Levels 3 and 4

Achievement Objectives

Visual language: Presenting

Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Examples

Example 1

Achievement Objectives
Presenting: exploring language; processing information

Teaching and Learning
Context: a study of sporting activities

• Students collect a variety of sports pages from different newspapers.
  
• The teacher uses one page to lead a discussion on the factors for analysis and to introduce terms such as camera angle, enlargement, cropping, and caption.
  
• In groups, students discuss ways in which visual language has been used to communicate information and influence audience responses. They develop criteria which describe effective layout, choice of material, angle, headlines, and captions.
  
• The students and teacher take and collect some photographs of sporting activities at school and in the local community, recording the facts relevant to each image.
  
• Students work in groups to design a page layout, using the photographs, and make decisions about placement on the page. They use a photocopier to explore the effects of enlargement and cropping.
  
• Each group writes the captions, headlines, and stories to fit the layout and the chosen photographs.

Assessment

• Students present their pages, and assess their effectiveness, using the criteria negotiated earlier.

Links With Other Strands
Writing, Speaking, Listening, Viewing

Example 2

Achievement Objectives
Presenting: exploring language; processing information

Teaching and Learning
Context: a health and fitness study

• After learning about and experimenting with different exercises, students work in groups to design and publish or present an exercise programme suitable for the age group.
  
• Each pair of students develops the information for one of the exercises. Students experiment with types of technology, media, layout, and visual language to choose the one most appropriate for their purpose, such as a pamphlet, role-play, chart, or video.

Assessment

• Presentations are assessed by the students themselves, their peers, and the teacher for use of technology appropriate to the topic and purpose and for effective use of visual language.

Links With Other Strands
Speaking, Listening, Viewing
Related example in another strand at the same level: Reading, Example 4

Example 3

Achievement Objectives
Presenting: exploring language

Teaching and Learning
Context: the language of film

• Students view and respond to selected sequences from popular television shows.
• Students discuss the visual features, such as setting, composition, kinds of shots, and framing.
• Students record one sequence in diagram form, with notes describing the visual features and their effects.
• The teacher models and discusses the decisions made in constructing a storyboard for a sequence of film.
• In groups, students design a storyboard for a video or film to accompany a short poem.

Assessment

• Students present the storyboards and justify their choice of visual features in terms of their appropriateness for the words of the poem.
• Students and teacher assess students' understanding of the effects of combining verbal and visual features.

Links With Other Strands
Writing, Speaking, Listening, Viewing
Related example from another strand at the same level: Speaking, Example 1

Example 4

Achievement Objectives
Presenting: processing information

Teaching and Learning
Context: a topic related to the locality

• Students examine a range of pamphlets, and note the features of language and presentation, such as layout, headings, slogans, illustrations, descriptive text, and specific information.
  
• Each group of students is set the task of producing a pamphlet or leaflet to promote some significant feature of their locality to visitors, using appropriate technology, including a computer where one is available.
  
• Students gather, collate, and assemble the necessary information ready for developing their presentation.
  
• The groups prepare their draft texts, and discuss them with their peers for response in terms of suitability of the language and accuracy of information. The texts are revised.
  
• Students design their pamphlets, and produce and display them.

Assessment

• The teacher and students examine the pamphlets and assess them for effectiveness, coherence of organisation, layout, and suitability for the purpose.
  
• The teacher observes students' participation in the process and their understanding of the effects of visual language.

Links With Other Strands
Writing, Reading, Viewing

Example 5

Achievement Objectives
Presenting: processing information

Teaching and Learning
Context: an individual study, such as a science topic

• The teacher provides a photograph pack or a selection of pictures and posters on the topic.
• The teacher models ways of establishing questions, and gathering and interpreting information from a visual source.
• Students work in groups, each with one picture, to deduce as much information from it as possible.
• Students collate the information from each group, entering their findings on a chart.
• Students identify any further information that they need in order to complete their understanding, and establish the sources and process for gaining this information.
• The teacher models the presentation of information, including sequencing of material, using technology such as an overhead projector, computer, or static display. Students discuss the qualities which contribute to clear presentation.
• Each group takes responsibility for one part of an organised presentation of the information on the topic.

Assessment

• The teacher records students' use of the information process, including their contribution to planning the presentation.
• Students assess their completed project and their use of the production methods available to them.

Links With Other Strands Listening, Viewing, Reading