Week 1

Short Story - Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet by Margaret Atwood

Lesson 1: Formative Assessment and Reading

Activity 1: Formative Assessment (Reflection)

Students reflect on their favourite reading experience.

As a class they:

  • Create a mind map – what made this experience memorable?
  • Share memories with their peers.
  • Discuss why they read that text – what was the context? Was it studied in class, or was it a book they read for pleasure at home?

As individuals they:

  • Respond to a brief scaffold – What are your thoughts on reading? If you enjoy it, why? If you do not, why? Would you reread the text?

(This scaffold is roughly 150 words in length. It formatively assesses students ability to write by allowing them to reflect on their most enjoyable memory of reading. This writing sample should be reviewed by the teacher who can differentiate if and where necessary.)

 

(Student-Centred)

Activity 2: Read Aloud 

Students engage in a classroom read-aloud of Time Capsule found on the dead planet by Margaret Atwood. This short story is a quick and easy read yet contains a lot to analyse. The text is rich in language techniques, form and genre, as well as complex themes that students can unpack across the next two lessons.

 

(Student-centred)

Link to Research

Assigning the students a formative assessment of writing based on their personal experience with writing strives to improve student attitude and writing resilience (Lovejoy et al., 2020).

 

 

 

Success Criteria

Has the student:

  • Made a judgement on their favourite reading experience?
  • Engaged in deep reading of the prescribed text?

Learning Outcomes

EST-11-01: analyses the ways an author’s choice of language, form and structure shape meaning in texts of different modes and mediums.

Lesson 2: Re-reading and Textual Analysis

Activity 1: Reading and Discussion

Students undertake a second reading of Margaret Atwood’s Time Capsule found on the dead planet before commencing a lesson of text analysis. To begin, students consider the following questions through a teacher-led discussion:

  • Who is the narrator?
  • Who is the audience?
  • What message is the author trying to convey?

 

(Student-centred)

Activity 2: Jigsaw Text Analysis

Once students have considered the framing questions, they analyse the text through a jigsaw activity. Assign students a number 1 through 4. Each number is assigned to an analysis focus question. Students seek their “expert group” and intensively analyse the text to answer that question. After 10 minutes, students return to their home group and share their findings.

  1. What is the structure of this poem? – Paragraphs, Chronological – Why do you think the author structured the text this way? Is there another way you could structure it to have a different effect?
  2. What literary devices are employed by the author? – Point-of-view, Irony, Voice, Repetition – Choose the literary device you believe is the most significant to this text. Why and how has the author utilised it?
  3. What is the role of humans/money in this text? – Is money the villain? Are humans the villain? – Analyse the text’s language and write a 50-word argument that supports your opinion.
  4. How does Margaret Atwood represent the relationship between humanity and the environment? – Consider the influence of fear, time, technology, and money – Highlight moments of tension between these two subjects.

After the given time, students return to their initial groups and share their findings. Provide them time further add to these findings.

 

(Student-centred)

Link to Research

Teaching text analysis as a social process is inspired by McKnight & Gannon's (2024) research which argues that this approach develops the human capacity of student writers. This is demonstrated through the Jigsaw Text Analysis lesson strategy. 

Success Criteria

Has the Student:

  • Identified the narrator, audience, and message?
  • Analysed the text for a specific purpose?
  • Shared findings with peers?

Learning Outcomes

EST-11-01: analyses the ways an author’s choice of language, form and structure shape meaning in texts of different modes and mediums.

Lesson 3: Intertextuality and Style

Activity 1: Intertextuality Annotation

Students are provided a cut-out of the third paragraph of Margaret Atwood’s Time Capsule found on the dead planet. Students refine their annotation skills by deeply engaging with the text’s intertextual references through a scaffolded annotation activity. They try and identify real-world situations with the reference in the text.

  • It began to create on its own: Investments, loans, interest rates, debt.
  • It created feasts and famines: Global inequality of resources.
  • Towers of glass rose at its name, were destroyed and rose again: The destruction of buildings, 9/11 and the One World Trade Centre.
  • It ate whole forests: Deforestation, the Amazon Rainforest
  • It ate armies, ships and cities: Warfare, invasion, politics, nuclear arms.

 

(Student-centred)

Activity 2: Extended Response

Inspired by their responses in Activity 1, students create their own paragraph to be inserted instead of Paragraph 3. Provide guiding questions for students such as:

  • What do people value nowadays?
  • What do people worship?
  • What is people’s relationship with Earth like currently?
  • How do people spend their time?
  • How does this age end?

The teacher may wish to provide a sentence starter and gradually release students into working independently.

 

(Teacher-centred and Student-centred)

Activity 3: Share

Students share their writing with a peer. Peers analyse the text for literary devices and explain their impact on the audience. If none are present, they rewrite a sentence from the text using a literary device.

 

(Student-centred)

Link to Research:

Analysing short stories which are rich in meaning, themes, ideas, and literary techniques reduces the working memory of the students (Grover, 2023) compared to extended texts. Due to the text's brief format, student's can become quickly familiar with Atwood's form and style early into their learning. This maximises time students can spend analysing and responding to the text. 

Success Criteria

Has the student:

  • Identified intertextuality within the text?
  • Created their own text that is fits the confines of the text's form and style?

Learning Outcomes:

EST-11-01: analyses the ways an author’s choice of language, form and structure shape meaning in texts of different modes and mediums. 

EST-11-05: composes critical and creative texts for a range of audiences and purposes.