Literacy and Numeracy in the Geography Subject Area

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Table of Contents

Work Sample Analysis
Student Feedback
Content Descriptions
Sequence of Four Lessons
Addressing Learning and Teaching Sequence
References

Work Sample Analysis

The selected student’s sample work, “Human interaction with Antarctica”, is the end of stage three (end of year six). Its key goal is to encourage students to apply and practice their literacy and numeracy skills in geography by creating a timeline of human interactions in Antarctica since 1900.

It is expected that students will identify the names of explorers along with environmental changes. After that, the assignment requires providing practices and beliefs that caused the mentioned interactions, while also identifying the key stakeholders, including ecological researchers, whalers, mineral explorers and so on. Students’ prior learning is to be sufficient to successfully complete this assignment since the required materials have been studied.

In the given sample, the student, Pat, demonstrates the basic understanding of the topic, and her skills seem to be poor. Namely, there is limited understanding of human interactions in Antarctica within the last 100 years: even though some years and investigators are noted, the student fails to clarify their contribution and roles. However, Pat has good visual knowledge in constructing timelines and locating the necessary information.

In terms of literacy skills, there is a lack the completeness of the answer – the environmental changes are not identified. The student tries to list practices and beliefs, but repeats similar thoughts and fails to ensure the clarity of opinion. It is not possible to understand what exactly led to particular interactions since the answer is excessively generalised. The presentation of numerical data can be evaluated as appropriate, yet it provides insufficient interpretation and justifications.

Student Feedback

Your construction of the timeline for demonstrating the human interactions with the Antarctica has both strong and weak points. You have demonstrated good understanding and application of visual knowledge in terms of geography as the timeline is designed properly. Your literacy skills need to be improved since you did not cover all the instructions. While identifying the main stakeholders, it was also important to clarify their roles in the interactions.

The poor use of terminology is another area you can improve in: you should use terms more frequently to justify your arguments. The sentence and text structure require more attention: you should avoid repetitions and focus on proper word selection. It is important that you make strong conclusions instead of generalised statements, which should be based on critical thinking development. Your numeracy skills were applied appropriately in this assignment, but you can also work on noting more valuable timeline points.

Content Descriptions

The topic for a four-lesson sequence is “A Diverse and Connected World”, and it aims to students at stage three. The first content description refers to investigating the diversity of geographical characteristics of Asia, including population, lifestyles and so on (ACHGK031) (“A diverse and connected world,” n.d.).

The second content focuses on the world’s cultural diversity, namely, the one of indigenous people and their beliefs and customs (ACHGK033). The investigation of the interactions between Australia and other countries is the third content direction (ACHGK034). The exploration and reflection on the mentioned contents would equip students with diversity awareness and improve their critical thinking skills.

The duration of the lessons will be 40-50 minutes, which is sufficient to read and discuss the materials, while keeping students attentive and concentrated. The lessons will target students’ numeracy and literacy skills’ improvements in the subject of geography. Namely, the sequence includes reading short texts and completing assignments, both in pairs and individually. In addition, the group discussion will be conducted to analyse the global interactions of different cultures. By writing geographical texts, students will master their construction understanding and promote the application of the skills that were learned throughout the sequence.

