Year 9 English
The Australian Curriculum: Classroom Approaches English units were originally designed to align with Version 3 of the Australian Curriculum (2012) but have recently been mapped to Version 9 (2024). The four units provide adaptable and scalable learning pathways that can be shaped for use in diverse classroom contexts, and hopefully provide inspiration for locally-developed units of work for other depth studies and areas of the curriculum. Click the "Download Year 9 Units" button to get a PDF of the units outlined below.
Year 9 Overview
The Australian Curriculum: English for Year 9 builds on students' literacy, critical thinking, and creative skills through diverse and engaging units. Each unit focuses on different aspects of English language and literature, encouraging students to analyze, create, and respond to texts in meaningful ways.
Year 9 Units
UNIT ONE: PLAYING THE MARKET
Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas:
That advertisers manipulate audiences in order to sell a product.
That language and images work in subtle ways to position and influence consumers.
That advertising is a product of its time and place.
Suggested Texts: Various Advertising Texts, The Gruen Transfer
Performance Task: Gruen-style pitch and campaign
Links to Australian Curriculum v9 Content Descriptions: AC9E9LA01, AC9E9LA02, AC9E9LA03, AC9E9LA04, AC9E9LA09, AC9E9LA05, AC9E9LA06, AC9E9LA07, AC9E9LA08, AC9E9LY02, AC9E9LY03, AC9E9LY04, AC9E9LY05, AC9E9LY06, AC9E9LY07, AC9E9LY08
General Capabilities: Literacy, Numeracy, ICT Capability, Critical & Creative Thinking, Personal & Social Capability, Ethical Behaviour, Intercultural Understanding
UNIT TWO: THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas:
That we read Shakespeare because his work offers insights into our own lives.
That Shakespeare’s characters represent the very best and very worst of human nature.
That some literary themes endure over time.
Suggested Texts: The Taming of the Shrew, Ten Things I Hate About You
Performance Task: Prepare a production of The Taming of the Shrew set in a particular place or time
Links to Australian Curriculum v9 Content Descriptions: AC9E9LA03, AC9E9LA08, AC9E9LE01, AC9E9LE02, AC9E9LE03, AC9E9LE04, AC9E9LE05, AC9E9LE06, AC9E9LY03, AC9E9LY05, AC9E9LY08
General Capabilities: Literacy, Numeracy, ICT Capability, Critical & Creative Thinking, Personal & Social Capability, Ethical Behaviour, Intercultural Understanding
UNIT THREE: EXPRESS YOURSELF
Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas:
That poetry exists in many different forms and is a product of its place and time.
That poetry is both an art form and a form of self-expression.
That poetry can bend and break the ‘rules.’
Suggested Texts: Various poems, Elizabethan to 21st Century
Performance Task: Slam poetry competition
Links to Australian Curriculum v9 Content Descriptions: AC9E9LA01, AC9E9LA03, AC9E9LA04, AC9E9LA08, AC9E9LA05, AC9E9LE01, AC9E9LE02, AC9E9LE03, AC9E9LE04, AC9E9LE05, AC9E9LE06, AC9E9LY02, AC9E9LY06, AC9E9LY07, AC9E9LY08
General Capabilities: Literacy, Numeracy, ICT Capability, Critical & Creative Thinking, Personal & Social Capability, Ethical Behaviour, Intercultural Understanding
UNIT FOUR: TROPFEST!
Enduring Understandings/Big Ideas:
That short films can challenge and inspire us about life.
That short films are a way of making our stories accessible to each other.
That short films use a range of means and techniques to communicate their message.
Suggested Texts: Tropfest and Trop Jr films
Performance Task: Development of an entry for Trop Jr
Links to Australian Curriculum v9 Content Descriptions: AC9E9LA04, AC9E9LA07, AC9E9LE02, AC9E9LE05, AC9E9LE06, AC9E9LY01, AC9E9LY02, AC9E9LY05, AC9E9LY07, AC9E9LY06
General Capabilities: Literacy, Numeracy, ICT Capability, Critical & Creative Thinking, Personal & Social Capability, Ethical Behaviour, Intercultural Understanding
Alternatively, if you prefer to create your own unit of work, please click the 'DIY Design Template' button below to download an attached Word document template.