Sean is a grade 3 teacher at a low socioeconomic school with many ESL and Indigenous students. He prepared a science unit on states of matter but found in a pre-test that the students had little prior knowledge. Their literacy levels are also below benchmarks. Sean realizes his unit plans will not support the students and needs revising to incorporate better teaching strategies and content at their level. He meets with colleagues who are facing similar challenges.

1. Case study – Vignette
Sean is a proficient classroom teacher and currently has a grade
3 class. He is based at a low socioeconomic school with a high
population of ESL and Indigenous students.
He has prepared a science enquiry unit for the term that links to
the school-based curriculum plan and the Australian Curriculum
expectations. The topic is chemical science - A change of state
between solid and liquid can be caused by adding or removing
heat (ACSSU046).
During the implementation of the first session on this topic, he
sets a pre-test and finds that the students have very little prior
knowledge in this area. He is unsure of how to progress and is
aware that some of the students’ literacy levels are below the
state benchmark. The topic being covered is technical and
requires students to understand terms, complex ideas about their
environment and also have knowledge of specific genres for
writing. The writing genres for this term’s assessment are 1.
Procedural (impersonal) and 2. Information report (descriptive –
clarifying) text types.
The unit plan that Sean has developed will not support his
students as it stands – he is aware that he needs to go back and
reassess his teaching strategies and unit content. His school is
also in the process of implementing the Teaching and learning
cycle (Links to an external site.) to support the student learning
process.
Sean is concerned that he won’t be able to cover the required
content in the detail that would be expected. There is also the
need for Sean to ensure that his students are engaged and that
the learning is differentiated across the class of 25 students.
Sean also works collaboratively with his team of 3 other grade 3
teachers of which he is the most senior. He takes this discussion
to his unit meeting and they are all feeling the same way.
How can Sean ensure that the students will receive the literacy
support they need in order to be successful and achieve the

2. outcomes required for assessment within this science unit?
After reading the case study please respond to this in 350 words
· An explanation of formal and informal literacy learning, along
with a discussion of how informal and formal literacy learning
and thinking might be applied to the scenario which clearly
differentiates between the two.
Some points from the tutor
When you developing this task - think about how you can
extend your suggested practice into the next assignment, as this
is where you will design and implementation strategy to assist
Sean and the team.
Consider how this fits into context in schools today for instance
· Links to the standards
· Know students and how they learn
· Know the content and how to teach it
· Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
Marking guide
· A comparison describing and identifying formal and informal
literacy learning opportunities has been included.
· Strategies for improvement in context to the dimensions of
literacy and formal and informal literacy have been identified
and described.
· There is evidence of critical insight. The work develops an
effective discourse that includes strategies and critical
evaluation of the scenario, demonstrating a comprehensive
capacity to evaluate the literacy capabilities within science.
· The work presents and discusses strategies for improvement
in context to the dimensions of literacy supported by a wide
range of current and relevant literature i.e.: drawing on wide
reading and evidence from scholarly and professional literature.

3. · The analysis demonstrates a comprehensive capacity to
evaluate and apply knowledge within science but also more
broadly to the Primary context.
· The supporting literature is well integrated and demonstrates
evidence of extensive reading and in-depth knowledge and
insight.
ESSAYS: Please complete the following essays Use a different,
dark color to type your answers. Remember, an essay is about
three detailed paragraphs, of 5-8 sentences each. Your answers
can be longer, but shorter might be an indication that you are
not using sufficient evidence and/or answering the question in
depth. QUALITY over QUANTITY, but DEPTH is important.
1. What does it mean to be sexually healthy? (Hint: Think
holistically and across the lifespan. Use specific examples as
much as possible, and support those examples with information
from readings, videos, lecture and in class activities)
2. What makes up a person’s “sexual identity?” Be sure to think
holistically for this question. Include as
many aspects that relate to sexual identity as you can, and write
in depth about at least 3 of those concepts (HINT: also compare
and contrast different components of sexual identity to explore
how they are all interrelated).
SHORT ANSWERS:. You may insert your answers below each
question—use a question other than black!
1. Consider the following scenario before answering the
questions below:
River (age 21) and Blue (age 21)
Blue and River are both seniors in college. On Friday nights,
there are usually plenty of off-campus parties to choose from,

4. and tonight is no exception. River was in Blue’s
communications class this term and although they’d flirted a bit
over the last few weeks, they have never spent time together
outside of class. They both agreed they would go to the same
party, so they could hang out. As the evening approached, Blue
started getting a bit nervous. Blue really liked River and wanted
tonight to go well. When Blue got to the party, River was
already there and appeared intoxicated, exhibiting slurred
speech and loss of balance. Blue decided to take some shots
quickly to “catch up” and calm nerves. They walked upstairs to
a friend’s bedroom to get away from the party. They started
kissing and things began to get more intense. By this point,
River really wanted to have sex, but also realized that Blue was
drunk and had started slipping in and out of consciousness.
River paused, and is wondering how to continue.
A. What could River do in this situation? What do you think
River should do based on class
lessons? Why?
B. Why is consenting an issue in this scenario? (Hint: What is
consent? How do we know when someone is consenting? What
is happening here that would not allow River and/or Blue to
give consent to sexual or other activities?)
C. What effect could engaging in sexual activity have on River
and Blue? Think physically, emotionally,
socially, etc.
2. What do you see as the three most important sexual health
issues that need to be addressed in the
United States? What could government and/or communities
do to address these issues? (REMEMBER
to support your thoughts with EVIDENCE from readings,
lecture, class, texts, etc).