Activity: Aspire Generation: Consulting the Community – English – Years 9 & 10

Quick Summary: This lesson is part of the Aspire Generation English Unit. Students use their project plan as a basis for community or stakeholder consultation to seek feedback for the proposed actions or initiatives. Through the ‘World Café’ style consultation, students will engage in meaningful dialogue with members of their community, and receive comments and feedback on their plan. They will improve their plan and develop their written and spoken communication skills through drafting letters and having telephone conversations with relevant stakeholders. Finally, students engage in target goal-setting by planning and developing their own success criteria for their projects.

This lesson supports La Trobe University’s Aspire Generation initiative, which empowers students to drive change through community engagement, volunteerism and leadership opportunities.

Learning Intentions: 

• Students will develop and apply their writing and public speaking skills to pitch their ideas to various stakeholders and community members.
• Students will enhance their understanding of the project design phases through the iteration process of revising and refining their ideas.

21st Century Skills:

Australian Curriculum Mapping

Content descriptions
Year 9 English

• Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements for aesthetic and playful purposes (ACELY1741)
• Use interaction skills to present and discuss an idea and to influence and engage an audience by selecting persuasive language, varying voice tone, pitch, and pace, and using elements such as music and sound effects (ACELY1811)

Year 10 English

• Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements to influence a course of action (ACELY1751)
• Use organisation patterns, voice and language conventions to present a point of view on a subject, speaking clearly, coherently and with effect, using logic, imagery and rhetorical devices to engage audiences (ACELY1813)

Note: Additional content descriptors may apply dependent upon the project.

General capabilities: Literacy, Personal and Social Capability, Critical and Creative Thinking, ICT Capability

Cross-curriculum priorities: There are opportunities for students to engage with any of the cross-curriculum priorities across the scope of this unit. Direct or specific engagement with any of these can be made based on the unique attributes of the local community. Sustainability, Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures

Relevant parts of Australian Curriculum English Achievement Standards: 
Year 9: Students understand how to use a variety of language features to create different levels of meaning. They understand how interpretations can vary by comparing their responses to texts to the responses of others. In creating texts, students demonstrate how manipulating language features and images can create innovative texts. Students create texts that respond to issues, interpreting and integrating ideas from other texts. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, comparing and evaluating responses to ideas and issues. They edit for effect, selecting vocabulary and grammar that contribute to the precision and persuasiveness of texts and using accurate spelling and punctuation.

Year 10: Students show how the selection of language features can achieve precision and stylistic effect. They explain different viewpoints, attitudes and perspectives through the development of cohesive and logical arguments. They develop their own style by experimenting with language features, stylistic devices, text structures and images. Students create a wide range of texts to articulate complex ideas. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, building on others’ ideas, solving problems, justifying opinions and developing and expanding arguments. They demonstrate understanding of grammar, vary vocabulary choices for impact, and accurately use spelling and punctuation when creating and editing texts.

Topic: Enterprise Learning, Social Issues.

Unit of work: La Trobe University – Aspire Generation – English

Time required: 90 mins.

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – facilitate class discussion.

Resources required: Student Worksheets – one copy per student OR computers/tablets to access the online worksheet. Device capable of presenting a video to the class. World Café Factsheet, Editing Checklist, Project Planning Tool.

Digital technology opportunities: Digital sharing capabilities, online research.

Keywords: Aspire Generation, communication, public speaking, local community, design thinking, project design and planning, citizenship.

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.