Level B3 Reading and Viewing

The student work samples on this page are also available to download:

B3 Reading and Viewing proficiency levels and Achievement Standard

The students' performance in these tasks suggest that they are working within the range of Level B3 in Reading and Viewing. The assessing teacher will need to consider a range of student samples in order to determine whether each student is at the beginning of B3, consolidating B3 or at the B3 standard in Reading and Viewing.

At beginning Level B3 students:    

  • read a range of familiar and unfamiliar texts, however teacher guidance in the selection of texts is necessary to limit the incidence of densely written information and language complexity
  • compare the organisational structures of different text types
  • are able to identify key information from factual texts on familiar topics but need teacher guidance to paraphrase and summarise the main ideas
  • may show limited comprehension because of their developing vocabulary and knowledge of English grammar.

At consolidating Level B3 students:    

  • read fictional and subject-specific texts of increasing complexity but still require contextual support and more time than non-EAL students to comprehend language and concepts
  • make simple inferences and understand the gist of texts but may not be able to identify or recall specific details in more complex texts.

At Level B3 Achievement Standard students:    

  • read for a range of purposes and identify main ideas and specific information in classroom texts. These texts may be print or digital, including visual, multimodal and interactive.
  • demonstrate understanding of the main storyline and most key information when retelling, paraphrasing, and answering questions
  • compare some details in texts
  • demonstrate some awareness of how information is organised in English texts
  • recognise the cohesive devices connecting ideas and the organisation of information in a text
  • use appropriate metalanguage to talk about the structure and features of a text
  • recognise how relationships are signalled by an increasing range of conjunctions
  • integrate a number of strategies to help them read new texts
  • use accessible English dictionaries to check the meanings of new words and use contents pages, indexes, glossaries and headings to find information.

​Imaginative text - Retelling Peter and Wolf

Student information

This student was born in Australia. She is 11 years and five months old and the main language spoken at home is Greek. She spent Foundation and two months of Year 1 in an Australian school then continued schooling in Cyprus, where the language of instruction was Greek, until halfway through Year 5. Since her return she has been in Australia for one year and seven months. She is currently in Year 5 and has not attended an English language school or centre.     

Task

Students have studied multicultural stories and read picture books and radio scripts in learning activities such as modelled, shared and independent reading. They watched a movie of Hansel and Gretel, listened to Peter and the Wolf on CD, and viewed the Hansel and Gretel Opera during a school incursion. They made puppets and retold both stories using the puppets. Students completed cloze activities and tasks to identify the structure of a narrative. Students discussed characters and answered oral and written comprehension questions and examined sound-letter patterns.    

For this task, the student read jumbled sentences from a new version of a familiar story of Peter and the Wolf. She then sequenced those sentences to retell the story, describing the main parts of the narrative and answered oral comprehension questions about the plot.    

The teacher was assessing:    

  • the student’s ability to comprehend a fictional text
  • the student’s ability to draw inferences from the text to discuss characters
  • the student’s ability to understand the main storyline and key points from a text to answer questions.

The student being assessed is having a conversation with her teacher. In the transcript, the words spoken by the student being assessed are in bold. The words spoken by the teacher are in normal font.    

Transcript

0:06-2:42

You've read the story of Peter and the Wolf before. This is a different type of story in a different way. It is the story of Peter and the Wolf, okay? I'd like you to read it and then I'm going to ask you answer some questions, okay?      

Okay, can you just read that last paragraph for us out loud?    

The wolf jumped about but he could not get loose. Then Peter heard some shooting. Some hunters came into the garden. "Don't shoot," Peter cried.  "We have caught the wolf."    

Well done, that's terrific reading. What do you think 'quacking' might mean?    

His um, duck sound.    

Duck sounds. How did you know that? How did you work that out?    

Because it's the sound of the word.    

And you've heard a duck quack?    

Yeah.    

Okay, that's clever thinking. Mm, so what was that story all about that you've just read about Peter and the Wolf?  What was it about?    

It's about the wolf, he ate the duck, and that's all.    

Is that all that happened in the story? The wolf ate the duck. Anything else happen in the story?      

He um, he, the hunters came…    

Okay, so what…?    

…and tooked his, the wolf to the zoo. Um, Peter went out to say, "Hello," to the um, bird.      

When did that happen?    

