Cracking the code: Stage 2 English unit

In this Stage 2 English unit, written for the NSW English Syllabus K-10 (2022), students explore the concept of Genre. Using The Word Spy (Ursula Dubosarsky, 2008) as a model text, students explore how composers combine elements of different genres to produce effective and engaging hybrid texts, then apply this learning in a key assessment task. The unit also provides a soft introduction to the concept of Code and convention, which is not prescribed for study until Stage 4, but which is amply evident in the notions of language and genre as codes. A key pedagogic feature of this unit is the use of literature circles (Alyson Simpson, 2014).