I have spent the past two days organising resources for Year 7 students to use for an English Assessment task where they will present a speech on one of the following themes:
- Gender Stereotypes
- Environmental Management
- Cultural Identity
- Human Rights
Related texts like novels, picture books, films and poetry must be referred to within the speech to support their argument.
I have enjoyed this challenge in curating related texts, because its giving me insight as to how my collection address these themes. If I feel there are not enough texts in my fiction collection for instance on these topics, it may mean having to purchase texts with the themes embedded.
Today I had one group booked into the library for a session on the related texts obtained so far. I told the students that they need to consider how an author might represent those issues. Books by authors such as Jeannie Baker contain notes at the end of the story where she explains her motivation for writing the book. Baker for instance highlights themes associated with Environmental Management in her books.
I have even encouraged students in any analysis to consider researching the author because there is often a motivation for why it is written. They need to identify the possible purpose for the compling the text. Will Kostakis has been motivated to write his novels to highlight the challenges facing gay youth and relating it to his own experiences.
Sometimes this might not be so clear and requires anaylsis. It is a matter of reading the texts and identifying possible messages conveyed.
