English / Year 9 / Language / Text structure and organisation

Curriculum content descriptions

Compare and contrast the use of cohesive devices in texts, focusing on how they serve to signpost ideas, to make connections and to build semantic associations between ideas (ACELA1770)

Elaborations
  • sequencing and developing an argument using basic language structures that suggest conclusions (‘therefore’, ‘thus’ and ‘so’) or give reasons (‘since’, ‘because’) or suggest conditionals (‘if’… ‘then’)
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Cohesion (Language)

Video

This Day Tonight: Debating Vietnam: using counter-arguments, 1967

Imagine agreeing with your opponent in a debate. How could that possibly help your argument? Many successful speakers, however, realise that concession is an important persuasive technique. In this clip, explore how two speakers discussing the effectiveness of Vietnam War protest marches both use concession to improve their ...

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Using ‘signpost’ words and phrases

This guide explains the use of words and phrases that connect ideas into a logical argument and signal to the reader the structure of that argument. Find examples of specific words and phrases associated with the purpose: sequencing, adding an idea, generalising, introducing a fact; rephrasing and introducing a reason or proof.

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What is cohesion?

Cohesive devices are words and expressions that show relationships between parts of text and ideas, such as cause and effect, time, addition, or comparison and contrast. This webpage is designed for use by older students but it features a useful list of linking words that help join ideas and sentences that can be used by ...

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Teaching with Videogames: Creative writing using Twine

In this unit, students deeply explore the features and context of interactive fiction (IF), developing their knowledge of core concepts including the role of the player as audience and how language can be structured and manipulated to achieve specific effects. These effects include the impact of language, devices, features ...

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Work Sample Year 9 English: Macbeth oral presentation

This work sample demonstrates evidence of student learning in relation to aspects of the achievement standards for Year 9 English. The primary purpose for the work sample is to demonstrate the standard, so the focus is on what is evident in the sample not how it was created. The sample is an authentic representation of ...

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142 Picture Prompts to Inspire Student Writing

Find a year’s worth of short, accessible, image-driven posts that invite a variety of kinds of writing.

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How to Write a 100-Word Narrative

Find step-by-step directions for telling a meaningful, interesting and short true story from your life — with 25 mentor texts to help. The resource uses writing submitted by teenagers for a New York Times competition as examples to support understanding. It includes links to a PDF with 16 examples of short narratives and ...

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Writing Rich Reading Responses

Using writing submitted by teenagers for a New York Times competition, this article outlines four key elements that can make a short written response sing. This resource aims to help students improve the engagement levels of their writing. Each of the four elements includes some focus questions and examples of what works.

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The Hunger Games

This web page includes a range of resources to support classroom studies of the novel and film 'The Hunger Games'. Resources include a study guide, explorations of characters, themes and issues and tips on writing essays. The resources discuss the use of film techniques to create setting, the genre of dystopia and the concept ...

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Sentence combining

Sentence combining is an instructional technique used to improve sentence quality, complexity and variety. Students are taught how to combine two or more basic sentences to create more interesting, sophisticated and varied sentences. When sentence combining is taught explicitly and in a sustained way, it becomes one component ...

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Complex sentences: Creating agility and depth in your writing

Complex sentences are an important step in enabling students to produce more sophisticated writing. Mastering complex sentences allows students to have greater control when communicating. This resource provides information about topics such as Dependent clauses, Nominalisation and Subordinating conjunctions. This guide ...

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Connecting Ideas

Help students to create well-structured sentences by developing their knowledge of compound sentences, compound complex sentences and ways to combine messages by using quoting as a device. This teacher resource will support your understanding of this topic and provide examples to use with students.

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Viewing and Representing

Reading/viewing requires students to construct meaning by interpreting the parts (images, symbols, conventions, context) that are related to the visual message and to understand not only “what” the text is saying but “how” the text works. Find prompts, assessment rubrics and other supporting elements.

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Cyber security analysis from The Conversation

This is a collection of articles about cyber security. It includes articles on cyber-espionaage, cyber crime, data security, government policy around cyber security, and international perspectives including from US, China and UK. The articles are written in plain language and are authored by experts from universities in ...

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Aboriginal peoples and film and television

Through this learning sequence students explore the role of film and television in Australia in the development of non-Aboriginal people’s perceptions and understanding of Aboriginal peoples and cultures.

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David Williamson on inspiration

Listen as David Williamson explains where he finds inspiration for his plays. What are his aims as a playwright?

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First Tuesday Book Club: Navigating 'Cloud Atlas'

Some authors like to take readers on a journey, none more so than David Mitchell, the author of 'Cloud Atlas'. His novel is a complex tale that attempts to weave together six different narratives over a period of hundreds of years. Join in this discussion and find out if he succeeds. This clip is the second in a series of two.

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Rebecca Lim's spooky themes

Do you enjoy reading spooky stories? Listen to Rebecca Lim as she describes how her half-memories, reading experiences and imagination come together to inspire her.

Interactive

SMART Notebook: Representation

An IWB resource that focuses on the definitions of representation and how families are represented in a variety of media and social contexts. It examines how families are represented in popular TV programs and advertising. This resource supports the BOS NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum in English K–10.

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Shining a new (stage) light

In this learning sequence, students learn about how playwrights use the codes and conventions of drama to position audiences to accept, challenge or reject perspectives on the world. They explore how playwrights represent contemporary issues and investigate ways that contemporary texts use stories from the past to explore ...