At the beginning.    

The beginning of the story. So what was the problem of that story?    

The problem is, I think Peter, he tied wolf, the wolf.    

He tied the wolf. Why did he want to tie the wolf?    

So the wolf can't, the wolf can't, because he's dangerous.    

Because he's dangerous, so you think that's the problem, the wolf being dangerous? Okay. What about if you, on this piece of paper here, could you draw the beginning, the middle and the problem, and the ending of the story, just to show the different parts? You know how we've talked about parts of a story? Okay, here's the pencil. Let's go.

2:43-4:27 

Wow, look what you've drawn. You've drawn the beginning, the problem, the middle and the ending. Can you tell me about the different parts of the story?    

The beginning Peter said, "Hello," to the bird. At the problem, um, the duck and the bird was fighting. In the middle Peter did a lasso to the wolf. At the denning [sic] and denning…    

At the ending.    

…ending the wolf, they took the wolf to the zoo.    

Okay, so before you talked about the problem you said that the wolf came along, where's the wolf in this picture in your problem?    

Um…    

You said the wolf was dangerous.    

Yeah, oh.    

Where is he? Is he hiding somewhere perhaps?      

Yeah, he was hiding.    

He was hiding. Alright, so what's the problem going to happen in this part of the story if the wolf is hiding and we've got the duck and the cat? Remember what you read, what happened?      

Um, the wolf went closer and closer to, and he, he got the duck.    

He got the duck. Ah, that would be a big problem. Okay, who is the most important character in this story?    

Peter.    

And who are the other characters?    

Bird, cat, duck, the wolf and the grandfather.    

There are lots of characters. 

4:28-6:28

Well done. Why do you think Peter wanted to catch the wolf?     

Because the wolf is dangerous for everyone.    

What would you do? Would you do something like Peter did?    

Yeah, this tricks.    

Sorry?    

Trick, to tricked him.    

You'd like to trick him? How would you trick him? Would you do the same thing?    

Um, call um, call the hunters.    

That's a good plan. Mm. Can you describe Peter? What do you think, what's he like?      

He likes um…    

Not what he likes, but what is he like as a character? How would you describe him?    

He's happy, smile, brave.    

What makes him brave?    

Makes him, the wolf.    

What about the wolf? What do you mean?     

Um…    

He looks very brave there, doesn't he, and looks very happy. What's making him brave there?    

He got, he got the rope and he's happy.    

So he's happy? What do you think is going to make him brave?      

Um, to bring, they're going to him bring to zoo.    

Okay, that's a plan. Good, well done. I think you read that story very well. Congratulations.

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

  • Understand main ideas in a text and extract specific details (VCEALC425)
  • Use knowledge of sentence structure to predict words and self-correct (VCEALL445)
  • Understand and use the appropriate metalanguage to talk about the structures and features of a text (VCEALL442)
  • Discuss texts with some understanding of meaning beyond the literal level, moving towards the inferential level (VCEALC429)
  • Express a personal response to a small range of imaginative texts (VCEALC428)

 Possible next steps for this student's learning

  • Using a structure and sentence stems to retell a story, for example, in the beginning…then…(VCEALL441)
  • Creating a character map with vocabulary to describe the characters and their actions (VCEALC428)
  • Using the character map to support her responses to open-ended questions about the characters (VCEALC429)
  • Elaborating on what the student might do as the main character by rewriting the story with an alternative complication or resolution, either independently or with a partner (VCEALC457)(VCEALC378)(VCEALC298) *This is a writing activity. Depending on the student's proficiency in writing, the student may be working at Level B1, B2 or B3 in writing. 

Pathways and transitions considerations

Assuming that this Year 5 student is consistently demonstrating the final achievement standard in Pathway B (Level B3) in the other two language modes, she will need to demonstrate that she is also consistently working at the achievement standard in Reading and Viewing in order to transition to the English curriculum.      

She will need to be equally capable across all three language modes to be able to meet the learning expectations in the English curriculum at the level taught to their mainstream peers, and without substantial language support.     

She will need to be sufficiently proficient in understanding and using the academic language across the learning areas to participate in learning activities across the Victorian curriculum.     

She will also need to be able to understand and use the academic English of the curriculum in subsequent years without substantial language support, when the cognitive and linguistic demands of the Victorian curriculum increases.    

