Teacher Notes
These notes support a five-week unit with Year 9 students. The packet is generic and public: it does not contain a class program, a school calendar, student data or any formal reporting instrument. Adapt the sequence to your context.
Purpose and scope
The unit teaches students to read and write life writing with accuracy, care and analytical control. It focuses on forms, truth and memory, research, structure, voice, character, context, representation, ethics, interviews, close reading and profile writing. The central discipline is the shift from retelling a life to explaining how a version of that life is made.
The packet contains 16 public pages: this overview and 15 resources. The index states the count, and the sources and provenance page records the copyright position.
Text selection and copyright
- Use short extracts from licensed texts, public-domain sources or the original examples in this packet.
- Do not upload scans, long extracts or whole chapters to a public site or shared drive.
- Short quotations for analysis are appropriate; keep them brief and always give the source.
- Do not reproduce photographs, letters or documents without permission.
- Check your school's copyright guidance before copying or publishing any material.
- If students interview someone, explain how the recording will be stored and used.
Before the unit
- Choose two short extracts in different forms for the opening comparison.
- Decide whether students will research a family member, a local figure or a fictional composite.
- Check access to the school library, local archive or approved digital collections.
- Prepare a source log and a consent script.
- Identify a colleague who can review sensitive material before publication.
- Decide how students will store notes, recordings and drafts securely.
- Check the school's privacy and publication policies.
Pacing
| Week | Core sequence | If time is short | If time allows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forms, truth and memory, source log. | Combine biography and memoir; use one extract for both form and truth. | Compare a profile with a memoir of the same place. |
| 2 | Research, source evaluation, structure, profile outline. | Provide a small source set and a partly completed structure plan. | Run a source clinic with three conflicting accounts. |
| 3 | Voice, character, context and representation. | Keep the character map and one analytical paragraph. | Compare two profiles of the same kind of public role. |
| 4 | Ethics, interview practice, close reading. | Use a fictional transcript instead of a live interview; keep the ethics checklist. | Invite a consenting guest or run a paired interview workshop. |
| 5 | Draft, feedback, revision, reflection. | Keep one scene, one context paragraph and one revision pass. | Run two rounds of peer feedback with different readers. |
Lesson routines
| Routine | Time | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Source check | 5 minutes | Ask where a claim came from and how it could be checked. |
| Voice switch | 10 minutes | Rewrite one sentence in detached, sympathetic and critical voices. |
| Detail hunt | 5 minutes | Find one concrete detail that reveals character. |
| Whose story? | 5 minutes | Identify who is speaking, who is missing and who benefits. |
| One change | 5 minutes | Each student makes one evidence-based revision after feedback. |
Differentiation
Differentiation is built into the task design rather than published as a separate student page. The same core concepts apply to all students; the amount of scaffolding, the choice of response mode and the complexity of the analysis can vary.
| Need | Support | Extension |
|---|---|---|
| Reading life writing | Provide a two-column note sheet: what the writer says and how they say it. | Ask students to compare two forms and explain the different kinds of access each provides. |
| Understanding truth and memory | Provide a simple fact / memory / interpretation table with one example in each column. | Ask students to analyse a disputed account and explain why the uncertainty matters. |
| Research | Provide a curated source set and a partially completed source log. | Ask students to find a source that complicates their initial claim. |
| Structure | Provide a four-box outline: opening, context, complication, ending. | Ask students to justify a non-chronological structure. |
| Voice | Provide a sentence frame and a word bank for tone. | Ask students to rewrite the same paragraph in two different voices. |
| Character | Provide a character map with wants, fears and evidence columns. | Ask students to argue that a contradiction is central to the subject's significance. |
| Interviews | Allow a paired role-play, a written question set or a recorded response. | Ask for a follow-up interview and a reflection on what changed. |
| Writing | Provide a profile template with the lede and context already framed. | Ask students to cut the draft by a third without losing essential evidence. |
| Speaking | Allow a small-group presentation or a recorded commentary. | Ask for an unscripted question segment and a response to feedback. |
Sensitive content
- Family conflict and grief. Life writing can touch estrangement, illness, death and loss. Warn students before sensitive material and allow a way to step out without attention.
- Trauma. Do not require students to disclose or write about their own traumatic experiences. Offer a fictional, analytical or research-based alternative.
- Mental health. Discuss representations of distress with care. Avoid diagnosing real people or using clinical labels without evidence.
- Privacy. Students may want to write about family members who have not consented. Teach them to anonymise, composite or choose another subject.
- Cultural material. Follow relevant protocols and seek advice before using Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, images or places.
- Online publication. Check permissions, comments and personal information before anything goes public.
- Interviews. A narrator may become upset or reveal more than intended. Pause, check in and prioritise support over material.
- Legal risk. Seek advice before publishing serious allegations about real people.
Formative feedback
| Look for | Feedback that moves learning forward |
|---|---|
| Retelling a life | “What does this event show about the person, and which detail makes that visible?” |
| A claim with no evidence | “Where did you learn this, and how could a reader check it?” |
| Memory treated as fact | “Is this corroborated, or is it one person's recollection? How will you signal that?” |
| A flat chronology | “Why does the profile start here? What would change if it started with the complication?” |
| Uncritical praise | “What is the strongest evidence that complicates this portrait?” |
| Unfair criticism | “What context or response would a fair account need to include?” |
| Quote dumping | “Which words in the quotation are doing the work? Cut the rest and analyse them.” |
| A single story | “What else is true about this person beyond this role or experience?” |
Interview and guest protocols
- Explain the purpose, audience and final form in advance.
- Obtain consent from the narrator and, where relevant, a parent or guardian.
- Agree on recording, storage and publication.
- Choose a quiet, accessible space and allow a support person.
- Prepare open questions and a plan for sensitive material.
- Check the recording before the narrator leaves.
- Send a short thank-you and a chance to correct key details.
- Store notes and recordings securely and delete what is not needed.
Materials
- Short extracts from licensed texts, public-domain sources or this packet.
- Printed source log, character map, interview planner and structure planner.
- Access to a library, local archive or approved digital collection.
- A recording device and a consent script.
- A secure folder for drafts, notes and recordings.
- Paper, markers and index cards for timelines and character maps.
Checking the unit
- Does the unit move from reading forms to researching, analysing and writing a profile?
- Do students distinguish factual, emotional and interpretive truth?
- Can students explain where a claim came from and how it was checked?
- Do students analyse voice and structure rather than only summarising content?
- Is context used to explain conditions without excusing harm?
- Are consent, privacy and representation taught before publication?
- Is there a plan to respond to feedback and correct errors?
This packet is a teaching resource, not a formal reporting instrument. It contains no scores, bands, weightings or confidential school material.