Sequence of Four Lessons

Lessons	Codes of the Learning Outcome(s)/ Content Descriptions(s) selected for the lesson	Sequence of teaching and learning activities	Literacy and numeracy demands you identify in the teaching and learning activities	Approaches to handling the literacy and numeracy demands in the teaching and learning activities	Resources
Lesson 1	ACHGK031 ACHGK032	The first lesson will provide the place for reading and comprehension of a text about the Asian region. After the introduction of the topic and lesson goals, the teacher will encourage students to join the collaborative reading activity. In pairs, they will read the text and understand it, while each of the groups will be given one of the two versions of the text. The initial reading will be followed by the leading questions from the teacher, which will clarify the extent to which the students comprehended the text. The secondary reading will help in recognising the main ideas, arguments and conclusions.	Literacy: reading, comprehending, navigating through the text, understanding the structure and vocabulary Numeracy: interpreting numerical data, understanding patterns and diagrams	To help the students in mastering the demanded numeracy and literacy skills, the teacher will guide their activity by answering to the occurring questions and evaluating their reports of findings. The functional language analysis approach will also be applied by the teacher to address potential challenges through the effective engagement of students in developing new ways to understand language. According to Fang and Schleppegrell (2010), the critique of knowledge should be stimulated by the teacher so that the students can share opinions and discuss different attitudes.	The teacher is to prepare two texts about the Asian region diversity, including such characteristics as typical lifestyles, population, space, water, religion, et cetera. The numerical data is to be added: years, dates, and periods
Lesson 2	ACHGK031 ACHGK032	The second lesson will be the continuation of the first one, and the students will explore the geographical characteristics of Asia by using maps. As stated by the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia (PETAA), the literacy and numeracy of geography can be explored through using maps, diagrams and other visual means to develop the sense of wonder in students (Butler, 2013). A blank map of Asia is to be completed by the students to evaluate their prior understanding. The interactive map or individual blanks can be used for this activity, after which the teacher should note successes and failures of students. The perceptions of students regarding the Asian region and its cultures can be discussed in small groups. The extension activity may include the comparison of the Asian population with the global characteristics.	Literacy: demonstrating visual knowledge, recognising the elements of the map, adding lacking information and comparing different maps Numeracy: recognising statistical data, interpreting it, making conclusions, creating maps with the integration of numerical data	One of the approaches to engage children in the work with maps is the method of playing as a toll to teach place and space notions. This approach seems to be relevant to this lesson since the students need to be focused on their primary task and remain attentive. The development of numeracy and literacy skills can be stimulated through the close interaction with the teacher. By giving brief tips and providing guidance, the teacher increases the effectiveness of the lesson.	The following websites will be used by the teacher as resources that are approved by the Australian Curriculum.
Lesson 3	ACHGK033	This lesson includes the primary reading activity that should be done collectively, and each of the students should have his or her individual copy of the text. By breaking down the geographical text, the teacher should project the text and ensure that students can follow it. The data is to be explicitly explained to students, terminology and statistical information should be clarified. In their turns, students should be encouraged to share their attitudes reading the text. Additionally, the teacher can present more information about indigenous people, showing images that help in understanding demographic, social and economic characteristics (Derewianka & Jones, 2016). In pairs, students should develop questions and answer them, focusing on key stakeholders, events, cultural peculiarities and other issues. For example, the Orang Asli, Dayak, Hmong, Moken, or Okinawans can be targeted as the representatives of diverse cultures.	Literacy: understanding the structure of the text, interpreting and analysing it, comprehending terminology and using it during the group discussion Numeracy: understanding and operating statistical data, including it in questions and answers, understanding patterns that are inherent in indigenous peoples’ cultures	To handle literacy and numeracy demands, the theory of joint construction will be applied. Rossbridge and Rushton (2014) consider that critical conversations should be carefully planned by the teacher, with a focus on the context of the lesson. The deconstruction of texts would help students in understanding various perspectives by analysing vocabulary choices and numerical data issues. However, handling control is assigned to the student rather than only the teacher since the former is in the Zone of Proximal Development (Rossbridge & Rushton, 2014).	Web.
Lesson 4	ACHGK034	For the last lesson in the sequence, the inquiry question can be formulated as follows: what are global connections Australia has with other countries? The lesson can start with the identification of the role of the United Nations (UN) on global connections. Since Australia is one of the founding members of this organisation, its impact is to be clearly explained by the teacher in the form of presentation. To foster students’ numeracy and literacy skills, Hutton (n.d.) recommends providing various opportunities: For example, “one useful strategy is to use quality literature where the author clearly wishes to deliver a particular message or viewpoint and has chosen the narrative structure for conveying it” (Hutton, n.d., para. 21). After the presentation of the materials, students are to be given the task of independent construction of the text. Namely, based on what they have learned, students will be expected to create short texts, applying their literacy and numeracy skills.	Literacy: awareness and use of text structures, proper vocabulary and new information that was received from the teacher; comprehending visual information; expressing personal opinion Numeracy: applying statistical data, recognising relationships between numerical information and global interactions	Throughout the lesson, feedback will be provided to students to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. The criteria of assessment will be clarified in advance so that students can better understand the expected learning outcomes of the lesson (Geiger, Goos, & Forgasz, 2015). During the creation of individual texts, some assistance should be provided to the students, considering proper structure, terminology and so on.	The teacher should collect and integrate information for this lesson based on the credible resources. The presentation of materials should be projected in the classroom.

Addressing Learning and Teaching Sequence

The presented sequence of lessons is designed to improve students’ numeracy and literacy skills in geography subject. Namely, there are three different topics and a range of activities that would help students to improve their understanding and the ability to and these skills in practice. The gradual complication of assignments is expected to allow students to start with the basics of reading and deconstructing the texts and ending the sequence with the design of their individual story.

Such an approach ensures that both geographical information and literacy / numeracy skills would be mastered. As for the sample paper that was analysed in the first task, one may suggest that this student would benefit from learning how to reveal the key ideas and arguments and use them in discussion.

The investigation of Australia’s global connections and culture of indigenous peoples would lead to the fact that the students better understand such factors as demographics, trade, lifestyles, et cetera. Furthermore, joint construction, feedback, functional language analysis and the method of playing will be used by the teacher to promote students literacy and numeracy skills and address possible challenges. In this connection, the teacher’s responsibility is to support the joint construction and promote greater involvement of students.

The learning outcomes are to be assessed upon the completion of all the lessons in terms of the descriptive analysis, the results of which should be shared with students in the form of feedback. At the same time, students will be encouraged to reflect on their learning, identifying strengths and weaknesses, as well as the activities they would like to perform in the future.

References

Butler, J. (2013). The literacy of geography. Web.

Derewianka, B., & Jones, P. (2016). Teaching language in context. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

A diverse and connected world. (n.d.). Web.

Fang, Z., & Schleppegrell, M. J. (2010). Disciplinary literacies across content areas: Supporting secondary reading through functional language analysis. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(7), 587-597.

Geiger, V., Goos, M., & Forgasz, H. (2015). A rich interpretation of numeracy for the 21st century: A survey of the state of the field. ZDM, 47(4), 531-548.

Hutton, P. (n.d.). Writing persuasive texts. Web.

Rossbridge, J., & Rushton, K. (2014). The critical conversation about text: Joint construction. Web.

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