Imaginative text - Sequencing Peter and the Wolf

Student information

The student was born in Afghanistan and speaks Dari at home. She is 12 years and nine months old and has spent three years and ten months in Australia with most of this period in a mainstream school. The student lived in Pakistan prior to arriving in Australia but has no prior experiences of schooling overseas. She attended Year 4 in another primary school before transferring to her current school where she is in Year 6. She had limited EAL support before coming to Australia.    

Task

Students have studied multicultural stories and read picture books and radio scripts in learning activities such as modelled, shared and independent reading. They watched a movie of Hansel and Gretel, listened to Peter and the Wolf on CD, and viewed the Hansel and Gretel Opera during a school incursion. They made puppets and retold both stories using the puppets. Students completed cloze activities and tasks to identify the structure of a narrative. Students discussed characters and answered oral and written comprehension questions and examined sound-letter patterns.
For this task, the student read jumbled sentences from a new version of a familiar story of Peter and the Wolf. She then sequenced those sentences to retell the story, described the main parts of the narrative and answered oral comprehension questions about the plot.
The teacher was assessing:

  • the student’s ability to comprehend a fictional text
  • the student’s ability to draw inferences from the text to discuss characters
  • the student’s ability to understand the main storyline and key points from a text to answer questions.

The student being assessed is having a conversation with her teacher. In the transcript, the words spoken by the student being assessed are in bold. The words spoken by the teacher are in normal font.

Transcript

0:06-0:33    

Now girls, today we've got some sentences from Peter and the Wolf. You've read the story before, but this is a different story, the same story, but with different writing.  Now what I want you to do is put the sentences back in order, because I've mixed them all up, and make a paragraph.    

Mm hm.
And then when you've finished that, on the next page over here is the next part of the story.

Oh, okay.

So I'll get you to read that, then I'm going to ask you some questions about that.      

0:34-1:37    

You've put the sentences back in order, can you read the paragraph you've put together?
One morning Peter come up of him, of his garden gate to see what was going on. A little bird was sitting up on a tree. When the bird saw his friend Peter, his friend, he chirped, chirped to tell him that he was there. Suddenly one of Grandfather's duck came out through the garden gate and went to the pond. When the bird saw the duck he flew down from the tree to have a look at the duck. The little du… and the bird, little bird ask, "Why do you wan… waddle, waddle like that? Can't you fly?" The duck answered, "No, I can't fly but I can swim." Then he dived into the pond.

1:38-2:05

Well done. So how did you know how to put these sentences together? What did you look for?    

Um, I looked for clues, like, and firstly I found the 'One morning', which is the timing words, so I knew that was 'one morning', so and then they, there was they, they, fr… they introduced the character first and then they said the time as well 'one morning'.    

2:06-2:49
Well done, well done. Can you tell me about the next paragraph in the story?  What was that about?

It was, Peter ah, finding um, and how he was working out who was ah, creeping in the long grass, then he found out, like that it was a cat. Um, he found the, the, ah, that he was, and also his Grandfather was angry at Peter because he, he told um, Peter that, "Do not be on the garden because it was really dangerous for him." But then he didn't accept that. He never, he always was going. He wasn't listening to him. And then suddenly the wolf came.    

2:50-3:22

Well done, you understood that paragraph really well, really well. So what would be a good title for that paragraph?    

Um, "The Ending." 

Is it the end of the story?    

It's the middle and the end.    

So what would be a good title? If you moved away from 'middle' and 'ending' what would be a good title, a good describing word?    

Ah, "Peter and the Little Bird."    

Okay, that's what's happening in that part of the story. Very good. Why do you think Peter helped the bird?

0:06-0:33    

Now girls, today we’ve got some sentences from Peter and the Wolf. You’ve read the story before, but this is a different story, the same story, but with different writing.  Now what I want you to do is put the sentences back in order, because I’ve mixed them all up, and make a paragraph.    

Mm hm.    

And then when you’ve finished that, on the next page over here is the next part of the story.    

Oh, okay.    

So I’ll get you to read that, then I’m going to ask you some questions about that.      

0:34-1:37

You’ve put the sentences back in order, can you read the paragraph you’ve put together?    

