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Caitlyn Jubb

I.D 2101422
EDUC3526 Assignment 3

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Feedback from Assignment Two was that I needed to be careful to define any terminology that may not be
understood by people unfamiliar with literacies terminology, to quote authors in the present tense for
example Henderson writes, not Henderson wrote-, and to avoid using personal pronouns and
contractions. Additionally I aimed to draw on a number of topic readings to construct this assignment, and to
draw my own English unit plan from EDUC3525 for learning activities and to reflect on how well I structured my
own unit plan based on the Four Resources Model.

Select a text type which is frequently used in your learning area, identify the genre(s), text
structures and language features, and outline some learning activities that will enable students to
produce successful texts of this type.
The short story is a text type frequently used in English. The focus of this assignment is to examine
how teaching the short story genre of fairy tales using the Four Resources Model scaffolds learning
in a way that enables students to produce successful short story texts. This assignment will look at
the structures and features of a short story and then discuss how each of the four resources in the
Four Resources Model can be used to teach a short story using the fairy tale genre in a way that
enables students to produce their own short stories while also meeting specific learning outcomes
contained in the Australian Curriculum for Year 10 English.
Murfin and Ray (2009, p. 474) define a short story as being a brief fictional prose that has a single
focus, produces a specific dramatic revelation or effect and does not show character development
over time. Genres of a short story include adventure, historical fiction, mystery, fantasy, tragedy,
folk tales, comedy, romance, drama, horror and science fiction. Narrative elements in a short story
are the same as a novel and include but are not limited to: purpose, setting, plot, character, conflict,
point of view, theme, mood and style of language. The plot structure of a short story is:
1. Exposition (beginning)
2. Rising action
3. Climax (middle)
4. Falling action
Caitlyn Jubb
I.D 2101422
EDUC3526 Assignment 3

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5. Resolution
Due to the varying lengths but shared structures of fairy tales teaching can easily be differentiated
depending on student abilities. Allowing students to select fairy tales of a length and complexity they
feel comfortable with would be a good pedagogical approach. Singer & Shagoury (2005, p. 328)
found that by allowing students to choose their own books to study during an English unit on social
justice student interest, involvement and commitment to the learning activities increased.
The first resource in the Four Resources Model is code breaking. It involves teaching students to be
able to decipher and interpret the linguistic, auditory, visual, gestural or spatial codes present in
texts (Henderson & Exley, 2012, p. 25). Focus is also on accurate spelling and understanding the
functions of spelling, recognising and using grammar and recognising and shaping visual, non-verbal
and auditory codes (Ludwig, 2003, p. 2). Engaging with fairy tales exposes students to all of these
codes. Students are exposed to linguistic codes as many fairy tales have been translated from either
German or Danish into English and as translations differ from text to text as do linguistic codes such
as phonetics and grammar. Auditory codes are also present in fairy tales as they were originally
passed down orally and they remain well suited to being told in this way. Allowing students to listen
to the telling of fairy tales provides an opportunity to discuss how aural codes can be broken in
different ways depending on the listener. Fairy tales also allow for visual and gestural codes to be
discussed and broken due to the many film adaptations of the stories. Finally, spatial codes are also
able to be explored and broken due to the historical and geographical context in which the stories
were documented many fairy tales were written in Europe in the 19
th
century. To help students
with code breaking the creation of both a written and physical third space would be a good
pedagogical approach. The idea of a third space is to have a classroom where an academic topic
can be discussed using non-academic language to encourage depth of understanding and student
engagement (Kohnen, 2013, p. 235). Creating a supportive third space where students can explore
and explain their interpretations of the coded messages in the fairy tales and analyse the spelling
Caitlyn Jubb
I.D 2101422
EDUC3526 Assignment 3

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and grammar within the texts gives all students an equal opportunity to demonstrate their
understanding. This is particularly important if there are students who are struggling to break codes
using an academic secondary Discourse but are competent in doing so in their primary Discourse.
Class discussions on how codes are broken in different ways can lead to achieving the outcomes
ACELT1640 Reflect on, extend, endorse or refute others interpretations of and responses to
literature, and ACELA1565 Understand that peoples evaluations of texts are influenced by their
value systems, the context and the purpose and mode of communication (ACARA, n.d).
The second resource in the Four Resources Model is text participation which refers to the resources
required to make meaning of any text or to produce meaning in a text (Henderson & Exley, 2012, p.
25). Text participation should also involve drawing on social and cultural backgrounds and prior
knowledge to construct meaning from texts (Ludwig, 2003, p. 2). Learning activities could include
discussions on how film companies such as Disney have adapted the often gruesome original fairy
tales of the 19
th
century to make them more consumer friendly. As fairy tales originally held a
moral message based on the struggle of good with evil discussions can be held on whether or not
the stories have been changed to give them new meanings and purposes in the adaptation process.
A class discussion of this nature has potential to meet the learning outcome ACELA1566 Compare
the purposes, text structures and language features of traditional and contemporary texts in
different media (ACARA, n.d). Luke and Freebody (1999, p. 7) write that learning activities for this
resource should guide students to understand and compose meaningful written, visual and spoken
texts from within the meaning systems of particular cultures, institutions, families, communities and
nation-states. Additionally, Ludwig (2003, p.2) writes that learning activities should also allow
students to compare their own personal, social and cultural experiences with those described in the
texts. To guide students to understand and compose meaningful texts a learning activity would be to
re-write a fairy tale with a moral purpose, changing aspects such as setting or characterisation to suit
a context they are familiar with either cultural or personal. Students can then be encouraged to
Caitlyn Jubb
I.D 2101422
EDUC3526 Assignment 3

