn how to plan properly, draft and proof read essays.  Students will be expected to respond both analytically and creatively to literary texts:  novels, plays and poetry.  The skills for writing an application and preparing a CV are also taught.

• write for a range of purposes, audiences, genres and forms
• develop various literacy skills of written expression
• respond analytically and creatively to a range of texts
• develop an awareness of the use and effect of language

• Reading:  Students are expected gain an understanding of the writer’s intention, themes and characterization.  They will learn how to respond to literature through the essay form, active listening and various types of class discussion.  Students are also expected to gain a more detailed knowledge of poetic form and genre.  Finally, students are expected to read books by different authors and in different styles or genres; for example, novels, periodicals and non-print texts.

• develop reading skills through exposure to a range of core and elective texts
• comprehend and synthesize information from a range of texts to draw conclusions
• understand and appreciate how different textual forms present and communicate information

• Speaking and Listening:  Students are expected to follow and contribute to discussion; listen attentively and disagree with, as well as respect, other point(s) of view; contribute to group decision and reasoned arguments in structured discussion; and complete at least one individual oral presentation each semester.

 

• develop careful and discerning listening skills
• become more confident and competent speakers in a range of contexts
• develop an awareness of the use and effect of language

Course Content

Semester 1:

• Context Unit:  Power in Lord of the Flies and other texts.
• Common Task (Creative Context Response).
• Careers Unit.
• Introduction to Poetry.
• Poetry Elective.
• Teacher choice of text.

Semester 1:

• Text study:  Macbeth.
• Television, Media and Satire Unit.

Assessment 

Examination 

Analytical Writing 

Creative Writing 

Listening and Speaking