One morning Peter come up of him, of his garden gate to see what was going on. A little bird was sitting up on a tree. When the bird saw his friend Peter, his friend, he chirped, chirped to tell him that he was there. Suddenly one of Grandfather’s duck came out through the garden gate and went to the pond. When the bird saw the duck he flew down from the tree to have a look at the duck. The little du… and the bird, little bird ask, “Why do you wan… waddle, waddle like that? Can’t you fly?” The duck answered, “No, I can’t fly but I can swim.” Then he dived into the pond.     

1:38-2:05    

Well done. So how did you know how to put these sentences together? What did you look for?    

Um, I looked for clues, like, and firstly I found the ‘One morning’, which is the timing words, so I knew that was ‘one morning’, so and then they, there was they, they, fr… they introduced the character first and then they said the time as well ‘one morning’.    

2:06-2:49    

Well done, well done. Can you tell me about the next paragraph in the story?  What was that about?    

It was, Peter ah, finding um, and how he was working out who was ah, creeping in the long grass, then he found out, like that it was a cat. Um, he found the, the, ah, that he was, and also his Grandfather was angry at Peter because he, he told um, Peter that, “Do not be on the garden because it was really dangerous for him.” But then he didn’t accept that. He never, he always was going. He wasn’t listening to him. And then suddenly the wolf came.    

2:50-3:22    

Well done, you understood that paragraph really well, really well. So what would be a good title for that paragraph?    

Um, “The Ending.”      

Is it the end of the story?    

It’s the middle and the end.    

So what would be a good title? If you moved away from ‘middle’ and ‘ending’ what would be a good title, a good describing word?    

Ah, “Peter and the Little Bird.”    

3:23-4:14    

Okay, that's what's happening in that part of the story. Very good. Why do you think Peter helped the bird?    

Because he didn't want the little bird and the cat to get eaten by the wolf because he thought, he felt sorry for the duck:  he couldn't help the duck so he didn't want the, his other friends to get…    

So how would you describe Peter?    

He is strong, brave, ah, helpful, a caring person, and...    

So why do you think Peter went out the garden gate and he said to his grandfather that he's not scared of wolves?    

Because he, um, he thought that, ah, because he thought ah, he thought that the wolf one day will come and eat the, his friends. And then he's, he's got a good, he thought that he's strong and then he went and saved his friends.     

4:15-4:34    

Wonderful, good understanding. What would you do?    

[laughs] I would do whatever my grandfather say.    

I probably would too. [laughs] What would have happened to the bird if Peter hadn't said, "Look out"?  What do you think might have happened?    

The bird might, got eaten.    

4:35-5:05    

Okay. Now you've read the story of Hansel and Gretel…    

Yeah.    

…as well as Peter and the Wolf. Which character, Hansel or Peter, is the bravest do you think?    

Mm, Hansel.    

Why?

Because he saved the, he saved his sister, because if he couldn't save the sister his sister might be, might turn in a gingerbread.  So is sis…[overtalking]     

5:06-5:32    

Excellent, okay. Good, I like your ideas and your opinions. Now you've got a special word in here, haven't you? Okay, so in this sentence here you said this word here, "He chirped." Can you look up the dictionary to find out what that means again? Okay so, oh, you found it pretty quickly. Good dictionary skills.     

It says, "To make a sound like a young bird."
Okay, wonderful.

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

  • Read on when encountering unfamiliar words (VCEALL449)
  • Understand the cohesion of ideas between and within paragraphs (VCEALL441)
  • Understand main ideas in a text and extract specific details (VCEALC425)
  • Understand and use the appropriate metalanguage to talk about the structures and features of a text (VCEALL442)

  • Discuss texts with some understanding of meaning beyond the literal level, moving towards the inferential level (VCEALC429)
  • Discuss a text by relating ideas in the text to personal experiences or previous learning (VCEALA438)
  • Express a personal response to a small range of imaginative texts (VCEALC428) 
  • Use an accessible English dictionary to check the meaning of new words, and/or check meanings in a home language–English bilingual dictionary(VCEALA436)
  • Read for information or recreation in or out of the classroom (VCEALA434)

Possible next steps for this student's learning

  • Creating a Venn diagram to list the similarities and differences between Peter and Hansel, with examples from the text (VCEALC425)
  • Writing an exposition to compare the bravery between the characters Peter and Hansel (VCEALC455)
  • Reading and understanding simple texts that contain figurative language (VCEALC429)
  • Reading excerpts from accessible mainstream texts, with support  (VCEALA437)

Pathways and transitions considerations

Assuming that this Year 6 student is consistently demonstrating the final achievement standard in Pathway B (Level B3) in the other two language modes, she will need to demonstrate that she is also consistently working at the achievement standard in Reading and Viewing in order to transition to the English curriculum.      

