Freyberg High School English Department 2014: 1.10/90854 version 1. Level 1. Credits: 4
Achievement
Form personal responses to independently read texts, supported by evidence.
Achievement with Merit
Form convincing personal responses to independently read texts, supported by evidence.
Achievement with Excellence
Form perceptive personal responses to independently read texts, supported by evidence.
This assessment activity requires you to form personal responses to at least six independently read texts that are connected to texts studied in class.
Your independently read texts must include at least four written texts, two of which must be extended or long texts (such as novels or biographies).
The other texts can be visual, oral, or written.
Written texts read to the class could be included as oral texts, but not as written texts.
All written texts must be selected and read by you.
Your responses must be presented in written form.
During the year, your class will be studying a variety of texts. For each text, your teacher will provide a list of related texts available in your school library and suggestions for visual and oral texts. Texts on these lists will be connected to the studied text in some way (e.g., by theme, setting, author, culture).
You may use texts not on these lists, but they must be pre-approved by your teacher.
You need to convince your teacher that you are reading and responding to texts in an ongoing way. The following guidelines apply:
Bring written texts to class, as this helps your teacher keep in touch with your reading.
Present your responses to texts as you finish each text throughout the year – this is the easiest way to confirm that this is your own work.
If you choose to hand in multiple entries at one time later in the year, you will have to get your teacher’s permission in advance and organise a way to keep your teacher up to date about what you are reading.
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Freyberg High School English Department 2014: 1.10/90854 version 1. Level 1. Credits: 4
Keep a record of the texts you have used. Your teacher will give you a separate template for this.
For each response, state the title of the text, its author/director, the text type, and when you completed reading/viewing/listening to it.
Your response can be in essay form, or alternatively, in negotiation with your teacher, you could write paragraphs or numbered or bullet-pointed responses.
For each text, give a personal opinion on aspects of the text and support each opinion with a reference to specific details from the text (e.g., a quotation or a specific reference, not just plot). See Resource 1 for some starter questions.
You will be assessed on: the quality of your personal response to each text your selection of appropriate evidence to support your opinion(s).
A convincing and perceptive response will express your viewpoint in a reasoned way, with relevant supporting material from the text. Insights could be offered by: discussing how and/or why the text has affected your ideas or views explaining why a particular feature of the structure or style of the text caught your attention and the effect that had on your understanding discussing how the text made you think about connections with your own life, the world, or other texts.
You could choose any of these suggestions or use them as a starting point for your own questions:
What was your response to the text (enjoyment, amusement, thoughtfulness, horror, disgust, etc.)? What made you feel that way?
Why did the beginning and/or the end of the text interest you?
Why did a character interest you?
Why did the setting interest you?
What did you learn? How did an event or character help you learn this?
How did you react to a scene or idea?
Was the title a good one? Why/why not?
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