YEAR 11 BOARD ENGLISH

TERM 3, 2012
A DA PTAT IO N S : F RO M PAG E TO
SCREEN

CHRISSIE CHURCHILL, MARIAN

DAN & MARK CAMPBELL
RATIONALE

 The importance of media literacy in a changing

technological world
 Engagement with Web 2.0 as a means of
communicating with young people
 Fostering the creative process and young writers
 Acknowledging the critical and aesthetic debate,
accommodating both viewpoints
 4 models of teaching English (cultural heritage,
personal growth, skills, critical cultural) – weekly
reflections are structured around these models
 Group work, peer review, pair work as strategies to
support diversity of learners
 Incorporation of multicultural texts
 RATIONALE
By exploring adaptations stylistically, technically symbolically, students will learn
that novels and films are unique forms and should be written and spoken about
in their own right (QSA, 2010).

Dimension 3: students use and evaluate ideas, attitudes and values that
underpin texts and influence audiences.

 semiotic analysis, visual grammar, engaging in literary discussions, doing

critical literacy work (gaps and silences, marginalisation, representation)

 themes and characters

 screen writers workshop

 appraisal work, writing and performing tasks, and storyboarding

The study of how and why meaning is made is integral to this unit of work.
 1994
John Laroche is arrested for
poaching orchids from the
Fakahatchee Strand in Florida 1998
1995
Susan Orlean writes Orchid Fever Susan Orlean writes The
For The New Yorker Orchid Thief

2002
Adaptation is released

1997 – 2000
Charlie Kaufman submits three
drafts of the adaptation of The
Orchid Thief
EXAMPLE WEEKLY REFLECTION & FEEDBACK

http://broadfields.wikispaces.com/
 SAT
Links to the 2010 Senior English
Syllabus
3.2.1 Required texts: students engage
with literary texts including novels,
scripts, performances and feature films.
3.3.4 Increasing independence: students
will record, revise and edit their own
work using the available technologies.
4.1 Teaching and learning approaches in
English: students are self-directed,
interdependent and independent
learners taking part in shared and
cooperative learning by researching,
writing and performing in pairs.
4.4.1 Literacy: students enhance their
knowledge of how texts are interpreted
and created, and draw upon this
knowledge to create their own texts.
 Task Instructions
In pairs, you are to prepare and record (and upload to the school’s wiki), a podcast suitable for a youth radio
show on Triple J discussing films and literature. One student will be the host of the radio show and the other
will take the role of an expert being interviewed.

Context Youth radio show on Triple J discussing film and literature.

Audience An intellectual youth audience of film and literature buffs.
Text Type Informal interview Genre Persuasive text
Roles and Relationships
Host/Interviewer You will need to guide the interview and remain objective while
exploring all angles of the issue. Your audience relies on you to elicit information
from your expert guest.
Expert/Interviewee You are the expert in this issue, providing a wealth of
informative and relevant informative about the topic. Your audience needs to be
persuaded by your opinions and theories.
Subject Matter You will discuss any aspect of films AND literature (not one or the
other) in relation to the process of adaptation from page to screen. You may
choose to base your interview on a particular novel and movie, or discuss a variety
of books and films. You CANNOT use The Orchid Thief/Adaptation as we have
studied these texts extensively.
Mode Multimodal (spoken and audio-recorded presentation) – in the form of a
podcast which will be uploaded to the school’s wiki space.
Length 3-5 minutes. Ensure equal speaking time for both students.
RESOURCES
 FOCUSED LEARNING ACTIVITY

STUDENTS WILL:
1) Revise semiotics via informal lecture– Ss will be familiar with the concept from Term 1 (Visions of
Australia).
2) Watch a scene (Ch 9) from the feature film Adaptation (Jonze, 2002). The clip will be on mute to
reinforce the visual coding.
3) Complete a retrieval chart (aspect, observations, analysis).
4) Write an individual paragraph response on semiotic coding within the media text.
5) Choose a character from the scene (Susan/husband) and create a voiceover that could accompany
the scene.
6) Perform the voiceovers and upload some to the school wiki space to use as models for next year.
 PURPOSE/OUTCOMES
Students create and evaluate texts to demonstrate how and why meaning is made
(English Senior Syllabus, 2010 – Dimension 3).
Students will create meaning by applying their knowledge of semiotics to analyse a
scene from Adaptation.
Students will explore how and why meaning is made through their evaluation of the
values, ideas and attitudes that underpin texts and influence the audience.
By constructing a literary paragraph in which they have to express opinions and
arguments, students will work towards building the necessary skills for completing the
SAT.
Through creating and evaluating perspectives and representations, students will
become more aware of the constructedness of a text. This will enable them to apply
the same understandings to situations outside the classroom i.e. news media.
 Encourage students to bring their
own thoughts and ideas to the
classroom as summative TEACHING TIPS
assessment task is a literary
discussion.
 Draw on students’ existing
knowledge of books and films. Allow
students to make comparisons
between films and novels that will
fortify their learning.
 Give constructive feedback to the
students’ weekly vodcasts!
 Be mindful of the critical and the
aesthetic – we don’t want to take
students’ enjoyment out of reading
and viewing texts!
 Provide the students with
opportunities to draw on their
cultural capital and diversity by
engaging with a variety of resources.
 Churchill, C. & Dan, M. (2012, March 7). Broadfields State High School Wikispace.
[Web blog]. Retrieved from http://broadfields.wikispaces.com/broadfields

Dan, M. (2011). Features of a Discussion, PowerPoint and Worksheet. Kelvin Grove:

Queensland University of Technology.
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