She will need to be equally capable across all three language modes to be able to meet the learning expectations in the English curriculum at the level taught to their mainstream peers, and without substantial language support.     

She will need to be sufficiently proficient in understanding and using the academic language across the learning areas to participate in learning activities across the Victorian curriculum.     

She will also need to be able to understand and use the academic English of the curriculum in subsequent years without substantial language support, when the cognitive and linguistic demands of the Victorian curriculum increases. 

Informative text – How do volcanoes erupt?

Student information

The first student is 11 years and 5 months old and is in Year 6. They experienced some interruption to their schooling in Somalia before coming to Australia 4 years and 8 months ago. They attended a new arrivals program for a year before enrolling in a mainstream school. They speak Somali at home.

The second student came to Australia 2 years and 10 months ago from Sudan, where their schooling was interrupted. They attended a new arrivals program for 12 months before enrolling in a mainstream school, where they are now in Year 5. Their home language is Arabic.

Task

The students have been learning to read and write explanations in class. In the task, the students first read and discuss an explanation of how a volcano erupts. Then the students order pictures of the process and match jumbled sentences with the pictures to create a comic strip explanation. The task was completed in a familiar environment.  

The teacher is assessing the students’ ability to: 

  • access, interpret and evaluate information from a print text
  • understand main ideas in a text and extract specific details
  • interpret and explain information from a range of images in text
  • understand the cohesion of ideas between and within paragraphs. 


The words spoken by the students being assessed are in bold.

Transcript

00:06-06.17   

Ahmed and Abdirahman, today we're going to read a text about how a volcano erupts.   

So first thing I'd like you to do is to turn your paper over, and have a read of that text, and see if there's any information in there that you already know. And see if there's any information in there that's new.   

(Together)Okay.   

Okay. Was there any information in there that you already knew?   

Yes.   

Abdi, what did you already know?   

That extreme heat below the Earth's crust melts rock.   

Mm-hmm. Okay. Ahmed, is there anything else that you already knew?   

Yeah, I knew that it rises and becomes harder.   

Mm-hmm.   

And then it explodes at the summit of the volcano.   

Good. Good. Was there anything in that explanation that was new, that you hadn't heard before?   

What was new, Ahmed?   

The gas bubbles.   

Ah, yeah, that's right. Do you understand why the gas bubbles would make the explosion bigger? What does it remind you of Abdi?   

Like when you get boiling water, yeah, it starts like... the bubbles start coming out, yeah, and 'cause it's too hot and it's because of extreme heat.   

Yeah, that's right. So I've got some pictures here that illustrate different parts of the process and I want you to use the text to put the pictures in order along this strip of paper, okay? So you'll need to read the text and see if you can put the pictures in order. What's that one showing Abdirahman?   

It's the magma going up.   

Yeah. What's different about that picture?   

 This picture here and that picture, you can see…   

What's different from this one, from this picture? What else is happening in this picture?   

This one?   

Mm-hmm.   

Oh, well, this one here, it hasn't fully, like, erupted.   

Mm-hmm.   

But this one, it's beginning to actually erupt.   

And what else is in there, apart from the magma?   

In here, the gas bubble.   

The lava.   

Yes. There's gas bubbles in there. And what else is being collected in that magma?   

Ash, rock.   

Yeah, ash and rock.   

And lava.   

So is that... Where does it say that in the text, about it collecting the ash and the rock?   

Here, the lava collects rocks and ash on its way up the vent.   

Okay, so you think that one might come next, all righty. Now, there are some captions here. They're not exactly the same as the words in the text, so you're gonna have to read them and decide which of the pictures they go with.   

Okay.   

All right? Some of it's similar to the text and some of it is different. So let's have a look at these.   

This one.   

Yes.   

As all of these rises up becoming hotter, gas bubbles form and become unstable.   

And become unstable.   

Okay.   

Yeah, it has...   

