Snow: Focus Area 4 English, Yr 7

Truth Speaking

Primary Resource

Voiceless Resources 

Additional Resources 

 

Suggested Learning Activities

This focus area refers to a range of chapters.

 

Inquiry Questions 

  • How can telling the truth be a powerful act?
  • Why is it necessary for consumers to know the truth regarding the source, content, and production of their food?

 

1. STARTER 

Truth Telling  

The novelist, George Orwell once wrote:

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

Students to write down this quotation in their books and answer the following questions:

  • Write down 3 synonyms for ‘deceit’.
  • What do you think a ‘revolutionary act’ could be?
  • Can you think of some times throughout history where this quote could be applied?
  • List examples from the novel where characters do not tell the truth.
  • Can you think of any examples from the novel which could be considered a ‘revolutionary act?’

 

2. EXPLORE 

Secrets  

Throughout the novel, there are numerous instances where characters conceal the truth from one another. However, these secrets all have consequences which result in awkward situations, fractured relationships, and poor communication between the characters.

Students to complete the Truth or Lies Worksheet.

Extension  

Students to take the work completed in the worksheet and turn it into an extended response or PEEL (Point/Example/Explanation/Link) paragraph.

 

3. DISCUSS

Discuss the following statements with your students:

  • Is it ever okay to lie?
  • Are there ever instances where secrets are sometimes necessary?
  • Is ‘concealing the truth’ just a euphemism for lying?
  • Do you think the novel includes a moral or lesson regarding ‘truth’?

The concealment of truth happens on a daily basis. Think about advertising or the news – are you always shown the truth? Or, is it edited/manipulated to show a particular point of view or to push an agenda?

One issue that is currently gaining media and public attention, is the truth behind food.

Quick Discuss: 

  • Do you know where (source) your food comes from?
  • How do you know?
  • What are some reasons people might need to know exactly what is in their food (link to Sky’s dietary choices i.e. veganism as well as; vegetarianism, allergies, religious reasons, and so forth)
  • Do you read the labels on food packaging?
  • How do you know if what you are reading is truthful?
  • For you personally, how important is it for you to know:

a) the source of your food;

b) the contents of your food;

c) how your food was produced.

Direct students to the Voiceless ‘Hot Topic’ webpage: Truth in Labelling – What’s in a Label?

Read this together as a class and then discuss the following points in a class discussion.

  1. What is the topic being discussed?
  2. What truth/s are being concealed?
  3. Voiceless believes a nationally consistent approach to labelling is the best approach – what suggestions are given to ensure this happens?


You might like to print this article for students so they can highlight and make their own notes as you read together. 

 

4. SHARE

Visual Literacy – Campaign for Truth 

Students to design a campaign poster using Canva to both inform and encourage your peers to ask questions and seek the truth about what’s in their food (contents), where it comes from (source), and how it has been produced (production).

Consider the following:

  • A slogan or memorable catch phrase;
  • Visual literacy techniques – font, layout, symbolism, colour, salient;
  • Target audience – your peers;
  • A call to action. 


Canva has a range of useful templates for students – search ‘Campaign Poster’ to locate these.  

 

5. REFELCT 

Reflecting the Truth  

Students to write a short 200-word reflection on the inquiry questions:

  • How can telling the truth be a powerful act?
  • Why is it necessary for consumers to know the truth regarding the source, content, and production of their food?

6. EXTENSION  

Are there students in your class who are interested in the laws and secrecy surrounding the food/animal industries?

  1. Direct students to read about ag-gag laws are and what they mean for animals.

What is ag-gag?

  1. Follow this up by listening to Will Potter discuss ‘The shocking move to criminalize nonviolent protests’.  (Ted Talk, approx. 4.30 minutes)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM ALIGNMENT

Learning Area: English
Year Level: Year 7
General Capabilities:

  • Literacy
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Ethical Understanding
  • Information and Communication Technology Capability
  • Intercultural Understanding
Language Modes: Reading / Writing / Speaking / Listening
Strands:

  • Language – Language for Interaction / Text Structure and Organisation
  • Literature – Literature in Context / Responding to Literature
  • Literacy – Interpreting, Analysing, Evaluating / Creating Texts
Content Descriptions: 

Understand how language is used to evaluate texts and how evaluations about a text can be substantiated by reference to the text and other sources (ACELA1782)

Understand that the coherence of more complex texts relies on devices that signal text structure and guide readers, for example overviews, initial and concluding paragraphs and topic sentences, indexes or site maps or breadcrumb trails for online texts (ACELA1763)

Identify and explore ideas and viewpoints about events, issues and characters represented in texts drawn from different historical, social and cultural contexts (ACELT1619)

Reflect on ideas and opinions about characters, settings and events in literary texts, identifying areas of agreement and difference with others and justifying a point of view (ACELT1620)

Compare the ways that language and images are used to create character, and to influence emotions and opinions in different types of texts (ACELT1621)

Discuss aspects of texts, for example their aesthetic and social value, using relevant and appropriate metalanguage (ACELT1803)

Analyse and explain the ways text structures and language features shape meaning and vary according to audience and purpose (ACELY1721)

Edit for meaning by removing repetition, refining ideas, reordering sentences and adding or substituting words for impact (ACELY1726)

Use a range of software, including word processing programs, to confidently create, edit and publish written and multimodal texts (ACELY1728)
Elaborations:

(ACELA1782)

  • responding to points of view by developing and elaborating on others’ responses
  • building a knowledge base about words of evaluation, including words to express emotional responses to texts, judgment of characters and their actions, and appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of text

(ACELA1763)

  • analysing the structure of media texts such as television news items and broadcasts and various types of newspaper and magazine articles
  • writing structured paragraphs for use in a range of academic settings such as paragraph responses, reports and presentations

(ACELT1619)

  • identifying and explaining differences between points of view in texts, for example contrasting the city and the bush or different perspectives based on culture, gender or age

(ACELT1620)

  • comparing personal viewpoints on texts and justifying responses in actual and virtual discussions

(ACELT1621) + (ACELT1803)

  • exploring ethical issues in literary texts drawing on a range of examples from the texts to illustrate and substantiate the views expressed

(ACELY1721)

  • identifying the purpose and possible audience for a text
  • explaining the relationship between text features and structures and audience and purpose, such as identifying which group would be the most likely target for the information in an advertisement and justifying why on the basis of textual features

(ACELY1726)

  • using collaborative technologies to jointly construct and edit texts

(ACELY1728)

  • understanding conventions associated with particular kinds of software and using them appropriately, for example synthesising information and ideas in dot points and sequencing information in presentations or timing scenes in animation
Cross-Curricular Priority:

Sustainability

World Views
OI.4 – World views that recognise the dependence of living things on healthy ecosystems, and value diversity and social justice, are essential for achieving sustainability
OI.5 – World views are formed by experiences at personal, local, national and global levels, and are linked to individual and community actions for sustainability

Futures
O1.7 – Actions for a more sustainable future reflect values of care, respect and responsibility, and require us to explore and understand environments
Acknowledgments

This Australian Curriculum alignment statement is based on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) materials, which are licensed under CC BY 4.0. The material has been modified from the Australian Curriculum website (accessed June 2019).

All activities have been created by educators for educators and are linked to the Australian Curriculum (Version 8.4). We advise teachers to consult the ACARA website for the most up-to-date curriculum outcomes.

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