High-concept storytelling in Gone curriculum
In Gone, the best-selling Michael Grant novel, every person over the age of 15 in Perdido Beach vanishes, leaving a bunch of kids to figure out what happened and what to do next. This course looks at how the novel introduces its characters, world and high-concept premise. Each lesson takes a snippet from the first chapter, and we look at how the chapter builds from a small event to a large scale crisis. We also explore the classic lead-think-feel character triangle, and how this tool provides reactions and commentary, and drives the plot. The language of Gone is technically simple; the challenge in this course is in coming up with a viable concept and then developing it through character action, which requires students to plan ahead and control the release of narrative information. It will suit middle-years students with teacher support, or older students who can work independently.
Australia
Australian National Curriculum F-10
ACELA1518
Understand how authors often innovate on text structures and play with language features to achieve particular aesthetic, humorous and persuasive purposes and effects
ACELA1523
Understand how ideas can be expanded and sharpened through careful choice of verbs, elaborated tenses and a range of adverb groups/phrases
ACELA1525
Investigate how vocabulary choices, including evaluative language can express shades of meaning, feeling and opinion
ACELA1547
Recognise that vocabulary choices contribute to the specificity, abstraction and style of texts
ACELA1552
Investigate how evaluation can be expressed directly and indirectly using devices, for example allusion, evocative vocabulary and metaphor
ACELA1553
Understand that authors innovate with text structures and language for specific purposes and effects
ACELA1557
Explain how authors creatively use the structures of sentences and clauses for particular effects
ACELA1569
Analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of a wide range of sentence and clause structures as authors design and craft texts
ACELA1570
Analyse how higher order concepts are developed in complex texts through language features including nominalisation, clause combinations, technicality and abstraction
ACELY1701
Identify and explain characteristic text structures and language features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text
ACELY1704
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience
ACELY1705
Re-read and edit student’s own and others’ work using agreed criteria for text structures and language features
ACELY1714
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience
ACELY1715
Re-read and edit students’ own and others’ work using agreed criteria and explaining editing choices
ACELY1725
Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, selecting aspects of subject matter and particular language, visual, and audio features to convey information and ideas
ACELY1736
Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that raise issues, report events and advance opinions, using deliberate language and textual choices, and including digital elements as appropriate
ACELY1745
Explore and explain the combinations of language and visual choices that authors make to present information, opinions and perspectives in different texts
ACELY1746
Create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts that present a point of view and advance or illustrate arguments, including texts that integrate visual, print and/or audio features
ACELY1747
Review and edit students’ own and others’ texts to improve clarity and control over content, organisation, paragraphing, sentence structure, vocabulary and audio/visual features
ACELY1750
Identify and explore the purposes and effects of different text structures and language features of spoken texts, and use this knowledge to create purposeful texts that inform, persuade and engage
ACELY1757
Review, edit and refine students’ own and others’ texts for control of content, organisation, sentence structure, vocabulary, and/or visual features to achieve particular purposes and effects
ACELY1801
Analyse strategies authors use to influence readers
ACELY1810
Experiment with text structures and language features to refine and clarify ideas to improve the effectiveness of students’ own texts
ACELT1612
Create literary texts using realistic and fantasy settings and characters that draw on the worlds represented in texts students have experienced
ACELT1615
Identify and explain how choices in language, for example modality, emphasis, repetition and metaphor, influence personal response to different texts
ACELT1616
Identify, describe, and discuss similarities and differences between texts, including those by the same author or illustrator, and evaluate characteristics that define an author’s individual style
ACELT1618
Create literary texts that adapt or combine aspects of texts students have experienced in innovative ways
ACELT1621
Compare the ways that language and images are used to create character, and to influence emotions and opinions in different types of texts
ACELT1622
Recognise and analyse the ways that characterisation, events and settings are combined in narratives, and discuss the purposes and appeal of different approaches
ACELT1625
Create literary texts that adapt stylistic features encountered in other texts, for example, narrative viewpoint, structure of stanzas, contrast and juxtaposition
ACELT1630
Identify and evaluate devices that create tone, for example humour, wordplay, innuendo and parody in poetry, humorous prose, drama or visual texts
ACELT1632
Create literary texts that draw upon text structures and language features of other texts for particular purposes and effects
ACELT1638
Experiment with the ways that language features, image and sound can be adapted in literary texts, for example the effects of stereotypical characters and settings, the playfulness of humour and pun and the use of hyperlink
ACELT1641
Analyse and explain how text structures, language features and visual features of texts and the context in which texts are experienced may influence audience response
ACELT1642
Identify, explain and discuss how narrative viewpoint, structure, characterisation and devices including analogy and satire shape different interpretations and responses to a text
ACELT1643
Compare and evaluate how ‘voice’ as a literary device can be used in a range of different types of texts such as poetry to evoke particular emotional responses
ACELT1767
Interpret and analyse language choices, including sentence patterns, dialogue, imagery and other language features, in short stories, literary essays and plays
ACELT1768
Experiment with particular language features drawn from different types of texts, including combinations of language and visual choices to create new texts
ACELT1773
Create literary texts, including hybrid texts, that innovate on aspects of other texts, for example by using parody, allusion and appropriation
ACELT1798
Create literary texts that experiment with structures, ideas and stylistic features of selected authors
ACELT1800
Experiment with text structures and language features and their effects in creating literary texts, for example, using imagery, sentence variation, metaphor and word choice
ACELT1805
Experiment with text structures and language features and their effects in creating literary texts, for example, using rhythm, sound effects, monologue, layout, navigation and colour
ACELT1814
Create literary texts that reflect an emerging sense of personal style and evaluate the effectiveness of these texts
ACELT1815