Let's put that there. And why have you put it there?   

Because   

The gas bubble... Because, like, the gas bubble, they start becoming, like, unstable.   

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And what can you see in the diagram that shows you that they're rising up?   

Like it's-    

There are arrows.   

The arrows. Good. When it says, "Because of this," what does it mean? Because of what?   

Because   

What is it that makes the magma rise up?   

The pressure.   

Mm-hmm. What is it? What does it say in the first sentence?   

Extreme heat.   

Uh-huh. And what happens…when it melts? What do we know about the magma? What does it tell us about the magma in that first sentence?   

(Together) It's lighter than rock.   

Ah, so then because of this, because it's lighter, it rises up, okay. So see if you can find another sentence to place.   

Eventually the gas bubbles explode. This pushes the magma up through a gap in the Earth's crust called a vent.   

Okay.   

So it's here.   

It's here. Excellent. All right, we can see the vent and we can see the gas bubbles exploding.   

Because they're not stable, they're unstable.   

That's exactly right. Well done. You're doing a great job. What do you think comes next?   

We know this is the last one because it says, "Finally."   

Okay, excellent.   

So we're gonna put it here.   

Save that one. Is that… Hang on, where does this one go first?   

This one.   

Right, why are you putting this one here?   

Because it says it can also cause damage to jet engines in aeroplanes, like the jet that's coming down.   

That's exactly right. And that shows you the big shadow. I've got a question. I've got a brain teaser for you. Why do you think it says, "Finally" here in the middle of this text? Why do you think it says, "Finally," Abdirahman?   

Because the magma is finally, like, it rised up and it's finally exploded.    

And it's finally erupting.   

Yes.   

This is all about it on the way and then this is when it comes out of the volcano.   

Good. And what are the last three pictures and captions talking about?   

What it can do…   

Exactly.   

after it erupts.   

Exactly. It's talking about the results. Yeah. Usually, we'd expect to see finally at the end, wouldn't we?   

Yes.   

Okay. So it kind of tells us that we've finished the process and now we're talking about the results. Well done.   

   

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

  • Access, interpret and evaluate information from a range of print and digital texts, including visual, multimodal and interactive (VCEALC424)
  • Discuss a text by relating ideas in the text to personal experiences or previous learning - explaining how understanding of ideas in a text is supported by previous learning (VCEALA438)
  • Interpret and explain information from a range of images in text (VCEALC426)
  • Discuss texts with some understanding of meaning beyond the literal level, moving towards the inferential level - drawing a simple conclusion based on a factual text (VCEALC429)
  • Understand the connection between text purpose and structure - sorting and sequencing labels for the stages of different learnt texts, such as procedures and explanations (VCEALA431)
  • Understand the cohesion of ideas between and within paragraphs (VCEALL441)
  • Follow the meaning of complex sentence patterns (VCEALL443)
  • Understand main ideas in a text and extract specific details (VCEALC425)
  • Contribute actively to group activities on shared texts (VCEALC430)
  • Understand and use the appropriate metalanguage to talk about the structures and features of a text - locating features that help to structure a text, for example highlighting and labelling pronouns or conjunctions (VCEALL442)

Possible next steps for this student’s learning

  • Continue to practise reading, interpreting and evaluating information from a range of print and digital texts, including visual, multimodal and interactive (VCEALC424)
  • Read a diverse range of text types, and discuss their purpose and organisational features (VCEALL440)
  • Continue to build understanding of the appropriate metalanguage, and practise using it to talk about the structures and features of different texts (VCEALL442)

Pathways and transitions considerations

A student in Year 3 - 6 who has achieved the B3 standard consistently in all three language modes will transition to the English curriculum when they are:

  • capable of meeting the learning expectations in the English curriculum at the level taught to their peers, and without substantial language support
  • sufficiently proficient in understanding and using academic language to participate in learning activities across the curriculum
  • capable of understanding and using the academic English of the curriculum in subsequent years without substantial language support, when the cognitive and linguistic demands of the curriculum increase. 

At the end of Year 6, students who are working within the B3 range transition to Pathway C in Year 7. Students who have achieved the B3 standard may transition to Pathway C or the English curriculum, depending on what is developmentally appropriate for the individual learner.

