Snapshot of a Lesson Plan for deconstructing a paragraph

Year 9 History
Paragraph level
Activity 2: PEEL Deconstruction
T will begin this activity by reminding Ss about the PEEL structure. They have used
this in previous lessons, however the T will reinforce the structure by asking Ss to
identify what PEEL stands for. The T will remind Ss that PEEL is necessary for all
essay writing in history and all paragraphs should utilise this structure as it assists
in ensuring the paragraph is well structured sand successfully conveys an
argument or point. T will then hand out worksheet and ask Ss to cut up the
jumbled paragraph and paste it into its proper PEEL order. The Ss will have to
highlight the key words, phrases or indicators that justified their choices. Once
the class has completed this task, the T will go through it with everyone. T will ask
a S what they selected as the point, and ask why they justified it. This process will
be repeated for all 4 stages of PEEL. The T has highlighted indicators (Appendix B)
and will have this ready to assist in the class conversation. For example, the T will
state (if the Ss have not already suggested it) that the text for example in one of
the paragraphs indicates that it is a part of the Example stage in PEEL.

PEEL paragraphs:
These are a
breakdown of a
paragraph by
individually
identifying the point,
explanation,
elaboration and link
back to the main
point.

Sentence level
Activity 3: Climbing the word ladder (cline)
The T will lead a conversation about word clines with the Ss. The T will remind Ss
that adjectives describe nouns and that these will strengthen their writing when
used appropriately. The T will alert Ss to the fact that a wide and varied
vocabulary allows Ss to express more complex ideas and avoids adjective
repetition. The T will also emphasise that in history writing, Ss will be expected to
occasionally make judgements and evaluations, and completing a word cline will
be useful in future circumstances. The T will then read through the words in the
word bank on the worksheet and explain the word ladder activity and the fill in
the blanks task. Ss will then work on these tasks, share with a partner, and then
share with the whole class. The T will then display the completed ladder on the
smart board and talk through the language with students by indicating the
decline from synonyms to antonyms; however they are all words that can be
used to describe or pass judgement. For the fill in the blanks task, the Ss were
expected to select a word from the word ladder that they felt was most
appropriate for the sentence they were given. There is more than one possible
answer for each sentence to demonstrate to Ss that each Ss will make their own
judgement, which may differ to other Ss, as the words they select convey their
personal judgement. This will also indicate to Ss how they can alter the modality
of their writing with objective evaluative language. This will allow Ss to develop
their sentence and language construction when making a judgement.

Paragraph, Sentence
and Word levels:
Utilising the Reading
to Lean (R2L)
pedagogy to analyse a
text at different levels
to break down
meaning and layers in
the text.

Word level
Activity 4: Nominalisation Table
The T will begin by defining nominalisations as verbs that are transformed into
nouns, and become abstractions that pack in language during the process. The T
will emphasis to Ss that when used correctly, they can strengthen the quality of
their writing by pointing out the highlighted nominalisations in the annotated
model text. The T will then talk Ss through the 3 examples on the worksheet and
then instruct Ss to work individually on completing the table. The T will observe
Ss working and once completed, the T will ask Ss to raise their hands and provide
an answer. This will be repeated until all answers are provided and the whole
class has a completed table.

Riding the Semantic

Wave: Unpacking
and repacking
Nominalisations
through a
nominalisation table
allowing students to
break down and then
re-construct
nominalisations

P Point
E Explain
E - Evidence
L Link

Activity 2: PEEL Deconstruction

Application to history:
Using history content
to demonstrate PEEL
paragraphs

PEEL paragraphs are important for many types of writing. We use them in history a lot to justify our points
and arguments and ensure we can link it all back up to ensure we answer the question.
Task: The below paragraph is jumbled up. Cut the sentences and paste them into their correct P, E, E, L
order. Once completed, highlight the key words/phrases/ indicators that justified your choices. We will then
discuss this as a class.
For example, one of these initiatives was the maternity leave scheme granted for Australian government
employees in 1973 which entitled women to 12 weeks of full pay and an additional 40 weeks leave,
either with or without pay, by transferring their sick or other leave.
This independence may have been gained with the extension of the full adult minimum wage to women
in 1974. Although, in 1973 only 1.6% of women were earning $200 per week in comparison to 15% of
men earning the same amount per week, this was still a progressive and major milestone for women. To
assist women seeking employment, Whitlam founded and funded working womens centres to help
women find suitable employment and there were maternity leave schemes and benefits for mothers to
ensure they could maintain this employment, allowing more women to join the workforce without fear
of losing their jobs.
The economic rights of women improved dramatically under the innovative and progressive Whitlam
government with greater numbers of women joining the workforce, thus gaining some economic
independence.
By 1975, women comprised 41.8% of the workforce in comparison to 32% in 1972, demonstrating the
successful change to womens rights bought about by the Whitlam government.

Activity 3: Climbing the word ladder (cline)

Sentence and word level analysis: Utilising the Reading to Lean

(R2L) pedagogy and scaffolding to support students
understanding of content at a sentence and word level

Adjectives are used in writing to describe nouns. This will strengthen your writing when used appropriately.
However, you do not want to keep repeating the same adjectives throughout your writing so its useful to
use a word cline to look at synonyms and antonyms to widen your vocabulary.

Task 1:

Use the words in the word bank to complete the word ladder. In history we make many
evaluations about events and people, so these will be a useful guide for your independent work .Complete
the ladder individually and then share your answers with your partner.
Word Bank

Triumphantly

Strongly
Competently
Inefficiently
Soundly

Triumphantly
Well
Successfully
Weakly

Poorly
Victoriously
Adequately
Ably

Task 2:

Once you have finished your word ladder and shared

your answers with a partner, fill in the blanks in the following
sentences using the words on the ladder you think are most
appropriate. There may be more than one possible answer for each
sentence just remember to justify your choices as we will discuss
them as a class afterwards.

Competently

Soundly

Harry Styles attended an international music

conference in August 2015, and he
_________________ executed his role as he did not
make any contributions to the conversation about
pop music and had no prepared questions or answers
for the final discussion.
Marina led her dancing group
_____________________ into the grand finals of the
dance competition as they won the state-wide
championships with their impressive and wellrehearsed dance routine.
High school students have performed
__________________ in the last NAPLAN test with
many students just achieving the national standard.

Weakly

Historian Henry Reynolds _____________________

analysed the issue of Australian history being taught
in schools as this sparked national debate and
resulted in other historians replying to his argument
through numerous essays and publications.

Activity 4: Nominalisation Table

Abstractions are created when a verb is transformed into a noun. These words are called nominalisations
and these pack information into a sentence, allowing them to strengthen your writing when used correctly.

Task 1:

Complete the table below by transforming the terms into nouns, thus creating a nominalisation.
The first few are done for you to illustrate the process.

Verb

Nominalisation

Appoint

Appointment

Govern

Government

Compare

Comparison

Participate
Establish
Arbitrate
Extend
Organise
Liberate

Riding the semantic wave: The nominalisation

table illustrates how students can observe the
words as unpacked verbs and then repack
their abstract meanings by transforming them
into a nominalisation.