Lesson summary
Students will read an article about the power of framing and the use of militarised language to describe the COVID-19 pandemic. They will understand the reasons for this language and the powerful consequences of it. Students will evaluate the framing of simple statements about the coronavirus. They will then judge whether or not they think this framing is appropriate and share their opinions with a peer.
This lesson is designed to be completed by students working in collaboration with a peer. However, it is possible for them to achieve most of the outcomes independently.
Learning intentions:
Students will...
- learn to draw comparisons between the pandemic and a war
- analyse the argument made by an author
- understand and analyse the effect of framing.
Success criteria:
Students can...
- find similarities and differences between a current crisis and others
- connect your own experience of the world to an author’s points
- evaluate the effect that specific language and framing has on you and others
- share your opinion on the use of certain framing.
Lesson guides and printables
Lesson details
Curriculum mapping
Australian Curriculum content descriptions:
Year 10 English:
- Identify and analyse implicit or explicit values, beliefs and assumptions in texts and how these are influenced by purposes and likely audiences (ACELY1752)
- 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)
- Refine vocabulary choices to discriminate between shades of meaning, with deliberate attention to the effect on audiences (ACELA1571)
General capabilities: Literacy, Ethical Understanding, Critical and Creative Thinking.
Resources required
- Device with internet connection
- Pen and paper (optional)
- Stop calling coronavirus pandemic a ‘war’
Tips for parents and carers
Students can feel a range of emotional responses when researching and discussing COVID-19.
If you need further support for students please refer to: https://coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au/
Additional info
Background information:
We are living through unprecedented times and our lives have been forced to change almost overnight as a result of COVID-19. How to move forward, when a vaccine is to be developed (or may never be) is now the focus of many governments.
This lesson has been developed in partnership with The Conversation. The Conversation’s mission is to be known as a prominent and trusted publisher of new thinking and evidence-based research, editorially independent and free of commercial or political bias. The Conversation hopes teachers will use their content as a source of truthful information, and that teachers can show their students the importance of trusted, evidence-based information in understanding the world around them and making informed decisions about their actions. Please follow the republishing guidelines when using The Conversation’s articles.
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