Resource+2

**Details of Resource for Grammar lesson (lesson 3)**



** Explanation of resource ** This resource is a factual text called ‘Shows and Festivals’ and the author is Clare Renner. This book was published by Echidna Books in 2002 and is part of a series of books. This book is a useful resource for the topic of "celebrations" as it provides information on many different celebrations and festivals in Australia, including Chinese New Year, The Tamworth Country Music Festival, Floriade and many others. Each section focuses on a different celebration and is set out in the style of an information report. It is very clear and easy for students to read and also contains interesting information about each celebration. The language of the text would be appropriate for Stage 2 students and includes simple vocabulary but also more technical words which may need to be introduced to students in Stage 2 and can be used to build their vocabulary. The resource includes accompanying colour photographs of the different celebrations which makes the information more engaging for students. The resource also includes a contents page, a calendar of Australian shows and festivals and a glossary which would be useful for students when constructing an information report.

**Relevance of resource & link to aspect of literacy:** As this book contains lots of information on different shows and festivals, it is extremely relevant for this unit of work on "celebrations". In particular, the book only focuses on Australian shows and festivals, therefore it is very relevant for the students as they will be referring to Festival of the Winds which only takes place in Australia and which some students may have visited or be familiar with. As this unit of work focuses on information reports in several lessons,and the final task requires to the students to prepare a poster and present to the class, this text is very useful as each section is displayed in the style of an information report which models for the students how this text type should be structured and the key features of an information report. It is also a stage appropriate resource which is clearly and simply laid out.

As outlined in the English syllabus, students in Stage 2 should be able to jointly and then independently construct information reports where information is more technical. Students should then be able to make labelled diagrams to accompany the text (BOS, p.71). This resource and lesson will assist students as they progress towards the preparation of their group multimodal text at the conclusion of this unit of work.

Below is the Information Report which the teacher reads to students and which they attempt to reconstruct:-

** THE FESTIVAL OF THE WINDS **

 

Kite enthusiasts come from all over Australia to come to the Festival of the Winds. It is held on Bondi Beach in Sydney and runs on the second Sunday in September every year.

The festival began as part of the Sydney Carnevale in 1978. Two young men took some helium balloons and kites down to the beach. They wanted to show people what a good time they could have outside flying kites. They soon attracted a crowd and the kite flying became a popular event.

These days the Festival of the Winds attracts about 50,000 visitors and the sky over Bondi comes alive with hundreds of kites. There are all sorts of events, including the Indian Fighting Kite and a competition for the best homemade kite.

REFERENCES:

Renner, C. (2002). //Shows and festivals (events and celebrations in Australia)//, Echidna Books, Victoria.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 19px;">Board of Studies NSW (2007), English K-6 Syllabus, BOS.