Culminating Task Blueprint

Overview

In this lesson, students prepare for the culminating multimodal analysis task in Justice or Just Us? They choose to focus on either the documentary or the novel, then develop a clear project plan that identifies a central argument, evidence, audience, purpose and multimodal choices.

Learning intentions

• WALT plan an extended analysis task.
• Students will compare possible approaches to analysing the documentary or novel.
• Students will select evidence and literary or language features that support an interpretation of justice.
• Students will plan how written, spoken and visual elements will communicate their analysis to an audience.

Success criteria

• I can clearly state which text I will analyse and why.
• I can develop a focused contention or guiding question.
• I can identify relevant evidence and explain the features I will analyse.
• I can outline the structure, audience and multimodal elements of my project.

Curriculum links

• Literature: analysing how characterisation, setting, plot, themes and literary devices influence readers’ responses and preferences.
• Literature: presenting a personal response by comparing initial impressions with later analysis of the whole text.
• Literacy: analysing how language features represent a perspective on an issue, event, individual or group.
• Literacy and Language: planning and creating analytical multimodal texts, and adapting written, spoken and visual elements for purpose and audience.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Reconnect and hook. Teacher displays the question “Which text gives you more powerful evidence about justice: the documentary or the novel?” using the opening comparison slide, briefly reminding students that their final project must analyse how text choices shape an audience’s response. Students complete a quick think-pair-share, naming one feature or moment from each text that influenced their response.

2. 5–12 min · Unpack the task. Teacher uses the task overview and success-criteria slides to clarify the required outcome: a multimodal analysis for a defined audience, supported by precise evidence and analysis rather than plot summary. Model a possible plan aloud, distinguishing a broad topic such as “justice is unfair” from a focused contention such as “The documentary’s use of personal testimony positions viewers to question whether legal justice creates social justice.” Students annotate the difference between topic, guiding question and contention on the multimodal project planning worksheet.

3. 12–18 min · Choose a viable focus. Teacher presents the selection checklist on the text-choice and focus-check slides: familiarity with the whole text, availability of evidence, a clear justice-related issue, and potential for analysis of language, structure, form or visual techniques. Students independently choose the documentary or novel and record their decision and rationale on the multimodal project planning worksheet. Students who are undecided may use the context connection cards to identify a productive context or analytical lens before making their choice.

4. 18–31 min · Build the project plan. Teacher models planning one analytical section, moving from claim to evidence, feature, effect on the audience and connection to justice. Students complete the main sections of the multimodal project planning worksheet: working title, audience and purpose, contention or guiding question, three analytical points, evidence from the chosen text, relevant language or literary features, and intended multimodal elements. Encourage students to consider documentary choices such as framing, editing, sound, interviews and voice-over, or novel features such as characterisation, setting, narration, imagery, symbolism and structure.

5. 31–39 min · Peer conference and refine. Teacher displays the peer-review prompts using the planning conference slides and assigns pairs, preferably with students analysing different texts. Partners explain their plan in two minutes, then ask: “What is the main argument?”, “Which evidence best supports it?”, and “How will the audience see or hear your analysis?” Students give one strength and one specific improvement, then revise their worksheet in a different colour.

6. 39–45 min · Share and exit check. Teacher invites two or three students to share strong, specific contentions and revisits the success criteria on the plenary and exit-check slide. Students submit or photograph their completed plan and write an exit response on the worksheet: “My project will analyse ___ for ___ audience. My main contention is ___. The strongest evidence I will use is ___ because ___.”

Resources

• the complete project-planning slide deck
• the multimodal project planning worksheet
• the context connection cards
• Copies or digital access to the documentary and novel
• Students’ annotated texts and previous analytical work
• Highlighters or coloured pens
• Devices and headphones, if students need to revisit documentary scenes or notes

Assessment

• Confer with students during the choice and planning stages, checking that their focus is analytical rather than a plot summary or personal opinion only.
• Review plans for a clear text choice, contention, relevant evidence, identified features, audience and planned multimodal elements.
• Use the final written response to identify students who need support refining their contention or selecting stronger evidence before the next lesson.

Differentiation

• Provide sentence starters on the worksheet: “The text represents justice as…”, “The author/director uses ___ to position the audience to…”, and “This evidence is significant because…”.
• Support students who need structure with a partially completed model, a reduced requirement of two analytical points initially, and teacher or peer conferencing. Allow speech-to-text, typed responses, enlarged print, clear sans-serif fonts and increased spacing for dyslexic students.
• Offer dyslexia-friendly access to the texts through audio versions, captions, read-aloud tools and short, clearly labelled extracts. Do not require students to read dense material aloud without preparation.
• Extend advanced learners by requiring a nuanced contention that acknowledges a tension or alternative interpretation, and by planning how contrasting modes will create different effects for the audience.

Extension

• Students draft an opening statement or storyboard frame that introduces their contention and establishes the project’s intended audience.
• Students locate one additional piece of evidence that could challenge or complicate their initial interpretation.