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share their personal, social and cultural experiences of being taught about morality and how to
know right from wrong. Williams (2005, p. 344) writes that while teachers are often wary to delve
into the family life stories of their students a learning activity like this would show the students that
the teacher acknowledges, accepts and values the different Discourses and literacies they were
raised with.
The third resource in the Four Resources Model is text use. This resource focuses on equipping
students with the skills to understand the social purposes of texts and the context in which a text
was constructed. To be a text user it is important to know how to use and create texts for a
particular purpose and audience (Henderson & Exley, 2012, p. 25). A learning activity would be to
have students research the history behind 19
th
century fairy tales and the societal context in which
they were first told. Students can also explore textual features of a short story such as structure,
tone, plot and point of view to deepen their understanding of how texts are shaped. A learning
activity would be to change the point of view of a fairy tale, with a good example being The True
Story of the Three Little Pigs (Defendant Testifies, n.d). Re-writing a story from a different point of
view to change its purpose, plot and tone would meet the learning outcome ACELT1815 Create
literary texts with a sustained voice, selecting and adapting appropriate text structures, literary
devices, language, auditory and visual structures and features for a specific purpose and intended
audience (ACARA, n.d).
The fourth resource in the Four Resources Model is text analysis. This resource aims to enable
students to critically view texts and to understand that all texts are social and cultural constructs
that are produced by specific authors at specific points of time. Learning activities should guide
students to gain an understanding that texts are not neutral and they tend to represent particular
ideologies and world views (Henderson & Exley, 2012, p. 25). Students should be guided to recognise
opinions, bias, point of view, gaps and silences and dominant readings of the text and this should
empower students to present an alternative position to the one taken by a text or to endorse the
Caitlyn Jubb
I.D 2101422
EDUC3526 Assignment 3

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present position (Ludwig, 2003, p. 2). Learning activities for this resource can be expanded on from
those used for the previous resource. Once students have deepened their knowledge on the hidden
views, points of view and ideologies in texts the learning outcome ACELY1752 Identify and analyse
implicit or explicit values, beliefs and assumptions in texts and how these are influenced by purpose
and likely audience is likely to have been met (ACARA, n.d).
Using the Four Resources Model to teach the short story genre of fairy tales allows students to
engage with texts in different ways and provides them with the literacy tools that will enable them
to produce their own short stories of the fairy tale genre. Learning outcomes taken from the
Australian Curriculums Year 10 English curriculum are able to be met when following the Four
Resources Model with fairy tales, making the relevance of the teaching approaches and learning
activities outlined in this assignment undeniable.










Caitlyn Jubb
I.D 2101422
EDUC3526 Assignment 3

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References
ACARA Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (n.d). English: Year 10
Content Descriptions. In Australian Curriculum. Retrieved from:
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/Curriculum/F-10#level10
Defendant Testifies. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.shol.com/agita/wolfside.htm
Henderson, R., & Exley, B. (2012). Planning for literacy learning. In R. Henderson (Ed.), Teaching
literacies in the middle years (pp. 18-56). South Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press
Kohnen, A. (2013). Informational writing in high school sciences: the importance of genre,
apprenticeship, and publication. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 57(3), 233-242. doi:
10.1002/J.A.A.L.220
Ludwig, C. (February 2003). Making sense of literacy. Newsletter of the Australian literacy
educators association, pp. 1-4. Retrieved from https://www.alea.edu.au/documents/item/53
Luke, A., & Freebody, P. (1999). A map of possible practices: further notes on the four resources
model. Practically Primary, 4(2), pp. 5-8. Retrieved from
http://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=96162;res=AEIPT
Murfin, R., & Ray, S. (2009). The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms (3
rd
ed.). New
York: Bedford/St. Martins.
Singer, J., & Shagoury, R. (2005). Stirring up justice: adolescents reading, writing and changing
the world. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(4), 318-339. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.49.4.5
Williams, B. (2005). Home and away: the tensions of community, literacy, and identity. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(4), 342-347. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.49.4.6

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