Persuasive text – Understanding persuasive elements in a film (1)

Student information

This student is 11 years and 5 months old and is in Year 6. They came to Australia 5 years and 3 months ago from Somalia. Their schooling in their home country was interrupted, so they studied for 4 terms in a new arrivals program before enrolling in a mainstream school. They speak Somali at home.

Task

Students have viewed the short animation film, Piper. They have learned in class about the film makers’ use of devices including contrast, sound and visual perspective. In this activity, students sort sentences into a text organiser under headings (introduction, contrast, visual effects, sound, conclusion) to create a film review. Students discuss with their teacher the structure of the text and the words that helped them to sequence the sentences correctly.

The teacher is assessing the student’s ability to:

  • demonstrate an awareness of how ideas are organised in a review
  • find the topic sentence for each paragraph
  • sort the sentences into the correct sequence using the text organiser as a guide
  • recognise cohesive devices that help to order the points and examples.

The words spoken by the student being assessed are in bold. 

Transcript

00:05 - 07:58  

We've been looking at the film Piper, and we've talked about three different devices that the filmmakers use. Okay. So, the person who wrote this book review has talked about the same three devices. There's also an introduction that introduces us to the film and introduces the three devices that it's going to talk about. And then there's a conclusion that tells us what the writer thinks about the film, what sort of a film they think it is. So, what I want you to do is to read each one of these and tell me where you think it goes.  

This one.  

Okay, so what does that say?  

Firstly, the film show is how Piper change, change by skilfully contrast, contrasting…  

Good.  

events at the start and the end of the film.  

Okay. So which one of those sections do you think that belongs in? What's it talking about?  

It's talk about like when like first like, what something happened and like when he went under the water, yeah.  

Ummhmm.  

He was like scared and that the first time but the second time he was like happy and jumping all over. And all around.  

That's right. So it's contrasting something early in the film and later in the film by doing the same thing but showing a different reaction. So is that contrast, music and sounds or perspective?  

Contrast.  

Contrast. Great. Put it in contrast. Okay. We'll sort out the order late later. Why did you put that in the first box there?  

Oh.  

You're right. Why did you put it there? What gave you the clue?  

Because it fits there.  

Hmm.  

It fits there.  

Um. But what in the words gives you the clue that that's going be the first sentence of contrast? Why do you think that's the topic sentence? What does it start with?  

Firstly.  

Firstly, okay. So the sequencing word often comes at the beginning of the paragraph, doesn't it? All right. Choose another one and read it out and we'll see where it goes.  

This one.  

Mm mm.  

Piper is a film about a seagull chick who makes a friend and learn means to be confident. Instead of words, the filmmaker uses clever devices like contrast, sounds and music and perspective, perspective to help us understand the story and the character's feelings.  

Okay, where do you think that goes? Um...  

Introduction?  

Yeah, you're right. It's telling us what the film's about.  

Yeah.  

And telling us the three devices that we're going be talking about. Well done. All right. What's next?  

One example of contrast is when Piper gets hit by waves, by waves. The first time he runs back to his nest shaking with fright, but in contrast, later Piper, Piper buries himself in the sand, when a wave comes and then jumps around happily.  

Okay. So, which section do you think that goes in? Which device are they talking about?  

Contrast.  

Okay. So, you've got the topic sentence. Does that look like an example?  

Yeah.  

Mm. How can you tell it's an example?  

Because it's telling us, like what he does first like in the movie and then the last bit.  

Good. Yeah, it's telling us what happens in the movie. Can you see some words at the beginning that also give you a clue that it's one of our examples? What does it say?  

One example of contrast.  

Okay. One example of contrast. So, pop it in there. Well done. You can see there's three sentences in there. So you might find some other ones like that. All right, what else have you got?  

This makes the film more enjoyable because we can relate to the characters.  

Oh. Okay. So, what's that talking about?  

Is that this one?  

Yeah, you're right. That's the opinion. It talks about the film being enjoyable, doesn't it? And that's the author's opinion.  

Another example is how the loud drawing sound of the water at the start of the film changes to gentle bubbling noises at the end. This, these different sounds make us change our feelings about the water and show us how Piper's feeling about the beach have changed, have changed too.  

Good. So what's that talking about?  

It's talking about contrast.  

Is it? Read the first sentence again. Another example is how the loud roaring.  

Sounds.  