Create literary texts with a sustained ‘voice’, selecting and adapting appropriate text structures, literary devices, language, auditory and visual structures and features for a specific purpose and intended audience
Australian National Curriculum Senior Secondary
ACEEA120
Create a range of texts using some written and oral text forms and grammatical structures, including the linear sequencing of events through the use of simple sentences, conjunctions, punctuation and paragraphs
ACEEA121
Create a range of texts using simple first-person recounts and descriptions
ACEEA143
Create a range of texts using simple written and oral text forms, punctuation and grammatical structures including graphic representations of information
ACEEA144
Create a range of texts using descriptions of people, places and events
ACEEA171
Create a range of texts using appropriate form, content and style for a range of common purposes and audiences
ACEEA172
Create a range of texts using first-person and third-person narration
ACEEA177
Create a range of texts using description, imagery and an awareness of characterisation
ACEEA178
Create a range of texts using cohesive devices at paragraph level, including anaphoric and cataphoric reference, referential pronouns and common conjunctions
ACEEA200
Create a range of texts using imaginative and descriptive language and growing control over direct and indirect speech
ACEEA201
Create a range of texts using a range of common cohesive devices at sentence, paragraph and whole-text level such as referencing, lexical chains and conjunctions
ACEEA202
Create a range of texts using simple, compound and some complex sentences
ACEEA007
Comprehension skills and strategies including describing linguistic and structural features of a range of more complex text types including literary and transactional texts
ACEEA021
Create a range of texts using appropriate structure and content to communicate ideas and opinions for different purposes and audiences
ACEEA023
Create a range of texts using common language features, for example, subject specific vocabulary, synonyms and antonyms, adjectives and adverbs used to create modality, some nominalisation, common collocations and idioms
ACEEA024
Create a range of texts using description, characterisation, and direct and indirect speech
ACEEA049
Create a range of texts using different types of texts to present ideas and opinions for different purposes and audiences in a range of digital, multimodal and print-based technologies
ACEEA050
Create a range of texts using subject-specific vocabulary, nominalisation, and nouns and verbs used to create modality, collocations, idioms and figurative language
ACEEA051
Create a range of texts using a range of cohesive and structural devices
ACEEA052
Create a range of texts using persuasive, descriptive and emotive language as appropriate
ACEEA053
Create a range of texts using experimentation with different registers and tones
ACEEA075
Create a range of texts using a range of genres and digital, multimodal and print-based technologies
ACEEA076
Create a range of texts using language that influences the audience or that privileges certain ideas or perspectives over others
ACEEA077
Create a range of texts using different sentence structures and forms suited to purpose, audience and subject
ACEEA078
Create a range of texts using modality (including modality in a hypothetical past, nominalised language and discourse markers)
ACEEA098
Create a range of texts using a range of types of texts and digital, multimodal and print-based technologies
ACEEA099
Create a range of texts using language appropriate to the context, including imaginative, persuasive and rhetorical forms and features
ACEEA100
Create a range of texts using stylistic and grammatical choices for effect, including complex lexical elements, modality in the past conditional and subject-specific language forms and features
United States
Common Core
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.3
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships (e.g., however, although, nevertheless, similarly, moreover, in addition).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.3
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.6.6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.3
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.7.6
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.3
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.6
vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.9
Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.9
Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.3
Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.7.6
Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.3
Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.6.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.10
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
United Kingdom
UK National Curriculum
Key Stage 3 (KS3) – Grammar and vocabulary
Studying the effectiveness and impact of the grammatical features of texts. Drawing on new vocabulary and grammatical constructions from reading, and using these consciously in writing and speech to achieve particular effects.
Key Stage 3 (KS3) – Reading
Knowing the purpose, audience for and context of the writing and drawing on this knowledge to support comprehension. Knowing how language, including figurative language, vocabulary choice, grammar, text structure and organisational features, presents meaning. Recognising a range of poetic conventions and understanding how these have been used. Studying setting, plot, and characterisation, and the effects of these. Making critical comparisons across texts.
Upper Key Stage 2 (KS2) Reading – comprehension
Identifying and discussing themes and conventions in and across a wide range of writing. Drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence. Identifying how language, structure and presentation contribute to meaning. Discuss and evaluate how authors use language, including figurative language, considering the impact on the reader.
Key Stage 3 (KS3) – Writing
Writing for a wide range of purposes and audiences, including well-structured formal expository and narrative essays, stories, scripts, poetry and other imaginative writing, and a range of other narrative and non-narrative texts, including arguments, and personal and formal letters Applying their growing knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and text structure to writing and selecting the appropriate form. Drawing on knowledge of literary and rhetorical devices from reading and listening to enhance the impact of their writing. Plan, draft, edit and proof-read through: considering how their writing reflects the audiences and purposes for which it was intended; amending the vocabulary, grammar and structure of their writing to improve its coherence and overall effectiveness; paying attention to accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling.
Upper Key Stage 2 (KS2) Writing – composition
Identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own. In writing narratives, considering how authors have developed characters and settings in what pupils have read, listened to or seen performed. Selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning. In narratives, describing settings, characters and atmosphere and integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action. Using a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs. Assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing. Proposing changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning.