Life After The Oasis - Homelessness in the Media

Life After The Oasis - Homelessness in the Media

Lesson 5 of 6 in this unit

  • Secondary
  • Year 9 - 10
  • English
  • Text Analysis
  • Social
  • Equality
  • Homelessness
  • Social Action
  • ...

Lesson summary

In this lesson, students will begin by assessing the impact that they think the media has on their view of people experiencing homelessness. They will read and summarise an article that uses evidence to argue that the media can impact people’s perspectives. Students will work in groups to read a mainstream media article about homelessness, and critically interpret it through a Chalk-Talk visible thinking routine. The class will then view one or more clips from Life After The Oasis documentary film and assert whether media representations of people experiencing homelessness have had an impact on the people featured. The lesson will conclude with students summarising whether their understanding of the impact of the media has changed.

Learning intentions:

Students will...

  • understand and interpret the use of language in media and how this constructs meaning for the reader
  • understand the impact of media representations on the way people view and treat each other

Success criteria:

Students can...

  • identify language used to represent a group of people in a media article
  • make assertions about the effect of language upon the reader's viewpoint

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Plan
Student Worksheet
Teacher Content Info

Lesson details

Curriculum mapping

Australian curriculum content descriptions: 

Year 9 English:

  • Analyse how the construction and interpretation of texts, including media texts, can be influenced by cultural perspectives and other texts (ACELY1739)
  • Interpret, analyse and evaluate how different perspectives of issue, event, situation, individuals or groups are constructed to serve specific purposes in texts (ACELY1742)
  • Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse texts, comparing and evaluating representations of an event, issue, situation or character in different texts (ACELY1744)

Year 10 English:

  • Analyse and evaluate how people, cultures, places, events, objects and concepts are represented in texts, including media texts, through language, structural and/or visual choices (ACELY1749)
  • Identify and analyse implicit or explicit values, beliefs and assumptions in texts and how these are influenced by purposes and likely audiences (ACELY1752)
  • Use comprehension strategies to compare and contrast information within and between texts, identifying and analysing embedded perspectives, and evaluating supporting evidence (ACELY1754)

Syllabus outcomes: EN5-8D, EN5-2A

General capabilities: LiteracyEthical UnderstandingCritical and Creative ThinkingPersonal and Social capability

Relevant parts of Year 9 achievement standards: Students analyse the ways that text structures can be manipulated for effect. They evaluate and integrate ideas and information from texts to form their own interpretations. They select evidence from texts to analyse and explain how language choices and conventions are used to influence an audience. 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.

Relevant parts of Year 10 achievement standards: Students develop and justify their own interpretations of texts. They evaluate other interpretations, analysing the evidence used to support them. Students create a wide range of texts to articulate complex ideas. They contribute actively to class and group discussions, building on others’ ideas, solving problems, justifying opinions and developing and expanding arguments.

Unit of work: Life After The Oasis – English

Time required:  90 mins

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – facilitate class discussion

Resources required

Skills

  • Communication
  • Critical thinking
  • Empathy
  • Social skills

Additional info

This resource has been adapted from ‘Teaching Social Issues Through English’ developed with the English Teachers Association NSW and the ‘Youth Homelessness Matters Resource’ developed by Janice Atkin. You can find these resources here.

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