Sounds good, okay. So that one says another example. So, what does that tell us, if it says another, what do we know?  

It's here.  

Yeah, yeah. So what do you think? Is this the first example of sounds and music?  

No.  

No, because this one says another example. So, we know that before this one. There's going to be another example that comes first. So probably, we're going to have to put it somewhere before this one. All right. Let's see, what else have you got here?  

Gentle music at the start of the film gives us a happy feeling when Piper and his mother are safe in their nest. But loud music when the waves are coming make us expect danger.  

Which section do you think that goes in? What's it talking about?  

The music and, and sounds.  

Okay. All right. So, where do you think that goes?  

Here?  

Okay. If it's giving us an example  

-Is it?  

This one says another example. So do you think that's the first example or the second one?  

The second one.  

Okay. So, where are you going to put the first example?  

Here.  

Yeah, before it. Good. Now here's another example. Which one do you think goes first here?  

This one.  

Why?  

Because it says 'at the start of the film'.  

Okay, and what does this one start with?  

Later it shows  

Okay, so can you move them? Put them in the right order. All right. We've only got one space left for that. Let's see if it makes sense if you put it in that space. I'll read the paragraph for you, and you can tell me if you're happy. Secondly, the film uses music and sounds to change our mood. Gentle music at the start of the film gives us a happy feeling when Piper and his mother are safe in their nest. But loud music, when the waves are coming, make us expect danger. Another example is how the loud roaring sound of the waves at the start of the film changes to gentle bubbling noises at the end. These different sounds make us change our feelings about the water and show us how Piper's feelings change about the beach have changed too. This makes the film more enjoyable because we can relate to the characters. Does that sentence make sense there?  

Yeah.  

Yeah, I think it does too. Well done, Zaki. You've got it all sorted.  

  

This sample of student work demonstrates that the student can:

  • Beginning to learn about the connection between text purpose and structure (VCEALA431)
  • Access, interpret and evaluate information from a print text (VCEALC424)
  • Discuss texts with some understanding of meaning beyond the literal level, moving towards the inferential level (VCEALC429)
  • Explain the meaning of a complex sentence, for example the sentence (VCEALL443)
  • Notice errors with pronunciation and attempting to correct these (VCEALL450)
  • Begin to understand the connection between text purpose and structure with teacher support (VCEALA431)
  • Understand the cohesion of ideas between and within paragraphs with extensive teacher support - locating the topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph, reordering sentences in a paragraph to follow a logical order of ideas, sequencing sentences using cohesive devices (VCEALL441)
  • Identify and compare a range of features of texts, for example text structure and use of evidence, with teacher support (VCEALL439)
  • Follow the meaning of complex sentence patterns (VCEALL443)
  • Reread sections of text to improve understanding (VCEALL452)
  • Interpret the meaning of written text that uses a range of tenses and negation (VCEALL444)
  • Understand main ideas in a text and extract specific details (VCEALC425)
  • Reorder sentences in a paragraph to follow a logical order of ideas and language (VCEALL441)
  • Understand the cohesion of ideas between and within paragraphs (VCEALL441)

Possible next steps for this student’s learning

  • Read and compare a variety of texts to build understanding of the connection between text purpose and structure (VCEALA431)
  • Read a range of texts and identify text type using visual and structural elements  (VCEALA432)
  • Learn and practise the appropriate metalanguage to talk about the structures and features of a text (VCEALL442)
  • Practise using varied intonation and expression to add meaning to texts when reading aloud (VCEALL452)

Pathways and transitions considerations

A student in Year 3 – 6 who has achieved the B3 standard consistently in all three language modes will transition to the English curriculum when they are:

  • capable of meeting the learning expectations in the English curriculum at the level taught to their peers, and without substantial language support
  • sufficiently proficient in understanding and using academic language to participate in learning activities across the curriculum
  • capable of understanding and using the academic English of the curriculum in subsequent years without substantial language support, when the cognitive and linguistic demands of the curriculum increase. 

At the end of Year 6, students who are working within the B3 range transition to Pathway C in Year 7. Students who have achieved the B3 standard may transition to Pathway C or the English curriculum, depending on what is developmentally appropriate for the individual learner.

Related pages

Student work samples: Level B3 Speaking and Listening
Student work samples: Level B3 Writing
Student work samples: Level B2 Reading and Viewing