Explore Text Types

Unit: Literacy Boost for Success

Lesson 2 of 9
Duration: 50 minutes
Year Level: Year 11
Subject: English
Curriculum Alignment:

• The New Zealand Curriculum – English, Level 6
• Focus strand: Language features and Structure
• Key Competencies: Thinking, Using language, symbols, and texts, Participating and contributing

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🎯 Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify and compare the structures and purposes of three key text types: narrative, expository, and persuasive.
• Analyse how language features are used intentionally in each.
• Begin evaluating which strategies they can apply to their own writing or reading responses.

✅ Success Criteria

Students can:

• Accurately identify the purpose and structural elements of each text type.
• Provide specific examples of language features used in each.
• Contribute to a group discussion comparing the effectiveness of different text types.
• Reflect on personal strengths and challenges when engaging with these texts.

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📚 Resources Required

• Printed example texts (1-page excerpts): narrative, expository, and persuasive
• Whiteboard & markers
• “Text Type Sort” cards (matching structure, purpose, and examples)
• Student English workbooks or devices (if digital allowed)
• Colour-coded highlighters for annotation (yellow = narrative, blue = expository, green = persuasive)
• Printed “Text Snapshot” graphic organisers

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🕒 Lesson Breakdown

⏱ 0–5 mins: Mihi / Warm-Up

Purpose: Build whanaungatanga and activate prior knowledge.

1. Begin with a brief mihi, encouraging use of te reo Māori.
2. Teacher asks:
   “What kinds of texts did you read or write this week? What were they for?”
   Take 2–3 quick student responses on the board under Reading / Writing for Purpose.

Kaiako Tip: Reinforce that recognising the purpose of a text helps us decode both meaning and structure effectively — linking to NCEA literacy requirements.

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⏱ 5–15 mins: Discover – Text Type Gallery Walk

Purpose: Expose students to different text types without pre-definition.

1. Place three short texts (narrative, expository, persuasive) around the room with space for movement.

2. Students circulate in pairs and read each one silently. They then answer one key reflection question on post-it notes for each:

   • What do you think the purpose of this text is?
   • What stands out about how it’s written?

3. Collect post-its and review a few anonymously aloud once seated again.

Kaiako Tip: Encourage te ao Māori connections as students consider oral storytelling traditions in narratives, and how persuasive writing can link to kaupapa-based advocacy.

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⏱ 15–30 mins: Direct Instruction + Graphic Organiser

Purpose: Deepen understanding through structured comparison.

1. Explicitly teach the key features and purpose of:

   • Narrative: Tells a story; includes characters, conflict, resolution.
   • Expository: Explains or informs; uses factual, logical structure.
   • Persuasive: Argues a viewpoint; includes emotive or rhetorical language.

2. Distribute the Text Snapshot graphic organiser — students complete as they go.

3. Show excerpts on board and annotate them as a class:

   • Highlight language features (e.g. emotive verbs, rhetorical questions, connectives).
   • Note the structure (inverted triangle for persuasive, chronological for narrative etc.)

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⏱ 30–40 mins: Text Type Sort — Group Activity

Purpose: Activate thinking and collaborative skills.

1. In small groups (3–4), students receive a set of Text Type Sort Cards:
   • Each contains brief snippets, structure outlines, or purposes.
2. Students match cards to the correct text type.
3. Extension: Each group selects one example to justify their choices to the class.

Differentiation Note: Support learners who need it with sentence starters or visuals. Offer “challenge” cards with trickier examples for early finishers.

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⏱ 40–47 mins: Independent Reflection

Purpose: Solidify learning and allow self-monitoring.

Students complete a brief written reflection in their workbook:

• Which text type do you find easiest to read or write? Why?
• What feature did you find most interesting today?
• Is there one area you want to work on for success in NCEA literacy?

You may also ask students to rate their confidence in recognising each text type (Low to High scale).

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⏱ 47–50 mins: Exit Ticket & Wrap-up

Purpose: Assess understanding, prepare for next steps.

Quick fire exit ticket:

• One language feature from TODAY’S class
• One text type they want to explore further in writing

Teacher collects these quickly at the door as students leave.

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📌 Assessment Opportunities

• Observation during the gallery walk and group tasks
• Responses in the Text Snapshot organiser
• Written reflection and exit tickets
• Informal feedback during group justification

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🧠 Key Vocabulary

• Structure
• Purpose
• Narrative
• Expository
• Persuasive
• Language features (e.g. simile, rhetorical question, connectives)

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🔄 Links to Prior and Future Learning

Prior Learning

• Students have had exposure to general reading responses and basic text comprehension.

Next Lesson (Lesson 3)

• Focusing on Persuasion: Dive deeper into persuasive texts, analysing techniques and planning their own responses.

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🌱 Extension / Adaptation Ideas

• Create a collaborative digital “text type toolkit” together across the unit.
• Include oral/written comparisons with speeches from Ngā Manu Kōrero or campaign writing from current events.
• Use exemplars aligned with current NCEA Literacy requirements for Level 1 contexts — especially focusing on purpose-driven communication.

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💬 Teacher Reflection Prompt

"How might deeper understanding of these text types support my students’ success across all their curriculum areas, not just English?"

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“As language is central to learning and English is the medium for most learning in The New Zealand Curriculum, the importance of literacy in English cannot be overstated.”
— Adapted from NZ Curriculum, English

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Developed with the updated NCEA standards in mind and designed to engage ākonga in real-world, purposeful literacy learning.