- Article
- Touchdown, Year 6
- Issue 5, 2020
Dossier of Discovery: Stony Faces
Learning resource
Outcomes
Worksheet: Summarise nonfiction
Understanding
Research Gargoyles. Use the websites in the ‘further reading’ section of this learning resource to conduct research on Gargoyles.
Create a Prezi about the history of gargoyles including photographs and drawings
Connecting:
Text to Text
Read the poem ‘Gargoyle’ found on page 29 of this issue of Touchdown!
Create a Venn diagram comparing the two texts: Dossier of Discovery: Stony Faces and the poem ‘Gargoyle.’ Discuss the audience and purpose of each text – asking students to give evidence from the text to support their answer. Then discuss how audience and purpose affects the language choices made.
Suggested answers:
- The common section of the Venn Diagram should include: the topic of gargoyles, the images used.
- Differences to note in the poem section – structure, use of figurative language, imaginary nature of the plot.
- Differences to note in the factual text section: More formal, literal language used, use of subheadings, doesn’t tell a story.
Annotate the text type features. Before annotating, detailed discussions about the text type are required. Further information about the non-fiction, factual text types can be found in the further reading section of this learning resource. Students can use post it notes, or highlighters to annotate key features of the ‘Dossier of Discovery: Stony Faces’ text.
Write a reading journal entry. Students choose which text about Gargoyles is their favourite. Complete a reading journal entry with an explanation of why they have chosen their preferred text.
Experimenting
Create a comic strip that tells the story of La Gargoille. The comic should:
- Use a range of different viewing angles for each picture
- Use captions and speech and/or thought bubbles to tell the story
- Use colour effectively
- Show the story as told in ‘Dossier of Discovery.’
Write a story from the perspective of the gargoyle in which the gargoyle witnesses a significant event (real or fictional). To complete this task, follow the steps below:
- Choose a photo of a gargoyle from a castle or church somewhere interesting in the world (see the websites listed in the ‘further reading’ section of this learning resource.)
- Brainstorm the kinds of people and events that this gargoyle might have seen in its time. Consider the changes in society over the centuries.
- Choose one of the ideas from the brainstorm and write the story of what has been witnessed by the gargoyle, including the gargoyles thoughts and opinions of what they have seen.
Design a film poster – Imagine that the La Gargoille story was made into a movie. Design the advertising poster for the movie.
Reflecting:
Reflect on research task from the ‘Understanding’ section of this learning resource. Students answer the following questions:
- What was the most challenging part of the research activity?
- What kinds of sources did you use for your research – did you see anything that was not reliable?
- Did you actively check websites for their reliability – if so, how?
- How did you go about putting the research into your own words for the presentation?
- If you could go back and tell past-you some tips for how to do the research, what would you say?
Further Reading
Gargoyles are more than just scary sculptures on buildings