Reflecting and Taking Action

Overview

Lesson 10 of 10 in Our Place, Our Stories. Students review their portfolios, reflect on how English helped them understand their community and environment, respond to classmates’ work, and co-create a realistic class communication or action plan.

Learning intentions

• WALT reflect on how English helps us understand and contribute to our communities and environments.
• WALT evaluate our learning and identify a strengthened English skill.
• WALT listen respectfully to different perspectives and consider whose voices are included.
• WALT use evidence from our learning to propose a realistic next step.

Success criteria

• I can evaluate my learning and identify a skill that has strengthened.
• I can explain a new understanding using an example from a text, presentation, or portfolio task.
• I can discuss whose voices were included, missing, or could be heard more clearly.
• I can propose a realistic next step for our class, school, community, or environment.

Curriculum links

• Speaking, writing, presenting, listening, and viewing for meaningful purposes and audiences.
• Responding critically to texts, ideas, perspectives, and the ways language shapes meaning.
• Creating and communicating ideas that contribute to relationships, participation, and community life.
• Developing agency, collaboration, critical thinking, and reflection through authentic language use.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 minutes – Reconnect with the unit Open with the opening reflection question: “How can words, stories, and presentations help people care for a place?” Invite students to think, pair-share, and recall one text, speaker, or presentation from the unit. Briefly revisit the unit’s purpose and WALT.

2. 7–17 minutes – Review portfolios Model selecting two portfolio items: one showing a strengthened skill and one showing a new or changed understanding. Students quietly review their own work, using the portfolio reflection and action-planning sheet. Younger students may draw, circle choices, or talk through their ideas with an adult; older students should refer to specific evidence.

3. 17–30 minutes – Complete self-assessment Students complete the first section of the worksheet. Prompts include: “A skill I strengthened was…”, “I know because…”, “A new understanding I have is…”, and “One piece of evidence is…”. Pause for a short teacher think-aloud about honest reflection: students can identify both progress and a next area for growth. Conference with individuals or pairs as needed.

4. 30–42 minutes – Respond to shared work and perspectives Display the response and voice prompts. Students discuss a selection of texts or presentations from the unit in groups of three. They identify one effective communication choice, one idea that influenced them, and whose voices were included or not included. Use sentence frames such as “I noticed…”, “This made me think…”, and “A perspective we could hear more from is…”. Students may respond orally, in writing, through a labelled drawing, or by recording a short video reflection.

5. 42–53 minutes – Co-create an action plan Present the class action-planning instructions. As a class, brainstorm realistic ways to communicate or act on an issue explored in the unit, such as caring for a local place, sharing community stories, or making information more accessible. Sort suggestions by audience, action, and likely impact. Agree on one achievable class action and record: what we will do, who it is for, who will help, and how we will know whether it made a difference. Older students should justify the choice with evidence from the unit.

6. 53–60 minutes – Share and close Students complete the final worksheet prompts: “My next step is…” and “I will know I have made progress when…”. Invite several students to share one reflection or action-plan idea. Return to the closing reflection prompt and ask students to show, say, draw, or write one response to: “How can I use English to contribute to my community?”

Resources

• the reflection, discussion, and action-planning slide deck
• the portfolio reflection and action-planning sheet
• Students’ portfolios and completed unit work
• Selected texts, photographs, recordings, or presentation materials from the unit
• Whiteboard or large paper
• Pens, pencils, coloured pencils, and devices for optional audio or video reflection
• Class display space for the agreed action plan

Assessment

• Confer with students during portfolio review and self-assessment to check that they can identify a strengthened skill and support it with evidence.
• Listen for respectful, specific responses about texts, presentations, and included or missing perspectives.
• Collect or photograph worksheets and note whether each student proposes a realistic next step. Use the class action plan to assess collaboration, communication, and agency.

Differentiation

• Offer written, oral, visual, or video reflection choices. Allow students to draw an idea and explain it, dictate to an adult, or use speech-to-text.
• Provide sentence frames, word banks, icons, and a completed example. Read prompts aloud and chunk the worksheet into one section at a time.
• Support Years 1–3 with teacher scribing, partner talk, picture choices, and a simple action plan with “We will… for…”. Support Years 4–8 to write fuller explanations and cite specific portfolio evidence.
• Provide conferencing, quiet reflection space, extra processing time, and a peer discussion role for students who need support. Challenge advanced learners to develop an evidence-based action proposal for a local audience and explain how its impact could be evaluated.